That's Just Fantastic, 101 Years In The Coming

Not sarcastically either. Lou Piniella says that by the year 2009, the Cubs will be a World Series team. It's truly a great article.

Also, Goatriders.org in it's most recent post brings up a great point. The Cubs have approximately 28 million to spend, and they ask how you would spend it. I don't want to steal their idea, so I'm not going to tell you to answer that in a Cub-ment like on the poll. I'm just going to tell you my ideas.

First of all, I'd sign Kaz Matsui for that 3yr/14.4mm he was offered. That spends about 5 million/year, we'll say, so the Cubs have 23 million left. Then I'd pursue Japanese Chinichi Dragon OF Kosuke Fukudome. That would probably be 8-10 million/year. The Cubbies now have 13-15 million left to spend. I'd re-sign Kerry Wood for a 1 year contract for 2 mm/year with incentives for number of appearances. That leaves the Cubs probably 9-10 million left. I'd then trade one of my favorite Cubs, Matt Murton, and another Cub, Ryan Dempster, along with Rich Hill to relieve some salary for a well-to-do 4 or 5 starter. An example of this would be Cliff Lee. That would add most likely about 3 million to the Cubs payroll, and then I'd trade Marquis for a 5 starter like James Shields.

We'll then assume the Cubs have 15 million to spend. I'd then sign Bartolo Colon for 7 or 8 Million, as no-one in their right minds will ever give him 4 years/51 million again after 2 horrible years. That way, the Cubs have enough money to sign somebody if something doesn't work out, they have enough money to trade and pick up salary, and they have all of their immediate needs filled. That's just me though.

Also, I have to give a shoutout to my favorite quarterback in the NFL Rex Grossman and I want to wish him luck tomorrow, and GO BEARS. If they go 6-1 in their last 7 games, they have a great chance of making a wild card spot.

Until tomorrow,

Ryan

Kaz Matsui, Carl Crawford

Good news, the trade with the Tigers for Omar Infante DOES NOT mean that he will be the starter. Dave Kaplan of Chicago's WGN Radio says the Cubs will have a multi-year deal with free agent Kazuo Matsui later this week. Sources have suggested that the Cubs have offered the former Rockies 2nd baseman around 3 years, 14.4 mm.

Carl Crawford also doesn't seem to be out of the picture. Nick Cafardo says that the Cubs are making a push for Crawford in a deal that would give the Rays Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol, and who knows what else? It seems to me this may be slightly off the mark, especially after all the buzz of Marmol as a closer and the somewhat inconsistency of the bullpen even WITH Marmol. Rich Hill makes sense, as there are starting pitchers on the market, such as Matt Clement, Bartolo Colon. Besides, Rich pitched like me towards the end of the year. He had a little more zip on his fastball, though. Cafardo's theory backs Bruce Levine's theory from a few days ago, although Levine's theory was dismissed by Roger Mooney.

Most of this information comes from http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/chicago_cubs/index.html, the Cubs rumors from MLBTradeRumors.com, but I also have used other sources of information available to me. That's my post for the day, I'll be changing the poll soon, so have a nice day.

Until next time,

Ryan

The Brewers won. The Mets lost. The Cubs remain.

August 1st, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:05 PM ET; vs. Phillies; Moyer, 9-8, 4.75 ERA vs. Hill, 6-6, 3.59 ERA

Yeah, the Brewers won 4-2 in 13 innings, and the Cubs remain 1 behind the Brew Crew. Today is another chance to win a game and hope they lose one. Today, the former Pirate Oliver Perez takes on Claudio Vargas, who's ERA is almost 1.50 points higher (Ollie's is 2.84, Claudio's is 4.30).

If the Brewers lose, and the Cubs win, it means a universe in complete serenity. The stupid "Cubs suck" jokes will stop. Instead the "it's just luck" talk will kick in. That's what you get for being a Cub fan, though, I guess. I'm fine with it. I love the Cubbies. I've been a fan since I was 5 and the Cubs still sucked then, and now I'm older and it looks like the Cubs can do some good here.

Thanks,

Ryan

Hill vs. Arroyo

July 27th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; vs. Reds; Hill, 6-6, 3.58 ERA vs. Arroyo, 4-11, 4.58 ERA

Well, yesterday the Cubs finished off the series against the Cardinals by losing 11-1. The good news is that they won the series, 2-1. Marquis had an awful start, and he's lucky that his ERA remains 4.20.

Today the Cubs start the 3 game series against the Reds, with Marshall pitching tomorrow, then Zambrano. Today though, Rich Hill faces off against Bronson Arroyo, who's ERA is 4.58, exactly 1 run higher than Hill's. Let's hope that this stat comes to life in today's game.

Thanks,

Ryan

The Cardinals Really Do Suck

July 26th, 2007

Cubs; CSN Chicago; 8:10 PM ET; vs. Cardinals; Marquis, 7-5, 3.92 ERA vs. Looper, 7-8, 5.09 ERA

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Tonight Jason Marquis, having a fair year, faces off against the Cardinals 2nd best starter? Compared to last year's Carpenter's, and Mulder's, and Suppan's, their Looper's, Reyes's, and K. Wells's suck. Their hitters aren't the best in the world either.

Not to say they can't beat Marquis. Afterall, he is the Cubs worst starting pitcher, Marshall being arguably the best, next to the flaming Carlos Zambrano, the streaking Ted Lilly and the tall Rich Hill.

Well, fans, I also have encouraging news. Yesterday the Padres lost, the Brewers, lost and, heck, throw one more loss on the pile for the Brew Crew today and you have the Cubs 1.5 back in the Central, 0.5 back in the Wildcard.

Enjoy the game and I'll post tomorrow.

Thanks,

Ryan

For One Night, Everything Clicked

July 21st, 2007

Cubs; WGN 9; 1:05 PM ET; vs. Diamondbacks; Owings, 5-5, 4.92 ERA vs. Hill, 6-6, 3.70 ERA

Today I will lay back on my fuzzy couch with my Ernie Banks jersey on, watching the Cubs play on channel 19, Superstation WGN. I will relax, knowing that everything that I had wanted to happen in baseball world happened. Every team that needed to lose to make the Cubs better in the NL Central and the Wildcard lost.

Yesterday, the Cubs won 6-2 after getting down 2-1 on a Chris Young homerun off of Marquis, who had a great start by the way. The Cub game yesterday was at 2:20 PM ET, and there were no other games until 7:05. This gave me plenty of time to check standings, probable starters, stories, and still have time to play with my kitten.

I wanted the Padres or Dodgers to lose. If 1 of them wins, the NL West has 1 sole possessor, and so does the Wildcard. Well, by sheer luck, both of them lost, letting the Cubs be 2 back in the Wildcard. I wanted the Braves to lose also. They lost 4-2 to the Cardinals, a team that hardly matters at all at this point.

Finally, the most important of them all, the Brewers lost, pulling the Cubs to withing 2.5 games of the NL Central lead. The Cubs are 51-44, and have a 3 game win streak, winning 7 of 8 sinc the all-star break. So, back to the title, for one night everything clicked.

Thanks,

Ryan

Bonds vs. Cubs

July 16th, 2007

Cubs; ESPN; 7:05 PM ET; vs. Giants; Lincecum, 4-2, 4.63 ERA vs. Hill, 5-6, 3.81 ERA

The title, I feel, is fitting, as the Giants have been having an off year to say the least. Barry Bonds may be the only reason people go to Giants games. I don't know, and I don't care. I care about the Cubs and how we may be damaged by Barry. The good news about this 4 game series? 3 lefties start against a slumping lefty. Throw a Zambrano in there and you have yourself a decent chance of a sweep.

From there we go to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who nobody even seems to be giving a chance in the 2nd half. They are 49-45 now, and something that will help them in this series is reigning NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb. He starts against the Cubs in game 1 against Jason Marquis. Game 2 is a sub-par 5-5, 4.92 ERA Micah Owings. He faces Rich Hill, who starts tonight. That game feels even to me even though Hill has the better stats.

Those are my 2 series previews wedged into a paragraph each. They aren't the best series previews in the world, but we don't have an off day so I can't break out the stat sheets and do my detailed previews just yet.

Thanks,

Ryan

Big Second Inning

July 15th, 2007

Cubs; ESPN; 7:05 PM ET; vs. Giants; Lincecum, 4-2, 4.63 ERA, vs. Hill, 5-6, 3.81 ERA

Today the Cubs completed a 3 game sweep of the Astros, although I hardly think they deserved it. Jason Marquis pitched a horrific game in which the Cubs won by the grace of God. In the first 3 innings of the game he gave up 6 runs. It wasn't just 1 bad inning, either. He had a flurry of bad innings. His final inning was the 4th, the only inning he didn't give up a run.

Any other day and I think the Cubs lose the game. The reason they didn't, in case you didn't hear, was a 6 run 2nd inning. The Cubs then scored the eventual game winning run in the 4th inning, creating a 3 game winning streak that puts them 3.5 games back of the Brewers.

Good things did happen today despite the fact that Jason Marquis decided to bring his F game to the ball park today. Derrek Lee hit his 1st homerun since June 3rd today. That is his 7th of the year. In other news, Alfonso Soriano hit 5th today. He went 0-4, while Ryan Theriot who led off today went 2-5 with a dinger. Overall I believe it was a well played game and look forward to any more good baseball the Cubs want to play.

Tomorrow Rich Hill starts against San Fransisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. There are a few good things about this game.

1. The offense is red hot again, and it looks like D-Lee may have his power stick back.





2. The game is on ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports.





3. Barry Bonds is stirring thing up by coming to town.

We shall see, my friends and readers, we shall see. I hope all goes well in this upcoming series vs. the Giants so the Cubs can remain contenders in the NL Central.

Thanks,

Ryan