Friday, March 06, 2009

Rosenthal's Latest. Battling for Spots.

-Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports days the Cubs are "content with their bench players" even though Lou has said he wanted an extra infielder who can play first and third. Boy! Do the Cubs miss Mark DeRosa?!?!

Ken also says that the team's new ownership may not be willing to assume the remaining 63 million dollars on Peavy's contract during the economy decline. It is also said that the Cubs ownership situation will not be resolved by opening day but near May according to sources.

- Rich Harden will get his first start Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners. Harden has not had any set backs and is expected to make 6 starts before the regular season begins. He is slotted to be the 4th starter in the rotation.

- The Cubs will have some decisions to make regarding the roster and positions in the next 25 days or so. The Cubs will have to decide if Sean Marshall, Aaron Heilman, or Jeff Samardzija will be their 5th starter. I think Aaron Heilman will get the nod as the 5th starter, Marshall will be the other lefty in the pen, and Jeff will start in Iowa.

The Cubs will also have to determine who will be the Cubs next closer, Marmol or Gregg. My bet is on Gregg because of how important Marmol is in the set up role.

The rest of the pen will need to be decided as well. Early word is Guzman may be traded before opening day or DFA because he is out of options.

Koyie Hill or Paul Bako will be the backup for Soto this year. My bet is on Hill!

The Cubs will also have to decided whether to carry an extra outfielder or infielder on the roster. You have infielders like Hoffpauir, Fox, Koskie, Scales, and Barney battling and Gathright and Fuld battling in the outfield. If they just carried 11 pitchers they could go with Hoffpauir, Koskie, and Gathright but with 12 they need to pick two out of the three.

That is it for now, more to come!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't the new owners understand the rule that made them rich in the first place? "Takes money (Peavey), to make money."

Anonymous said...

Hoffpauir and Gathright are locks.

Anonymous said...

Hoffpauir and Gathright are locks

cubsfan82 said...

If Gathright and Hoffpauir are locks and Lou wants to carry 12 pitchers then pretty much every position is set except backup catcher.

Lee
Hoffpauir
Miles
Fonty
Theriot
Aram
Soto
Bako/Hill
Soriano
Fukudome
Johnson
Gathright
Bradley

If that is set they will go into the year with a backup one middle infielder, backup 1st baseman, and 5 outfielders.

They need a backup for 3rd base so Hoffpauir and Gathright are not locks. Even Lou said he has to decide wether to carry another infielder or 5th outfielder, not both.