My thoughts on Zambrano and other tidbits

Now that the Superbowl is over and the media craze is drawing to a close it is time to talk baseball. Really the only concern left in the cubs front is will Z get signed to a long term deal? and will they avoid arbitration? Here's my thoughts-

The cubs have spent a crap load of cash this off season. Getting a 40/40 guy, a tough bench with the additions of Floyd and Ward, a solid rotation by adding Lilly, Marquis, and resigning Miller, and not to mention keeping one of the best power 3rd baseman in baseball. The reason I am mentioning this is because I don't see Jim doing all that spending just to lose an ace next season. Jim is a very smart man and will do what it takes to keep Z. Now having said that I don't think they will get the long term deal done before the arbitration date. I think they will agree on a one year deal around 13-14 million for next year then in Spring Training they will announce he has been signed to a long term deal. The amount and years I think will be agreed upon is 5-6 years 85-95 million. I feel the only thing that may snag a deal is the years, but never less they will get the deal done before opening day. So I really think cubs fans have nothing to worry about here, Jim will get the deal done.

Another minor concern is will Jones still be traded with the addition of Floyd. I say that depends on how Floyd does in the spring and how Jones does with his mouth and his work in the outfield. I think this will be the same situation as the Walker dilemma last year. We will look to trade him but no one will give up enough for him. As I see it now is Murton in LF, Soriano in CF and Jones in RF with Floyd coming off the bench to spell Matt and JJ.

Another thought I have is who is gonna bat 2nd in the lineup. My thought is that it will be Derosa. Yeah it will be awfully right handed 1 thru 4 but you cant always base it on lefty righty match ups. Now if I was I was Lou I would bat Murton 2nd. He has a high on base percentage, can still hit he homer and is OK speed. That way you could bat Derosa in the 7 spot behind Barrett and would have a decent solid lineup instead of being top or middle heavy. That's just my thoughts.. I would also entertain the idea of Barrett batting 2nd, he has OK speed for a catcher, .365 OBP last year( Matt's is .368), he provides home run power and would provide more protection for Lee than Murton would. Either Derosa(.357 OBP), Murton, or Barrett batting 2nd is fine by me, the stats show any of them can do it.

Addressing the rotation for the Chicago Cubs is very interesting because you don't know who is gonna be injured or not ready by opening day so here's my rotation on opening day-

1. Zambrano- Of course he is the ace of the staff and in the top 5 best pitchers in baseball right now.

2. Lilly- A solid lefty who can be a great #2 starter in the NL central. Pitched in the strongest division in baseball last year and I think will have a breakout year. At times he is unhittable and such a competitor. He is my number two starter.

3. Prior- Yes, I do think he will be ready by opening day. I even think he will be ready in 9 days when pitchers and catcher report. I think you will see the Prior of 03 and he will be a very good #3 starter.

4. Hill- Hill looked magnificent late in the year. Got to love the looping curve ball and his nice 90mph fastball. With experience under his belt I see him winning 8 or more games this year and finish with a even or winning record. That's why he is my #4.

5. Marquis- They brought Jason in for insurance but he is getting paid 27 million for 3years so he wont be in the pen. He will be the dark horse in the rotation. He will come in and fans(except me) will expect him to be at .500 or worst and have a 4.50 era or worst. I on the other hand think he will come in and learn alot from Larry and win more games than he loses and be in the 3.75 to 4.00 era range I feel he will have his sinker working and all his pitches fine tuned during spring training. By doing that he gets the #5 spot in the rotation.

Miller gets my spot starter in the pen for the reason he is only making 1.5 mil and There is not enough room in the rotation for him

Marshall/Guzman will start in Iowa and might get called up if someone is injured or traded.

Either way the Cubs look good this year and I'm excited to start seeing them play!

Cubs and Prior avoid arbitration

The Cubs and Prior avoided arbitration earlier today by agreeing on a 1 year deal. The deal includes a base pay of 3.575 million, which is less than he made last year. Tho Prior wanted 3.875 million, he could still get it becuase he also has performance bonus in the contract that could push it up to 3.8 million.

According to Cubs.com, next up is Zambrano. Zambrano did set the Season opener as his deadline for a long term deal to be reached. If the cubs cant reach it by then they run the same risk of losing him as they almost lost Aramis this year. Thats something Jim wants to avoid. Z has said he hopes the Jim "has some money for Z." You got to think that if a deal doesnt get done, Z will be the hottest player on the market next year. Having said that Jim and Z both have stated that Carlos wants to be a Cub his entire career and I think they will fullfill that by signing him to a long term deal during Spring Training.

The Cubs release Rusch

The cubs announced today that they have released Rusch. Not really big news and its not that unexpected but I thought I would let everyone know.

My prediction on our opening 25 man roster

Note- I changed this a bit, thanks to some posters giving me some info on the 25 man roster so I can better predict this( I must have thought the Cubs still had Dusty managing)haha

This isnt a big prediction on our 25 man roster but here it is anyways-

1. Soriano CF
2. Derosa 2B
3. Dlee 1st
4. Aram 3b
5. Jones RF
6. Barrett C
7. Murton LF
8. Izzy ss

Bench
Theriot IF/OF
Ward 1st/OF
Floyd OF/1st
Blanco C
Pagan OF
T. Perez inf

Dempster CL
Eyre
Howry
Wood
Cotts
Miller


1. Big Z
2. Lilly
3. Prior
4. Hill
5. Marquis

Pie, Marshall, Cedeno, Navoa, Guzman, Weurtz, Mateo, and Marmol etc. start in AAA... and Rusch likely to be released or traded.. I cant see us holding 3 lefty relievers, so I can see Ohman getting traded out of the three leftys .I love our pitching staff with Prior in there. Of course if he is not ready then place Miller there.

Floyd added to bench

I already stated this Sunday but heres the offical release from cubs.com-

CHICAGO -- The Cubs completed their offseason acquisitions Wednesday, signing free agent outfielder Cliff Floyd to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2008.
Floyd, 34, batted .244 in 97 games with the New York Mets last season, hitting 11 homers and driving in 44 runs. He would most likely platoon in left in the Cubs' outfield after hitting .266 against right-handers, and is part of new manager Lou Piniella's plan to have a deep bench.
It will be a homecoming for Floyd, a Chicago native, who has played for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox and the Mets. He has a career .279 average.
Floyd, who was on the '97 World Series champion Marlins team, was limited to 332 at-bats last year because of an injured Achilles tendon.
He was a three-sport star in baseball, football and basketball at Thornwood High School in South Holland, Ill.

Like I have said numorous times this does nothing but help the cubs!

Cubs new depth chart

The cubs updated there new depth chart-

CF- Sori- Pie
RF- Jones- Coats
LF- Murton- Pagan
3B- Ram- Coats
SS- Izzy-Cedeno-Theriot
2B- Derosa- Theriot
1st- Dlee- Ward
C- Barrett-Blanco-Soto-Reyes

1. Big Z
2. Lilly
3. Marquis
4. hill
5. Prior
6. Miller
7. Marshall
8. Guzman

Dempster
ryu
wood
cotts
mateo
howery
eyre
navoa
ohman
rusch
weurtz
walrond
marmol

I agree with everything on here, I love the idea of Sori in center and it looks like a winner to me.. the only person left to add is Floyd when they finalize his deal

Erstad signs with Chicago, Sox that is.

Cubs fans have been holding there breath on where the oft injured Erstad would end up and he has landed in White Sox territory, All cubs fans have to believe that the white sox did the cubs a favor, it has been rumored that he might be a cub and a stop gap for Pie but thats all dismissed today by him joining the sox pending a physical.

Alot of this has to do with Sori wanting to play center and thats why I think Erstad is not a cub, and i think i speak for all cubs fans when i say im glad to see him join the White Sox!

MY COLTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!

I HAVE BEEN A COLTS FAN ALL MY LIFE, I WENT THRU TEAMS THAT JUST WON 4 GAMES IN A SEASON, NOW I GET TO WATCH THEM IN THE SUPERBOWL!!! THE MONKEY IS OFF PEYTON'S BACK!! GO COLTS!!!

UPDATE

According to ESPNNEWS the cubs have signed Cliff Floyd this will add a power lefty to there bench and will spell Murton and Jones in the oufield.

Floyd sign by this week??

This has been rumored for a while now but it looks for sure thanks to mlbtraderumors-


I know I've used that headline at least twice before. But the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that a Cliff Floyd deal might be completed this week.
The catch was getting Alfonso Soriano to sign off on trying center field. It appears that he's willing to try it - it was revealed to the crowd at the Cubs Convention yesterday. Soriano could shift to right field in 2008 when Felix Pie is ready.
Floyd will be the fourth outfielder for the Cubs. He'd make a solid bat off the bench. Lou Piniella seems to like Matt Murton and he'll hopefully get 500 ABs.
Meanwhile, the Daily Southtown reports that Jacque Jones could still be traded if the Cubs think Pie is ready to debut in right.

This move makes so much since, now that Sori will be in center like i stated yesterday it lets them sign Floyd to a deal and insure that he can spell Murton and Jones.. It even makes it possiable to trade Jones and gamble on Pie becuase if Pie doesnt work out you have Floyd to take the position in right.. This will just improve the team more.