Offseason “Grade”
January 23, 2010 7 Comments
As another spring training approaches I start to reflect on this past season and offseason,as most fans do i suppose. Giving teams “offseason grades” seems to be a trendy thing to do every year close to spring training so i will put my spin on this. as of today i would have to give the Cubs a B -.
First off they did get the main thing they wanted to accomplish done, getting rid of Bradley. If they wouldn’t of succeeded in getting rid of him i probably would be giving them a D+. but I still think theres big holes they need to fill. first off I still think that 2nd base is a question mark. Fontenot proved last year that he can’t handle the pressure of being the starter. dont get me wrong i like Fontenot but in a bench role, not as a starter. Baker did pretty well with us last year hit .305 in 203 at bats, he might turn out to be a good starter but i think with guy like Orlando Hudson still floating out there, Baker is a big enough gray area to pass up on Hudson. yes i know money is an issue, but Hudson is a pretty durable guy and he is a great guy in the clubhouse, a good leader.
2nd i still think the bullpen is a little bit of a question mark. I’m glad to see Gregg go, he was not the answer for closer. but he was doomed,in my eyes, from the start partly because he was taking the spot of my favorite Cub of all time. his stats had declined between ’07 and ’08 and in ’08 he had 9 blown saves and an ERA of 3.41. but I’m still not sure if Marmol is the answer. i still think he has some growing to do. he is a bit to up and down for my blood pressure. one day he’s on fire the next hes hitting 3 batters and walking people. but at the end of the day i think the success of this up coming season rests on the rebound of Soto,Zambrano,Dempster, and Soriano, the health of Ramirez, and the continued good play of Lee from last season.
please leave comments on what you think, if anything, the cubs need to add or subtract to really improve the team.
…..you stay classy San Diego.
the roster just doesn’t look finished to me at this point. the team doesn’t have much depth, the starting staff looks thin, and the bullpen is just a bunch of kids. beyond that they look to be in great shape.
i give hendry an incomplete. if this is how they go to camp, i’d give him a d for the offseason. besides signing byrd all he has done this offseason is rid himse;lf of the players he added last year. yawn.
You summed up Marmol pretty well. I think Pat is going to have to use the defib on Ronnie one of these days… When ‘bad-Marmol’ is on the mound, the constant string of ‘gaaaaaahd’s coming from Santo’s mouth is amusing, but is exemplary of what we all feel.
As far as any changes, I’d like to see Nady in pinstripes. I’d feel more comfortable with him as an option to give D-Lee a day off than with the other options floating around. Hudson would make a nice addition at 2nd, but I want to see what Baker can do. Bullpen experience would be nice, but who is left?
i wouldnt mind seeing nady. i also wouldnt mind seeing Dye but he would have to take a pay cut and be willing to backup. i feel alot less confident going into this season compared to last. i have said for years that Hendry has done some good but alot of bad. i got a bad taste is my mouth, giggity, about him when he didnt resign alou in ’03 ’04. i was excited to get a big name guy like soriano but so far it has turned into a huge bust. i know he had know way of knowing but sorianos #s werent deserving of that type of money i think. the nomar trade back fired and i believe the dumbest move he has made is not resigning wood. maybe its because hes my favorite Cub but you dont come by that kind of blind loyalty like wood have in baseball these days and hes a WAY better pitcher than gregg ever thought of being and i think marmol would learn a lot if he had a few more years behind wood. i think the new owners will give him 2 more season and if they dont win or anymore of his moves turn into huge busts like so many have i think he will be gone and will be remembered for all the bad moves and not the few good ones.
i will update later with a list of possible bullpen free agents/trades i think would work out…
I sort of forgot about Moises… he put up some numbers for us. He hit in the 270-300 range…sort of a rare sight in the 2009 Cubbies lineup.
Good call…Hendry might be working on borrowed time.
This off-season is kind of mimicking the 05-06 off-season.
This team is a bit better, however.
I think we’re looking at 78-83 wins.
B- huh? Thats a little generous don’t you think? I would love for the Cubs get Orlando Cabera at shortstop, it’ll mean we’ll finally have a decent shortstop. Theriot can’t play shortstop if his life depended on it. Hudson, not so much. I just hope this isn’t the final roster going into the season or it’ll be doomed for failure. We have defensive holes up the middle, the starting pitching can’t compete in a playoff series, and our bullpen looks like it’ll be a diaster.
true. but as i post this the Cubs have reached an agreement to sign Nady to a one year deal. i feel alright with this, but he is coming of his second tommy john. but i think they chose hime cause he will be cheaper than the other ones they were looking at like Dye and im pretty sure dye was looking for more than one year. but the Nady deal is pending a physical, which isnt a gimmie so.. but i have faith in the starting rotation. if Zambrano can get back to form and “Dumpster”(as me and my dad like to call him) can get back to his ’08 form and lilly comes back and pitches like last year, and Wells keeps up the good work i think we will be very solid and the front. to add to the Hendry bashing, he paid “Dumpster” WAY to much money for one good year.
but yes i have little to no faith in the bullpen. i think they need tor eally focus on the pen and add not just one but at least 2-3 arms. the latest report is the Cubs are eying Chan ho Park who pitch decent in the postseason. im glad they didnt sign sheets for the 8mil he was asking. to much risk.
i like the-riot. he wont hit a ton of HRs but he is a scrappy guy and gets on base. Cabera would be nice then we could move the-riot to 2nd. where he played when he first got called up.