3 Young Guns

Carlos Marmol

One of the most important figures in the Chicago Cubs 2007 NL Central winning season. Marmol showed just why the Cubs are considering him as there future closer in 2007 when he struck out 96 batters in just 69.1 innings of work. Holding a 5-1 record and a 1.43 ERA it is easy to see why Cubs fans are excited by this young prospect who is just 25 years of age. Marmol was among the league leaders in stranding inherited runners. Marmol is expected to compete with Kerry Wood and Bob Howry for the closing role in 2008. With a little more experience he could be lights out, with his fast ball and ‘nasty’ slider expect similar if not improved numbers in the 2008 campaign.

Other Cubs youngsters to look out for:

Felix Pie- Ok so he has not done anything to warrant being called a hot youngster, but his potential stops me from out casting him from this article. He is a potential 5 tool man, if he wins the center field job this season I expect to see dramatically improved numbers.

Rich Hill- The number 3 man in the Cubs rotation will look to improve on his 11-8 3.92 ERA numbers from the 2007 campaign, and expect him to do just that. A 15 game winning season is not far away from happening.

Around The Horn: Cubs Outfield

Is this the position where most people are concerned? is it the fact that we have a relative rookie in right, maybe its the rookie in centre, we know we can rely on the man strolling out to left field at least. What happens if he go's down injured? does Matt Murton do the job? should we have traded Jones to the Tigers? Should we have pursued Jones to play centre? or will everything fit into place this summer?

Fukudome will start the season in right, ( The Cubs offering him position was one of the reasons why he chose us, so im not sure why people are still asking why we dont play him in centre). A man who in 2006 showed that he could bat above .350, a man who has shown that if you are going to run on him you better be Jose Reyes or Carl Crawford. How will his numbers relate from the Japanese league to the Majors?

Soriano will start the season in left. Soriano was one of the reasons why the Cubs made it to the post season last year. While his RBI's were down ( That is to be expected playing lead-off) his home run production was on the mark hitting 33 dingers. He also managed to swipe 19 bases even though he had injuries to his legs. Soriano after not wanting to switch to the outfield has established himself as a man that you DO NOT run on.

Felix Pie, that man the myth the possible legend. Pie has everything you need to be a great player, but his batting in the majors has let him down. His defense is impeccable, his range undeniable his bat debatable. He has the talent but at the moment he is not showing his attributes enough. He needs time and by starting him in centre field he will be given time. He needs to focus on his hitting this spring, try to limit his K's and expand his OBP, doing that could lead him to be the lead-off man of the future.

Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and Sam Fuld will be backing up in the outfield.

Around The Horn: 2nd Base

To start with i will only be talking about who the Cubs have, i will not go into what could happen if we dealt for Brian Roberts, as it stands our starting 2nd baseman will be Mark DeRosa.....

Was Mark DeRosa last years Cubs MVP? he would certainly get my vote. He might not have the mind bending numbers (Although there not bad) but he was the most valuable.Which other player played games at multiple positions? Which player enabled the big guys to have a day off? and which player despite all the movement posted impressive numbers?

Mark Derosa.

DeRosa in his first season with the Cubs hit a impressive .297 while belting 10 Home runs and 72 RBI's, he even popped up with a stolen base. His offensive ability's are there but his defense are there too, i remember being impressed with him at every position, whether it was in right field, or at 2nd or even 3rd he made it look easy.

Who needs Roberts when we have D-RO.

Backing Roberts up at 2nd will be Mike Fontenot, as quickly as he came in last year and tore the ball up he disappeared again. He still finished the year with a .278 average with 3 Homers and 26 RBI's as well as 5 stolen bases. I'm hoping that Mike can make a couple of appearances this season, maybe giving D-Ro a bit of time off, after last year he certainly deserves it.

Leiber= Good Move

I have to say that i was impressed with the move the Cubs made this week, it might not of been the most glamorous of moves, and it might not of made the headlines that a Roberts deal would of, but it made perfect sense.

Leiber has had problems with injury's but the majority are not arm related, meaning that since that 20 win season for the Cubs he has had no work on his arm, so the stuff is still there, it just has to be showcased. The move also gives the Cubs options:

1) They can now move Leiber into the 5th spot and return Dempster to the bullpen to act as the long man.

2) They can slot Leiber into the 4th role, leave Dempster in the 5th role and use Marquis as trade bait to fill SS/2B.

3) They can trade Dempster and keep Marquis.

4) They now have extra depth which may mean that Marshall/Gallagher would be available for any Roberts deal.

I like the move, and i expect some solid if not highlight worthy numbers from Leiber, if he gives 10-12 wins and a ERA low to Mid 4.00 i will be a happy Camper.

Cubs Sign Leiber

Just reported on ESPN Radio 1000, Cubs sign John Leiber to a 1 year 3.5 million dollar contract.

Will have my comments later on this deal................

stay tuned

WGN Cubs Preview

With less than a month before pitchers and catchers report to spring training i thought that it was only right to post WGN's Cubs season preview:

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fusea...deoid=25627483

First brought to my attention on fogpog.com (Staying True To Cubbie Blue) this is a intense movie preview esq look at the Cubs upcoming season.

Its Intense.

Hopefully you enjoy it as much as i did, and it builds up even more excitement for the upcoming season.

Introducing: Jeremy Papelbon

A Mr Jeremy Papelbon, brother of the Sox closer Johnathan Papelbon....

Now Jeremy never gets talked about, not even by Cubs fans, and i really don't understand why. Scouts don't seem to like him, fans barely notice him, in fact i was reading some Cubs fans saying that they didn't even know him.

People say he is not talked about because he is noway near as good as his brother, or that his numbers are rubbish and he will never get to the majors, and to that i just say WHAT??

The guy went 21-3 with a 1.32 ERA in high school. When he played regularly so lets leave out that ERA over 9 in his first year of college as he only played a handful of games.
Next year he made 17 appearences and went 3-3 with a 3.18 ERA holding opponents to a .268 BA.
In 2006 he appeared in 16 games and had a 5-4 record with a 2.43 ERA holding opponents to a .227 BA. He led all starters in the ASC with a 1.85 ERA and .214 opponents' batting average in conference play.

For single A Boise in the Cubs system he had 4-0 record with a 1.83 ERA holding opponents to a .182 BA, striking out 50 in 44.1 innings. That was 2006

In 2007 he was with the Chiefs with a 9-6 record with a 3.11 ERA with 99 K's in 107 innings.

He wont be as good as his brother, by any means, he is a leftie who can get people out, other people might not be looking at him but i am and i think he can make some real progress.