Cubbie Doctor's Examiner

The Braun decision, bad for baseball, but not a disaster

2012-02-23T18:20:00.000-06:00

As you all probably have heard, Ryan Braun's 50 game suspension was overturned today. A ton of data is coming about about what happen and from what we can basically tell, the arbitrator overturned the suspension on a technicality...the sample was not handled properly.

This is the first time a suspension for a violation of MLB's drug policy was overturned since testing began, and sadly, the fact this was overturned on a technicality opens the door to similar arguments being used in future cases, even when guilt is obvious.

There are a number of conspiracy theories out there about Bud Selig having orchestrated this reversal as if he some biased interest still in the Brewers. While I believe Selig does have some bias toward the Brewers, I just don't see any justification here to say that this whole thing was rigged.

From what I understand, Major League Baseball, and the Players Association had to initially hear the appeal by Braun and if there was a split in the between these two bodies on how to rule, a third party came in to decide on it...which is what happened here. We know that Major League Baseball, of course, wanted to uphold the initial decision. The Players Association wanted the suspension overturned. If Major League Baseball, and Bud Selig, wanted this ruling overturned, a third party would never have been involved...a third party they would have no control over.

It appears Major League Baseball and the commissioner's office are furious over this decision and they should. Their system, which had a perfect record to this point, is now fallible.

At the same time, we should keep things in perspective here. This was a single ruling made by an arbitrator who will likely never have to rule on another baseball drug suspension again. Would a different arbitrator have ruled to uphold the suspension? Possibly. It's hard to say without some more information.

Baseball has an opportunity now to try to correct the problem, though. The Braun sample that tested positive was handled improperly. Did that affect the results? It's doubtful. The important thing is for baseball to ensure that these samples are handled properly in the future. If another test is to be challenged, this argument should not be able to be made again to overturn it. If it does happen again and another suspension is overturned because of the improper handling of the sample, then it is Major League Baseball's fault and Bud Selig along with others in the executive office for baseball should be put to blame.

Let's face it, people have been cheating the system since it was implemented, and over time, the system has improved to make it harder to cheat it. It's an evolving process and now because of this ruling, it must evolve again.

Could the ruling open the door to having more players using PEDs? Possibly, but if the system continues to evolve and correct the problems it has, the rise in use will be short lived as a couple more high profile players get caught and suspended.

Look, this is undoubtedly a black eye for baseball. Braun, the league MVP, most likely took a banned substance.

But this isn't the disaster the some people would have you believe.

Chris Carpenter for Theo? That's a good deal.

2012-02-21T10:46:00.000-06:00

The Cubs have finally announced the compensation deal for stealing Theo Epstein today. Cubs minor league fireballer, Chris Carpenter, will be heading to the Red Sox along with a player to be named later. The Cubs are to receive a player to be named later as well.

A lot of people really like Carpenter. He wowed many of us last year by hitting triple digits on a number of occasions in his few appearances with the Cubs last season.

For a while, the Cubs tried to use Carpenter as a starting pitcher, but moved him back to the bullpen last year. He's a great talent that may pan out to be a big league closer some day if he is able to find some control on that fastball.

In the end, the Cubs had to give up a minor league relief pitcher to get Theo. That's a damn good deal. No starting pitcher or position player and no top of the line prospect...there should be no reason to complain about that.

Dynamic Pricing has arrived

2012-02-21T08:22:00.001-06:00

About a year and a half ago, I mentioned that a number of teams were beginning to institute a relatively new concept of "dynamic pricing". Simply put, dynamic pricing is a way for teams to eat into secondary ticket market sales to their advantage.

In Crain's Chicago Business yesterday, Danny Ecker wrote that the Cubs intend to implement dynamic pricing on the bleacher seats for the 2012 season. This likely will be extended to the rest of the seats at Wrigley at some later date.

What is dynamic pricing? It's a way for a team to alter the price of currently available tickets over time based on demand for those tickets. So let's say that you want tickets to the Cubs-Red Sox series, instead of having a flat price of say $75 a ticket, the price will go up (with a likely cap of say $150) based on how many tickets the Cubs still have available and how fast they sell. For a game against the Astros in the middle of April that would have had a flat price of $20, the Cubs could drop the price of that ticket to as low at $5 a seat in efforts to try to sell it and to compete with tickets that are available on sites such as StubHub.

At the high end, the Cubs will be able to make more money off of ticket that are in high demand, and at the low end, the Cubs will be able to sell cheap ticket adding to the overall gate receipts.

The Giants, Cardinals and White Sox all have used dynamic pricing over the last few years and many other teams are starting to pick up on this. It is a way of adding to the revenue stream (while taking away revenue from places like StubHub and ticket brokers). For the Cubs not to do this is a mistake, leaving added revenue on the table that other teams may be able to pick up on.

If I were a still season ticket holder, I'd be a bit upset with this development as it would make it more difficult for me to sell tickets to games I couldn't go to. In the past, owning season tickets, for me and many others, was a profit making opportunity. I was able to usually make back the money I paid for the tickets just by selling about 1/2 of my package during the year.

However, that wasn't the case over the last 2 seasons. The number of no-shows at Wrigley has skyrocketed due to a combination of performance and a bad economy, and people have been able to get tickets to some of the less desirable games for just a few dollars on StubHub while the Cubs end up with tickets unsold at $40 a piece. This will now make those unsold tickets competitive with the tickets available on StubHub.

MLB has partnered with a company called QCue to offer this service to any team that wants to use it.

If you want a more detailed description of dynamic pricing, see the post I made on the subject last year.

Marmol and cut fastballs

2012-02-20T12:42:00.000-06:00

The revelation yesterday from Dale Sveum that Carlos Marmol was throwing a cut fastball last year has surprised people quite a bit over the last couple days.

Most people are coming out today and stating that they had no idea that Marmol was actually trying to throw a cut-fastball last year. Why? Well, because of Marmol's arm angle, a cut fast ball would look very much like a faster, flatter slider.

Do the facts support this? Well, Fangraphs has Marmol's velocity on his slider, overall, to be a fraction bit lower than it was in 2010. In fact, Marmol's slider was the slowest it has been since the 2008 season. At the same time, Marmol's pitches did flatten out and Fangraphs does show some support to that, but the number really aren't the far off his career averages.

Overall, I don't think we can say that his slider was being confused, at least by Fangraphs, with a cut fastball. However, if we look at his fastball, he did lose significant velocity last year. Marmol was down almost 2.5 mph on his fastball last year. That's pretty substantial and is far below his career numbers.

Marmol may have had some problems with his elbow (which has been hinted at by some) or maybe he was throwing a cut fastball occasionally, which tends to be 2 to 5 mph slower than a straight fastball. If cut fastballs were mixed in, we should see a high range of velocity on his fastball last year. Stats don't really show that. Marmols overall velocity range on his fastball didn't really change, and the upper limit on his fastball velocity appears to be down about the same amount as his average...2.5 mph.

His fastball, unlike his slider, also showed a little more movement, but that might just be accounted for by the loss of velocity.

To see the charts...go to Fangraphs:
http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfx.aspx?playerid=2790&position=P#type
http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfxo.aspx?playerid=2790&position=P&pitch=SL
http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfxo.aspx?playerid=2790&position=P&pitch=FA

People have been surprised to hear about Marmol's cutter and I heard Len Kasper today say that it seemed more that Marmol was trying to overthrow his slider. Evidence shows differently. To overthrow, you would have expected his slider velocity to have increased. It didn't. He lost some movement on this slider and he lost velocity on his fastball. It's as simple as that.

Overall, I don't see much of any evidence that Marmol was throwing a cut fastball with any regularity. He very well may have been toying with it, and occasionally used it in a game, but the evidence suggests that he simply wasn't as good last year due to some other issue.

I've said for a while that I felt that Marmol, who has always been a bit of a sidearmer, was throwing at a slightly lower arm angle last year. That tends to flatten out his pitches, which is what we saw on his slider. Overall, I don't know the technical details on how it would affect fastball velocity, but the lower arm slot could also have affected that as well.

Marmol simply wasn't the lights out closer we expected him to be last year. Mentally he might not have been right as he may have been trying to add another pitch. Physically he might not have been right as some of us believe he will eventually have some elbow problems with all the sliders he throws.

So, it would appear to me that Marmol, at least in games, didn't throw a cut fastball with any regularity. So what is this all about?

It's about the disaster that was the 2011 Cubs coaching staff. Marmol was obviously toying this cut-fastball idea. Dale Sveum didn't just decide to make this up. We'll probably never know if this was done with or without the blessing of former pitching coach Mark Riggins or not, but there obviously was some toying with Marmol. If it was from Marmol himself, that means that the clueless coaching staff from last season really didn't have much control over its players. If it was Mark Riggins who was pushing this, then you have to wonder why he thought Marmol needed to add that third pitch. Marmol didn't need any help and will, for at least a next several years, only need a fastball/slider combination to be effective as a closer.

Overall, the Marmol cut fastball doesn't affect anything. It tells us something that we probably already knew...the coaching staff last year was not very good. Hopefully, Chris Bosio and Dale Sveum will be better, and so far, with just a few words, they seem to be.

Pitchers and Catchers report...time to start playing the blues

2012-02-18T07:51:00.002-06:00

Not much to say...pitchers and catcher report today. The first workout is tomorrow afternoon.

For me, and many others, baseball season has officially begun. So, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Goodman:

The Cubs aren’t playing on the south-side in 2013…but they should in 2014

2012-02-14T21:58:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in my post earlier today, the rumors about the Cubs potentially playing their home game at U.S. Cellular Field in 2013 are completely baseless and just a flat out fabrication.

It’s unbelievable that a responsible news agency like this (no, I’m not posting a link to the story) could post whispers that probably were overheard at a bar in Wrigleyville.

If the Cubs were going to play outside of Wrigley Field, in 2013, a number of things would have had to happen by now.

First off, finalized blueprints would have been released and we would have had some updated renderings. Remember, if this were true, major work on the ballpark would be starting in about 8 months in either October or November. Site preparation would probably already be going on.

Second, the Cubs would have felt obligated to inform season ticket holders of the potential change coming for the 2013 season…and even more importantly, the would have informed people who have been given the opportunity to purchase season tickets for the first time that they will only be at Wrigley for one season before spending a year at the Cell. It would be smart for the Cubs to offer these people a delay in the decision until after the renovations keeping them at the top season ticket waiting list queue.

Third, the Cubs still don’t have financing in place to pay for these renovations and no signs that significant progress has been made to secure that financing.

Fourth, the Ricketts family has not made even the slightest indication that this drastic option is on the table right now. Of everything that Ricketts have been asked about, the idea of movie the team out of Wrigley for a year has been turned down by the Ricketts as strongly as the idea of tearing down the ballpark and building a new one somewhere else.

Finally, the city would need to approve this renovation, and when the time comes for the major rehab to happen, you can bet it will take months of wrangling before everyone in the Wrigleyville neighborhood and the city in general will be happy with the plans to update the stadium. This quite frankly can't get done before work were to begin at the end of the 2012 season.

So with that all said, lets start getting to some hypotheticals here. Should the Cubs consider moving out of Wrigley for a year? Possibly in 2014? It’s not going to happen, but I think they should consider it and actually do it.

(Warning: Doc is going into one of his semi-annual "Wrigley Field is a dump" rants.)

Wrigley Field is a dump. I know a number of people can’t stand it when I say that, but it’s the truth. I’ve heard this from many people now: you can go to just about any other ballpark now and sit in the worst seats at those ballparks and those seats will still be better than the best seats at Wrigley. It’s cramped. It smells. The food sucks. And for the players, it doesn’t have the amenities that most AAA minor league parks now have.

The idea of a patchwork approach to renovations where some larger changes happen during the off-season while minor fixes occur while the Cubs are on road trips just doesn’t seem like it would be enough.

One plan has the Cubs have thrown out there involves digging out deep underneath the stadium to build the new clubhouse facilities. Someone has to explain to me how that can be done in a single offseason…especially considering that it will require the Cubs to replace the field again…a task that took a number of months back after the 2007 season. You can’t re-sod the entire field a few weeks before the season starts in a climate like Chicago. This just doesn't seem plausible right now.

Piecemeal renovations will give us updates more similar to the clubhouse renovation in 1982, the pressbox/skybox addition in 1988-1989 or the bleacher expansion in 2006. Doing something like this is simply not big enough. The main grandstand needs to go through a major restructuring. In fact, some consideration should be put in to completely rebuild the upper deck, which currently contains the oldest concrete in the entire ballpark.

Now I’m not an architect or in the construction business, so maybe there is a way to do these major renovations I'm suggesting without closing the park down for an entire year. The Marlins played at ProPlayer/Dolphin/JoeRobbie Stadium during major renovations, as did the Royals when Kaufman when under its facelift. The Royals and Marlins, though, never had to deal with crowds of 40,000 on a daily basis. In fact, the Royals closed off parts of their ballpark during the season. The Cubs probably couldn't do the same.

Of course the Red Sox played at Fenway during its decade long makeover, most almost all that work was done during the off-season. I was at Fenway before it underwent its renovation (1996)…and I knew it was in desperate need for some work. For most of the ‘00s, Fenway underwent a series of minor fix-ups and expansions that have now kept that ballpark viable for the foreseeable future. Even with all this work, all the Red Sox did was make Fenway "viable". Fenway is still cramped and missing some more modern amenities. It's also likely to need renovations again in 10 years.

I'd like to see the Cubs do better. Make Wrigley comfortable for 40,000 people just like any new ballpark. While Wrigley can "seat" 40,000, it wasn't designed to comfortably hold 40,000 on a daily basis. Add more aisles, expand the concourses, widen the seats, add leg room and add more bathrooms. I'd like to see it made into one of the best ballparks in baseball, in every respect, not just making it a viable Major League park. I don't want the Cubs to have to consider having to do more massive renovations again just ten years after these renovations are complete.

It would seem to me that most of this cannot be done with a series of minor renovations. It requires the ripping out of much of the concrete and redesigning the overall structure of the grandstand. Will this help the Cubs win games? Not directly...but if last season taught us anything, it's that Cubs fans will not blindly go to Wrigley anymore. Make the place comfortable and fan friendly for fans whether or not the team is good and whether or not the weather is cold like in April. That adds to revenues.

Last season the Brewers out drew the Cubs while in the smallest market in baseball. The amount that they outdrew the Cubs was only 50,000 or so...but if Major League Baseball actually published the number of people that actually came into the ballpark, the Brewers vastly outdrew the Cubs last year. The no-shows at Wrigley last year were possibly the greatest they've ever been in the history of the franchise. While the Cubs still get money from the ticket sales, no shows represent a loss of revenue. Surely a team in Chicago should out do Milwaukee in both ticket sales and actual attendance almost every year regardless of performance on the field. A major renovation of Wrigley could help achieve that.

Ideally, the Cubs would keep the bleachers and center field scoreboard, and completely gut and rebuild the rest of the ballpark. The reality is, the main grandstand isn't what makes Wrigley the ballpark that everyone loves. It's the ivy, the scoreboard, the brick walls, the bleachers, and perhaps the goofy neon red sign at the corner of Clark and Addison. The rest of the ballpark could be replaced and it wouldn't make any difference.

To go to this extreme, the team would need to move out for a year...plain and simple.

As I said...this is all hypothetical. The Ricketts family isn't interested in doing something to this extreme. It's been said that the Tribune actually was considering doing this when they tried to sell the ballpark to the state back in 2007 and 2008.

I know this is an old argument...you can go through the CDE archives and see numerous posts where I bitch about Wrigley Field. I can only hope that the renovations that are being planned are more massive and have a more drastic effect than I suspect they will.

Soler Wind

2012-02-14T09:14:00.001-06:00

Cubs rumors are flying all over the place over the last 24 hours.

The rumor most likely to have an impact on the team is the expected signing of Jorge Soler to a rather big contract…but I’ll come back to that in a second.

An interesting yet unfounded rumor circulated on the internet last night involving the renovations at Wrigley. NBC 5 reported that there may be a possibility that the Cubs are looking to possibly expand initial renovation plans and are maybe looking to find a place to possibly play their home games outside of Wrigley Field in 2013 and possibly could be preparing for the possibility of possibly playing their games at US Cellular Field.

If you didn’t notice, I don’t think there is anything grain of truth about this. In fact, the report, which I’m not even going to link, is so full of unreferenced rumors, speculation and flat out guesses that it isn’t really worth taking too seriously.

That being said, if the Ricketts family were to take such a dramatic step, I would fully support it. This would signal that a more piecemeal approach would not be an effective way of truly modernizing the ballpark. Unfortunately, the Ricketts family has never even given a hint of a possibility that this could happen.

I’ll write more about this at a later date.

The bigger, and possibly more truthful news, is that Dave van Dyke of the Tribune reported last night that the Cubs are on the verge of signing Jorge Soler and that his sources claim that the Cub are offering him a whopping 3 to 4 years at $27.5 million.

Most people are fairly convinced that van Dyke’s story is true, but reading it closely, I’m not sure that it really offers any more information that we had from previous days. Don’t get me wrong…I believe the Cubs are going in big on Soler and that they will eventually get him. The contract numbers are what are a bit mind-boggling right now. At the same time, other members of the media are starting to hint that van Dyke’s story is, in fact, correct.

While scouting reports are lacking on Soler, it is commonly accepted that this kid, who is only 19 years old, is still 2 to 3 (maybe more) years away from being ready for the big leagues. A 3 to 4 year contract would probably gain the Cubs only 1 year of Soler’s services at the big league level…but the Cubs would still have 2 to 3 years of control on him after that contract is over, so there is no reason to worry that he’d be a free agent and leave just as he’s coming into his own, if he is indeed a good player.

I’ve felt a 6 year $20 deal for the kid would be about the max the Cubs should go. According to this report, they may feel differently. They have already (and still unofficially) signed Gerardo Concepcion for $8 million. If both of these reports are true, we are seeing an interesting strategy unfolding with the Cubs right now.

With Theo on board, the Cubs were looking to start spending heavily on player development and try to spend big on the draft. In fact, the Cubs had already started to move in that direction during the 2011 draft paying pretty big dollars on players. It’s a strategy that high revenue teams use to make their draft much more effective even though they may not have any of the top draft positions. That strategy becomes much more difficult now with the new collective bargaining agreement where hard slotting will be enforced. Overpaying for players who were drafted higher than they should have been will be punished now.

So with the new CBA, it appears a new wind is blowing now and these Cuban players maybe showing us how the Cubs plan to change how they bring talent in.

International players, like Concepcion and Soler, don’t have to go through the same drafting process as American players. So instead of possibly overpaying players in the draft, which the Cubs can’t really do anymore, the Cubs are going to overpay for international players. It started with Concepcion and will also occur with Soler, assuming the Cubs do have a deal in place with him.

This really isn’t anything new. Teams have been overpaying for foreign players for years, but with the new draft rules in place, this sort of strategy is going to expand and it is a good thing the Cubs are spending money in this way. It is still cheaper than blowing money on 32 year old free agents.

Unfortunately, this strategy won’t be available to be used forever. One of Bud Selig’s remaining pet projects is to create an international draft that will likely have some of the same rules as the American amateur draft does. It will give each team an equal chance at signing these international players, and it will probably enforce a slotting system to prevent teams from overpaying.

When this happens, the Cubs will need to employ a new strategy to gain an advantage. But for now, enjoy the fact that the Cubs are overspending on these international prospects. This is a good way of building up the farm system and its still cheaper than overpaying for free agents.

Will Soler become too expensive?

2012-02-11T20:27:00.001-06:00

With the Marlins supposedly offering Yoenis Cespedes a contract (and rumor has it they've offered him $40 million for 6 years), it might be just a matter a days before he is off the market.

When that happens, attention will the move to the other Cuban outfielder that has caught the eye of many major league teams, Jorge Soler.

I've gone on record as saying that the Cubs should focus more on signing Soler than Cespedes, which is not a unique opinion. Many other experts and bloggers feel the same way. We are under the assumption that Soler will be significantly cheaper, but is that really going to be true with a kid that is going to be in the minor leagues for the next 3 or more years?

Soler is only 19 years old. More than that, though. There is no solid scouting report on the kid. He's tall and lanky from the photos we've seen of him. He's got a long, loopy swing according to reports from the handful of people who have actually seen the kid play. He's got a good arm and currently has above average speed. Almost everyone has seen Cespedes hit and we know of his insane leg strength thanks to his promotional video but there is literally no video of Soler playing.

What we do know is that most scouts see Soler as having a high ceiling. Some argue whether or not it is as high as Cespedes, but Soler's age gives a team the opportunity to find out without spending as much money.

Many teams, and Cespedes himself, believe that Cespedes is major league ready right now or at least very near it. As a result, a team like the Marlins or the Nationals may be looking to make the big plunge and sign the kid for as much as $50 million and using him has a way of competing immediately in their division. Soler does not give a team that potential right now.

So we then get to the point of this post. Who is interested in Soler and what will they pay for him? Obviously we all believe the Cubs are very interested. The Red Sox have expressed an interest as have the Orioles, Nationals, White Sox and even the A's.

This kid is going to have a lot of suitors...perhaps more than Cespedes has had. If Cespedes signs before Soler (which appears likely right now), the cost to sign this 19 year old might blow up significantly...perhaps north of $20 million.

The Cubs do have $20 million to spend, but would it be worth it? Soler is probably going to spend the better part of the next 3 years in the minor leagues, if not longer. The Red Sox, White Sox and Orioles are all teams that potentially are willing to spend big on talent that won't be available for that many years...the Red Sox because they are always looking toward the future and the other teams because they are in major rebuilding projects like the Cubs. In fact, the White Sox might have the biggest reason to sign Soler since their farm system is currently ranked near or at the bottom by most experts right now.

So what should the Cubs do if the price of Solor does push past $20 million? They are rumored to have already spent $7 to $8 million on Gerardo Concepcion, who didn't have nearly the buzz that Soler does. A number of scouts have projected Concepcion out as only a #4 or #5 starter. Both players are the same age and it might take them both just as long to get to the big leagues.

As I said before, the Cubs do have the money. The 2012 payroll is going to be down significantly from last year. I felt the rumored offer to Concepcion was a bit much, but if this is the direction the Cubs are willing to take, I say that $20+ million for Soler is worth the risk. With Brett Jackson projected as the future center fielder, adding Soler as the 2014 or 2015 left or right fielder seems like a pretty good option.

Watch for more scouting reports on Soler to be posted over the next few weeks. As I mentioned, there isn't much solid information about him compared to what we know about Cespedes. When those reports come out, we can better judge if the escalating price for this kid is worth the risk.

Cespedes seems to like Miami...a lot.

2012-02-09T09:22:00.002-06:00

Yoenis Cespedes met with officials of the Miami Marlins yesterday and got a tour of their new ballpark.

At this point, he doesn't appear to have any plans to meet with the Cubs (though that can't be confirmed)...but the more interesting thing is what Cespedes told reporters yesterday.

A few weeks ago, there was a report from CBS sports that said that Cespedes did not want to play in Miami. I said straight up that I thought this was complete BS. It was a poor piece of reporting from CBS sports that used third hand speculation.

Cespedes has told other teams that he would prefer not to play in Miami. He plans to make his home in the Dominican, rather than in Florida, and may believe that the huge Cuban community in South Florida would add too much pressure and too many distractions.

If you've seen the promotional video for Cespedes, I think it can be assumed that distractions are probably not something he'll have too much of a problem with. This is a kid with a ton of confidence in his abilities and appears to be an extremely hard worker. So yesterday Cespedes said quite the opposite of that report:

"It would be good (to play here). There are a lot of Cubans and they would support me a lot. Hopefully I can play for the Marlins."

Now this is Cespedes's first recruiting visit, so it is probably too early to read a ton into this statement, but the idea that he flat out does not want to play in Miami is just wrong. He's going to go where he can best display his talents and get the best offer. The Marlins are likely to step up here and make a serious stab at getting this kid and with Ozzie Guillen managing the team, he'll have someone that can help mentor him and adapt to living in this country (and teach him all the nuances of Twitter).

It is still possible that this Cuban defector will go somewhere else. He will undoubtedly get offers from several other teams and possibly even the Cubs. It is even possible that his statements yesterday we just a ploy to get other teams to up their offers, though this seems unlikely given Cespedes's inexperience with our culture, language and media.

The idea of Cespedes coming to a frozen Wrigley Field this April just doesn't seem likely with what some of these other teams can offer. Cespedes will be quickly thrown into a pressure cooker somewhere and he'll probably want to take some comfort in his overall surroundings and the Cubs probably can't provide that at the moment. But the Cubs have signed 3 other Cuban players this off-season. The difference, thought, is that that these players will not be big league ready for a number of years yet (though the Cubs might be thinking differently with Gerardo Concepcion), so they will have time to develop and adapt to life here.

Obviously, I still feel the Cubs are not a likely destination for Cespedes and (as I've said before) I'm fine with that. And with what we saw with his first visit to a potential suitor, any other team that is interested in him might have a hard sell.

Of course, I'm not sure any player would want to play in a stadium with this thing in the outfield...

So for those of you who want to see Cespedes in a Cubs uniform, there is still hope.

Add Cardenas...subtract DeWitt

2012-02-06T16:43:00.002-06:00

Blake DeWitt has been designated for assignment today.

Not a Cub.

Why?

I'm not positive, but it could be because the Cubs claimed former Phillies and A's minor leaguer, Adrian Cardenas, off of waivers today.

Is a Cub. (Tuck in your shirt, kid!)

DeWitt came to the Cubs in the trade of Ryan Theriot and Ted Lilly.

In the end, the Cubs really got very little out of that trade, which is too bad.

Cardenas was once regarded as a pretty good prospect in the A's system, after he was drafted by the Phillies as a compensation pick in the first round in 2006.

Ranked in the top 100 prospects in 2008 and 2009, the last two years Cardenas has stalled out in AAA. He's 24 years old and has played 2nd base, 3rd base and shortstop.

He does not have much power, but he does seem to hit for average, makes contact and takes a walk every once in a while. He batted .314 with a .791 OPS last season. He stole a few bases and hit 5 homers.

As Cardenas is an infielder like DeWitt, this again is another situation where the Cubs make a trade off to get someone younger with more years of control.

No hearing for Garza.

2012-02-03T09:20:00.003-06:00

The Cubs avoided going to an arbitration hearing with Matt Garza today by agreeing to a $9.5 million deal for the 2012 season.

The difference between the numbers exchanged last month was rather large, but the Cubs worked out a deal a the lower end of that range. Garza asked for $12.5 while the Cubs offered $7.95.

The Cubs come out winners with this. Garza is still relatively affordable if they choose to trade him, but I think the more likely thing is that they will start to work on a 2 or 3 year contract extension to keep him with the Cubs for a while and buy up his first year or two of free agency.

So, Ryan Theriot still remains the only Cub to have gone to an arbitration hearing since the stone age. What a jerk.

(UPDATED) Cubs sign another Cuban, and are building him a place to train.

2012-02-02T18:26:00.002-06:00

The Cubs signed their 3rd Cuban defector of the off-season today...no, not Yoennis Cespedes.

Gerardo Concepcion, an 19 year old left handed pitcher, was signed to an undisclosed contract, though some people believe it is in the multi-million dollar range.

Concepcion had a 3.36 ERA last season in the Cuban League. He has a low 90's fastball and an above average curveball according to scouts. He's tall and relatively thin, but at only 19 years old, will likely fill out a bit more over the next few years. He doesn't strikeout many batters and walks a few more than I think we'd like to see. Obviously, Concepcion has a few years before he would even be considered to be ready for Major League hitters. I expect him to start the year in high-A ball.

Overall, this is another solid signing by the Cubs. It continues to add depth to the farm system. With Yasiel Balaguert and Carlos Martinez, the Cubs are making significant strides at improving their presence in Latin America.

The Cubs are holding their quarterly organizational meetings this week and unveiled renderings of there new 50 acre baseball academy which will be build in the Dominican Republic.

(To read about it and see the renderings, go here.)

Honestly, this place looks great, and appears to be nicer than the team's current spring training facilities in Mesa. The academy is intended to operate year round and will contain facilities for the organization's Latin players to train at in the off-season.

So now we wait to see if the Cubs sign Cespedes or Jorge Soler, the two top Cuban players who remain available.

**************

Update:

It has been said on Twitter by Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, Concepcion was signed to a $7 million major league contract.

I find this quite hard to believe as Concepcion has yet to face any major league hitting and is only 19 years old. It would also mean that he would be placed on the 40 man roster.

I believe Rojas is incorrect on this. We don't know how much the contract is for, but it is possible, if not likely that the $7 million number is actually a majority of a signing bonus. I don't see any reason to think Concepcion will be given a major league contract at this point.

Insert Hendry joke here __________

2012-01-31T19:18:00.002-06:00

The Yankees hired Jim Hendry as special assistant to GM Brian Cashman and special assignment scout.

This obviously has spun off a ton of smart ass comments...so here are a few:

Jim Hendry has been named Executive VP of Doughnut Operations of the Yankees.
Yankees hope to lure Alfonso Soriano home.
Jim Hendry: Assistant to the Traveling Secretary.
Yankees continue to pluck former Cubs to create a culture of losing.
A-Rod signs contract extension for $300 million through the year 2042.
Hendry looks to reunite Aaron Miles, Milton Bradley and Jason Marquis in New York.
Yankees look to re-sign Jorge Posada to a backloaded, 8 year contract.
Restaurants in the Bronx rejoice!
Constantly winning is boring.
Cubs fans eagerly wait news of Crane Kenney joining the Yankees.
Yankees look to rework all contracts to include no-trade clauses.
The Yankees actually hired Hendry 4 months ago, but kept it a secret.
The Yankees decide to start ignoring all advanced statistics.
George Costanza has finally been replaced.
The job of Jim Hendry's dream. Unlimited money to spend!
This is the compensation to the Red Sox for Theo Epstein.

And the jokes keep coming.

Do you have any to add?

Some thoughts on the Theo compensation

2012-01-31T09:29:00.001-06:00

We should expect Bud Selig (or Bid Selif if you are theChicago Tribune) to rule on the compensation package that the Cubs will have to surrender for ‘stealing’ Theo Epstein from the Red Sox.

Currently the thought is that the Cubs will have to give up a top prospect with Trey McNutt or Josh Vitters as possible targets.

The truth is I’m not sure if anyone really does know how Selig will rule on this. In fact, there are a number of facts that on both sides of this issue that could be used to support a substantial compensation and to support very little compensation.

Why the Cubs will pay substantial compensation:

Recently, precedent with the Ozzie Guillen compensation between the White Sox and Marlins was relatively substantial…two higher prospects.
Bud Selig will likely want to try to make a statement that top executives under contract can’t just hope from one organization to another.
Theo Epstein’s overall stature in the baseball community. He’s regarded as one of the top baseball executives.
Red Sox owner John Henry and Bud Selig are good buddies and Selig has done a number of favors for Henry topped off by letting him sell the Marlins to another owner (orphaning the Expos) and letting him purchase the Red Sox even as other bidders offered more money.

Why the Cubs will not pay substantial compensation:

In 1994 the Cubs only had to give up 2 low level prospects to take Andy McPhail away from the Twins. MacPhail was the Twins GM and he was promoted to team President when he joined the Cubs…similar to the situation with Theo.
Theo was promoted in the process of going to the Cubs. For the most part, teams in baseball (and most other sports) will not require significant compensation when a guy leaves to take a job with a higher title.
Theo was going to leave after the 2012 season and might have even resigned his position before the 2012 season since much of the rest of the Red Sox organization was in a time of transition.
There isn’t a large problem with team executives bolting from one organization to another. There is no reason to do anything drastic here to try to prevent a problem from growing.
It’s not good business practice for baseball to try to prevent an executive from taking a job with more responsibility or getting a promotion.
While Guillen did get the White Sox a good haul, the job with the Marlins wasn’t a promotion for Guillen. He has the same job now as he did with the White Sox.

My gut feeling on the matter is that the Cubs will likely give up Trey McNutt in the deal. The Red Sox have made it known they want pitching and initially wanted Matt Garza as compensation. McNutt is the best pitching prospect in the Cubs system right now and I expect Selig will favor the Red Sox a bit more in this deal just because of his previous dealings with John Henry.

Expect a ruling on this before the end of the week.

Cespedes...or spend less

2012-01-26T11:13:00.000-06:00

Yoenis Cespedes is officially a free agent. The much ballyhooed 26 year old Cuban defector is now currently the biggest name on the free agent market, and the Cubs are supposedly his top suitor.

My initial reaction to the idea of getting Cespedes has been negative. It just seems that most of the highly praised “mature” players who have come from other countries (and played professionally in those other countries) have never quite lived up to expectations at the Major League level.

Nothing in what I have read about Cespedes has convinced me of anything different. Cespedes’s stats in the Cuban league are close to video game levels. Last year he batted .333 with an OPS that approached 1.100. He also had 33 home runs and 99 RBI in only 90 games.

He’s a very good defender with an above average arm in the outfield. He is supposedly patient at the plate. He’s built like a fullback (could the Bears use him?) but has some pretty good speed. If you add it all together, he is the clichéd “5 tool” athlete.

So what’s the down side here? A couple of things…

First off, his experience is in the Cuban League, which most experts say is the equivalent of single-A minor league ball. So as a 25 year old, he played in single-A ball, putting him behind the development of most other minor league players. It’s difficult to say how Cespedes’s number will translate to the big leagues, but potentially he could be a .290 hitter hitting about 15 to 20 homers a season. That makes him look an awful lot like Marlon Byrd.

Second, his price, for someone that has only proven his success at a single-A level, is going to be extremely high. Two years ago, the Reds took a chance on Aroldis Chapman and paid him $30 million for 6 years. A good percentage of that is in a signing bonus, but still it is about $5 million a year. So far Chapman has been nothing more than a setup man for the Reds, though they may try to make him a starter again. His control has been a bit iffy and has started to show some injury problems. I bring up Chapman because it is assumed that Cespedes will sign for significantly more. My guess is that he might sign for 5 to 6 years at $40 to $50 million. That’s a bit frightening.

For me, I just don’t see the benefit for the Cubs to sign a player like Cespedes at the moment. It is assumed that after a brief stint in the minor leagues, he would be playing at the major league level. But at 26 years old, the Cubs will have to pay a high price to a player who technically should be reaching his prime but has never played higher than single-A ball. At the same time, Cespedes would be hitting his prime as the Cubs are in the middle of a rebuilding process. Cespedes should be a player who you are using to potentially push a team over the top to a division title or something of that sort.

While the Japanese leagues are better than the Cuban league, I look at signing Cespedes in a similar way to the signing of Kosuke Fukudome. The Cubs were coming off a division title in 2007 and looked to Fukudome to fill a hole to help maintain that success. They could afford to do that coming off a division title. The Cubs would have still been favored to win the NL Central in 2008 even if they had not signed Fukudome. Cespedes should be looked at in a similar fashion. Yes, he’s a bit younger, and a little less experienced, but he is likely to be looked at to make a contribution to the big league level in very short order.

The Cubs don’t need that right now. They are looking to develop talent. They should be looking at younger players who will spend a little more time in the minor leagues, and will be less of a financial hit than Cespedes will be. In fact, there is another Cuban defector, Jorge Soler, who is only 19 and has some of the same skills that Cespedes and will be a free agent soon as well. This might be a better alternative.

So far this offseason, the Cubs have acquired 2 types of players, mid-level veterans as place holders and younger prospects with many years of team control that they hope to develop. Cespedes really doesn’t fit under either of these categories. Soler does. Consistency would say that the Cubs would make a significant effort to sign Soler and save the money they could have spent on Cespedes to use in bolstering up player development and scouting other players. (But how the Cubs actually allocate all that money is a mystery.)

The power and overall stills that Cespedes has really is quite attractive and in years past should have made the Cubs and all of us fans drool. Things are different now and while it is a time for taking risks on prospects, paying $40 to $50 million for Cespedes doesn’t seem quite right when there are many other cheaper prospects that the Cubs could take a risk on.

Prince is a Tiger

2012-01-24T21:02:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post...

Prince Fielder is going to sign with the Tigers.

Contract, 9 years and $214 million.

Scott Boras is a genius.

Prince in a Cubs uniform? Not a chance.

In the end, even though this contract will become a nightmare for Tigers in about 5 years, I still think this is a great signing for them. With the their lineup and pitching, the Tigers will likely be the favorites to win the AL Central for the next 4 years. That gives them plenty of chances to win it all. That will make this contract worth it.

For the Cubs, they may not have added anything significant pieces this off-season, but the subtraction of Fielder and Pujols in the NL Central is a very good thing.

So, Prince is a Tiger...

Cubs unveil revised party deck plans

2012-01-24T08:45:00.001-06:00

Today the Cubs unveiled revised plans for the party deck in right field.

After receiving almost unanimous support for the original plans, the Cubs have now submitted an even more ambitious plan to enhance the ballpark.

"We decided that, after evaluating what other teams have done and been successful with, we will try to do our own take on those successful ideas," said Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations.

One of the original criticisms of the original plans for the party deck was that is appeared to be designed after the seats on top of the Green Monster at Boston's Fenway Park. The plans unveiled today will likely amplify those thoughts:

When asked whether the new expanded plans were a direct rip off of the Boston landmark, Kenney said, "No, not in any way. First off, all of our renovations are in right field, and everyone knows that the Green Monster in Boston is in left field."

Local Cubs fan and Wrigleyville resident, Kyle Hetherstad, was critical of the change, "You can tell that Theo Epstein has had tremendous influence over these new plans. How are people from the 'L' tracks supposed to see into the ballpark now? What's next? Clam chowder with your bison dogs?"

Kenney stated, when asked about Epstein's input, "We had some discussions with Theo, but he's been more involved in Yawkey Way duplica...um...oops...I mean triangle building."

The cost of one of the new party deck tickets is targeted to be around $400 each. "At that price, any fan will be able to afford to get some of the best seats at Wrigley."

Kenney finished the unveiling of the plans by stating that the Cubs hope to have the changes complete by opening day. "It will really enhance the fan experience at Wrigley and we are excited to get these new seats in place."

Money to spend

2012-01-17T22:27:00.000-06:00

It's time to look at the Cubs payroll now that they've pretty much settled contracts with most of the arbitration eligible players.

Let's first look at the players under contracts:

Alfonso Soriano	$18,000,000
Marlon Byrd	$6,500,000
Reed Johnson	$1,150,000
David DeJesus	$4,250,000
Ian Stewart	$2,237,000
Jeff Baker	$1,375,000
Blake DeWitt	$1,100,000
Geovany Soto	$4,300,000
Ryan Dempster	$14,000,000
Randy Wells	$2,705,000
Paul Maholm	$4,750,000
Carlos Marmol	$7,000,000
Kerry Wood	$3,000,000
Jeff Samardzija	$2,240,000
Chris Volstad	$2,655,000

The numbers are also in for Matt Garza and he's asking for $10.2 million with the Cubs are offering $7.95 million. Let's just split the difference and say that Garza is getting $9.1 million.

That gives us a running total of about $84 million.

The remaining players that will be on the 25 man roster will all be earning around the league minimum. For now, my best guess on the remainder of the roster would be the following players:

Tony Campana

Starlin Castro

Darwin Barney

Bryan LaHair

Wellington Castillo

Travis Wood

James Russell

Casey Coleman

Marcos Mateo

That's another $4.5 million if they get $500k a piece.

That moves the Cubs up to around $89 million.

Remember, the Cubs owe $17 million to the Marlins for Carlos Zambrano too.

Now we are up to $106 million

Compared to last year where the Cubs had a payroll of $130 million or so, it would appear that the Cubs have about $25 million available to spend.

But don't believe that this means that they will go after Prince Fielder. Despite what some members of the press still insist on, Fielder is not in the Cubs plans for 2012.

However, that payroll disparity does mean that the Cubs could make an investment in someone like, oh, Yoenis Cespedes. I personally don't want that Cubs to go after the 26 year old Cuban, but that is to be talked about on another day.

This is what rebuilding looks like. And don't be surprised if that payroll number doesn't exceed $115 million in 2012.

A new scoreboard coming to Wrigley

2012-01-15T09:13:00.000-06:00

The biggest news to come out of the Cubs Convention this weekend was not the fact that Kerry Wood was re-signed (and never was), but the fact that the Cubs are going to be replacing the Bleacher Box seats in right field with a new patio deck and a 70 foot wide LED board.

This is quite a stunning turn of events here.

We can only deduce what this is going to actually be from the picture:

It appears, at least from the picture, that the board will contain advertisements and in-game stats. I would guess that they could put some limited video on it too.

The patio will likely reduce the overall capacity of Wrigley by a few hundred, but should produce more revenue. The Bleacher Box seats, which were created when the bleachers were expanded in 2006, never sold all that well. The look of the patio has similarities to the seats that are on top of the Green Monster in Fenway Park and I'd assume the Ricketts family is hoping these seats sell as well as those Green Monster seats.

From the picture, which is obviously just a concept, it looks as if the video board will not be in play and the basket will still remain in place. Personally, I'd like to see the basket removed and a home run have to be hit over the board itself.

The board will only be about 10 to 15 feet tall, tops, so it is going to be closer to what is already under the center field scoreboard in terms of what it can display than a true video board.

Overall, I like this development and it will be a revenue generator for the Cubs (which is why it is being done). I'm hoping this doesn't completely extinguish talks about a full video board being put at Wrigley, but this is a step in the right direction. The location of this board is not the best. There will be parts of the first base side of the upper deck that will have a hard time seeing the board as well as areas of right field corner...but you are going have a tough time finding a spot inside the ballpark to put a scoreboard that can be seen by everyone.

This is also a very safe renovation to do since will have nothing to do with the mythical renovation of the main grandstand and makes for a very easy revenue increase at the ballpark.

Pretty cool.

Cubs fans go crazy for Kerry Wood and his 0.4 wins

2012-01-13T18:09:00.001-06:00

So from what I understand, the Cubs announced that Kerry Wood is coming back at the end of the opening ceremonies at the Cubs convention this evening.

And because Cubs fans don't understand why this team has sucked for so long, they went nuts when Kerry Wood and his projected 0.4 WAR was introduced to the crowd.

I just hope Jed and Theo payed Kerry for the 0.4 wins that he'll contribute and not the $4 million his supposedly was asking for.

My heart is indeed happy to see that Wood will remain in a Cubs uniform. My logical side still sees no reason that he should be on the team, though.

UPDATE:

Details are as follows:

1 year for $3 million
Team option for 2013 for $3 million

The Cubs enter the computer age.

2012-01-12T13:25:00.001-06:00

The Cubs have teamed up with Bloomberg Sports to develop a new analysis program which the team can use for player evaluation. This is probably something that is along the same lines as the "Carmine" program that Theo helped develop when he was GM for the Red Sox.

Bloomberg Sports, according to their website, creates tools for fantasy sports owners and does work with 19 other MLB teams (of which probably didn't include the Cubs before now).

I don't know what to say about this other than "cool!"

I'm guessing the Cubs will be retiring Jim Hendry's old computer, seen here.

So to the Cubs, I say, "Welcome to the 1990's!"

And to Bloomberg Sports...hey, if you need a good, smart, software engineer to help you develop this (or anything else), please contact me! No...seriously...contact me!

Selig? Retire? He's too valuable to the owners.

2012-01-11T23:11:00.001-06:00

His job title is "Commissioner of Baseball".

While he does fill the role, Bud Selig should more accurately be referred to as "The Major League Owners' Financial Manager".

"What did you say? Retirement? No thanks."

The 77 year old Selig will be given a 2 year contract extension to remain commissioner. A rumored announcement is to be made tomorrow. This goes against everything Selig has said over the last few years. Over and over again he has said that when his contract runs out, he is done. Why did we think he would? Every time his contract nears an end, he says he is going retire and he ends up staying on.

Selig may very well have intended to retire this year...but the owners won't have anything to do with that.

Selig is the second longest serving commissioner in baseball history, 19 years, and in that time 4 new franchises have been created, 20 new stadiums have been built and 4 playoff teams have been added.

These could all be considered as the legacies of Bud Selig. You can add to that interleague play, the World Baseball Classic, MLB Network, record attendance and, unfortunately, steroids as well.

But in reality, his legacy isn't any of these things. Bud Selig's legacy, and the reason the owners are so eager to keep him on as commissioner for as long as he lives, is money.

For many of these owners, Bud Selig's run atop of Major League Baseball has resulted in a huge profits and skyrocketing franchise values.

"Baseball been very good to me."

Look again at the list of things that Selig will be remembered for by fans...

4 new franchises: Money fed directly into the pockets of the existing owners
20 new stadiums (and major renovations to 4 others): Instant boost of revenues for each of those teams
4 new playoff teams: More post season games results in more sales of tickets and TV rights
Interleague play: creation of new rivalries that boost attendance and interest in the regular season
WBC: Increase the interest of baseball world wide tapping into new revenues never before available
MLB Network: Obvious monetary benefits and control of baseball media

It could even be argued that the blind eye baseball had toward steroids added significant revenues to the owners pocketbooks.

When Selig took over as commissioner in 1992, baseball as a whole had revenues of around $1 billion for the season. In 2010, baseball had around $7 billion in revenue. Average value of a franchise after the strike in 1995 was about $110 million. In 2011 the average was $520million. An owner would have quadrupled their investment on a team that they had bought in 1992. It's an average of an 11% increase during which the economy of the United States suffered from two separate economic crashes. I wish my retirement fund had that sort of return on it.

It is believed the before the strike in 1994, nearly half the major league teams were losing money. While baseball doesn't publish precise numbers, less than a hand full of teams are actually losing money now. Even teams with poor attendance and shitty ownership (hint hint...Marlins?) are operating with significant profits.

"Don't hold your breath, I'm not going anywhere."

Does Selig deserve all the credit for this? I don't know. I would image that the other major sports have seen some similar revenue increases, but basketball, hockey and football have all had either money or labor problems at some point over the last 15 years, while baseball has thrived uninterrupted.

Most of us don't like Bud Selig. I've never been a fan. I hate many of the changes he has promoted in the game like interleague play and the expanded playoffs (I'm an old fart in how I view the game). But the owners love the guy. It comes down to money. As long as Selig lives and the dollars continue to come in for the owners, we will need to accept the fact the Selig is going to be the commissioner.

Kerry Wood…I wish he wasn’t such a nice guy

2012-01-11T11:21:00.003-06:00

Kerry Wood.

Most of you know that things have gone back and forth on whether or not Kerry Wood is coming back next year.

The whole situation is extremely strange.

Kerry Wood has said in the past, that he would either play for the Cubs or retire. Well, for some reason, things have hit a snag here and Kerry is now being courted by some other teams including the Phillies and Reds.

Earlier this week, Kerry Wood was interviewed, and he sounded as if his time in Chicago was about to come to an end. Last week in an interview, Theo Epstein said that the Cubs were going to make every effort to bring Wood back and that if a deal didn’t get done, “shame on us”. Yet yesterday, GM Jed Hoyer said that the Cubs had made Wood an offer with a “significant raise”.

The fact that Hoyer made a statement like that immediate shifts the blame from Epstein’s “us” to Wood himself.

I’ve said before that Wood isn’t worth much more than about $2 to $2.5 million next year. This is a player that has had a WAR over 0.5 once since 2004. I don’t know what official projections have for Wood in 2012, but I would assume he projects about to around a WAR of 0.4 or so. That would validate my thoughts about what his salary should be next year. It might be safe to assume that Hoyer’s offer to Wood was somewhere in that range. That would be between a 33% to 67% raise over the $1.5 million that Wood made last year. Yes, that is significant, percentagewise.

Rumors have it that Wood could get around $4 million on the open market probably because of Wood’s ability to close.

It was truly a wonderful gesture last year for Wood to come back at that reduced rate. He’s a great ambassador for the Cubs and the city of Chicago. Fans love him.

Unfortunately, Wood just doesn’t have a place on this team right now. If the Cubs had no problem getting rid of Sean Marshall, another very competent setup man, why would they want to re-sign a much older, more fragile and much less reliable pitcher for possibly more money? If the Cubs were to actually re-sign Wood they couldn’t even trade him without the wrath of the world coming down on Jed and Theo for doing so.

Kerry Wood adds no value to a team that is in a full rebuilding mode and would take up a roster spot that could be used by the Cubs to give a prospect a chance to prove himself.

It pains me to say all this. I like Kerry Wood. I really don’t want to see him in another team’s uniform again (especially the Reds). But, just like the pain of some of the other moves this offseason, this is the price we pay for going “all in” with a true rebuilding effort.

Last week, it seemed as if Theo was preparing everyone one for the eventuality that Kerry Wood would not be re-signed. He was preparing to take the blame. That’s what makes Hoyer’s comments yesterday so curious. Has something changed over the last week inside the Cubs front office? Maybe they have decided that the only way to get fans to accept the fact Wood isn’t coming back is to make it look like it was Wood’s choice to leave. I don’t know.

Part of me still believes that this is all posturing by the two sides and that a deal will be worked out (and worked out in very short order). Wood still works out at Wrigley every day, according to some reports.

Unfortunately, logic tells me that this likely to be then end of Kerry in a Cubs uniform, at least as a player. The fact that Wood continues to act as if he is still a member of the team may indicate that he plans on retiring instead. I don’t know.

It will be interesting to watch how this whole situation ends because it will show us exactly how far Jed and Theo are willing to detach the current team from the 103 years of failure. You’d like to think there is some flexibility, even in the current situation, for the team to make some completely pointless, yet sentimental move. And that’s what this would be. It’s just too bad Wood is such a nice guy.

Paul Maholm contract details and analysis

2012-01-10T08:30:00.000-06:00

Bruce Levine of ESPN has posted what the details are in the Paul Maholm deal.

It's a one year contract for $4.25 million.

The Cubs have an option for a second year at $6.5 million with a $500k buyout.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good deal. Even though the Cubs are in full rebuilding mode, singing this free agent really doesn't affect anything. The Cubs will need another starter if a trade for Garza occurs, so this makes sense.

This contract is probably far under the market value for Maholm. If he puts up decent numbers this year, as a left handed starter, he'll probably have some value at the trade deadline. My guess is that the Cubs, in the short term, fill out their rotation and will hope to get a prospect or two from this signing in a future trade.

Paul Maholm is a Cub...big deal.

2012-01-09T22:24:00.001-06:00

As has been rumored for about a month now that the Cubs have been trying to sign former Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm. Well, according to a number of sources, they signed him today.

Maholm was 6-14 this past year, but put up some decent numbers outside of that. As I recall, he got hurt near the end of the season...but it's too late and I'm not going to bother to look it up.

The Pirates declined to pick up his $9 million option for 2011.

Terms of the deal haven't been released, so until I know what those are, I'll refrain on stating whether or not this is a good deal.

Maholm isn't a top of the rotation starter, but he's a serviceable left hander who has recorded a couple of pretty good seasons in his 7 year big league career. He walks a few too many for my taste, but gets ground balls and keeps the ball in the ballpark.

With Maholm in place, the Cubs currently have Travis Wood, Ryan Dempster, and Chris Volstad set in the rotation. Now we see if Garza sticks around or if Randy Wells is the 5th starter.