(Picture from http://www.mouthpiecesports.com/)
Before I start, I do not know the Cub history as well as I should. My knowledge ranges from Sammy Sosa kissing his fingers over and over again, and decades upon decades of losing (I know more than that, but it all crams together into one huge blurb). But I do have to admit one thing; the Cubs seem to have made some adequate moves this winter in search of another playoff birth. An entrance into this years playoffs would be a huge lift for Cub fans after last season’s major flop. Now again, I am trying to be as subjective as possible, and as always (more than ever) if you are a Cub fan, and you want to help us out with Chicago Cub posts, feel free to email us at themanchise@gmail.com, and we can talk about letting you submit during the season. We all need an outlet to rant and rave, and we would love to harbor your needs.
So for starters I want it to be known that I do in fact watch Cubs games. Being that I go to school in Iowa Cub broadcasts are always on. I love baseball, so watching the Cubs is better than not watching at all. After genuinely watching them closely the past few years, there are a few things the Cubs need to do this season to ease the tortured souls of all those that bleed cubbie blue:
1. The play of Alfonso Soriano- In the last two seasons, Soriano has seemed lost, confused, tired, and painfully unaffected by his horrendous play. His numbers have deflated drastically from those he posted in 2007, the same season the Cubs got ousted by the Diamondbacks in the Division series. Runs, hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBI’s (which actually went up in 2008, but fell once again in 2009), stolen bases, batting average, and slugging percentage are amazingly low for a 17 million dollar man. Add a few benchings from Lou Pinella, and the Chicago media always lurking, and that is one tough gorilla to get off his back. Soriano needs to break out of this funk, and it has to be soon. When Soriano got hot last year his play fueled the Cubs (especially when A-Ram went down). Now I could be completely wrong here, and please let me know if I am, but there is a reason why Soriano got the contract he did, and if he can produce more than he did last year the Cubs should be just fine if……
2. The Cubs stay healthy- A-Ram’s injury last season seemed to have hurt the Cubs in more ways than one. He was the emotional leader inside the locker room and on the field. A-Ram’s shoulder was the unintentional dagger in the Cub season last year; his injury was like the apocalypse. Add Zambrano’s crazy, hyper caffeinated ways, Ted Lilly’s shoulder inflammation, Ryan Dempster’s broken toe, and Derrek Lee’s nagging neck, and its easy to see why the Cubs imploded last season (and I’m not even factoring in Milton Bradley).
3. Carlos Marmol- I’m taking a stab at guessing that the Cubs are going to continue the Marmol closer experiment; which at times seems brilliant and other times gut punching for Cub fans. The kid can throw and has disgusting junk. When he is on, nobody in the league can touch him, when he’s off, no lead is safe. Just from watching last year, it seemed that you knew what Marmol you were getting with the first pitch. If he flopped off the mound like a fish out of water, Cub fans knew what was coming. When he kept balanced, he looked like a potential All-Star caliber closer. His off season progress will dictate how far the Cubs can go.
4. Which Geovany Soto will emerge- It is simple, which Soto will come out after Spring Training, the slow, fat, out of shape 2009 version, or the 2008 Rookie of the Year version? Last year the World Baseball Classic was to blame for why Soto came into Spring Training and the regular season slower than Bengie Molina after hitting a gap shot. Lets hope he cut the Mary Jane out of his life, because we all know how hungry weed makes folks, and we can’t have him eating Twinkies and Cheetos the night before pitchers and catchers report.
Those are the four things I, a White Sox fan, think the Cubs need to get back to the top of the NL Central. I’m sure there are more, and I’m sure the Cub fans out there can add to this list as if its their job. I think getting rid of Bradley, and adding a quality outfielder like Xavier Nady was a great move, and hopefully Kosuke Fukudome can find his swing once again, instead of spinning in circles after striking out. Marlon Byrd will add another dimension and force off the bench, which is essential considering Fukudome is hit or miss (kind of like his swing).
The Cubs look like they can truly keep up with the Cardinals and Brewers if all of these things go right, and I for one look forward to the season long drama that will ensue between those three teams. But we are still talking about the Cubs, and anything can happen.
3 comments:
Hey, GREAT post, my man. I live in DeKalb and I am surrounded by d-bag Sox and Cards fans everywhere I go. But you, you're a good fan for real. Nothing that you just said about the Cubs was untrue at all. Just some things I would like to add, if you don't mind:
Soriano, as bad as he played the past two seasons, has been bitten frequently by the injury bug. Now, that's no excuse for swinging at pitches that hit the plate, but could definitely account for a decline in speed and aggressive baserunning. He also had to have surgery on one of his knees after last season was over.
Soto and Zambrano have lost 40 and 30 pounds, respectively, so maybe this finally means that both of them are taking their workouts seriously, which had been a big problem in the past. Hopefully an in-shape Soto and Big Z brings them back to being the ROTY and the Ace that everyone (including Sox fans) knows that Z can be.
And considering the financial limitations that the Cubs had on themselves since they had just gotten a new owner (payroll was only allowed to go up roughly 8 Million), I'd say they did a pretty good job. They've made some good, cost-effective signings like Marlon Byrd, Chad Tracy, Xavier Nady like you had mentioned, and they just recently signed Kevin Milar I believe. And they got rid of Aaron Miles, Aaron Heilman, and then Kevin Gregg (Mr. Blown Save himself) and last but certainly not least Milton "Monopoly Man" Bradley. The guys they've brought in as opposed to the guys they've sent out have made this team better than last year's squad.
Now if only they can stay relatively healthy, I think they have a VERY legit shot at winning 94-96 games.
I agree with you 100%, and thanks for the compliment. We really want to wide fan base, and just because my I stand in a different corner, I still think I know baseball pretty well. The Cubs have some pretty good glue guys, and now with Millar's invitation to Spring Training, you could have a guy that has been to the big show, one of those seasoned vets. It would have been a nice sign a few years ago, but I think Millar can help in more ways than on the field.
I think the Cubs can win a little more than 90 games if not more
Great Post!! Very objective and to the point.
Post a Comment