Manager Lou Piniella has apparently announced that Tyler Colvin, the first of Tim Wilken's first round draft picks, has won a spot on the big club and will be coming north when the team breaks camp soon. Colvin is a lefthanded hitting corner outfielder who can play some center as well, and he won the job by hitting in the high .400's this spring. How much of that was against major league pitching, I don't know...but I think it was a significant amount.
With Nady unavailable for outfield duty for probably another month or two, Colvin could see more than just late inning mop-up duty. Cub fans are predictably excited about this kid, and he comes with far less hype than their last two big outfield prospects, Corey Patterson and Felix Pie. A lot of us would love to see Colvin be given a shot in left if Soriano falters at the beginning of the season, something that's roughly got the same chances as aliens visiting Earth this year. (Soriano is in the fourth year of an eight year deal, paying him about 18 million per year. He's virtually untradable and can't really play anywhere but left anymore.)
Congratulations to Tyler Colvin!
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Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
No news = ? News...
I haven't been posting anything here, because I haven't had much to say about Chicago sports at the moment.
The Cubs have had an okay spring, and apparently will start the season with Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzellany in their rotation. The Sox look good to me, regardless of their spring record. The Hawks are playing okay again after a bit of a slump after the Olympic break. The Bulls won a game with Noah back in limited minutes. I don't even know what they did in their last game. And the Bears made a huge splash in free agency, signing Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor and a couple others.
Nothing really bad, nothing really good (except the Bears news, which was really good, I think). So...no new posts. I'll probably get back to posting more here soon.
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The Cubs have had an okay spring, and apparently will start the season with Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzellany in their rotation. The Sox look good to me, regardless of their spring record. The Hawks are playing okay again after a bit of a slump after the Olympic break. The Bulls won a game with Noah back in limited minutes. I don't even know what they did in their last game. And the Bears made a huge splash in free agency, signing Julius Peppers, Chester Taylor and a couple others.
Nothing really bad, nothing really good (except the Bears news, which was really good, I think). So...no new posts. I'll probably get back to posting more here soon.
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Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sometimes I wish I was a Sox fan...
And today is one of those days.
The Cubs have noted injuries to key RH reliever Angel Guzman and fourth OF Xavier Nady (oh, Nady's is that he isn't healed from last year's rotator cuff surgery). This leaves a questionable bullpen even more questionable and a serious kink in the backup plans for the outfield.
If I was a Sox fan, though, I could be anticipating one of the best rotations in the majors, with Peavy, Buehrle, Danks and Floyd heading it up, and decent options for their fifth starter. I'd be celebrating a solid offensive and defensive club, made strong up the middle with Beckham moving to second and Vizquel backing up the middle infield, and having options in the outfield which currently would start Juan Pierre in left, Alex Rios in center and Carlos Quentin in right, with Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones in the wings with John Danks' little brother Jordan a dark horse candidate. I could be bragging about a solid pen with Jenks, Thornton and Putz heading it up, and decent names to look to in other roles. I could be looking to the future if catcher AJ Pierzynski doesn't continue to produce (no reason he shouldn't, actually) with guys like Tyler Flowers and other young players at other positions.
I could be gloating that the Twins have a serious problem at the back of their bullpen now. I could be feeling pretty good about my team's chances in the AL Central this year.
Instead, I'm a Cubs fan, stuck with plenty of question marks and Alfonso Soriano's albatross of a contract for another 5 years...
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The Cubs have noted injuries to key RH reliever Angel Guzman and fourth OF Xavier Nady (oh, Nady's is that he isn't healed from last year's rotator cuff surgery). This leaves a questionable bullpen even more questionable and a serious kink in the backup plans for the outfield.
If I was a Sox fan, though, I could be anticipating one of the best rotations in the majors, with Peavy, Buehrle, Danks and Floyd heading it up, and decent options for their fifth starter. I'd be celebrating a solid offensive and defensive club, made strong up the middle with Beckham moving to second and Vizquel backing up the middle infield, and having options in the outfield which currently would start Juan Pierre in left, Alex Rios in center and Carlos Quentin in right, with Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones in the wings with John Danks' little brother Jordan a dark horse candidate. I could be bragging about a solid pen with Jenks, Thornton and Putz heading it up, and decent names to look to in other roles. I could be looking to the future if catcher AJ Pierzynski doesn't continue to produce (no reason he shouldn't, actually) with guys like Tyler Flowers and other young players at other positions.
I could be gloating that the Twins have a serious problem at the back of their bullpen now. I could be feeling pretty good about my team's chances in the AL Central this year.
Instead, I'm a Cubs fan, stuck with plenty of question marks and Alfonso Soriano's albatross of a contract for another 5 years...
*****
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Cubs Questions
I was reading another forum yesterday, and someone posted the following list of question: (I'm paraphrasing)
To that I would add:
I personally think that the outfield will be fine, even if Soriano goes to the DL all season. I think that Nady could probably slide over and play left, or they could slot a youngster into that position pretty quickly - maybe Colvin. Nady, Byrd and Fukudome would likely be a pretty solid if unspectacular outfield. The danger is if Soriano stays "healthy" (whatever that means at this point for him) and puts up 2009 numbers. That said, this team needs a healthy and productive Alfonso Soriano for a couple more years at least, if not all 5 remaining years.
As far as the rotation goes, it is what it is...Zambrano, Lilly (when he's ready), Dempster and Wells round out the first four, and the fifth spot will go to Gorzellany or Samardzija. Jeff Samardzija is the wild card - a guy with a great arm and a ton of talent who hasn't shown he can do it consistently at upper levels of the minors. But what if he lives up to some projections and becomes that middle to upper rotation guy, in the fifth slot? That would certainly help.
That's what championship teams need. Everything doesn't go as planned, and if you don't get some good to go with the bad, you don't usually make it all the way. We aren't all the Yankees or the Red Sox in terms of revenue.
I'm looking forward to the start of this season, which begins (in a way) today with their first spring training game...
***
1. When is Zambrano going to earn his money as an ace, or will he ever do so?
2. Is Soto a flash in the pan, a one year wonder? What if he is?
3. What about the horrible back end of the rotation?
4. What will Marlon Byrd do when the drunken racists out in the bleachers start getting on him?
5. Will Carlos Marmol be able to close games out without walking the world?
To that I would add:
6. Is Alfonso Soriano, age 34 (we think), on his way down, permanently?
7. Will Ted Lilly return to form after his off-season shoulder procedure?
8. Can Derrick Lee put up numbers again like he did last year?
9. Which Ryan Dempster is the real one: 2008 or 2009?
I personally think that the outfield will be fine, even if Soriano goes to the DL all season. I think that Nady could probably slide over and play left, or they could slot a youngster into that position pretty quickly - maybe Colvin. Nady, Byrd and Fukudome would likely be a pretty solid if unspectacular outfield. The danger is if Soriano stays "healthy" (whatever that means at this point for him) and puts up 2009 numbers. That said, this team needs a healthy and productive Alfonso Soriano for a couple more years at least, if not all 5 remaining years.
As far as the rotation goes, it is what it is...Zambrano, Lilly (when he's ready), Dempster and Wells round out the first four, and the fifth spot will go to Gorzellany or Samardzija. Jeff Samardzija is the wild card - a guy with a great arm and a ton of talent who hasn't shown he can do it consistently at upper levels of the minors. But what if he lives up to some projections and becomes that middle to upper rotation guy, in the fifth slot? That would certainly help.
That's what championship teams need. Everything doesn't go as planned, and if you don't get some good to go with the bad, you don't usually make it all the way. We aren't all the Yankees or the Red Sox in terms of revenue.
I'm looking forward to the start of this season, which begins (in a way) today with their first spring training game...
***
Monday, March 1, 2010
Black Hawks in the Olympics
It was a good year for the Black Hawks in the Olympics. Patrick Kane was the only Hawk on the US team, but there were three Hawks on the gold-medal Canadian team, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews. Sports talkers were saying that he appeared to be the BEST player in the tournament, and that's something to crow about: Possibly the best player in pro hockey is playing for the CHICAGO BLACK HAWKS!!!
I know that other Hawks were playing for their countries as well, though the only one I know for sure was Marian Hossa.
Congrats to the Canadians for winning the gold, and congrats to the United States team for taking the silver and for playing well enough to have won it all!
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I know that other Hawks were playing for their countries as well, though the only one I know for sure was Marian Hossa.
Congrats to the Canadians for winning the gold, and congrats to the United States team for taking the silver and for playing well enough to have won it all!
*****
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