March 8, 201214 yr I don't see Soriano making it the whole year, especially if he gets hot, which he tends to do in stretches. I was watching MLB Network and they had the Cubs picked to finish 4th in the Central with 74 wins. They kinda remind me of the Reds a few years back with lots of young talent, but inexperienced... The craziest part is that the Cubs are god awful, but it would take an absolute disaster for them not to finish ahead of the Astros. Should be some easy wins for the top teams in the NL Central.
March 9, 201214 yr I may have my Cubs blinders on but I think they can make a push to get past last years win tally. There are a lot of new faces in Chicago and that's part of the reason I'm hoping to start seeing improvement. You can tell Sveum is a business first type guy and he is all about hard play and grinding it out. By all accounts this team has a different look and feel to it in Spring Training than Cubs teams in the past. These are all a bunch of guys wanting to work and get better and try to win some ball games. You also have a lot of young guys fighting to prove they belong somewhere on a big league roster. Guys like Brian LaHair, Darwin Barney, and then down the road Anthony Rizzo, and Brett Jackson. The hope is to play LaHair at 1B this season and let Rizzo have a full season at AAA. If LaHair ends up being the type of middle order hitter they hope he can be then it is possible to see him maybe try to move to 3B or OF whenever it is time for Rizzo to step up. Epstein and Jed Hoyer now have had Rizzo on their rosters 3 times! Now thats liking a guy. They take him with them everywhere they go, hopefully he pans out the way they hope. Barney got his chance last year but didn't exactly wow anyone, now he is playing for his job and his next deal, hopefully that produces results on the field. Jackson has been very impressive so far in camp and has already put a few out of the park. The plan was for Jackson to start the year in AAA but he is playing for a spot on the big league team. Sveum said that he would not have Jackson on the Cubs roster unless he was an every day starter so we'll see how his performance this spring effects that. The main thing is whether it be this year or whenever, eventually I feel guys like LaHair, Rizzo, and Jackson are going to be big time major league players and if they can start making their way towards that this year it will help this team out a lot. Teams are overlooking the Cubs this year because of the fresh faces but as the Rays, Twins, A's, and plenty of other teams have shown over the last few years is that a springy young underrated ball club can sometimes win a lot of games. Starlin Castro is a young star at short, there's no debating that. So if the Cubs can place another young stud or two around him going forward on this team I think the Cubs can be a real player. I feel the youth movement along with all the changes at the top are going to breathe some energy back into the Cubs, something they did not have last year. Aside from the young guys and how they may fit into things this year you still have solid veteran ball players such as Garza, Dempster, Marmol, Byrd, Soriano, Soto, and Johnson. All of which can afford to have seasons like they are capable of coming off a year in which everyone except for Garza underachieved. I think the new work ethic brought about by the regimine change is going to help these guys have good years and good seasons from all of these guys are going to be what propels this team out of the cellar. Veteran guys like Ian Stewart and David DeJesus have been brought in to hopefully get a fresh start and fresh scenery, hopefully you can get some production from them as well. The last thing that you have to look at as far as the Cubs go this season is the pitching staff, a staff that has a lot of new additions and one notable subtraction. Big Z is gone, but as far as staff morale goes could be a good thing. Garza is the bonafide ace no doubt about it, but after that it is a stretch to find top quality pitching. Dempster had some good years but has tailed off that success over the last couple. Guys like Maholm, Volstad, and Wood are all fresh faces looking to prove they belong in the rotation. Add that to Cubs hold overs Jeff Samardjia and Randy Wells and you have a crowded staff heading into spring training. The advantage of this though in my opinion is you have a lot of arms out there competeting with each other for their respective spot in the rotation. You have guys who feel they belong in the rotation, whether its the new guys looking to show they belong or the Cubs guys who are looking for their time. Shark pitched good in his debut the other day, he really wants a starting job bad. Maholm from all accounts has great stuff and anyone who has seen him throw since he has been in town says theres a clear reason the Cubs wanted him. Wood is a guy coming off somewhat of a sophomore slump playing in the same division, could he turn it around this year? Volstad is another guy who has underachieved quite a bit since once being a highly touted Marlin prospect. I think the overall depth of the staff albeit lacking star quality can produce some good outings for the Cubs this year. I think all of the competetion is good and will do nothing but help, even those who are sent back to the bullpen. Either way it's going to help the staff as a whole.
March 9, 201214 yr The craziest part is that the Cubs are god awful, but it would take an absolute disaster for them not to finish ahead of the Astros. Should be some easy wins for the top teams in the NL Central. Stro's no longer in division after this season. No matter how bad they are I still look for them to play hard and compete.
March 9, 201214 yr Stro's no longer in division after this season. No matter how bad they are I still look for them to play hard and compete. It won't matter. They will be terrible.
March 9, 201214 yr It won't matter. They will be terrible. Obviously your right because they are terrible and they lack pitching. BUT, baseball is the lone sport that bad teams can turn in competetive seasons all on hard work and heart. All other major sports talent is talent and you need it to win. Baseball is a little bit different and that's why I love it. A young team can be just as scary as anyone, just ask anyone who has had to play the Rays in the last few years.
March 9, 201214 yr Obviously your right because they are terrible and they lack pitching. BUT, baseball is the lone sport that bad teams can turn in competetive seasons all on hard work and heart. All other major sports talent is talent and you need it to win. Baseball is a little bit different and that's why I love it. A young team can be just as scary as anyone, just ask anyone who has had to play the Rays in the last few years. Except the Rays were young and had talent.
March 11, 201214 yr Author Maybe they'll surprise us. They'll be younger so maybe they'll stay healthy and maybe that'll translate to some W's. It's looking like we're gonna land Jorge Soler so I like that. Be nice to fast forward to 2014 :lol:
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