Archive for the ‘Hot Stove’ Category

Samardzjia down, Chad Fox up

Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry made a roster move sending former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzjia back to AAA Iowa and calling up tired old veteran Chad Fox to plug a middle relief hole in the bullpen. When I first heard the report, I thought they called up farmhand Jake Fox who is crushing the [...]

May 7, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, players, roster  2 Comments

Guest Post: Philosophy 101

Here is another Guest Post sent in by AJ. Back in the day, as a first year student at Illinois State University, I recall registering late in the process and as a result got stuck with a couple of courses I otherwise would never consider taking to complete my general studies. One of them, Philosophy [...]

April 19, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Team Ownership, fan comments, guest post, lineup, observations, players, roster  One Comment

Cubs Off-Season Review

If you don’t already monitor Tim Dierkes’ MLBtradeRumors.com, you should. He does a great job running down the leads, suggestions, rumors, and wishful thinking on roster moves for all 30 major league teams. Just posted is their Cubs Off-Season Review, which takes a fair look at the changes made from last year to this and [...]

April 7, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, Team Ownership, biz of baseball, players, playoffs, roster, stats  No Comments

No Schilling for Cubs

Curt Schilling announced his retirement today from Major League Baseball. I loved that he made this announcement on his offical blog, by the way.  But in doing so, Schilling will not be coming to the Cubs as was rumored early in spring training.  And thank god for that!  If this team is as close to [...]

March 23, 2009  Tags: , , , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, players, roster  No Comments

Milton Bradley to Sign with Cubs

The Chicago Tribune’s Hardball blog is reporting the Cubs have all but finalized a 3-year, $30mil deal to make Milton Bradley a Chicago Cub.  Bradley needs to pass a physical, which is routine, but I wonder if there is a psychological profile being conducted as well?  If not, perhaps WGN radio’s “Mr. Fix-It” Lou Manfrendini [...]

January 5, 2009   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, players, roster, the media  No Comments

Cubs Dealings and Rumors

This off season, through the organizational meetings in November and the MLB Winter Meetings in December in beloved Las Vegas, has been heavy on rumor and light on action. To be honest, I have not really fallen in love with any of the player packages the media and fans have been chewing on since October. As [...]

December 30, 2008   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, players, roster  One Comment

Hot Stove not so hot yet

With Ryan Dempster signed, sealed and delivered back to Wrigley Field for the next four years, it now appears the Cubs are not so eager to back up the truck for the services of Jake Peavy. Manager Lou Piniella made comments over the weekend that starting pitching is all set, but they will look for a veteran arm [...]

November 26, 2008   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, observations, players, roster  No Comments

Cubs lose Wood, gain Awards

It’s tough for a guy to take a break around here!  Just in the past week the Chicago Cubs have acquired Kevin Gregg from the Marlins, publicly announced Kerry Wood‘s career in blue pinstripes is over, Lou Piniella has won NL Manager of the Year, Carlos Zambrano the Silver Slugger award for NL pitchers, and [...]

November 14, 2008   Posted in: Hot Stove, Lou Piniella, awards, observations, players, roster  No Comments

Revisiting the Harden Trade

Question: So who would you say got the best of this deal so far? Eric Patterson‘s batting average went down from .237 to .198 (going into today’s action) Sean Gallagher‘s ERA went up from 4.45 as a Cub to 5.23 as an Oakland Athletic (going into today’s action) Matt Murton was optioned to AAA Sacramento [...]

September 10, 2008   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, players, roster, stats  2 Comments

Hendry answers Brewers with Rich Harden

Even though Jim Hendry denies it, trading for Rich Harden clearly serves the purpose of an answer to the Brewers getting CC Sabathia for the stretch run. The fans are invigorated, the team seems charged by the news, the beat writers are all over it. Not since the Cubs acquisition of Nomar Garciaparra has there [...]

July 9, 2008   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, players, roster  No Comments