Derrek Lee will be missed, but it was time

The Cubs having traded fan favorite Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves, it was strange to see him playing first base and batting cleanup for the visiting team on Friday at Wrigley Field. In his first at bat, Lee stepped to the plate to a rousing standing ovation, tipped his helmet to the crowd and [...]

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August 21, 2010 Tags: Aramis Ramirez, Atlanta Braves, Derrek Lee, Jeffrey Lorick, photo, prospects, Robinson Lopez, salary, trade, Tyrelle Harris, Wrigley Field Posted in: Jim Hendry, biz of baseball, fielding, photo of the day, players, roster, stats 2 Comments

The 25th Man

Your 2010 Chicago Cubs 25-man active duty roster is due on Monday for the opening of the baseball season. With the position battles mostly settled for Lou Piniella’s squad, only the 25th and final position remains uncommitted.
Carrie Muskat of MLB.com writes about the four candidates for the one roster spot:

There are four players — Chad [...]

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March 30, 2010 Tags: 2010 Chicago Cubs, Aramis Ramirez, Carrie Muskat, Chad Tracy, Derrek Lee, Kevin Millar, Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin Posted in: Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, players, roster One Comment

Note to Hendry – Make no little plans

Cubs GM Jim Hendry said at the Cubs Convention that last year’s off season player market moved slower than previous years, with many deals coming in the final days before spring training. He expected this year to be similar to last and so far this has proven to be so. So we Cub fans have [...]

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January 26, 2010 Tags: Andy MacPhail, Aramis Ramirez, Ben Sheets, Chan Ho Park, Cubs Convention, Daniel Burnham, Jeff Baker, Jonny Gomes, Jose Contreras, Kiko Calero, Luis Castillo, Mike Fontenot, Reed Johnson, Xavier Nady Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, biz of baseball, lineup, roster, spring training No Comments

DeRosa is no Six Million Dollar Man

Today the San Francisco Giants made former Cub Mark DeRosa the six million dollar man – per year. I like DeRo plenty, but 6mil is a big payday for a guy like him. He has made just over $15 million in his professional baseball career (in salary, exluding endorsements). Today he signed a 2-year deal [...]

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December 29, 2009 Tags: Aramis Ramirez, contract, free agent, Mark DeRosa, San Francisco Giants Posted in: Hot Stove, biz of baseball, players One Comment

Jim Hendry has trade deadline work to do

With the Cardinals stocking up on some potential offensive firepower in Matt Holliday, it brings me around to wonder what options might be available for Jim Hendry between now and the non-waiver trade deadline of July 31st.
The Cubs will get Ryan Dempster back next week and Geovany Soto still maybe a couple weeks away. But [...]

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July 24, 2009 Tags: Aramis Ramirez, Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, George Sherrill, Geovany Soto, Jeff Baker, Joe Beimel, John Grabow, Matt Holliday, Ryan Dempster, St. Louis Cardinals, Ted Lilly, trade deadline Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, players, roster One Comment

Bobby Scales is living a Kevin Costner movie

Is there a better story out there than the Bobby Scales story? I mean, this guy is a living Kevin Costner movie. Ten year minor leaguer without so much as a sniff of the big leagues. Not even a September call-up along the way. The Cubs pull him to Wrigley just in case they need [...]

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May 15, 2009 Tags: Aramis Ramirez, Bobby Scales, Kevin Costner Posted in: observations, players, roster 2 Comments

Life without Aramis Ramirez

It’s been a tough week for sluggers named Ramirez. Of course Manny’s undoing was of his own making. But all-star Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez having dislocated his left shoulder in last night’s game is a tremendous blow to this team.
There was a lot of talk as spring training broke of having no legitimate backup for A-Ram [...]

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May 9, 2009 Tags: Andy MacPhail, Aramis Ramirez, Aubrey Huff, Derrek Lee, Manny Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, Milton Bradley, photo Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, lineup, observations, players, roster No Comments

Cubs Fantasy Baseball Preview

I’ve been a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball player for several years. Too often I draft with my heart instead of my head and collect too many Cubs. Sticking too long with Mark Prior and Derrek Lee has done me more harm than good. My Yahoo trophy case is actually pretty full (13) in spite of this [...]

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