Piniella announced in July of 2010 that he would retire at the end of the season, but due to his mother’s illness, Piniella called it quits early. The Cubs replaced him with Mike Quade, who led the team to a 24-13 record, which was the best down that stretch. So yes, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for the Cubs.

Quade’s interim tag was removed at the beginning of the offseason this year, as he got named as the full-time manager. The Cubs also began making some moves during this offseason.

The Cubs made a splash when they signed power-hitting first baseman Carlos Pena as well as being able to re-sign third baseman Aramis Ramirez. The Cubs also signed reliever Kerry Wood, who was in the Yankees and Indians bullpen last year.

Probably the biggest move they made was the trade for Matt Garza. The Cubs acquired Garza, OF Fernando Perez and LHP Zachary Rosscup for CA Robinson Chirinos, SS Hak-Ju Lee, OF Brandon Guyer, and RHP Chris Archer.

Clearly we see that the Cubs are aiming to win now instead of down the line. We hope to see the Cubs being competitive and maybe they could pull out a first place victory.

Key Addition: Matt Garza, P and Carlos Pena, 1B

Breakout Player: Starlin Castro, SS

Prediction: Second NL Central

Starters
CA: Geovany Soto
1B: Carlos Pena
2B: Blake DeWitt
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Starlin Castro
OF: Kosuke Fukudome
OF: Marlon Bryd
OF: Alfonso Soriano

Pitching Rotation
SP: Carlos Zambrano
SP: Matt Garza
SP: Ryan Dempster
SP: Randy Wells
SP: Carlos Silva

RP: Todd Wellemeyer
RP: Marcos Mateo
RP: John Grabow
RP: Andrew Cashner
RP: Sean Marshall
RP: Kerry Wood
CP: Carlos Marmol

Bench
CA: Koyie Hill
INF: Darwin Barney
UTL: Jeff Baker
OF: Tyler Colvin
OF: Fernando Perez

Top Prospects
1). Brett Jackson, OF
2). Trey McNutt, RHP
3). Josh Vitters, 3B
4). Chris Carpenter, RHP
5). Michale Burgess, OF

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Dawson was selected in the 11th round of the MLB First Year Player Draft by the Montreal Expos. He played 24 games in 1976 but rose to stardom the following year. In 1977, Dawson beat out New York Mets outfielder Steve Henderson to claim the National League Rookie of the Year. He batted .282 with 19 homers and 65 RBI while stealing 21 bases as an everyday outfielder.

Most of Dawson’s glory years as a player was in an Expo uniform. In 1981 he was runner-up to Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt in MVP voting. Two years later, he would finish second again to Dale Murphy of the Atlanta Braves.

In seven of eleven seasons with the Expos, Dawson would hit at least 20 homers and steal 20 bases. However, with nagging injuries, Dawson would have to move from the artificial turf of Olympic Stadium. In 1986, Dawson became a free agent and found a home with the Chicago Cubs.

In his first year with the Cubs, Dawson hit 49 homers and had 137 RBI after manager Dallas Green refused to make Dawson the starter automatically. Dawson would go on to win MVP of the National League that year and became the first player to win an MVP award on a last place team.

Dawson would eventually help turn the Cubs hopes around by leading them to the National League Championship after winning the NL East in 1989, but Dawson’s .105 batting average against the San Francisco did not help them defeat the Giants.

Dawson would continue his career but his spotlight was dwindling. In 1992, he opted for free agency and signed with the Boston Red Sox where he was used as a designated hitter. Dawson would finish his career as a Florida Marlin and missed out on a 1997 World Series ring, however he got redemption.

Dawson would get his first and only World Series ring in 2003 with the Florida Marlins where he held a front office management position. His career became full circle.

The Hawk finished his career with 2,774 hits, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases, and 1,591 RBI. He is one of only six players in major league history to hit over 300 home runs and steal 300 bases in his career. The other players to accomplish this feat are Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Reggie Sanders, and Steve Finley. Dawson is also one of only three members of the 400 HR-300 SB club, along with Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.

His safe to say that Dawson had a satisfying career. Not only is he one of the greats to ever play the game, he now can live in infamy along with the other greats that ever played the game. Dawson earned his right to be on the playing field. He tore up his knees playing and proved to be a great defensive outfielder. He will go down as one of the best defensive players in the history of the game

Now the question is, which hat will he wear to the Hall of Fame? Expo, Cub, or throw us a curve ball and go with Marlin, or Red Sock? Hopefully, we’ll know soon.

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