What must a player do to enter the Hall of Fame? Let’s look at a player’s resume without the name attached.
He must have won awards; they tell us he was among the best in his era.
Rookie of the Year in 1977. National League Most Valuable Player in 1987—on a last place team. Eight-time All Star, eight-time Gold Glove winner, four-time Silver Slugger.
His offensive numbers must be superior; baseball is a statistical game, and without big-time stats you can’t get into the Hall of Fame.
He hit 434 home runs, which ranks 36th all-time. Cal Ripken, Billy Williams, Al Kaline, Duke Snider, ...
On New Year's Eve, almost exactly a year after Chicago last signed a free agent outfielder away from the Texas Rangers, the Cubs try again with Marlon Byrd.
The Cubs announced Thursday that they have agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with Byrd.
Byrd's a nice complementary player. As Danny Sisto will tell you, he'll play at least above average defense and will hit the ball fairly well. Last year in Texas, he hit 20 home runs and drove in 89 runs.
I have no issues with Byrd personally. To the contrary, I think this addition is perhaps the best value signing ...
As 2009 comes to a close, many will look back at not only this calendar year in reflection, but also the decade that has just passed.
As I wander back through my memory from this year's New Year's Eve to the beginning of 2000, I see ten years that stack up as the most depressing decade in the history of the Chicago Cubs.
From the highs of Sammy Sosa to the lows of Milton Bradley, from the hype of Mark Prior to the surprise of Geovany Soto, this decade had it all... well, everything except a championship.
Let's look back at ...
ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting on Wednesday that the St. Louis Cardinals' offer to free agent outfielder Matt Holliday is in excess of $100 million.
In the wake of Jason Bay agreeing to a four-year deal worth $66 million with the Mets ($17 million per), it's hard to imagine another team throwing that kind of coin at Holliday.
The future implications of the Cardinals offering Holliday that type of money could be staggering in St. Louis, considering they've been working on an uber-extension with Albert Pujols for some time now. If relativity means anything, and Pujols' agent is worth anything, then what ...
Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry almost made another free agent mistake on Wednesday. Thankfully, money means more to some players than the chance to win.
Former Pittsburgh closer Matt Capps, who was on the Cubs radar as a potential setup man for closer Carlos Marmol, agreed to a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals. Capps will reportedly get a base salary of $3.5 million, with another $425K in performance incentives built into the deal.
Adding Capps could have been the final piece in the puzzle that gets Hendry fired if he had taken the money in Chicago.
Hendry has had a really bad last 14 ...
Whispers wandered around the web earlier this week that the New York Yankees had called the Chicago Cubs to inquire about the availability of the Cubs' ace, Carlos Zambrano. A lot has been written already about that potential marriage, so I won't waste a lot of space on it other than to mention it as a foundation for the discussion I'm about to begin.
Who hates the Yankees? Okay, everyone outside of New York. But the hatred is especially deep in Boston, where the rival Red Sox watched the Bronx Bombers spend a billion dollars to buy a World Series championship ...
Reports on Friday morning are that the Chicago Cubs are sending Milton Bradley to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva and between $6-9 million .
Do you feel the collective exhale from Cubs Nation?
Now, the job of Cubs GM Jim Hendry becomes trying to patch the holes in the roster that have been created by his terrible personnel decisions (Aaron Miles) and poor handling of internal free agents (Rich Harden).
But what's left?
Other reports on Friday are that the Padres are close to a deal with Coco Crisp, which would take another centerfielder off the market at a position the Cubs ...
Reports on Friday morning are that the Chicago Cubs are sending Milton Bradley to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva and between $6-9 million .
Do you feel the collective exhale from Cubs Nation?
Now, the job of Cubs GM Jim Hendry becomes trying to patch the holes in the roster that have been created by his terrible personnel decisions (Aaron Miles) and poor handling of internal free agents (Rich Harden).
But what's left?
Other reports on Friday are that the Padres are close to a deal with Coco Crisp, which would take another centerfielder off the market at a position the Cubs ...
Various media outlets, including Larry Stone of the Seattle Times and Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, are reporting the Chicago Cubs have realized one of their worst case scenarios.
The Cubs could announce as early as Friday afternoon that they have traded Milton Bradley to the Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune is reporting that Seattle will pay the Cubs $9 million as part of the deal.
Silva will bring one of the worst contracts in recent history to Chicago; he signed a four-year, $48 million deal before 2008 and has done nothing since. In his two seasons ...
I hope Chicago Cubs fans are gearing up for another six months of disappointment, because this winter isn't giving any indication that 2010 will be any better than the season it will follow.
The Cubs closed their 2009 season with one singular goal: Unload Milton Bradley. The marriage was a failure almost immediately, and GM Jim Hendry made it clear when he sent Bradley home for the last few weeks of the season that he couldn't be back in Chicago next year.
Problems arise when you have a single focus, though, and this winter the Cubs have let almost every team in ...
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