We all knew it was coming.According to Ken Rosenthal of MSN Sports, the Cubs and Marlins are in the final stages of a deal which would send Carlos Zambrano to the Miami Marlins for Chris Volstad. According to reports from Rosenthal and ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine on Twitter, the Cubs will eat roughly $15 million of Zambrano's $18 million salary for 2012.Zambrano, in the last year of a massive five-year, $91.7 extension handed to him by former GM Jim Hendry, will move to the Miami Marlins. Full of fresh faces in manager Ozzie Guillen, shortstop Jose Reyes and pitchers Mark ...
USA Today reports Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano is about to be traded to the Florida Marlins,in an unexpected offseason deal.Maybe "unexpected" is the wrong choice of word, as the deal has been a long-rumored one over the past few months. It is still another clear step in newly appointed Theo Epstein's march to remake the make-up of his Cubs franchise.Dave Kaplan of Comcast news reports that the deals specifics should be finalized in the next 24-48 hours. Although there is some finality to the pieces involved.Jon Heyman, ESPN sports news, Twitter.com that the Cubs will be receiving starting pitcher Chris ...
Jack Curry of the YES Network is reporting via Twitter that the Cubs have asked for top catching prospect Jesus Montero, and either Dellin Betances or Manny Banuelos in exchange for Matt Garza. The Yankees balked at the asking price of both White Sox pitcher John Danks and now Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, but perhaps Garza is worth relinquishing Montero as he is under control for two more seasons.Garza posted a 10-10 record with a 3.32 ERA and 197 strikeouts in 31 starts for the Cubs but posted a 2.45 ERA in his final 15 starts.Montero, 22, hit .288 in ...
The team that won back-to-back division titles in 2007 and 2008 has become a mess. However, a rebuilding operation is underway, and it will be more exciting and rewarding to watch than their recent downfall was.While the Cubs will not likely be an October force in 2012, there are still plenty of reasons to watch this young club develop.Here are ten reasons to watch the Cubs in 2012..Begin Slideshow
Matt Garza pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 2011, but he should be with the Detroit Tigers by the third or fourth week of 2012. Trade rumors still swirl around the right-handed quasi-ace with the National League's second-best fastball and the filthy, roiling breaking ball, and five (six?) teams remain in play for him, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.Pitching is the priority for the Cubs. They have star shortstop Starlin Castro and 2012 rookie Brett Jackson as offensive anchors for the long haul, but need to address a pitching staff that walked more batters than any other in ...
Moises Alou went ballistic. Mark Prior started the fingerpointing. And Alex Gonzalez committed the worst error of his career.The meltdown has been reviewed over and over (and over), and several players poured gasoline on the fire. So playing "what if" with Cubs fans about the Bartman Incident is like poking little caged bears with a long stick: they'll cry, whimper and complain, but there's nothing they can do about it.It's just mean.A recent episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 looked closely at what happened, interviewed players and fans sitting near Steve Bartman, and made a compelling case that he deserves an apology.He ...
Prince Fielder's free agency is still the greatest mystery of the Major League Baseball offseason. However, it would appear that you can scratch the Chicago Cubs off the list of serious contenders.According to Ken Davidoff of New York Newsday, the team is committed to the future and a long-term rebuild, and those plans do not include paying top dollar for a premium free agent right now, even though the report says that Fielder would like to play there.Fielder wanted the Cubs; they’re a reasonable distance from his Florida home and he has outstanding numbers at Wrigley Field. The Cubs, however, ...
The 2011-12 offseason's free-agent list made roars over the top-end talent sure to make headlines when they signed.Two of the best first basemen in the game, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, were both on the market at the same time.Jose Reyes and Aramis Ramirez also presented huge upgrade potential in the infield, and both switched teams while staying in the same division.Carlos Beltran and Grady Sizemore were easily the top outfielders, both signing short-term deals to play in the Midwest.On the pitching side of things, there were a handful of mighty closers to be had. Jonathan Papelbon, Ryan Madson and ...
Right now, the Chicago Cubs are a wreck of a team.Yes, they have some nice pieces in Starlin Castro and Matt Garza; but they also have a lot of veterans who simply won't stick around long enough to help the team when the time is right for contention. Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster come off the books after this year (a combined $32 million commitment for 2012), and their starts every fifth day will need to be replaced.As of right now, it appears the Cubs' rotation will consist of some combination of Garza, Zambrano, Dempster, Randy Wells, Andrew Cashner, Travis ...
The Cubs received two good prospects in the Sean Marshall/Travis Wood deal. Here is a closer look at what these two players can bring to the Cubs. Dave Sappelt:Sappelt is a very good contact hitter. In 2010, he was both the Reds' Minor League Hitter of the Year and the Southern League's Most Valuable Player. He batted .361 with an on-base percentage of .416 in the Southern League that year. That performance was not a fluke either; his 2011 numbers are also good: Sappelt hit .313 with an on-base percentage of .377. Sappelt also brings speed and defense ...
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