The Last Saturday in January

The first month of the New Year is all but complete and there are only four Saturdays left before the first Spring Training game of the Piniella era. The last eight days have seen more activity from the North Side of Chicago. From the signing and commitment of Jeff Samardzija to the release of Glendon Rusch, the week that was just added to the anticipation for the upcoming season.

While the Bears are preparing to face Peyton Manning and the Colts next Sunday, the Cubs are preparing to erase the very forgettable season that everyone endured just a year ago. The Cubs have added words such as swagger, depth and OBP to their vocabulary....the expectations are once again high for the upcoming season and for once, rightfully so. One can almost hear the magical words of Pat Hughes, "Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air." Here is the rest of the week that was....

"We are going to be good and stay good," were the words spoken by Jim Hendry last week at the convention....and this was just hours after the Cubs signing Jeff Samardzija to a major league contract and in turn making baseball his one and only sport.

Dave Kaplan on Friday night asked Alfonso Soriano if he was given the choice which outfield position would he like to play.... Soriano's answer was center field, an answer that seemed harmless enough at the time.

Saturday morning, Dave Kaplan told Lou Piniella what he had asked Soriano the night before and the reaction of Piniella quickly spread throughout the convention and became a topic for debate by much of the mainstream media.

Sunday morning the rumors of the imminent signing of Cliff Floyd surfaced again and many reports cited the reason being Soriano's willingness to play center field.

Sunday afternoon the Bears beat the Saints to earn a trip to the Super Bowl to face the Colts....everyone in Chicago dusted off their VHS copy of the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Monday and Tuesday....more rumors about Cliff Floyd and the Cubs shopping Jacque Jones. Jason Marquis was given clearance by the Cubs to wear his familiar number 21 but no official announcement has been made.

Wednesday the Cubs finally signed Cliff Floyd to a 1-year deal. The rumors and concerns over playing time for Matt Murton surfaced immediately. The Cubs 40-man roster grew to 42 and other moves became mandatory.

Thursday the Cubs released Glendon Rusch. Several reports stated he would have not been able to pitch in 2007, so this move was inevitable. The Cubs roster currently stands at 41....

Around the rest of the league....

The Cardinals took a step back on Thursday with the announcement that Jeff Weaver had agreed to terms with the Seattle Mariners. The Cardinals trying to spin the likes of Braden Looper in their starting rotation is one that has to infuriate Cardinal fans everywhere.

Sammy Sosa appears to be headed to the Texas Rangers. If he makes the team, will he play against his former team when they face off in Arlington June 19th - June 21st?

On February 1, 2006 the biggest concerns among the Faithful was who would be the starting second baseman come opening day and the health of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior....what a difference a year makes.

Ryan R

Sorry, I meant to say that Wood has to prove he can go back to back days before he is annointed the CLOSER.

Ryan R

I think your being a little unfair to Prior. The injuries he's had were legit. Plus two freak accidents. And I'm not sure how you propose Marquis will be trade bait since almost everybody here thought signing him was ludicrous. If he is good enough to be trade bait by the deadline then that means he has won 10+ games, and so why would we want to trade him?

It does seem like Wood wil be ready by opening day. He will start in the bullpen, but has to prove he can go on back to back days before he's annointed the starter. I think it suits him mentally and skills wise, and would be a great PR story on Fox, but his physical ability remains to be seen. As for Prior, all reports are that he is in the best shape of his life. He has great mechanincs, thats undisputed. It also remains to be seen whether he can physically go out and pitch every 5th day. The Cubs aren't committing, but he has said that he's been throwing fot 2 months without pain. Probably not at game velocity, but thats pretty encouraging. So, I don't think its totally unrealistic that both won't be ready for opening day. What I don't understand is all the "experts" saying that we are once again relying on Wood and Priors health. What?! Besides the fact that JH has said that we're not doing that anymore, we went out and signed two new SP's and still have Miller who proved he's at least average last September, and still have quality young guys like Hill, and Marshall etc. So I can't really fathom where on earth some of the "experts" come up with this crap.

agustinrexach

Good thought Aaron, even though you are being a little optimistic about Wood and Prior and A.J has a point, we are Cub fans and we can't deny hope on our roster. LOL! I think they will surprise us and be ready on time.

For some reason I think Miller won't make the starting rotation and that makes him more likley to be traded. Marquis will be trade bait by mid season but right now he will make the Starting Rotation. Prior is not going to be traded for the simple fact that his value is down and we would not get the value we believe his worth. Remember when Baltimore wanted Big Z for Tejada and JH offered Prior instead, they countered asking for Hill and Prior. That was too much at the time but what a diference it would have done. Prior should understand that Mayor leaguers play while being injured.

SP

1-Zambrano

2-Lilly

3-Prior

4-Hill

5-Marquis

A.J.

It drives me NUTS that fans are STILL saying Wood as the closer!?!?!?!

Think... How can we expect someone who has had issues for 2 years pitching on 5 days rest to all of a sudden be able to go back to back days?

That (to me) is INSANE!

Jim (Tinley Park)

Aaron:

Amazingly, you are another person who has Prior and Wood on the opening day roster. I just can't see that happening, it would be nice. I also want to see Dempster and Jones gone for some talent. No more of this dumping of guys to Baltimore for their

slop. I would like to see Howry as the closer until

Wood proves that he is healthy and effective.

Aaron

yeah, and I hope that CF's name starts with Felix and ends with Pie, and we trade Jones for some good young talent, along with perhaps Dumpster, Novoa, and maybe Ohman.

Like I've said previously, the Floyd signing reeks of a Jones trade, and doesn't make sense at all if it doesn't happen. I also don't buy the idea that Soriano's revelation had anything to do with this signing, as the Cubs were after Floyd all along and were just waiting on medical reports, which can take awhile, as we've seen with JD Drew and the Red Sox.

I think the Floyd signing might buy a little time for Pie (if he bombs in ST), and Patterson. Since I missed yesterday's lineup projections due to my crazy workload, I thought I'd offer my 2 cents.......

I'll start with what it *should* be...

C-Barrett

1b-Lee

2b-Theriot

ss-Izturis

3b-ARAM

lf-Murton

cf-Pagan

rf-Soriano

bench-Blanco, DeRosa, Ward, Floyd, Patterson

SP

1-Zambrano

2-Lilly

3-Prior

4-Hill

5-Miller

BP

LR-Cotts

LR-Marquis

MR-Ohman

MR-Wuertz

SU-Howry

SU-Eyre

CL-Wood

***reasoning: Miller and Prior are proven, and over a year removed from shoulder problems----same for Wood, and usually that's the amount of time it takes for shoulder injuries to heal. I know that's being overly optimistic, but I think it should happen, and there's no way Marquis should be in the rotation at all. Look for a trade involving Novoa/Ohman/Jones/Cedeno/Dempster/Miller/Prior to free up a spot in the bullpen and rotation. The latter two, in my world, shouldn't be traded, but you never know.

As for the bench, and lineup, you have 5 guys: Lee, Pagan, Theriot, Soriano, and Patterson who can steal more than 20 bases. They all have good bats to boot as well. I also think you HAVE to get rid of Dempster (to Boston as they need relief), ditto Novoa and either Cotts or Ohman. If you want to keep Izzy on the team, you must look to include Cedeno in a deal. As of now, you have 3 lefties, Jones, Ward, and Floyd for the OF, and that is plenty---one has to go, and you can't trade Ward or Floyd, so it just kind of makes sense, you know? And if they keep Pagan, well, he's a switch hitter, so that adds even more to the notion that you trade Jones.

I think the best thing for the Cubs to do is trade these extra chips for high ceiling prospects in low A or AA, and stockpile with position players NOT more pitching, as we already have a lot of those prospects in the minors right now.

Anyone else feel that way?

Jim (Tinley Park)

A few thoughts.....

* You can almost hear the ball hitting the leather

that popping sound.

* I hope Hendry can land a CF in order for Soriano

to play RF.