It is back to work after a long holiday weekend and baseball’s off-season figures to kick back into gear after being relatively quiet over the past four days.
One of the Cubs’ rumored off-season targets took his name out of consideration on Sunday. Brandon Webb agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers, pending a physical. So with Webb off the market, is Hendry still looking to add a starting pitcher? Starting Pitchers
Bruce Levine mentioned Saturday that the Cubs are still interested in trading for Matt Garza. But if the Rays’ decide to deal him and their asking price is too high, in terms of prospects, will the Cubs decide to go into Spring Training with a projected starting rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells and Tom Gorzelanny … with Andrew Cashner, Carlos Silva, Jeff Samardzija, Casey Coleman and possibly Chris Archer battling it out for the last open spot in the rotation?
The Cubs have numbers but clearly more back-of-the-rotation starters than frontline hurlers. Granted Andrew Cashner will be in consideration and has the stuff to be a top of the rotation starter at the big league level, but until he shows otherwise, Cashner would be slotted into the fifth spot.
The Cubs were connected to Jeff Francis during the Winter Meetings and there has been rumored interest in Tom Gorzelanny (Mets and Tigers) but trading the only southpaw in his projected rotation appears to be on the backburner for Jim Hendry.
Without a doubt, the Cubs need to upgrade the starting rotation. But overpaying, in terms of prospects, for a team that figures to finish in the bottom half of the central in 2011, would be another bad move for a GM that has a habit of making them.
40-man Roster
As of this writing, the Cubs have not made the official announcement of the roster move made in the wake of signing Kerry Wood back on December 17.
The Cubs’ big league roster still stands at 41 players.
It would seem a relief pitcher would be waived in order to make room for Kerry Wood … like a Brian Schlitter, Jeff Stevens or Justin Berg.
Ron Santo
For those that missed a very powerful report from Barry Rozner, please take the time to read this link.
Ron Santo’s Last Gift to His Family
From the CCO
For those that missed the articles on the CCO during the holiday, including info on the new commenting system, here are the quick links …
- Cubs and WGN Begin Search for Pat Hughes’ New Partner
- The Current State of the Chicago Cubs
- Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas from the CCO!
- The Final Cubs Weekend Update of Twenty-Ten
Follow the CCO on Twitter
Time to Disqus on the CCO
The CCO on the Go … a fully mobile version of the CCO is now available and should redirect to your smart phone or any mobile device.
The CCO is also happy to announce we have added a new writer to the team. Tom U. will help cover the minor league system for the CCO.
Well, that’s the update … and I’m sticking to it.