Another Cubs Blog (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
I’m off to bed soon so I’m going to wait to explain this until tomorrow. I just wanted to put this up. Bill James came up with a method to predict whether or not a player who had 400 or more PA’s in a season would be at least as good the following season. This was published in The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010. High scores are better, but all of these correspond to a percentage...
Fake Teams (Free subscription) | 11/15/2009
More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP about 1 month ago: Detroit Tigers' Curtis Granderson rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of Game 2 of a baseball doubleheader Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, in Detroit. The Tigers defeated the Twins 6-5. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson) Browse more photos » Yesterday Phil Rogers from the Chicago Tribune...
Red Reporter (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Obama may not have been able to deliver Chicago the Olympics, but at least his hometown hosted the MLB Winter Meetings in his first year in office. Not much activity thus far, but here are some rumblings: Per a Buster Olney Tweet (via mlbtraderumors.com), the Reds are shopping Coco hard. Olney's heard from other teams that the Reds would love to move closer Francisco Cordero. Of course, closers are...
Twinkie Town (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
We have conflicting reports on whether Mauer contract extension talks have actually started. Joe C. in this morning's Star Tribune: " Contract talks haven't started ". My guess is this is Mauer downplaying any preliminary discussions that may be taking place. No cause for alarm...yet. Other random notes (many thanks to MLB Trade Rumors ): Joe C. also notes that Carl Pavano 's agent had an...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Three players - Mike Fontenot, Adam Jones, and Micah Owings - have exactly two years and 139 days of service time. According to MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger, only one could be designated a Super Two player, and it will be Fontenot. It might seem pretty minor, but once you refresh yourself on what Super Two means, check out these ripple effects from the tiebreaker decision... Fontenot is arbitration-eligible...
Bleed Cubbie Blue (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP Mike Fontenot after a forceout of Albert Pujols in April at Wrigley Field. Browse more photos » No surprises here, at least not for me. I expected Albert Pujols to be the unanimous MVP among SBN voters, and he was. The AL winner is the guy I would have chosen; you may be a bit surprised at the second-place finisher. Points for MVP are awarded as follows:...
SI.com (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
NEW YORK (AP) -- Chicago Cubs infielder Mike Fontenot earned the last arbitration spot for players with between two and three years of major league service, beating out Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones and Cincinnati pitcher Micah Owings on a tiebreaker.
Bleed Cubbie Blue (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Mike Fontenot Granted "Super Two" Status Fontenot is now arbitration-eligible; I suspect this makes him a non-tender candidate.
ESPN (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Cubs infielder Mike Fontenot earned the last arbitration spot for players with between two and three years of major league service, beating out Orioles center fielder Adam Jones and Reds pitcher Micah Owings on a tiebreaker.
CBS SportsLine.com (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
Chicago Cubs infielder Mike Fontenot earned the last arbitration spot for players with between two and three years of major league service, beating out Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones and Cincinnati pitcher Micah Owings on a tiebreaker.
The Cub Reporter (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Fangraphs is once again going to list the projections on their player pages from a variety of sources, Bill James , CHONE, Marcel....maybe more. Bill James projections are up first and here's how the Cubs ranked by wOBA and their 2009 wOBA ( explanation of wOBA here ). I'll try and expand when new projections are released. Age is their 2010 playing age. You can click on their names to get their full...
Bleed Cubbie Blue (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP Like it or not, one of the keys to the Cubs' success in 2010 is a resurgence by Alfonso Soriano. Here, he launches his game-winning grand slam vs. the Astros last July 27. View full size photo » Last year about this time, I made this post discussing what I thought should be the makeup of the 2009 Cubs. Brave, isn't it, of me to post that link when I'd just as soon...
Bleed Cubbie Blue (Free subscription) | 10/23/2009
More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP Will Magglio Ordonez be a Cub in 2010? Browse more photos » With a day off before game six of the ALCS -- and this series has the chance to go down in history as one of the better league championship series, having already produced at least three "instant classics", let's spend today looking toward next year. As most of you probably already...
Thunder Matt's Saloon (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
Well, yesterday was Wednesday, so that can mean only one thing: time for the Cubs to hire a new hitting coach. We could see it coming. Anemic bats and a lackluster offence piss a fan base off to no end, so Jim Hendry did the one thing a good GM does to revive flagging run production: through a series of intelligent trades and smart free agent signings, he picked up some patient hitters with good power...
Chicago Breaking News (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
The Cubs will introduce new hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo at a Wrigley Field press conference this afternoon. As expected, Jaramillio agreed to a three-year deal on Tuesday for a reported $2.4 million. The former Texas hitting coach will be under pressure to ignite the Cubs young hitters, including Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot, who flopped at the plate in 2009. -- Paul Sullivan
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