Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald is looking at the Cubs current roster to see what we might expect for next year. He looked at the position players previously. Today he looks at the pitchers.
The Cubs pitching staff is in pretty good shape for next year. Starter Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster, and Randy Wells will likely take the top four spots (barring any trades), with Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, and Jeff Samardzija fighting it out for the fifth spot.
The bullpen may also be pretty well set. Two of the three pitchers listed above that will be competing for the fifth starter role will likely end up in the bullpen. Carlos Marmol will be closing, which leaves four or five additional positions in the bullpen.
Assuming Angel Guzman is healthy, he’ll claim one spot. John Grabow is slated to be a free agent, but the Cubs are working on an extension for him and he has indicated that he would like to return. If he does, he’ll claim another spot. The finally two or three spots will go to any combination of David Patton, Esmailan Caridad, Justin Berg, Jeff Stevens and John Gaub. There’s also a chance that the Cubs may try to resign Aaron Heilman, who Miles points out had a decent second half this year.
It’s fair to say that the vast majority of the offseason action is going to be focused on the position players. A little tweaking here and there (like resigning John Grabow) may take place, but don’t expect many changes to the pitching staff.
Caveat: Of course, this assumes that none of the Cubs pitchers are involved in trades. My gut tells me that a couple of the guys listed above will not be Cubs when the 2010 season rolls around.
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Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago (the “other” Bruce) has a new article up wherein he says:
The most likely scenario in the offseason will have the team allowing right-hander Rich Harden to test the free-agent waters. The Cubs will not offer arbitration to Harden, who was their top strikeout pitcher in 2009. Credit should be given to the Cubs’ medical and training staff, which did a fabulous job keeping the oft-injured pitcher on the mound the last year and a half. And to Harden’s credit, the extra work he did last offseason was also a key factor in his ability to make 26 starts this season.
No disrespect to Mr. Levine, but I think he’s wrong. I expect the Cubs to offer arbitration to Harden and I expect Harden to turn it down, thus giving the Cubs a second round draft pick from the team that eventually signs him (Harden is a type B free agent).
As a type B free agent, Harden knows that it is more likely that a team will sign him, potentially even to a multi-year deal. They will not be as shy about signing him as they would have been had he been a type A free agent. So it’s in the Cubs best interest to get something for him. Worst case scenario is that he accepts arbitration and the Cubs end up with a good pitcher with the potential to be great if he can stay healthy.
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2009 is the 25th anniversary of the Cubs 1984 NL East winning season. It was the first time since 1945 that a Cubs team had gone to the post season, so for Cubs fans, the 1984 team and season was very special.
Tony Arnold from WBEZ in Chicago is interviewing the various members of that 1984 team, including league-MVP and future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. Sandberg remembers the season vividly, including the excitement at Wrigley as the season wore on, peopler gathering on the rooftops across from Wrigley for the first time, as well as specfic games and plays. Take a listen to what Ryno remembers about the great 1984 season.
