I applaud JedStein for this signing,  Not only do I think they got a got set-up for a fairly reasonable price (maybe a little more than reasonable), but they also are bringing back a fan favorite and a guy who has been a proven leader in the clubhouse.

It’s good to have Woody back.  Here’s hoping he can stay healthy.

The 29-year old Maholm spent seven season with the Pirates where he put together a 53-73 record and a career ERA of 4.36.  In 2011, he pitched 162.3 inning and had a 6-14 record and an ERA of 3.66.  The lefty projects to be the Cubs #4 or #5 starter.

I’m ambivalent about the move.  On the one hand, he figures to be a decent back-of-the-rotation starter for the Cubs in 2012.  If he impresses, the team has a club option to bring him back at a reasonable salary.  On the other hand, I’m not certain that the team needs another back-of-the-rotation starter.  They already have Travis Wood, Chris Volstad, Randy Wells, and Jeff Samardjzia competing for that honor.  Did they need to spend another $4.75 (2-11 salary plus 2012 buyout) to bring in someone else?

In the end, Maholm is not going to ruin the Cubs 2012 season nor is his contract going to break their budget.  And I guess that’s what the signing comes down to: it is largely inconsequential.  I hope he does well and I hope he helps improve what otherwise looks to be a rather hopeless team.  But if he doesn’t, I don’t think anyone will be surprised.

Rizzo became available after the Padres acquired 1B Yonder Alonso from the Reds earlier this off-season in a deal that sent pitcher Mat Latos to Cincinnati.  Rizzo is 22 years old and mashed the ball in AAA.  Last year, he hit .331/.404/.652 with 26 home runs in 413 plate appearances.  However, he struggled when he was promoted to the big leagues, hitting just .141/.281/.242 in 153 plate appearances.

In 2008, Rizzo was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma.  However, there doesn’t appear to be any concerns for his health at this point.  He seems to have returned to form over the past few years and many believe that this move sets the stage for Rizzo to become the long-term solution the Cubs seek at first base.  Carrie Murskat of MLB.com spoke to GM Jed Hoyer and he indicated that Bryan Lahair will be the Cubs 1B in 2012 with Rizzo starting the season in AAA.  Of course, that could change depending on how Rizzo and LaHair perform in Spring Training.

Cates is also just 22-years old, but he has never pitched above Class A.  He was a third round pick of the Padres in 2010.  During the 2011 season at Class A, Cates threw 118 innings and posted a 4.73 ERA.  He had 8.5 k/9 and gave up 4.0 BB/9. This was what one observer from MLBBonusBaby.com thought of Cates when he was drafted:

Zach Cates is a fast-rising right-handed pitcher from Northeast Texas Community College. Cates is originally from Conway High School in Conway, Arkansas, a town about 30 miles north of Little Rock. He came to NTCC as a two-way player, and he was forced into action as the starting catcher as a freshman due to an injury to the starter, meaning he was limited to seven mop-up innings in relief on the mound. However, he moved into a full-time pitching role this spring, and the result has been absolute domination as a starter. Blessed with a natural pro body and a projectable frame, he has seen his stuff mature into a mid-rotation starter’s arsenal, though he still has work to do with his command and control, which are understandably below-average due to his lack of experience with pitching. His fastball is easily his best current pitch, and it’s already plus, sitting 93-95 in most outings, touching 97 a few times late in the spring. His changeup is his best secondary pitch, and it gets above-average grades with good late fade. His curveball is more of a fringe-average pitch with potential to be simply average with time, but with two above-average pitches, scouts aren’t as reliant on him developing that third pitch, though it would be nice. He has upside as a number three starter, which is quite good at the junior college level, and there have been whispers about him becoming a supplemental first round pick, though he fits better in the second or third rounds, where he should be signable.

I’m disappointed that the Cubs lost Andrew Cashner in this deal, but I completely understand it.  Cashner had a lot of upside, but so far in his short career, he was having trouble staying healthy.  The Cubs insisted on stretching him out to be a starter, but I always felt that he was better equipped for the bullpen.  In fact, I could have seen him as the Cubs set-up man or closer sometime in the future.  Even so, trading him to get Rizzo was the right thing to do.

Losing Na should not pose a huge problem for the Cubs in the future.  He is a terrifically gifted athlete with above-average speed, but never projected to be much of a hitter.

Clearly, the Cubs got the better end of this deal.  Of course, JedStein had some inside info on the main player in this trade, Anthony Rizzo.  They were both with Boston when Rizzo was originally drafted by the Red Sox, and Hoyer was the GM in San Diego when Rizzo was traded from Boston to the Padres for Adrian Gonzalez.

Although it appears that acquiring Rizzo will put an end to any speculation that the Cubs might be in on Prince Fielder, I’m not so sure.  Rizzo is a highly respected prospect, but he has yet to prove himself at the big league level.  It seems to me that going all in on Rizzo, regardless of his upside, is a rather substantial risk.  Obtaining Rizzo certainly gives the Cubs a bit more leverage when negotiating with Fielder (particularly when it comes to the length of the contract), but I don’t think it completely excludes the possibility that the Cubs could still sign the big first baseman.  As with most of these things, time will tell.

Zambrano has had issues over the past few seasons controlling his emotions. During the 2011 season, the Cubs placed Big Z on the disqualified list after he intentionally threw at the Braves Chipper Jones. The pitch that Zambrano threw at Jones came after the big right hander had given up five home runs and ten runs to the Braves. Following his ejection, Zambrano left the stadium before the game was over and announced that he was retiring. Ultimately, Zambrano sought counseling and missed the remainder of the season.

Volstad is a former  first round pick who has struggled as a major leaguer. In parts of three seasons he has a 4.59 ERA and a penchant for giving up home runs. He has four pitches (fastball in the low 90′s, curve, slider, and change), but none of his pitches are really considered plus pitches. His slider in particular is a work in progress and tends to get him into trouble from time to time. He projects to be the fourth or fifth starter in the Cubs starting rotation.

So why did the Cubs make this move? It’s not a salary dump. Although they saved about $2.5 million on Zambrano, Volstad is projected to earn between $2.5 and $3.0 million through arbitration in 2012. It’s also not because Volstad is considered a better pitcher than Zambrano. In fact, I think it’s pretty clear that the Cubs rotation just got worse after this trade.

It appears that the Cubs made the trade because they do not believe that Zambrano is capable of controlling his emotions in the heat of competition and they do not want a repeat of last year. My guess is that the Cubs front office also liked the fact that Volstad comes with three more years of club control and will likely remain relatively inexpensive during that time.

I understand that the front office wants to do everything possible to assure clubhouse peace in the future. There’s no doubt that Zambrano, while well-liked by his teammates, could occasionally be a disruptive force. Even so, I didn’t expect the Cubs to trade him. I also didn’t expect Zambrano to waive his no-trade clause, although going to Miami where his friend and Venezuelan countryman Ozzie Guillen is manager does make sense.

Perhaps this is a move in the right direction. If you judge the trade purely on baseball terms, then it’s a loss for the Cubs. However, more is in play here than just on-the-field consideration so I’ll give JedStein the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, I’ll remind Theo and Co. that the off-season is becoming short and they still have many more moves to make before the Cubs are legitimate contenders in 2012. I assume that is their short-term goal, so they need to get busy signing Prince Fielder, Huroki Kuroda and one or both of the big name Cubans, Yeonis Cespedes and Jorge Soler. That’s not asking too much, is it?

The Hoyer-Epstein era began by signing David DeJesus to play right field.  DeJesus is an average ball player who has a tendency to get hurt.  Not exactly the type of signing you want to make to kick off the new regime.  Next, the Cubs traded a couple of decent prospects (Tyler Colvin and DJ LaMahieu) to Colorado for third baseman Ian Stewart, a decent, but faltering young player.  The front office has also spent the off-season losing Ryan Flaherty and Marwin Gonzalez in the Rule-5 draft simply because they failed to add the two young prospects to the 40-man roster, signed such difference makers as Manny Corpas and Reed Johnson, and added a couple of young Cuban defectors who are not particularly well respected.  All-in-all, Hoyer and Epstein have had a less than spectacular introduction for their new employer.  All a Cub fan is left to do is scratch their head and ask “why?”

I am at a loss to explain what sort of plan the Cubs brain trust is following.  So far, it doesn’t make any sense to me.  It’s hard for me to accept that the Cubs are simply going to fill the roster with some cheap, warm bodies and mail-in the 2012 season, but if that was their plan, they would be doing exactly what they have done so far.

The one bright spot for Hoyer-Epstein was the trade of Sean Marshall for LHP Travis Wood and two prospects.  At least at the moment, it appears that the Cubs got the better end of that trade.  However, the trade of Marshall might look like a poorly disguised salary dump to a more skeptical observer.  I don’t happen to be that skeptical (yet), but I do understand how someone could draw that conclusion.

There was talk after Theo Epstein was hired that the Cubs planned on building up their farm system.  It sounded good to me.  The farm has been a weak spot for the Cubs for quite some time and committing to improving it seemed like a step in the right direction.  However, at least so far, it seems that what Epstein was really saying was that the farm system is going to be the primary focus of the club for a while, and the big league team will just have to wallow along until things improve in the minors.  To me, that is unacceptable for a large market team like the Cubs.  Building up the farm while also fielding a respectable, competitive big league team are not mutually exclusive goals.  They can (and should) be done at the same time.

I really have to wonder if Tom Ricketts has the money necessary to properly run the Cubs.  I’ve scoffed at this suggestion in the past when I’ve heard it, but it does seem that Ricketts is trying to run the organization on the cheap.  He’s reduced MLB payroll each of the years he has owned the team, and there presently doesn’t appear to be an appetite to spend on a big name free agent.

It’s difficult for me to believe that either Epstein or Hoyer would have joined the Cubs if they had known that their hands would be tied financially.  However, I have to admit that the moves the pair have made so far are more small market in nature than large market.  Although the off-season is far from over, we are now looking at a payroll south of $100 million  and no apparent interest in signing Prince Fielder or making any other type of big splash.  From a fan standpoint, this is disappointing to say the least.  And from a business standpoint, it is looking like Ricketts either can’t or won’t do what is necessary to properly build the organization.

Corpas was a part of the 2007 Colorado Rockies team that went to the World Series.  He had Tommy John Surgery in 2010 and missed the entire 2011 season.  He has a career ERA of 3.93 — which is fairly impressive considering he has spent his career in Colorado — an ERA+ of 121 and a WHIP of 1.336.  Corpas will join a Cubs bullpen that just lost Sean Marshall to the Reds in a trade.  ESPNChicago’s Bruce Levine opined that the addition of Corpas may signal the Cubs willingness to give Jeff Samardjiza an opportunity to join the starting rotation.

The Cubs re-signed OF Reed Johnson to a one-year contract.  Just as with Corpas, the terms of the contract were not announced.  However, Johnson earned $900,000 in 2011 with the Cubs and had one of his best seasons, so it is probably safe to assume that he will earn somewhere north of $1 million.

Johnson has spent three of the past four years with the Cubs.  Last year, he hit .309/.348/.467 with 5 home runs and 28 rbi in 246 at-bats.  Johnson played all three outfield positions last year for the Cubs.

Going into the off season, I had hopes that the Cubs would sign either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.  I think either guy is capable of being the player that you build your entire organization around.  Of course, Pujols was snatched up by the Angels with a contract that borders on insane.  I’m happy the Cubs didn’t offer what the Angels gave to Pujols.  In my opinion, that contract is going to end up crippling the Angels down the road much like the Alex Rodriguez contract crippled the Rangers.

So that leaves Prince.  Ok, first the down side.  He’s big.  Everyone knows that and everyone is concerned that in time, his body will break down from the weight he is carrying.

I think this is a legit concern and the terms of his contract should reflect that concern.  Just because Pujols got 10 years, that doesn’t mean that Fielder will necessarily have to get 10 years.  In fact, I could foresee a scenario where he sign for 4-5 years and goes for another big contract when he hits free agency again.  by doing that, I’m fairly certain that he could command more money per year on this contract.  For instance, the Cubs may not want to go 10 years at $20 million per year, but they might be willing to go five years at $25 million per year. It’s a trade-off.

Now let’s look at the positive side.  Fielder is just 27 years old and he has already proven himself to be an elite slugger.  He has a career hitting line of .282/.390/.540 and has hit 230 home runs.  Over the past three seasons he has posted WARs of 6.4, 3.4, 5.5.  And despite his size, he has been incredibly durable.  During his career, Prince has averaged 160 games per year.  He’s never been on the DL.

So where does that leave us?  I think it’s clear that the Cubs should be in strong on Fielder.  He can be the centerpiece of the franchise for the next several years and can help to anchor a batting order that doesn’t look too impressive at the moment.  I’d be in favor of a six year deal with a vesting option for an additional year or two.  An annual salary of $25 million seems reasonable (it feels weird to type that) and the Cubs can certainly afford it, regardless of what some folks are saying right now (I’m looking at you Peter Gammons and Nick Cafardo).

There’s still plenty of time to make a splash in free agency this year.  That splash should begin with Prince Fielder.

Head on over and check out my post at The Cub Reporter.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video of Zambrano’s latest meltdown, complete with commentary from the insufferable Steve Stone:

In a nutshell, Zambrano had a very difficult first inning, giving up two doubles, a single, and a three-run homerun to the White Sox Carlos Quentin.  At the end of the half-inning, Zambrano returned to the dugout and went nuts.  He started screaming at everyone within earshot and seemed to aim the brunt of his vitriol at Derek Lee, presumably because Lee did not dive to make a fantastic play on Juan Pierre’s double down the first base line.

Lee took exception to Zambrano’s tirade and the two came face-to-face before Lou Piniella and Alan Trammel intervened.  For his part, Piniella sent Zambrano home in a scene reminiscent of Milton Bradley’s early exit from a game against the White Sox at U.S. Cellular last year.  To put a bit of icing on the cake, Zambrano destroyed another Gatorade cooler and then treated the cameramen waiting outside U.S. Cellular to an expletive-filled rendition of his greatest hits.

Following the game, Cubs GM Jim Hendry announced that Zambrano had been suspended indefinitely for his actions, which Hendry described as “not acceptable.”  MLB and the Player’s Association will each conduct an investigation of the incident before it is determined exactly how long the suspension will last.  Last year’s suspension of Bradley lasted the remainder of the season.  However, that suspension occurred in the middle of September when the season was almost over.  My guess is that Zambrano’s suspension will not last more than two or three weeks.

In the post-game press conference, Piniella indirectly defended Lee by pointing out that the balls hit by the White Sox were hit really hard and that one of them (the homerun to Quentin) ended up in the stands.  Piniella went on to say that Zambrano would, at the very least, be required to apologize to his teammates before he would be allowed to return to the Cubs clubhouse.  He later announced that, once he returns, Big Z will be returning to the bullpen, replaced in the rotation by Tom Gorzelanny.

After being sent home early, Zambrano rather publically went to dinner with White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and his family.  Z has been roundly criticized for having dinner with the opposing manager, especially after being suspended from his own team earlier in the day.  I’m less critical.  I’m sure the arrangements were made far in advance and I’m not sure how having dinner with Guillen makes the situation worse.  However, I will admit that the better decision may have been to postpone dinner to a more settled time.

I want to give kudos to both Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella for the consistent way they have handled the situation.  They caught some flack last year both when Bradley was sent home from a game early and when he was suspended in September.  Some even suggested that the treatment was racially motivated.  Handling Zambrano the same way Bradley was handled is right and appropriate.  It sends a signal that bad behavior will not be tolerated, regardless of your race or the size of your contract.

Of course, that brings up the question, considering that Bradley never played another game in a Cubs uniform following his suspension, what’s going to happen to Zambrano?  The situation is a bit difference.  In the case of Zambrano, Hendry does not have the luxury of the off season to make a trade.  Also, Zambrano is owed about $45 million over the next two-and-a-half years; about twice as much as Bradley was owed.  Finally, Z has a full no-trade clause.  If he chooses to, he can block any trades Hendry might be able to make.

Hendry should be working the phones to gauge interest in Zambrano, but my guess is it’s going to be a tough sell.  To move the 29-year old pitcher, Hendry will likely have to eat a large portion of the contract or he’ll have to take on another bad contract in return.  Zambrano will also have to agree to any trade.

Another option is to just put Zambrano on waivers.  Let’s see if any other team will come along and claim Z.  Perhaps it will turn into an Alex Rios situation where Toronto just let the White Sox have Rios without making a trade.  The Sox just claimed his contract.

Watching the Cubs at this point is like watching a train wreck.  You don’t really want to see the carnage, but you just can’t turn away.  And while Zambrano’s antics add a bit of interest to an otherwise uninteresting season, both Hendry and Piniella are right.  Zambrano’s behavior is unacceptable.

My only comment concerning Howry is, why?  Granted, the Cubs need another arm for the bullpen.  The only criteria Howry fills though is that he is right handed.  Other than that, he has been a mess this season.  He has always been prone to the long ball, but this year he has given up six dingers in just 14 innings.  It seems to me that the Cubs are throwing gasoline on their bullpen fire.

Given the chance, I have to believe that one or more of the Cubs young arms could step in to shore up the bullpen.  Guys like Justin Berg, James Russell, Esmailan Caridad come to mind, but there are also Triple-A starters like Jay Jackson and Andrew Cashner who are available and throwing great this year.  Why would the Cubs elect to go with an apparent reclamation project instead of giving one of their up-and-comers a chance?

I hope Howry joins the Cubs and is lights out, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it.  He has struggled all year and a simple uniform change probably won’t make much of a difference.  Of course, stranger things have happened.  Take Carlos Silva for instance…

In the article, Rosenthal admits that Piniella is blameless for the Cubs woes.  He admits that it’s not Piniella’s fault that neither Derrek Lee nor Aramis Ramirez are hitting.  He admits that it’s not Piniella’s fault that Jim Hendry provided an “inadequate bullpen,” which has included a season-ending injury to Angel Guzman and a multi-year deal with the underperforming John Grabow.  Finally, he admits that it is not Piniella’s fault that there is an everpresent doom and gloom surrounding the Cubs.  Even so, Rosenthal thinks it makes sense to fire Piniella.

Rosenthal says that Piniella won’t quit on his own, so the Cubs should end his misery and fire him.  Sort of a managerial mercy killing.  That way, Piniella will still get paid and the Cubs can move on without him.  Rosenthal suggests that the appropriate replacement for Piniella would be his bench coach, Alan Trammel.  Perhaps Rosenthal is basing his opinion on the stellar job Trammel did while managing the Tigers.  Oh, wait…

A point that Rosenthal makes in the article is that managers are seldom fired because of one mistake or one incident.  Instead, they are fired when a team needs a new energy and new direction.  I’ll admit, I was amazed when Jack McKeon took over a struggling Marlins team midway through the 2003 season and led them to a World Series Championship.  I was also surprised when Jim Tracy took over a Rockies club that underperformed under Clint Hurdle and then led them to the playoffs.  However, as Rosenthal himself admits, statistically speaking, changing the manager in the middle of the season rarely turns around a struggling team.

So, if Rosenthal knows that Piniella is not to blame for the vast majority of the Cubs problems and he knows that changing managers mid-season rarely produces desired results, why is he suggesting that the Cubs fire Piniella?  My only guess is that Rosenthal had a deadline and couldn’t think of anything else to write.  Other than that possibility, Rosenthal’s article makes absolutely no sense.

**********

The big news last night prior to the Cubs 4-1 victory over the Phillies was that the Cubs had re-signed reliever Bob Howry.  Howry was part of the Cubs clubhouse from 2006-08 before signing with San Francisco in 2009 and then Arizona in 2010.

Howry has had a rough go of it this year.  His 1-0 record belies the fact that he has a 10.67 ERA in 14.0 innings pitched.  In those 14 innings, he has walked six, struckout six, and givien up six homeruns (Ouch!).  As a result of his performance this year, the D-Backs released him earlier this week.  And as CSNChicago.com reported, the Cubs signed him off the scrap heap to bolster their anemic bullpen.  However, it now appears CSN Chicago jumped the gun.

During last night’s game, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly indicated that no deal had been reached with Howry.  Paul Sullivan on ChicagoBreakingsports.com reported that the Cubs had not signed Howry, although the team wasn’t ruling out the possibility.

You would have thought that would be the final word, but the plot thickens.  Following the game last night, Lou Piniella sounded like the manager of a team that had just signed Howry.

“If it happens, it would give us some experience in our bullpen from the right side.  I’m not saying anything’s going to happen.  I’m saying that when we had him before he was a rock in the clubhouse.  He was great with the young pitchers.”

Then, on his WGN Radio show, Dave Kaplan said that a deal was in place for Howry to join the Cubs and that the final paperwork would be completed in the next day or two.  He reiterated his belief on his blog by saying that the Cubs would announce Howry’s signing in the next 48 hours (from 10:30 CT last night).  He bases this belief on the fact that friends of Howry and his wife were told that the Howry’s will be moving back to Chicago.

I guess we will know soon enough, but my question is, why is it that big of a deal?  Is Bob Howry really the guy that is going to cure the Cubs bullpen ills?  It’s great that Howry was a rock in the clubhouse during his last stint with the Cubs, but is that going to help him get any batters out now?

Granted, players sometimes respond to a change of scenery, but is Howry really going to go from a pitcher with a 10.67 ERA to a difference maker in the Cubs bullpen?  I seriously doubt it.  Plus, I don’t see Howry taking on the 8th inning set-up duties.  He is more of a 6th or 7th inning guy, a role the Cubs have not had much trouble with this year.

If the Cubs do sign Howry, I wouldn’t place too much hope on the move or expect too much from him.  He will be a minor cog in the Cubs bullpen and will not suddenly turn the Cubs weak bullpen into a strength for the team.