The Cubs have “reached an agreement” with Cuban pitcher Juan Yasser Serrano, although the deal is not expected to be finalized for about a month. That, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
Serrano defected from Cuba in April 2009 after being arrested in Cuba in January 2009 for attempted illegal departure. At least we know he’s persistent. The [...]
Category Archives: Stats
A Cuban, Advanced Statistics, And Childish Millionaires
March 5, 2010 – 5:23 am
Is OBP Really That Important?
March 4, 2010 – 5:52 am
I’m going to do something dangerous here. I’m going to write a post without knowing how it’s going to end. I’m just going to kind of feel my way through it and hope that I come up with something that makes sense.
I’ve been thinking about on-base percentage a lot recently. I grew up at a [...]
Pitchers and Catcher Report
February 17, 2010 – 8:57 am
Tomorrow is the official day when Cubs pitchers and catchers are supposed to report to the Spring Training facility in Mesa. It is the official start of the Spring Training season (games begin in March) and most Cubs pitchers and catchers are already in camp.
According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, Carlos Zambrano, Randy Wells, Jeff [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Bringing It All Together
January 25, 2010 – 5:14 am
For the past two weeks, we’ve been looking at the Cubs roster to see how well Jim Hendry and the front office have done in spending nearly $140 million. To check out any of the previous posts, visit these links:
What Can You Get For $140 Million? (Introduction and Methodology)
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Starting Pitchers
January 22, 2010 – 5:40 am
With the third highest payroll in baseball in 2009, the Cubs put together a roster that is arguably the worst of the top six spending teams in the Major Leagues. My complaint isn’t with the money they spent. A large market club like the Cubs with the high annual revenues they have should be one of the [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Closer
January 21, 2010 – 5:43 am
The Cubs are spending a lot of money on their payroll. In 2009, they spent nearly $140 million, good for the third highest payroll in all of Major League Baseball. Only the Yankees and Mets out-spent the Cubs last year.
On the surface, it appears that both the Yankees and Mets got some of the top [...]
What Can You Get For $140 million?: Right Field
January 20, 2010 – 5:36 am
In the past several years, the Cubs have gone from an under-spending team to the team with the third highest payroll in 2009. The change was good and needed. For years, the Cubs, a big market, high revenue team, were spending enough to field a team, but not enough to field a winning team.
Today, considering [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Center Field
January 19, 2010 – 5:01 am
This series of articles was prompted by my belief that 1) the Cubs, by virtue of being the third highest payroll team in baseball in 2009, should have one of the top players at each position, and 2) the Cubs roster does not compare favorably with the other highest payroll teams.
I’m please that the Cubs [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Left Field
January 18, 2010 – 5:00 am
For the the past few days, we’ve been looking at the Cubs 2009 roster and seeing how it compares to other teams with high payrolls. When I started the project, my thinking was that 1) with such a high payroll (the third highest in baseball), the Cubs should have one of the top players in [...]
What Can You Get For $140 Million?: Catcher
January 15, 2010 – 6:23 am
If a team is going to outspend all but two other teams in Major League Baseball, shouldn’t they be expected to sign/trade for some of the top players at just about every position? That’s my thinking. I also think that the Cubs are spending the payroll dollars like the big boys, but their roster cannot [...]
