Before the clock struck midnight on 2009, the Cubs filled their center field vacancy by signing free agent Marlon Byrd. Bruce Levine broke the news for ESPN Chicago. The deal will pay Byrd $15 million over three years. As with many of Jim Hendry’s signings, this contract is backloaded to provide some payroll flexibility this [...]
Tag Archives: Mark Derosa
Cubs Involved In Several Trade Rumors
November 22, 2009 – 11:42 am
The Cubs have been involved to one extent or another in several trade rumors so far this off season. The most persistent rumors revolve around trading Milton Bradley. Last week, Chicago Tribune columnist Phil Rogers wrote on ChicagoBreakingSports.com that the Cubs were involved in discussions over a three way trade that would send Bradley to [...]
A Look At The Offseason (Part 1 – Infield)
October 28, 2009 – 7:31 am
The Cubs enter the off season with a mixed bag of needs. Tops on the list is a middle-of-the-order run producer. If things work out, they’d also like to get a speedy, OBP-type of lead-off hitter. They may even look at adding a bullpen arm. In the field, the Cubs would prefer to add a [...]
Rudy Jaramillo’s Approach to Hitting
October 22, 2009 – 7:33 am
Wonder what all the hype surrounding Rudy Jaramillo is about? To hear Derek Lee talk about it, hitting coaches don’t really make much of a difference. After Cubs hitting coach Von Joshua was released, Lee commented that hitters know their swings and what adjustments they need to make. The role of the hitting coach, according [...]
A Bittersweet Time of Year
October 4, 2009 – 9:25 am
A love fall. I really enjoy summer, but I think the fall is my favorite season of the year. The temperatures are still comfortable, but the summer humidity is gone out of the air. It’s a great time to be outside, whether attending a baseball or football game, or just doing yard work. One of [...]
More Fallout From the Bradley Suspension
September 23, 2009 – 7:26 am
The initial reaction to the suspension of Milton Bradley was overwhelmingly supportive of Jim Hendry. Writers and pundits expressed opinions that almost universally derided Bradley’s behavior and supported Hendry’s suspension of Bradley for said behavior. The one lone voice criticizing Hendry (and Lou Piniella) was Dave Kaplan in his blog on ChicagoNow.com which I referenced [...]
Bradley Suspension Dominates News
September 22, 2009 – 8:22 am
The suspension of Milton Bradley by Cubs GM Jim Hendry continues to be the big story surrounding the Cubs. Even as they beat the Brewers last night 10-2 to pull to within 7.5 games of idle Colorado in the Wildcard race, the focus remained on Bradley’s suspension. Hal Bodley of MLB.com weighed in to express [...]
Cubs Salvage Victory in San Diego
August 20, 2009 – 7:42 am
The Cubs took the finale of a three game set to avoid being swept in San Diego. Rich Harden continued his terrific pitching on the road. He went 7.0 innings, giving up just one hit and no runs. He struck out eight and walked three for the win. Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley both homered [...]
Cubs Lose Again
August 19, 2009 – 7:53 am
The Cards lost to the Dodgers last night, but the Cubs couldn’t take advantage of the situation as they also lost 6-3 to the Padres. Derrek Lee had two hits, including a home run and a double, but it wasn’t enough to save the game for the Cubs. You would think that a team in [...]
