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The OFFICIAL 2011 Chicago Cubs Thread

Just saw over on Bleed Cubbie Blue that the Cubs have a new rainout policy this year. In the past you were able to get a refund or even exchange your ticket for another date, but this appears to no longer be the case - now it appears that the ticket you bought for a rained out game will only be good for the scheduled make-up date.

Can't say I'm a fan of this new policy.
 
Stop the presses... the cubs have won 2 in a row. Soriano has been absolutely en fuego as of late and we all know that won't continue for too long. what is encouraging is the barney/castro combo. Big hits for both tonight and they'll only going to get better.
 
At least Barney/Castro seem to be players you can build around. They still have Soriano's contract, they need to get off books. Garza should get better, but right now they won't win many game with Russel and Coleman rounding out rotation. I'm not expecting much this year, but at least they have a few pieces to build on. I'll be heading to Chicago to see all three games of Yankees/Cubs and a couple of Cubs/White Sox in a few months.
 
That $10 mil we through at Carlos Pena is working out great!

Wondering why we didn't pick up Randall Simon, Bobby Hill, or Brooks Kieschnick - they might have signed for that...
 
Any chance we see a move to bullpen for Ryan Dempster? He has looked atrocious this year. Not that we really have anyone to fill his starters role, but once Wells and Cashner come back, I would be ok with a rotation of Z, Garza, Wells, Cashner and Coleman. We could actually really use Dempsters arm in the pen.
 
DaDeacs said:
Any chance we see a move to bullpen for Ryan Dempster? He has looked atrocious this year. Not that we really have anyone to fill his starters role, but once Wells and Cashner come back, I would be ok with a rotation of Z, Garza, Wells, Cashner and Coleman. We could actually really use Dempsters arm in the pen.
Click to expand...

Who the hell would we start in his place? Thomas Diamond? Jay Jackson?

The Cubs don't have 4 starters, much less 5, and certainly not 6 (which we would effectively need, were we to move Dempster into the bully).

Also, he has more extraordinarily unlucky so far than bad. His HR/FB% is far higher than this career or league averages and is sure to regress to the mean. His K rate is fine and his velocity is fine. He'll be OK.
 
The Pena deal is also totally fine.

-It's a 1-year deal.
-He's not blocking any 1B prospects.
-His signing did not preclude the Cubs from either (1) pursuing another more capable 1B or (2) spending that $10 million on another free agent. Fielder and Pujols will still be FAs this winter, and the Cubs' relative position will not be any worse as a result of the Pena contract.
-His .BABIP and secondary metrics last year were far lower than his career averages and are (still) likely to regress to the mean.
-He is going from the AL East to the NL Central, a huge step down in competition, thus it was likely he'd improve on last year's numbers.
-It's May 3rd, and you're talking about a player who historically is as streaky as they come. Like, Soriano-levels of streakiness.
-It's a 1-year deal.
 
KidA23 said:
Who the hell would we start in his place? Thomas Diamond? Jay Jackson?

The Cubs don't have 4 starters, much less 5, and certainly not 6 (which we would effectively need, were we to move Dempster into the bully).

Also, he has more extraordinarily unlucky so far than bad. His HR/FB% is far higher than this career or league averages and is sure to regress to the mean. His K rate is fine and his velocity is fine. He'll be OK.
Click to expand...

As I said, when Wells & Cashner are back - which is looking like 2-3 weeks out. A starting 5 of:

Zambrano
Garza
Wells
Cashner
Coleman

It can't be any worse than what we have now.
 
KidA23 said:
The Pena deal is also totally fine.

-It's a 1-year deal.
-He's not blocking any 1B prospects.
-His signing did not preclude the Cubs from either (1) pursuing another more capable 1B or (2) spending that $10 million on another free agent. Fielder and Pujols will still be FAs this winter, and the Cubs' relative position will not be any worse as a result of the Pena contract.
-His .BABIP and secondary metrics last year were far lower than his career averages and are (still) likely to regress to the mean.
-He is going from the AL East to the NL Central, a huge step down in competition, thus it was likely he'd improve on last year's numbers.
-It's May 3rd, and you're talking about a player who historically is as streaky as they come. Like, Soriano-levels of streakiness.
-It's a 1-year deal.
Click to expand...

I get the long-term impact. More talking about a win this year situation and spending $10 million for one year at a career .235 hitter. I mean, why even spend the $10 million on the guy? We knew our starting staff was going to be weak, even with Garza, and we banked on a rookie or Carlos Silva as our 5th starter? And Kerry Wood the only option to shore up the pen?
 
Can't believe that I was actually excited that I had Dempster on my fantasy team after the draft - figured he's be good for 10-15 wins and would eat a lot of innings. Whoops! Here's hoping he fairs better tonight.
 
Aight...buzzed and about to watch the Cubs game on WGN so I will be sharing my thoughts throughout the night.

Dempster pitching tonight on his 34th birthday.
 
Wow Ramirez just got hosed. Got a double and then got called out because he was dragged off the bag. Pretty clear that his foot never came off 2nd base.
 
Pena finally hits a HR after 90 AB's. Good for him. Tied at 1 in the 7th.
 
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