tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60791612011-04-21T11:11:59.937-07:00Any Team Can Have A Bad Century An in-depth look into the Chicago Cubs including sabermetrics, analysis of roster moves, and prospect ratings.DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1107119154018838992005-01-30T13:04:00.000-08:002005-01-30T13:05:54.016-08:00
Not this Way
What was supposed to be a season of high expectations, became an embarrassing, pressure packed, franchise changing 6-month long soap opera, featuring outlandish managerial comments, players feuding with announcers, players whining constantly to umpires, and false injury diagnoses. It all culminated with a near catastrophic fall from world series contender to a 3rd place wildcard DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1090382791064531942004-07-20T20:45:00.000-07:002004-07-20T21:06:31.063-07:00Ashamed
Today, I am ashamed and embarrassed that I am a Cubs fan. In the 2 game series with the Cardinals, the Cubs acted like a collective group of gutless crybabies. I know this was a "big" series, but there is no excuse for the lack of professionalism this team showed Monday and Tuesday, and have shown for most of this year.
Carlos Zambrano is an emotional player who is known to rub DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1089988700680058122004-07-16T07:22:00.000-07:002004-07-16T07:38:20.680-07:00DAMN IT ALL!
With all apologies to Maddox, I have a rant!
I can't believe this season! Injuries are starting to piss me off. Not once has the Cubs' projected 25-man roster played together. Mark Grudzielanek, Jose Macias, Mike Remlinger, Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Joe Borowski, Todd Hollandsworth, Tom Goodwin, Sammy Sosa, Todd Wellemeyer, Alex Gonzalez, and Kent Mercker have all spent time onDeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1089211731215648332004-07-07T07:23:00.000-07:002004-07-07T07:48:51.216-07:00Trade Rumors
This time last season, the Cubs were a team in playoff contention with clear cut needs. It was no secret that the 2003 Cubs had huge holes to fill at 3B (with the ineffectiveness of the 3-headed monster of Mark Bellhorn, Jose Hernandez, and Lenny Harris) and CF (with the injury to Corey Patterson). The Cubs filled 3B with a young, underachieving yet talented player, who had the DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1085419303400946002004-05-24T09:27:00.000-07:002004-05-24T10:21:43.400-07:00Injury Bug and Lemons.
Nightmare
It's a week from Memorial Day. The season is more than 1/4 over. The ace of your pitching staff has yet to start a game. The perfect compliment to that ace, and toughest pitcher in baseball to hit, has missed 2 starts and been lifted from another after just 2 innings. Last year's most consistent set-up man has yet to pitch an inning. The projected DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1082048906150500222004-04-15T10:04:00.000-07:002004-04-15T10:12:50.076-07:00Baby Steps
Mark Prior threw off a mound for the first time since late March. He threw about 10 pitches. Prior described his throwing session as "a baby step", as he threw at "t-ball speed".
"Progress is that I at least had a release point where I had an idea of where the ball is going and the long toss felt pretty good," said Prior, rehabbing from an inflamed right Achilles. "My arm strength DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1081782449472809772004-04-12T07:05:00.000-07:002004-04-22T16:45:46.280-07:00A Tale of Two Offenses
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was a the age of foolishness.....
Yep, that has been the Cubs offense in the first week of the season. On opening day, it was 7 runs, on 10 hits and 3 walks against the Reds. The keys to the victory were the 5 hits and 3 BBs/HBP which led to the Cubs scoring 4 runs with 2 outs. The DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1081395097632758892004-04-07T20:31:00.000-07:002004-04-07T20:35:24.996-07:00Achilles, Back, Elbow?
Mark Prior quietly survived a huge scare as an MRI on his pitching elbow showed no damage. The Cubs have been very secretive about Prior's health, as this trip to Chicago's Northwestern Memorial hospital came without warning. This is Prior's second MRI on his elbow of the spring and the 2nd or 3rd time he has experienced soreness or stiffness in his million dollar elbow.DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1080257087262516962004-03-25T15:17:00.000-08:002004-03-25T15:28:16.590-08:00No sooner do I post about McClain does news come out of Mesa that Jose Macias is out 3-4 weeks. The article points out a factor that I forgot to mention in the McClain v. Macias post. McClain is a NRI, so the Cubs would have to clear room on the 40-man roster. While this may not be a big deal immediately, as Dempster's spot will go on the DL; the question comes in when Remlinger is healthy DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1080238058609523942004-03-25T09:31:00.000-08:002004-03-25T10:11:07.873-08:00The buzz you here coming from the Cactus League, is from Mesa, Arizona. That buzz is surrounding the surprise emergence of non-roster invitee, Scott McClain. Yes, McClain the 31 year-old journeyman with all of 20 major league at bats. Yes, McClain who's sloppy opening game of spring saw him drop one of the easiest popups he will ever see. Yes, that Scott McClain is threatening to take one of DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1080146990622862222004-03-24T08:32:00.000-08:002004-03-24T08:53:17.873-08:00A while back, I posted on the cubs.com article that Dusty Baker was toying with Patterson 3rd, Lee or Barrett 2nd, and all sorts of other scenarios for the lineup. Dusty also said that he would experiment with different lineups to see what works. Well, what happened? It seems as if every single time any semblance of the opening day lineup has started, that it is the same:
2B-Walker/Grudz
DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1079019656520438492004-03-11T07:39:00.000-08:002004-03-11T07:46:52.763-08:00Make sure to check out the roundtable discussion at The Cub Reporter, featuring yours truly and many other great Cubs bloggers!DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1078496024397690502004-03-05T05:54:00.000-08:002004-03-05T06:16:45.950-08:00Ah, the season has finally started. The Cubs lost 9-3, and didn't have too many impressive performances. On the mound, Clement was hittable, Zambrano was wild, and Beltran was flat out bad. Even Joe Borowski gave up a run. If that's not enough, everyone's favorite "loogy" candidate, Jimmy Anderson turned in a decent outing. In the field, there were dropped popups, defenders not backing up DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1078242857372554822004-03-02T07:27:00.000-08:002004-03-02T07:58:00.653-08:00The "S" Word
I vowed for this site, not to not be another internet resource in the ongoing steroid debate. But I have broken. News broke this morning that Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi (along with Marvin Bernard, Benito Santiago, and Randy Velarde) were all given steroids according to information given to federal investigators.
The backlash will obviously come from fans andDeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1078234784512232542004-03-02T05:33:00.000-08:002004-03-02T05:42:41.686-08:00The injury bug has bitten!
Monday, Mark Prior joined the ranks of the walking wounded. He will miss 5-10 days with an inflamed achilles. Prior joins lefties, Mike Remlinger and Kent Mercker of the sidelines. Remlinger is still suffering the lingering effects of off-season shoulder surgery. Mercker is battling lower back pain. With Remmy likely unable to go by opening day, look for Felix DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1077129842550652052004-02-18T10:32:00.000-08:002004-02-18T10:48:25.856-08:00Before pitchers and catchers even report, the Cubs minor leagues suffered a few major freak injuries. The most severe, Nate Frese, broke his leg and dislocated his ankle on his farm. The most recent in a long line of injuries will cause Frese to miss the entire 2004 season, possibly ending any hope he had to turn around his career. John Webb also suffered a broken leg, while walking his dog. DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1076433195078796312004-02-10T09:10:00.000-08:002004-02-10T09:38:32.936-08:00This is a very slow time for Cubs news, but cubs.com had an interesting quote from Dusty Baker.
"The only reason people say (Patterson) is a leadoff hitter is because he's fast and he's short," Baker said. "If he was fast and tall, you wouldn't think about him being a leadoff man. He's a swinger. He doesn't know how to work the count. Last year, he was coming into his own, learning how to hit. IDeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1075904116557792252004-02-04T06:10:00.000-08:002004-02-04T06:17:36.780-08:00New Ownership
As you read in the previous update, Todd has been keeping busy with his new position, and hasn't had the time to keep up with the daily site maintenence. So, he asked me to take over the blog for him, and starting today, I have. I would like to congratulate Todd on finding his dream job and wish him the best of luck. This is my first blog, so I will try my best to keep up the DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1073588687653468822004-01-08T11:04:00.000-08:002004-01-08T11:05:07.806-08:00My Apologies to the Readers.
I must apologize to those have who read my little blog(s), I have recently accepted the role of General Manager of an Independent League team and it has absorbed a large percentage of time, which I why I have contributed very little as of late. Luckily, this has occured during the slower time for MLB and very little newsworthy info. has been released except DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1072282393759971642003-12-24T08:13:00.000-08:002003-12-24T19:31:49.770-08:00Players crying foul?
NEW YORK (AP) -- Baseball's salary spiral has slowed, and concerned players may be crying foul.
The average at the end of the 2003 season was $2,372,189, the players' association said Tuesday in its annual study obtained by The Associated Press.
While the amount was a record, it was just 3.3 percent above last year's average of $2,295,649. The last rise that low was in DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1072239742089876102003-12-23T20:22:00.000-08:002003-12-23T20:22:37.853-08:00Improvements, Improvements, and more Improvements.
This is a little look into the improvements an already good staff has made by both addition and subtraction. Using RAA by Baseball Prospectus and the player's 2003 numbers.
2003 Numbers (RAA):
Prior +35
Wood +27
Zambrano +18
Clement +2
Estes -36
Total: +46
Borowski +14
Farnsworth +5
Remlinger +5
Guthrie +7
Alfonseca -7
Total: +24
Last Year:DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1072125499574707302003-12-22T12:38:00.000-08:002003-12-22T12:38:34.786-08:00Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald has been kind enough to answer a handful of questions that I and a few others have posed to him. I would like to thank Mr. Miles for taking the time to answer these questions as well as those who submitted questions.
Q: Were you to guess, what would be your odds that *any* of our current starters would get traded or replaced this offseason? (Alex, Cruz, Clement, DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1071200612742732682003-12-11T19:43:00.000-08:002003-12-11T19:43:45.030-08:00Contributing Top 30 list.
Since I will be going out of town and unable to update the Blog for approx. 6-7 days, a friend of mine has been gracious enough to give me his Top 30 list as a nice comparison to my ongoing rankings.
Top 30:
#30 Rich Hill (LHP)
#29 Ronald (Bear) Bay (RHP)
#28 Luis Montanez (2B/SS)
#27 Mike Nannini (RHP)
#26 Buck Coats (SS)
#25 Jason Wylie (RHP)
#24 Billy PetrickDeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1071190522117665362003-12-11T16:55:00.000-08:002003-12-11T17:15:40.206-08:00An Interview with David Pinto.
David Pinto is the author at Baseball Musings and had spent the last 10 years as the lead reseacher for Baseball Tonight at ESPN, and hosted Baseball Tonight Online at ESPN.com last year. I would like to thank David for taking the time to answer these 10 questions and I hope you take the time to view his outstanding site.
1)When a team has a significant jump in DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1071029259531151032003-12-09T20:07:00.000-08:002003-12-09T20:27:35.020-08:00Talking Baseball!
Tonight on ESPN 1000 they hosted a 2 hour long show on baseball for each side of town. I will list the general notes from Bruce Levine and an interview with Dusty Baker. I've never been a fan of Levine, but I find his opinions interesting nonetheless.
Levine:
Winter Meetings next week might not be as active as far as trades are concerned b/c of the 250 Free Agents and the DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070995645497281192003-12-09T10:47:00.000-08:002003-12-09T11:09:27.106-08:00Keith Foulke, RHP
"Dec. 8 -- The Red Sox are still awaiting word from the free agent closer, whom they recently offered a three-year contract. The Oakland Tribune reports that Foulke is expected to choose between the A's, Red Sox and Cubs within the next 48 hours, but other reports have said that Foulke has asked for more time before making a decision, which could delay his signing until the DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070928856974462102003-12-08T16:14:00.000-08:002003-12-08T16:14:28.916-08:00Show me why?
I'm missing the fascination with Maddux possibly returning to the Cubs, when did sentimental values replace the value of creating the best team under a budget?
Greg Maddux has been a great pitcher, a certain HOF inductee after he retires, the only problem is that he has been a great pitcher and currently is not one. I doubt he will be worth what he will command in the FA market,DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070775418768175932003-12-06T21:36:00.000-08:002003-12-06T21:40:50.220-08:00A detailed review of the possible FA 2B.
In this study, I will look at 4 possible candidates at 2B that are likely being considered or have been considered for the spot next year. Those 4 players are Mark Grudzielanek, Adam Kennedy, Todd Walker, and everyone's favorite Fernando Vina.
I will use 9 different stats from 2002 and 2003 years to compare them by using a point system, those 9 are:
DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070644418892865792003-12-05T09:13:00.000-08:002003-12-06T07:06:22.736-08:00Let the Kendall rumors begin!
In the an article titled Cubs GM Hendry going shopping in the Dec. 5th issue of the Chicago Sun-Times there is finally a mention of the name that many who worships OBP and a position not typically geared for offense drool over. This is further emphasized by the lack of offensive production that plagued the Cubs from the Catcher position in '03.
In the article, DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070562302567654822003-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:002003-12-04T18:55:10.513-08:002003' review of which of the top players were drafted out of High School, College, or International Free Agent.
Intro: In this study, I have figured out the top 20% of Major League players at each position. The total numbers of players is equal to 150 players, here is the positional breakdown:
60 Starting Pitchers
30 Outfielders
10 Catchers
10 1B
10 2B
10 SS
10 3B
10 Relievers
Method: I used 3DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070383745346484182003-12-02T08:49:00.000-08:002003-12-02T08:49:15.330-08:00The 04' ZiPS pitching projections.
Francis Beltran CHN mr 24yo 3.80ERA 3-4 34G 45.0IP 41H 20R 19ER 19BB 33K 2HR
Comment: That would be an outstanding season from Beltran and indicate that he would be 100% healthy. I don't think Beltran would be that comfortable with ML hitters to where he would have that low of a BB total for him. I also like the low HR totals. I assume Beltran is a DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1070322399483552132003-12-01T15:46:00.000-08:002003-12-01T21:08:41.836-08:00The New '04 ZiPS projections are up!
Hitters:
Moises Alou CHN lf 37yo .264avg .345obp .438slg 516ab 136h 37db 1tr 17hr 64r 74rbi 5hbp 59bb 59k 4sb 1cs
Comment: The decline appears to be increasing with Moises' projection, hopefully he can stay healthy and maintain the large # of XBH. I think he will hit for a slightly higher avg. that what the projection says and would be happy withDeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1069516712009122212003-11-22T07:58:00.000-08:002003-11-22T12:24:17.490-08:00The Division and Correlation of Wins Between Offense and Pitching in 2003'.
Introduction:
It has been a constant debate as whether a team benefits more from having a stronger offense, stronger pitching, or a balanced approach.
With numbers from 2003', I will attempt to determine the Wins Contributed (WC) by each team based on their Runs Scored for offense per game (RS) and Runs Allowed per DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1069003414529202052003-11-16T09:23:00.000-08:002003-11-20T11:47:50.340-08:00Pitching
I will begin with the stats that apply to both starters and relievers, then use the stats that have to be seperated by each sector. The minimum amount of innings used will be over 25IP and I have seperated the stats of Juan Cruz as a starter and as a reliever, but I did combine the stats of Juan's when it could be applied (APR, dipsERA, S%, and WS).
Adjusted Pitching Runs (APR)
The DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6079161.post-1068834072263487452003-11-14T10:21:00.000-08:002003-11-17T05:33:36.726-08:00I will begin with a somewhat Sabermetric review of 2003' w/players who had over 100ABs and finished the season with the Cubs. I will begin the review with the offensive stats 1st and then work my way to the pitching stats.
Batting Runs (BR)
Batting Runs calculates the offensive value of a player. 0 is avg, +5 would mean that player was 5 runs above avg and -5 would equate to that player being DeShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04181922678666302476noreply@blogger.com