Baseball Season is Over
At least for the Cubs it is. I'm excited for the postseason, so to close the book on the Cubs, here's what I think needs to happen to fix the mess for next year.
Starting rotation
Clearly the biggest problem this season. We need guys with experience, guys that won't walk, and guys that will pitch a lot of innings so that the bullpen isn't hammered like it was this year. And hopefully they'll be good pitchers too.
Right now all we have is Zambrano, Hill, and Prior, assuming Prior is healthy by then. Wood, I think he comes back, will be a reliever. So that means we need two solid starters. Where are they going to come from? Probably not from the minor leagues, at least not right away. Maybe they'll go get a big free agent and then have some spring training competition between Marshall and Guzman. Even so, it would be good to have a premium pitcher to go along with Wade Miller.
Bullpen
Probably the area I'm least concerned with, with the exception of the closer. Will it be Dempster? Or maybe Wood? Either way, we have some great arms here: Howry, Eyre, Wuertz, Novoa (who pitched better later in the season), Ohman, and Aardsma. As long as they can get some decent rest between appearances, they will be fine.
Lineup
This is where the biggest change needs to be made. All I have to say is OBP. There are only a few guys that are OBP players: Murton (if he even gets to start next year, which I think he should), Theriot (same as Murton), and D Lee. The smartest move would be to trade Jaque Jones (if you really want to get an outfield bat) somewhere. Try to hold on to Pierre, though it looks unlikely. I think that if Pierre leaves, we'll have Theriot leadoff and play second.
The infield is messy. Aram at 3B (he'll stay), D. Lee at 1B, and Izturis at SS. Who plays 2B? Cedeno or Theriot? Theriot is a more experienced 2B and showed more with the bat this season. What do you do with Cedeno then? I say make him polish his hitting at AAA. He isn't as far along as Theriot is with the bat, plus Theriot draws walks and can steal some bases.
My ideal lineup:
CF Pierre
2B Theriot
1B Lee
3B Aram
RF Jones
C Barrett
RF Murton
SS Izturis
Zambrano
Prior
Lilly
Miller
Hill
Closer
Howry
Starting rotation
Clearly the biggest problem this season. We need guys with experience, guys that won't walk, and guys that will pitch a lot of innings so that the bullpen isn't hammered like it was this year. And hopefully they'll be good pitchers too.
Right now all we have is Zambrano, Hill, and Prior, assuming Prior is healthy by then. Wood, I think he comes back, will be a reliever. So that means we need two solid starters. Where are they going to come from? Probably not from the minor leagues, at least not right away. Maybe they'll go get a big free agent and then have some spring training competition between Marshall and Guzman. Even so, it would be good to have a premium pitcher to go along with Wade Miller.
Bullpen
Probably the area I'm least concerned with, with the exception of the closer. Will it be Dempster? Or maybe Wood? Either way, we have some great arms here: Howry, Eyre, Wuertz, Novoa (who pitched better later in the season), Ohman, and Aardsma. As long as they can get some decent rest between appearances, they will be fine.
Lineup
This is where the biggest change needs to be made. All I have to say is OBP. There are only a few guys that are OBP players: Murton (if he even gets to start next year, which I think he should), Theriot (same as Murton), and D Lee. The smartest move would be to trade Jaque Jones (if you really want to get an outfield bat) somewhere. Try to hold on to Pierre, though it looks unlikely. I think that if Pierre leaves, we'll have Theriot leadoff and play second.
The infield is messy. Aram at 3B (he'll stay), D. Lee at 1B, and Izturis at SS. Who plays 2B? Cedeno or Theriot? Theriot is a more experienced 2B and showed more with the bat this season. What do you do with Cedeno then? I say make him polish his hitting at AAA. He isn't as far along as Theriot is with the bat, plus Theriot draws walks and can steal some bases.
My ideal lineup:
CF Pierre
2B Theriot
1B Lee
3B Aram
RF Jones
C Barrett
RF Murton
SS Izturis
Zambrano
Prior
Lilly
Miller
Hill
Closer
Howry
posted by Carlos P at 9:58 PM
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