Official Chicago Cubs 2012 Season Thread

fish48 · Apr 10, 2012, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KBLEE

Unfortunately, LaHair isn't young.

Hes not old either, but hopefully he is hitting for good power and average and maybe we can get some good prospects for him by the trade deadline.

KBLEE · Apr 10, 2012, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish48

Hes not old either, but hopefully he is hitting for good power and average and maybe we can get some good prospects for him by the trade deadline.

He's extremely old for someone who is embarking on his first full major league season.

IlliniSteve · Apr 10, 2012, 12:07 PM

Looks like you had some great seats fish, thanks for the pics. Wish I could make it up this year, but probably won't happen.

Also, Rizzo hit 2 HR last night for Iowa. This guy's legit. It'll be interesting to see what we do with LaHair when he comes up this summer.

fish48 · Apr 10, 2012, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IlliniSteve

Looks like you had some great seats fish, thanks for the pics. Wish I could make it up this year, but probably won't happen.

Also, Rizzo hit 2 HR last night for Iowa. This guy's legit. It'll be interesting to see what we do with LaHair when he comes up this summer.

Thanks! Yes, that will be an interesting story.

OlivetNaz · Apr 10, 2012, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IlliniSteve

Looks like you had some great seats fish, thanks for the pics. Wish I could make it up this year, but probably won't happen.

Also, Rizzo hit 2 HR last night for Iowa. This guy's legit. It'll be interesting to see what we do with LaHair when he comes up this summer.

If Rizzo keeps hitting like THAT, the Cubs may have no choice but to bring him up at the end of April or beginning of May instead. I'm pretty sure that no one in the league is scared of facing LaHair due to his lack of name recognition and age (late 20's), but everyone knows that if you screw up to a young guy like Rizzo, the ball's gonna travel a LONG way. That being said, if LaHair puts some power into the lineup and is hitting for average, maybe you call up Rizzo and find a way to stick LaHair into right field to keep both their bats in the lineup (even better, trade Soriano and call up Jackson along with Rizzo).

IlliniSteve · Apr 10, 2012, 02:52 PM

Yeah as of now if it was me, I bring up Rizzo in June (to get that extra year of service time), move LaHair to LF and try like hell to dump Soriano. If you can't, then sit Soriano on the bench and start him 2-3 times a week. People will say you can't have a guy making $18 million on the bench, but I think you have to in this situation.

Either that or cut him outright and just take the financial hit. In a perfect world he has a .285 average, around 15 homers in July and some team desperate for power will take him and eat like $5 million/year of his remaining deal. I'm skeptical that it will happen, but you never know. Power's down across the league, I could see an AL team having interest.

Brett Jackson will be up sooner than Rizzo. With Jackson, we have to wait until just the end of April to gain the extra year of service time. Byrd's struggling big time. He won't be with this team for too much longer. I hope he picks it up a bit and gets his trade value a little higher. If I had to bet, I'd say CF will be Jackson's from mid/late May on. Jackson may very well be the best outfielder in our entire organization right now. I can't wait to see him play. The only significant flaw he has right now is that he strikes out too much. Hopefully in time he can correct it, but he's definitely MLB ready.

AHSIllini32 · Apr 10, 2012, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IlliniSteve

Yeah as of now if it was me, I bring up Rizzo in June (to get that extra year of service time), move LaHair to LF and try like hell to dump Soriano. If you can't, then sit Soriano on the bench and start him 2-3 times a week. People will say you can't have a guy making $18 million on the bench, but I think you have to in this situation.

Either that or cut him outright and just take the financial hit. In a perfect world he has a .285 average, around 15 homers in July and some team desperate for power will take him and eat like $5 million/year of his remaining deal. I'm skeptical that it will happen, but you never know. Power's down across the league, I could see an AL team having interest.

Brett Jackson will be up sooner than Rizzo. With Jackson, we have to wait until just the end of April to gain the extra year of service time. Byrd's struggling big time. He won't be with this team for too much longer. I hope he picks it up a bit and gets his trade value a little higher. If I had to bet, I'd say CF will be Jackson's from mid/late May on. Jackson may very well be the best outfielder in our entire organization right now. I can't wait to see him play. The only significant flaw he has right now is that he strikes out too much. Hopefully in time he can correct it, but he's definitely MLB ready.

He's one of the best OF's in the minors and easily the best in the Cubs organization.

IlliniSteve · Apr 10, 2012, 03:06 PM

Agreed. It's very exciting when you see some of the best minor league experts comparing him to Jim Edmonds. Great tools and upside through the roof.

trevdv · Apr 14, 2012, 09:56 AM

It was a good moment yesterday when roughly ten Cardinals fans in Meijer gave me the subtle stare-down or grunt as I wore my Cubs hat and tee proudly.

When you score 9 on the Cardinals and spoil their home opener INCLUDING our first grand slam since 2010, it's a good day. Disgruntled fans wearing red at Meijer was merely the icing on the cake.

IlliniSteve · Apr 14, 2012, 10:35 AM

Hope they win today so I can bring a broom to the game tomorrow.

Illini2016 · Apr 14, 2012, 11:44 AM

Awesome game yesterday. Nothing is better than beating the Cards. The Cubs are Illinois' baseball team!

Wokker · Apr 14, 2012, 05:38 PM

Not a fun game today.

There were far too many mental mistakes by the infield defense. Castro needs to take an extra split-second to set his feet before launching the ball across the infield. it may be a rare occasion where his insane talent works against him. LaHair looked fairly lost at first. Made a couple lazy plays on a grounder and a foul pop-up. That won't help his cause.

Sweum needs to just keep focusing on the fundamentals. You can already tell just by watching a game that base running has been hammered home in the offseason. Soriano of all people made a couple nice running plays on the base path.

I really, really hope that Soriano and Byrd have a great few months to start the year so we can finish up the cleaning house sooner rather than later.

Vostad looked pretty good, save the inning where he gave up four (again, it was started by Castro's careless throw).
Also, the Shark gave an in-game interview for Fox today. I didn't like him a couple years ago, but his strong pitching as of late, strong personality, and the fact that he's a huge Bears fan are winning me over.

fish48 · Apr 15, 2012, 08:11 AM

Rubber game today, Maholm is due for a good outing!

IlliniSteve · Apr 21, 2012, 10:46 AM

Cubs reportedly are close to trading Byrd to Boston...one of the many moves that will happen as we near midseason.

Illini87InClt · Apr 21, 2012, 10:53 AM

Here's a link discussing the Byrd trade rumors. According to the writer, the Cubs may be bringing back a LHP (reliever) and a minor league player.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/0...r-marlon-byrd/

Serious Late · Apr 22, 2012, 02:49 AM

Red Sox Acquire Marlon Byrd From Cubs

Quote:

Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd confirmed that he has been traded to the Red Sox, tweets Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs will receive Michael Bowden and a player to be named later in exchange for Byrd while paying all but roughly $400K of his $6.5MM salary (the prorated minimum), according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

Michael Bowden - Age, 25

And just to give credit, where credit is due (from April 9th)...

Quote:

Originally Posted by IlliniSteve

We'll probably end up trading Byrd for a young reliever at some point.

Good Call, IlliniSteve!

BWBW · Apr 22, 2012, 08:16 AM

The way the Red Sox relievers are giving up runs I'm not sure the Cubs should take any.

Illini87InClt · Apr 22, 2012, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serious Late

Red Sox Acquire Marlon Byrd From Cubs
Good Call, IlliniSteve!

+1 Good call from IlliniSteve on this trade. A week ago, I would have seen Byrd being traded but thought this would happen later in the season. I suppose with the way the season has started (for the team and for Byrd at the plate), there was no reason for Jed and Theo to wait.

DrewD007 · Apr 22, 2012, 02:16 PM

Another series win... Hope we can finally get a sweep against the Cubbies!

DrewD007 · Apr 22, 2012, 02:38 PM

Crap sorry, posted in the wrong topic.

Illini87InClt · Apr 22, 2012, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrewD007

Crap sorry, posted in the wrong topic.

Apology accepted (but not a Cards sweep!).

IlliniSteve · Apr 22, 2012, 04:58 PM

Eh go ahead and sweep us, I want the number one pick next year.

Waam · Apr 23, 2012, 10:18 AM

Hmm... Looks like thats going to be the case. We knew this year was going to be a rocky season, now we know for sure.

fish48 · Apr 25, 2012, 12:04 AM

Good couple of wins for the Cubs! We know they are not competing for anything this year, but at least we got one series from the hated.

IlliniSteve · Apr 25, 2012, 12:58 AM

It feels good. It really does. Good to see them battle against a good team and scratch off a couple wins.

A sweep would be awesome. Let's do it.

Apr 14, 2012, 11:44 AM	#36
Illini2016 Location: Chicago/Champaign Posts: 371	Awesome game yesterday. Nothing is better than beating the Cards. The Cubs are Illinois' baseball team! __________________ ILLINI BEARS CUBS BULLS BLACKHAWKS Class of 2016

Apr 22, 2012, 02:16 PM	#44
DrewD007 Location: Swansea, IL Posts: 3,531	Another series win... Hope we can finally get a sweep against the Cubbies! __________________ Follow me! http://www.twitter.com/illinidrew11

Apr 22, 2012, 02:38 PM	#45
DrewD007 Location: Swansea, IL Posts: 3,531	Crap sorry, posted in the wrong topic. __________________ Follow me! http://www.twitter.com/illinidrew11

Apr 10, 2012, 12:07 PM	#28
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Looks like you had some great seats fish, thanks for the pics. Wish I could make it up this year, but probably won't happen. Also, Rizzo hit 2 HR last night for Iowa. This guy's legit. It'll be interesting to see what we do with LaHair when he comes up this summer.

Apr 10, 2012, 02:52 PM	#31
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Yeah as of now if it was me, I bring up Rizzo in June (to get that extra year of service time), move LaHair to LF and try like hell to dump Soriano. If you can't, then sit Soriano on the bench and start him 2-3 times a week. People will say you can't have a guy making $18 million on the bench, but I think you have to in this situation. Either that or cut him outright and just take the financial hit. In a perfect world he has a .285 average, around 15 homers in July and some team desperate for power will take him and eat like $5 million/year of his remaining deal. I'm skeptical that it will happen, but you never know. Power's down across the league, I could see an AL team having interest. Brett Jackson will be up sooner than Rizzo. With Jackson, we have to wait until just the end of April to gain the extra year of service time. Byrd's struggling big time. He won't be with this team for too much longer. I hope he picks it up a bit and gets his trade value a little higher. If I had to bet, I'd say CF will be Jackson's from mid/late May on. Jackson may very well be the best outfielder in our entire organization right now. I can't wait to see him play. The only significant flaw he has right now is that he strikes out too much. Hopefully in time he can correct it, but he's definitely MLB ready.

Apr 10, 2012, 03:06 PM	#33
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Agreed. It's very exciting when you see some of the best minor league experts comparing him to Jim Edmonds. Great tools and upside through the roof.

Apr 14, 2012, 09:56 AM	#34
trevdv Location: Champaign Posts: 2,574	It was a good moment yesterday when roughly ten Cardinals fans in Meijer gave me the subtle stare-down or grunt as I wore my Cubs hat and tee proudly. When you score 9 on the Cardinals and spoil their home opener INCLUDING our first grand slam since 2010, it's a good day. Disgruntled fans wearing red at Meijer was merely the icing on the cake.

Apr 14, 2012, 10:35 AM	#35
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Hope they win today so I can bring a broom to the game tomorrow.

Apr 14, 2012, 05:38 PM	#37
Wokker Location: "The Good Land", WI Posts: 1,004	Not a fun game today. There were far too many mental mistakes by the infield defense. Castro needs to take an extra split-second to set his feet before launching the ball across the infield. it may be a rare occasion where his insane talent works against him. LaHair looked fairly lost at first. Made a couple lazy plays on a grounder and a foul pop-up. That won't help his cause. Sweum needs to just keep focusing on the fundamentals. You can already tell just by watching a game that base running has been hammered home in the offseason. Soriano of all people made a couple nice running plays on the base path. I really, really hope that Soriano and Byrd have a great few months to start the year so we can finish up the cleaning house sooner rather than later. Vostad looked pretty good, save the inning where he gave up four (again, it was started by Castro's careless throw). Also, the Shark gave an in-game interview for Fox today. I didn't like him a couple years ago, but his strong pitching as of late, strong personality, and the fact that he's a huge Bears fan are winning me over.

Apr 15, 2012, 08:11 AM	#38
fish48 Banned Posts: 547	Rubber game today, Maholm is due for a good outing!

Apr 21, 2012, 10:46 AM	#39
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Cubs reportedly are close to trading Byrd to Boston...one of the many moves that will happen as we near midseason.

Apr 21, 2012, 10:53 AM	#40
Illini87InClt Posts: 406	Here's a link discussing the Byrd trade rumors. According to the writer, the Cubs may be bringing back a LHP (reliever) and a minor league player. http://www.bleachernation.com/2012/0...r-marlon-byrd/

Apr 22, 2012, 08:16 AM	#42
BWBW Location: Tyngsborough, MA Posts: 544	The way the Red Sox relievers are giving up runs I'm not sure the Cubs should take any.

Apr 22, 2012, 04:58 PM	#47
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	Eh go ahead and sweep us, I want the number one pick next year.

Apr 23, 2012, 10:18 AM	#48
Waam Banned Posts: 3,279	Hmm... Looks like thats going to be the case. We knew this year was going to be a rocky season, now we know for sure.

Apr 25, 2012, 12:04 AM	#49
fish48 Banned Posts: 547	Good couple of wins for the Cubs! We know they are not competing for anything this year, but at least we got one series from the hated.

Apr 25, 2012, 12:58 AM	#50
IlliniSteve Posts: 5,906	It feels good. It really does. Good to see them battle against a good team and scratch off a couple wins. A sweep would be awesome. Let's do it.