Why the Cubs lose in the postseason.

I've taken it personal from the Chicago Cubs, that they don't wanna win when it comes to the
postseason. So I've composted a list of reasons to why they folded up.

We could say that the players have a lot pressure to win a World series. But you know what?
I don't care, JUST WIN. Yeah it's easy for me to say that, but its been over 100 years. It
has to be harder to not win a World Series every 100 years then to actually win one. Don't
get me wrong, I'll be a Cub fan till the day I day, and I'm proud to be a Cub fan.

It could be worse. Your probably thinking, how could it be worse. But some teams have
never won a world series. Here's the list:

As of the start of the 2008 season:

* San Diego Padres - 2 appearances (1984, 1998)
* Colorado Rockies - 1 appearance (2007)
* Houston Astros - 1 appearance (2005)
* Milwaukee Brewers - 1 appearance (1982)
* Seattle Mariners
* Texas Rangers
* Washington Nationals
* Tampa Bay Rays

Since on this topic, I'd like to tell all you Indian fans out there to shut the hell up.
It's only been 60 years since you've won the Title, talk to me when that reaches 40 more
years, and stop acting all pathetic because you haven't won since 1948.

List of why the Cubs lose in the Postseason:

• Soiano is exposed easily.
• Soriano is not a lead-off hitter.
• The line-up has never been balanced.
• The pitching shrivels up.
• Everybody is nervous.
• Everybody is trying to be the hero.
• The Fans get mellowed out at Wrigley when there loosing.
• Lou gets impatient.
• The defenders forget to defend.
• The Cubs don't scout other players/teams to good.
• The Cubs players don't take fault (**cough** **cough** SORIANO **cough** **cough**.)

That's all for now, that's obviously not all the reasons, but I started to tear up thinking about the Cubs losing.

I know I'm gonna take some heat, but lay it on me in the comments.

Remember, Chat every Saturday @ 12:00 (noon,) starting on the 14Th of February.

Cubs news and around the MLB

The other news will be about old players on the Cubs or in the NL Central:

The Reds have sign ex Cubs Jacque Jones and Daryle Ward to minor league deals. According to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News.

The Padres have sign Cliff Floyd to a 1 year and about 1 million. ESPN's Jayson Stark reports.

According to Jon Heyman, Ben Sheets is going to have elbow Surgery. He will be out at least until late July, early August. If everything does not go good, he can be out for the whole 2009 season. (At least the Brewers can't get him, but they already said they max out on there spending this off season).

Reed Johnson was one of 21 Chicago sports athletes to win a Comcast Sportsnet award.

The Cubs purchased the contract of catcher Shawn Mcgill from the Lincoln Saltdogs. Mcgill will be at Spring Training to help catch for all the pitchers that are coming.

Ken Rosenthal believes with the new ownership in San Diego, the Padres will still have to trade there ace Jake Peavy.

Cubs special assistant Gary Hughes was inducted in the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame.

Note: The Phillies are interested in Nomar Garciaparra and only want to offer him a minor league deal to play as a backup roll. He already said he wants a full time job somewhere.(I think the Cubs will offer him a major league deal around 1 to 2 million as a back up infielder) His agent says he doesn't expect a decision until spring training begins.

I will always keep you posted.

CUBS CHAT (02-05-09)

Peavy Trade Scenarios, Line-ups, CHAT

In today's Post I'll have my 3 most logic trade scenarios for Jake Peavy and my 3 possible line-ups. So lets get started:

Cubs Get: Jake Peavy
Padres get: Vitters, Stevens, Welington Castillo, Hart, Marshall

Cubs Get: Jake Peavy
Padres get: Vitters, Stevens, Hart, Mitch Atkins, Esmailin Caridad

Cubs Get: Jake Peavy
Padres get: Stevens, Hart, Mitch Atkins, Jay Jackson, Ryan Flaherty


My feasible line-ups.

First up we have:

Fukudome/Gathright CF (Johnson doesn't cut out to be lead-off)
Lee 1B
Bradley RF
ARAM 3B
Soriano LF
Soto C
Fontenot 2B
Theriot SS
pitchers spot

Next we have:

Theriot SS
Bradley RF
Lee 1B
ARAM 3B
Soriano LF
Fontenot 2B
Soto C
Fukudome CF
pitchers spot

Finally, we have:

Soriano LF
Fontenot 2B
Bradley RF
Aram 3B
Soto C
Fukudome CF
Lee 1B
Theriot SS
Pitchers spot

Have a question about my trade scenarios or my possible line-ups? Then just comment, and I'll respond as quick as I can.


Tomorrow is the Live Chat @ 7:00pm on this very website.

Quick Hits

The Phillies and Giants, along with the Cubs are looking at Rich Aurillia.

The Padres and Cubs, have had no recent talks about Jake Peavy. (Probably because the ownership is not resolve yet).

The Cubs still have little interest in Branden Looper along with the Pirates. Looper said that he prefers to stay in the NL.

Aramis Ramirez will not participate in the WBC due to the addition if Alex Rodriguez.

That is all I have right now, but will always keep you posted.

What The Cubs Need.

What do the Cubs need?

The Cubs need a dynamic lead-off hitter, who can steal 40-60 bases, who could also walk 75-100 times, and have an on-base percentage of .360-.400 or better. Well then, do the Cubs have a potential lead-off hitter? Well, lets look at the Cubs options.

Gathright-He had 71 Hits last season, with only 4 extra base hits. His OBP is .311%. While he did have 21 steals with 4 CS. If he were to start 160 games with 600 At bats, he could have potentially 50SB with only 9CS.

Fukudome- He has a fair/good OBP in .359. If he leads off everyday he would have potentially have 25-30 SB with 8-10 CS.

Ryan Theriot- He has a great avg in .307 and a great OBP in .387. His SB % was bad last year, but was OK in the 2 previous years.

Alfonso Soriano- Bad BA for a lead-off hitter in .280. A fair OBP in .344. Good SB percentage with 19 SB and 3 CS.

Out of those four potential lead-off hitters, I'd prefer Ryan Theriot with Alfonso Soriano in that 5th or 6th spot in the lineup. If that doesn't work, expect the Cubs to shop for a lead-off hitter at the deadline.


The Chicago Cubs also need a bullpen arm and they need to trade either Chad Gaudin, Neil Cotts, or Angel Guzman because there all out of options. If one of those three are not traded, Jeff Samardzija will most likely be starting/relieving in AAA. But there isn't any good remaining FA relieve pitchers, so the Cubs bullpen will likely be all in house options if change is needed.

Lastly, the Cubs need an starting pitcher. Who? well, lets get into that.

Peavy- I could see a March or April blockbuster. But is the owner going to sign off.

Wolf- Innings eater, could save bullpen (Marmol) with the amount of innings he eats.

Looper- Innings eater.

Mulder- Diamond in the rough? Could go back to his old ways. But he's extremely red lighted with his injury past.

Sheets- Low risk, high reward.

To me the Cubs won't sign an injury-prone pitcher, so it might be Peavy or Looper. Wolf should sign soon with the dodgers. If the Cubs can't get Peavy, an innings eater would be a potentially the best thing to happen to the Cubs.

Wednesday- I will have my Peavy trade scenarios, and my 3 starting lineups for the Chicago Cubs.

Chat at this very website on Thursday, February 5th @ 7:00pm.

Drafting 5TH in Fantasy Baseball. Other News.

Drafting 5th in fantasy baseball.

I will have the players that I drafted and the round and pick I selected them in. It's a 12 player, 21 round, mock draft. So lets get cookin'.


Jose Reyes SS (R1,P5)
Brian Roberts 2B (R2,P8)
Roy Halladay SP (R3,P5)
Brandon Webb SP (R4,P8)
Magglio Ordonez OF (R5,P5)
Adam Dunn 1B (I drafted him as a 1B) (R6,P8)
Bobby Abreu OF (R7,P5)
Carlos Marmol RP (R8,P8)
Jose Valverde RP (R9,P5)
Melvin Mora 3B (R10,P8)
Mike Napoli C (R11,P5)
Ted Lilly SP (R12,P8)
Milton Bradley OF (R13,P5)
Derek Lowe SP (R14,P8)
Chien-Ming Wang SP (R15,P5)
Adrian Beltre DH/3B (R16,P8)
Jason Giambi Bench (R17,P5)
Mark Reynolds Bench (R18,P8)
Kevin Kouzmanoff Bench (R19,P5)
Mike Cameron Bench (R20,P8)
Todd Helton Bench (R21,P5)

That's it. What do you think about my selections.

Don't Forget, tomorrow I will have a post about what the Cubs need. MUST VIEW POST.

Chat on this very website on Thursday, February 5 @ 7:00pm.

Michael Wuertz

According to the Cubs reporter, the Rangers and the A's are talking about a trade for Michael Wuertz. Michael Wuertz is another player, in the Cubs bullpen that is out of options.

UPDATE: 1:30
Michael Wuertz was traded to the A's for 2 minor league players Richie Robnett and Justin Sellers.

Robnett, 25 year-old outfielder, who ranked 15th among A's prospects. He was said to have "huge raw power," but that hasn't come through in his minor league numbers.

Sellers, a 23 year-old infielder, ranked 14th in the '08 Handbook. He was described as "a solid-average defender who'll hit at the bottom of a lineup." Source

Minor League Totals

Richie Robnett- .260BA, 130GMs, 523ABs, 79R, 136Hits, 29 2B, 2 3B,18HRs, 75RBIs, 146SO, 38BB.

Justin Sellers- .253BA, 439AB, 72R, 111Hits, 15 2B, 8 3B, 6HR, 46RBIs, 47BB, 77SO.

Also the Rich Hill deal is now official with the O's for a PTBNL.

The Cubs have now saved over 2 million dollars with the Michael Wuertz and Rich Hill trades.


Chat at this very site on Thursday, February 5 @ 7:00PM. So just be here, alright!

Rich Hill Update

Here is some news on Rich Hill:

Update: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun says the deal for Rich Hill is going to be a player to be named later and could get done as early as Monday. Hill is going to, be working with his old pitching coaches (Who were on the Cubs staff).

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun believes the Baltimore Orioles will complete a trade for Cubs left-handed pitcher Rich Hill by Tuesday -- if the Orioles will do the deal at all.

Schmuck writes that now other organizations are aware that Hill could be made available, additional teams -- including the Royals and Mariners -- could make an offer.

Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail might be waiting to see if he can sign free agent right-handed pitcher Braden Looper, Schmuck adds.

They might be willing to acquire both pitchers, but there is the small matter of moving players off the 40-man roster to make room, so maybe Andy is just going to take one or the other.

Hill, 29 in March, is 18-17 in 57 starts with a 4.37 ERA during a short four-season career. He spend much of 2008 in Triple-A.

Looper, 34, went 12-14 in 33 starts with a 4.16 ERA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Source

That is latest on the Cubs, but I will always keep you posted.

The Week Ahead.

Here are some posts that will come in the coming week (Monday-Sunday.)

• How to draft 5th in a fantasy baseball (with the players I drafted and the rounds I selected them in.)-Monday
• What else do the Cubs need.-Tuesday
• Jake Peavy trade scenarios.-Wednesday
• The Chat.-Thursday
  
• Why can't the Cubs win in the postseason? And how to fix that?-Friday
  
• Talkin' Baseball recap (with Bruce Levine.)-Saturday
  
• What would I do to fix the postseason in general.-Sunday
  

As always I will keep you update to date with all Chicago Cubs rumors and news!

Go Cardinals in Superbowl 43.

On Thursday, February 5th 2009 @ 7:00pm there will be a Chat at this very site.