Pitchers Who Can Hit? WHAAAAAAATTTTTT?
Hey baseball fans! Most pitchers in baseball history are meant for pitching (obviously). However, before the creation of the designated hitter rule in 1973, every single team in the MLB had to have a pitcher somewhere in the lineup. Even though every American League team has to have a DH in the lineup today, there […]
Ben Zobrist’s Kind of Decent Start
This post was written by Jesse Sakstrup. With a batting average flirting with the Mendoza line, those who drafted Ben Zobrist are probably a bit annoyed with his performance so far. Putting batting average aside, he is still on pace for 20 home runs and 17 stolen bases. And putting fantasy value aside, he is […]
The Interconnectedness of Carlos Zambrano’s Challenges
by Buddy Biancalana I recently returned from baseball’s Winter Meetings. Reflecting back over the three days, one conversation I had is staying with me. The conversation of which I intentionally did more listening than speaking, included Carlos Zambrano’s agent Barry Praver, Cub’s VP, Player Personnel, Oneri Fleita and MLB.com writer Carrie Muskat. They were discussing Zambrano’s challenges. […]
THIS WAS A WEIRD WEEK
THIS WEEK’S TOPICS Gonzalez Dismissed, Hoffman Just Dissed We begin with the news that the Marlins dismissed Manager Fredi Gonzalez as manager. Delusional owner Jeffrey Loria thinks he can re-create 2003 simply by changing leaders. Remember, this is the guy who fired Joe Girardi after his Manager of the Year season simply because Girardi asked […]
The Cubs Are Slumping and on the DL
Over the course of a 162 game season, even the best teams have slumps. Particularly in this era of relatively balanced competition even the perennial division winners – teams like the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Angels – run into rough stretches. But the 2009 Chicago Cubs are currently enduring a slump that even the worst […]
Nick’s Fantasy Focus
As fantasy baseball managers, our job is not to assemble a team based on last year’s statistics, though many make the mistake of doing that. Instead, it is our duty to predict what’s going to happen next. Not many people realize this, but if you consistently make personnel decisions based on what happened last year, […]
What to Expect From The Cubs in 2009
To say that this is probably the beginning of the end for Derrek Lee would miss the point – we have likely reached the end of the beginning of the end. The beginning of the end came in 2006, when he broke his wrist in a collision with Rafael Furcal. Lee has had two good […]
WBC: To Be or Not To Be?
That is the question! I can understand the financial benefit of MLB’s marketing the WBC to the overseas market. From a marketing standpoint, it’s a brilliant move (especially in Asia), but domestically it has major issues to contend with. Position players aren’t, in my opinion, affected much by the extra work because they’d be playing […]
Reflections on the Cub’s Off Season
The Chicago Cubs and their fans can congratulate themselves on a page-turning 2008 season. In what was the centennial year of World Series drought for the lovable losers, the Cubs managed to convince their fans that this was “The Year” before being summarily dismissed from the post-season by the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the process, […]
