Needed a break from work and came up with some numbers from Colvin. Just playing with some math, so obvously other factors come into play. Just for fun....

Based on his 358 ABs last season, 600 ABs would result in:
33 HRs
94 RBI
153 Hits
168 Ks
50 BBs

I will bet you eleventy billion dollars that he doesn't get close to those numbers.

GOOZ!

Makes me giddy

With all the Pujols talk, I started digging into what we have on the books this year and what 2012 is looking like so far.

2011:
Main guys "coming off the books" include ARam (14M), Dome (14.5M), Silva (6M) Pena (10M) and Wood (1.5M). Total of that is 46M with a 2012 Buyout of 2M for ARam and Silva. Net 44M. I believe total payroll this season is projected right at 130M.

2012 Arbitration:
We have 6 guys who will go through arbitration or we'll sign to long-term deals. These include Garza, Soto, Baker, Hill, Wells and DeWitt. These guys are making about 12M this season all together. I'll bump that number up to 20M for conservative raises.

With several players coming off the books next season and some guys going through arbitration, it looks like we'll net about 23M total - this assumes we buyout ARam and Silva and let go Pena and Wood. Dempster has a player option which increases his 13.5M to 14M in 2012.

I'm basically predicting we'll have about 23M to spend (to get up to our current 2011 payroll). We'll need a first basemen, third basemen and probably bullpen improvements to make (not sure what happens with Wood after this season). Maybe even starting pitching needs depending on how Wells rebounds this year. But overall, I like our young pitching in.

My 2012 Targets (ideas just for fun):
1B - Prince Fielder
3B - pretty weak FA class
Bullpen - Ryan Madson
SP - Buehrle is on the market

I'm hoping Vitters shows some progression this season in the minors - hope he stays healthy. Goal should be a September call-up IMO. At least some indication he COULD be the future at 3B. Give himself a shot at making the 2012 team maybe. With DeWitt/Baker we should be OK at 2B - but an upgrade is definitely feasible. Colvin at 1B is an interesting thought, so we'll see how that experiment goes. I think he is solid enough to be an everyday player in the OF - I know some people don't think so. Also interested to see the progression of Brett Jackson - could be a viable replacement once Byrd is gone in 2012. Like Vitters, I'd like to see him with the big league club come September. One final player who will be key is DJ LeMahieu at 2B - big kid with a lot of upside from LSU. Still young and raw, but I was pumped after we drafted him. Will be closely watching him this season in the minors. And of course, our boy Brooks Raley - looking forward to tracking his progress.

Sorry for the rambling, just getting into baseball mode, I suppose. lot of things to look forward to this year and the next few, for sure!

[This message has been edited by cubsin11 (edited 2/15/2011 10:59a).]

quote:

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3B - pretty weak FA class

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Barring a breakout year for Vitters and/or a complete collapse of Ramirez, this is why I expect the Cubs to hang on to Aramis for another season or two after 2011.

Sitting in the 10 hole next to Pat Hughes this year will be former Cub and t-sip Keith Moreland. I am very happy about this. I enjoyed hearing him call games with Pat over the past few years when he was filling in for Ronnie. He is MUCH better than Dave Otto, IMO.

I don't know. I didn't feel like Moreland was that great of a voice to listen to for extended periods of time.

He's way better than Dave Otto. Sutcliffe would have been my #1 choice, but that was never going to happen.

And I need to apologize to you guys. I just now realized that I never posted the link to enter the lottery drawing to buy Cubs @ Fenway tickets. I got my e-mail last night saying I was in.

feel free to buy me a ticket

I'll see you my extras for 5x face value.

Noooiice!

i didnt get picked!

WOOOOOO! My buddy got two tickets to the Saturday game and I got four for the Friday game. I guess I need to start making plans to visit Boston in May.

Looks like I have a deal to trade my 2 extra Friday tickets for 2 on Sunday.

Rub it in.

I'm tentatively planning on going to the May 6th weekend series vs the Reds. Friend I work with is a big Reds fan. Just FYI in case anyone would be interested in going.

Dempster gets the Opening Day start, followed by Z, and then Garza.

Glad to see it's not Z. I know he finished the season well, but he's just not done well in that slot.

Speaking of pitchers, I forgot who our new pitching coach is.

Some dude I never heard of and can't remember. Quade said one of the reason he slotted Z in the 2 spot is that will mean he starts the first game at MIL, where he seems to pitch very well.

I like his logic.

The dude is Mark Riggins. I don't know anything about him. The Cubs site has yet to put up a bio.

From Wiki:

quote:

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After his playing days ended, he became a minor league coach. His appearances included a stint with the Springfield Cardinals in 1987. He was interim manager of the Louisville Redbirds in 1992 and the St. Louis Cardinals third base coach in 1995. Riggins was the Cardinals' minor league pitching coordinator from 1996 to 2007 and has held the same position for the Chicago Cubs in 2008-2009.

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WOW!

quote:

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To manage the Chicago Cubs is to hold one of the most coveted jobs in baseball. But the romance only lasts for so long. Dusty Baker will tell you that.

In 2003, he came within five outs of the World Series. In 2004, he narrowly missed the playoffs despite finishing with a better record than the season before.

And losing his job wasn’t the worst insult. Not even close.

“At the very end, somebody took a dump right where I stood in the dugout every day,” Baker said Monday morning. “That was the low point. The grounds crew guy cleaned it up. He said, ‘Oh, I think it’s dog crap.’ I said, ‘No it ain’t. That’s human crap.’”

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http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mike-quade-chicago-cubs-excited-but-pressure-will-be-on-soon-022211

I'm back after my latest Staff imposed 2-week vacation.

I am now a card carrying member of the Red Sox nation. Literally.

See my Fenway thread for the reasoning.

What's yall's thoughts on Cashner - starter vs reliever. I've never really known what the best way is to handle these situations. In this case, I think Cashner has the ability to start and that is the direction I'd like to see him take. However, I think he needs another year in the pen to figure it out.

I just would hate it turning into a situation like Shark. End of the day, I think Cashner has better stuff than Shark. In a perfect world, he would pull a CJ Wilson from last year and make the change effortlessly. I could see him taking this year to continue figuring things out in the pen. I'd like him to fully prepare next offseason to join the rotation - assuming he shows a lot of improvement in the pen this year.

The main problem I see with Cashner is that he has never thrown anywhere near the amount of innings he would need to throw as a starter. He was a reliever at TCU. He didn't become a starter until the Cubs drafted. They should have left him in the minors last year to continue starting and stretching his arm out in preparation for becoming a starter at this level. They did him (and the future of the team) a major disservice by bringing him up and putting him in the pen when the team was going nowhere but down.

With Marmol, Wood and Marshall, that would be a pretty nasty bullpen to add Cashner. That is if everyone pitched like they did last season.

And just think if Angel Guzman is ready to go, too. Would look pretty tough.

I'm not even holding out hope for that guy. I'd like to see him well, but I just don't see it working for him for an extended period of time.

Pitching and defense has not been looking good today. Defense hasn't looked good all spring games.

Wonderful. Silva and Ramirez get in a scuffle in the dugout today.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110302&content_id=16793978&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc