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The Cubs might be the best team in the National League, but it’s now two years in a row they’ve failed to deliver in the NLDS - getting swept in 2007 by the Diamondbacks and in 2008 by the Dodgers. It doesn’t matter if you believe in the curse or if you believe the Cubs are just choke artists; the Cubs are a talented team with a balance of good offense and good pitching.
Only a meltdown of epic proportions could stop them from winning the Central, but until the Cubs stand up in September and October, the question of just how good anyone coming out of the Central really is (when compared to the East and West) is up in the air.
Wrigley Field turns 95 this year and has hosted the Cubs since 1916.
Rank: 1st in the NL Central, lost in the NLDS to the Dodgers
Home Park: Wrigley Field
Welcome to the Windy City:
C - Mark Johnson* (Free Agent from Cardinals)
2B/OF - Esteban German* (Free Agent from Royals)
IF - Aaron Miles (Free Agent from Cardinals)
MI - Luis Rivas* (Free Agent from Pirates)
OF - Milton Bradley (Free Agent from Rangers)
OF - So Taguchi* (Free Agent from Phillies)
OF - Joey Gathright (Free Agent from Royals)
LHP - Bill White* (Free Agent from Rangers)
LHP - John Gaub (Trade from Indians)
RHP - Luis Vizcaino (Trade from Rockies)
RHP - Kevin Gregg (Trade from Marlins)
RHP - Aaron Heilman (Trade from Mariners)
RHP - Jeff Stevens (Trade from Indians)
RHP - Chris Archer (Trade from Indians) RHP - David Patton (Trade from Reds)
RHP - Henry Williamson (Trade from Orioles)
Blown Out of Town:
C - Henry Blanco (Free Agent signed with Padres) C - Chad Moeller (Free Agent to Orioles)
2B/OF - Mark DeRosa (Traded to Indians
SS - Ronny Cedeno (Traded to Mariners)
OF - Felix Pie (Traded to Orioles)
OF - Daryle Ward (Free Agent to Reds)
LHP - Garrett Olson (Traded to Mariners)
RHP - Kerry Wood (Free Agent to Indians)
RHP - Jose Ceda (Traded to Marlins)
RHP - Scott Eyre (Free Agent to Phillies)
RHP - Michael Wuertz (Traded to A’s) RHP - Bob Howry (Free Agent to Giants)
RHP - Rich Hill (Traded to Orioles)
RHP - Jason Marquis (Traded to Rockies)
*Signed minor league contract.
Strengths: Offense, Starting Pitching
Surprise, it wasn’t the Phillies or the Mets who scored the most runs in the NL last year. It was the Cubs who scored almost 60 more runs than their two closest competitors. They come into 2009 missing only one key piece of last year’s offense - second baseman/outfielder Mark DeRosa who had a career year last season. However in his place they’ve added outfielder Milton Bradley who’ll hit cleanup for the team and they’ve promoted Mike Fontenot to take over at second.
That means this Cubs team should score plenty of runs once again if injuries don’t hit them hard.
The same can pretty much be said for staring pitching, where the Cubs feature one of the stronger rotations in the National League. Team ace Carlos Zambrano may have lost a little of his strikeout touch, but he’s still a dominating pitcher. Ryan Dempster, a converted reliever, has quietly turned into a high quality starter and managed to win 17 games last year while posting an ERA of 2.96. Number three starter Ted Lilly also matched that win total while striking out 184 in 2008. Then there is Rich Harden, a pitcher with elite caliber stuff, but who rarely manages to stay healthy for a full season. If he could do that, he could be the real ace of this staff.
Weaknesses: Relief Pitching, Defense, injury risk
If you want to look for weaknesses in the Cubs, there isn’t a lot to choose from - but the three weakest links would be defense, relief pitching and injury potential.
Of the three, the biggest concern might be the relief pitching, because so much of the relief corps as been rebuilt since last season, and relief pitching is one of the hardest things to maintain consistency with. However, the tail end of the Cubs pen, highlighted by Carlos Marmol and Kevin Gregg, looks pretty solid even if the rest of the bullpen (Aaron Heilman, Neal Cotts, Chad Gaudin, Luis Vizcaino and David Patton) seem a bit risky.
The defense last year was middle of the pack last season, ranking 8th out of 16 clubs. It’s hard to judge if the new regular players (Milton Bradley, Mike Fontenot) will improve or take a step backwards. Fontenot has a pretty good glove however and Bradley, so long as he keeps his head in the game, is step better than most outfielders.
Injury risk is a big concern with this team as many of the starters and pitchers have proven themselves to be injury prone during their careers and many are getting up there in age as well. However, they (aside from Milton Bradley and Rich Harden) probably are no more injury prone than any other team.
Potential Lineup
LF Alfonso Soriano
CF Kosuke Fukudome
1B - Derek Lee
RF - Milton Bradley
3B - Aramis Ramirez
2B - Mike Fontenot
C - Geovany Soto
SS - Ryan Theriot
Rotation
SP1 – Carlos Zambrano
SP2 – Ryan Dempster
SP3 – Ted Lily
SP4 – Rich Harden
SP5 – Sean Marshall
Closer
CL – Kevin Gregg
One question that need answering:
Can the Cubs finally deliver in the playoffs?
Prediction:
The Cubs will once again be the class of the Central. They will once again win the division by 5+ games. They will once again flop in the playoffs. History just seems bound to repeat itself over and over for the team which calls Wrigley Field its home.
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