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Chicago Cubs

2012 – Finished fifth in the NL Central

Record: 61-101

For a team with a payroll over $100 million, the last couple of years have been nothing short of disastrous for Cubs fans. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo could be the most potent partnership in baseball given time.

The rest of the line-up, Alfonso Soriano apart, looks pretty weak, though.

The Cubs front office brought in four new starting pitchers, but none of them could be considered to make a massive difference to a side that is likely to continue its struggles of recent times. They massively overpaid for Edwin Jackson, 4 years, $52 million for a pitcher with a 4.40 career ERA isn’t the wisest move.

They Cubs have improved their team, there’s no doubt about that. What they haven’t done, however, is make them a realistic contender.

INCOMINGS 

Catchers – Dioner Navarro, J.C. Boscan
Infielders – Brad Nelson, Brent Lillibridge, Alberto Gonzalez, Edwin Maysonet
Outfielders – Nate Scheirholtz, Scott Hairston, Darnell McDonald, Brian Bogusevic
Starters – Edwin Jackson, Carlos Vilanueva, Scott Feldman, Scott Baker
Relievers – Kyuji Fukijawa, Hisanori Takahashi, Hector Rondon, Andrew Carpenter, Carlos Gutierrez, Jensen Lewis

OUTGOINGS

Infielders – Bryan LaHair, Blake DeWitt, Adrian Cardenas
Outfielders – Joe Mather
Starters – Randy Wells, Justin Germano
Relievers – Alex Hinshaw, Jeff Beliveau, Manny Corpas, Jairo Asencio, Rodrigo Lopez.

Catchers

Youngster Welington Castillo will be the main man behind the plate. The Dominican hit five homers in 52 games last year and will be backed up by Dioner Navarro who moved from the Reds. Chicago will be the sixth club of his MLB career. Steve Clevenger is set to be third choice, and can play first base.

Infielders

A pair of 23 year olds light up the Cubs infield, in the form of Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro. The latter, a two time All-Star is coming off a 14 HR, 78 RBI season, while first baseman Rizzo split time between the bigs and Triple-A, hitting 38 homers in total. Darwin Barney and Ian Stewart are likely to be the other starting infielders, but neither is anything above average. Ex-Rockie Stewart hit just .201 in 55 games last season and will need to drastically improve that figure. Luis Valbuena is set to be the main infield reserve while Josh Witters is an intriguing prospect, having hit .304 in Triple-A last year, but struggled in limited action with the Cubs.

Outfielders

Despite turning 38 during the season Alfonso Soriano is still a major threat, but his $18 million salary seems counter-productive for a team that is essentially in a rebuilding mode. He has notched 164 homers in seven years at Wrigley. His fellow starters are set to be David DeJesus and new signing Nate Schierholtz. Both are solid, if not earth shattering, options. DeJesus had a slightly disappointing debut season last year, hitting .263, while Schierholtz hit .257 for the Giants and Phillies. Worryingly, no outfielder stole more than seven bases last year, suggesting speed will be a real problem. Scott Hairston will be the fourth outfielder and could split time with Schierholtz, while Dave Sappelt hit .275 in limited action last year. Three of the Cubs top six prospects are outfielders, but Brett Jackson is the only one who may see time with the big club. He hit 15 homers and stole 27 bases at Triple-A last year.

Starters

A slew of new starting pitchers is unlikely to solve the Cubs pitching problems. Matt Garza is now the undisputed ace. He holds a 3.52 ERA in his two seasons at the club. Jeff Samardzija is the only other returner likely to make the rotation. Newbies Edwin Jackson, Scott Feldman and Carlos Villanueva combined for a 4.37 ERA in nearly 450 innings last season, so while being merely average, they are undoubtedly an upgrade on the likes of Volstad and Wood. Scott Baker is an intriguing signing who didn’t pitch last year after Tommy John surgery but was becoming an unheralded pitcher at the Twins. Depth wise the Cubs are really struggling. Travis Wood was mediocre last year, while youngster Brooks Raley was bashed in limited big league time, but was solid at Triple-A.

Relievers

The closer role is set to belong again to Carlos Marmol, who notched 20 saves last season, but was inconsistent and issued 7.4 K/9. The 30 year old is entering his eighth season at Wrigley. Kyuji Fujikawa is a 32 year old Japanese star making his MLB debut. He held a 1.32 ERA with 24 saves last year for Hanshin and a great deal is expected of him. Hisanori Takahashi is another Japanese signing, the 37 year old lefty will move to his fourth MLB team in four years. Shawn Camp, James Russell and Michael Bowden proved a solid trio last year for Chicago, amassing a combined 3.33 ERA in close to 200 innings of work and with a shaky rotation, they will need to perform to a similar level. Hector Rondon is the favourite for the long relief role, but hasn’t pitched above Double-A, so he may be on a short leash, while Dontrelle Willis has been invited to Spring Training and must surely be drinking in the last chance saloon.

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