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Chicago Cubs to decline $3 million 2012 option on… |
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs plan to decline a $3 million option on right-hander Jeff Samardzija for 2012. Samardzija, who was 8-4 with a 2.97 ERA in 75 relief appearances last season, is not arbitration eligible. The former star wide receiver at Notre Dame signed a $10 million, five-year deal in 2007 after being selected in the fifth round of the 2006 amateur draft. He pitched in the minors that summer before returning to Notre Dame to finish his football career. Samardzija, who has said he would like to be a starter, broke in with the Cubs in 2008. He has pitched in 128 games with five starts and is 12-9 with a 4.40 ERA. The team is expected to sign him to a lesser salary. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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Cubs exercise option, but 3B Ramirez can still… |
CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs have exercised their side of a $16 million mutual contract option on third baseman Aramis Ramirez. But Ramirez has informed the team that he will decline his side of the option and explore free agency. He has until Tuesday night to make that decision official. The 33-year-old Ramirez had been interested in a multiyear deal. He joined the Cubs in a 2003 trade from the Pirates and just completed a five-year, $75 million contract. He batted .306 with 26 homers and 93 RBI last season, his ninth in Chicago. He broke in with the Pirates in 1998 and is a career .284 hitter with 315 homers and has six seasons of at least 100 RBI. The decision Sunday night on Ramirez was one of the first handled by new Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. Subscribe to our feed!. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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Top Five Catchers in Chicago Cubs History |
Qualifier: players will be classified under one position even if they played at more than one. Gabby Hartnett: Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett was the greatest catcher to ever play for the Chicago Cubs. Hartnett debuted with the Cubs in 1922 and spent the next 19 years with the team. He earned invites to the first six All-Star Games ever played from 1933 to 1938. In 1930, he set a then record for catchers with 37 home runs, adding career bests of 122 RBI, a .339 average and 1.034 OPS. He won the 1935 National League MVP award and finished in the top ten in voting on three other occasions. Over 1,926 games as a Cub, Hartnett registered 1,867 hits with a .297 average, .370 on-base percentage, 231 home runs and 1,153 RBI. Johnny Kling: Old-time top defensive backstop Johnny Kling spent more than 1,000 games behind the plate for Chicago in the early 20th century. Kling was the starting catcher for the Cubs’ last two World Series winners in 1907 and 1908. He maintained a .272 batting average and 103 OPS+ (league average is 100) over 11 seasons in Chicago. His career totals include 1,154 hits, 515 RBI and 124 stolen bases. Bob O’Farrell: Former NL MVP Bob O’Farrell played his first 11 years with the Cubs from 1915 to 1925. After joining the Cubs for cups of coffee from 1915 to 1917, O’Farrell became a backup in 1918 and the starting catcher in 1920. As the starter, he batted .287 with a .379 OBP and 111 OPS+ over 520 games. He played the best year of his career in 1923 when he posted a .319 average with career-highs of 213 total bases and 84 RBI. He later won the MVP and a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals 1926. O’Farrell ranks 36th all-time in caught stealing rate, gunning down 47.6 percent of base-stealers. Jody Davis: Two-time All-Star catcher Jody Davis played behind the plate for the Cubs for most of the 1980s. The Cubs acquired Davis as a Rule 5 pick and after transitioning to the big leagues, he developed into a very good player on both sides of the game. In six seasons as the full-time starter, he batted .253, slugged .426 and averaged 19 home runs per year. He won a Gold Glove in 1986 when he threw out 89 base-stealers at a 48 percent clip. In 990 games with the Cubs, he racked up 834 hits, 122 home runs and a .729 OPS. Randy Hundley: Former All-Star and Gold Glove winner Randy Hundley was a workhorse defensive catcher for the Cubs from 1966 to 1973. During a remarkable iron man stretch from 1966 to 1969, Hundley averaged 153 games, 14 home runs and 63 RBI per season. His 160 games in 1968 remain an all-time record for a catcher. Honorable mentions: Jimmy Archer, Clyde McCullough, Geovany Soto(notes) and Rick Wilkins Sources: Chicago Cubs Team History & Encyclopedia, Baseball-Reference.com More from this contributor: Boston Red Sox top five catchers Baltimore Orioles top five catchers Atlanta Braves top five catchers Stephen Colbert takes aim at the NBA lockout Cherington: Lackey needs Tommy John surgery Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. That’s all the news for today. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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2011 St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series Victory… |
First and foremost, I’d like to congratulate the St. Louis Cardinals for their second World Series championship since 2006. Don’t forget to send a ring and about 40 “Road to the Show” training points to Carlos Marmol(notes). He’ll put them towards his control rating. There’s no denying that I’m a Chicago Cubs fan who doesn’t like the Cardinals. With that said, I appreciate the successes that they’ve had. They have a fine team with a quality farm system that continually reproduces new talent. While the Cubs were crying about an injury to Randy Wells(notes), the Cardinals wouldn’t allow injuries to Adam Wainwright(notes), Albert Pujols(notes), Matt Holliday(notes) or any player to end their season. The Cardinals just kept battling and persevering. How could 103 years of ineptitude get any worse for Cubs fans? The Chicago White Sox and Cardinals have combined for three World Series championships in the past seven seasons (2005, 2006 and 2011). The Cubs must be feeling lonely since the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years in 2004. My advice to Cubs fans is that we shouldn’t get too upset with the recent fortunes of our rivals. The Cardinals’ championships could help the Cubs in the near future. The White Sox and Cardinals had won back-to-back World Series from 2005-2006. I felt like it had a positive impact on how the Cubs would respond for the next two seasons. This forced Jim Hendry to restructure the roster and managerial staff. Some of the Cubs’ moves included the signing of Alfonso Soriano(notes) and the hiring of Lou Piniella to replace Dusty Baker as the manager. The fans demanded an improved team after both of their arch rivals had won World Series in the prior seasons. That forced management’s hand. The Cubs would enjoy postseason appearances from 2007-2008. Unfortunately, they were three-and-out in both National League Divisional Series (NLDS) meetings. Now that doesn’t mean that I want Theo Epstein to go on a shopping spree during free agency; I just feel like even more pressure will be added unto management to put a winner on the field. Seeing the Cardinals win another World Series should add more motivation in wanting to see the Cubs win their own Commissioner’s Trophy. And hey: it’s good to see that the Milwaukee Brewers and Cardinals were the representatives in the National League Championship Series (NLCS). At least the Cubs had a miserable season in a strong division. Maybe the Cubs aren’t quite as bad as perceived and were partially impacted by the strength of the division? Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid 1990s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood’s(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie’s defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and “4th & 26″ in a span of three months. More from Yahoo! Contributor Network Dan Marino, Not Peyton Manning, Should Be NFL’s 2011-12 MVP: Green Bay Packer Fan’s Take Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Dempster Picks Up Player Option for 2012 MLB Season: Fan’s Take Aramis Ramirez Would Return to Chicago Cubs After Hiring of Theo Epstein: Fan’s Take Chicago Cubs’ Theo Epstein Isn’t Ready to Give Up on Alfonso Soriano: Fan’s Take Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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Chicago Cubs’ Ryan Dempster Picks Up Player… |
The Chicago Cubs have answered one of the many questions that surrounds their starting rotation this offseason. Ryan Dempster(notes) will return to the Cubs after he elected to exercise a $14-million player option for the 2012 MLB season. Dempster had reportedly informed the franchise of his decision on October 29, 2011. Dempster didn’t perform well in 2011. While he reached 200 innings pitched for the fourth consecutive season, Dempster’s 4.80 ERA was lower than the average ERA for a quality start (4.50). He finished the season with a 10-14 record and is 62-61 in his career with the Cubs. Dempster was inconsistent throughout the season. He started the season with an April that featured a 9.48 ERA. Here were his ERA’s in the months that followed: 3.08, 3.13, 4.82, 3.90 and 4.97. His ERA in September was skewed because Mike Quade was overusing him in an effort for him to reach that milestone of 200 innings pitched. Don’t expect Dempster to remain with the Cubs past 2012. He’ll turn 35 in May of 2012. The Cubs are hoping that Trey McNutt, Andrew Cashner(notes) and Jeff Samardzija(notes) will have become reliable starting pitchers behind Matt Garza(notes) by that time. Dempster is an example of what Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer must avoid when they target free agents. I don’t believe Dempster is worth half of the $14 million that he’ll receive in 2012. While he’ll probably be the No. 2 starter behind Garza, I don’t project him as anything beyond a middle-of-the-road No. 3 starter on a legitimate National League (NL) pennant contender. There’s also the possibility that he’s gone before next season’s July trading deadline. Maybe Dempster would accept an early exit from Chicago if he could play for a pennant contender.There’s a good chance that the Cubs won’t be competitive so it’s a plausible scenario. The Cubs must also decide on whether Carlos Zambrano(notes) will return to the rotation after he served a 30-day suspension after another emotional outburst. It seems much less likely that he’d return. However, he does have another season on his contract. Epstein could react conservatively and get a first-hand view of what he has in Zambrano. Joshua Huffman grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a Green Bay Packers and Chicago Cubs enthusiast. He immediately gained an admiration for Cubs fans after watching numerous games on WGN during the mid 1990s. His favorite Cubs moment was Kerry Wood’s(notes) 1-hitter, 20K extravaganza that was only denied of a no-hitter by Kevin Orie’s defensive blunder. As a Packers and Cubs fan, he suffered through Steve Bartman and “4th & 26″ in a span of three months. More from Yahoo! Contributor Network Dan Marino, Not Peyton Manning, Should Be NFL’s 2011-12 MVP: Green Bay Packer Fan’s Take Aramis Ramirez Would Return to Chicago Cubs After Hiring of Theo Epstein: Fan’s Take Chicago Cubs’ Theo Epstein Isn’t Ready to Give Up on Alfonso Soriano: Fan’s Take Week 8 NFL Predictions Against the Spread (2011): 13 Free Picks (Condensed) Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content. Comment Below!. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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Cubs’ Dempster exercises option to return in 2012 |
Chicago Cubs right-hander Ryan Dempster has elected to exercise his $14 million US player option and return to the team in 2012. Dempster informed the team of his decision Saturday. The 34-year-old Gibsons, B.C., native was 10-14 last season with a 4.80 earned-run average in 34 starts and reached 200 innings pitched for a fourth straight year. Dempster is 112-116 in his career, including 62-61 with the Cubs. He also has 87 saves after being the team’s closer from 2005-2007. He has also pitched for the Reds and the Marlins in his major league career. Next up for new president of baseball operations Theo Epstein is to determine the future of manager Mike Quade and right-hander Carlos Zambrano, who was suspended for 30 days last season. Both have one year left on their contracts. Comment Below!. Posted in cubs-news | Comments Off
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