Former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior has officialy signed a one year contract to pitch for the San Diego Padres in 2008. What is so suprising about the deal is that it is for 1 million and loaded with performance options etc.  Hmm that sounds like what the Cubs tried signing Prior to and even for more money lol.

Looks like Prior really wanted out of Chicago, and back in So Cal where can pitch near his home.  You can’t fault a guy for wanting to pitch at home though.  It kind of feels like we really hardly got to know Mark Prior to be honest.  I’ll still leave all my autographed Prior stuff up down in my basement, but I sure wish he was wearing Cubbie Blue.  Hopefully he has a good career, but not against the Cubs.

Just thinking ahead, what do you think the Cubs fans will do when Prior takes the mound at Wrigley Field for the first time?  Will he get a standing ovation, or a big round of boo birds?  Hopefully it will be a standing ovation, but who knows with a lot of fans these days.  What would like to see done?  What would you do yourself?

Kosuke Fukudome was welcomed to the Chicago Cubs during a press conference at Wrigley Field Wednesday afternoon.  He said his reason for choosing the Cubs, was that they persued him from the beginning, and were the only team to tell him he could play his natural position of right field.  He also said, he can’t wait to play at Wrigley Field and and infront of the electric crowd.

Fukudome will be wearing jersey #1, and will have his last name on the back.  There were early reports that he would use his first name like Ichiro Suzuki.   Plenty of Cubs fans were really hoping that he would choose Fukudome, jeeze I wonder why lol!

Order your Fukudome Jersey’s from Wrigleyville Sports!

Two groups of Cubs players and coaches will be stopping by hospitals, schools, and hotels as the 2008 Cubs Caravan is set to go.

Jan. 16-17. Cubs manager Lou Piniella, coach Matt Sinatro, Ryan Theriot, Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol, Kevin Hart and Jeff Samardzija will be part of Tour One, which will make stops at Northwestern Hospital, Rupley School in Elk Grove Village, and the Masonic Temple on the first day, and at McCorkle School in Chicago, and Avalon Manor, Wood Elementary School, and the Boys and Girls Club of Northwest Indiana Hammond Club in Indiana on Jan. 17.

Tour Two will include pitching coach Larry Rothschild, bench coach Alan Trammell, Geovany Soto, Tyler Colvin and Rocky Roquet for both days. It will stop at Nettelhorst Elementary School, George Washington School, and the Holiday Inn South on Jan. 16, and at Franklin Elementary, U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, and O’Brien Field and the River Plex in Peoria on the second day.

On Jan. 16, Tour Two will be joined by Cubs general manager Jim Hendry, and Tour One will include broadcasters Bob Brenly and Len Kasper. Pitcher Ted Lilly will join Tour Two on Jan. 17.

Via Cubs.Com

Neal Cotts, who signed with the Chicago Cubs last off-season has once again been signed to a one year deal with the Major League team.  While Cotts is on the Major League roster, that doesn’t mean he will be playing with the big league team however.

Last year, Cotts pitched in 16 games for the Cubs, he went 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA in those 16 apperances.  Cotts finished the rest of the season down at Triple A Iowa posting a 2-2 record with a 4.83 ERA in 24 appearances, including six starts.

At one time in Mark Prior’s career, every Cub fan thought we had the great pitcher that would be in a Cubs uniform for 10-12 years. Well that isn’t the case due to injuries.  The Cubs decided not to offer Prior a contract for next season, and now he becomes a free agent.

I would expect Prior to pitch for the San Diego Padres possible.  So Cal is where he is from, and he has hinted he would love to play for the Padres.  What pitchers wouldn’t mind pitching at Petco Park lol…

Thanks for the good years you had with the Cubs Mark.

Japenese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome has chosen to accept a contract offer to play for the Chicago Cubs.  The deal is expected to be for four years and in between 12 and 14 million per season.  Sounds like a lot of money for someone that has never played in the major leagues.  Unless he is another Ichiro lol.

Expect Fukudome to play right field for the Cubs, and allowing Felix Pie all the opportunity to take over in centerfield.  Sam Fuld could also push for the centerfield job as Bruce Levine reported on ESPN1000 Wednesday morning.

The Cubs and Orioles trade that would have sent Sean Gallagher and atleast one other player to the Orioles for Brian Roberts has been put on hold by the Orioles.  They still want to do the trade with the Cubs, but want to concentrate on trades involving Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada.

One name you won’t see in the trade for Roberts will be Felix Pie.  Jim Hendry said the only way Pie gets moved is in a much larger trade.

Cubs Blog

The Tampa Bay Rays drafted Tim Lahey in the Rule 5 draft with the #1 pick and then turned around and traded him to the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations.

Lahey spent most of last season with the Minnesota Twins’ Double-A New Britain team, posting an 8-4 record with 13 saves and a 3.45 ERA in 50 games. He struck out 56 and walked 33 over 78 1/3 innings. Lahey appeared in two games for Triple-A Rochester, totaling three innings.

Lahey will have to remain on the 40-man roster for the entire 2008 season, or he will be sent back to Tampa Bay.

The Cubs did lose Randy Wells who was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule 5 draft.� The Cubs also lost Adalberto Mendez in the Double-A section of the draft.

The Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves have made a trade!  The Cubs will be sending Omar Infante and Will Ohman to the Braves for reliver Jose Ascanio.  The 22-year-old Ascanio appeared in just 13 games for the Braves last season, going 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA.

I see this more as a move for clearing 40-man roster spots and getting rid of Ohman’s contract.  Anyone else have any opinions on this trade?  Leave a comment and let us know!

If you are a Cubs season ticket holder, you have already received the information about your tickets going up in price by nearly 20%!  That is a pretty big jump, but if you are already spending that kind of money, what does a little extra more mean lol!  Maybe the Cubs season ticket waiting list will go down a little bit now.

The highest priced season tickets are infield club box seats which would run you $6050 per seat for all 81 games at Wrigley Field.  Last season those same seats were $4720!  Big jump yeah.  But I bet almost all of those people that have those seats will be renewing.  Would you?  Do you have tickets and plan on not renewing?  Let us know via the comments page!