Well Cubs fans, things sure didn’t work out for the new Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs as they dropped their opening game of the 2010 season to the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon 16-5. Big Z got recorded just four outs as he gave up eight runs on six hits – including two homers, hit a batter, and made a throwing error that led to a run as well.
The Cubs bullpen was an up and down story the rest of the game. Sean Marshall and James Russell pitched well but Jeff Samardzija was charged with six runs and Justin Berg was charged with another two. Way too many walks by the bullpen especially when you were already battling back to get into the game.
The Cubs bright spot of the game was two swings. Marlon Byrd hit a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to put the Cubs up 3-0 and Aramis Ramirez added a two-run home run in the third inning. Five runs will usually win the ball game for you when you have your “ace” on the mound but right now I don’t think you can call any pitcher on the Cubs roster an “ace”.
Hopefully the team can bounce back and get a win on Wednesday night to even up the series at one game each. Follow us on twitter as I’ll be tweeting live during the game. @chicagocubsblog
Hey Cubs fans, it’s been quite a while since I have wrote on the blog and I do apologize for that. I took a full time job away from the house so that has kept me pretty busy. Working 16 hour days between two companies just hasn’t left much time for the blog. That is until today 
The Cubs will kick off their 2010 Spring Training games this afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. No matter how the game goes this afternoon, there are questions that the Cubs and management will need to address before the season starts. To me, these are the keys of the 2010 Cubs season.
- Will Carlos Zambrano win 15 games this season?
- Will Ted Lilly recover from his injuries?
- Will Alfonso Soriano finally play in 150 games in one season for the Cubs?
- Is Aramis Ramirez’s shoulder 100% and can he stay off of the disabled list?
- Can Derrek Lee stay healthy?
- Who will win the second base job? Mike Fontenot or Jeff Baker?
One thing if for certain. Anything that new center fielder Marlon Byrd does will be an improvement over Milton Bradley did in 2009. Having Byrd in center will also allow Kosuke Fukudome to move back to his natural right field position.
Let’s set back and see how some of these spring training games go and hope that the team stays injury free. Staying injury free and getting Ted Lilly back will be the keys to the Cubs starting off the season on the right in my mind. Let’s just hope that it happens.
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Milton Bradley’s time in Chicago if officialy over as he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Carlos Silva. Silva has a terrible contract just like Bradley, but hopefully the change of scenery for both players will be good. However, I don’t like this trade one bit.
Trading Bradley for Silva is not a win for the Cubs. Your team is worse off then it was in my opinion. You open up another position in the outfield and lose some of that pop especially from the left hand side of the plate. I agree that Bradley should have been traded, but not for Silva.
“We knew we had to move the player,” Hendry said Friday of Bradley. “In hindsight, obviously, it was an acquisition that I’m responsible for that obviously didn’t work out.”
Gee you really think so Jim? Maybe you should have worked a little harder at the Winter Meetings and got a decent deal done then. Silva has won five games in two seasons in Seattle. Wow what a winner we got coming to the Northside!
The best thing from this trade is probably the $9 million dollars that the Mariners are sending along with Silva. This will allow the Cubs to go after a centerfielder and move Kosuke Fukudome back to right field. I’d like to see the Cubs go after Jacoby Ellsbury who doesn’t have a position with the Red Sox now. Will it happen? I doubt it…
Hey Cubs fans, sorry for not updating the blog on a more constant basis but I really just haven’t been in the mood to talk about the Cubs after the season. Yeah 2009 was a terrible season for the Cubs and it sure pissed off a lot of fans but hopefully things can get turned back around and that all starts with the off season.
So far there have been three players that have filed for free agency. Pitchers Rich Harden and Kevin Gregg have both filed while outfielder Reed Johnson also filed for free agency. The only other potential free agents on the Cubs who have yet to file are pitchers John Grabow and Chad Fox.
A player must file within 15 days after the World Series is over. The Cubs retain exclusive negotiating rights during that 15-day period.
With the new ownership in place it will be interesting to see what happens this off season. I don’t think much will happen as the Ricketts family and Jim Hendry are pretty happy where they are as far as the roster. The one question that keeps popping up however is what will happen with Milton Bradley? There are teams interested in him, but how low will Hendry go to get him out of Chicago?
What’s everyones thoughts on the offseason and any moves Hendry should make?
