Former Cubs Updates: A Look at the '08 Cubbies

Several times this year, we've updated you on the stats of the Cubs team from last year, but this time we will look at that last Cubs playoff team from 2008. The club that won 97 games will always have a special place in Cubs fans hearts. Here is a breakdown of the entire roster of guys that spent time with the team!

Still with the Cubs (15):

• Geovany Soto
• Derrek Lee
• Ryan Theriot
• Aramis Ramirez
• Alfonso Soriano
• Kosuke Fukudome
• Mike Fontenot
• Koyie Hill
• Carlos Zambrano
• Ryan Dempster
• Ted Lilly
• Sean Marshall
• Carlos Marmol
• Bobby Howry (left the Cubs for '09 and start of '10, then returned)
• Randy Wells

In the Cubs System, not on active roster (3):

• Micah Hoffpauir (AAA-Iowa)
• Jeff Samardzija (AAA-Iowa)
• Angel Guzman (60-day DL)

Retired (3):

• Jon Lieber: Retired after the '08 season
• Chad Fox: Played in only three games with the Cubs in '08 and two in '09. During the second game of the '09 season, he left with a career ending injury.
• Scott Eyre: Spent part of '08 and all of '09 with the Phillies before retiring this winter.

With Other Big League Teams (13:

• Mark DeRosa (Giants): Announced last month that he will miss the rest of the season with a wrist injury. He hit .194 in just 26 games before going down with the injury this year.
• Jim Edmonds (Brewers): After sitting out the 2009 season, Jim returned to the NL Central this year. He's hitting .269 in 51 games with the Brewers.
• Reed Johnson (Dodgers): Left via free agency after the '09 season. Reed is hitting .291 in 64 games for LA this season.
• Ronny Cedeno (Pirates): Was traded to Seattle before the '09 season. He ended up moving on to Pittsburgh by the end of the year. He's hitting just .219 in 69 games with the last place Bucs.
• Henry Blanco (Mets): Left via free agency after the '08 season. Henry spent '09 with the Padres and is hitting .284 in 27 games for the Mets this season.
• Felix Pie (Orioles): Activated from the DL today. He was 8-22 with 1 HR before being sidelined. This is his second year with the O's.
• Eric Patterson (Red Sox): Recently traded from Oakland to Boston. He hit .204 in 45 games with the A's this season, but is off to a good start (5-15) with the Bo-Sox.
• Casey McGehee (Brewers): Letting Casey go was a mistake. He's hitting .274 with 13 HRs and 52 RBIs in 78 games with the Crew this year.
• Michael Wuertz (A's): Was traded to the Bay Area for two prospects before the '09 season. 2-1 with a 5.51 ERA in 22 games this year after a great '09 where his ERA was 2.63.
• Chad Gaudin (Yankees): Has bounced around since being let go after Spring Training 2009. Gaudin has a 4.96 ERA in 9 relief appearances with New York so far since being pick up in May.
• Kerry Wood (Indians): Signed with Cleveland after the '08 season. He has a 6.27 ERA, 8 saves, and a 1-3 record this year in 21 games.
• Rich Harden (Rangers): 3-3, 5.68 ERA, 13 starts for Texas after signing there last offseason.
• Jason Marquis (Nationals): Currently on the DL with the Nats. Marquis only pitcheed in three games in DC this season. He was great with the Rockies last year after the Cubs traded him before the '09 season.

Currently with Minor League teams (6)

• Matt Murton: Currently with the Hashin Tigers in Japan. He made the NPB All-Star team. Matt had played with the A's and Rockies since he left the Cubs in the Rich Harden trade.
• Daryle Ward: Playing with the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League. He's hitting .293 with 9 homers and 44 RBIs in 63 games there. He spent part of last season with Newark and in the chains of the Nationals, White Sox, and Reds.
• Jose Ascaino: On the DL in the Pirates organization. He was a part of the Gorzo/Grabow deal last season.
• Kevin Hart: After coming over along with Ascaino in a trade last year, Kevin pitcher horribly for the Pirates. This year, he's 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 5 games (4 starts) at AAA-Indianapolis.
• Neal Cotts: Signed a minor league deal with the Pirates before this season but has not played at any level yet this year.
• Rich Hill: Started the year in the Cardinals organization (4-3, 4.30 ERA at Triple-A) before opting out of his contract to sign a minor league deal with the on June 30. He has a 1.93 ERA in 2 games at AAA-Pawtucket so far.

Free Agents (2):

• Sean Gallagher: Recently DFA'd by the Padres. He had a 5.40 ERA in 15 games before being let go.
• Carmen Pignatiello: Played in the Northern Leauge last season but has not played yet this year.

I'll keep you posted on our former Cubbies!

Granderson Rumors Heating Up

• Cubs GM Jim Hendry is absolutely interested in offering a prospect heavy package to the Tigers for Granderson, according to Phil Rodgers.
• Hendry and Tigers GM Dave Dombrowki discussed Granderson and other Tigers players during the GM meetings earlier this week.
• The Angles and Yankees are also exploring a Granderson deal.
• The Cubs offer could be built around 19-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro, who is emerging as one of the top prospects in the minors.
• Rodgers tosses out other guys that could be included in the deal: Hak-Ju Lee, Josh Vitters, Andrew Cashner, Jay Jackson, and Chris Carpenter.
• Jake Fox, Aaron Miles, Micah Hoffpauir, Aaron Heilman, and Tom Gorzelanny could also be placed in the deal.
• The Tigers will not trade Granderson quickly, they could wait to stike a deal at the winter meetings.
• Keith Law says Curtis has become a platoon player because of his struggles against left handed pitching.
• The Detriot news disaggres with the Chicago Tribune by saying that the deal could happen soon.
• My take: The Cubs should not give up what the Tigers want for Curtis Granderson. I think trading for him would be a big mistake. I would not give up Josh Vitter, Starlin Castro, Jay Jackson, or Andrew Cashner for him, even if it was just a 1 for 1 trade. If they'll take say Hak-Ju Lee and that's it, then it would be an OK deal for the Cubs. However, I feel strongly that this would be another Kosukeish and Bradley-like mistake.
• Only non-Granderson related tidbit today is thanks to Bleacher Nation, and is from Mark Miller- It is rumored that Harden doesn't have much interest in returning to Chicago since he supposedly felt overused and suffered from some poor defensive play by Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley. Interesting.

That's all we have today! I would expect for things to be heating back up in the next week. The Rookies of the Year, MVPs, Cy Youngs, and Managers of the year; will be handed out in the next week and a half. Randy Wells in a candidate in a strong NL Rookie field. Tomorrow I'll have a number breakdown for you, Monday we should have some rumors and/or radio recaps, and Tuesday I'll get a Cubs Fun & Games post up, which will include some trivia.

Keep in mind, there's only 62 days until the Cubs Convention!

The Top 10 Games of '08

Usually I like to look ahead not stay in the past on this blog. I think to be a Cubs fan you always have to be looking ahead and not dwelling on the past. But it's the second to last day of 2008 so I decided to have one post today and one tomorrow to look back at the great Cubs team from this season. Today I count down my 10 Favorite Moments from the season. Please post a comment with your opinion of the best games and moments of 2008 for our beloved Cubbies.
Here's my top 10 Games and Moments of the 2008 season:

10. Soto’s Inside the Parker
It was the 4th inning of a game at Minute Maid Park between the Cubs and Astros. I’ll never forget the Cubs rookie catcher chugging around those bases. He was flying around first and second but by the time he scored I’d say he was a little winded. (I just had to throw that one in there)
9. Cubs Sweep Crew
I put this in the top 10 because it was a pivotal series in the Cubs season. The Cubs had been playing decent going into the series but the Brewers were red hot. The 4 game sweep not only made a 4 game difference in the standings but it was a moment charger as the Cubs got hot starting in this series and Milwaukee went cold.
8. Ramirez walk off VS Sox
Friday June 20 at Wrigley Field. Game one of the 6 game cross town showdown. Both clubs in first place going in. The city was pumped for this series. The Cubs got out in front in the bottom of the 1st but the Sox came back and tied it in the second and took the lead with 2 more in the third. In the bottom of the 7th it was a moment that almost made the list when Aramis and Dlee belted back to back jacks to tie the game. Then to lead of the bottom of the 9th Ramirez jacked one out of the park to give the Cubs the win. I remember going nuts. It was such an exciting moment against the rivaled White Sox.
7. 9 run 4th inning
Game 2 of the cross town show down. They day after the late drama with the Ramirez walk off. The Cubs trailed 4-1 going to the bottom of the 4th. Edmonds led off the inning with a solo homer. The very next batter Mike Fontenot delivered another back-to-back-jack to make it 4-3. With one out Kosuke tied it with an RBI single. Eric Patterson gave the Cubs the lead with his RBI single. Lee added a base hit of his own to bring in another and make it 6-4. Then Aramis Ramirez delivered a big 3 run blast to make it 9-4! And Jim Edmonds came up again and came through again. His second homer of the inning and the Cubs second pair of back-to-backers in the inning! A nine run frame helped the cubs take the game 11-7.
6. Ward’s Clutch homer
The Cubs were in Florida to take on the Marlins on Friday August 15. They were down by 2 with 1 out and 2 on in the top of the 9th. Daryle Ward who hadn’t really come through with a big hit in his pinch hitting role yet in the season was pinch hitting. And he turned the game around with a clutch 3 run homer. I’ll never forget that excellent game.
5. Soto’s Homer VS Crew
It was part of that memorable 2nd to last week of the regular season. Game 3 with the series tied at 2 at Wrigley. The Cubs could reduce their magic number to clinch the NL Central down to 2 with a win but they trailed by 4 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and nobody on base. Cub fans rarely leave early but I bet the fans were heading for the exits or packing up their stuff. The Cubs came up with a walk and a hit to put runners at first and second for DeRosa. He continued the rally with a single to plate a run. Then the Cub’s Rookie catcher stepped in. I remember the radio voice of the Cubs Pat Hughes saying, “Soto could tie this game with a long ball. He’s got 22 home runs. And he drives one! Deep to left, Can you believe it? Home run. Home run Soto. Gamed tied 6-6.” Pat does and excellent job and I’ll never forget
his call on that particular moment. The Cubs would go on to win it in the 12th on a walk off single by Derek Lee. A big victory for the Cubbies.
4. Kosuke’s Opening Day
We know Kosuke Fukudome struggled for much of the season and ended up being a big disappointment. But he brought us one of the unforgettable moments of the season on opening day. I believe this is the only memory in our top 10 in which the Cub’s went on to lose the game. But when Kosuke doubled in his first at bat in a Cub uniform Wrigley went nuts. The game was scoreless going to the 9th but then it went haywire. Milwaukee scored 3 off Kerry Wood in the top of the 9th but then it set the stage for Kosuke batting with 2 on none out bottom of the 9th. And boy did he ever come through with a game tying 3 run bomb. The Cubs would lose the game 4-3 in 10, but Fukudome’s opening day heroics is something I’ll never forget.
3. The Amazing Comeback
Probably my personal favorite because I was listening to the game the whole time and decided to stick it out even when they trailed 8-0 in the middle of the 4th and 9-1 as late as the 6th inning. In the bottom of the 6th Kosuke nailed a 2 run homer and Edmonds added a solo shot to make it 9-4. In the 7th Henry Blanco delivered a 2 run dinger and I remember Pat saying “Don’t look now it’s 9 to 6!” And then I started to think that they were for sure going to come back. Later in that 7th Edmonds added to his big day with a double to make it 9-8. And then Mark DeRosa put the Cubs on top to cap off an amazing come from behind victory. What a great day that was. The Cubs would go on to win by a score of 10-9.
2. Cubs Clinch
It’s always a great celebration when the Cubs clinch something and on Saturday Sept. 20 they clinched their second straight division title for the first time in 100 years. With a full week left it was earlier than I can ever remember them clinching before. I think everyone thought there would be more celebrations to come this year….
1. Big Z’s No No
It speaks for itself. The first Cubs no hitter since Milt Pappas. It was a game against Houston being played at Miller Park. Zambrono made Cubs history. We all thought he would do it eventually but we also thought that the Cubs would win a game in the postseason. We know very well that there’s no guaranties in baseball. It was a moment of pure joy when the team bounced around Z on the mound on that Sunday Night. The teams first of 2 celebrations in one week!

Tomorrow I'll look at how every player on the roster contributed to the 2008 Cubs team. Also tomorrow I'll have a post previewing the Winter Classic and the launch of the MLB Network.