Day 2 in Mesa, Lilly's Surgery, and More

Today is the second day of the organizational meetings in Mesa. For a look at day 1, click here.

Lots of news today, let's do a full roundup!

Surgery for Lilly
According to Bruce Miles & other Cubs sources, the team has announced that Ted Lilly underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder yesterday in L.A. The procedure was performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum. Yocum found no major damage to Ted's shoulder. The procedure consisted of a wash out and cleanup of the shoulder. It took about an hour. Ted will start a rehab program and will be evaluated after January 1 to see when he can begin a throwing program. The Cubs are hopeful that he can be in the rotation within the month of April. The Cubs may need an extra arm for insurance early in the season.

Spring Training Talk
The "folks from Mesa" are having a news conference today to talk about their efforts to keep Cubs' Spring Training. According to Cubs.com and ESPNChicago.com the Ricketts family was to tour Mesa today by helicopter to look at potential sites along the Loop 202 freeway for Cubs Spring Training. Last night, Arizona officials spoke to the Ricketts family at a dinner at the Red Mountain Ranch Country Club. Levine says that "Arizona groups have to start worrying now about the possible loss of the Cubs, their most popular draw, after the 2011 spring schedule." The Cubs would like a complex like the one that the Dodgers and White Sox share in Glendale. Ricketts may visit East Mesa and an Indian reservation casino next. Also, the Cubs will insist that the ballpark must have similar dimensions and many of the same physical characteristics of Wrigley Field.

AFL Talk
Cubs prospect Starlin Castro injured his right hand sliding into third base yesterday, but he is OK, and is expected to play tomorrow. The entire Cubs organization will be in attendance at Hohokam Park to watch Castro and other Cub farm hands play tomorrow. I'll have a full Winter Leagues report posted sometime tomorrow.

Iwamura to the Pirates
The Cubs were rumored to be interested in acquiring infielder Akinori Iwamura from the Tampa Bay Rays. Akinori has been traded, but not to Chicago. The Rays sent him to Pittsburgh for Jesse Chavez yesterday.

Levine's Chat Recap

• The Cubs love Reed Johnsons' heart and the way he plays the game, but his back problems continue to haunt him. His broken foot is 100%, but the Cubs are having trouble deciding.
• The most likely trade scenario for Milton Bradley is to the Rays for Pat Burrell.
• Starlin Castro is the short stop of the future.
• Castro might be ready at some point during the 2010 season.
• The Cubs could choose to sign Orlando Cabrera to a one-year deal and move Theriot to short stop for next season, or they could sign Orlando Hudson and leave Ryan at short for one more year before bringing Castro up.
• Levine expects the Cubs to make some kind of offer to Derrek Lee before the 2010 season. He expects both Lilly and Lee to end up back in the Cub uniform in 2011.
• Most likely the Cubs will keep Jake Fox as a right handed bat off the bench.
• If Hendry trades for Burrell, he will look to turn around and trade him ASAP.
• Bruce doesn't think Ryne Sandberg will be managing the Cubs in 2011. "Possibly the Iowa Cubs."
• "Don't believe anything you're reading" about a Vernon Wells for Bradley trade.
• The Cubs are committed to making Jeff Samardzija a starting pitcher.
• Micah Hoffpauir's role is probably limited to a part-time pinch hitter again next year.
• The relationship between Tom Ricketts and Jim Hendry is still in the early stages.
• Chone Figgins will get 3 or 4 years at more than $10 M a year, and that doesn't seem feasible for the Cubs at this point.
• There is no chance of Kosuke Fukudome being moved this offseason.
• Derrek Lee has a full no-trade and has no interest in leaving the Cubs.
• Kosuke appears to be the opening day center fielder again, but Bruce says he's an above average RF and a way below average CF.
• Orlando Hudson would solve the problem of lead-off man and the middle infield need.
• Mike Cameron could get interest from the Cubs if everything else doesn't work out.
• Rick Ankiel to the Cubs has been discussed... first we've heard that!
• Josh Vitters has a strong enough arm to play third base.
• Upton to the Cubs for Bradley is "a nice dream."

The Cubs are going to need some middle infield help. Here's a list of all the free agent middle infielders:

• Ronnie Belliard
• Jamey Carroll
• Alex Cora
• Craig Counsell
• Mark DeRosa
• Jerry Hairston Jr.
• Orlando Hudson
• Adam Kennedy
• Felipe Lopez
• Mark Loretta
• Pablo Ozuna
• Placido Polanco
• Luis Rodrigez
• Juan Uribe
• Orlando Cabrera
• Juan Castro
• Bobby Crosby
• Adam Everett
• Chris Gomez
• Alex Gonzalez
• Khalil Greene
• John McDonald
• Luis Rodrigez
• Marco Scutaro
• Miguel Tejado
• Omar Vizquel
• Jack Wilson

See any names that interest you?

As the Yankees and Phillies get set for Game 6 of the World Series, we'll stay focused on the Chicago Cubs! I will update this post if I hear anything else tonight, so keep checking back!

Getting to Know the Cubs: Kevin Gregg

Kevin Gregg's season was not a great one, and he may be done in a Cub uniform.... but hey, it's better late then never, right?

Born: June 20, 1978 in Corvallis, Ore.

Big-League Debut: Aug. 9, 2003

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: Right/Right

Height/Weight: 6-6/240

Pre-Season Quote: "I'm really going to enjoy being a part of this organization." Really?


Hobby: Loves the outdoors, especially fishing.

Childhood: Played Little League with his brother growing up.

Family: 2 children, Ryann and Max

Interesting Fact: The glasses he wears while playing are Oakley's.

Day 1 of the Organizational Meetings Roundup

Notes from the Chicago Tribune:

• One player the Cubs are interested in is Akinori Iwamura. Iwamura is a left handed hitting second baseman.
• New Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts will introduce himself to the baseball operations department personnel at the meetings.
• He also will meet with Mesa city officials and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to talk about keeping Cubs Spring Training in Arizona. According to the Tribune, nothing will be decided this week.
• The meetings run today through Friday.
• Other things on the Cubs list: 1. Re-signing John Grabow in the 2 week window after the World Series, 2. Trying to find a lead-off hitter speed, and 3. trying to find a corner outfielder with power.

Bruce Levine's notes from Mesa:

• According to Bruce Levine, "plans are already in motion on the business front."
• Ricketts and family met the baseball side of the organization for the first time today.
• Tonight Tom will meet 90 people in baseball operations Tuesday night at the team's hotel in Mesa at a meet-and-great dinner.
• Tomorrow the Ricketts family will spend most of the day looking at possible sites for a new Cubs spring training home.
• On Thursday, the meetings will move to Ho-Ho-Kam Park, where the baseball operations people will have a lunch and watch top Cub prospects play in the Arizona Fall League.

Arizona Fall League All Star Rosters have been announced! The "Rising Stars Showcase" will be on the MLB Network on Saturday night. Josh Vitters, Starlin Castro, and Andrew Cashner are the 3 Cubs farm hands that were named to the team, but Cashner will not be able to participate. Looking forward to seeing Vitters and Castro playing on TV on Saturday!

Ricketts wants to keep the Cubs in the top 3 payrolls in baseball.

More from Mesa tomorrow...

Some Cubbie Fun & Games

A few weeks ago, we had some trivia and such on our blog. Here's the link to that post, and here are the answers needed from that post:

Trivia Question: This Chicago franchise has a storied history. They began in the National Association before the National League even existed. What was the franchise's first team name?

Answer: D, White Stockings

The Picture Matching:
1. B
2.C
3. A

Naming Cubs pitchers!

Can you name all the Cubs' pitchers from the 00s? Sporcle, a great trivia site, gives you 15 minutes to names as many as you can. Give it a try!

Cubbie Birthdays

Today- Ken Holtzman, Fred Richards, and Danny Young
Tomorrow- Eric Karros and Angel Salazar
Friday- Bob Addis, Justin Speir, and Don Wengert
Saturday- Clarence Jones, Joe Niekro, and Reggie Patterson

Trivia Question of the Week
Who was the Cubs manager in 1945?
A) Cap Anson
B) Dusty Baker
C) Leo Durocher
D) Charlie Grimm

Name that Cubs





*Hint: His birthday is this week!

Random Cubs Fact
Since the Chicago Cubs last won a world series, George Burns celebrated his 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th, and 100th birthdays.

Link of the Week
Great post by Rob G. of The Cubs Reporter!

Email me any time at cubsblogmailbag@aol.com

Answers next Tuesday!

Lots of Ricketts Talk on the Radio & Grabow Update

Some more good Ricketts links, Q&As, videos, and interviews.

• Tom Ricketts on NPR
• Entire Press Conference from Ricketts taking over the Cubs
• Ricketts joined Boers and Bernstein Friday
• Paul Sullivan joined Mully and Hanley on the Score today.
• Mike Murphy talked Cubs on the Danny Mac show last week.
• Crane Kenney and Tom Ricketts were on Talkin' Baseball with Bruce Levine Saturday.
• Sun-Times Q&A with Tom.
• Cubs.com Q&A with Ricketts.
• CBS 2 News Video, Tom takes Cubbie Questions

Some other Cubs notes:

• Bruce Levine on John Grabow: "The two sides are talking about a two-year deal for anywhere between a total of $6.5 million and $7.5 million. Grabow's people would like a vesting option for a third year added to the contract. "
• Neither Kevin Gregg nor Rich Harden is expected to return to the Cubs.
• The Cubs will have rights to negotiate with Harden, Gregg, Johnson, Fox, and Grabow until 10 days after the World Series, when they will become free agents and free to negotiate with any team.
• The Rangers are not ruling out the possibility of Milton Bradley returning to Texas.
• Carrie Muskat said in her Inbox that the Cubs are interested in Aroldis Chapman but he doesn't fit their budget.
• Phil Rodgers, on the other hand, says the Cubs "have the resources to compete for Chapman."
• TCR takes a look at Mike Cameron as a Cub offseason target.
• Andres Blanco still has to show Lou Piniella he can handle big league pitching according to Cubs.com.
• There seems to be very little chance of the Cubs staying at HoHoKam Park for Spring Training.

The Cubs have announced the following crowd-management employees for their 2009 awards:

• Ushers of the Year- Jan Awker and David Hamann
• Parker of the Year- Leslie Marie Huff
• Crows Control of the Year- Fred Pearson
• Supervisor of the Year- Joe Carter
• Rookie of the Year- Cindy Roy
• ADCDE Award- Jennifer Aparicio

What do Cubs do in the offseason to stay in shape? Vineline asked!

• Kosuke Fukudome- "I'll just relax for 7-10 days then start walking, then jogging, and then work up to running. I'll begin weight training, then start hitting."
• Jeff Samardzija- "I'll work out 4 times per week with weights and conditioning. Then I'll start throwing to get stretched out."
• Aramis Ramirez- "First, I will take a month off. After that, I'll be in the weight room at the gym 3 or 4 times a week and then start doing all the baseball stuff."
• Ryan Dempster- "I'll be running a lot. I have a personal trainer, and we will do a lot of agility training and some hill training also."

That's it for now, I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always!

Organizational Meetings in Mesa

This week is the Cubs organizational meetings in Mesa. There are a few story lines to watch and things going on this week:

• Tom Ricketts will be at the organization meetings. Lots of media will follow him there.
• Ricketts will get his first look at Mesa. Since there's been talk of Cubs Spring Training moving to Naples, this is a big deal.
• The Arizona Fall League is in full swing. Jim Hendry is sure to check out a few games while he's there every year, and the Cubs people will get a look at guys like Castro, Cashner, and Vitters.
• Mr. Chicago Baseball Bruce Levine is down there, and I'd expect great reports from him all week long.

In the mean time, I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween and a great weekend. I also hope nobody forgot to set back their clocks yesterday. The good news: If you did forget, you didn't miss a Cubs game. That's not usually a problem with fall back if you know what I mean.

We'll have full coverage from the meetings all week long!

Numbers Breakdown: Geo VS Hill

Should Geovany Soto be handed the starting catcher's job in 2010, or will he have to earn it? Koyie Hill did a nice job as the backup when Soto was injured or not playing well, but did Hill outplay Geovany in 2009?

Games Played-
Hill: 83
Soto: 102
^Keep that in mind.

Batting Average-
Hill: .237
Soto: .218

OBP-
Hill: .312
Soto: .321

SLG-
Hill: .324
Soto: .381

HR-
Hill: 2
Soto: 11

RBI-
Hill: 24
Soto: 47

Fielding %-
Hill: .995
Soto: .994

Koyie does have a bit better fielding %, but despite his great story, he is not the answer as the starting catcher if Soto struggles for the first half of 2010. Who is the answer? We'll try to figure that out on our next Numbers' Breakdown, sometime in the next 2 weeks.

And remember... the numbers don't lie!