Former Cub Updates: 10-5-10

Let's check out recently departed Cubs finished the season!

• Ryan Theriot: .242 AVG, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 54 games with the Dodgers
• Ted Lilly: 7-4, 3.52 ERA, 77 Ks, 12 starts with the Dodgers
• Derrek Lee: .287 AVG, 3 HR, 24 RBIs in 39 games with the Braves
• Mike Fontenot: .282 AVG, 28 games with the Giants
• Chad Tracy: .245 AVG, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 41 games with the Marlins
• Milton Bradley: .205 AVG, 73 games with the Mariners
• Kevin Gregg: 2-6, 3.51 ERA, 37 SV, 63 games with the Blue Jays
• Aaron Heilman: 5-8, 4.50 ERA, 70 games with the D'backs
• Aaron Miles: .281 AVG, 79 games with the Cardinals
• Reed Johnson: .262 AVG, 2 HR, 15 RBIs, 102 games with the Dodgers

Let's take a look at all of the ex-Cubbies to watch for in each postseason series!

Giants (2) VS Braves (1)

• Derrek Lee, Braves
• Mike Fontenot, Giants
• Andres Torres, Giants

Reds (2) VS Phillies(1)

• Jim Edmonds, Reds
• Dusty Baker & Staff, Reds
• Ross Gload, Phillies

Rays (0) VS Twins (0)

Yankees (3) VS Rangers (2)

• Kerry Wood, Yankees
• Sergio Mitre, Yankees
• Chad Gaudin, Yankees
• Rich Harden, Rangers
• Andres Blanco, Rangers

That's it for now, I'll keep you posted on the former Cubs playing in the playoffs!

Let the Winter Begin!

Later in the week we'll bring you the 2010 Cubbie Awards, Former Cub Updates and more, but let's start the offseason with a look at the calendar for the long winter months ahead.

October
6: Division Series Begins
12: Arizona Fall League begins; Mesa VS Phoenix
15: LCS begins
27: World Series begins


November
Five Days after WS: free agency starts
1-5: Cubs Organizational Meetings in Mesa
3: Cubs Convention Passes go on sale
6: AFL Rising Stars Game in Surprise, AZ
16-17: general managers meetings in Orlando
17-18: owners meetings in Orlando
20: AFL Championship
23: Last day for teams to offer salary arb. to free agents in order to ensure draft-pick compensation
30: Last day for free agents to accept salary arb. offers


December
2: Last day to tender contracts to 2011 players under reserve
6-9: Baseball's winter meetings, Lake Buena Vista, Fla

January
5-15: salary arbitration filing period
14-16: Cubs Convention at the Hilton Chicago
18: salary arbitration figures exchanged

February
1-21: salary arbitration hearings
13: pitchers and catcher report to Mesa, AZ
18: all players report to Mesa, AZ

April
1- Cubs VS Pirates at Wrigley; Opening Day 2011

I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs all offseason long!

It's All Over

The last day of the Major League Baseball season is always a sad one. Especially when it ends in early October for the Cubs. Especially when you're capping off a year as bad as this one. Especially when the payroll is expected to drop this winter.

However, there is still a reason to keep an eye on the Chicago Cubs. There is still a reason to hope. The Cubs finished strong. Today's 4-0 loss to the Astros was sour, but they still went 5-2 on the final road trip of the season. They went 24-13 in the 37 games under Mike Quade.

The Astros win today put them in fourth place in the NL Central. The Cubs dropped to fifth with a final record of 75-87. There are a lot of questions to be answered this winter.

Here's the latest from the final weekend of the 2010 season:

• The biggest question going around, "Will Mike Quade return as the Cubs full-time skipper in 2010?" Tom Ricketts and Jim Hendry were asked today, "When do you plan to have a manager in place?"
• Quade told Carrie Muskat that he feel good about his chance to return.
• Cubs legend Ron Santo will be honored in Mesa, Arizona next Saturday. Ron will have another shot at the Hall of Fame in December.
• Bob Melvin was interviewed for the manager's job by Jim Hendry on Saturday in Houston according to the report from the Sun Times.
• Carlos Zambrano wants to Cubs to go after Adam Dunn.
• Speaking of Big Z, Jim Hendry has announced that the big right hander will stay with the Cubs next season.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that if the Cubs wait for Joe Girardi to finish his season to name their manager, they will be taking a risk. Many other candidates may have moved on by that time.
• CSN Chicago reports that Rudy Jaramillo plans to honor his contract as the Cubs hitting coach no matter who the team's manager is.
• While there is no time table for the search for a new manager, Jim Hendry expects to narrow it down in the next couple weeks.
• Tom Ricketts said on the WGN Radio broadcast today that the new manager will be in place by mid-November.
• Paul Sullivan reports that Jim Hendry was pleased with Kosuke's season. Hendry said that Kosuke did a much better job. He does not believe the team over-evaluated the right fielder.
• Carlos Marmol, Geovany Soto, and Sean Marshall are all arbitration eligible. They will all be due big raises once again.
• Xavier Nady is the only Cub set to become a free agent. Aramis Ramirez will take his player option for 2011.

Opening Day is at Wrigley on April 1 against the Pirates! I'll keep you posted on all the rumors and news... the best time to blog on the Cubs is during the winter!

Go Cubs Go!

The Manager Search Roundup

Brenly Out of Mangerial Race

Cubs TV color man Bob Brenly has dropped out of the Cubs' managerial chase. He told Jim Hendry that he does not feel that the job is right for him at this time. The reports of Brenly's decision hit the media before today's game against the Cardinals. Bob plans to return to the booth next season.

Wakamatsu Interviewed

According to Bruce Levine, Don Wakamatsu has been added to the interview list for the open Cubs managerial position. He was fired by the Mariners on Aug. 9 in his second year in Seattle. He is MLB's first Japanese-American skipper.

Ryno Interviewed

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was interviewed for the position this week in Arizona. Hendry said he had a good day and a half with Ryno. The process is continued the way Jim said it would.

Ozzie on the North Side?

The Chicago Tribune has reported that if the White Sox cut ties with manager Ozzie Guillen this winter, he would list to the Cubs. Most feel that Ozzie is just talking in order to make headlines. He is in no way considered a candidate to became the Cubs manager in 2011 at this time. Guillen is still under contract with the Sox through the end of next season.

The Cubs Under Q

The Chicago Cubs are now 19-11 under Mike Quade entering the final seven games of the season. If the team has a strong final week, Mike's record will be well over .500. He has done everything he can to earn the full time gig and many feel that his stock has gone up. Jim Hendry told Bruce Levine on Saturday that Quade has created a good atmosphere, but he will not be judged based on his win-loss record.

The Cubs are not going to hurry the decision... but they would like to have a skipper in place by the organizational meetings in November.

It should be an interesting next month and a half! I'll keep you posted!

Weekend Quick Hits: No Position Change for Colvin, Six Men in the Rotation, The Smokies Must Win ,& More

The Chicago Cubs are red hot for the first time this year! They've one five in a row and have looked sharp ever since Mike Quade took over the team. They swept the Cardinals this week and won the first game in Florida last night behind a great outing from Ryan Dempster.

By the final week of the regular season, more frequent posting is expected to resume!

For now, let's catch up:

• Tom Gorzelanny will return to the rotation on Friday as the Cubs host the Cardinals.
• Moving Tyler Colvin to first base has been put on hold for now according to Cubs.com.
• Mike Quade mentioned yesterday that the younger players will see action in the final game of the series on Sunday. Sam Fuld, Brad Snyder, Jeff Samardzija, and Welington Castillo are all expected to be in the starting lineup tomorrow.
• Today is the 51st birthday of Ryne Sandberg!
• The Cubs Double-A affiliate in Tennessee will play Jacksonville tonight in game four of the Southern League Championship series. It is a must-win game for the Smokies, who trail the best-of-five series two games to one.
• Brandon Guyer was named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year and Chris Archer the Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
• The Cubs are going with the six-man rotation for now.
• The schedule for 2011 was released this week. Click here to check it out. The Cubs open up at home against the Pirates.

We plan to have several posts during the week this coming week, including a Former Cub Update. A soon as the regular season ends, the best time of the year for blogging starts. Come to Everything Cubs everyday this winter as we help you though your offseason with features, news, and plenty of rumors.

Catching Up Quick Hits: Call-ups, Injuries, Benchings, & More

• The Cubs activated Carlos Silva from the disabled list and he returned to the rotation on Tuesday. Silva was decent in his first game back but the Cubs fell to the Astros.
• Tuesday was a special day for Hall of Fame slugger Billy Williams. A statue was unveiled outside of Wrigley in his honor. He became the second Cubs player to be honored with a statue.
• The Cubs are 9-6 under Mike Quade so far.
• The Triple-A Iowa Cubs lost back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday to Memphis to miss the playoffs. They finished with the same record as the Redbirds but Memphis took the tie-breaker (record within division).
• Reports earlier this week said that Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg would receive an interview from Jim Hendry for the open big league job within the next ten days, but Carrie Muskat reports that team officials denied these reports.
• Tyler Colvin was presented with the "Heart and Hustle" award for the Cubs this week. The final MLB winner will be announced on November 5.
• Starlin Castro was bench for a couple of days to think about some of the mental errors he has made at shortstop. Castro returned to the lineup on Wednesday, his swing as sharp as ever.
• The Cubs made a slew of September call-ups as soon as the Triple-A team's season ended. Veteran infielder Bobby Scales, Notre Dame grad Jeff Samardzija, right handed pitcher Justin Berg, slugging outfielder Brad Snyder, and spark-plug Sam Fuld have all been added to the 25-man roster.
• John Grabow and Esmalin Caridad were moved to the 60-day DL to make room for Snyder and Scales on the 40-man roster.
• Tom Gorzelanny, out with a thumb injury, threw on the side but is not ready to return to the rotation.
• Aramis Ramirez is still listed as day-to-day with a sore right quad.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted!

We're Not Gone for Good!

I want to apologize to everyone for our recent lack of posting. Things have been crazy the past couple weeks, and it looks like it will stay that way for a while. Everyday posting will resume at some point before the end of the season.

Within the next week posts should start popping up again.

Until then, please hand in there and Go Cubs Go!