Cubs Spring Training Schedule

Later this week, I will be starting a series that is a month-by-month breakdown of the Cubs 2011 schedule. For now, let's take a look at the full Spring Training schedule, which was released last week. All times are Central.

• Sunday Feb. 27 VS Oakland 2:05
• Monday Feb. 28 VS Milwaukee 2:05
• Tuesday March 1 @San Francisco TBD
• Wednesday March 2 @Milwaukee 2:05
• Thursday March 3 VS Texas 2:05
• Friday March 4 @Kansas City 2:05
• Saturday March 5 VS San Diego 2:05
• Sunday March 6 (ss) @Cincinnati 2:05
• Sunday March 6 (ss) VS Dodgers 2:05
• Monday March 7 VS Angels 2:05
• Tuesday March 8 @Colorado 2:10
• Wednesday March 9 VS Kansas City 2:05
• Thursday March 10 VS Cleveland 2:05
• Friday March 11 @White Sox 2:05
• Saturday March 12 (ss) VS Cincinnati 2:05
• Saturday March 12 (ss) VS Cincinnati in Las Vegas 2:05
• Sunday March 13 (ss) VS Dodgers in Las Vegas 2:05
• Sunday March 13 (ss) @Arizona 3:10
• Monday March 14 @Seattle 3:05
• Tuesday March 15 (ss) @Oakland 3:05
• Tuesday March 15 (ss) VS Colorado 3:05
• Wednesday March 16 Off Day
• Thursday March 17 @Oakland 3:05
• Friday March 18 @Cincinnati 3:05
• Saturday March 19 @San Diego 3:05
• Sunday March 20 VS San Francisco 3:05
• Monday March 21 @Angels 3:05
• Tuesday March 22 @Dodgers 3:05
• Wednesday March 23 VS Oakland 3:05
• Thursday March 24 VS White Sox 3:05
• Friday March 25 VS Seattle 3:05
• Saturday March 26 @Texas 3:05
• Sunday March 27 VS Colorado 3:05
• Monday March 28 @Cleveland 3:05
• Tuesday March 29 VS Arizona 3:05
• Wednesday March 30 Team Camp Day, intersquad scrimmage

Last year, the Spring Training broadcast schedule did not come out until late January. For years the first game of the Cactus League has been broadcast on WGN Radio, but it would be a tight (although do-able) fit with the Blackhawks game starting at 6:00 that night.

Only 70 days until the first Spring Training game!

Welcome Back Kerry Wood

Paul Sullivan was on Chicago Tribune Live on Thursday after the signing was announced. Here is what he had to say.

• Wood could have gotten more money from the White Sox or Yankees, but he wanted to return to the Cubs.
• Sullivan didn't expect Kerry to be in the Cubs price range.
• The two sides got together at Ron Santo's funeral.
• Injuries are always a concern with him. He missed the first few weeks last season.
• Sullivan thinks we are starting to see baseball players consider factors besides money. One of his kids goes to school in Chicago, his wife has family here and they just wanted to make this their home.
• Playing for the Cubs always made Kerry happy. Paul wouldn't be surprised if he retires a Cub now.
• If Kerry has a good season, he could be a multi-year deal for next season.
• Zambrano's agent told Sully at the winter meetings that Z will not waive his no-trade clause.

The newest member of the Chicago Cubs joined David Kaplan and company on CTL on Friday:

• Wood called Chicago home. It is where the family belongs and where he wants to be.
• Kerry has been in the city for the last 13 years and it is a perfect fit for him.
• He pointed out that he went to the postseason four of his ten seasons on the North Side.
• Woody thinks when there are no expectations it makes it a little easier for the young guys to get the job done.
• He thinks that the team can sneak up and surprise some people.
• "Mike Quade's great. He's a great baseball guy and a great baseball man."
• Kerry believes that the Reds have talent, but they are beatable. The division is up for grabs.
• He spent some time on the phone with Kenny Williams talking about the possibility of going to the White. It just didn't seem like the right fit for him.

Here are the notes from the press conference to welcome Kerry back yesterday at Wrigley:

• "What a great day for the Chicago Cubs," Jim Hendry said.
• Jim and Kerry did not feel like it was right for them to end and part ways. The two men had not discussed this over the past few years.
• "God bless #10, who in his own way had something to do with this," Hendry said, referring to the fact that this agreement was first talked about at Ron Santo's funeral.
• Tom Ricketts has always expressed the fact that he wants to do what's best for Cubs players and ex-Cubs players. Kerry has made it no secret that he wants to be a Cub for life.
• Woody said that he has always wanted to spend the rest of end of his career with the Cubs. This situation "kind of popped up on him."
• Kerry reiterated that it has never been about the money for him. This is a perfect situation for his family. He feels like he belongs here for many years to come.
• Wood's body feels great and he has developed his cutter. He plans on helping the Cubs get the ball to Carlos Marmol.
• He doesn't think this would have come up if it weren't for Ron Santo's funeral.
• "I'm just going to do my thing. I'm going to just go out there and get outs and hope the guys (in the bullpen) can see the way I go about my business."
• Wood hasn't discussed how long he plans on pitching before he ends his career. He plans on being around whenever his career is over.

Todd Hollandsworth joined Rosenbloom & Grote to talk about Woody and more:

• The Cubs got a really good reliever for a really good price. Hollandsorth called this signing "a gift under the tree" for Jim Hendry.
• Todd doesn't know if Andrew Cashner is ready to be a starter just yet.
• For different players and different pitchers, the amount of time it takes to adjust and learn how to pitch in the bigs every fifth day. There is no doubt that he has the stuff to do it.
• Holly thinks that the 2011 ballclub will be a competitive team. They have a shot to compete in the NL Central.
• Rudy Jaramillo and Mark Riggins will play large roles on this ballclub.
• It is hard to gauge how this team will do, but the whole division is like that. Last year's Reds team had a lot of players that surprised people.
• Todd is a firm believer that anyone can be traded at any time. Carlos Zambrano is a key for next season, but whether or not the team should trade him depends on what it would be getting in return.
• Kerry is definitely viewed as a guy who is a leader. He may not be the one standing up having team meetings, but he could be "the voice of the bullpen."
• The Cubs are not just trying to bring in character guys. The pieces that they have brought in are good pieces. Carlos Pena has had a strong career outside of last season.
• Pena's contract is structured in a way that it is affordable. He got his contract for this year based on his career as a whole, not the 2010 season.
• Holly thinks Mike Quade will be a good manager for the Chicago Cubs. I believes that the key to this team is going to be the fact that there aren't high expectations.
• The way that this team may finally win it all when they start out slow, hang in the weeds, don't have a lot of expectations and then all the sudden get hot down the stretch.
• Todd "absolutely wants to be a candidate to sit next to Pat Hughes on the radio broadcasts. He has "thrown his hat into the arena" but knows that there is no replacing Ron Santo.
• Hollandsworth called Ronnie a guy "who was there for everyone". If we could all live the way Ronnie did, this would be a better world.

Welcome home #34!!! I'll keep you posted.

Cubs Name Minor League Coaches

The 2011 minor league coaching staffs for all the teams in the Cubs organization have been set. Here is the full list.


Coordinators
Field- Dave Bialas, returning for 10th year

Pitching- Former Smokies pitching coach, promoted to take over for Mike Mason

Hitting- Tom Beyers, former Smokies hitting coach, promoted to take over for Dave Keller, who joins Quade's staff

Infield- Franklin Font, entering his third season

Latin American Field Coordinator- Carmelo Martinez, 4th season

Catching- Marty Pevey, second season

Outfield/Base running- Lee Tinsley, first year. Tinsley spent five years in the big leagues and has been the first base coach for the Seattle Mariners for the past two seasons.

Strength/Conditioning- Doug Jarrow, set for his fourth year in his current position. He served in the same role for the Dodgers for five seasons before coming to the Cubs.

Athletic Training Coordinator- Justin Sharpe, returning for the seventh straight year

Rehab Coordinator- Chuck Baughman, sixth season in current position, 11th with the organization overall

Triple-A Iowa Cubs
Manager- Bill Dancy, will take of the I-Cubs after being named the 2010 Southern League Manager of the Year

Pitching Coach- Mike Mason, the ex-Cubs player is back for his fourth season

Hitting Coach- Von Joshua, has been in Iowa for the last six years besides a stint as the big league hitting coach during the 2009 season

Double-A Tennessee Smokies
Manager- Brian Harper, the Cubs welcome a new skipper to the organization. Harper led the Single-A San Jose Giants to the California League title this past season. He played in over 1,000 games as a big league catcher for seven different clubs.

Pitching Coach- Marty Mason, joins Harper's staff after spending 25 years in the Cardinals system. He was on the big league staff in St. Louis for 11 years.

Hitting Coach- Mariano Duncan, another newcomer, has spent five years as the Dodgers first base coach and 12 years as a big league infielder.

Class-A Advanced Daytona Cubs
Manager- Buddy Bailey returns for his third year. Buddy is has been a minor league skipper for 22 years, five in the organization.

Pitching Coach- Tom Pratt, also heading into his third year in Daytona.

Hitting Coach- Barbaro Garbey, has been promoted from Peoria to Daytona for the 2011 season.

Class-A Peoria Chiefs
Manager- Casey Kopitzke, set for his third year in the Chicago chain and his second in Peoria. Kopitzke was the manager of the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League last month.

Pitching Coach- Jeff Fassero, entering his second year in the organization and his first on the Chiefs staff. Fassero, a former big leaguer, was the pitching coach of the Boise Hawks this past season.

Hitting Coach- Ricardo Medina, has served on the staffs of several short season teams in the system over the past few years. Medina will begin his first year with a team that plays a "full season".

Class-A Short Season Boise Hawks
Manager- Mark Johnson, after a long playing career in baseball, Johnson hangs up the cleats and starts a coaching career. He has served as a player/coach at Iowa for a few years and will now be the manager of the Boise Hawks.

Pitching Coach- David Rosario, bumped down a notch after coaching at Peoria in 2010.

Hitting Coach- Desi Wilson, will begin his fourth season in the organization and his first with the Hawks.

Rookie Ball
Mesa Manager- Juan Cabrera
Mesa Pitching Coach- Rick Tronerud
Mesa Hitting Coach- Jason Dubois, begins his coaching career after a long playing career that included several stints in the Cubs organization and one on the big league roster
Mesa Assistant- Frank Castillo
DSL #1 Manager- Manuel Callado
DSL #1 Pitching Coach- Leo Hernandez
DSL #1 Hitting Coach- Alberto Garcia
DSL #2 Manager- Yudith Ozorio
DSL #2 Pitching Coach- Anderson Tavares
DSL #2 Hitting Coaches- Leo Perez and Franklin Blanco

That's it for now, but there are many more posts to come this weekend and throughout the next few weeks.

Breaking News: Kerry Wood Returns to the Cubs

Update 4:55 PM CT It's official. Right hander Kerry Wood has agreed to a 1 year, $1.5 million deal to come back to the Cubs. Chris De Luca's tweet was the first to announce the official word. More on Woody's return later!

There were rumors going around the web last night that Kerry Wood was close to signing with the White Sox, but those turned out to be false. Now, it looks like Woody is going have an encore stint with the Cubs!

David Kaplan was the first to report this story and it has since been confirmed by Carrie Muskat and Ken Rosenthal. It look like it will be a one-year deal. I will update this post as soon as more information becomes available.

Updated Cubs Roster Prediction

A few weeks ago, I posted my prediction as to who would make the Cubs roster if the season started that day. Similar to what I did last year, I plan to update my prediction as the Cubs make moves all offseason long. Here is the updated roster with the signing of Carlos Pena. Changes are in italics.

Starting Rotation
1. Ryan Dempster
2. Carlos Zambrano
3. Randy Wells
4. Carlos Silva
5. Tom Gorzelanny

Others in the Rotation Mix in Spring Training
Casey Coleman
Jeff Samardzija
Andrew Cashner

Bullpen
Closer- Carlos Marmol
LH Setup Man- Sean Marshall
RH Setup Man- Andrew Cashner
LH Middle Relief- John Grabow
RH Middle Relief- Jeff Samardzija
Long Relief- Casey Coleman
Long Relief-Justin Berg

Others in the Bullpen Mix in Spring Training
Chris Archer
Thomas Diamond
Scott Maine
John Gaub
Esmalin Caridad
Angel Guzman
Brian Schlitter

Starting Position Players
Catcher- Geovany Soto
1B- Carlos Pena
2B- Blake DeWitt
SS- Starlin Castro
3B- Aramis Ramirez
LF- Alfonso Soriano
CF- Marlon Byrd
RF- Tyler Colvin

Bench
Koyie Hill
Jeff Baker
Darwin Barney
Sam Fuld
Kosuke

Others in the Mix
Welington Castillo
Brandon Guyer
Robinson Chirinos
Scott Moore
Bryan LaHair (cut from bench)

Radio Recaps: Pena and Demp on Waddle & Silvy

The newest member of the Chicago Cubs, outfielder Carlos Pena, joined Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000 on Friday. Here are some of the points he hit on:

• Pena is really excited to being a Cub. As soon as he saw how things were looking, the Cubs were his preference.
• He didn't really consider going anywhere else. He just wanted to wear a Cub uniform.
• Chicago is Carlos' favorite city in the United States, so it was truly a no-brainer for him.
• Pena likes playing day games and he looks forward to them.
• He'll do whatever he has to in order to adjust to the new league and the new schedule.
• The one year deal was in the best interest of both the player and the team.
• Former Cubs that Pena has talk to tell him that it is very intense and the fans have incredible passion.
• When asked about his batting average from 2010, Pena said that he wants everyone to look at the average. Carlos doesn't want to waste his time making excuses. He is ready to put that year behind him and look forward.
• He is looking forward to working with Rudy Jaramillo.
• Pena has not talked to Matt Garza, but he thinks that Matt would be very valuable for this team. Garza has a high level of intensity and would be a great addition to the Cubs pitching staff.

Ryan Dempster joined the guys later in the Friday show:

• Dempster started off the interview by speaking highly about Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Ryan thinks that Matt Quade demands that same kind of accountability.
• He thinks people are going to be very surprised by how well Quade does as the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Last season was not a fluke.
• Demp has only heard great things about Carlos Pena. Carlos cares about every aspect of the game and makes the people around him better. He brings energy to the club and can hit the ball a long way.
• When Silverman tossed out Matt Garza's name, Ryan said that a team can never have enough pitching depth. "If it happens, it's a great thing," he said.
• Ryan talked about an event that took place on Saturday at a pizza place in Chicago in support of the Dempster family foundation.
• Demp said that he would never miss the chance to honor and remember somebody as great as Ron Santo. Ryan described him as "a great man in so many different ways."

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

Weekend Roundup: Looking for an Arm, Honoring a Legend, Making Some Cash & More

Pat Hughes Delivers
For any Cubs fan that missed it, Ron Santo's funeral is a must see. Bud Selig and Tom Ricketts both did a great job, but Pat Hughes delivered a fantastic eulogy that will never be forgotten. The full eulogy is available on Cubs.com, WGNRadio.com and CSNChicago.com. Ronnie was the greatest Cubs fan and I will never forget the impact he has made on my life.

Rule V Draft
The Cubs made a selection in the Rule Five Draft on Thursday, but then they immediately traded their pick to Texas. The team selected Mason Toban, a right handed pitcher in the Angels organization. They received cash in the deal and ended up making $50,000. The Cubs did not lose any players in the Major League portion, but two young pitchers were snatched away in the minor leauge portion. Ronny Morla was selected by the Mets and the Orioles picked Casey Lambert.

Cubs Connected to Garza and Webb
The Cubs are in search of an addition to their pitching staff, but their primary target is being debated by local media. Paul Sullivan reports that Brandon Webb is on the radar, but Matt Garza is not. Other outlets, such as Ed Price of AOL, think that Garza will be on the move, possibly to Chicago.

Wood on the Market
Dave Van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune joined David Kaplan on CTL Friday night. He spoke with Kerry Wood and was told that Woody wants to go somewhere where he can win a World Series. When Van Dyck asked the fire-baller about the Cubs, Wood just repeated that he wanted to go to a team that has a shot to win. Dave thinks that the White Sox would be a better fit for Wood than the Cubs at this point, but a return to the Yankees is a good possibility.