Valentines Day Cubs Roundup

Happy Valentine's Day Cubs' fans!

This is the final weekend without baseball. We can now say these words, "Pitchers and catcher report this week."

Updates from Mesa from Boys of Spring

• On Friday, the Cubs equipment truck arrived in Arizona.
• Jeff Samardzija has been added to the list of Cubs to report early to camp and has done a little long toss.
• Tyler Colvin has gained 25 pounds of weight and muscle. He worked out with Tim Buss all winter.
• Spring Training invite Bryan LaHair has reported and is hitting some bombs in BP.

Also, Gordon Wittenmyer has written up a nice preview of the season. Click to check it out.

Jim Hendry on The Score

The Cubs GM joined Mully and Hanley on 670 the score on Friday to chat about the upcoming Spring Training camp! Here's the full recap:

• Hendy is very excited for the start of the 2010 season. He saw a lot of the players this winter, and he thinks they have an "edge" to him.
• The addition of Rudy Jaramillo was an important move for the Cubs this offseason. He has coached some of the Cubs before, and everyone in the game speaks very highly of him.
• The Ricketts family are very caring people about the franchise. They want to run a first class organization from top to bottom.
• Hendy feels really good about the franchise. They took on a lot of money after the 2006 season, but they were rewarded by becoming a good ballclub.
• Jim feels that he will have the money to do what he wants to do in July.
• Ted Lilly only got very minor cleanup work. He's on a good throwing program and has had no set backs.
• Ted may not be behind at all, or he may sit out only a few weeks. You can get by with four starters for the first few weeks of the season.
• The Cubs are going into camp with a race for the 5th spot in the rotation. Sean Marshall deserves and chance, the Cubs are high on Samardzija, they are hoping to get Silva on track, and they added Gorzelanny last July.
• Arbitration is a very complicated process. They are not anticipating having any problems with Theriot after the hearing.
• Hendy said that at the time Milton Bradley looked to be a perfect fit, but it was not meant to be. They new they were going to try to move him early this winter. They were working on some 3 way deals and at one point even a four way deal, but they ran out of options and took the Seattle deal. They liked Carlos in the past, and sometimes people just need a change of scenery.
• The Cubs feel like Carlos Marmol has earned the right to have the chance to be the closer. He likes the action, and overall his numbers are off the charts. "It's his time."
• Jim is not worried about Lou. Hendry thinks he still has a lot left in the tank and a lot of passion left.
• It was Hendry's decision to bring Greg Maddux back. The Ricketts are very supportive, but Jim and his staff make all the baseball decisions.
• All of the Cub hitters that took a step backwards last year are expected to get back on track under Rudy this season.
• Starlin Castro is an impressive kid, but "we'll just kind of see how that goes". "He'll tell us when he's ready," the Cub GM said.

My Ten Questions to Watch this Spring

1. How much of an affect can a hitting coach really have?

2. Is Carlos Marmol ready to close?

3. Can Cub hitters coming off down years bounce back?

4. Will the Cubs stay healthy?

5. Will Castro be given a fair shot to make the Opening Day roster?

6. How will the new Cubs perform?

7. Can Randy Wells repeat what he did last season?

8. What will Jeff Samardzija bring to the table?

9. How will Ryan Theriot's arbitration affect his play?

10. Is the bullpen deep enough? Will the Cubs' add to it?

Yesterday, we took a lot at non roster pitcher with Spring Training invites. This week, we continue our breakdown of the guys that will be in camp.