Monday Roundup: Sheets, Garland, Cotts, and More

Ben Sheets to the Cubs?
The big rumor going around the Cubs blogging world today is that rehabbing pitcher Ben Sheets could be on his way to the Windy City. All of the speculation started with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports predicting that Sheets will end up with the Cubs. Rosenthal says the former Brewers hurler makes sense for a high revenue club that can absorb the injury risk. Bruce Miles, of the Daily Herald, says not so fast. Miles points out that the Cubs are hoping to have enough money to sign a reliever and outfielder first. If been doesn't sign by around the time pitchers and catchers report, Bruce thinks the Cubs could offer some sort of deal with a low base pluse incentives.

Cotts Signs with Pirates
Speaking of rehabbing pitchers, the Cubs let Neal Cotts go when he was non-tendered last month. Today, the lefty signed a minor league deal with the Pirates. Cotts was shut down for the year last July when he underwent Tommy John surgery. Neal has spent his hole big league career in the city of Chicago, 4 years with the White Sox before his 3 years on the North Side. He went 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA last year in just 19 games, and had a 4.29 ERA in 50 games in '08.

How about Garland?
According to Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 the Cubs could have some interest in Jon Garland. Bruce feels that Garland still has a lot to offer and would be a fit for the Cubs. The former White Sox hurler went 11-13 in 2009 with a 4.01 ERA. Jim Hendry is looking to add to the bullpen via trades this offseason.

Muskat's Tidbits
Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports via her inbox that player like Tyler Colvin will "let the Cubs know when they are ready". Carrie thinks the fact that Carlos Silva is a sinker ball pitcher should help him at Wrigley Field. There have been 37 different Cub second baseman since Ryne Sandberg retired and 118 different third baseman since Ron Santo retired. Muskat expects the Cubs list of non-roster invitees for Spring Training to be released soon.

All Decade Cubs
As we enter the new decade, we continue forming the All-Decade Cubs from the last ten years. This week, be sure to vote on the Cubs starting pitcher of the decade on the right sidebar! Lots of choices, but please vote for only one. Feel free to comment on this post with your thoughts. Thanks so much to all of your who voted on our last poll.

Cubs Convention Updates
Check out today's Countdown to the Cubs Convention post. As expected, David Kaplan of WGN Radio will host his annual "Sports Central Live" on Friday, January 15 at the Cubs Convention.

Also, Cubs Spring Training Tickets go on sale tomorrow!

Hall of Fame Announcement
Wednesday at 12:30 on the MLB Network and live on MLB.com the MLB Hall of Fame Announcement will be made. Cubs legend Andre Dawson should finally get the call. Lee Smith is also up for the Hall. I'll have a number breakdown on "The Hawk" up sometime tomorrow.

I'll update this post if I hear anything else tonight!

Countdown to the Cubs Convention: 11 Days

Today we have part two of some Convention-related links.

On a freezing cold first Monday of 2010, it's nice to think they'll be talkin' Cubs baseball at the Chicago Hilton and Towers next week!

Picture of former Cub broadcaster Cory Provus asking a question at one of the 2009 WGN Radio Cubs Convention sessions.

• BCB's first fanpost about the 2010 Convention.
• Video of part of the 2009 Clubhouse Entertainers session
• Highlights of '08 Convention to music
• 2008 Cubs Convention Opening Ceremonies video
• Video from last years' game day experience session (this is the session where I got the photo of Provus above)

That's it for now, more links later in the week. The Countdown will continue tomorrow!

More posts to come...

Marlon Byrd on Talkin' Baseball

The newest Chicago Cub joined Bruce Levine and Jonathan Hood on Saturday:

• The number one reason he wanted to come the Cubs is the history involved with our organization.
• The second reason for choosing the Cubs that Byrd mentioned was Rudy Jaramillo, who he thinks is one of the best hitting coaches in baseball.
• Being able to go to a place where he can play center field everyday on a team that has a chance to win also attracted Marlon.
• He credits Jaramillo for getting his career back on track.
• Byrd continues to learn more from Rudy every year.
• Three guys that he really knows personally are Geovany Soto, Derrek Lee, and Alfonso Soriano. He played with Soriano in Washington and knows Soto from their Pacific Coast League days.
• Rudy really simplifies hitting into 5 steps: rhythm, timings, hitting the ball square, seeing the ball, and hitting the ball.
• He knows that the Chicago Cubs are expected to win every year. He expects Chicago to be like his time with the Phillies.
• Byrd has a relationship with Milton Bradley that goes beyond baseball. Their families are very close.
• Most people only know the baseball side of Milton, but Marlon knows every side of him.
• Bradley told Byrd, "Do what I couldn't do in Chicago."
• Knowing where you are going to hit in the lineup and play in the field everyday helps Marlon get in a rhythm and perform better.
• Byrd thinks playing a lot of day games will be easier for him that playing a lot of night games.

The Cubs' hitting coach thinks Byrd will be a perfect No. 5 hitter in the order.

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

Countdown to the Cubs Convention: 12 Days

Each of the next few days, as we move closer to Cubs Convention 2010, we'll be taking a look at some links from Conventions past. If you're looking to get some info on the Cubs Convention, these links should be helpful!

Photo via Google Images

• Cubs.net has some a great "Meet the Cubs" page that they update each year with info on the Convention and Caravan. You can do lots of reading there for info on the 2006-2009 Conventions.
• Cubsconvention.com updates every year with the list of attendees and schedule of events.
• Cubs.com's Cubs Convention page
• My post previewing the Convention last year be sure to check out the audio links.
• Chicago Cubs Online's Community Blog post about the Convention. As Neil notes in the comments, Ryan Theriot will be there for sure (he told David Kaplan on Sports Central).

I'll have 5 more links tomorrow. Look for a Cubs Convention history post also later in the week. If there's any news concerning the 2010 Convention, I'll post that as well.

More posts to come...

More Byrd Reaction

Here the latest after the Cubs signing Marlon Byrd to a 3 year $15 million deal yesterday:

• Marlon Byrd has a good relationship with former Cub Milton Bradley calling him "a great guy".
• Byrd told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Chicago was a place he really wanted to go.
• According to Phil Rogers, Byrd is a fit with the Cubs, but he does make a right handed lineup even more right handed.
• The Chicago Tribune's poll tells us that 60% of voters are happy with the this signing.
• Carrie Muskat reports that Byrd's decision to sign with the Cubs was influenced by the fact that his hitting coach with Texas Rudy Jaramillo is now in Chicago.
• Keith Law of ESPN.com doesn't like the Byrd signing, saying that it was the latest in the series of outfield mistakes for Jim Hendry.
• Dave Cameron described Marlon as an average player.

Steve Stone joined Kaplan, Van Dyck, & Rogers to talk about the move yesterday on Chicago Tribune Live:

• Stone thinks he's a very solid center fielder.
• Byrd had a pretty good year last year offensively with Texas.
• Steve doesn't think he will bring speed or power, but he is a good guy and a solid player.
• The only problem with Marlon is that he is another right handed bat in a lineup loaded with right handed bats.
• If your team's real good, you can still win with only one left handed bat in the lineup (Kosuke).
• The Cubs "are in pretty good shape" to compete in the NL Central next year.
• If Matt Holiday stays in St. Louis, they could give the Cubs a problem next year.
• The money is not there for the Cubs to go out and get that left handed difference maker.

Next up, Cubs GM Jim Hendry joined the guys on CTL:

• Hendry said Marlon is a great teammate and a terrific guy in the clubhouse.
• Rudy has talked to Lou, Randy, and Jim since the first day Jaramillo was signed to try to get them to go after Byrd.
• Jim will leave it up to Lou where to bat Byrd in the lineup.
• There wasn't really a "big bat" center fielder available. The Cubs expect Marlon's numbers to be consistent.
• Lou is very happy that the Cubs got Byrd.
• The Cubs may still be a different club when they get to camp than they are today.
• Brett Jackson is a "fast track" guy and the Cubs are confident he is going to get to the big leagues.
• The Cubs brought Ty Colvin up sooner than they planned due to the injuries. James Adducci has a chance to be a good player as well.
• Jim says the Cubs have good outfielder coming, but they are not worried about 3 years down the road yet.
• Now that the center field thing is taken care of the Cubs will regroup.
• The Cubs would certainly like to add a bullpen arm.
• There are still a lot of good players out there, and Jim thinks they will still be there in a couple weeks.
• Hendry is still looking at someone who can hit off the bench and maybe help in the outfield against left handed pitching.
• The Cubs feel they got their defense a lot better by moving Kosuke to right field and plugging Byrd into center.

Dave Van Dyck pointed out that the Cubs have tried 6 different guys to replace Sammy Sosa in the outfielder since Slammin' Sammy left after the 2004 season. He listed Jeremy Burnitz, Jacque Jones, Cliff Floyd, Kosuke, Milton Bradley, and Marlon Byrd. Rogers wonders what the Cubs have gotten out of the system with Byrd in center, Soriano in left, and Kosuke in right.

Paul Sullivan was on 670 the Score with Hub Arkush and Barry Rozner:

• Sully doesn't see this as a bad deal at all.
• It's hard to imagine the Cubs going in to the season with all these right handed bats in the lineup.
• Paul, Hub, and Barry made fun of the fact that Byrd said Chicago was where he wanted to go all along.
• Byrd does hit right handed pitching well.
• We've seen the Texas thing "too many times".
• Barry is a little nervous that Byrd was released by Washington before coming to Texas. He is unsure if Marlon can hit outside of Texas.
• Sullivan hopes that Byrd will turn out kind of like bringing DeRosa in from the Rangers.
• If Lou is going to keep Soriano 6th, Byrd could hit 5th.
• Right now, Theriot would be the lead off guy according to Paul, followed in the lineup by Fukudome, Lee, and Ramirez. So 5th or 6th is the "likely spot" for Marlon.
• The Cubs have a place down in the Dominican where Aramis and Alfonso are already working out.
• Surgery was not necessary for Aramis Ramirez.
• The Cubs do keep track of there players workouts by sending guys around to world in the offseason.
• Barry is surprised the Aramis didn't have surgery. Sully says Ramirez didn't want to get the surgery, he just wanted to rehab his arm. Rozner "guarantees" that the shoulder will dislocated again since it was not surgically repaired.
• Sullivan called the Marlon Byrd signing an OK move. He thinks Mike Cameron would have been a better fit.

Other Cub notes:

• Jim Hendry fully expects Carlos Zambrano to return next season.
• Carrie Muskat says "Will new ownership make a difference" is the number 1 question going into 2010.
• Carrie lists her favorite 10 Cub games of the decade.
• She posted on her blog that she sees the Opening Day lineup looking like this: Fukudome, Theriot, Lee, Ramirez, Byrd, Soriano, Soto, Fontenot. It's interested how Stone, Sullivan, and Muskat all think Byrd will be hitting fifth, I expected him lower in the order.
• Bruce Levine says Marlon will hit between 5th and 7th.
• The Chicago Tribune took a look at the best Chicago games of the decade.

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

Countdown to the Cubs Convention: 14 Days

Two weeks from today is the Cubs Convention 2010!

Today we simply take a look back at all of our countdown posts thus far!

Photo via Google Images
Check out all of our posts counting down the Cubs Convention so far!:

• 19 days (intro to countdown)
• 18 days (links to my posts from last year's convention)
• 17 days (2009 list of attendees)
• 16 days (2009 schedule of events)
• 15 days (autographs and photographs at '09 convention)

Over the next week or so, I'll be linking you up to some great coverage of convention's past!

Check out my happy new year posts if you haven't yet. More posts to come on this first day of 2010.

Happy New Year Cubs Fans!!!

Happy New Year!! Welcome to a new year, and a new decade. Hopefully 2010... or at least some time in this decade... will be the year for the Chicago Cubs.

Let's take a look at the Cubs records year-by-year this decade:
2000: 65-97
2001: 88-74
2002: 67-95
2003: 88-74
2004: 89-73
2005: 79-83
2006: 66-96
2007: 85-77
2008:97-64
2009: 83-78
All Decade Record: 807-811

Years Cubs over .500: 6
Years Cubs Under .500: 4

NL Central All Decade Standings
1. Cardinals: 913-706
2. Astros: 832-784
3. Cubs: 807-811
4. Reds: 751-869
5. Brewers: 741-878
6. Pirates: 681-841

Amount of Times the Cubs finished in each place:
1st: 3 times ('03, '07, '08)
2nd: 1 time ('09)
3rd: 2 times ('01, '04)
4th: 1 time ('05)
5th: 1 Time ('02)
6th: 2 times ('00, '06)

Amount of First Place Finishes- NL Central:
1. Cardinals- 6
2. Cubs- 3
3. Astros- 1

Seasons that the Cubs finished with a better record than the White Sox: 6
Seasons that the Sox finished with a better record than the Cubs: 4

So with that last little stat to make you smile, go party, and go Cubs!