Cubs rebuilding plan… now active

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Rick Linares

Chicago CubsLate last night the Cubs and Anthony Rizzo agreed to a 7-year 41 million dollar contract. If you didn’t know (unless you live under a rock) the Cubs are not that good. That has led to the rebuilding plan. Keeping Rizzo at least until 2019 is a great front office move. Lets just say that the Cubs got a great deal. Rizzo has made a great journey since first being brought to the Big leagues. In San Diego where he was playing, his debut was Anthony but pretty.

So the Cubs traded Andrew Cashner for Rizzo, because Cubs GM Jed Hoyer was last recently with the Cubs.

At 5.8 million a year the Cubs can now afford the top free agents. Rizzo’s WAR so far is at 1.2 and I expect him to end the year in the 2.0 – 2.5 range. Just recently the Cubs locked up all-star short stop Starlin Castro. His deal was a 7-year 60 million dollar contract.

With Rizzo being a 3 or 4 hitter the Cubs saved some big money on a young productive player. The Cubs list of players still to sign is a hefty list. Those that apply to this list are Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Jorge Soler, and Dan Vogelbach. These players are just a few years away from their chance at a long-term deal with Chicago. The Cubs record says they are a bad team. Not the case, actually they are a fairly decent team with young players. The Cubs pitching has been lights out all year, ranking #2 in team ERA as of Saturday. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cubs, Rick Linares | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

To Hell and Back

Posted on May 15, 2013 by James F. Belluscio

OriolesLets take a step back to the year 2005 for a moment.  The American League all-star game had two Orioles sitting in the middle of the infield.  Miguel Tejada was at shortstop and Brian Roberts at second.  Roberts was known to be in the top of the league at second base, and was one of the few bright spots to the O’s.  He batted .300 every year and led the league in extra-base hits.

He led the team in stolen bases and was the definition of a lead off hitter.

For a baseball player Roberts was on top of the world.  Yet, it did last long… B-ROB’s name was on the “Mitchell Report” and that changed everything.  The Mitchell Report was a document that showed all the players that took steroids or banned substances.  He admitted to using banned substances to get over injury and has been proven to be clean since.  This all affected the captain’s psychology greatly and since, Roberts was not the same. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, James F. Belluscio, Orioles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hyun-Jin Ryu Makes a Fans Year

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Joseph Garcia

RyuEvery kid that loves baseball loves to play catch. Every kid that has played catch at one time or another has dreamed of playing catch with a MLB player. Well Monday night Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu made that dream come true for a little boy we”ll call Deuce for all intents and purposes. Before the Dodgers Monday night game against the Nationals, Ryu and Deuce played catch.

The look on the face of Deuce is one of excitement and pure joy, and why not it’s not everyday you get to throw the ball around with a Major League baseball player.

Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Dodgers, Joseph Garcia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Rays Beat Red Sox Behind Five-Run Inning

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Curtis Roberts

Image by Melissa FryeThe Tampa Bay Rays began Tuesday night’s contest with the Boston Red Sox riding a five-game winning streak and despite allowing a three-run homerun to David Ortiz in the first inning Rays’ starter Matt Moore earned his league-leading seventh victory of the season.

Moore faced Red Sox starter John Lackey in the opening game of the series and after giving up the early moonshot to Ortiz the Rays southpaw was able to settle down.

Lackey retired the Rays first seven hitters but in the third inning faced some trouble after Jose Molina singled and Yunel Escobar doubled. On a 3-1 count Desmond Jennings lined the pitch from Lackey right into Will Middlebrooks’ glove at third base and Ben Zobrist grounded out to end the threat in the third.

The fourth inning was where the Rays did all of their damage. Evan Longoria singled to begin the inning and James Loney followed Longoria with a single of his own and advanced Longo to third.  Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Curtis J Roberts, Rays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Cubs / Anthony Rizzo Deal Is a Team Builder

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Raymond Bureau

Anthony Rizzo wikipedia.orgWe Chicago Cubs fans got one of the best pieces of news that we could possibly get all season. MLB.com’s Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat reported that the Cubs have signed slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo to a seven-year, $41 million contract, ensuring that Rizzo plays in Wrigley Field until at least 2019. With incentives, Rizzo could actually make $73 million.

Team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer are doing exactly what they promised to do: build a winning team. Last year, they extended shortstop Starlin Castro’s contract for seven years.

This past offseason, they signed experienced veteran pitcher Edwin Jackson.

They still have control over second baseman Darwin Barney until 2017 and will likely get him an extended contract before too long. Now, with the Rizzo extension, the Cubs have their core nearly set. Now, it is time to work on the rest of the team.

The Anthony Rizzo extension is a definite team builder. It shows a commitment to keeping the best player in the best place for him. There a few things to remember about Rizzo. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cubs, MLB, Raymond Bureau | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Cubs Sign Rizzo to 7 Year Deal

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Joseph Garcia

CubsAccording to Ken Rosenthal,  the Chicago Cubs and Anthony Rizzo have agreed in principle to a 7 year, $41 million dollar contract that will keep the young first baseman with the Cubs through 2019. Rosenthal also added that,”The deal also includes two club options that could extend the deal through 2021 and bring the total value to $70 million, and escalators that could further increase it to $73 million.” The deal also means that the Cubs and Rizzo, who’s a little over a year in MLB service time, will bypass all four of his arbitration years and his free agent year.

The 23-year-old left-handed hitting Rizzo, who’s hitting .288/.361/.554 with 9 homeruns this season,  was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2007 amateur draft.

in 2010 the Red Sox traded Rizzo, along with three others, to the San Diego Padres  in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez and made his MLB debut with the Padres the following year. In the 2012 off-season Rizzo was once again traded, this time to the Cubs, for Andrew Cashner. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Cubs, Joseph Garcia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

San Francisco Giants Sweep Weekend Series behind the Big Three

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Mark Reynolds

GiantsThe San Francisco Giants pounded the Atlanta Braves three straight times this weekend after dropping the first game of the four-game set last Thursday. The Giants got stellar pitching performances from ace Matt Cain, burgeoning ace Madison Bumgarner and former two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. That’s exactly how Giants general manager Brian Sabean drew it up when he constructed this team.

The Giants won the World Series with elite pitching and a mediocre offense in 2010.

Last year, the offense was actually better than the pitching when adjusting for the pitcher-friendly confines of AT&T Park. So far this season, the offense is once again out-pacing the pitching staff and the defense. Yet if they’re to win a third championship in four seasons to cement their status as a dynasty, the Giants will need the type of starting pitching they received from Cain, Bumgarner and Lincecum this weekend. Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Game, Giants, Mark Reynolds | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off