Headlines

  • Brewers To Promote Jacob Misiorowski
  • Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony
  • Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency
  • Marlins Place Ryan Weathers On 60-Day IL With Lat Strain
  • White Sox To Promote Grant Taylor
  • Mariners Designate Leody Taveras For Assignment, Outright Casey Lawrence
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Needs and Luxuries: Chicago Cubs

By Tim Dierkes | October 7, 2007 at 12:19am CDT

Next up in the series, the Cubs.  You can view all of the Needs and Luxuries posts here.  A note about this series: I’m choosing teams randomly, and only those not currently alive in the playoffs.

C – Geovany Soto
1B – Derrek Lee
2B – Mark DeRosa
SS – Ryan Theriot/Ronny Cedeno
3B – Aramis Ramirez
LF – Alfonso Soriano
CF – Felix Pie
RF – Jacque Jones/Matt Murton

SP – Carlos Zambrano
SP – Ted Lilly
SP – Rich Hill
SP – Jason Marquis
SP – Sean Marshall/Mark Prior

Setup: Carlos Marmol/Bob Howry
Closer: Ryan Dempster

Needs

The Cubs ranked 9th in the NL in OBP (.333) and 8th in SLG (.422).  As you would expect, that made for a middle of the pack offense. With most positions locked in, how can the Cubs fill the need for more offense?

One place to start is catcher, where a group of six guys posted an aggregate .239/.304/.369 line this year.  While it was his third season at Triple A, Soto hit a massive .353/.424/.652 in 110 games.  Some of that has to translate.

Another deficiency is shortstop, where fan favorite Ryan Theriot hit .266/.326/.346 in 537 ABs.  Let’s face it: the guy is a backup.  The free agent market for shortstops stinks.  That leaves Edgar Renteria, Miguel Tejada, and Alex Rodriguez as three possibly available players who would add 5+ wins for the Cubs.  Renteria would be a fine addition.  I imagine John Schuerholz would want more than Sean Marshall, but Rich Hill seems too much.  Perhaps the MacPhail connection in Baltimore will re-open the Tejada discussions this winter.

My solution: another try with Ronny Cedeno.  He’s now amassed about a full season’s worth of time at Triple A with an OPS well above .900.  ’06 was a learning experience for him, but he’s simply a better player than Theriot or any of the free agents.       

More offensive gain might come by moving Soriano down in the order and putting DeRosa or Murton in the leadoff spot.

It would be fair to suggest the Cubs need to remove Dempster from ninth inning duties.  Between Wood (likely to return), Marmol, Howry, and Wuertz, I think it’s an internal change.  Dempster could join the rotation or become trade bait.  Francisco Cordero is intriguing if new ownership has money to throw around.

Luxuries

The outfield situation can be sorted out without external additions.  Felix Pie is fresh off a .362/.410/.563 line in Triple A as a 22 year-old, and is a breakout candidate for ’08.  If he starts to get it, you shop Jones.  Otherwise, Jones and Murton work for me.

The rotation is pretty well set.  The front four combined for 133 starts, leaving one slot to play around with.  Marshall seems like one of the best fifth starters in the league (he could swap "slots" with Marquis next year).  For ’08 I would run with this group, while also tendering a contract to Mark Prior to add depth.  The Cubs can’t have him become their Chris Carpenter (as in, Toronto’s gaffe).

If the Cubs aren’t worried about Marquis’ post-ASB ERA of 5.73, perhaps they shop Marshall.  But as with most teams, it’s a stretch to call starting pitching a luxury.  I’d hold onto Sean Gallagher as well.  It’d be surprising to see the front four make 130 starts again next year.

Besides the aforementioned Dempster, I can see the Cubs shopping Eric Patterson.  There’s already a bad vibe as the Cubs sent him back to Iowa quickly after his September call-up as punishment for tardiness.  Patterson is a talented second baseman with some statistical similarities to Julio Lugo.  He could be part of a Tejada or Renteria deal, or perhaps used to add more starting pitching depth.

I realize my plan has unproven youngsters at three key up-the-middle positions.  So what?  I’ll take talent over experience any day.  It could make for a quiet offseason, though.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Needs and Luxuries

MLBTR Survey
Main
Should Mets Pursue Rowand, Eckstein?
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Brewers To Promote Jacob Misiorowski

    Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony

    Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency

    Marlins Place Ryan Weathers On 60-Day IL With Lat Strain

    White Sox To Promote Grant Taylor

    Mariners Designate Leody Taveras For Assignment, Outright Casey Lawrence

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

    Reds Sign Wade Miley, Place Hunter Greene On Injured List

    Padres Interested In Jarren Duran

    Royals Promote Jac Caglianone

    Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition

    Recent

    Brewers To Promote Jacob Misiorowski

    White Sox Designate Bryse Wilson For Assignment

    Nationals Claim Ryan Loutos

    Orioles Designate Emmanuel Rivera For Assignment, Option Heston Kjerstad

    MLBTR Chat Transcript

    Mariners Place Bryce Miller On Injured List

    Jed Hoyer: Cubs Planning To Look For Pitching At Deadline

    The Opener: Martinez, Montes De Oca, Stanton, Snell, Scherzer

    Dodgers To Recall Matt Sauer, DFA José Ureña

    Red Sox Promote Roman Anthony

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version