I was trying to get my prospect list-mania article up and then Firefox ate half my work. I'll save it for a future date. In the meantime, now that the A's have signed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a 4/$36M deal, I'm comfortable calling him totally overrated. Jorge Soler is the real prize of the Cuban "draft class" and the guy the Cubs should be pursuing. I&...

As I've mentioned in the comments, a new site design is on its way in the near(ish) future. Ideally before Opening Day arrives so I can work out the bugs before the games start. It will hopefully be easier to navigate and more importantly to me, easier to maintain as I'm finding the time that I can spend on the site dwindling year by year. Since absolutely nothing remotely interesting...

These few weeks before spring training starts is about as dull as it gets around these parts. We're all still waiting on Cespedes, but with Jedstein and their cone of silence, it's not like we can expect many leaks. There's also the case of the musical 40-man roster chairs with the Cubs having to drop someone once they add Gerardo Concepcion. Vegas money should be on...

The Cubs claimed infielder Adrian Cardenas off waivers today from the Oakland A's, where he was outrighted to make room for Johnny Gomes. To make room on the 40-man, the Cubs DFA'd Blake DeWitt. Before we get to Cardenas, if I'm reading this correctly, the Cubs most likely cost themselves up to $1.1M? I believe they're on the hook for DeWitt's salary, when they...

The Cubs did sign an acclaimed player out of Cuba, but it's not Yoenis Cespedes or Jorge Soler. Rather 18-year old LHP Gerardo Concepcion. A player Kevin Goldstein called polished for his age, but with the ceiling of a #4/#5 starter and whom Goldstein would put at #6 on his Top 11 Cubs prospect list. Standing at 6'2", he throws in the upper 80's to 90mph with a...

So John Lannan lost his arbitration case to the Nationals and wil be paid $5M for next seasons (as opposed to $5.7M he was asking). Now that the money is settled, the Nats are trying to move Lannan for a position player, preferably a center fielder, so that they can sign Edwin Jackson instead. I'm not quite sure why they want to make that swap, but that seems to be the goal for...

Edgar Gonzalez, Matt Tolbert, and Trever Miller all in the same day? Yeah, it's just the beginning of price-paying for you and me as our favorite team attempts to claw out of their 104 year old hole. Seriously though, everything's gonna work out just fine, right? Just a little angst now and then. I'll deal with it by drawing.

The Cubs inked soon-to-be 39 year old Trever Miler to a minor league deal. He'll earn 800K if he makes the team. He'll get a non-roster invite to spring training and I'm sure we'll get the full list of those invitees by the end of the week. It being a minor league deal, hard to get to worked up over it, but Miller has done absolutely nothing other than see his K rate get cut in half...

I'm using the MLB depth charts, the Bill James projections for wOBA on Fangraphs and their 2012 playing age along with a few assumptions like Dusty isn't going to play Devin Mesoraco or Chris Heisey over veterans. Let's see how the NL Central offenses stack up. Obviously the actual order of lineups and players may vary, and there's no accounting for expected playing time due to injuries...

You guys heard about this superstar Cuban outfielder guy, right? Yoenis Cespedas? And I'm sure you read that the Cubs are Yoenis Cespedas' leading suitor. Anyway, the other day I was driving around listening to The Score, and heard about this legendary Cespedas video. Dan Bernstein was saying that it apparently showed what an amazing, freak athlete this Cespedas guy is - that he...

Just click the link. Trust me. Then go here and do something about it.

...a whole lot of nothing. - An article in a Dominican paper says the Cubs (so far) have been the most aggressive at pursuing Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. - No real news out of the Cubs convention beyond the Kerry Wood signing ($3M with a $3M option for 2013) and the new patio deck in right field with the LED scoreboard. - "One change the Cubs have already made was tweaking...

After Kaplan claimed Kerry Wood was close to moving on, he then took credit that his story spurred the Cubs to up their offer for Kerry and that he should be signing with the Cubs soon. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports broke the news saying it's likely to be a one-year deal with some sort of 2013 option. - Theo downplayed talks regarding Matt Garza, claiming more has been reported in...

The Cubs have signed Paul Maholm to a one year deal for $4.25M with a $500K buyout on a 2013 option worth $6.25M. Pretty cheap for a guy that for his career has been about league average with a career 96 ERA+ (94, 87, 114, 94, 79, 105 counting up from 2006). His walks are a little high for a contact pitcher (3.0 BB/9) and he doesn't strike out too many (5.4 K/9) but keeps the ball...

"Small Hall" ballot: Barry Larkin, Rock Raines "There Are Worse Players in" Ballot: Barry Larkin, Rock Raines, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Edgar Martinez. "Let the Roiders In" Ballot: add Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell, Juan Gonzalez, subtract Edgar Martinez. I'm a bit buzzed writing this, so I'm sure I'm missing some names. I've flipped a bit...

"Small Hall" ballot: Barry Larkin, Rock Raines "There Are Worse Players in" Ballot: Barry Larkin, Rock Raines, Alan Trammell, Lee Smith, Larry Walker, Fred McGriff, Edgar Martinez. "Let the Roiders In" Ballot: add Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jeff Bagwell, Juan Gonzalez, subtract Edgar Martinez. I'm a bit buzzed writing this, so I'm sure I'm missing some names. I've flipped a bit...

So the Cubs traded flamethrowing Andrew Cashner for a real first base prospect, Anthony Rizzo of the Padres Sure, young Andrew has tremendous potential. Last year, he was one third of the whole reason we were supposed to be excited about the Cubs. The other two thirds... well one got traded and the other accused of sexual assault (but that's another story or a hundred, just wait...

Cubs have traded RHP Andrew Cashner and OF Kyung-Min Na to the San Diego Padres for 1B Anthony Rizzo and RHP Zach Cates. That should deflect from the Castro sexual allegations rumors just fine...the PR department will be thrilled. As for the baseball move, generally a good idea to trade a young pitcher for a young position player and even better if you think that young pitcher won...

(thanks to aaronb for the headline, now enough with the jokes) The Cubs shortstop phenom Starlin Castro has been accused of sexual assaulting a woman last fall. The event occurred on September 29th, right after the Cubs season ended and Castro flew back to the Dominican Republic. She claims that she was drinking with friends at a River North nightclub on the night of Sept...

My acquaintance with Carlos Zambrano goes back to his teenage days when he would sit near our seats behind the plate charting pitches between starts for the I-Cubs. He wore stiff new jeans and his hair was oiled to a sheen. Over the years he exhibited an almost womanly fussiness about his hairstyle, as unsure apparently about that particular aspect of himself as he was about the...

Well the big bad Zambrano has finally been traded away from the Cubs. Paul Sullivan and far too many Cubs fans may bust a hip at the grave dancing party. While I understand the move from the Cubs perspective, it's unfortunate that a player with such a great Cubs career had to end his Cubbie days like this. He may have been off his mental rocker, but he was damn good on the pitching...

Pending physicals and the commish offices approval, the Cubs will send Carlos Zambrano and $15M to the Marlins for RHP Chris Volstad. More to come later tonight when I get a moment.

Read it and weep... RF DeJesus SS Castro LF Soriano 1B LaHair C Soto 3B Stewart CF Byrd 2B Barney SP: Dempster, Garza, Zambrano, Wells, T. Wood RP: Marmol, Cashner, Russell, Samardzija, Corpas, L. Castillo, Coleman Bench: Campana, R. Johnson, W. Castillo, Baker, DeWitt Obviously your bullpen and bench results may vary.

Technically it's a new year I guess, but Angelo's firing culminated in the failure of 2011. A lot of you already mentioned the Bears hiring Bill Polian whom Lovie Smith I believe is familiar with. As for the Cubs, all quiet on the western front. Garza rumors swirl, but my guess is Theo is running into the same issues that Kenny Williams ran into trying to move John Danks. The return...

I can't find the original "reports" this tweet is referencing, but some talk of trade talks involving Matt Garza and Marlon Byrd with Jacoby Ellsbury coming over to the Cubs (and I presume other pieces would be involved). The other teams mentioned in Garza talks include the Blue Jays with names like Deck McGuire, Kyle Drabek, Anthony Gose and Jake Marisnick being thrown out there...