Written By: Sarah Spain for Mouthpiece Sports
Last season the Chicago Cubs won 97 games and claimed their second straight National League Central Division crown. One would expect to see a slightly tweaked but mostly intact 2008 Cubs team report for Spring Training in 2009. One would be wrong. This offseason the Cubs added three pitchers, two outfielders, an infielder and a catcher.
Lou Piniella has a chance to be the first manager since 1908 to lead a Cubs team to the postseason three years in a row and this 2009 Cubs squad is truly Sweet Lou’s team. Just seven players from Opening Day of 2007, Piniella’s first year with the team, will report to camp in Mesa. Only time will tell if the moves made by the skipper during his three-year tenure will result in the team’s first World Series win in over a century.
After leading the MLB all season long in 2008, the Cubs choked in the postseason, getting bumped in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. Fans were left wondering how they can possibly believe in a World Series run in ’09 when a team that seemed so indestructible last year fell so flat when it counted.
Perhaps a century’s worth of pressure got to the guys. The storybook tale of the Cubs winning it all exactly one hundred years later might have been a little too perfect. Or maybe the old Lovable Losers moniker rang too true. Maybe the guys were a little too nice. Not tough enough. Not gamers.
Friday marks the start of another year of wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’. There will be all sorts of new faces at Spring Training this year, so here’s a quick primer on the new guys Cubs fans will be pinning their World Series hopes on:
The New Guys:
Milton Bradley: The Cubs’ biggest offseason catch was the switch-hitting, headline-making, fan-taunting Bradley. He finished last year third in the American League with a .321 batting average and led the league with a Texas Rangers club record .436 on-base percentage. His .999 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) was tops in the American League and fourth overall in the majors, but the oft-injured star appeared in just 126 games and has been held to less than 100 games in four of the last seven seasons. The controversial Bradley says he’s ready to put his troubled past behind him and start fresh in Chicago. His success will be a huge factor in deciding the Cubs’ fate this season.
Aaron Miles: Miles wasn’t exactly brought in to replace fan favorite and all-around player Mark DeRosa, but acquiring him allowed the Cubs to trade DeRosa to free up payroll. Miles will likely share time at second base with Mike Fontenot and spell Ryan Theriot at shortstop. The switch-hitter batted .317 with a .355 OBP last year.
Kevin Gregg; The Cubs waved goodbye to Kerry Wood and said hello to Gregg, a righty recently of the Florida Marlins. Gregg compiled 61 saves in his last two seasons and held hitters to a .203 average last year. Gregg was brought in to compete with Carlos Marmol for the closer role, but I believe he’s more likely to end up being Marmol's setup man.
Aaron Heilman: The right-handed Heilman has spent his entire career with the New York Mets. He never once pitched more than three innings last season and hasn’t started a game since 2005, and yet Heilman hopes to compete with Jeff Samardzija and Sean Marshall for the fifth spot in the rotation. Stranger things have happened, but I think he'll end up being a bullpen guy instead.
Luis Vizcaino: Vizcaino will be yet another new guy vying for a spot in the bullpen. After a poor season with the Rockies last year, it’s hard to know what to expect from the righty. If he can get his ERA back down, he could be a solid
Joey Gathright: Gathright can play any outfield position but he specializes in center field. The Cubs have an abundance of outfielders so he’ll likely be used primarily as a pinch-runner. He's fast--he had a career-high 21 stolen bases in ’08--and has the hops to jump over cars. Seriously.
Paul Bako: The Cubs let go of Henry Blanco and will look to a familiar face to back up starting catcher Geovany Soto. Bako, who was with Chicago from 2003-2004, set career highs in RBI, homers and runs last year, his 11th season in the majors. I understand that Piniella wanted a lefty to backup Soto, but I’ll miss Hank White and the flame tattoos running up and down his arms.
Are those seven guys the missing pieces to the puzzle? Is it possible that with a new owner and a host of new players the Chcago Cubs can do the unthinkable? Could this be the year?
I wouldn’t be a real Cubs fan if I didn’t believe.
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