Thread: 2010 Chicago Cubs

The only way is up now!!!

Byrd is the word. Cubs signed 3 year deal worth 15 million for the centerfielder from Texas.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-01-rogers-cubs-marlon-byrdjan01,0,7124148.column

Center fielder fits Chicago Cubs well

Lacking a more creative solution, the Cubs signed off on a decision that had seemed semi-inevitable -- if not a downright default action -- for weeks. Jim Hendry locked up another member of the Rudy Jaramillo Hitting School, Marlon Byrd, to be his center fielder for the foreseeable future.

Hendry gnashed some teeth along the way. But after failing to land Curtis Granderson from the Tigers or Melky Cabrera from the Yankees, and unwilling to wait to see if the Red Sox were crazy enough to make Jacoby Ellsbury available, he signed Byrd on Thursday to a three-year, $15 million deal. He would have signed him for one or two years, but the Levinson brothers got three out of Hendry -- just as the agents did for Milton Bradley last winter -- and the more I think about it, why not?

Byrd, 32, won't make anybody forget what the Cubs could have had if they had found a way to meet the Tigers' demands for Granderson. But he plays a decent center field -- which allows Kosuke Fukudome to move back to his better position, right field -- and has been a plus-.800 OPS hitter three years in a row. The Cubs will appreciate having him if Jaramillo can help those numbers make the move from hitter-friendly Texas to Wrigley Field, where conditions fluctuate wildly.

Byrd does make a right-handed-hitting lineup lean more to the right, especially with Jeff Baker, another right-handed hitter, as the best option at second base. But that means nothing. Lou Piniella overreacted badly by blaming the first-round playoff losses to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks on a lack of balance in the lineup.

Their RBI guys -- Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto -- hit as well against right-handed pitchers as left-handers. That's also the case for Byrd -- in 2009, he was .300 against righties, .244 against lefties.

When you think about it, Byrd fits the 2010 Cubs. He's a stop-gap center fielder on a stop-gap team. The payroll has been bursting at its seams for two years because this is a team built to win now. Hendry's hands largely are tied in terms of major acquisitions because of his long-term commitments in Piniella's first two years.

Even with Lee and Ted Lilly as free agents after 2010, the 2011 obligations have crept beyond $100 million, and that doesn't count a group of nine potential arbitration cases. There should be some flexibility after '11, as Fukudome and Carlos Silva come off the payroll, along with possibly Ramirez. That will be the time to start painting with broader strokes.

The challenge is to finish the job started in 2007. Byrd can help. He's a real pro. He's not Granderson, but the more relevant issue is he's not Milton Bradley.

Cubs, Carlos Marmol agree to deal :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Cubs

Cubs, Carlos Marmol agree to deal

Shortstop Ryan Theriot’s stalemate with the Cubs on a 2010 contract takes over centerstage as the team’s only other unsigned arbitration-eligible player, Carlos Marmol, agreed to a one-year, $2.125 million deal today.
Marmol, a former All-Star who took over the club’s closer role last August, settled with the team at the midpoint of the salary arbitration figures they filed last month.
Theriot, a three-year starter and career .288 hitter, filed a $3.4 million salary demand, while the Cubs’ countered with a $2.6 million filing, and both sides appear to be bracing for a hearing, which could be held as late as Feb. 21.
The Cubs have not gone to a hearing since beating Mark Grace in arbitration in 1993. This year, they reached agreements with seven of eight eligible players.
The often bitter hearings, in which player and general manager attend, are judged by three-member panels that must choose one side’s figure over the other.
In other news, the Cubs officially announced the signing of former Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar, 38, to a minor league contract that includes an invitation to spring training. He’s considered a positive veteran presence to have in camp, and insurance against injuries, but a longshot to win a backup job.