Past, present and future

The Past is past, The present is over, and the Future of the Cubs is near at hand.

The immediate future will include confirmation of next years coaching staff and the post-season meetings including the new owner, Hendry, Piniella and select other top Cubs execs. This will be accomplished before Piniella heads “south for the Winter”, and will reveal whether Joshua will be bumped from the staff to make a hole for Sandberg. If they do this, they will likely make a place for Von in the minors with a promise to return him to the big club in some capacity in 2011 at the latest. His value is under utilized with the big club, anyway, but that’s what they all want.

These meetings will not be the fully-fledged organizational meetings, but I Expect that they will get some “ballpark” number of a budget for 2010. Whether or not this info is given to us or leaks out is of course another matter. And because the Cubs need so few changes, they will pretty much also know the roster down to about 26 players plus or minus players involved in trades for targeted players. Bradley, of course, will not be back, and they will try and determine whether getting the leadoff hitter is the highest priority for the off-season or the productive, middle of the order, hitter, who really does need to be a LH hitter. We know Lou’s vote already, but I’m not convinced it is all that simple. By the Winter meetings, I expect more than “the few” changes unless Hendry is tied by the budget.

For instance, I am not sold on the idea that Gorzelanny can be counted on in the rotation or that Harden can be allowed to leave as a free agent. Marshall could be the 5th starter, but could Gorzelanny be counted on to replace Marshall in the pen or to even be the 2nd lefty in the pen? After all, he wasn’t good enough to stay on the roster of the Pirates. I would feel much better if the Cubs resigned Harden with the idea that if he wasn’t the 5th starter, he could be used out of the pen to SU and even close on an occasional basis, much like Kerry Wood. Of course Harden would have to be convinced that this might be best for him, even if he doesn’t turn out to be the 5th starter again. But I would certainly not let him escape without exploring this option with him.

Also consider Baker….if he is to become the new DeRo as the RH hitting 2bman, backup 3bman & outfielder, where will he get enough ABs if the Cubs go after ANOTHER RH hitting OF for the middle of the order?? I would be a lot more confident in Baker being able to handle his part of right field than I am in continuing the Fukudome experiment.

There is no place “up the middle” that the Cubs couldn’t be strengthened, but it’s illogical to think the team can replace “everybody” or even “everybody” not pitching or named Lee, Ramirez or Soriano. I would leave the catching and the Cajun Keystone duo alone, for now. I believe Geo will bounce back, since there is no International Farce to interfere with him next Spring, and I like Koyie Hill. He is improving every aspect of his game, and between them, they can control runners and handle the game and the pitching well. Theriot is just a winner. He may not get to some balls hit his way, but he knows how to play the games, is an excellent #2 hitter and he seems to always find a way to contribute. Fontenot is much the same and he helps to bring offensive balance to the lineup as a LH hitting infielder. He just needs to play pretty regularly and as the LH component of a platoon position, he does just that. And that brings us back to CF and Fukudome. His offense doesn’t fill the need in RF. If he is coming back, it should be as a LH hitting CF, even though he is only adequate there defensively. However, if he is coming back, it would mean no spot for Fuld and he could become cumbersome if the Cubs look seriously at obtaining Chone Figgins. While Figgins would solve the lead off spot, he hasn’t played a lot of 2b, and doesn’t play it particularly well when he does. He isn’t going to replace Ramirez and he didn’t play OF this year at all. Still I would take the chance on returning him to CF. In any case, no opportunity to move Fukudome should be overlooked. Even if he is traded and the Cubs don’t get Figgins, Fuld is better defensively and is showing that he can be almost as effective as a “table setter” as Fukudome minus what power Fuky has shown, which is inconsistent at best.

All in all, it might not be such a dull and settled “off” season as some might think!

Bruce,

I know the jury is still out on whether Sandberg is or will be a big league manager. If he is in their plans after Lou retires would it make sense to have him up with the Cubs as a bench coach so he could have a year under his belt observing and evaluating the team and what it takes to manage at the major league level or would another year in the minors be better for him?