101 Years...

The Chicago Cubs are the most talented team in baseball.

The same statement could probably have been made at the beginning of last season too. And, for 162 games, the Cubs more often than not acted the part of King of the Jungle in the National League. When the playoffs rolled around, the ferocity was gone and the Cubs made a quick exit at the hands of the Dodgers.

Manager Lou Pinella is back for another season and will, presumably, continue to be the mostly even tempered guy from the AquaFina commercials. Most of the key pieces from last season return. The bullpen has received a facelift (for better or for worse) and some additional firepower has been added to the lineup. The Cubs will score runs in bunches. They won’t surrender many. This team is built to win in 2009.

Around the Diamond

1B- Derrek Lee .291 20HR 90RBI
2B- Mike Fontenot .305 9 HR 40 RBI
SS- Ryan Theriot .307 1 HR 38 RBI
3B- Aramis Ramirez .289 27 HR 111 RBI
C- Geovany Soto .285 23 HR 86 RBI

What the middle infield duo of Theriot and Fontenot may lack in power numbers (Theriot slugged a pitiful .359 last season) they make up for in OBP and BA. A team with Aramis Ramirez at 3rd and Geovany Soto behind the plate can get away with a light hitting shortstop as long as his 2008 penchant for getting on base remains a habit in 2009. Derrek Lee is still a good glove man at 1st base and still hits doubles (84 in the last 2 seasons) as well as anyone in the league. He is aging, but he is far from ready for the retirement home. Aramis Ramirez is one of the rare hitters who the algorithms employed by the team of stat-heads at Baseball Prospectus project as a 100+ RBI guy for this season. The infield corps alone will light up the scoreboard this season.

Patrolling Wrigley’s Lawn

LF- Alfonso Soriano .280 29HR 75 RBI
CF- Kosuke Fukudome .257 10 HR 58 RBI
RF- Milton Bradley .321 22HR 77 RBI

Alfonso Soriano is, when healthy, a formidable power threat in left field. He wasn’t healthy in 2008. If healthy in 2009 the Cubs offense may be jaw-droppingly potent. Imported from Japan before last season, Kosuke Fukudome was a big splash signing for the Cubs. His play was adequate but did not begin to live up to expectations set by lofty numbers from his Japan days. In his second season against big league pitching, Fukudome must improve on last season’s .257 effort at the plate in order to hold down his spot and keep 4th outfielder Reed Johnson and reserve off-season pick up Joey Gathright from stealing his at bats. Milton Bradley, signed away from the dreadful Rangers, brings an enormous amount of talent (and some emotional baggage) to Wrigley’s right field.

The Moundsmen

SP- Carlos Zambrano 14-6 3.91 ERA 130K
SP- Rich Harden 10-2 181K 148IP
SP- Ted Lilly 17-9 4.09 ERA 184K
SP- Ryan Dempster 17-6 2.96 ERA 187K
SP-Sean Marshall 3-5 3.86 ERA

RP- Carlos Marmol 2.68 ERA 0.93WHIP
RP- Jeff Smardzija 2.27 ERA 1.41 WHIP
RP- Kevin Gregg 3.41 ERA 1.28 WHIP 29 SV

On paper, the Cubs can boast the finest top 4 starters in the National League. Zambrano is a bona fide staff ace, Harden is one of the game’s finest starters when healthy, and Lilly and Dempster each turned in stellar 2008 campaigns. If Zambrano and Harden stay healthy (and that is a HUGE if) and if Lilly and Dempster are able to come close to replicating their 2008 efforts, then it won’t matter who/what fills the 5th spot in the rotation. The top 4 alone will win 60 games. If someone (we’re looking at you Rich Harden) misses a start or two here and there, newly acquired Aaron Heilman may see innings as a starting pitcher. He and Sean Marshall will compete all spring for first dibs on the 5th slot in the rotation and for emergency starts.

Kevin Gregg replaces Kerry Wood at the back end of Pinella’s relief corps. While Marmol’s 2008 numbers probably make him the early season favorite to lock down closer duties, the live arm of former Notre Dame football star Jeff Smardzija and the arrival of Kevin Gregg from the Marlins make them viable late inning options as well. Neal Cotts will be the primary lefty in the bullpen. Smardzija posted an alarming 1.41 WHIP in 2008, he’ll have to allow fewer base runners to establish himself as a secure late game option.

Down on the Farm

Josh Vitters 3B

Vitters will turn 20 in August. In a little more than a full season in the minor leagues (low level A-ball is as far as he’s reached) Vitters has shown promise that the Cubs may have been wise in selecting him with their first pick in 2007. He may be the in-house replacement in a couple of years for Aramis Ramirez.


Overall in 2009

While, obviously, the defending champion Phillies are the team with the bullseye on their backs in 2009, the road to the World Series may run through Chicago. The NL Central is not exactly bursting with talent. Especially not the kind of pitching talent that health-permitting will be featured at Wrigley this season. The Cubs will either be a huge disappointment to themselves and to their long-suffering fan base or they will be a force to be reckoned with well into October.

Prediction

93-69 1st Place NL Central