It wasn’t a very good year in Wrigleyville for the Cubbies, and sadly 2011 doesn’t look much better. The rotation is below average, the bullpen lacks depth, and the lineup isn’t going to scare anybody. After all that it’s surprising they haven’t been covered on this countdown already, but then when you consider the teams we have covered maybe it’s not so surprising. Still, the Cubs come off the board in February.
No. 23 Chicago Cubs
Projected Rotation
- Ryan Dempster-RHP
- Carlos Zambrano-RHP
- Matt Garza-RHP
- Carlos Silva-RHP
- Randy Wells-RHP
Projected Bullpen
- Carlos Marmol-RHP
- Sean Marshall-LHP
- Kerry Wood-RHP
- Andrew Cashner-RHP
- John Grabow-LHP
- Jeff Samardzija-RHP
- Marcos Mateo-RHP
Projected Lineup
- 2B Blake Dewitt
- SS Starlin Castro
- 3B Aramis Ramirez
- 1B Carlos Pena
- CF Marlon Byrd
- RF Tyler Colvin
- LF Alfonso Soriano
- C Geovany Soto
Analysis
The first of many issues for the Cubs is their lineup. First year manager Mike Quade has his hands full right off the back, as the Cubs don’t posses a true leadoff hitter. Castro has a ton of upside at shortstop and hit .300 in 125 games last season and he’ll only get better.
Soto was a good offensive catcher for the Cubs in 2010 hitting .280 with 53 RBI. Soriano is still the talented commodity he’s always been but at 35-years-old and making $19 million, he’s just not the player he once was. Soriano only hit .258 last season but did manage 24 bombs. Look for similar numbers from him in 2011, which sadly won’t nearly be enough for the Cubs to achieve relevance.
Other than that the only solid threat in the Cubs’ batting order was Marlon Byrd who hit .293, 12 homers and 66 RBI. I like Byrd as a role player but the Cubs need a game changer and the harsh reality for the most tortured fan base in baseball is they have none.
The news doesn’t get much better for the Cubs’ rotation. They have tried to turn Ryan Dempster from a number two or three into an ace for the last few seasons and it’s just not going to work. He did have a decent season last year and there are a lot of teams that would love to have him, but he’s just not good enough to carry the Cubs rotation into the post season.
In the off season the Cubs acquired Matt Garza from the Rays who earned 15 wins and put up an ERA of 3.91 last year. Garza has talent but he’s not the ace that the Cubs are looking for.
Zambrano has proven he’s a solid pitcher in the MLB, but his temper has gotten him in trouble a few too many times and has also proven to be the most unreliable teammate in baseball.
In the Cubs’ pen Carlos Marmol is one of baseball’s best closers and is a strikeout machine. Sadly, he won’t have enough save opportunities to establish himself as the elite closer he deserves to be known as. Notre Dame’s golden boy Jeff Samardzija still hasn’t lived up to the hype he generated as a multi-sport athlete in college, and in 2011 the Cubs’ hopes live and die with him. Well, no they really don’t but he will be an interesting story to follow.
Sorry Cubs fans, that’s as interesting as it gets for you in 2011.
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