After the Jauron/McGinnis debacle over a decade ago, I never really believe that a new coach or manager signing is true until I see the press conference confirming it. Well, that's what happened today. It's beyond official now, Joe Maddon is the new manager of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs are suddenly raising eyebrows and picking up interest around the league. Don't forget about the White Sox though, I'll go over some of their possible free agent targets, as well as the ones the Cubs will possibly be going after. We'll also get started on the eulogy for the Bears season, but will point out where life still exists. Of course, this being winter, I'll touch on the Bulls and Blackhawks as well. In other words, we'll have a full slate here.
How about I save the biggest news for last. That means that I'll start with the Bears for now. They got a much needed bye this past week after a horrible last couple of weeks of the first half of the season. They saw a disappointing defeat to the Dolphins followed by getting completely beat down by the Patriots. The Bears are 3-5 now. If they do manage to meet my 6-2 prediction I made earlier, then they finish the season at 9-7. While there is no excuse for them to not go at least 5-3 down that stretch, I'm starting to think that 6-2 is a bit ambitious despite their easy schedule.
They start off by going to Green Bay. If any game can swing them back into a positive direction, it's this one. Green Bay has been hot, and the Bears are obviously going downwards. This was the direction, except opposite the last time the two teams met. It's not totally impossible for the Bears to pull out a win here, but it's not likely. After that the Vikings come to Chicago, then the Bucs come to Chicago. Both of those games should be a win, despite how horrible the Bears have been at home this year. Then they go to Detroit, then they have Dallas, New Orleans, and Detroit all come to Chicago. Of those, I think they win one against Detroit and one other unexpected one. They close out the season going to Minnesota, another one they should win. That's 5-3, an an optimistic estimate at that. New Orleans has been very inconsistent this year, and Dallas is bound to fall at any point, which is why I think the Bears take one of those. That's still an 8-8 season and probably no playoff birth there.
However, they could still wind up doing better. Just looking at their season, it's not like they've lost to any bad teams. On top of that, a couple of bad weeks will happen, and the Patriots just gave the Broncos, the teams seen as the class of the NFL before Sunday, a beatdown as well. While things are discouraging still, it's far from as dark and dreary as it would initially seem. I still don't see the Bears making it to the playoffs this year, but for those who want to be given hope, there it is.
Now to the Blackhawks. The news isn't great there, but it's not terrible. The Blackhawks have been in a funk lately, but they're still 6-5-1. While I expected them to be in much better shape at this point, it's still very early in the season, and their issues are very correctable. The main one being that they need to do a better job at getting those second shots. Get the rebound and take another shot at the net. They need to move the puck better and just really play much more fundamental offense. The defensive side has been very good still, but the offensive side just looks like it's been forgotten right now. I have no doubt that they'll snap out of it.
The Bulls also have some slight negative issues going on right now, but so far haven't looked bad. They started the season without Butler and still blew the Knicks out in an absolute laugher. It's not often that a 24 point game isn't as close as the score makes it look. Then you have their game against the Cavaliers, a game that saw Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson both go down hurt and miss the last 1/4 or so of regulation. Not only that, but the Cavaliers mysteriously got a plethora of bad calls and bad non-calls their way that seemed to start after the Dunleavy charging call (which itself was the right call). The Bulls still kept the game going into overtime before the Cavaliers pulled ahead in OT to take that one. The next night the Bulls rebounded with Butler back, but Rose and Gibson both out. They still managed to pull out the win in a close one where the Bulls saw a double digit lead collapse late, but still managed to be on top at the end after Butler was fouled with less than a second to go.
With Butler back and looking good, and Rose and Gibson possibly coming back, if not back tomorrow night against Orlando, the Bulls should be in good shape. One thing that's very obvious at this point is that the Bulls built a lot of depth for their team this year. They can handle a couple of injuries. As for the level of concern, it should be low. If this is the playoffs, then Rose is surely still playing, and Gibson is also very likely playing. Remember that in the 2011 playoffs Rose played most of the playoffs with a sprained ankle that he originally injured in the first round against Indiana. The only injuries that have kept him out in big games have been very serious injuries. I'm still not foolish enough to doubt his toughness, I know the difference between a sprained ankle and a torn ACL, unlike many sports fans.
Now to baseball free agency. I'll start with the White Sox. The White Sox have some good pieces to help build a .500 team right now, but they have plenty of room for improvement. The back end of their rotation, their bullpen, third base, second base, and catcher. I'm assuming Viciedo is going to become the team's DH, which is really the best place for him, with Abreu at first. The guys who I think should stay are Abreu, Ramirez (although this is the time to trade him if they do plan on trying to get anything of value for him instead of just letting him fizzle out with them), Viciedo at DH, Eaton in CF, and Garcia in right. Keep Gillaspie as a backup corner infielder and DH, but don't count on him as the starter at third. He has a decent bat, but even despite an OPS+ of 113, he doesn't really bring enough of what you'd really want from a corner infield bat.
If I'm the White Sox, I see Chase Headley as a very worthwhile risk to take for a third baseman. He's had a bit of a rough go as of late, but we all know what he is capable of doing, and it's a ton. If Headley doesn't show up, maybe Davidson winds up figuring it out in AAA and is able to come up. As for 2nd base, there isn't a whole lot as far as offense goes, but that's another position that they maybe sign someone like Rickie Weeks for a couple of seasons to fill while they wait for Anderson to come up, although he'll more likely be a shortstop, if they do hold on to Ramirez, then Ramirez can move over to 2nd and allow the more athletic Anderson to play short. So, Rickie Weeks is my short term solution for the White Sox there. Next up is catcher. Flowers is a good backup, but I just can't see him starting on a regular basis. Russell Martin should be a main target. He's a good offensive catcher who brings one of the best gloves of this generation as well. He's 31, so he's not young, but you can expect at least a few more good years out of him. It would also be a big name to put butts in the seats, and steal a potential free agent from a number of teams. Other options include John Buck, Gerald Laird, Geovany Soto, and maybe even bringing AJ back for one more year. Lastly (for position players), left field. Ryan Doumit and Ben Zobrist are possibilities while they wait for Hawkins to get ready. Also, maybe they could even try to sign Nelson Cruz and work out a platoon DH/LF duo with him and Viciedo.
Now for the pitching. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana are both no brainers to stick around. After that it becomes a bit of a question. I'd go ahead with Danks another year. While I don't think he's the stud the White Sox once thought they had in him, I also think he's better than his last few seasons have shown. I can see him going back to being a pitcher with an ERA in the low 4's, and as a lefty that's okay for the 4 or 5 spot, although you'd like better. However, I don't see the White Sox picking up more than one starter, given their position player needs. I see them going after Justin Masterson, and maybe taking a flyer on Josh Johnson by signing him to a minor league deal (okay, only one major league pitcher). In the bullpen, I'd like to see them go after Zach Duke, as they really need a lefty, and Duke is a nice one that won't cost them an arm and a leg.
Of those, they're obviously not going to get all of them, but the guys I'll predict they get are Weeks, Headley, Soto, Masterson, and Duke. I'd love to see them get one of the big guys, but other teams are already looking more aggressive. That's still a haul that would greatly improve the White Sox next year, giving them 4 legitimate starters, then a 5th spot that will have about 5 guys battling for it, and while yes, they call can be bad, there's also a chance that one of them rises to the occasion. They should have a decent to solid bullpen if they are fairly healthy there. As for position players, having Soto behind the plate, Abreu at first, Weeks at 2nd, Ramirez at short, and Headley at third gives them a good infield, and having Viciedo between left and DH along with maybe Sierra in left as well, and then Eaton in center and Garcia in right gives them enough firepower that the outfield at least shouldn't be a liability. This won't make them a contender, but it will hold them over while they build guys up in their system to fill in some of those other positions.
Now for the Cubs in free agency. Bryant will be up at third soon enough. Castillo can be improved on behind the plate, but eventually Schwarber will be up, so you don't want to see the Cubs give someone like Martin a huge deal and block Schwarber when/if he is ready. Rizzo is a fixture at first and Castro and Baez should stay up the middle. I'm far from giving up on Baez yet, although it looks like strikeouts will always be a problem with him. As for the outfield, Coghlan is a very solid player in left, Alcantara is worth holding on to due to his massive potential (and because Almora is right behind him), and Soler is obviously good in right field, so the Cubs really don't have any real position player openings, and will probably have fewer as the year goes on. They do, however, have about three open rotation spots. Arrieta and Hendricks look like they're set in that rotation, but past that you have guys like Travis Wood, Edwin Jackson, Doubront, Tsuyoshi Wada, and Jacob Turner. While those are not all terrible, those are guys you want battling for the 5th spot, not for the 4th and 5th. The Cubs have a very strong bullpen from last year as well as a number of guys who can come up if any of those guys falter, so that means the the free agency money, which they have a lot of, can be focused on starting pitching with maybe a backup or two added.
Jon Lester is the first guy they should look at. He doesn't cost them a draft pick, so he's well worth it even if they have to overpay for him. I'd like to see them go after one other guy, probably one at the middle level. Liriano, Jason Hammel, Ervin Santana, Aaron Harang, Jake Peavy, and Brandon McCarthy are all legitimate possibilities. Other possibilities who would cost the Cubs a draft pick for the TOR guy are Scherzer and Shields. I expect to see the Cubs get one of those 3 guys as well as one of those middle level guys. As for a backup type of guy, Johnny Gomes has been mentioned as a major possibility. He isn't someone they would bring along as someone to get a whole lot of time, but more to step in here and there and be a good mentor as a player. Gerald Laird may be a good veteran catcher to bring over as a backup to Castillo, and Clint Barmes could be another to bring over. None of these guys are going to be incredible players, but they can be good veteran leaders. Remember that Chris Coghlan will probably also become a backup by the end of the season if Addison Russell comes up this season, and as he will be starting in AAA most likely, he should be up by the end of the season unless he plays poorly.
One other free agent the Cubs have been tied to is Yoan Moncada, considered by some to be the frontrunner for him. Moncada is probably one of the top free agent prospects to come out of Cuba over the last several years. This could be a Soler level prospect, but the big problem is that the Cubs won't have more than about $250,000 to offer him due to him only being 19 for quite some time, so I question how much of a chance the Cubs will really have for him. Either way, filling in a couple of holes in the rotation along with getting some veteran leaders should really help set the Cubs up to show a lot of improvement next season along with some improvement from their young players.
Now, for the big news, if you're still reading at this point, the Cubs have signed Joe Maddon to a 5 year, $25 million contract. Right now Maddon is arguably the best manager in baseball. He was able to do a whole lot with a low budget roster in Tampa Bay, even though he also had a very good front office there to work with too, but now he gets that chance with a big money roster from a very good front office. While this won't bring the Cubs a World Series in 2015, it will bring them back to, at very least, respectability. Maddon's approach should work well with the young players and veteran leaders. I doubt every one of them really flourishes under it, but as a whole I see the team improving with it. Javier Baez is someone I see as benefiting a lot from it. You could tell that he was putting way too much pressure on himself as the season went on, and I see him really taking a lot of that off where it would have been on him next season. The strikeouts will still be there, but they will be fewer, and the big hits will be more plentiful. It's still going to be up to the players on the field to perform, but there's no doubt that Maddon is one of those guys who can get more out of his players, but at the same time, it's up to the players to take what he gives them and build themselves with it.
I really can't think of a whole lot more to say about Maddon. The press conference with him as well as his appearance on CSN this evening really grew my like for him. He seems like he's up to the challenge, He's one of the few people I actually believe when they say that they don't pay attention to what the media says, because he is someone who actually doesn't watch TV or read the papers, he doesn't just say it. He's a guy's guy, but at the same time he has his more quirky and esoteric side. Cubs fans are going to love this guy, and if he brings a World Series win to the Cubs, then he'll become a bigger icon, at least among Cubs fans, than Mike Ditka is, and more deserving of that status too.
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