It's On!!!!!!!

The Cubbies had their first taste of spring baseball on Thursday. For all intents, the opener of the Cactus League was a success for the Cubs, beating San Francisco 12-6.

Some very promissing notes from the game:

• Theriot did the leadoff spot proud, going 3 for 3 with 3 runs and a stolen base (3rd base).
• Fukudome got on base 3 times, with a hit-by-pitch, walk and an RBI single.
• Soto handled the staff well and went 1 for 3.
• Pie went 2 for 2, with 4 runs and an RBI, including a double and a home run.
• Fontenot, the forgotten man in the infield, went 2 for 4, with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, including a pinch hit 3-run HR and a triple.
• Dempster looked good, pitching 2 innings to start the game and giving up 1 run on 2 hits, 2 strike outs and notably, zero walks. The run came off a home run by Randy Winn.

The only real flat performances came from Jose Ceda, who was wild in 2/3 of an inning to the tune of 2 walks, 2 hits, 2 earned runs. He also managed one wild pitch and one hit batsman. Esmailin Caridad fared no better in 2/3 of an inning, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk and 2 earned runs. Caridad also notched a HBP.

Nobody pitched more than 2 innings and the rest of the pitching appearances were solid.

The two teams do it again today at 2pm with Zambrano starting.

DeRosa

Mark DeRosa had a surgerical procedure on Thursday to correct his irregular heartbeat. Word is that it was successful and DeRosa's return is anticipated on Sunday.

Hopefully, there's nothing more to this. DeRosa is a key member of the squad and, from what I sense listening to him on the radio (afternoons with Mac, Jurko and Harry and ESPN AM1000), he seems like a genuine good guy.

Something Afoot at the Circle K

It was a rough weekend for the Cubs. Shiny, new pitcher Jose Ascanio got punched a few times Saturday night outside a Circle K convenience store. Apparently, an unidentified fellow took the opportunity to attempt a robbery and when Ascanio informed him that he had no money, the gentleman socked the young pitcher. Injuries were not serious and Ascanio is still scheduled to throw on Monday.

As if having your players assaulted isn't bad enough, Mark DeRosa suffered an irregular heartbeat on Saturday and was held in the hospital overnight. This is apparently a situation that has happened previously with DeRosa. According to a Chicago Tribune article, DeRosa has had an atrial arrythmia for a number of years, though he has not been on medication. DeRosa was released from Banner Desert Medical Center at 5pm on Sunday. The second baseman underwent testing and is scheduled to see a cardiologist Monday. There is no initial timetable for DeRosa's return to the field, but the hope is that he won't miss an extended period of time.

More Tweaking

Chicago signed veteran switch-hitter, Alex Cintron to a one-year minor league deal on Monday.

Cintron had a down year in 2007, dropping 42 points from his batting average in 2006. He was limited by surgery on his right elbow (removed bone spurs) and only played in 68 games for the White Sox.

The team seems confident that Cintron can bounce back to some degree and, given his ability to hit from both sides and play SS, will be a valuable bench player. Hendry has stated publicly that the Cubs wanted another SS knowing that Cedeno will get some time in the outfield and projects to expand his role beyond SS.

Naturally, this move revived (for the 806th time this off-season) speculation on the Brain Roberts situation. It's possible that the Cubs are creating a scenario that would allow them to add Cedeno to the deal with Baltimore (a situation further spiced by Cedeno showing some outfield ability). The Cubs, of course, maintain that this doesn't mean any deal is imminent and would like you to settle down.

First Findings - Howry doing

During an interview with WGN TV on Sunday night, Sweet Lou remarked that Bob Howry is the favorite out of the gates for the closer job.

This isn't as important a comment as people might want it to be. Essentially, Piniella is acknowledging the job Howry did in a stint as closer last year while Dempster was out. Additionally, Wood's situation leaves some unknown factors regarding durability and the concern about pitching back-to-back games as would be required of the closer. Finally, the wildcard for Marmol is that he has a short history and, though he excelled, he is still very young and it's impossible to predict how he would do as full-time closer.

The competition is still in full swing and will be determined by how the candidates perform this spring. Either way, as I continue to emphasize, the Cubs have a solid group to end games with. The kind of pitching the Cubs are usually facing in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings when they need a run or two.

Yarac Yrrah....

Is Harry Caray spelled backwards.

Monday marked the 10th anniversay of Harry's death.

Many people have opinions on Harry, particularly regarding his later years as a broadcaster. I, for one, loved him and his broadcasts. During some of the seasons, viewers really needed comedic relief...intentional or not. Coupled with Steve Stone, a man with as good a grip on baseball as you might find in a broadcast booth, the product was a joy.

I hope you all hoisted a Bud on Monday.

Now, let's get some runssssss!

Reporting for Duty

The Cubs' pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training in Mesa yesterday. It was good news for those of us enduring a cold Chicago February and even more so as a distraction from the lunatic fringe created by the Clemens-McNamee Congressional Hearings.

The media reporting on the Cubs have immediately fixed on pitcher Ryan Dempster, who thinks the Cubs are going to win the World Series in 2008. Personally, I don't really give a hoot if a player wants to guarantee victories and championships. I don't think it really does much in terms of motivating the other teams to compete even harder or puts any undue pressure on the team in question. Let's face it, the Cubs goal is to win the damn World Series. I'm fairly certain, there are a number of other MLB teams with that end in mind as well.

To look at it in more depth, Depster further stated that he he wouldn't really want to show up and work hard toward that end if he didn't believe the team had a shot. He thinks, and I agree...for now, that the Cubs are a better team than last year's version. This is not much of a guarantee and even less of a story. The bigger story would be if a key element to the Cubs organization started Day 1 by stating that he thought the team had no shot of winning it all and despite the moves to make the 2007 Central Division champions better, they were actually much worse.

Of more importance, the Cubs rumored deal for Brian Roberts is stuck in the mire. It seems apparent that the Cubbies are frustrated with how these negotiations have gone. Hendry definitely wanted to make something happen (with Roberts or some other impact player) before the season started. Additionally, Sweet Lou Piniella has stated that he wants the closer named some three quarters through Spring Training. The three contenders each present a good option, lets hope the competition is fierce and the eventual closer earns it rather than gaining the job through attrition.