To bring a title to Wrigley

It started in November 2007, when Cubs management decided they needed to mix things up. Their current approach just wasn't working. They were always running the team by traditional ways, and with the success of the new-thinking Boston Red Sox, they wanted the same approach. They fired their chief of scouting and hired a new one, along with 10 others. After other front office members were removed and replaced, it was time for the biggest piece:
the GM. Their top candidates were:
Paul DePesto, Billy Beane's former Assistant and Dodgers GM.
Sig Mejdal Lacks experience, but knows a lot about running ballplayers and stats.
Chuck Lumarsa also lacks experience, but was a big-time assistant with the A's in 2002-2006, and helped rotoworld.com in 2007. The 35-year Lumarsa was the one the Cubs ownership thought would bring them a title in 2008....

After I was part of a phone interview that lasted 25 minutes, I waited n my house for 5 days for a call back. It seemed like a whole year, just sitting there, studying up on the Cubs roster for hours, knowledge I hoped I would need to use in the near future. One day while I was checking sportscenter, my phone rang. It was the Cubs, and they had hired me.
My contract was for 3 years, and my main goal was to win the World Series. If i did win it, I could get an extension worth almost twice as much as my current one, but if not, I would have to leave and find work elsewhere.

Day 1 on the Job:


I see Soriano not as a leadoff, but as a 2 hitter, partly because the Cubs already have 2 great power hitters at 3 and 4, and the 5th spot would not give him as many ABs as I would like. Soriano is not a leadoff anymore with his non-existent speed, with Theriot would be better there, even though he is not my favorite as a leadoff. Here is the "Depth Chart", or trading guide I made (for position Players)

Positions we have (don't need):
Catcher
first base
third base
left field
right field
center field

Positions we Need:
second base
shortstop


Pitching:

We have:
1st starter
2nd starter
3rd starter
4th starter
Closer
Setup
short relief

We need:
5th starter
Short relief
middle relief
long relief

Preseason Moves:
CHC Traded Ascanio, Jose (P) and Veal, Donald (P) to BOS for Ramirez, Manny (LF) and $1,000,000

CHC changes Ramirez, Manny from LF to CF

(Makes him an 87/99, but improves his vitals a ton, with a 9 pwoer now and 99 speed, and 97 eye)

CHC changed Cedeno, Ronny from SS to 2B.
(Keeps him pretty much the same)

CHC traded Samardzija, jeff (P), Blanco, Henry (C) and $1,500,000 to FLA for Jacobs, Mike (1B) and Uggla, Dan (2B)

(Get my second baseman and a good bench player, maybe even the starting first baseman. Don't need specs, as I'm trying to win now.)

CHC traded Mateo, Juan (P) for Cormier, Lance (P) and $500,000

(I get my 5th starter, who's closer to MLB than Mateo, and I get some cash also)

That's good for now, so it's time to begin the season.

NOTE: Sims will be done one week at a time.

Sim 1:

Standings:
W L GB
Cubs 6-0 -
Reds 4-2-2
Pirates 3-3-3
Cards 2-4-4
Astros 2-4-4
Brewers 1-5-5

6-0 is a great start, but there still LOTS of baseball to be played.

Soriano and Zambrano were the 2 leaders, Soriano hitting 4 homeruns, and scoring 9 runs, and Carlos is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA, and 18 K's in 13.2 innings. (but 11 walks)

No need for changes right now, so sim 2 is coming up right now!

LINEUP:
1. Ryan Theriot SS
2. Alfonso Soriano LF
3. Aramis Ramirez 3B
4. Manny Ramirez LF
5. Kosuke Fukudome RF
6. Derrek Lee 1B
7. Geovany Soto C
8. Dan Uggla 2B
9. PITCHER SLOT

I am concerned about 7 of 8 hitters being righties, and as the season progresses, I will find the hitter most worthy of being traded for a lefty batter.

SIM 2:

Standings:

Cubs 10--2---
Reds 8--4--2
Astros 6--6--4
Pirates 4-8--6
Brewers 4-8-6
Cards 4--8-6

We continued our great play, as Soriano hit another 4 homeruns, now tied for the league lead at 8. He seems to hit well in the 2 spot, but only 15 RBI is showing he could get a lot more RBI. Aramis is not hitting as well, so for one week, Alfonso and Aramis will be switching spots in the lineup. Manny is th eonly one struggling, with a .233 average, but his OBP is .431, and 3 homeruns/ 11 RBI.

Ted Lilly has a 0.56 ERA, and is 2-0 with 12 Ks in 16 innings, and only 3 walks.

SIM 3:

Cubs 14-4 -
Reds 10-8 - 4
Astros 9-9-5
Pirates 7-11-7
Cards 7-11-7
Brewers 7-11-7

The team average remained above .300, now at .316, and Ted Lilly added 1.01 points to his ERA, now at 1.57.

Soriano added just 1 HR to his total, and Theriot is now at 5 SBs on the season. With the recent success, I'm keeping my almost all-righty lineup, but that may change this time next month.
Manny is now at .270, with 5 homeruns, so he's improving, and the rest of the lineup looks good.

I moved Ted Lilly up to the 2nd spot to get him an extra start if he stays healthy all season.

MOVES:

CHC sent down Donald Veal and called up Lance Cormier to the Long relief role.

CHC sent down Wood, Kerry (injured for 4 days) and called up Hart, Kevin to the middle relief role.

on to sim 4...

Sim 4 didn't go so well, but we're still in 1st place. The Cubs got more losses in that week than the other 3 combined.

Cubs 15-9 -
Reds 14-10-1
Astros 13-11-2
Cards 11-13-4
Brewers 11-14-4.5
Pirates 9-15-6

Soriano hit another 3, with 12 homeruns now, with 1 game still left in April. Lilly is still the team leader in ERA, with a 2.17 ERA, but Zambrano didn't win in this last week.

Our new strategy includes stealing more, as we haven't been doing that at all, even though we have a very fast leadoff man. We're going to take less extra bases though, since we have lots of big hitters and only a few guys that are fast.

My 2 newest call-ups didn't get much action, with only 1 inning by Hart ( a scoreless one with 2 K's).

SIM 6:

We still cling to our 1-game lead:
Cubs 23-13-
Astros 22-15-1.5
Reds 19-17-4
Brewers 17-20-6.5
Pirates 15-21-8
Cards 14-23-9.5

Ted Lilly's ERA is 1.66, still leading the league, and Soriano is now 4th with 13 HRs, 9 behind the lead of Howard.
Aramis Ramirez (.418) and Derrek Lee (.400) are 2nd and 3rd in the majors in avg, while Zambrano is tied for 1st in wins.

Theriot has stolen more bases, now with 9, and Lee now has 12 homeruns and 39 RBI from the sixth spot.
Manny is still hitting .258, and to see how he'll respond, he will be switched with Derrek Lee now.

Marmol is out for 11 days, so Guzman will now close the games for the next week and a half.

Here's the trade I made to bolster the bullpen:

CHC traded Gallagher, Sean (P), Patterson, Eric (2B), Murton, Matt (LF), Pawelek, Mark (P) and $1,000,000 to BOS for Delcarmen, Manny (P) and Okajima, Hideki (P)

Trade Log:

1. CHC Traded Ascanio, Jose (P) and Veal, Donald (P) to BOS for Ramirez, Manny (LF) and $1,000,000


2. CHC traded Samardzija, jeff (P), Blanco, Henry (C) and $1,500,000 to FLA for Jacobs, Mike (1B) and Uggla, Dan (2B)

3. CHC traded Mateo, Juan (P) for Cormier, Lance (P) and $500,000

4. CHC traded Gallagher, Sean (P), Patterson, Eric (2B), Murton, Matt (LF), Pawelek, Mark (P) and $1,000,000 to BOS for Delcarmen, Manny (P) and Okajima, Hideki (P)

5. CHC traded Closser, J.D. (C) and Atkins, Mitch (P) to FLA for Ross, Cody (OF)

6. CHC traded Cedeno, Ronny (2B), Reynolds, Kyle (3B), Torres, Andres (LF), Hill Koyie (C), and Huseby, Chris (P) to ARI for pena, Tony (P)

7. CHC traded Lieber, Jon (P), Fontenot, Mike (P), Blanco, Andres (SS), Colvin, Tyler (CF), Jackson, Lewis (SS) to CLE for Shoppach, Kelly (C)

8.CHC traded Marquis, Jason (P), Holliman, Mark (P), Marshall, Sean (P), Qunitero, Ramon (P) and Casmpusano, Edward (P) to COL for Jimenez, Ubaldo (P), Nix, Jayson (2B), Stewart, Ian (3B) and Smith, Seth (RF)

9. CHC traded Petrick, Billy (P), Gomez, Danny (P) and Hart, kevin (P) to HOU for Taveras, Willy (CF) and $6,500,000

SIM 7:

Cubs 26-16 -
Reds 24-18 2
Astros 23-20 3.5
Brewers 20-23 6.5
Cards 18-25 8.5
Pirates 17-25 9

Here's my lineup with stats (AVG/HR/RBI/SB)

1. Ryan Theriot .282/2/16/9
2. Alfonso Soriano .302/15/28/3
3. Aramis Ramirez .401/12/33/0
4. Derrek Lee .388/13/43/1
5. Kosuke Fukudome.273/5/18/0
6. Manny Ramirez .256/8/23/0
7. Geovany Soto .288/4/15/1
8. Dan Uggla .268/8/22/0


Roster Moves for upcoming week:

Sent down Bobby Howry, Called up Hideki Okijima

Sent down Kevin Hart, Called up Manny Delcarmen

Sent Down Sam Fuld, called up Ryan Harvey

I was proposed a trade by the Marlins, and tweaked it a bit, and brought in a new bench player:

CHC traded Closser, J.D. (C) and Atkins, Mitch (P) to FLA for Ross, Cody (OF)


For sim 8:
Cubs 31-17 -
Astros 28-21 3.5
Reds 26-22 5
Brewers 24-25 7.5
Cards 19-30--12.5
Pirates 18-30 13

Derrek Lee is now tied with Soriano for the team lead in HRs, with 16 each.
Lee now has 56 RBI and a .384 AVG, making him one of the best hitters in the league right now. Manny is stil stuck in the .250's, and has not added a homer to his total in the past week.

My bench is now overflowing and I need to cash some of those players in for a RP.

And the DBacks were interested. I gave up some spare parts (ones I didn't need) in exchange for a solid RP.

CHC traded Cedeno, Ronny (2B), Reynolds, Kyle (3B), Torres, Andres (LF), Hill Koyie (C), and Huseby, Chris (P) to ARI for pena, Tony (P)

Michael Wuertz was then sent down to make room for Tony Pena.

Manny has tanked so bad in rating for whatever reason, and is now benched (with a 12-day injury) for the up-and-comer Felix Pie. This move may be permanent while I try to find someone to deal Manny to in exchange for a Lefty bat.

SIM 8:

Lee now has 18 homers and 62 RBI, with a .385 AVG.

Cubs 35-19-
Astros 32-23 3.5
reds 29-25 6
Brewers 27-28-8.5
Cards 23-32-12.5
Pirates 19-35-16

More coming tomorrow!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twinsGM

Manny has tanked so bad in rating for whatever reason

---

Maybe because he's a 36 year old left-fielder that you moved to center field

SIM 10

I switched Ryan Dempster to Long relief, making Lance Cormier the 5th starter.
Marmol is back at closer.


DRAFT PICKS:
1st Round 19th OVR: Trevor Davis RP 17 49/97
2nd Round 49th OVR: Troy Buller SP 16 50/91
3rd Round 79th OVR: Ramon Qunitero RP 17 49/87



In Week 14 I traded for my newest backup catcher:

CHC traded Lieber, Jon (P), Fontenot, Mike (P), Blanco, Andres (SS), Colvin, Tyler (CF), Jackson, Lewis (SS) to CLE for Shoppach, Kelly (C)

All-Stars:
Derrek Lee was my only position player, but Soriano should of been in it. Lee went 0-2 in the game, and Lilly went .1 innings allowing a run and striking out one.

By the end of the season, here were the standings:

Cubs 100--62--
Reds 84--78--16
Brewers 84--78--16
Cards 83-79-17
Astros 80-82-20
Pirates 72-90-28

Soriano led the majors with 51 Homeruns (Teixeira had 49), Lee was 4th in average at .335, and Zambrano led the league in ERA (2.67) and was second in wins (18)

Here's the lineup's stats:
---------------AVG----HR----SB---RBI----
Felix Pie------.259---14-----23----45
Alfonso Soriano .292---52---31----120
Aramis Ramirez .287---31---0-----87
Derrek Lee .335---37----6---119
Kosuke Fukudome .271--12---0--62
Geovany Soto .284---12---1---55
Dan Uggla .260---29----0---85
Ryan Theriot .238---2------32--26


Sorry for skipping ahead so far, but I really had no moves to make, and my team was in first every day this season.

1st round of the playoffs (vs. Rockies) coming in a few minutes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by filihok

Maybe because he's a 36 year old left-fielder that you moved to center field

---

Yeah, that was dumb on my part.

Game 1

Ted Lilly vs. Aaron Cook

****** 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--FINAL
Rockies 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Cubs 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4

3rd- Dan Uggla doubled, scoring Ryan Theriot
5th- Alfonso Soriano singled, scoring Theriot
9th- Dan Uggla hit a walk-off Homerun

Lilly- 8 IP no ER, 6H

Game 2

Rich Hill vs. Jeff Francis

***** 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--FINAL
Rockies 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6
Cubs 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 4


Hill- 5 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 ER, 4 K, 102 PIT
Wuertz- 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 K, 39 PIT
Guzman- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K, 16 PIT
Okijima- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 0 K, 21 PIT

Game 3

Carlos Zambrano vs. Jason Hirsh

Cubs- 1
Rockies- 5


Rockies take the series lead, 2-1, and the owners were about to smash their heads through a brick wall, preparing for another early playoff defeat in yet another disappointing end to a once-promising season. But the players didn't do the same...

Game 4

Jason Marquis vs. Franklin Morales

5th: Dan Uggla doubled, followed by Kelly Shoppach, wh doubled him in.
Marquis then singled, scoring Shoppach.
9th: tied at 2, Kelly Shoppach delivers again, driving in Dan Uggla and himself to take the lead, and Marmol nailed in down in the bottom of the 9th, to tie the series, and send everyone back to Chicago.

Game 5

1st: Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer.
3rd: Soriano singled, scoring Theriot.
5th: Felix Pie singled in Ryan Theriot.

It was 3-1 in the top of the 9th, with Marmol in to pitch. with 1 out, Helton homered, but Marmol recovered and got the last 2 outs, to give the Cubs a ticket to the NLCS, against the Phillies.

Series MVPs: Dan Uggla and Kelly Shoppach, a great bottom-of-the-order combo that powered the Cubs to the NLCS.

NLCS Game 1

In Chicago

Carlos Zambrano vs. Brett Myers

1st- Derrek Lee singled in Alfonso Soriano.
Kelly Shoppach singled in Kosuke Fukudome
2nd- Mark DeRosa hit a solo homer
5th- Alfonso Soriano homered for two RBI, Felix Pie scoring on the drive.

Going into the 8th, we were leading 5-1. The Phillies rallied, got the bases loaded with one out and came away with 3 runs, but it wasn't enough, as Carlos Marmol held down another save to give us the series lead, 1-0.


Game 2


Rich Hill pitched 8 strong innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, throwing 116 pitches. Aram-Ram hit a solo homer, and we won again, 8-2!
On to Philadelphia, where we've got Jason marquis, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano pitching.

Game 3
(in play-by-play mode, General manager box)

Lineup:
1. Felix Pie
2. Alfonso Soriano
3. Aramis Ramirez
4. Derrek Lee
5. Kosuke Fukudome
6. kelly Shoppach
7. Dan Uggla
8. Ryan Theriot
9. Jason Marquis

vs. the Phillies' Cole Hamels

1st
Aramis got a single wit two out in the first, but was followed by a Derrek Lee strikeout.

Marquis got an easy 1-2-3 inning

2nd
...and Hamels got the same from us...


Burrell Homered to left-center to give the Phillies the 1-0 lead.

3rd

Theriot drew a lead-off walk, but we couldn't do anything with it.

Marquis with another 1-2-3



4th
Lee walked, but was caught stealing to end the inning.

Victorino tripled, then scored on a groundout.

2-0 Phillies

5th
We went 1-2-3...

a walk and a hit, but no runs. :)

6th
Nothing again...

A 1-out double couldn't score

7th

Aramis doubles, and Lee walks. Fukudome strikes out, and Shoppach flies out, as does Uggla, so we miss a huge oppurtunity there.

Marquis allows another double, but bails himself out.

Still 2-0 Phils after 7.


8th

Marquis comes out for Soto the pinch-hitter, and Guzman will now pitch.

Guzman gets a 1-2-3 with 2 K's, and we need a rally!


9th

Aramis Homers to right-center to lead off! one more run guys!
Fukudome singled and Shoppach walked, then Uggla struck out. Jacobs walked as a pinch hitter and Daryle Ward struck out to end the game as a pinch hitter.

Final Score:
Phillies 2, Cubs 1

Game 4

Cubs lead series 2-1

I have a much better feeling about this one. J.D. Durbin is going for them. We got Zambrano. Our bats are hot, and we only lost by one yesterday.

Only lineup change is Soto instead of Shoppach.

1st
Derrek Lee singled, scoring Aramis Ramirez.

Phils scored one on a groundout.


2nd
Zambrano doubled, but the position players couldn't get him in.

Durbin got a base hit and an RBI to take the lead.

Phillies: 2
Cubs: 1

3rd
We went 1-2-3

and so did they.

4th
Soto's struck out in his 2 ABs back from the DL.
No runs on to runners, Still 2-1.

and with the help of a 6-4-3, Zambrano has a 3 up, 3 down


5th

Another 1-2-3...


Utley homered into left field, to get one more.


6th
Mike Jacobs comes in and gets the RBI single to make it 3-2 in favor of Philly.

Okijima in to pitch the 6th...
and throws a scoreless frame.

7th
Lee grounded out to tie it up!

Wuertz into pitch...
Utley homered again, this time for 2 Runs.

Philles: 5
Cubs: 3


8th

1-2-3 AGAIN

Angel Guzman into pitch...
no runs despite a double.

9th

we need 2! But we get none, and no the series is tied...

Game 5 NLCS

ok, we got Lilly this time.

1st
Fukudome homered to take the early lead of 3-0!

And Lilly get a 1-2-3

2nd
Nothing happening.

Just a walk and that's it. still 3-0

3rd
Just a walk and that's it.

1-2-3

4th

1-2-3 again

Burrell homered to make it 3-2


5th
meat of the order goes down 1-2-3

4 Up, 3 Down, 1 single

6th
Fukudome singled, but erased on a double play.

2 hits by Howard and utley, but still 3-2
7th

1-2-3 on the bottom of the order.

another 1-2-3 for Lilly

8th
Soriano got a double, Lee walked, and Fukudome gets another RBI, his fourth today!

Cubs: 4
Phillies: 2

Phillies hurt themselves with a CS and caught going for extra bases.
9th
Soto doubled in the pinch-hit AB, Soriano singled, and Aramis homers for 3 more runs!

8-2 Cubs, just 3 more outs from victory #3 in the series.


Okijima is having some trouble, allowing a homer, single and steal, but gets out of it.

Cubs win! Cubs win! (8-3)

Game 6 NLCS

Back in Chicago, Cubbies have to win 1 of 2 to get to their first world series since 1945.

Rich Hill vs. Brett Myers:

(I'll only be posting scoring innings now)

in the First, Fukudome gets another RBI by driving in Aramis, but the big blow was Shoppach's grand slam.

Cubs: 5
Phillies:0

Rollins homered in the 3rd to make it 5-2.


He did it again! Shoppach hit a solo homer this time, in the 4th!

Cubs: 6
Phillies: 2
(After 4)

in the 5th, Soriano homered to left, a solo shot, to push the lead to 5!
Shoppach singles in his 3rd AB, but no RBI this time.

And the score continues to balloon! In the 6th, Aramis hits HIS grand slam, to make it 11-2!

Cormier in, and we're just 5 outs away from the World Series. Please, Phillies, don't hit any deep foul balls!

1-2-3 8th! Just 3 away!

Now 2 outs in the 8th, Shoppach up with the bases loaded, let's see what he can do this time...
Flies out. He's gotta get out sometime...


1 out in the 9th, man on second, and a Homer! Good thing we have 11 and they now have 4.

Utley grounds out, and with Howard up, looks like we'll make our trip to the World Series! Ground ball to short, And we win it!

The Owner's box explodes, and so does the stadium. The Owners are beside themselves, but we still need to win 4 more games...

World Series:

We'll be facing the Indians, who were 98-68 in the regular season and 7-3 in the Playoffs. They hit .278 as a team, but with an ERA of 4.13.

How come it is always the Cubs that seem to knock out the Rockies?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twinsGM

The Owner's box explodes, and so does the stadium. The Owners are beside themselves, but we still need to win 4 more games...

---

Sounds like the work of terrorists or at least, some unhappy Phils fans.

BTW, whatever happened to Manny? I know you were looking to unload him on someone but never saw where he went.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twinsGM

Manny has tanked so bad in rating for whatever reason, and is now benched (with a 12-day injury) for the up-and-comer Felix Pie. This move may be permanent while I try to find someone to deal Manny to in exchange for a Lefty bat.

---

Looks like it was permanent

I'll be posting about the first 3 WS games against cleveland tomorrow...

One day after we won Game 6 against the Phillies, The Indians defeated the Tigers in Game 6 of their series. The day after that, an off-day, the front office had our World Series meeting. We have 3-5 of these meetings each year; Offseason (at the beginning of it), Spring Training, All-Star Break, then a pre-playoff meeting if we make it and one like I am headed to, the World Series meeting, the first one the Cubs front office has ever had (they didn't have these meetings in 1945).

We decided our lineup would stay the same, but if Shoppach cooled off, Soto would take his 6 spot.
For pitching, there wasn't much argument there, either:
1. Zambrano
2. Lilly
3. Hill
4. Marquis
Mopup/extra RP: Cormier

CL: Marmol
SU: Guzman
MR: Delcarmen
SR: Okijima
SR: Wuertz
LR: Pena

Mainly, we discussed strategy and scouting reports, especially for the Indians' top 2 pitchers: Carlos Silva and C.C. Sabathia.


Game 1
In Cleveland

Carlos Silva vs. Carlos Zambrano

Our ace pitched very well. 7 Innings, 1 ER, but our offense couldn't help him out.

In the first, Soriano homered for a solo shot to left, and the Indians scored one in the 3rd to tie it.
Still with that score going into the 8th, Mike Jacobs delivered yet again on a Pinch-Hit AB, which drove in Shoppach, then Alfonso got his 2nd RBI by driving in Soto.

In the bottom of the 8th, Angel Guzman came into pitch with a 3-1 lead, but couldn't hold it. Giving up 5 runs, he could of possibly given the Indians momentum for the whole series, taken it all away from us and cost us the World Series.
Indians: 6
Cubs: 3

Game 2

Indians scored 3 in the first, but we made that up in the 6th and 7th. We couldn't score a run in the 8th or 9th, and the Indians took advantage, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th of Delcarmen. Lilly pitched well, 7.2 innings and just the 3 1st-inning runs, but our offense wasn't working again. My manager, John Farrell, had a meeting with the team the next day in Chicago right before BP. Farrell gave a great speech to the players, about how important it was to win this game, and how much it increases our chances for the rest of the series. Along with that, he had more tips for them from the scouting reports, and it rubbed off on the team that night at Wrigley...

Game 3
http://z.about.com/d/cleveland/1/0/X/U/-/-/logo2.jpg

http://www.leaguelineup.com/gaccubbi.../Cubs_Logo.jpg

Rich Hill started this game, and did as well as anyone expected him to do: 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 K

The Indians scored 3 in the sixth. No problem. We scored all our runs in the 7th, all 7, led by a 2-run homerun by Dan Uggla.

Cubs: 7
Indians: 3

Indians lead series, 2-1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rockiesfan4ever

Looks like it was permanent

---

yep, didn't really get much back, but gained a lot of budget room for the off-season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JeepGuy63

Sounds like the work of terrorists or at least, some unhappy Phils fans.

BTW, whatever happened to Manny? I know you were looking to unload him on someone but never saw where he went.

---

He got traded to Florida (why would they take him??) and I mostly just got Treanor back, but I'll post that whole deal...

Game 4

It was either Cormier or Marquis who would start this game, and based on playoff performances, we chose Marquis. That didn't go so well. He allowed 2 in the 1st, we got one in the first, and another in the 3rd, but the Indians offense unloaded in the 6th. The Tribe scored 8 runs, 5 off Marquis, who got one out in that innings, then 3 off Pena, who also got one out, the Delcarmen finally ended it, and went on to pitcher 2.1 innings allowing one run. We couldn't score once again, and the Indians scored 11 in the game, we scored 2. We have one game left in Chicago, and possibly in the season.

Pre-Game
I could feel the owners breathing down my neck for the whole of batting practice. After all these years of never having a trophy, they would settle for nothing less than a championship, and were disappointed when that didn't happen. and 'YEAH DAAAAWG' thought he had it tough....

To make matters worse, Rich Hill, the Game 7 starter if there is one (hopefully there is) told us he doesn't want to return to Chicago next season during BP. Pretty much, he doesn't like it here. He is a very good pitcher and I was interested in re-signing him for 2009, I decided I'll find someone else who would appreciate playing for us.

Game 5
From the atmosphere at Wrigley, you would think the Cubs were up 3 games to none, but it was still Indians 3, Cubs 1. That's what I love about Chicago. No matter what, we always have faithful fans, unlike many clubs who just have a handful of hardcore fans, and mostly fair-weather "fans.

The first third of the game was scoreless, but in the 4th, the owners' faces started to look as if they were attending a funeral for one of their parents. My face was close to the same, as were the 38,000+ Cubs fans at the game and the 100's of thousands watching at home. Victor Martinez hit a 2-run homer to get the 2-0 lead, and in the 6th, Hafner singled in a run to make it 3-0. But it didn't end there. Johnny Gomes doubled, scoring martinez, then Gutierrez homered in the very next AB, scoring 3. Every ounce of life was sucked out of the owner's box.
In the 8th, with a 7-0 score in favor of Cleveland, Soriano tripled, scoring the pinch-hitter Daryle Ward, but that was it. We showed no effort at all in the 9th, as Lee, Aramis and Fukudome all struck out to end it, and the Indians were world champs. "Maybe next year", Chicago, for the 100th time.

Nice Try

We had our second meeting in a week, in one of the meeting rooms at Wrigley, just 1 day after Game 5.
The owners and I put the World Series behind us very quickly, and we were already thinking of next year's possibilities.
For re-signings, here's what we did:

Released:
D. Ward
M. Jacobs
M. Treanor
A. Cintron
R. Hill
L. Cormier (we couldn't pay what he wanted)
R. Dempster
B. Howry
S. Erye
N. Cotts

Re-Signed:
Dan Uggla (1 year, 3.55 mil)
Carlos Marmol (1 year, 2.3 mil)
Angel Guzman (1 year, 2 mil)
Kelly Shoppach (1 year, 1.2 mil)


Our biggest loss was Rich Hill, who wanted 9 mil per year, but didn't want to stay in Chicago anyway, so we let him go.


The 3 best FA hitters were:
prince Fielder 87/93 seeking 13mil per
Corey Hart 91/91 seeking 9 mil per year
Miguel Cabrera 89/89 seeking 12 mil per year


We decided no on all of them, mainly because of money (26 mil under budget) but more importantly the positions they played were already taken on our roster.

Pitchers:
Seth McClung was one of our top choices (90/96, seeking 2.6 mil per), and he signed with us to become our new third starter, for 3 years, 2.3 per.

Dustin McGowan was another, to be our 4th starter. the 90/93 SP signed for 2 years, 6.35 per with a team option of 7 mil.

Our rotation was now:
1. Zambrano
2. Lilly
3. McClung
4. McGowan
5. Marshall 80/85

I still wasn't satisfied. I put Marshall and Marquis on the block, and Colorado offered Ubaldo Jimenez, 83/90.

I was real interested in Ubaldo, and I put together this offer, which was accepted:
CHC traded Marquis, Jason (P), Holliman, Mark (P), Marshall, Sean (P), Qunitero, Ramon (P) and Casmpusano, Edward (P) to COL for Jimenez, Ubaldo (P), Nix, Jayson (2B), Stewart, Ian (3B) and Smith, Seth (RF)

Now my rotation was awesome and young. The last piece of the Cubs to fix was the bench, and we called up Houston, who had just signed Willy Taveras.

CHC traded Petrick, Billy (P), Gomez, Danny (P) and Hart, kevin (P) to HOU for Taveras, Willy (CF) and $6,500,000

Taveras is very fast and has good contact, and he will compete with Pie for the starting CF job.

For my last moves, I aded 2 FAs:
Howie Kendrick for 2 years, 6.2 mil per (his 94 contact is just what we need off the bench)

Matt Diaz for 2 years, 5.15 mil per
(also great contact)


In just one week, right before spring training, my coaches and I will be sitting down to talk about our position battles, the roster and any FAs that are available still.

Trade Log: (putting this up here for reference)

1. CHC Traded Ascanio, Jose (P) and Veal, Donald (P) to BOS for Ramirez, Manny (LF) and $1,000,000


2. CHC traded Samardzija, jeff (P), Blanco, Henry (C) and $1,500,000 to FLA for Jacobs, Mike (1B) and Uggla, Dan (2B)

3. CHC traded Mateo, Juan (P) for Cormier, Lance (P) and $500,000

4. CHC traded Gallagher, Sean (P), Patterson, Eric (2B), Murton, Matt (LF), Pawelek, Mark (P) and $1,000,000 to BOS for Delcarmen, Manny (P) and Okajima, Hideki (P)

5. CHC traded Closser, J.D. (C) and Atkins, Mitch (P) to FLA for Ross, Cody (OF)

6. CHC traded Cedeno, Ronny (2B), Reynolds, Kyle (3B), Torres, Andres (LF), Hill Koyie (C), and Huseby, Chris (P) to ARI for pena, Tony (P)

7. CHC traded Lieber, Jon (P), Fontenot, Mike (P), Blanco, Andres (SS), Colvin, Tyler (CF), Jackson, Lewis (SS) to CLE for Shoppach, Kelly (C)

8.CHC traded Marquis, Jason (P), Holliman, Mark (P), Marshall, Sean (P), Qunitero, Ramon (P) and Casmpusano, Edward (P) to COL for Jimenez, Ubaldo (P), Nix, Jayson (2B), Stewart, Ian (3B) and Smith, Seth (RF)

9. CHC traded Petrick, Billy (P), Gomez, Danny (P) and Hart, kevin (P) to HOU for Taveras, Willy (CF) and $6,500,000

10. CHC traded Ramirez, Manny (OF), Mrestrik, Alessandro (P) and Pignatiello, Carmen (P) to FLA for Treanor, Matt (C) and $1,500,00

That's a busy year, I hope your cell phone has a lot of minutes

LOL, no I just use 5 different cell phones, and I usually don't run out of minutes.

Awards:
AL MVP: David Ortiz
NL MVP: mark Teixeira
AL Cy Young: CC Sabathia
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb
AL ROY: Taylor Teagarden
NL ROY: Kosuke Fukudome

(Tex had 11 more RBI than Soriano and an average 20 points better.

With Spring Training right around the corner, My coaches met me in the board room right next to my temporary office at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Arizona.

"Hello, gentleman." I said as they all entered at once.
They all entered at the same time, headed by manager John Farrell.

"You all know what you're here for, so let's get to it. Our roster. Let's start off with the lineup. At catcher, we got Kelly Shoppach and Geovany Soto."
Bob Apodaca, the pitching coach answered this one, "Soto is a better hitter, handles pitchers better, and with his young talent, we want to keep him in the lineup, not on the bench, where he could lose interest in the team and become unhappy."
"I agree." Dave Collins and Farrell both said.
"So, Soto's pretty much got the job, but we're keeping Shoppach on the roster as a backup and pinch hitter. Now, first base, I think Derrek Lee is the best choice there, especially since we released our 2 backup first-basemans." I said, "At second base, we've got Dan Uggla and Howie Kendick. This may be the toughest one here."


"I say since it's so close, we let them battle it out during spring training, but if I had to make a decision now, I'd go Uggla because he is a little better of a hitter, and can field just as well as Kendrick." Farrell said.
"yes, let them battle it out in March." Brad Mills, the 3rd-base coach said.


"Shortstop, our only option is Theriot, and he's good, so unless something goes terribly wrong during spring training, he gets the job." And everyone nodded in agreement.
We decided the same thing for third-base, left field and right-field, where we'd have Ramirez, Soriano and Fukudome.

In center, we have 3 candidates:
Willy Taveras, Matt Diaz and Felix Pie
I personally like Taveras, with his great contact and great speed, which are the 2 most important skills for a leadoff guy, which we need.
Farrell disagrees; "Pie is the same situation as Soto. We need him, and we don't want him to lose interest. He can hit good and field as well."

" That's not a good reason at all. We picked Soto because he is better than Shoppach anyway, but you're saying we take Pie over Taveras just because he is younger and will be better in 2012 than Willy? That's ridiculous! We're in it to win now! I'll trade Pie if he doesn't like there's someone better than him playing while he's not! We need to----" Farrel cut me off:
"Pie is almost as fast, and fast enough for a leadoff. Willy is over 30 years old, and Pie will be better than him next year and every year past that until he retires, maybe even this season!"
I told everyone we were going to take a break, and that they should come back in 10 minutes. As I walked over to my office and watched BP from my window, I thought about how I was going to get rid of one of my center fielders, and Pie was the one I thought was the best one to trade; the one we needed least and the one who'd get us the most in return, and if Farrell didn't like that, I could remove him from the club as well...

After the meeting resumed, we voted on our preferences, and the coaching staff decided Taveras is the front-runner going into spring training for the CF job and the leadoff spot.