The Chicago Cubs haven’t won the World Series in 100 years.  That’s fairly common knowledge by now in the sports community, but what’s even more remarkable is that over that century, they have had no consecutive playoff appearances.  That’s almost hard to believe, but true.  Everybody has a bad century every now and then, right?

The Milwaukee Brewers were an American League team the last time they made the playoffs just over a quarter-century ago (1982) and the MVP of the AL, Robin Yount, is now in the Hall of Fame.  Their only other playoff berth was the strike-shortened season the year before in 1981 when they played only 109 games.  In that odd 1981 season, Major League Baseball decided its playoff teams by first half and second half leaders, much like several minor leagues currently do. 

All that could change in 2008.  The Cubs have the best record in the National League and are the current favorite to win the NL Pennant.  It would also mark consecutive playoff appearances since they won the NL Central in 2007.  Meanwhile the Brewers are currently leading the chase for the NL Wild Card by 3.5 games and are 21 games over .500.  Clearly each of these teams had a quality roster coming into the 2008 campaign, but Cubs’ GM Jim Hendry and Brewers’ GM Doug Melvin are the first two names that come to mind for National League Executive of the Year.  The Brewers’ acquisition of C.C. Sabathia and the Cubs’ trade for Rich Harden have proven to be wildly successful for each club thus far. 

  Rich Harden has been dominant in his eight starts for the Chicago Cubs.  He’s recorded double digit strikeouts in five of those eight games.  His ERA and WHIP are nasty and hitters have hit .162/.229/.312 against him since the trade.  The Cubs were going to playoffs before they traded for Harden.  They were going to break the ugly mark of 100 years without consecutive playoff appearances.  That was pretty clear.  But what would it matter to go three games and out like in 2007?  After the Cubs lost game one at Arizona in the NLDS last year with Carlos Zambrano on the mound, things looked grim even before Ted Lilly was bashed to the tune of six earned runs in just 3.1 innings.  Eight Major League Baseball teams make the playoffs every year.  Only one of those eight will win the World Series.  The Cubs were going to be one of the four of 16 NL teams represented in this year’s playoffs, but the depth and talent to the rotation that Rich Harden adds dramatically increases their chances at their first World Series title since 1908.

  C.C. Sabathia is going to earn a gigantic new contract at the conclusion of the 2008 season.  He’s a 28-year-old, hard-throwing, talented, and durable starter coming off a Cy Young award in 2007 and a remarkably similar 2008 year.  It’s also highly likely that the Milwaukee Brewers will not be the team that signs him to the riches in his future.  If that’s the case, they’re getting their money’s worth on their half-season rental of the prized lefty.  They gave the Indians their top prospect, Matt LaPorta, but they are getting every bit of use out of Sabathia.  In his ten games in the National League, he’s thrown five complete games, including two shutouts.  He’s averaging 111.1 pitches per outing and 7.6 innings.  (Meanwhile, the Cubs have limited Rich Harden to an average of 98.5 pitches and 6.125 innings per start.  Injuries have always been Harden’s downfall, but the Cubs have hardly been conservative with him.) People have whispered Sabathia’s name for NL Cy Young, which he neither deserves nor has the numbers for, but take a look at his overall statistics for the 2008 season.  The Indians have been brutal in 2008 and while Sabathia got off to a slow start, he pitched well before the trade.  His undefeated streak for the Milwaukee Brewers have his overall 2008 numbers looking very similar to his 2007 numbers through 28 starts, except in this season his ERA is better in more innings pitched.

* 2007 AL Cy Young

Clearly each of these teams needed another big-time arm to go behind staff aces Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets.  Jim Hendry and Doug Melvin deserve much credit for rolling the dice and each move has shown instant success.  In fact, it’s quite likely that these two are matched against one another in Game 2 of the 2008 National League Championship Series. Now each squad has the 1-2 punch in the starting rotation to not only make the playoffs, but win in the playoffs and even beat the American League representative in the World Series.  

 Loading …

   The National League Central just got a lot better this week.  Remember in 2007 when the Chicago Cubs won this division with only 85 wins?  Now it looks pretty certain that the NL Wild Card will come from the Central.  In fact, the three best records in the National League come from this same division. 

Within hours of the Milwaukee Brewers trading for last year’s AL Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, the Cubs traded for the talented, but often-injured Rich Harden. 

Chicago Cubs receive:

Rich Harden:  5-1, 77 IP, 92 K/31 BB, 2.34 ERA, 1.143 WHIP.

Chad Gaudin:  5-3, 62.7 IP, 44 K/17 BB, 3.59 ERA, 1.277 WHIP.

Oakland Athletics receive:

Sean Gallagher:  3-4, 58.7 IP, 49 K/22 BB, 4.45 ERA, 1.364 WHIP.

Matt Murton:  .250/.286/.300 in 40 at bats.

Eric Patterson:  .237/.318/.342 in 38 at bats.

Josh Donaldson:  .223/.282/.385 in Midwest League (Low A).

Rich Harden’s 2.34 ERA is good enough for 2nd in the American League.  There’s just one problem.  He hasn’t thrown enough innings to qualify in the discussion.  (A pitcher must have at least one inning pitched per team game to qualify for the ERA title.)  What a perfect microcosm for Rich Harden’s career.  The hard-throwing right-hander is incredibly talented, but cannot seem to stay healthy.  He has never broken the 200 innings pitched barrier, only once throwing an inning per team game (189.7 IP in 2004).  But Harden’s talent is unmistakable:  he’s struck out nearly a batter per inning in his career while allowing much less than one hit per inning (541.7 innings, 523 strikeouts, 442 hits allowed).  Currently Rich Harden ranks 11th in the American League with 92 strikeouts in only 77 innings.  All of the 10 pitchers ahead of Harden are over the 100-inning mark.  In 10th place, Felix Hernandez has one more strikeout than Harden (93), but has thrown 31 more innings (108).

Chad Gaudin is a solid swingman and is only 25-years old.  The Cubs will use him in relief and he is one hell of an extra player in this trade.

Matt Murton, a 2003 first rounder of the Boston Red Sox, came to the Cubs as part of the Nomar Garciaparra trade.  The Cubs mishandled Murton a bit by keeping him in the Majors as a fourth outfielder to platoon versus left-handed pitching.  However, he is only 26 and his career line is .294/.362/.448, certainly a serviceable–and cheap–outfielder for Oakland.

Eric Patterson is not the Moneyball player that Athletics GM Billy Beane usually profiles.  He is very athletic, much like Oakland’s first round draft choice last month, second baseman Jemile Weeks.  Patterson is a utility type of player defensively, but could be the wild card of this trade if the power in his offensive game develops.  In 49 games (189 at bats) in Triple-A this season, Patterson’s line was .323/.356/.519 with 10 stolen bases.

Josh Donaldson was selected by the Cubs in the sandwich round of the 2007 draft.  He is a catcher from Auburn University and had a great professional debut, compiling an OPS of 1.050 in 53 games in two short-season leagues last year. 

The Cubs received a top-flight arm in Rich Harden’s, but will he be a reincarnation of Mark Prior for Cubs’ fans?  It’s definitely worth the risk since Chicago gave up four players who will probably end up being either reserves or decent regulars.  Also, Harden is due to make $4.5 million this season and now his new club–the Cubs–hold an option for the 2009 season worth $9 million. 

In a very short time, the NL Central has become very formidible.  Are the St. Louis Cardinals next in hiring a gun for a postseason run or will they continue to rely on Dave Duncan’s magic?  Right now, it does not look like St. Louis will make any major move, but they do have the second-most wins in the National League with their rag tag pitching staff.  The Brewers surely believe they can earn a playoff spot with the acquisition of C.C. Sabathia.  The Chicago Cubs want to make sure that if the Brewers make the playoffs, it is via the Wild Card.  They now have Rich Harden–who makes his NL debut on Saturday–and their sights set on back-to-back National League Central titles.

  Lou Piniella named Kerry Wood as the team’s closer for the 2008 season.  Of course, Carlos Marmol seems the better choice for the Chicago Cubs.  The battle to be the Cubs’ 9th inning guy was dicussed here, with Marmol receiving the voters’ mandate.  Wood’s stuff is still incredible, but his makeup is prime for meltdown as a closer, probably the most pressure packed role in MLB.  Piniella also named Ryan Dempster, the club’s closer for the past three seasons, as the number three starter.  Someone in the organization finally figured out that a starter other than Rich Hill (preferably a right-hander) should follow Ted Lilly in the rotation, since they are both lefties who feature an 89-91 mph fastball to set up a big overhand curveball.  The Cubs also signed recently-released Reed Johnson to platoon in the outfield, probably to sit Felix Pie versus lefties.

At some point, you can’t blame an organization’s failures on a curse.  It’s been 100 years since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series.  That’s a rough century.  Remember the Florida Marlins began in 1993 and have won two World Series titles since their establishment.

Maybe Kerry Wood will evolve into a fine closer.  Or maybe Cubs fans will be left heartbroken again.

A good college team could win the National League Central. Ok, that’s a joke, but this division was by far the weakest in the Majors in 2007. The Cubs won it last year with only 85 wins, and were quickly swept in the first round of the playoffs. They are the favorite to repeat as division champs in 2008, but the Brewers are young and talented. Many thought last season was the going to be the breakout year for Milwaukee, but they went 9-18 in August and the Cubs won the division. The Cardinals’ aging teams of the last decade have finally caught up to them. They won’t be formidable until Albert Pujols’ and Chris Carpenter’s aching elbows are soothed. The Astros have added Miguel Tejada and Jose Valverde and could make some noise in this division in 2008. The Reds will be exciting in 2008 because hot prospects Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, and Homer Bailey will all become regulars. Pittsburgh is just bad. Real bad.

Check out the teams:  UPDATE:  All of the 2008 outlooks for the NL Central teams are now posted. 

http://thebigleaguebeat.com/2008-nl-central-preview/

 Loading …

Ok, here is one for all you Cubs fans.  The Carlos Marmol player comparison is interesting.  So is the theory on Kerry Wood’s development (or lack thereof).

http://thebigleaguebeat.com/cubs-closer-job/

Closers may get saves, but they aren’t necessarily saviors.  Only Arizona of the National League playoff teams had a start-to-finish legitimite shutdown closer (and to show how much they appreciated him, they traded him to Houston this offseason).  The window of opportunity and shelf lives of these guys are very slim.  So who is going to be the Cubs’ closer?  100 years is enough already.  Let’s hear from the aww-shucks, woe-is-me Cubs fans on this one.

 Loading …