Wood Stays

For $4.2 million, according to cubs.com, the Cubs buy another year of Kerry Wood. He'll get a shot at closing, pitted against Marmol in Spring Training, so they're not handing him the job. Should come down to who gives up the least walks, as both guys are nasty two-pitch closer types.

not-so-Hot Stove

With all the interesting rumors flying around, and the continued decay of our outfield ranks, I can't say the acquisition of Omar Infante and the signing of J.D. Closser are particularly satisfying. In any way. The Cubs need to move some young pitching and one of their now ubiquitous infield/utility players for a real outfielder.

I can understand the supposed interest in Carl Crawford, but not Kaz Matsui. Hopefully we'll see some good moves in the next couple weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving

At the corners

As I wait for the hot stove to heat up and inspire more fun with pitch data, I was kinda curious about where Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez stack up amongst previous Cubs at their position.

Using Baseball Reference's Play Index, and OPS+, I found we're doing quite well, historically speaking.

1B http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/HsYS

D Lee comes up 2nd, behind Cap Anson.

3B http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/uV9p

Aramis is also 2nd, between Madlock and Santo