Post by Peter - Boston Red Sox on Dec 4, 2017 16:50:10 GMT -5
I'm not nearly as good at this as a lot of you other guys but I am passionate about my team and wanted to put together some somewhat random thoughts from this last season. So here goes:
The Good
1) The starters had the 4th best ERA in the NL (3.65).
2) CL Augusto Vargas had 10 saves in 13 chances. RP Alfonso Avila was called up and moved to the closer role late in the season.
He had 2 saves in 3 chances and a sparkling ERA of just 1.69 in 13 games.
3) RP Gary Vasquez was claimed off waivers from MIL and pitched superbly in relief (6-1 with a 1.70 ERA). By far my best RP.
4) 1B Vincente Herrera was acquired at the trade deadline from COL. He hit .280/10/26 in 54 games for the Cubbies. Between COL and the Cubs, Herrera hit 30 homers and drove in 96.
5) CF Ramon Ayala continues to progress. The Cubs called him up last season , 2043, and he played in 59 games hitting just .219. He bounced between AAA Iowa and the ML club again this season managing to play in 60 games hitting .248. He has some speed (18/18) and plays great defense (+3.6 ZR rating). He's just 23 y/o and Cubs officials are hoping to see continued progression out of the youngster.
The Bad
1) Acquired several catchers over the course of the season by FA or through trades and none of them panned out.
2) The bullpen was 7th in the NL in ERA.
3) Cubs have not found a leadoff guy yet. Tried a few guys there but none of them seemed to thrive. SS Jesus Negron begged to be at the top of the order but hit just .266 with an OBP of .297. Not really an ideal leadoff guy. I miss Joe Aitcheson who we had for a season and then traded away. He was a great leadoff guy, hitting over .300 with a great OBP.
4) Disappointed in LF Kevin Edwards. He's just 25 y/o but Cubs scouts have him as a 4-star out of 4.5 star guy. His first full season on the ML roster was 2043 and managed to hit just .237 in 515 ABs. In 2044 he regressed a bit, hitting just .227 in 484 ABs. This season he did show he has some pop hitting 13 homers, up from 9 in 2043. He plays great defense in CF (+13.7 ZR rating) and RF (+3.0 ZR rating).
5) 3B Kazu Iwamoto acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline, hit just .256/10/36 in 46 games with the Cubs after hitting .247/21/43 in 100 games with the Twins. He was not as good defensively when he came over either (-0.4 ZR rating).
The UGLY
1) The hitting was awful all season constantly ranking at or near the bottom of the NL in every offensive category. The team batted just .244 (15th in NL) and had an OBP of just .306 (16th in NL). Tried to improve the offense by making several deadline deals for Herrera, Iwamoto, Francisco Serrano, Martin Bingham, and calling up George Case (who hit 29 HRs at A+ in 2042 and 26 HRs at AA in 2043). Nothing helped.
2) Cubs again finished well below .500 in 2044. In my six seasons as GM of the Cubs my record is 433-539 with one winning season (2042 when we earned a trip to the playoffs as a wild card team). Lots of trades I regret and acquisitions that didn't work out the way I planned over the 6 seasons.
3) Cubs lack that big-time hitter in the lineup, the guy you can count on to hit one out and consistently hits .300 or better. This team didn't hit and didn't get on base this season and that sunk my hopes of making the playoffs or having a winning record.
4) The farm system ranks #24 in the PBL with just three guys in the top 100 (SP Hall #60; SP McDonald #70; and SP deBoer #73)
I am excited about the upcoming season. The starting pitching looks good and a few tweaks to the bullpen and I should have a solid group there as well. I have a couple of solid youngsters like Ayala and Case that I am excited about seeing their continued progression. I think we will make some deals and look to acquire some offense this offseason. Plenty to be excited about on the Northside! GO CUBS GO!