Kosuke Fu...Wait....What?

Kosuke Fukudome (pronounced KOH-skay foo-koo-DOUGH-may) was at the top of the Cubs wish list this offseason much to the surprise of many Cubs fans. Not only did the Cubs target the exact type of player they needed, they succeeded in signing him. It's been an unusual feeling for Cubs fans who are used to coming in 2nd or 3rd in free agent bidding. Mike Piazza in 1998. Mike Hampton in 2000 (thank goodness for that Colorado school system). But even the free agents the Cubs did sign never quite turned out. Mel Rojas in 1996 (3 yr/13.75 mill). Jeff Blauser in 1997 (2yr/8.4 mill). And who could forget Todd Hundley's historically awful contract (4 yr/23.5 mill). So not only did the Cubs get two of their top free agent targets last year, Alfonso Soriano and Ted Lilly, they got their man this year.

Last year, the Cubs finished 18th in both OBP at .333 and Runs at 4.64 per game. Maybe the front office finally realized that to score runs, teams need baserunners no matter what Tim McCarver thinks. So they went out and signed the left handed outfielder (which Jim Hendry loves, just ask Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones, Felix Pie, Daryl Ward, Juan Pierre, Todd Hollandworth, Corey Patterson, and Jeromey Burnitz and thats just since 2005) who had a career .397 OBP in Japan. Its still unknown where he'll hit in the lineup and will depend on whether the Cubs get their next target, Brian Roberts, but we'll see how that plays out. As of now, I see the Cubs slotting Fukudome in the 5th slot behind Soriano, Theriot, Lee and Ramirez.

In 1995, seven professional teams bid for the rights for Fukudome out of high school but were declined because of his desire to play for the Chunichi Dragons. He instead joined an amateur team and was later selected to represent Japan in the 1996 Olympics. He was the youngest player to ever be selected for an Olympic baseball team and helped Japan finish with the silver medal. In 1998, he was drafted by his favorite childhood team, the Chunichi Dragons in the first round as a shortstop. He hit well his rookie year, posting a .284 batting average with 16 homeruns, but his defense was well below average. He had a very strong arm but could not consistently field groundballs. His second year he was converted to a third baseman but his fielding did not improve. It was not until he was converted to an outfielder his third year that he was able to put his speed and arm in the field to good use. He went on to win 4 gold gloves as a right fielder for the Dragons. Despite all his fielding troubles, Fukudome consistently hit. The past six years he has posted a .414 OBP and a .584 SLG, and won the MVP award in 2006. That year the 6' tall outfielder hit.351/.438/.653 with 117 Runs and 104 RBIs.

So how will Fukudome's stats in Japan translate in the MLB? Lou Piniella says he's a cross between Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. Former Pacific League manager and new Royals manager Trey Hillman compares him to Ichiro and last year's Japanese import Akinori Iwamura who hit .285/.359/.411 in 123 games last year. "He's short to the ball, he's got great balance, he stays inside the ball," Hillman said of Fukudome. "He's got more balance than left-handed, Japanese-style hitters with the leg lift." Keith Law took a different approach and actually compared him to a non-Japanese player, Bobby Abreu, "Fukudome's best attribute as a hitter is his willingness to work deep counts, reminiscent of Bobby Abreu's approach and results." Cubs assistant GM, Randy Bush took his comparison even further by comparing him to Steve Finley and stating, "He's one of those guys who does everything so fluid and graceful it stands out in your mind." I hope he's comparing him to the young Steve Finley. On second thought, he should stop comparing him to Steve Finley at all, it's making me worry.

Heres a look at a few players' stats from their Japanese league days and their MLB days:

Ichiro Suzuki:
JPN: .353/.421/.522 in 9 years
MLB: .333/.379/.437 in 7 years

Hideki Matsui:
JPN: .304/.413/.582 in 10 years
MLB: .295/.371/.485 in 5 years

Kaz Matsui:
JPN: .309/.361/.486 in 9 years
MLB: .272/.325/.387 in 4 years

Tadahito Iguchi:
JPN: .271/.349/.471 in 8 years
MLB: .276/.347/.421 in 3 years

Kenji Johjima:
JPN: .299/.360/.517 in 11 years
MLB: .289/.327/.442 in 2 years

So Taguchi:
JPN: .277/.387/.333 in 10 years
MLB: .283/.336/..391 in 6 years

Tsuyoshi Shinjo:
JPN: .254/.305/.432 in 13 years
MLB: .245/.299/.370 in 3 years

Kosuke Fukudome:
JPN: .305/.397/.543 in 8 years
MLB: ???/???/???

Looking at these other players it seems reasonable to expect batting average to stay about the same, OBP to decrease slightly, and SLG to decrease a decent amount. Except for So Taguchi whose SLG increased almost .060 points. But he was a teammate of Mark McGwire at one point, so it makes sense. Looking at PECOTA's projection of Fukudome, they expect his stats to drop off only slightly next year:

80 R/30 2B/4 3B/15 HR/58 RBI/70 BB/94 SO/9 SB/.289 BA/.401 OBP/.504 SLG

Nate Silver also commented:

PECOTA holds Fukudome’s playing time projection down because he missed about half of last season due to elbow surgery. If he’s healthy in spring training, that should no longer be a concern. And look at that pretty OBP! Fukudome is unlikely to be a huge power threat, but that on-base ability should address one of the Cubs‘ primary areas of weakness. His top comparables give you a pretty good idea of what sort of player we’re looking at; his is a fairly common profile for a left-handed outfielder.

His top comparables are listed as:

1. J.D. Drew
2. Gene Hermanski
3. Jim Edmonds
4. Fred Lynn
5. Johnny Grubb
6. Andy Van Slyke
7. Bobby Abreu

Will he be worth the $48 million dollar contract? I think he will be. Looking at the contracts being given to outfielders the past two years, this deal could look like a bargain. Torii Hunter will be making $18 million a year for 5 years. Andruw Jones will be making over $19 million for the next two years. Light hitting Juan Pierre will continue making $9 million for the next 4 years. And Gary Matthews is in the second year of his 5 year, $50 million dollar deal. However, most people worry that a Japanese player will take a while to adjust to America, which could be true. So far though, Fukudome seems comfortable with making these adjustments. One of the main reasons he chose the Cubs is because of Lou Piniella, who managed Japanese players Ichiro, Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Kazuhiro Sasaki in Seattle. He compares Piniella to his former manager Senichi "Burning Hat" Hosino, who baseball-reference.com describes as "known for fighting with players from other teams … screaming at players, hitting his own players and kicking dirt at umpires and attacking them." In a Japanese interview, Fukudome said, 'If Piniella is like Hoshino, I will like him."

Only a few more months remain for us to wait and see the Cubs' first Japanese player take his position where other once loved players have. The player his teammates will refer to as "Dome" will run out to right field wearing #1 and undoubtedly will receive the "Salaam" salute once given to Andre Dawson and Sammy Sosa. I don't know how good he will actually be, but what I do know is it was only 2 years ago that our outfielders were Todd Hollandsworth, Corey Patterson and Jeromey Burnitz. So I'm okay with taking a chance on a Japanese MVP.

Welcome Back Johnnie B

So he isn't coming back to the Cubs, but Dusty Baker is back in the NL Central. Last month, the Cincinnati Reds signed Baker to a 3 year deal making him the first black manager in their 117 year history. So what does this mean to the Reds and the rest of the NL Central? Well it depends on who you ask.

In San Francisco, Dusty is most known for his handling of superstars Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent and leading lesser talented teams to winning records. He won Manager of the Year three times and led the Giants to 7 winning seasons out of the 10 he managed. Despite taking the Giants to the World Series in 2002, he wasn't brought back and the Chicago Cubs signed him to take over their 67 win team.

Just looking at the improvement the Cubs made from 2002 to 2003, you would have to conclude that Dusty Baker was a big part of the turnaround. The team went from fifth place to winning the division by one game and making it to game 7 of the NLCS. Looking deeper into the season though, the team should've won more than 88 games.

In 2003, thirty-eight year old journeyman Lenny Harris had 131 ABs, posting a .255 OBP, while twenty eight year old Mark Bellhorn had 139 ABs, posting a .341 OBP. When asked about Bellhorn seeing more playing time, Baker responded, "He has been programmed, before we got him, by the A's. Their philosophy is taking a lot of pitches and getting deep in the count. Most times, I notice guys who come from the American League to the National League weren't used to being aggressive and took a lot of pitches. It's going to take time to change your mind-set." Of course, we remember Baker's quote about how he feels about OBP, "On base percentage is great if you can score runs and do something with that on-base percentage. Clogging up the bases isn't that great to me." So instead of using the switch hitting Bellhorn with an .080 higher OBP more, he used the 'aggressive' Harris.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the only instance of Baker preferring the less talented player. Shawn Estes made 28 starts despite posting a 5.73 ERA, while young pitchers Sergio Mitre and Juan Cruz were used sporadically. Players who Baker didn't favor, usually young players, were banished to the minors, bench, or occasionally other teams. And 'established veterans' were used in their place:

Ramon Martinez - 293 ABs - .333 OBP
Troy O'Leary - 174 ABs - .255 OBP
Tom Goodwin - 171 ABs - .328 OBP
Tony Womack - 51 ABs - .250 OBP

Of course, this trend continued throughout Baker's four years in Chicago. Players like Bellhorn, Jason Dubois, and Jerry Hairston were moved to make way for veterans such as Todd Hollandsworth, Jeromey Burnitz, Jose Macias, Rey Ordonez and of course Neifi Perez. In 2005, when asked why Perez was getting more time than youngster Ronny Cedeno, he answered, "I hear a lot of people say, 'Hey, put Cedeno in.' What am I supposed to do, push Neifi out now? This guy has saved us." In 2005, Perez had 572 ABs and posted a .298 OBP. 572 ABs! However, in defense of Baker, in his last season he was given much less talent and unsurprisingly finished in 5th place.

Of course, Baker's most noted for his handling of young pitchers. We all know what happened with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior who together combined for 31 starts of 150 of starts with over 120 pitches thrown. But what about other starters Baker managed?

Carlos Zambrano - 31 starts of 129 with 120+ pitches
Matt Clement - 6 starts of 64 with 120+ pitches
Livan Hernandez - 43 starts of 110 with 120+ pitches
Russ Ortiz - 33 starts of 144 with 120+ pitches
Shawn Estes - 22 starts of 160 with 120+ pitches

Chance of injury greatly increases when a pitcher goes over 120 pitches. So looking at these 7 pitchers, they went over 120 pitches 22% of the time, and this doesn't include the playoffs.

However, according to The Hardball Times:

Baker's pitchers throw 3.68 more pitches per start than expected. That's maybe an extra start-and-a-fifth a year. It's about 5-10 extra innings.

So it seems that to claim that Baker ruins pitchers' careers is hyperbolic at the least. Even if we account for the fact that younger pitchers should probably be throwing less innings, Baker still isn't quite the monster people make him out to be. Nevertheless, if he is worth 5-6 extra pitches per outing for a young pitcher, that may indeed be significant. There's certainly no reason not to be on the cautious side, and Baker's lack of caution with high-pitch outings is certainly disconcerting.

But Dusty Baker is not a professional arm shredder; he only leaves his starters out there for about three-and-a-half more pitches than expected.

So maybe Prior and Wood's injuries had nothing to do with Baker, it all depends on who you ask. But for now, we don't know for sure.

So what does this mean for Reds fans? We'll have to wait to see for sure but here some key aspects to look out for:

Adam Dunn - Dunn lacks the aggressiveness that Baker looks for in his players which will probably lead to Baker looking to move him as soon as possible, which would be July 15 since the Reds picked up his option this offseason.

Edwin Encarnacion - Last year, Encarnacion was pulled after not running out a pop fly. Baker has the reputation of being very laid back and not getting on his players for lack of hustle, and it'll be interesting to see if Encarnacion goes back to evil ways.

Free Agents - Baker has a positive reputation among players, mostly because of his laid back clubhouse. This could increase the interest of free agents to sign with the Reds.

Jay Bruce and Joey Votto - Baker loves veterans and Freel and Hatteberg (if resigned) could easily be given ABs that should go to Bruce and Votto. Bruce had a great season in the minors, going from A to AAA and posting a combined .319/.375/.587, and Votto put up .321/.360/.548 after being called up to the big club. They should be ready to start in 2008 but if Baker sticks to what he's done in the past, they'll be in a platoon with an established veteran.

Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto - Two homegrown pitchers who the Reds will be relying on for the next several years will be tested with Baker at the helm. Will he use them the same way he used Prior and Wood, or did he learn from his mistakes?

NL Central Managers - It'll be fun to see LaRussa, Baker and Piniella all in the same division. We know Baker already doesn't like LaRussa, and I'm sure there will be some tension between Baker and Piniella with Baker getting the short end of the stick in Chicago.

Neifi Perez - I'm sure Baker's already made him an offer for after his suspension. Reds fans better get used to him.

And this Baker quote might help Reds fans realize what they're in for, "I remember my old general manager Al Campanis telling me that a player doesn't reach his peak until he's somewhere between 32 or 36 and beyond..." Doesn't seem like the kind of manager a young, up and coming team needs right now.

Leveling the Playing Field

Carlos Zambrano. Jose Valverde. Robinson Cano. And of course, Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, and Manny Corpas. These are just a few of the players who have contributed greatly to their team's playoff appearances this season. And what do they all have in common? They were all brought up through their respective team's Latin American programs. In fact, these programs are one of the main ways for the small market teams to compete with large market teams.

What each team does is set up academies in different Latin American countries where they feel the most talented players are located. It is sort of a miniature campus where the players live, practice and attend English classes, which is mandated now by the MLB. They also learn other "skills" such as eating with a fork and using indoor plumbing. Scouts roam the country looking for young players, usually around ages 16 or 17, who they feel have the necessary skills to become an MLB prospect. When they find them, they are signed to a contract and then sent to their academy. The contracts are usually mediocre and the commitment is usually minimal. They then work with these young players for a period of time, usually around a year, and determine which ones are good enough to be sent to the minor leagues in the US. So basically, they are acquiring the top talent in their area at low costs.

Most teams have had Latin American programs for some time, but were not investing much time and effort into them. They would occasionally acquire a player who succeeded in their system, but did not rely on such success. Now some teams are investing upwards of a million dollars in their systems realizing that its a small price when it comes to finding the best talent at low costs. In the US, a first round pick can sign for millions of dollars, such as the 2007 first overall pick David Price, who signed for $8.5 million. In Latin America, a team can sign several prospects for much less than that. Also, in the US, all teams already know about the highly touted high school or college players and almost all teams are scouting them. They aren't really secrets around the MLB. This isn't so in Latin America where a key to success is finding the talented players before other teams do.

This system was heavily criticized several years ago because of its process of weeding out the less talented players. However, teams have increased their salaries to these young Latin American players and the academy accommodations have also been vastly improved. In 2003, teams invested $76 million dollars in the Dominican Republic alone, as well as $15 million to run the academies. As of today, only one team does not at least share an academy in the Dominican, the Milwaukee Brewers. Also, four teams, the Mets, Indians, Mariners and Red Sox have installed a program, Prepara, which is an adult education program that teaches the players core subjects such as math and science. After a certain amount of hours in the classroom, the kids are awarded high school diplomas. Therefore, the players who don't make it to the pros will still have an education to fall back on, especially since free education for these kids ends after 8th grade. It also helps the players become accustomed to American culture. In the early days of these academies, many players who had the talent could not make it in the US because they could not handle the adjustment to American culture. With all this money being spent, it's still much cheaper than signing a first round pick in the MLB draft. Plus you get to work with some of these Latin American players at the age of 16, two years more than you would a high school draft pick.

Just look at the two teams in the NLCS. The Rockies were 25th in payroll at the beginning of the year, and the Diamondbacks were right behind them at 26th. The Diamondbacks have done it more with draft picks but still have a few players who were brought up from their Latin American academies such as Miguel Montero, Tony Pena, Jose Valverde, and Edgar Gonzalez. But the Rockies' strategy in Latin America is the one to emulate.

Ten years ago, the Rockies spent about $50,000 a year on their Latin American program. This year they've spent over $1 million. In 1999, the first year of their rebuilding under Dan O'Dowd, they shared an academy with the Diamondbacks in the Dominican Republic. They now have their own on the island, for their players to live and practice. They treat their academies as if they were one of their minor league teams, with all the young players working with all the instructors and coaches, as if they had already made it to the pros. One of the main reasons for the Rockies success is the scouting system which has allowed them to scout players such as Morales, Jimenez and Corpas as well as others. Of the top 30 prospects in the Rockies system, 10 have started out in the Latin American academies. Before the overhaul of the program, the only two players that Colorado brought up from their Latin American program were Juan Uribe and Neifi Perez. Now the Rockies aren't surprised when a young Latin player succeeds in their system, they expect it. And they continue to increase the number of their scouts so that they can continue to find talented players throughout Latin America. Such as, they're now making huge progress in Mexico thanks to the hiring of Vinny Castilla as a special assistant to the GM.

Another team to look at is the Houston Astros. From 1989 to 2005, their Venezuelan academy developed over 130 professional players including Bobby Abreu, Melvin Mora, Carlos Guillen, Richard Hidalgo, Freddy Garcia and Johan Santana. Granted, only Richard Hidalgo actually played for the Astros, these players' success shows they were able to scout and develop talent in their Latin American program. Also, Carlos Guillen and Freddy Garcia were involved in the Randy Johnson trade of 1998 which helped them win their division. So they've benefited from their program in a different way than the Rockies, but they still were able to better their team by investing the time and effort needed.

A mix of having great scouting programs in the US and in Latin America is the way to build a franchise from the ground up and is definitely a way to level the playing field like Colorado has shown this year. Just how successful is the Rockies scouting? Their minor league system is in the top 5 and they have a $54 million dollar payroll and are in the NLCS this year. And $17 million of that is going to just Todd Helton. So that's $34 million dollars left for 24 other players. Small market teams such as the Royals and Pirates probably shouldn't be spending $55 million dollars for a starter or trading for a pitcher still owed $19, they should be improving their Latin American programs so that they can sign 4 or 5 players with that money. The Gil Meche's and Matt Morris's of the MLB might work out for that type of money, but by investing in young, cheaper talent, you improve your team's future just like the Rockies and Diamondbacks have done. Even Tampa Bay has learned that it is the only way they can even try to compete within their division. This year they opened a new academy in Valencia, Venezuela and plan on eventually opening their own academy in the Dominican Republic where they currently share one with the Dodgers. They've also hired the two men responsible for Houston's success in Venezuela, Gerry Hunsicker and Andres Reiner. With all these improvements, Tampa Bay is at least giving themselves a shot to become a better team without having to spend millions of dollars on free agents.

So what have the Cubs done to take advantage of all the talent that's available in these countries? Well, not much. When Jim Hendry was hired as GM, he revamped the entire Latin American program in hopes of obtaining more talent from it. He opened an academy in the Dominican Republic but was already at a disadvantage being one of the last to do so. They hired a new head scout, Oneri Fleita who went on to hire more scouts since the previous ones hadn't produced. They had players, but not very good ones. Fleita planned on changing this.

We all know about Carlos Zambrano, the tall and skinny player the Cubs signed at age 16 for $120,000. In 1996, they signed Francis Beltran as their first ever Latin American player for their program. He pitched in 41 games for the Cubs and then was involved in the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004. This year, Carlos Marmol jumped to the front of the line of success stories with his great season out of the bullpen. As of now though, the success of the program is still in question with the likes of Ronny Cedeno, Angel Guzman and Felix Pie still not playing larger roles with the big league club. Here's a rundown of some players the Cubs have signed from their Latin American program who have made it to the professional level:

1996 - Francis Beltran (P)
1997 - Juan Cruz (P), Carlos Zambrano (P)
1999 - Ronny Cedeno (IF), Carlos Marmol (C)*, Angel Guzman (P), Jose Reyes (C), Reynel Pinto (P)
2000 - Robinson Chirinos (IF)
2001 - Felix Pie (OF), Juan Mateo (P), Carlos Rojas (IF), Alberto Garcia (OF), Edward Campusano (P), Adalberto Mendez (P), Issmael Salas (IF)
2003 - Jon Mota (IF)
2004 - Wellington Castillo (C)
2005 - Marco Carillo (P), Rafael Dolis (P)
2006 - Larry Suarez (P), Robert Hernandez (P), Marwin Gonzalez (IF), Gian Guzman (IF), Herman Ramos (P)

*Carlos Marmol was originally signed as a catcher but quickly was converted to a pitcher. Thankfully.

The 2006 class is highly thought of by the Cubs organization with 17 year-old Larry Suarez being the team's big signing. Hopefully some of these players will contribute to the big club in the future and the Cubs will continue to improve their Latin American program. But for now, let's hope some of our other guys step up and play big roles in next years team just the Rockies big 3 stepped up for their team this year.

Derrek Lee as Derrek Lee

On October 18th, Derrek Lee will be starring in the television drama "ER" as...well...himself. On September 20th, the first Cubs day off in over three weeks, Derrek Lee showed up at Wrigley Field to make his acting debut. He had four lines and didn't seem overwhelmed by the spotlight on set. I would have to imagine standing in against a Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt is a little more nerve wrecking.

Lee made this brief appearance on ER in exchange for something he easily would've paid a pretty penny for, a chance to get the word out about Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), the condition his 4 year old daughter suffers from. A year ago, Jada Ryan Lee lost the vision in her right eye and doctors diagnosed her with the rare condition. Along with Boston Celtic owner Wyc Grousbeck, Lee started the foundation "Project 3000" which aims to identify the 3000 or so people who suffer from LCA and help them get treatment. So in return for Lee starring in this episode, LCA will be the main subject of an ER episode in January 2008.

Gene Wojciechowski was at Wrigley Field for the filming of Lee's scene and asked him about the support he has been receiving from people.

"It kind of restores your faith in people," said Lee, who wore his red Project 3000 bracelet on his left wrist. "People really do care and just want to help. Right now, I've got a $10 check in my locker from a kid who just wanted to help."

So on October 18th, don't forget to watch Lee's acting debut, and look out for the January episode that Lee would definitely much rather you tune in to.

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Here are some links about the Lee's, LCA, and Project 3000:

Wojciechowski: Lee's best role yet

Crasnick: Daughter's retinal disease brings life into focus for Lee

Project 3000

Wait 'till next year

We've all heard it before. Probably have even said it a few times. Hell, it's the title of the Cubs documentary on HBO. And unfortunately, it'll continue this offseason leading us into our 99th year without a World Series championship. Yes, the wounds may be still fresh, but as many Cubs fans know it's never too early to start thinking about next year. And a good place to start is the roster, to determine who will be back, who should be back, and who better start talking to his agent.



See You in Spring Training:


Alfonso Soriano: He'll be roaming left field for the next several years. The question is how long will be leading off?

Derrek Lee: The Gold Glove first baseman is signed through 2010 and has a full no trade clause. I don't see them wanting to trade him anytime soon anyways.

Aramis Ramirez: Injuries slowed him down this year limiting him to only 132 games. It's never good to see a 30 year old third baseman get so many days off throughout the season. He's locked up till 2011 but can opt out after 2010.

Mark DeRosa: "This isn't a contract that's likely to work out well." This was Keith Law's review of the DeRosa signing in the offseason. He played six different positions and had a .371 OBP this year. So far so good.

Carlos Zambrano: He finally he got his extension even though his season was so up and down. His Cy Young and World Series talk was a little too much and hopefully he'll let his pitching do the talking next year.

Ted Lilly: He had a solid season as the number two starter and will be slotted in the same spot next year.

Rich Hill: He led the team in strikeouts this year and looked unhittable at times. He'll be the number three next year completing a pretty solid 1-2-3, in the NL at least.

Daryle Ward: The pinch hit specialist has a team option for 1.2 million next year and the Cubs would be silly not to pick it up.

Carlos Marmol: He had an amazing season out of the bullpen. Lou Piniella relied on him heavily to get out of tough jams and he did, stranding 88 percent of inherited runners. But will he be given a chance to close next year?

Bob Howry: The set up man also had a good season with a near 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. He'll be pitching for a contract next season and should be setting up again, but I can see him being given a chance at closing in spring training.

Scott Eyre: Stevie Ire had an awful first half of the season and was relegated to mop up duty. But in the second half he was almost unhittable posting a 0.81 ERA and averaging about 8 K/9. He has one more year left and will be the go to left hander in the pen, unless of course he duplicates his first half of this season.

Michael Wuertz - Lou Piniella used him a lot down the stretch and rightfully so. He averaged more than 2 strikeouts per walk and posted almost 10 K/9.

Matt Murton: He'll be back next year but whether he'll start or not is the question. He should be given the job right field job in spring training but we'll see what Lou will decide.

Ryan Theriot: The Cubs considered him to be a super sub at the beginning of the season, but his play made them rethink that and thankfully forced them to trade Cesar "Hot Zones" Izturis. He needs to walk more so he can take advantage of his speed. Piniella has confidence in The Riot but Hendry might do some window shopping in the offseason just to see whats out there. And we can't forget those A-Rod rumors.

Geovany Soto: The Pacific Coast League MVP came up and proved that he belonged. He overcame the weight issue that plagued him throughout his career and should be written in as the starting catcher next season.

Henry Blanco: Hank White has one year left on his contract and has been a big influence on Soto. He will give the kid some days off here and there, plus he has all those awesome tattoos.

Kevin Hart: The Cubs' Minor League Pitcher of the Year performed well enough to make the postseason roster. He'll be given a chance to be the fifth starter. If not, he'll definitely have a place in the bullpen.

Ryan Dempster: Sadly, he will be back next year because of his asinine salary. Most people think he'll lose his job as closer next year, but if he does, I would assume he'd be given a chance at a spot in the rotation. It's a lose/lose situation.

We'll Call You

Ronny Cedeno/Mike Fontenot/Eric Patterson: One of them will be back to be the backup infielder. Fontenot started off really hot when he came up but faded down the stretch. Cedeno started off slow and really got it together when he got called back up at the end of the season. Patterson has the most talent but got himself in trouble by showing up late to a game. It will probably come down to who has the better spring training.

Jacque Jones: The man that everyone loved to hate, then love, then hate again would probably not mind being moved this offseason. The Cubs couldn't give him away at mid-season and when the trade to Florida fell through, he was named the everyday center fielder where he went on to finish strong. Go figure. He's scheduled to make 5 million next year which is reasonable unless...

Felix Pie: Pie could be given the starting job next year which could lower the Cubs desire to keep Jones. But they'll probably hold on to Jones unless they know for sure that Pie is ready. He played good defense but struggled to hit. If he can show he can handle facing major league pitching, its his job to lose.

Cliff Floyd: The often injured outfielder played well enough this year to merit a role as a bench player next year. But will Floyd accept less money and a smaller role?

Kerry Wood: The often injured pitcher surprised everyone by becoming healthy enough to return to the team at mid-season. He pitched well and deserves a spot in the pen next year as well. But what kind of contract will he be looking for? He's already cost the Cubs a ton of money and it's hard to commit to a pitcher who has missed as much time as he has.

Will Ohman: He had his problems with the Cubs front office and struggled throughout the season. The only reason he has a chance at coming back is because he has one year left on his deal.

Sean Marshall: He made 19 starts this season, 10 of them being quality starts. He pitched well enough to be given another shot to start next year but not making the postseason roster shows the Cubs might not agree.

Good Luck Next Year...

Jason Kendall: After joining the Cubs he posted a .362 OBP which was about 60 points higher than the previous backstops this season. He couldn't throw out anyone and no longer has much speed. But hey, he made $60 million dollars over the past six seasons. I hope he invested it wisely.

Craig Monroe: He'll want more money and a starting job, neither of which the Cubs will offer.

Steve Trachsel: Thanks for playing.

Mark Prior: Unless he takes a massive pay cut, the Cubs will let him loose. It was fun while it lasted, well for that one year at least. And until that one postseason start. But everything in between was nice.

Jason Marquis: A guy can hope can't he?