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I wrote on facebook: “Congratulations to the most spoiled fans in the world, however… Thank you…Becasue I hate the Phillies with a Passion” to which a Yankee friend replied, “But Dan, they’re are 3rd graders who haven’t seen this yet” to which I replied but there are 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th and 12th graders that have.

Oh and I forgot to congratulate the Phillies and their fans 2 seasons ago – for their desire to have us hate them and take them seriously… Well done. Seriously though. Well done.

The Mets have a sundry of needs that Omar Minaya or whomever else assumes GM needs to attend to: mainly c, 1b, 2b, lf, and sp. I say 2b because it seems they are attempting to trade Luis Castillo and then potentially offer a deal to Orlando Hudson, which scares me if the Mets have to provide another multi year deal to an aging 2nd baseman who was benched for Ronnie Belliard during the (p)lay-offs. I’ll stop assuming our prospects pan out and offer a scenario that lands the Mets a 1b,2b,lf,and sp. I also won’t propose trading 15 tier 3 prospects for 4 mlb all stars.

Trade 1) NYM-Jankees: Carlos Beltran(cf), Wilmer Flores/Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada (preferably the later middle infield prospect), Urbina/Moviel/Familia(sp prospect) for Robinson Cano(2b) and Phil Hughes(sp).

* I know the Yankees could have had Beltran for just cash prior to him signing with the Mets, but this provides the Yankees with an every day (when healthy) offensive centerfielder and then they can sign Chone Figgins or Orlando Hudson for 2b and use Flores/Havens/Tejada at ss or 2b when that contract or Jeter’s career is over.

Trade 2) NYM-Brewers: Ike Davis(1b prospect), Fernando Martinez (of prospect), Mike Pelfrey(sp), Brad Holt (sp prospect) for Prince Fielder(1b).Maybe Angel Pagan(of) &/or Daniel Murphy(if-of) can also be involved in the deal for Carlos Gomez (cf) otherwise the Mets CF will come by way of free agency…

Trade 3) NYM-Cubs: The already infinitely proposed deal (except straight up with cash consideration coming the Mets way), Luis Castillo(2b) for Milton Bradley(lf)

Mets 2010 Free Agent signings: Mike Cameron(cf) if Carlos Gomez isn’t involved in the Brewers deal, Randy Wolf(sp), and Erik Bedard or Ben Sheets(sp) contingent on health reports and monetary demands.

*I haven’t added monetary figures to this scenario but if you include the salary subtractions of Delgado, Wagner, Putz, Schneider, Sheffield, Tatis, and Cora the Mets would have a payroll at 10-15 million less than last year ( and that takes into account salary and arbitration raises). The Mets Lineup and Rotation (depth) would look as follows:

1-Jose Reyes/ss

2-David Wright/3b

3-Robinson Cano/2b

4-Prince Fielder/1b

5-Milton Bradley/lf

6-Jeff Franceour/rf

7-Mike Cameron/cf

8-Santos/Thole/Free Agent Catcher

1-Johan Santana

2-Randy Wolf

3-Erik Bedard/Ben Sheets/John Maine

4-Phil Hughes

5-Oliver Perez/Jon Niese

6-Misch/Stoner/Nieve/Figueroa/Mejia

That’s an AL East competitor even, but so are the Phillies. The Mets must match up to them lineup spot by lineup spot and rotation slot by rotation slot.

I’ve been slightly unprofessional offering a sundry of random trade offers the Mets should at least attend to (all of them being interesting but completely unrealistic). Some could realistically happen if it were proposed by the actual GM’s, such as Beltran + SP prospect for Matt Cain or the Farm for Nick Markakis or Prince Fielder, however I don’t think any big trades will occur this season, because as you’ve already been hearing, many of the Mets prospects are seasons away from the majors (Jenrry Mejia/sp; Brad Holt/sp; Wilmer Flores/if; Reese Havens/Ruben Tejada/mi; Jefry Marte/3b). I think all 6 are MLB talent, but all 6 are under or well under 23 years of age. The most interesting unrealistic trade I’ve recently thought about is: Matt Cain & Pablo Sandoval for Carlos Beltran, Fernando Martinez, Daniel Murphy, Tejada/Havens/Flores-mi or Marte/Lutz-3b, and Niese/Mejia/Holt-sp. The Mets would have to use Angel Pagan every day at CF so this is somewhat unrealistic, but maybe we could trade back for Carlos Gomez to man CF at CITI Field along with Pagan. He shouldn’t cost too much (maybe a MI/3b prospect not in the Cain & Sandoval deal). Again, this is highly unlikely because both Cain and Sandoval are fantastic and cheap.

A possible trade that does make some sense: Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/09/discussion-milton-bradley-for-oliver-perez.html) discusses a Cubs-Mets swap of Milton Bradley and Oliver Perez – both disappointing and costly. As per Tim Dierkes post, Joel Sherman of the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/hardball/up_yanks_postseason_al_mvp_bradley_OGXQ3Gwj8DrsvfRTrOZGXN) also wonders if Carlos Zambrano & Luis Castillo could switch sides. It’s an interesting idea. The Mets could get their #2 starter they need in Zambrano and an OF in Bradley if they don’t think Angel Pagan & Prospect Ike Davis (who has mainly played 1b) could play every day. If the Mets are willing to take on all the money, I don’t see why the Cubs wouldn’t trade Zambrano & Bradley straight up for Perez & Castillo, but maybe the Mets would have to offer up a 2nd/3rd tier prospect in addition. Zambrano’s a good quality SP, but if we take on Bradley’s entire salary that’s 28ish million per year coming the Mets way and only 18 million per year going the Cubs way. This gives the Cubs lee-way to resign Rich Harden/sp & Reed Johnson/of.  If the Mets were to pull the trigger on this, they would then need a 2b (Chone Figgins preferably – I’d rather sign him to 3-4 years at 11-12mm per than Orlando Hudson for 8-9mm per year for 2 years I think). The Mets would use Anderson Hernandez at MI to back up Reyes and Castillo/Figgins/Hudson then. Our rotation after this would look like Santana; Zambrano; Pelfrey; Maine/Parnell; Niese/Figueroa/Nieve. I still think we need one more consistent starter for the rotation. According to Rotoworld (http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=3044), Jeff Francoeur says Jason Marquis would love to pitch for the Mets. To me, he does epitomize a consistent #3 starter.

So if the Mets pulled the Cubs trade, signed Figgins, and Marquis that’s about 30-34mm in additions to the team. Carlos Delgado, Billy Wanger, JJ Putz, Gary Sheffield, Fernando Tatis, Alex Cora, and Brian Schneider ‘leaving’ for free agency takes about 33mm off the books, so I think it’s only fair with a new stadium, that the Mets allow for such additions.

This provides a 2010 lineup of:

1-      Chone Figgins; Anderson Hernandez/mi

2-      Jose Reyes; Anderson Hernandez/mi

3-      David Wright/3b

4-      Carlos Beltran; Angel Pagan/cf

5-      Jeff Francoeur; Milton Bradley; Pagan/rf

6-      Milton Bradley; Angel Pagan; Murphy/Davis/lf

7-      Daniel Murphy; Ike Davis/1b

8-      Josh Thole; Omir Santos/c

& a 2010 Rotation of:

1-      Johan Santana

2-      Carlos Zambrano

3-      Jason Marquis

4-      Mike Pelfrey

5-      John Maine; Bobby Parnell; Jon Niese

6-      Fernando Nieve; Nelson Figueroa

A Decent 2010 Bench of:

c- Omir Santos; Josh Thole

1b/of- Nick Evans; Ike Davis; Daniel Murphy

mi- Anderson Hernandez

of – Angel Pagan; Milton Bradley

of – Jeremy Reed; Cory Sullivan

& a 2010 Bullpen of:

K-rod

Bobby Parnell; John Maine

Pedro Feliciano

Brian Stokes

Carlos Muniz

Sean Green

Takahashi/RP Prospect/FA LHP

*Roster Notes: Figgins-Reyes-Wright is pretty good infield obp and speed for Beltran-Francoeur-Bradley to drive in, and I think Daniel Murphy & Ike Davis can man 1b while Josh Thole and Omir Santos can man C well enough for the 2010 Mets to more than compete with a deeper 5 man rotation with Zambrano & Marquis while a hopefully healthier John Maine and a hopefully better Mike Pelfrey depict a better number 4&5 starter than a 2&3 starter.

Notes: What I tend to do heavily in my rankings, unlike all the other rankings, is group players together based on their position/projection/potential. For example, in round 8/bubble I grouped together 4 cl (Brad Lidge and Jon Broxton as well as Matt Capps and Heath Bell). Broxton has had a great start and Lidge has had a rough one, but by season’s end the stats should be about the same. I also grouped together 6 sp (Rich Harden, Joba Chamberlain, Adam Wainwright, Yovani Gallardo, Josh Johnson, and Erik Bedard). These are all great sp’s with ?’s though – inning/injury concerns. Of course, I have 3+ weeks of the season now to include in my rankings (upping Zach Greinke and Josh Johnson on my list, but honestly guys like Carlos Quentin and Matt Kemp I already thought should be ranked where I have them), but here, I posted my rankings followed by a notes section [In the notes section,  I’ve bolded the players that are in the referenced round]. Within the rankings, I bolded some guys I like and ranked higher than most others, and italicized others I didn’t like as much or ranked lower than others or have since been hurt.

Top 12/Round 1:

In 2009, I think Miguel Cabrera could break 37 homers and 127rbis he had last season. He’s already off to a hot start, batting .431 up to this point. With an increase in runs from 85 to about 100 and to me – a sure increase in batting average from .292 to about .315, I think Miguel Cabrera could be ranked above David Wright this year. Similarly, I see Ryan Braun breaking 40hr and 15sb. If his avg raises passed .300, and I think it will, he too, could surpass Wright because of the HR total, but obviously I would take Wright over both Miggy and Braun b/c of 3b eligibility – Is Miggy 3b eligible in your league though??? Chase Utley to me at 2b just beats out Ian Kinsler (2b) because of the RBI total. He’s healthy, and he’s already got 4hr and 2sb with 12r, 12rbi, and a .362avg. One guy who is absolutely on fire, and probably will stay that way if healthy for a full season, is 2b (position scarcity) Ian Kinsler. His line is already: 15r-5hr-16rbi-7sb-.381avg. Most projections call for about 25sb, but I didn’t see why he can’t break 30 (now 35) with a full season – 118r-26hr-84rbi-34sb-295avg anyone??? Like I said, I’d honestly rank him above Utley if it wasn’t for Utley’s rbis’s – and for that matter at 2b he could also be above Wright/3b, Miguel Cabrera/1b, and Ryan Bruan/of by year’s end. Kinsler had 23 and 26sb respectively in the past 2 seasons in 483ab’s and 518ab’s. With health, and in that lineup, he should approach 550ab’s, score a ton of runs, and should have a decent amount of rbi opportunities. Evan Longoria jumps into the first round again because of position scarcity (3b) over Josh Hamilton (of) and Mark Teixeira (1b). He’s already on fire batting 10r-5hr-16rbi-1sb-.386avg.

Round 2/Players 13-24:

There may be some surprises in round 2. Justin Morneau is so clutch, I just can’t rank him any lower. I think 27-30hr and 120rbi with 95r and 300+ avg is justified where I have him. Alex Rodriguez will miss time, but there’s no question he could still go 100-32-105-12-300. There is only 2 more sure thing 3b’s in Kevin Youkilis and Aramis Ramirez in the next 4 rounds (Chone Figgins, just there for speed and Chipper Jones is so injury prone I think he should be in round 7). The New-B’s here are Carlos Quentin (of) (who is already studding it up, and I have no idea why most projections were so low on him maybe batting avg. He’s got 7hr already); Matt Kemp (of) (don’t love his lineup spot, but still a great lineup with a lot more rbi opp’s and he’s such a great power-speed combo – already at 13r-3hr-14rbi-4sb-.362); Nick Markakis (of) (who would be first round material if he gets more than my projected 23-25hr and 9-12sb. He should hit 100-105r and 105-110rbi with a .307-.315avg.

Round 3/Players 25-36:

Tim Lincecum/Manny Ramirez/Dustin Pedroia/ BJ Upton are all still 2^nd round material to me depending on if you like drafting one ace very early in Lincecum or stolen bases in Upton or position scarcity in Pedroia. Kevin Youkilis somehow remains underrated (especially because he’s 3b eligible). He contributes greatly to 4 categories: about 100-105r; 27-30hr; 109-115rbi; 3sb-4sb; .305-.315avg. I just don’t love Matt Holliday outside of Coors and in Oakland, but his 95/25/95/15 potential is still 2^nd round material if that’s his line by season’s end. Aramis Ramirez could be ranked right before Kevin Youkilis or maybe early into round 4, but at 3b, I still love him in the Cubbies lineup.

Round 4/Players 37-48:

Ichiro Suzuki is sometimes ranked in the top 24, and his avg, runs, sb’s make him worth it there, but his lack of hr and rbi keep him down here for me. I’m usually doing fine with sb providers by now (say Kinsler/2b-27sb, Longoria/3b-11sb, Kemp/of-30sb) or (Wright/3b-18sb, Soriano/of-25sb, and Markakis/of-10sb) – that’s 68sb and 53sb respectively. If you end up with like: Howard/1b-1sb and Santana/sp, and Crawford (of) or Roberts (2b) are already off the board, than Ichiro can get bumped up if you think you’ll need the sb. I’d rather someone else and go for Shane Victorino/Jacoby Ellsbury in round 5 though. To me, Brian Roberts is Ichiro Suzuki at 2b, so Roberts is much more valuable to me. Some people still think Carl Crawford can approach 20hr in a season, and depending on his lineup spot he could knock in 85rbi, but in the 2-whole it looks like he should have a line of 90runs;10-12hr;70-75rbi;30-40sb;283-287avg, which will still justify this rank or even a little higher. I think by now he can be considered injury prone. I honestly think he has top third round potential, but every guy I have in round 3 just knocks him down to round 4. Brandon Phillips is great at 2b, and he’s a solid 4 stat contributor with a nice young lineup, but his average keeps him in round 4 to me. I like Cole Hamels and Brandon Webb here so long as they’re healthy because they symbolize the end of the 4 category top-notch fantasy aces (w,era,whip,k). Josh Beckett, Roy Oswalt, and Chad Billingsley are great, but Beckett’s era could be somewhat high as can Billingsley’s whip, and Oswalt looks to be slowing down a bit and striking out less batters although he was fantastic in the 2^nd half of last year. I like the 3 catchers: Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, and Russell Martin here. McCann’s eye is a worry and Martin’s starting off somewhat slow, but by season’s end I think they’ll be worth it here. If the latter 2 slip into round 5, fine.

Round 5/Players 49-60:

I usually have top power guys (David Ortiz/Carlos Pena), top speed guys (Rafael Furcal/Shane Victorino/Jacoby Ellsbury), or power-speed combos (Nate McLouth/Bobby Abreu/Corey Hart/ Carlos Granderson) as well as position scarcity (Geovany Soto/c; Rafael Furcal/ss; Alexei Ramirez/2b-ss) all in round 5. Soto is just too good to let drop for a catcher. I could see him being a 4^th rounder next year with another consistent year – similar to where McCann, Martin, and a healthy Victor Martinez are. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, Geovany Soto, Russell Martin, Joe Mauer, and Matt Wieters all go in round 4 next year. 12 players-6 catchers-1 round…Mark it (round 5 the latest).

Round 6/Players 61-72:

I love Joey Votto for his 7-10 sb and .290-300avg in addition to 24-28hr and 90-100rbi. I wouldn’t mind going with Robinson Cano here either at 2b in the Yankees lineup either. I love Cano slipping to round 7/8 because I think he can perform to the line of 90-95r;18-20hr;90-95rbi;4-5sb;.292-.302avg. Here, I like the 4 closers too: Mariano Rivera, Joe Nathan, Joakim Soria, and Francisco Rodriguez – all great 3 category pitchers with a good amount of k’s for relievers as well, however, personally I wait to draft closers and may look to draft 3 in a row, come round 13/14. Chad Billingsley is already showing why I have him ranked here with 4 wins and a 26:9 k:bb ratio, and a Dodger team that should be just as good for years to come. [Dodgers Lineup: Furcal-Hudson-Manny-Ethier-Loney-Kemp-Martin-Blake] – wow! If Billingsley keeps the whip down, he’ll jump to round 4/5 prior to Beckett and Oswalt. I don’t love Chone Figgins at 3b or Dan Uggla’s avg, but you can’t go wrong with Figgins’ sb’s and Uggla at 2b. Ryan Ludwick (already at 5hr and 16rbi, 1sb, and batting .370), after a great year last year, was way too underrated in this year’s drafts – the power and rbi’s should be there.

Round 7/Players 73-84:

Chipper Jones gets drafted much earlier, and at 3b, he’s so good, but he just doesn’t stay healthy enough for me to rank him higher. We should all know about Chris Davis’ potential by now (and flaws). Carlos Delgado could be Delgado of 2008-2^nd half or 2008-1^st half. I think he’ll go 33-35hr; 110-115rbi. Aubrey Huff was great again last year, and at 3b & 1b, I like him a lot with Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis in front of him. I like Garret Atkins enough to rank him in round 6 at 3b, but to me everyone above him as a little more potential/better power/better position scarcity ala Michael Young (ss;3b). Adam Dunn, Joe Mauer (c), and Andre Ethier are all solid options here as well. Dunn looks to be on a mission; I love Ethier batting clean-up in that Dodger’s lineup (and he should get you some sb’s with a nice avg.) I like James Shields and Zack Greinke (round 8 ) b/c each will have both good era’s and whip’s, where as the next few sp’s could have a high whip or era.

Round 8/9; Players 85-104:

Here, as you can see, I favor sp’s. I actually get my first ace in round 7 or 8 and then attempt to draft 3 or 4 in a row. Felix Hernandez and Scott Kazmir can have fairly high whips, while AJ Burnett can have a fairly high ERA, and as good as the next wave of SP’s are (Harden; Joba; Wainwright; EBedard; JJohnson; Gallardo), they all have question marks in some way (inning concerns, injury concerns, or not enough of a sample size). Derek Lee is in a solid lineup, but hit only 22 and 20 hr in the past 2 years. Without pop, and slowing down in sb as well, I can see him falling out of the top 9 rounds next year.

As I said in my notes section, I group players based on positioning/potential/and your statistical needs. I probably won’t rank the next 15 rounds only because I over/under-rate some players based on position, stats, and potential, and then I’d give away all my strategy.Feel free to question/criticize/comment.

Outfielders celebrate series win. Soriano (left) Gathwright (center) Bradley (Right)

One Day after Ryan Dempster did enough to win his game, Ted Lilly did enough to lose it. However Dempster walked away with a no decision and Lilly walked away with the win. It’s funny how things work out in baseball, it will work itself out over the course of the season i am sure.

Koyie Hill was catching Lilly who served up 4 home runs and 5 runs total. Soto left game 2 with shoulder soreness in the 6th inning, and although it is not expected to be too serious, he may have to miss the first game of the weekend. Aaron Miles would be the back-up catcher for the game if anything was to happen to Koyie Hill, Theriot would also be a candidate in extreme circumstances.

Mike Fontenot hit a 3 run homer and added another RBI on Wednesday to propel the Cubs to a 2-1 series victory. A-Ram continued his strong start to the season with 4 RBI’s on the night, and Fukudome was back in the lineup and answered with a 4 hit night. D-Lee and Theriot both got on the RBI list as well. Soriano hit his 2nd home run on Tuesday with a shot that landed on top of the left field train track.

David Patton pitched 2 innings in his MLB debut Thursday, and after a shaky start he calmed down to retire the next 6 hitters after the lead-off HR. After Patton surrendered the home run, Lee came to the mound to tell him to calm down and show the Astros his stuff, wise words from a veteran head. Guzman and Marmol have each started the season well.

This is hopefully the start of many series wins this season.

Carlos Zambrano pitched 6 innings on Monday to get the Chicago Cubs quest for a third straight division title rolling. Zambrano left the game in the 6th with two men on, Heilman was able to get a DP but not prevent the run scoring, he could do nothing about that. Cotts got the man to end the the 7th, Marmol pitched a good 8th, and Gregg got the save in the 9th, allowing one run on a sac fly.

Alfonso Soriano got the ball rolling with a lead-off home run in the first inning and the Cubs never looked back, Ramirez added a solo shot of his own and Theriot and Hoffpauier each added a RBI. Fontenot was the star man on the day going 3/4 with 2 runs scored, as he looks to show Lou Piniella that he made the right decision naming Fontenot as the second base starter.

The Cubs will be back in action Tuesday as Ryan Dempster takes the mound.

Briefly before the Cubs were set to take on the Indians Lou Piniella announced that it was Kevin Gregg who would close for the Cubs and not Carlos Marmol. This is hardly surprising, Marmol has struggled with his control all Spring and has hit 5 batters. Kevin Gregg has not surrendered a run all Spring. Gregg also has more saves saving 61 games over the past two seasons.

Marmol will settle for the set-up role, and is still expected to have one hell of a season.

Just Play Ball

In light of a few blog posts by my co-writers over the past few dayst it got me thinking about past Cubs predictions, whether it be Carlos Zambrano predicting a Cy Young award for himself, or Ryan Dempster predicting a world series win for the Cubs, and it leads me to believe that predictions are negative, who do they help? does it not just place a target on your back? Someone says that they are going to win, is your first thought not that you want to prove them wrong, we are all competitive people, we enjoy sports for many reasons but the competitive aspect is one that i personally adore, and that’s why i love baseball. In baseball we don’t just see team v team, we see hitter v pitcher, manager v manager. Should he bring in a leftie to face the leftie? is the batter expecting a fast ball or a curveball? In a game of baseball there are many competitions in just one game.

Are any of the Cubs going to win awards this season? probably not, we have no rookies really capable of winning the ROTY award like Soto last seaso, I don’t believe that we have the best pitcher in the game capable of winning the CY young award, and i don’t believe we have the hitter to win the MVP. Does it matter? Do you think that the Phillies minded last season when Albert Pujols took home the MVP and Tim Lincecum took home the CY Young award? of course they didn’t, they took home the only award that ever mattered, the world series title. A player can be pleased with a personal achievement but as a team the only thing that matters is the World Series.

I’m happy that this year, there have been no bold predictions from Ryan Dempster or Carlos Zambrano, or any other Cubs player, because it doesn’t matter what you say, it’s all about what you do on the field, for all i know Zambrano will win the CY Young this year and Aramis Ramirez will win the MVP, but at the end of the year if we are not World Series champions will that matter? to me it wont. So why do players make predictions, Jimmy Rollins talks, so did Carlos Beltran, personally speaking there hasn’t been a gurantee that has worked since Joe Namath guranteed victory for the Jets in Superbowl three, so leave the talking to the press, and do your business on the field. I don’t want any extra pressure put on us, the media and the 101 years will do that for us.

So like Joe Garagiola would say ‘JUST PLAY BALL’

Here is the second installment of Cubs In Focus, Second Base. Although this position is not definite yet, here are my projections:

Fontenot Starts At 2nd

Mike Fontenot

Mike Fontenot will start at 2nd for the Cubs this season, thats my projection, Lou has not said as much, but i thought he had the edge over Miles coming into the Spring and his performance up to now has only strengthened that it my opinion. Mike ‘Mini Babe Ruth’ Fontenot is known for his small stature but his ability to generate power using every aspect of his frame to do so. Last season Mike hit 9 home runs in just 243 AB’s, quite impressive for a part time player in the system.

Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot both played in the 2000 World Series for the LSU Tigers, a story that is often told, but what is often left out of the story is the fact that Mike Fontenot was the LSU Tigers leading hitter in the NCAA tournament hitting .432 with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBI’s. He has plenty of experience playing with Ryan, so they should form quite the partnership in the middle of the Cubs infield.

When given the oppurtunity to start, which he will be this season, he could have his break out year, expect good things from Fontenot, he is a hard worker, and a bright personality, he is also a left handed hitter that Lou and Jim Hendry were craving before the season.

Back-Up’s: Aaron Miles & Esteban German

Patton Making a Name

The Chicago Cubs rule 5 draft pick up David Patton has never pitched above single A ball, in 2008 he had a W/L record of 4-5 and a ERA of 3.54 and a WHIP of 1.38. So why is this player holding a 1.04 ERA this spring, and why is this single A pitcher confusing major league hitters?

It seems that David Patton has a great shot of making the major league team out of Spring training, many suggest that it is between him and Jeff Samardzija, and with the prospect of keeping Samardzija stretched out at AAA for emergency starts, it seems that Patton has every chance of breaking camp with the big league team.

“I was in the Rockies’ organization for four, five years, and to get some movement and see that another organization was interested in me really boosts your confidence a little bit and shows there are always people are watching,” Patton said. “There’s always an opportunity that someone’s going to see what you have. Maybe one organization doesn’t like you, but another might. It’s a really good opportunity.“

Patton throws a fastball a curveball and a change up and is a agressive pitcher, he struck out 87 batters in just 73 2/3 innings last season in Single A.

“He’s got a great arm, he’s got three plus-pitches,” Cubs player development director Oneri Fleita said. “He’s pitched out of the bullpen and gives us another guy who gives us some depth. He’s got a plus arm, threw up to 94 miles an hour and throws strikes.

Cubs fans might be hearing the name a lot this season!

Sean Marshall Secures 5th spot

I have been quite busy over the past 24-48 hours with work and some cricket, a great game that should be more popular in the US if you ask me. However i did hear that Sean Marshall will be the Cubs 5th starter this season. I am absolutely delighted about this, Sean has done a great job over the past couple years doing whatever he was asked, leftie relief, some spot starts and he did a commendable job every time.

This means that Aaron Helman will move into the bullpen and Jeff Samardzija will either move with Heilman to the bullpen or move down to AAA as a starter to stay stretched out.

The Cubs will carry 12 pitchers this season, this includes the five starters, Zambrano/Dempster/Harden/Lilly and Marshall. Lou commented that 5 spots in the bullpen have already been secured, likely Marmol/Gregg/Cotts/Heilman and Vizcaino, which means there are two spots still up for grabs, Samardzija/Gaudin and David Patton who has done well this spring with a 1.17 ERA as well as Randy Wells.

David Patton has never pitched above A ball, so to think that he will start the season with the Cubs is a long shot, however the way that he is pitching has led Lou Piniella to say that he is in the mix, and if he continues to impress then why not give him a go.