Have the Cubs put together a contender with the offseason spending spree?

Question

Soriano, Mesh, Marquis, and Derosa with a returning Derek Lee and Michael Barrett. Kerry Wood dropped 30 lbs and his arm feels great with Mark Prior and Wade Miller being substantial wild card pitchers. And of course the best pitcher in the NL in big Z...will this be enough?

Answer 1

of course they have expect them to do big things this season!
but u gotta love them dodgers!

Answer 2

They still don't have a number 4 or 5 starter for sure.
Prior and Wood will probably not play much , as usual.
No sure closer.
Batting Soriano lead off is crazy. He hits 40 or 45 homers a year. Just wave good bye to all of the ribbies he could get hitting out of the 4 or 5 slot.
Jason Marquis has problems keeping the ball down. At wrigley field that spells disaster , Especially when the wind is blowing out.
Lou Pinella was a good addition if the players will adapt to his old school style.
They did shore up the bullpen nicely.
They may be a little better than last season but I wouldn't expect a miracle.
I keep hearing that the NL central is weak. Then how did they produce a world champion?

Answer 3

Uh NO.
The Cubs will find a way to not even win the division. Marquis, Lily and DeRosa are junk. Along with Wood and Wade Miller. Soriano is a risk because he got his money. Prior will never be the same. Zambrano, Barrett, Ramirez and Lee are Gonna be okay.

Answer 4

I don't know what you mean by mesh but if you mean Gil Meche than he signed with the Royals. Anyway Wood is now hurt again after falling out of a hot tub (go figure with his luck) Zambrano, Lily, Marquis, Hill, and Prior should solidify a bad rotation last year and their offense should be better with Soriano now leading off. That is of course if Lee and Ramirez can stay healthy.

Answer 5

Any team that gives Jason Marquis $7 million dollars a year after 2006 not only will not win the World Series, but don't deserve to make the playoffs.

Answer 6

they could. it also could go either way. the cubs' bullpen needs some serious remodeling if they are going to be serious contenders in the post season. as for the rest of the lineup, soriano is obviously going to push start the rest of the guys. with contenders such as ramirez, murton, barret, and obvously, Derrek Lee, the cubs could very well make it as far as the playoffs. i would expect no less than a second place finish in the NL central this season.

Answer 7

Its not impossible to go from worst to first, but its going to be hard even in a weak division. The Cubs seem prone to freak injuries to key players, Derek Lee's wrist, Prior's elbow, so they will need some luck too. (And Kerry Wood's hot tub incident? C'mon!) Even though I'm a Sox fan, I sincerely would like to see them contend, but I'm not holding my breath.

Answer 8

They've done all they can. Right now, it's about luck (like keeping star players healthy). If luck is on their side, then they will be a World Series contender. Otherwise, they'll still be at the bottom of the NL Central.

Answer 9

The Central division is weak and since none of the other teams in the central actualy spent money, i hope that it pays out for us. We do have a stacked rotation, but pitching has never really been our problem. We have struggled to get on base and get hits with runners in scoring postion, we brought in some bats and hopefully we can win the division and make 1908 a thing of the past.

Answer 10

Wood and Prior? Give me a break. The get injured while chewing gum. What they REALLY need to do is offer a bunch of money to the only real pitcher they have (Zambrano) in order to keep him.

Answer 11

On paper that is a great baseball team. the question is can Lou get them to play great baseball as a team. Soriano has showed he is committed to winning by showing up early to training camp. If this team can stay healthy, they will be a force to reckon with.