Cubs Payroll Situation

Well, the battle for the division title was lost sometime in April, Playoffs in May, and just a few weeks ago, the battle for staying under 100 losses was, well, lost. But let us not swell on the past/present, let us look forward.

Hoyer has the cash, what will he do with it?

The good news is, that Jed Hoyer is already on the record that Cubs have some holes to fill, and that the Free Agency market will be looked at to do this at least short term. Let's start by taking a look at the payroll situation.

For the first time in several years, the cubs payroll situation is looking very favorable to a big free agency splash, with only about $60 million on the books already for 2013, the downside there is that it's tied up between only 6 players, 2 of which have yet to play at Wrigley. But even if you tender about 15 players from the current roster for about $25 million or so, it would still leave about $20 million that could be used to shop for some more talent, namely in the rotation.

Lineup

The fielding and Lineup appear to be pretty close to set with Castillo and Jackson proving that the can continue to grow at the Major League level, and Rizzo, Barney, Castro showing they are capable of holding their own. The worries start with tring to improve from 23rd in the league in HR's, 26th in Average, and 29th in RBI's. The only real question is who will start at 3rd. My vote would have to be Ian Stewart given another chance. With Vitters having too many defensive Jitters (sorry, couldn't help myself) and Baez still two years out from getting a major league shot, giving Stewart one more chance to be the .250/20HR/80RBI type player, that the office was hoping for when they parted with Colvin, makes sense for the short term.

Andruw Jones as a Cub?

With the starters firmed up, you have to look for some depth on the bench to shore up some situational hitting. LaHair could help, but with him pushing 30 and not winning a starting job at first, I'd say he may be too good of a trading chip to pass up. My Memory goes back to a Darryl Ward, someone who added a lot to an offense with a limited number of at bats. Merhaps bringing backa  Xavier Nady (.184/4HR/13RBI) to bring in a backup option for first and a decent sized bat off the bench. I'm not sold on a Valbuena or Clevenger to offer much off the bench, though we need them nearby to back up their key positions. LEt me give yo uanother thought to chew on, keep LaHair (.291/15HR/39RBI v. RHP) and put him in left field for a traded Soriano, then grab a free agent/retiree like Andruw Jones (.202/10HR/24RBI v. LHP) and run a big bat platoon while beefing up your bench and adding a good plus defensively.

Pitching

With Garza and Samardzija returning for opening day, the rotation already looks far better. I also believe that the Ace of the Future could rest with one of those arms. Either of these guys is a 15 game winner with a modestly improved defense. The issue being those three through five spots in the rotation. The aggressive move would be to go after Zach Greinke for $15+ million a year for 10 years or some absurd number like that and hope for a return of a ace trifecta a la the era of Prior/Maddux/Wood. Surely if you have kept up with this article so far, you believe that about as much as you believe the Baltimore baseball team is named after a cookie. Here are a few real options to add something to a struggling rotation;

Most likely is an option heavy contract with some front heavy signing bonuses to an Ervin Santana (9-13/5.16 ERA) or Fransisco Liriano (6-12/5.34 ERA) or maybe even a Edwin Jackson (10-11/4.03 ERA) Proven veterans who are coming off less then stellar years that may still have a lot to offer a younger club. Sropping any one of these guys into the 3 or 4 role would add a lot, I'd even drab two.

That just leaves the bullpen, and here we have quit the laundry list of needs, the biggest improvement the Cubs could hope for is for Carlos Marmol to open the season locating his pitches, and to drop his 7.2 BB/9 IP down to the 4-5 range as in previous years. With Shawn Camp (3-6/3.59ERA) eligible for free agency, it may cost the Cubs a shiny penny to keep him, but I feel he has proven himself a wise investment. And with Russell sticking around, you may have a pretty decent base to build around. A set up man like a Jonathon Braxton (4-5/2.48ERA) would be a dream pick up, considered a bit inconsistent as a closer but finished the year stong as a set up guy for the Reds, grabbing 10 holds. He would also give us an alternative if Marmol begins to go a bit wild again and make things interesting for a closer competition in 2014. As usual, there are a million options to add some solid arms to a bullpen and usually a few pitchers in your own system that could give you 40 to 50 IP without embarrassing themselves. Mark Lowe (0-2/3.43ERA) could be a good pick up, or maybe a Juan Carlos Oviedo (1-4/4.06 ERA) to add some options in getting through innings 6 to 9.

A New Survey

What is the Cubs biggest need right now?