So would this be a hire you could get excited about?

Are you kidding, I'd buy the "Sveum" plan just to be able to have his name roll off my tongue. Sveum. Sveum. Sveum. Sveum!

Are you kidding, I'd buy the "Sveum" plan just to be able to have his name roll off my tongue. Sveum. Sveum. Sveum. Sveum!

He wasnt even a top three candidate on this forum, I would think his hiring would have garnered some pretty s***ty reviews. Not as bad as Robin, but not excitement either.

@PWSullivan Paul Sullivan

It's official. Sveum in as Cubs manager.

 

So how do you prounonce it?? "Svay-um?" "Svee-um?" "Svem?"

 

Svaim.

He wasnt even a top three candidate on this forum, I would think his hiring would have garnered some pretty s***ty reviews. Not as bad as Robin, but not excitement either.

"Top 3 candidates for this forum" is not a criteria I cared strongly about. His resume speaks solidly for himself, even if he didn't immediately come to our minds.

Svaim.

Actually it is a W sound. Swaym, if you will.

 

Actually it is a W sound. Swaym, if you will.

 

That's the way everyone pronounced it out there, so I assumed they had it right. I guess it's like us with Pods. Most pronounced it Pod-sednik when it was supposedly Puh-sednik.

That's the way everyone pronounced it out there, so I assumed they had it right. I guess it's like us with Pods. Most pronounced it Pod-sednik when it was supposedly Puh-sednik.

 

How about Alexei Ramirez? I always hear TV guys say Alex-ei, but the PA guy at the Cell pronounces it Ale-say

I definitely prefer the former.

How about Alexei Ramirez? I always hear TV guys say Alex-ei, but the PA guy at the Cell pronounces it Ale-say

In 2008 when he first came over, he didn't correct anyone when they pronounced the X the first way. Then after his 08 season, he pushed a little and asked the team to say it the right way. Might have been the language barrier keeping him from asking in the first place. The Ale-say is supposedly the right way.

DKnobler DKnobler

Doumit signs with Twins, one year deal, his agent announces

 

DKnobler DKnobler

Doumit signs with Twins, one year deal, his agent announces

 

Not sure what that has to do with the cuBS?

 

Anyways, Sveum seems like he will make a decent manager. He knows a little bit about cuBS since Milwaukee played against them a lot.

 

Sadly, I think that the cuBS hit botton the last two years. But now they have a decent manager and GM. They are definitely going to bounce off their lows of the last two years.

 

Have to hope that the Brewers, Pirates, Cardinals, and Reds keep getting better as well. lol.

 

And Wrigley Field is still falling apart. Put some superglue on it.

 

Not sure what that has to do with the cuBS?

 

Anyways, Sveum seems like he will make a decent manager. He knows a little bit about cuBS since Milwaukee played against them a lot.

 

Sadly, I think that the cuBS hit botton the last two years. But now they have a decent manager and GM. They are definitely going to bounce off their lows of the last two years.

 

Have to hope that the Brewers, Pirates, Cardinals, and Reds keep getting better as well. lol.

 

And Wrigley Field is still falling apart. Put some superglue on it.

 

Ugh, I hate terrible nicknames.

Sadly, I think that the cuBS hit botton the last two years. But now they have a decent manager and GM. They are definitely going to bounce off their lows of the last two years.

 

Have to hope that the Brewers, Pirates, Cardinals, and Reds keep getting better as well. lol.

 

And Wrigley Field is still falling apart. Put some superglue on it.

Its entirely plausible that the Cubs could be worse next year than last year. Lose Pena, lose Aramis, lose Byrd, another year older for Soriano.

 

Of course, they could blow $20 mil a year on Fielder and wind up at the same place they were last year.

Its entirely plausible that the Cubs could be worse next year than last year. Lose Pena, lose Aramis, lose Byrd, another year older for Soriano.

 

Of course, they could blow $20 mil a year on Fielder and wind up at the same place they were last year.

 

I thought Quade was a poor manager. I am thinking that Epstein will make some better moves than Hendry. They might lose some players but that money can be used to signed free agents. And the replacements could be better than Pena, Aramis, and Byrd.

 

I hope that they are worse next year but I am thinking that they will probably improve a little bit.

I thought Quade was a poor manager. I am thinking that Epstein will make some better moves than Hendry. They might lose some players but that money can be used to signed free agents. And the replacements could be better than Pena, Aramis, and Byrd.

 

I hope that they are worse next year but I am thinking that they will probably improve a little bit.

 

Jed Hoyer is the GM.

Anytime the Cubs hire a new manager I get this fear in the depths of my stomach that they will win soon. Well, anytime except for Quade,

Anytime the Cubs hire a new manager I get this fear in the depths of my stomach that they will win soon. Well, anytime except for Quade,

 

And remember last season when Bochy named Quade to be a coach at the All Star game. Less deserving manager to be named an All Star coach.

 

And remember last season when Bochy named Quade to be a coach at the All Star game. Less deserving manager to be named an All Star coach.

Quade is probably a decent bench coach.

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano was injured pitching in a game in Venezuela on Friday night.

 

Zambrano was hit in the head by a line drive and sustained soft tissue damage, according to a major league source. The Cubs pitcher is slated to undergo more tests in the coming days.

 

Zambrano received 18 stitches after being hit on the side of the mouth, according to his agent Barry Praver. Zambrano will visit his doctor in a week, Praver said, before resuming his winter ball pitching.

 

After Zambrano was hit by the liner, he picked the ball up, registered the out and then, in typical Zambrano style, pointed to the sky.

 

Zambrano was making his third winter league start for Caribes de Anzoategui of the Venezuelan winter league Friday. He asked the Cubs' permission to play in Venezuela this winter.

Link

Link

Epstein and Hoyer are in the Dominican Republic this week, scouting Cuban defector refugee Yoennis Cespedes, among other players. Of the seven Cubs players who've filed for free agency, they already waved goodbye to third baseman Aramis Ramirez, and have begun talks on retaining reliever Kerry Wood. It's doubtful pitchers Rodrigo Lopez, Ramon Ortiz or John Grabow will be part of the mix.

 

First baseman Carlos Pena fits what Sveum is looking for defensively, and also fits Epstein's profile of a hitter who sees a lot of pitches. But Pena's agent, Scott Boras, is looking to get more than one one-year, $10 million deal that Boras termed a "pillow contract" last December. Bryan LaHair, who is also left-handed and earned Pacific Coast League MVP honors, remains a more affordable option if re-signing Pena isn't in their plans.

 

Veteran outfielder Reed Johnson could return as a reserve outfielder, after making the club in spring on a minor league invite and hitting .309 in 246 at-bats. Johnson and center fielder Marlon Byrd are Sveum's kind of players — their hustle has never been questioned — though both are in their mid-30s. If the Cubs want to get younger and more athletic, they could go with Brett Jackson and Tony Campana alongside Alfonso Soriano, assuming they can't dump Soriano's contract.

Link

Cubs manager Dale Sveum has asked former teammate Chris Bosio to become his pitching coach in Chicago.

 

Milwaukee general manager Doug Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel the Cubs asked permission last week to talk to Bosio, an advance scout for the Brewers last year who was named their Triple-A pitching coach in September.

 

Bosio and Sveum were Brewers' teammates from 1986-'91, and were both coaches on the Brewers' staff in 2009, when Bosio was promoted to interim pitching coach.

 

Sveum has been given an opportunity to pick his own coaching staff, and has already told hititing coach Rudy Jaramillo he'd return. Jaramillo is on the final year of a three-year deal.

 

Melvin said Bosio was the only one the Cubs have asked permission to interview. If Brewers veteran infielder Craig Counsell decides to retire, Sveum is likely to ask him to join him on his staff, sources said. The Brewers have also spoken to Counsell about a "non-playing role," Melvin told the Journal-Sentinel.

SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman

Carlos pena unlikely to accept arbitration offer. has a multiyear market after nice season on north side.

 

Cubs listening to offers for Garza via MLBtraderumors.

Cubs listening to offers for Garza via MLBtraderumors.

Wow. That is one way to rebuild the farm, but it also says "we are in no way competing in 2012, or even 2013". Then again, that is probably already true, but for a team with a horrible starting pitching staff, that sure does seem like a strange way to rebuild.