FanHouse Cubs

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs and veteran relief pitcher John Grabow have agreed to a two-year contract. The 31-year-old lefty came over to the Cubs in a midseason trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates -- a team with whom he had previously spent his entire six-season career.

In 75 appearances in 2009, Grabow compiled a 3.36 ERA. He's a valuable commodity in late innings, not only because he's tough on lefties, who hit just .222 against him last season, but because he's nearly equally tough on right-handers -- who hit .238 against him.

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Considering the Cubs were probably the most disappointing team in baseball in 2009, they definitely have their work cut out for them this offseason in order to return to being a legitimate contender. I guess Cubs fans should take solace in the fact that a winning season was considered a colossal failure -- after all, they have had a winning record in three consecutive seasons for the first time since the Nixon administration now. It's simply a sign that the bar has been raised in Wrigleyville. No longer content to play "lovable losers," Lou Piniella's Cubs are determined to win it all. New owner and lifelong Cubs fan Tom Ricketts has guaranteed the Cubs will win a World Series under his watch.

After altering the best Cubs team since 1945, general manager Jim Hendry has to find a way to get some of that magic back in 2010. He'll have to start by unloading one of the biggest mistakes of his career.

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Sammy Sosa's skin has not been digitally altered in the recent photo you see on the left. And despite the theories flying, this also isn't Michael Jackson Part II -- his skin hasn't been stripped of any pigment by a disorder such as Vitiligo.

It turns out Sosa has just been undergoing a "rejuvenation process," according to Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, who speaks frequently with the baseball legend.

The Chicago Cubs have finally won. They've got a new owner who isn't afraid to go straight to the local media and announce that the Cubs are going to the World Series. Boastful words, considering that the Cubs haven't even made it to the playoffs since Abraham Lincoln was in office. But it's just this sort of powerful, positive thinking that can do wonders for a ballclub, and as far as baby steps go, this is a pretty freaking big baby.

The transcript of Tom Ricketts being prideful before another season full of "every Cubs season" is after the jump.

For the first time since they officially became the new owners of the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family spoke to the media on Friday morning in Chicago, and they made their top goal as owners perfectly clear. They are going to win a World Series. That's what Tom Ricketts told the throng of reporters surrounding him.

It was one of many things the new owner shared, but obviously, considering the Cubs' history of not winning the World Series, that's the line that will either solidify the Ricketts family as legends in Chicago, or hang over their heads for as long as they own the club.

It only took 2 1/2 years, but it was announced on Tuesday that the sale of one of baseball's most storied franchises, the Chicago Cubs, was completed. Tom Ricketts' bid to buy the team was first approved earlier this year, and now the team belongs to the son of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts.

Along with the team, Ricketts and his family also assume ownership of Wrigley Field and a 25 percent share of Comcast SportsNet in Chicago, which broadcasts Cubs games, along with old Tribune Company standby WGN. Once it's all said and done, the Tribune Company should pull in about $740 million from the deal, a record surpassing the $660 million John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino paid for the Red Sox in 2002.

While we're far from trading season -- the Red Sox and Angels haven't even started their ALDS -- winds are swirling in the Windy City because of the presence of resident albatross Milton Bradley. Bradley signed a three-year contract worth $30 million this past offseason with the Cubs and did everything he could during the regular season to make general manager Jim Hendry realize the signing was the biggest mistake of his tenure. Thus, the Cubs aren't exactly being secretive about their desire to trade him as soon as is humanly possible.

Might they look to another outfielder who has quickly fallen out of favor with his team after signing a lucrative deal? The Tampa Bay Rays have shown interest in Bradley in the past, and they could look to deal Pat Burrell after his disastrous 2009 season.

Earlier this season the Chicago Cubs offense was struggling and Milton Bradley was not getting along with hitting coach Gerald Perry. So after considering that Bradley was making a significantly larger chunk of cash than Perry was, the team decided to relieve Perry of his duties and called up Von Joshua from their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa to replace him.

Now Joshua didn't do much to salvage Bradley's season in Chicago, but after taking over the job the Cubs did improve from 14th in batting average to sixth in the Majors, and also went from 15th to sixth in runs scored. So as a way of thanking Joshua for the improvements the team announced on Monday they won't be bringing him back next season.

Ryne Sandberg, known affectionately as "Ryno" in Wrigleyville, played 15 seasons for the Chicago Cubs in his Hall of Fame career. He went to 10 All-Star games, won nine gold gloves and brought home an MVP. At present, Sandberg manages the Tennesse Smokies -- the Cubs' Double-A affiliate. He previously managed for the Cubs in Single-A as well, so it appears the Cubs are moving him along in hopes he could one day manage the big-league club.

Current Cubs manager Lou Piniella, whose contract expires at the end of 2010 -- at which point he'll likely retire from managing -- believes Ryno will be considered for the 2011 job opening.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That a couple of game tying three-run homers threatened to make the NL wild-card chase really wild, but the teams that hit them both lost, leaving the Rockies three games up on the Braves with five games to go.

The excitement began in Atlanta, where the Braves' Matt Diaz hit a sixth-inning shot to erase a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately for Atlanta, the Marlins responded with Jorge Cantu's tie-breaking single a half inning later, and Florida held on to snap the Braves' seven-game winning streak.

A few hours later, Rockies closer Huston Street was looking to convert his 27th consecutive save opportunity when he gave up a game-tying homer to the normally powerless Jason Kendall of the Brewers in the ninth. Like the Marlins, the Rockies overcame it, winning in the 11th on Chris Iannetta's two-run homer.

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