From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
Every Hot Stove season, each team reshapes its roster in an attempt to better themselves. After each transaction, whether a free agent acquisition, trade or something else, writers and bloggers everywhere provide knee-jerk reactions on each particular move. Though the majority of the analysis is educated, it's still just conjecture. Today, we'll take the long view and look back at some of the maneuvering this past offseason and see how it played out on the field.
In light of the recent offensive woes of the entire team -- namely Mike Fontenot, though -- Cubs manager Lou Piniella admitted it's a possibility to move Alfonso Soriano to second base. He did say it was a "last resort," but possible. You might recall Soriano played the majority of his early career at second, however, he's only played there for two innings since his move to the National League in 2006.
Moving Soriano to second base would give a huge boost to the Cubs' offense -- which just scored a meek two runs in a three-game series at St. Louis -- by enabling Micah Hoffpauir everyday at-bats in left field. Fontenot, along with Bobby Scales and Aaron Miles, would still be able to accrue at-bats at third base until Aramis Ramirez is healed.
Hold your breath, Cubs fans. Aramis Ramirez dislocated his left shoulder diving for a grounder in Friday night's game against the Brewers. We'll have to wait and see what the full prognosis is, but this could be a very serious blow for Chicago depending on the type of dislocation.
Ramirez, who came into the game batting .369 with 16 RBI, injured the shoulder when he made a great diving stop on a sharply hit grounder off the bat of Ryan Braun. He immediately grabbed his left arm in pain and Braun was safe at first as the ball rolled away.
FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Chicago Cubs.
A magical regular season that yielded the most victories for the Cubs franchise since 1935 sent them to the postseason for the fourth time in a 11-season span. Unfortunately, 2008 ended the same way 1998, 2003 and 2007 did -- in disappointment. The Cubs head into 2009 hoping to wipe the slate clean and get over any fake curses they are allegedly saddled with.
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.
Meet the ... Team who decided 97 wins wasn't enough. Seriously, why would you go out and intentionally make your team worse? Sorry, I'll spare you the huge homeristic rant right now. Instead, I'll just say that you can find good fantasy options at nearly every turn with this team, even though you shouldn't be taking any in the first few rounds.
As baseball's offseason slogs along at a molasses-like pace, the Jake Peavy-to-Cubs rumors just won't die. Whether it's actual reality or just pure conjecture at this point is hard to tell.
As I wrote a few days ago, the Cubs have recently shed payroll and stockpiled what could be perceived as trading chips during the course of this past week. While people in the know continue to dispel myths of the Jake Peavy talks resurfacing, it seems the Brian Roberts rumors of this past offseason are being kept on life support.
There is apparently talk in Baltimore from fans, but -- like Peter Schmuck -- I'm not buying it. The Cubs wouldn't have signed Aaron Miles to a two year deal to join Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, and Ronny Cedeno in the middle infielder fray if they planned on adding Roberts. That would mean they likely would need to trade two of the aforementioned group to realistically round out their opening day roster. It doesn't make sense, logisitically.
I'm still standing firm in my belief that this move was made as a precursor to landing Peavy, even if it's during the season. People everywhere are giving reasons to dispute my claim, but this would really be the only way to justify trading Mark DeRosa at this juncture.
As seasons go, Ian Snell's 2008 has been a huge disappointment. In 2007 he emerged as the snarling co-ace of the Pirates, firing his way to a 3.74 ERA and accusing people that hit home runs off of him of stealing signs. This year, he's mostly unable to find the strike zone and getting thumped by opponents (5.84 ERA, 1.93 WHIP before today's start). Today, in his second start off the disabled list, was cruising along until the fourth inning, when his on-mound implosion culminated in a three-run homer by Aaron Miles. Somehow, Snell found that kind of funny, mostly because Miles is short.
Of giving up the home run to the 5-foot-8 Miles, who belted a high-and-tight fastball, Snell laughed and said, "The pitch was higher than him. But he really swung out of his shoes. I didn't realize he had that much power ... One bad pitch to the little man, and he hit it out."
Because giving up three-run bombs to Aaron Miles, he of one home run this year, in tie games is freaking hilarious. It's important to note that Snell is listed as 5'11", but I think most Pirate fans would tell you that's at least a bit generous. They would also tell you that there really wasn't anything funny about the 11-6 thumping that the Cardinals laid on the Pirates today. Except Ryan Ludwick trying to catch fly balls. That was funny.
Scott Rolen has only been an ex-Cardinal for 10 days, but don't worry folks, Tony LaRussa has found at least one new player on his team to be mad at. Apparently Adam Kennedy skipped the Cardinals' annual Winter Warmup fan festival.
"I'm disappointed he's not here," La Russa said. "This is a statement we make to our fans: 'Thanks for coming out,' and he's not here.
"In the first three months of the season, his playing time was extensive when he really wasn't productive. I really gave him the benefit of the doubt a lot, to the detriment of a guy like Aaron Miles.
"This year, I don't think we have that margin. Adam is a key guy in that mix so I expect him to return to his winning-player form."
If he doesn't, he'll be publicly executed by LaRussa himself. Okay, probably not, but he may get traded. Luckily for Adam he's not the only focus of Tony's anger right now. Scott Spiezio was late to an autograph session at the same fan festival on Monday, and LaRussa is none to pleased with him about it either.
"That's one dot off his resume," La Russa said. "I don't care what the excuse was, that's not a good way to get started."
Wow, pitchers and catchers haven't even reported yet, and Tony's already getting fired up. At the rate he's going, and with the amount of losses his team is probably going to suffer this season, he'll have been angry with everybody on his team by mid-April.
After the Cubs finally broke their crippling eight-game losing streak Tuesday, they made a 
In light of the recent offensive woes of the entire team -- namely Mike Fontenot, though -- Cubs manager 
Hold your breath, Cubs fans. 
Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through 
As baseball's offseason slogs along at a molasses-like pace, the 
As I wrote a few days ago, the Cubs have recently shed payroll and stockpiled what could be perceived as trading chips during the course of this past week. While people in the know continue to dispel myths of the 
As seasons go, 
Scott Rolen
