Although he was slightly cold to behin the season, Alfonso has been beyond “red-hot” at the plate. Not only did he just belt 2 home-runs against the D-backs this last Sunday, but he has brought his batting average up to .325 accompanied with an astonishing 1.058 OPS in the young season.

Soriano has been a very consistent and smart base-stealer while on the Cubs, although in fewer numbers in his first 2 years on the team. He would be lucky to get much more than double-digit thefts in 2010, but can still add some value to his Cubs and to some fantasy-teams.

He’s quite likely not going to keep up his rate of home-runs and finish with 40, but he most certainly has the ability to get you 25-30 pretty safely, which is pretty cheap power. His average draft position this past season was a middling pick 137, on ESPN.com’s draft boards. Although he may not work his way to first-round value again, he could very likely give you 4th round production from a 13th round pick.
Take that, all you Fonsie-haters. I’m not a big fan of Smilin’ Sori, and I completely loathe his contract, but his production is paramount to the Cubs having ANY chance for the playoffs. His success at the plate could also be apart of many Fantasy Baseball teams championships, so value him in your leagues.

Get used to it Cubs fans, at least for now. In a move that may become more permanent, Big Z was sent to the Cubs bullpen.

In an effort to relieve a bullpen that has, to say the least, been putrid, the ace of the staff has been thrust into the set-up role instead.

With the exception of closer Carlos Marmol and sometimes Sean Marshall, the Cubs bullpen has struggled while carrying three rookies out of spring training.

It is a move that could be unprecedented, especially in the modern game. Lou Pinella is taking a huge risk, one that might be assisted by the imminent return from injury of Ted Lilly.

So far there are no complaints from Zambrano, but only time will tell. He has had his share of emotional moments and if he struggles out of the pen or becomes dissatisfied it could be a bigger problem.

The Chicago Tribune reported that this move could be long-term. At the least it is to show management the pressing need for relief help. At the longest it could be a permanent move for the season.

Stay tuned. It could become wild Cubs fans.

Well if the first couple starts are any indication, Carlos Silva is going to give the Cubs a whole lot more than that.

Silva worked seven strong innings against the Astros to pick up his first win as a Cub, allowing two unearned runs and striking out five. His ERA through his first two starts is 0.69.

Yes it was against the anemic Astros but it is impressive nonetheless. In two years with Seattle Silva was, in a word, a disaster.

He barely pitched last season, just 30.1 innings and had an ERA of over 8.00. In his only full season in the Northwest he was an atrocious 4-15 with a 6.46 ERA.

Silva has always located the ball well, unfortunately he has also had a knack for locating it right down the middle at inopportune times, a big reason behind the 25 HR’s he allowed in less than 200 innings in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field.

Now he must pitch at the Friendly Confines, a field that can yield dingers in droves, especially when the win blows out. It wasn’t a problem today as Silva allowed only five fly balls to the 28 batters he faced.

It is far too early to tell if he will continue to be a good pitcher for them, but the early signs show that the Cubs may have got a lot more than they expected from removing the cancerous wart in the off-season.

It marked the fourth straight game the Cubs had scored six or more runs after not having reached even five since the season opener.

Chicago has a lot of talented players in the field so it seemed only a matter of time. Ryan Theriot has been hitting the ball extremely well lately, hits in his last 7 games after having none in the first 3 games of the season.

Kosuke Fukodome continues to hit the ball well in the season’s first couple months, sitting at over .320, even after going hitless in today’s game.

Everyone knows that Derek Lee will continue to hit, ranking right up there with Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard for the NL’s best first baseman behind Albert Pujols. Lee cranked a three-run homer today.

Even Alfonso Soriano is starting to come to life after a tough start to the season. All the Cubs need now is Aramis Ramirez to find his way and their lineup will be among the most potent in the division and league.

With a pretty good starting rotation in place a Cubs offense that continues at this pace will make them a serious contender with St. Louis for the division crown.

Now they just need their bullpen to stop surrendering the leads late in games.

Blanco has spent his Major league career with the Royals and Cubs until just recently being traded from Chicago for a player to be named later or cash.

Simply put, Blanco should never be allowed to pick up a bat with his newfound team. His value is purely seated on the defensive-side of the game. He has well above average range and a powerful throwing arm; He simply has the ability to play second base, shortstop or third base with quality results.

The 26-year-old has very limited upside, and absolutely zero value in the fantasy baseball community. As the utility infielder for the Rangers, he stands to receive possibly 150-250 plate appearances. When you consider he has almost no contact or power skills and a lack of patience at the plate, well, let’s just say he’s a non-factor.

Rangers fan’s can watch and enjoy his sure-handed play in the field, but there is nothing that special about the young infielder.

Other contenders for the Ranger’s utility infielder role would be second basemen Esteban German and Joaquin Arias. Neither of the two are acceptable defensively anywhere outside of second, and that poses some versatility issues for the team. This is where Blanco alleviates this dilemma.

Say what you will about Blanco, but he has a small, established niche as a Pro player, and Texas stands to improve their bench with this addition.

Aside from the John Grabow signing the Cubs bullpen is relatively young and inexpensive. One of the criticisms of GM Jim Hendry is that he overpays for middle relievers, which I agree with to an extent. Then when he decides to go young in the bullpen he still finds his critics. It seems as if he cannot do anything right. I think going young in the bullpen is smart. Relievers are not all that valuable in terms of WAR dollars. Even the best ones are not worth the money they get due to the small sample. Since relievers are a crapshoot to begin with, I don’t see the point in spending a lot of money on relievers. Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes are reminders why it is not a good idea to spend big money on relievers. Most teams give their young guys a chance to play and I think this is a good chance to find out what we have. Relievers can usually be found from within. Pitchers like Jeff Stevens and Esmailin Caridad have good track records in the minors. Obviously the majors are a different game altogether, but I think there is a good enough track record to warrant a shot.

The bullpen should get a boost when Ted Lilly comes back and one of Carlos Silva, Jeff Samardzija, or Tom Gorzelanny goes to the bullpen. I don’t think any team is going to run away with the division and I think the Cubs can afford to give some of the younger guys a chance. So I’m okay with starting the season with what they have. If it turns out they need a reliever for the stretch run I’m not opposed to giving up C level prospects to get a reliever. If any team is asking for more than that I would stick with what I have. One thing the Cubs do have going for them is that they have a good pitching coach in Larry Rothschild. They also have a good track record with developing pitchers so I think it’s reasonable to expect one or two of the young guys to step up.

This could be the Cubs fan in me talking, but I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt as far as pitchers go. They seem to have questions regarding their pitching going into the season and it usually works out.

A 3-letter, guttoral sound that perfectly exemplifies many Cubs fan’s feelings on the 2010 year. Whether such tepid feelings on the future are justified or not remains to be seen.

Piniella just announced his plans that won’t inspire too much optimism for some of the Cubbie faithful. Sweet Lou wants to lead-off, full-time, with 30-year-old shortstop Ryan Theriot.

Theriot’s most notable story this off-season was when he took the Cubs all the way to an arbitration hearing earlier this year, demanding to be paid more than the team planned to offer him. He lost, and settled for the lower contract. Somehow Theriot’s character took no hit in the eyes of his fans, which is odd, but let’s move on.

To quickly get to the point, Theriot is plainly an awful full-time option batting first in the lineup. Of all the starting players on the Cubs in 2009, he was the least patient, taking the fewest pitches per plate appearance. Not an ideal trait for a lead-off man, but other attributes can overcome this.

Too bad Theriot doesn’t have these other attributes. While he can knock the Heck out of left-handed pitching, Ryan has struggled with righties for three straight seasons. Last year saw him post a .279 batting average and a meager .339 on-base percentage against right-handed hurlers. These sub-par numbers are again, coming from a player who hits for almost anemic power with pitiful base-running skill.

You wouldn’t know Ryan had above average speed looking at his stolen base rates. Getting caught 23 times over the past 2 years while only swiping 43 bases is a major problem, and pits him as an actual liability when on the bases.

I just don’t get it. I do not see how Piniella can overlook all of his flaws. I am sure Lou understands and uses lefty/righty splits when making lineup decisions, but it looks like he’s not on the ball with this choice.

Kosuke Fukudome put up a stellar .387 on-base percentage against righties in 2009, and is the only legitimate option in the 1-spot. Kosuke looks to have secured the 2-hole in the lineup, but it doesn’t change the fact that Theriot should be no higher than 8th when he has to face a righty pitcher.

With news like this, I guess all I really can think to say is a resounding “meh”.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, Guzman looked to be the guy they were going to rely on in late inning situations before the ball was handed off to closer Carlos Marmol. Guzman had made significant strides in 2009 in terms of establishing himself as a legitimate force in the Cubs pen, and had posted a sub 3.00 ERA for the first time in his career with a 2.95. With the inability to pitch in his current condition, and presumably being out for the year—if not the majority—if he goes ahead with the surgery, manager Lou Pinella will have to look to other, unproven options in key late-inning situations.

Newly acquired pitcher Carlos Silva is the only pitcher in the pen with more than 5 years of big league experience, and one must wonder if that lack of experience in the pen is going to hinder the Cubs chances this season. The bullpen is by far the most questionable portion of their roster, and the loss of Guzman has created an even more daunting question for coaches. Do not be surprised if the ever busy Jim Hendry picks up the phone and makes a move to solidify the pitching staff and limit the amount of damage done in those middle to late innings that hurt the team so much last year.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Last year’s NL West champs have a bunch of guys fighting for a spot in the rotation. Eric Stults, Charlie Haeger and Carlos Monasterios all pitched in the spring opener, with James McDonald set to go later in the week. Monasterios is a Rule V pick, so if he doesn’t make the Dodgers big league club, he’ll be returned to Philadelphia which seems extremely likely. James McDonald is the odds on favorite to win the spot like he did last year. He promptly lost that spot last season, but with another year under his belt he may have turned a corner. Other things to keep in mind, here, are that both Stults and Haeger are out of options and would have to clear waivers to be assigned to the minors.

New York Yankees

Joba or Hughes. If you turn on ESPN and happen to catch some kind of baseball coverage, this is probably going to be brought up at least once. This battle is interesting for fantasy teams, because in most leagues, one will have good value and the other won’t have much. Keep an eye on this one.

Chicago Cubs

This battle is for both the fourth and fifth starting spots to start the year, due to Ted Lilly’s shoulder/knee/flu/fever problems early this spring. The candidates are Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, and with a very outside chance, Andrew Cashner. The pitcher that should win this is Gorzelanny. The Cubs will likely need a few starts to fill in for Lilly and Marshall or Silva could probably fill in there. Tom Gorzelanny has the ability to be a good starting pitcher in the major leagues. As long as his velocity and location is sharp, he could even be a fantasy sleeper.

St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan McClellan, Jaime Garcia, and Rich Hill are the major candidates. Hill comes with former success in the bigs with the Cubs. If he can find his control again, he’s an absolutely nasty pitcher who has the potential to be a #3 starter. McClellan will try to make the conversion from relieving to starting this season. There is no clear favorite here since all have major question marks. Jaime Garcia has battled injuries, but was a highly touted minor leaguer. He could surprise some people this year.

Cincinnati Reds

The candidates are Mike Lincoln, Micah Owings, Matt Maloney, Justin Lehr and Travis Wood, as well as Aroldis Chapman who has an uphill battle to break camp with the Reds. You’d have to think Owings has the edge here, due to his past success. His ability to swing the bat doesn’t hurt, either. If Chapman does end up winning the battle, look for him to be a good source of strikeouts for your fantasy team.

Oakland Athletics

All of the candidates here have had major league experience despite all being under 24 years old. Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro are the candidates. The edge as of now looks to be with Cahill, although in his Cactus League opener, he struggled. As is the A’s M.O., whoever breaks camp with the team likely won’t pitch all season long in an effort to monitor their innings pitched closely. All three of these pitchers will probably see time in the major leagues next season.

There are plenty of other fifth starter battles in the big leagues, but these seem to be the most interesting and have fantasy value in deep leagues. Keep an eye on these six teams as March moves forward.

This decision allows Lee to focus only on baseball. Baseball can be a tough game as it is and it’s even harder to play when you have something like a contract distracting you. Lee being focused only on baseball can only help. If Lee puts up numbers the money will be there either from the Cubs or someone else. The Cubs need a productive Derrek Lee if they hope to catch the Cardinals in the NL Central this season. I don’t think Lee or the Cubs can afford a distraction. I think Lee’s decision does help the Cubs as well. Lee is getting up there in years and it’s wise to let the 2010 season play out before committing a multi-year deal to him. There are also plenty of quality first baseman available next off-season like Albert Pujols, Carlos Pena, and Lance Berkman. I doubt Pujols leaves St Louis, but even so there are still quality options out there. With the size of the contracts declining and the supply of first baseman available there can be some bargains out there. So I would rather Jim Hendry wait for the market to set itself instead of jumping the gun on Lee.

One guy I would consider for 2011 would be Adam LaRoche. If he can be had for a deal similar to what he signed this off-season I think he would be a bargain. LaRoche is a downgrade from Lee, but he is still a productive bat and would come cheaper. You probably would not have to give him a multi-year deal as well. If they can get him for around $5 million and with the contracts of Lee and Ted Lilly coming off the books they may have enough money to make a run at Josh Beckett or Cliff Lee. The team seems to be in cost-cutting mode so I don’t think LaRoche playing first base in 2011 is far-fetched.

I would love to see Lee finish his career with the Cubs, but I think it is possible that this is Lee’s last year with the Cubs. Considering his age and the team’s current financial situation it may be best to let Lee walk and spread the money around. The Lee situation will say a lot about the Cubs plans going forward.