Cubs Add Middle Infielder

The Cubs add middle infielder Yuniesky Betancourt after the league approved the retirement paperwork of Craig Biggio. “Craig was a pro’s pro, and we are very thankful for the year the gave the Cubs.  His leadership and personality will be missed in the clubhouse” GM Jason Hoover said on the Friday.

The Cubs added a young but very talented shortstop to the roster with the addition of Betancourt.  “We were looking to get younger and have some spaced out contrats, Yuniesky has the chance to start right away for our team” manager Ron Santo told reporters at the news conference.

2nd Season Around the Corner

I promise to update my blog, I promise to update my blog!

The Cubs have announced the promotion of 4 players from the minor leagues to take open roster spots. Joey Votto, a big powerful prospect, has been moved up to the major league roster, filling the spot left vacant by Scott Hatteberg. Evan Longoria – 3B and Yovanni Gallardo – SP have also been added to the active roster. Mark Prior was moved up when Kris Benson was given his outright release. “We wish the best to Kris and his family, but we needed to move in a different direction”, said pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins.

Right now the Cubs have 5 open minor league spots and will look to be filling those in the next week. “We really need to build back up the farm system that has sent 5 players to the big club in the last year” said Jody Davis, minor league coordinator on Friday morning.

The Cubs currently have one open roster spot, an outfielder, which will be filled in the coming weeks. “We are really looking hard at the available free agents, but don’t rule out a trade if the depth is better at other positions”, said GM Jason Hoover. The Cubs have about $50 to spend on that open roster spot or to take on some additional salary if needed in a trade. “We’re happy where we are at right now”, said Hoover.

Rought First Week for the Cubs

The Clarksville Cubs got off to a rough start in the opening week of the opening season of the URL.  The Cubs dropped 8 of 14 games while splitting two others.  “Obviously, this isn’t what we had in mind when the season started” manager Ron Santo said on Monday afternoon.  “Our starting pitching took a good beating in the first week and we just were not able to make up for it at the plate”.

The Cubs won only two batting categories and two pitching categories, splitting one of each as well.  With a team ERA of almost 6.00, the Cubs were easily beaten by the Style’s league leading 1.71.  “Wow, they had some good arms last week” hitting coach Andre Dawson said in an interview on Sunday.  “We will spend a little more time in the cage this week to get ready for the Alley Cats next week.”

The hitting star for the Cubs last week was Eric Byrnes.  Eric had 11 hits in 31 at-bats for a .355 average while hitting two homeruns and driving in 7.  Eric also was credited with 4 of the Cubs 13 stolen bases.  “He really kept us from being shut-out,” Santo said.  “What a great pick-up he was for our team in the off-season.”  Not to be overlooked was a pair of former Cubs, Aramis Ramirez and Derek Lee, who each went 11 for 25 last week for averages of .440.

The pitching staff took a beating in the ERA category, however, a few pitchers did stand out.  Ben Sheets opened the season with a complete-game two-hit shutout.  For the week, he did wind up with an ERA of 3.60 because of the rough start on Saturday.  Starting pitcher John Maine had a very good game, throwing 7 innings of shutout baseball, allowing only 1 hit while walking two and striking out six.  “He really did his job out there” pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins told reporters after the game.  We just didn’t do too much more to help him out.

In this week for the Cub’s home opener are the Atkins Alley Cats.  The Cats will make the 35-minute drive up I-40 to take on the Cubs starting on Monday.

Early November Player Signings

The Cubs have continued the trend of adding quality players to the roster along with having all singed to multi-year contracts. The recent signings include:

Michael Young – SS – 5 years for $225
Vernon Wells – OF – 5 years for $220
Aramis Ramirez – 3B – 5 years for $165
Aubrey Huff – 3B/OF – 4 years for $68
Juan Rivera – OF – 5 years for $60
Mark Prior –SP – 4 years for $56
Emil Brown – OF – 2 years for $6

“Wow, what a great group of players!” GM Jason Hoover was heard as saying as he signed the last deal. “We are very happy in the amount of talent that is being assembled here in northern regions of the I-40 corridor of the URL”. Young, Wells and Ramirez bring a lot of pop to a line-up that already included Jacque Jones. The average season for these 3 new players over the last 3 years is a .304 average, 30 homeruns, and 105 RBI’s.

With the addition of Prior to the staff that already includes Jose Contreras and Mike Mussina, the hurlers for the Cubs are looking strong as well.

Cubs Sign First Players

On the 2nd available signing day, the Clarksville Cubs sign more players than any other team and are pleased to announce the initial members of the Cubs. In today’s signing, the Cubs have added 3 front-line pitchers and a very serviceable outfielder. The signings announced were:

Mark Buehrle – 4 years for $100, Jose Contreras – 3 years for $75, Mike Mussina – 2 years for $22 and Garret Anderson – 2 years for $6.

“I am very pleased with today’s additions”, Cubs pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins stated on Thursday. “We are starting off with a great group of guys who will be with the team for some time”. The Cubs did not sign any of their initial players for less than 2 years.

“We want them to know we are as interested in them as much as they are interested in us”, said owner and GM Jason Hoover. “Once a Cub, always a Cub. We want our players to feel security in their signing with us.”

No Players Signed on Day 1

Well, the Clarksville Cubs got off to a slow start, being only 1 of 2 teams who did not sign a free-agent on the opening day. Clarksville had only submitted bids on 5 of the selected players and were very close to signing 2 or 3 of them.

“We want players who are 100% dedicated to the Cubs and there are still plenty of players remaining who we feel will build our team into winners in 2007″, owner and GM Jason Hoover said on Monday.

“I’d like to start seeing some of those players in uniform”, smirked coach Ron Santo.

Additions to Team Directory and Sponsor

The following have been submitted to the League Commish for approval:

1B Coach – Billy Williams

3B Coach – Ernie Banks

IF Coach – Ryne Sandberg

Bullpen Coach – Lee Smith

Official Restaruant – Faded Rose

Long Time, No Blog

I haven’t blogged since the inception of my site. I have been extremly busy with school, work, traveling, Razorback games, and of course poker.

I have placed my first bids and can’t wait to see if I’m in the “ballpark” tomorrow.

Good luck to all the other owners and I can’t wait to get to know some of you over the next few months.

Team Directory / Sponsors Announced

Owner / GM – Jason Hoover
Manager – Ron Santo
Hitting Coach – Andre Dawson
Pitching Coach – Ferguson Jenkins
Minor League Director – Jody Davis
Minor League Manager – Dennis Eckersley
Mascot – Jerome Walton

Official:
Beverage – Dos Equis
Vehicle – Honda Odyssey
Airline – Northwest Airlines
Motto: Wait ’till next year.