Cubs Closer Job: Gregg VS Marmol, Harden out of WBC, Blanco signs with Padres, and Wood thanks Cubs fans

Cubs.com reports that Kevin Gregg and Carlos Marmol will compete for the closers job this Spring. Here's quotes from Lou Piniella, Larry Rothschild, Marmol, Gregg, and Ryan Dempster:



Lou:

• "Let them compete."


• "I feel comfortable with Marmol, there's no question. But we traded for the other young man, and he was a closer over there with success. Give him a chance too."

Larry:

• "That's really for Lou to decide."
• "I think Carlos has proved what kind of job he can do in that role. I'd really be surprised if there is anybody who can do it better. We're confident in what he can do"
• "I think he (Marmol) got a little fatigued at one point and started overthrowing and got into some bad habits."
• "For about better than a year, he pitcher better than anybody could pitch. There was a bump in the road, and he recovered nicely from it. I don't think any of that is unexpected for a young kid."

Demspster said "Nobody can hit him, he's one of those guys who has a chance to do anything he wants because he has a pretty special arm with electric stuff."

Marmol said, "We'll see what happens."

Kevin Gregg quotes:

• "I'm going in competing."
• "I know what I'm capable of; I know what I've done the last couple of years."
• "I know how to get outs in the 9th innings."
• "I've kind of covered every role that there possibly can be- minimal starts- but in the bullpen I've covered every role out there."
• "I'm definitely more comfortable closing the 9th with the game on the line. Hopefully that's where it takes me."
• "Every game situation is different."
• "I'm pretty mellow and never had a big spike in adrenaline."
• "Going to Florida was kind of a culture shock for me."
• "It'll be nice to go back to 40,000 fans, and fans who are intense about the game and expect to win."
• "The one thing is we all have one thing in common, we all play baseball."
• "We all have one goal in common, and that's getting to the World Series and winning. It makes it pretty easy because you have something in common right away, even though you don't know the guy, you have something in common and that makes the connection a little easier."
• "It takes some time to feel things out. The great thing about the Cubs is the chemistry and atmosphere there is tremendous. that always makes it easy when you know there are good things going on, good people, good ideas. I'm excited to be around it and excited to be a part of it."

We got a few Cubs Notes:

• Rich Harden will not pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic because of his "on and off" right shoulder. Harden is disappointed but his number 1 priority is the Chicago Cubs.
• The CCO brought to my attention that Kerry Wood thanked the Cubs fans in the Chicago papers last weekend. He said; "It has been an honor to have been a Chicago Cub for the last 13 years and to have played in the greatest ballpark, Wrigley Field. My deepest thanks go to my teammates and the Cubs organization for taking a chance on a kid from Texas and welcoming me into the Cubs family. Thank you Cubs fans, the greatest fans in all of baseball, for believing in me and supporting me over the years. I will always be proud to have been a Chicago Cub. Although I'm a member of a new 'Tribe', I will forever be a Chicagoan."
• Henry Blanco has signed a one year deal with the San Diego Padres worth $750,000. In my opinion, the Cubs should have resigned Henry. Rumors say that Paul Bako could sign with the Cubs for $500,000. I would much rather have Henry for only $250,000 more. Blanco was always one of my favorite non-superstars (along with Reed Johnson and Mike Fontenot). I bet the Hank White fan club is disappointed. I'd love to see Blanco come back to the Cubs as a coach down the road.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted.

Cubs avoid arb. w/ Kevin Gregg, A Look at the Bullpen Mix

The Cubs avoided arbitration with Kevin Gregg today by agreeing to a one year 4.2 million dollar contract. Gregg will be a free agent at the end of the year.

There's a lot of guys in the mix for the Cubs bullpen going into spring training:

• Jose Ascanio
• Mitch Atkins
• Justin Berg
• Neal Cotts
• Chad Gaudin
• Kevin Gregg
• Angel Guzman
• Kevin Hart
• Rich Hill
• Carlos Marmol
• Sean Marshall
• Marcos Mateo
• Garrett Olson
• David Patton
• Jeff Samardzija
• Jeff Stevens
• Luis Vizcaino
• Randy Wells
• Mike Wuertz
• Chad Fox

To break it down a little here are the guys definetly in the bullpen in my opinion:

• Jeff Samardzija
• Carlos Marmol
• Neal Cotts
• Kevin Gregg

That leaves 3 spots open. I think Marshall will be in the rotation, Olson and Hill will be on other teams. So for me it comes down to:

• Bullpen spot 4; probably Chad Gaudin in middle relief.
• Long Man: . Kevin Hart, Angel Guzman, Jeff Stevens, and David Patton are all in the mix.
• A second lefty?: The Cubs could take 2 of the guys mentioned as possible long men, but they might want a second lefty in the pen. There is a possibility that southpaw will be Olson, Marshall, or Hill. It could be someone not on my list who's in the organization like the guy from the DeRosa deal or Carmen Pignatello. Or the Cubs could add a left handed pitcher to the mix.
• Luis Vizcaino, the guy the Cubs got in the Marquis deal, could fill that 7th spot in the rotation instead of another left handed pitcher or another long man.
• Jose Ascanio, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Marcos Mateo, and Randy Wells will almost certainly begin the year at AA or AAA. Chad Fox and Mike Wuertz could be headed back to the minors or could part ways with the team.

There's a lot of possibilities for the bullpen. Later in the week, I'll have a breakdown of the outfield.

Also, with the Cubs aquiring Garrett Olson the Peavy talk is heating up again. Olson is a guy that the Padres do have interest in. It is hard to say whether this deal is so the Cubs can trade for Peavy or if it is just to add an arm to the 5th starter/ bullpen mix. Some sources say Peavy is on his way out of San Diego, others say that he will be with the Padres on Opening Day. We can only wait.

The World Baseball Classic Roster Special is tonight on the MLB Network. I'll have post later with full WBC rosters.

I'll keep you posted on everything as always.

Hope You Had a Great Christmas

Well, It's the day after Christmas. I hope your Christmas was a great as mine. Let's get to a few more Christmas links.

• The twelve days of Christmas Cubs version from Chicago Cubs Online.
• Holiday Q&A with Kevin Gregg from Cubs.com.
• The Night Before Christmas from Hire Jim Essian

And Sweet Lou was on WGN Radio with Steve Cochran and Cory Provus on Tuesday. Here's the recap:

• Lou talks about how he is playing golf and enjoying the warm weather in Florida. (lucky him)
• Lou came to Chicago for a few days and says he doesn't miss the cold weather.
• Cory Provus came on and wished Lou a happy holidays.
• Cory asked how Lou's hammock was. Lou said he hadn't been on his hammock too much because he's trying to loose some weight.
• Piniella said he had all his shopping done for Christmas.
• Lou says Jim's working on getting a left handed bat.
• Lou said he's going up to Iowa for the fan fest in Mid-January and says he's going to be pretty busy for awhile.
• He encourages people to go to the Cubs Convention at least once in their lifetime. Fans can get autographs, ask players questions, take pictures, and have fun.
• Cory asked what his message to the players will be this year at the start of spring training. Lou says he's got to think about that and says that the first meeting in Arizona will be an important one.
• Steve asked about Santo getting nipped for the Hall again. Lou says that going back to Ron's career he was a dominate player at 3rd base for many years and says Ron should be in the elite group.

Here's the latest Cub related rumors:

• Mark Gubicza of XM Radio is convinced that Milton Bradley will sign with the Angels.
• The Rays, Yankees, Cubs, and Nationals are also interested in Bradley.
• Ken Rosenthal says that the Cubs are confident they can acquire Bradley.
• Rosenthal also reports that the Cubs could revisit Peavy talks if they get approval from their new ownership which is expected to be settled in about a month.
• Former Cub Corey Patterson has agreed to a minor league deal worth 800,000 on Wednesday with the Nationals.
• Sammy Sosa is ready to come back and play in the major league. reports say that he is waiting for an offer to play in 2009. Before he was expected to announce his retirement after the WBC, but not anymore. I think the Cubs would have interest in bringing him back if he was left handed.

Well, That's it for now. I'll keep you posted on everything throughout the weekend.