Getting to Know the Cubs: Micah Hoffpauir

Born: March 1, 1980 in Forth Worth Texas

Big-League Debut: May 18, 2009


Position: IF/OF

Bats/Throws: L/L

Height/Weight: 6-3/215

Hobbies: Micah enjoys listening to country music.

Childhood: Born and raised in Texas, and will forever be a proud Texan.

Family: Micah and his wife Tiffany had their first child, Addyson, in December 2008.


Interesting Fact: Micah's given name is James.

Numbers Breakdown: The Cubs In the Tribune Era

With Tom Ricketts finally taking over the Chicago Cubs, I thought it would be interesting to get some final stats from the Cubs under the Tribune Company:

• 26 years
• 6 playoff teams
• 3 NLCS appearances
• Final Record of 2,202-2,310
• .488 Winning %
• Best Season: 2008 (97 wins)
• Worst Season: 1981 (38 wins)
• First Place Finishes: 5
• Second Place Finishes: 2
• Third: 3
• 4th: 8
• 5th: 6
• Last Place: 5
• Records over .500: 10
• Records under .500: 18
• Managers: 17- Lou Piniella, Dusty Baker, Bruce Kimm, Don Baylor, Jim Giggleman, Tom Trebelhorn, Jim Lefebvre, Jim Essian, Joe Altobell, Don Zimmer, Frank Lucchesi, Gene Michael, John Vukovich, Jim Frey, Charlie Fox, Lee Alia, and Joe Amalfitano.
• World Series Rings: 0

Let's take a look at a few updates the Tribune Co. made to Wrigley Field:

• 1988: Added Lights
• 1989: Built Mezzanine Suite level and constructed new press box in upper deck
• 2003: Added Dugout and Bullpen Boxes
• 2005: Expanded bleachers by 1,800 seats
• 2006: Constructed Batter's Eye Lounge
• 2007: Reconstructed field to add modern drainage system

Remember... the numbers don't lie!

Quick Hits: Gregg, Bradley, and More

• Jim Hendry says Milton Bradley may be back in 2010, and said his 2009 season was a major hiccup according to Carrie Musksat.
• Ken Rosenthal, on the other hand, has reported that the Cubs are working on a 3 team deal where Luis Castillo would end up with the Cubs, Bradley would go to Toronto, and the Mets would get Lyle Overbay. He says that deal is a long shot.
• Bruce Levine agrees that Rosenthal's report has some validity to it.
• Kevin Gregg filed for free agency yesterday. He is a Type-A FA.
• The Cubs will not be releasing Bradley.
• Jerry Crasnik asked 20 baseball executives who would be harder to trade, Bradley or Vernon Wells. All 20 said Wells.
• ESPN has mentioned the idea of a Bobby Jenks for Milton Bradley exchange between the Cubs and White Sox.
• Billy Williams is not ready to give up on Milton.
• Paul Sullivan says the Blue Jays want no part of Bradley. He disagrees with Rosenthal's report.
• Rich Harden is one of the 10 riskiest free agents this winter.
• Harden is hoping to return to the Cubs according to the Tribune.
• Check out last night's full rumor roundup for more!

Day 2 of the GM Meetings today will mostly be spent talking about instant reply. American League Gold Gloves are announced today. The rumors are flying....

I'll keep you posted.

Monday Night Rumor Roundup

GM Meetings Getting Started
The Major League Baseball GM meetings at the O'Hare Hilton in Chicago. The meetings last until noon Wednesday. The Organizational Meetings went great according to Hendry:
"We had a chance to meet the Ricketts family, and we feel they are going to be tremendous owners for the city of Chicago."

Hendry's Priorities
After Milton Bradley is gone, Paul Sullivan lists the areas the Cubs would like to upgrade this winter as: leadoff batter, center field, and middle infielder. Chone Figgins may not be in the Cubs price range, and they'll probably stick with Kosuke Fukudome. Speaking of Kosuke, they could move him back to right field and add a center fielder such as Aaron Roward. Bruce Levine adds a relief pitcher to the Cubs wish list.

The Bradley Latest
Gordon Wittenyer reports that the Cubs have at least 3 teams interested in Milton Bradley that have contacted them in the last week or so. Hendry and Randy Bush hope to meet with 5 or 6 teams and figure to look more toward trades than free agents this winter. No deals are expected to be made this week by the Cubs. Bruce Levine says that the Cubs could kill two birds with one stone by dumping Bradley. They would improve both chemistry and talent.

Cubs Award Candidates
Carlos Zambrano could win another Silver Slugger award when they are announced on Thursday. Big Z won the award in 2006 and 2008. AL Gold Gloves will be announced tomorrow, and Wednesday is the National League. Derrek Lee has a good chance of adding another Gold Glove to his trophy case.

Cubs Free Agents
John Grabow and Kevin Gregg have been named type A free agents, and Rich Harden is a type "B". The Cubs will receive a first round draft pick from the team that signs Gregg or Grabow, or a second round pick if Harden signs elsewhere. The Cubs will get nothing if they lose Reed Johnson because he isn't a type A or B FA. According to Bruce Levine "Rich Harden and Kevin Gregg will not be back next season". The Cubs would like to sign Reed Johnson, but Reed is seeking a multi-year deal and the Cubs do not want to give him that.

300 Home Cubs
The Cubs could have 3 players reach the 300 homer mark in 2010. Lee has 293, Ramirez is at 264, and Soriano is just 10 homers shy of 300 career.

Roy Halladay for Bradley?
Bruce Miles from the Daily Herald writes that one scenario has the Cubs getting ace pitcher Roy Halladay for Milton Bradley and a package of prospects. To get Roy, the Cubs must move money. Roy would provide "an instant jolt in the Cubs' rotation."

10 Names
Here's the list of 10 guys that the Cubs are looking at according to different sources:

• Roy Halladay
• Jason Bay
• Miguel Tejada
• Marco Scutaro
• Chone Figgins
• Johnny Damon
• Mike Cameron
• Aaron Roward
• Mark DeRosa
• Pat Burrell

That's it for now, I'll keep you posted as the Hot Stove starts to sizzle.

MLB Network and a Few Cubs Notes

The MLB offseason is officially getting under way. Starting today is the GM Meetings, so it should be an interesting busy week for baseball. Let's start this Monday with taking a look at the MLB Network's schedule for the next few weeks. Those of you that have the Network should be sure to tune it to those shows, and for those that don't have it or if you miss some of the shows, I will post anything Cub related.

• Today at 3 CT: AFL Rising Stars game repeat
• Tonight from 6-8 CT: Prime 9 Repeats
• Tonight at 9: All Roads Lead to Baseball-MLB Players and Personnel Share Their Road Trip Stories
• Tues. 6:00, 7:00: Studio 42 Bob Costas sits down with Cal Ripkin Jr. then Bud Selig.
• Wed. 5:00: The season debut of Hot Stove!
• Thurs. 5:00: 2009 Silver Slugger Special
• Thurs. 6:00: Hot Stove
• Thurs. 8:00: 2009 Clutch Performer
• Monday Nov. 16 5:00: Hot Stove Rookies of the Year Special
• Nov. 17 5:00: Hot Stove- NL Cy Young
• Nov. 17 7:00, 8:00: Studio 42 w/ Bob Costas- Closers, Bruce Froemming
• And much more throughout the winter

Now let's get to a few Cub rumors as we get set to start a new work week, and the GM Meetings start in Chicago:

• The Cubs "might have interest" in Chone Figgins according to MLB Trade Rumors.
  Paul Sullivan says the Cubs are ready to let Rich Harden and Reed Johnson go.
• Phil Rodgers thinks the Cubs will attempt to add bullpen depth via trades.
  Rodgers also thinks that they could be looking for starting pitching with Lilly's healthy a question mark and Harden likely leaving. He notes that Samardzija has pitched well in Mexico.
• Thanks to Chicago Cubs Online for this one- according to Baseball Prospects there are some rumors floating around about the Cubs looking to move Geovany Soto. Interesting tidbit.
• Baseball Prospectus also notes that The Cubs might listen on ace Carlos Zambrano, but would need to be overwhelmed to deal him.
• Kerry Wood, Bobby Jenks, and Matt Capps are available, as are Renyel Pinto, Dan Wheeler, and Mike Wuerz. Will one of these relievers end up in a Cub uniform?

That's it for now, it should be another interesting week.

Future MLB Stars Battle in AZ

Yesterday the Arizona Fall League "Rising Stars" game was played at Surprise Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Texas Rangers and KC Royals. The AFL East team, which included players from the Cubs organization, lost to the West 8-7. The East scored 7 runs in the top of the first inning, but they did not score again the rest of the way as the West roared back to "surprise" the East squad. McBride hit the go-ahead homer for the West in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Josh Vitters, Starlin Castro, Blake Parker, and Andrew Cashner were all named to the Rising Stars contest, but only Castro and Parker were able to play in the game.

Starlin Castro
Castro was the starting SS and number 2 hole hitter for the West club. The star Cubs prospect had a first inning broken bat single that fell in center. He came around to score on a 3-run Brandon Allen homer that started the scoring in the game. The team batted around in the inning, so Castro ended up flying out to end the 7-run frame. He blooped another Texas Leaguer for his second hit in the 4th inning. Starlin made a nice read on a ball in the dirt to advance from first to third. Castro was taken out for a defensive sub in the bottom of the 5th, to end his 2-3 day. He was one of three 19 year olds in the game.

Blake Parker
The 2009 Tennessee Smokies closer came on to pitch in the bottom of the 7th inning. He allowed a lead off single to Jordan Danks, who's from the White Sox organization. Carlos Rivero flied to left for the first out. Jordan, brother of John Danks, advanced to second on a Parker wild pitch. Parker walked Chris Heisey to put 2 men on, but then he struck out Yonder Alonzo for out number 2. Ike Davis was retired by Blake on a ground ball to get Parker out of trouble in a key spot. The scoreless inning of work kept the East in front for the time being by a score of 7-6.

It was great to see all of top prospects from all 30 teams playing on one field. Game like this are what I really like about the MLB Network, and why I think a Cubs Network is needed.

The AFL Championship game will be televised on the Network on November 21.

The Calm Before the Storm?

For now, all is silent on the North Side, but are moves on the way? Next week is the GM Meetings! Cubs Rumors are flying, but today let's take a look at some of Bill James 2010 projections:

• Carlos Zambrano: 12-3 with a 3.60 ERA
• Ryan Dempster: 12-10 with a 3.83 ERA
• Ted Lilly: 11-8 with a 3.76 ERA
• Randy Wells: 10-10 with a 4.16 ERA
• Carlos Marmol: 3.45 ERA with 34 saves
• Derrek Lee: .291 AVG, 30 HR, 98 RBI
• Aramis Ramirez: .292 AVG, 26 HR, 97 RBI
• Alfonso Soriano: .263 AVG, 30 HR, 77 RBI
• Kosuke: .265 AVG, 61 RBI
• Geovany Soto: .273 AVG, 20 HR, 79 RBI
• Milton Bradley: .276, 18 HR, 64 RBI

That's it for today, I'll have a full report on the AFL Rising Stars Game and a Numbers Breakdown posted tomorrow.