AmateurGm.com

On November 19, 2006, I received a text message from my friend Dan that read “What do you think about the Cubs getting Soriano?” I thought to myself, Alfonso Soriano…the guy that just went 40/40 for the Washington Nationals…my favorite player? As a Chicago Cubs’ fan this was hard to comprehend as the organization does not have a history of going after high profile free agents–let alone getting the best free agent on the market.  I quickly checked ESPN for confirmation of this exciting, yet ambiguous text and was overjoyed to find out that the Cubs were indeed set to sign Soriano. The deal was $136 million over 8 years. No big deal.  Sure, we have “The Fonz” under contract until 2014 and the Cubs will be paying him $18 million [...]

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• Category: Chicago Cubs, Fantasy, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Derrek Lee

Welcome to draft day. It has come to that all important time of selecting a second basemen. Chase Utley was gone in the first round and now you are wondering who you should invest in to stay competitive in your league. Which guy will give you that slight edge? Should you look for more power? Speed? High batting average? There are too many choices! Well don’t worry we have you covered. Our analysts have the information you need to make an informed decision. Bryce Carlson (Brian Roberts) – In the fantasy baseball second base market, Brian Roberts is a performance enhancing choice… no pun intended.  First of all, Roberts is a workhorse.  He has averaged 157 games for the last three seasons.  You don’t [...]

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• Category: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Fantasy, Philadelphia Phillies, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as Aaron Hill, Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, brandon phillips, Brian Roberts, Chase Utley, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Ian Kinsler, Miguel Tejada, Nomar Garciaparra, Robinson Cano, Steve Buechele

According to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com, the Chicago Cubs and Jermaine Dye have mutual interest in each other and are rumored to be in preliminary discussions on a deal. If signed by the Cubs, Dye would be used primarily as a fourth outfielder and as a platoon partner in right field with current outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Dye has spent the last five seasons on the South Side of Chicago with the White Sox, where he was a productive member for the team during his tenure. Dye has found the free agent market unkind to him as the only other known team interested in his services was the Texas Rangers, who recently signed Vladimir Guerrero to a deal to fill their [...]

• 4 Comments
• Category: Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Free Agents, Rumors, Teams, Texas Rangers
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Jermaine Dye, Kosuke Fukudome, Vladimir Guerrero, Xavier Nady

As we approach the end of 2009 this week, it’s time to resume our countdown of the MLB Network’s Top 9 players at each position from the past decade. The focus now shifts to the second base position where a few interesting names find themselves on the list. Let’s get to it: 9. Robinson Cano – Cano started his career in 2005 with the New York Yankees and has been a solid performer for the team since his debut. He has done a respectable job playing a supporting cast role in the Yankees lineup, as most of his skills go unnoticed with names such as ARod and Jeter garnering much of the attention. For his career, Cano has a .306 [...]

• 6 Comments
• Category: Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Teams, Washington Nationals
• Tagged as Alex Rodriguez, Alfonso Soriano, Barry Bonds, Brian Roberts, Chase Utley, Craig Biggio, Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, Jeff Kent, Jose Vidro, Luis Castillo, Robinson Cano

Joe Posnanski of SI.com recently complied his list of “anti-award” winners for both the American and National Leagues. The AL Least Valuable Player (LVP) was Toronto Blue Jays’ centerfielder Vernon Wells.  Runners-up for this designation included Yuniesky Betancourt, Kansas City Royals; Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland Indians; Alex Rios, Blue Jays/Chicago White Sox; and Jose Guillen, Royals. Milton Bradley, rightfielder for the Chicago Cubs, was the National League LVP.  Other names mentioned for the NL LVP included Emilio Bonifacio, Florida Marlins; Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta Braves/New York Mets; Jason Kendall, Milwaukee Brewers; Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers; Edgar Renteria, San Francisco Giants; and Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs. Posnanski’s analysis was based mostly on the players production in relation to their salary, which is [...]

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• Category: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Teams, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tagged as Alex Rios, Alfonso Soriano, Barry Zito, Edgar Renteria, Emilio Bonifacio, Jason Kendall, Jeff Francoeur, Jhonny Peralta, Jose Guillen, Milton Bradley, Russell Martin, Scott Oleniczak, vernon wells, Yuniesky Betancourt

Jim Callis of Baseball America recently released his Chicago Cubs Top 10 Prospects list for the 2010 season.  The biggest change on the Cubs’ list is the rise of 19 year old shortstop Starlin Castro. Castro has risen through the Cubs’ system this past year and is currently the talk of the Arizona Fall League. Castro has drawn comparisons to Edgar Renteria and a young Alfonso Soriano. Baseball America lists Castro as the best defensive infielder in the system. The Cubs currently envisions Castro as their shortstop of the future, possibly by 2011. Other players of note include No. 2 prospect, Brett Jackson (of), the Cubs top pick in the 2009 draft and No. 3 prospect, Josh Vitters (3b), the [...]

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• Category: Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Teams
• Tagged as Alfonso Soriano, Andrew Cashner, Angel Guzman, Baseball America, Brett Jackson, Chris Carpenter, Corey Patterson, D.J. LeMahieu, Edgar Renteria, Felix Pie, Hak-Ju Lee, Jay Jackson, Jim Callis, Josh Vitters, Logan Watkins, Mark Prior, Ryan Flaherty, Starlin Castro, Tom Ricketts