A New Era for Cubs

[yankeesandre]

I had another one and had posted some stuff, but I accidentally deleted that season, yeah accidentally I had meant to delete a season I had done only simulating when I was bored, anyways same concept as the other Cubs franchise I had started it will not be my main Franchise, my Yankees one will always be my main one but I will play games and post updates here, I play every single game because I'm not a huge fan of simulating any games when I'm serious about something. I will play this the same level I play Yankees Franchise to keep it challenging. I'll post players stats after I finish every month. Anyways without further ado....

Stay Tuned for this Franchise as I will have pretend Tweets(because after all this is a fictional franchise), pretend MLB trade Rumors and so on.

THE STORY BEGINS

Cubs Sign GM Andre:

The Cubs have decided to go ahead and sign a new GM in order to turn their franchise around. They sign GM Andre who isn't afraid of making any deals. He is aggressive and that has analyst questioning if he will be good for the team or not. It is widely known that Andre would have favored to be the GM for the Yankees but with Cashman as their current GM he moved along. “I'm happy to be hear, and I can hopefully give the fans something that has not been given in over one hundred years, a world series. I will do the best of my ability to try and make it happen. My goal is to try and keep the payroll reasonable. Our payroll is currently $66,274,862 and I'd like to keep it around that, however at the same time I want to stay competitive. GM Andre has signed a two year deal for the Cubs. Organization says that at the moment they are simply looking for improvement, but a world series would be really nice.

Spring Training Close to Start Cubs have made moves.

Spring Training has not yet started for the Cubs but already moves have been made. Carlos Zambrano goes into the Blue Jays amongst a prospect or two and in return the Cubs get LHP Ricky Romero. This gets rid of Zambrano's salary and tensions in the Cubs clubhouse. Ricky Romero's contract is nice because they have him under lock for 4 years at 2.1M for 2011, 2.2M for 2012, 2.3M for 2013 and 2.4M for 2014 as opposed to Zambrano's 2 years which were 7.9M for 2011 and 8.3M for 2012. “Our rotation had absolutely no LHP, and if you want to be a competitive team and have a good rotation I feel as if having a left handed starter is a must. The Cubs had inquired on Gio Gonzalez but Oakland wasn't interested. They also looked into Liriano but in the end, they liked Romero's contract.

Cubs Make Rotation Better:

Not even long ago the Cubs acquired Ricky Romero and they have already made another trade that will see Geovany Sotto(1 year 1.1M in contract) amongst prospects being shipped to the Angels and in return they get Ervin Santana(2 Years in Contract, 2.5M for 2011 and 2.6M for 2012). With Santana and Romero now in the rotation it looks like they could have a nice contending year with Dempster, Romero, Garza, Santana, and Wells. The Cubs now have a vacant spot in the Catcher's spot, will they use someone from their organization? Will they sign a free agent like Bengie Molina? Or maybe make another move?

Cub's Catcher Position Filled:

The Cubs have made another transition a prospect in return for C Kurt Suzuki(3 year contract, 1.4M for 2011, 1.5M for 2012, and 1.6M for 2013). Insiders like this move but see it as a pretty even replacement over Sotto, however seeing who they got for Sotto, it was a needed move.

Are the Cubs Contenders?

We have already seen the new GM make three moves and it seems like he has no moves planned at the time, but does not deny that the bullpen may require some work. The question now is, are the Cubs playoff contenders? Baseball Writers still feel as if the Cubs have work to do, there are questions marks on Soriano who has a pretty big deal and it is not known how he will perform, he could potentially be a player moved. They are also interested in seeing how Byrd, Colvin, Pena, Fukodome, Aramis, and DeWitt will perform. They feel as if the Reds, Brewers, and Cardinals might still have an advantage although they do like the Starting Rotation for the Cubs and were surprised how they were able to trade away Zambrano. The Cubs lost the contracts of Zambrano of 7.9M and Sotto's for 1.1M for 2011 for a total of 9M, meanwhile Santana, Suzuki, and Romero will make together 6M in 2011, that is a decrease of 3M. Zambrano and Sotto's Contract equals 17.3M combined for 2011 and 2012, while Romero, Suzuki, and Santana for both years are close to 19M, but that is their whole contracts and Romero is locked for four years and Suzuki for three, and Santana for 2, so already these deals have been a bargain for the Cubs.

Season Opener goes to Cubs:

Pirates struck first by scoring a run on a home run against Ryan Dempters but with a solo shot by Pena and a three run HR by Soriano the Cubs managed to win a 6-2 game to take the season opener. Ryan Dempters gets his first win of the season pitching 7 innings allowing one run.