Hittin' 'Em Where They Ain't | A Chicago Cubs Franchise Report (MLB 14 | PS4)

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Hittin' 'Em Where They Ain't

A Chicago Cubs Franchise Report

Specs: MLB 14 The Show, PS4
Rosters: OSFM Hybrid V3
Sliders: Custom
Style: Zone / Meter / Auto
Sim/Play: Play all
Quick Counts: Off
30-Team Control: Yes
Trades: Fair + realistic
Contracts: Realistic for contracts over $4MM
Backstory: Over a century of fan suffering

Why Chicago?
This is a project that I swore I'd never take on. It can be hard to separate real life from the game. But, it is time. Finally there is a console/game/roster set that is sim enough to approach the realism I need in chising with my favorite club. Also, with the release of Madden and impending release of NHL and NBA2K, so many Cubs franchises that had populated this forum like stars in the night sky now lay dormant and have been dropping off the 1st page like so many flies.

My goal is to win it all for the good fans of cyber-Chicago. And I won't stop until that happens. Holy cow, it's time. Hey Hey, Holy Mackerel! Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air.

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Cubs 2014 Review
The braintrust of the Chicago Cubs baseball operations staff, Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, and Jason McLeod, now have 3 years under their belts in the Windy City. What started off as a long slog with nothing but a faint glimmer of hope for Cubs Fans is starting to mature into something closer to expectation. The Cubs have showed gradual, albeit steady, improvement under the watchful eye of Epstein. After a gruesome 2012 in which the Cubs flirted with a franchise loss record (103) in going 61–101, the Cubs improved by 5 games to 66–96 in 2013 and finally cracked 70 wins in 2014 with a 70–92 showing. No longer are players like Alex Hinshaw, Miguel Socolovich, and Justin Germano populating the 40-man roster—it has actual talent on it now.

Despite the massive influx of top talent, the Cubs offense is still finding its way at the MLB level. In 2014, the Cubs ranked near the bottom of most offensive categories. The Cubs had trouble getting bat on ball (29th in MLB in strikeouts), getting on base (29th in MLB), squaring up the baseball (29th in MLB in batting average), and scoring runs (28th in MLB). Anthony Rizzo had another strong year and Starlin Castro set a career high with 15 HRs, but the lineup depth was just not there. In 2015, the Cubs will need to get more out of guys like Welington Castillo, Luis Valbuena, and Chris Coghlan to improve on offense. Free agent signing Chris Denorfia (.270, 10 HR, 58 RBI) will help platoon with Coghlan in LF, which should help matters.

The pitching staff was not half bad in 2014; they just didn’t get any favors from the offense. Jake Arrieta took a huge step forward (2.91 ERA | 219.1 IP | 225 K | .196 BAA) and established himself as an ace on a bad club or a solid #2 on a playoff caliber team. With the offseason signing of Max Scherzer to the largest contract in franchise history, Arrieta will get to slot nicely into that #2 role after all. Scherzer signed for 6 years and $175MM with a vesting option for a 7th year if he reaches 175 IP in the last year of the deal or 350 IP over the final 2 years. Scherzer only won 10 games for an underachieving Tigers club in 2014, but also K’d 242 and had a respectable 3.63 ERA. Scherzer and Arrieta will give the Cubs the best 1-2 punch since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.

Aside from the top of the rotation, the middle looks to be decent. Kyle Hendricks will slot in at the #3 after posting some outstanding rookie numbers. Hendricks pitched to a 2.04 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in 101.1 IP after dominating AAA. Filling out the back end will be Edwin Jackson (3.87 ERA in 2014) and Travis Wood (4.77 ERA in 2014). If anyone falters, Jacob Turner, Tsuyoshi Wada, and Dan Straily are among those waiting to get their turn.

The bullpen was a strength of the club in 2014. New closer Hector Rondon was nearly automatic with 40 saves and a 1.79 ERA. Rondon was particularly tough on righties especially with a .178 BAA. Justin Grimm (1.85 ERA, 0.93 WHIP in 68 IP) and Wesley Wright (2.71 ERA, 1.12 WHIP in in 73 IP) were fantastic in short relief. Pedro Strop, Neil Ramirez, and even Kyuji Fujikawa were not quite as good, but still performed at a respectable level. The Cubs also added some new arms via Rule 5 draftees Chris Withrow from the Dodgers and Stephen Kohlscheen from San Diego. Withrow especially could be a nasty 8th inning man if he can harness his command.

The Cubs broke in a trio of prospects in 2014. Arismendy Alcantara, Javier Baez, and Jorge Soler all played significant time in the bigs. Soler showed the most immediate impact and led the Cubs in batting average in his 190 ABs. Soler’s .295/.359/.558 line came with 11 HR, 32 RBI, and a gaudy .917 OPS. In nearly the same number of ABs, Javier Baez hit .255/.299/.573 along with 16 HR and 43 RBI. Alcantara hit .240/.297/.384 in manning CF for the 2nd half of the season.

The spigot shows no sign of slowing down either. Both Kris Bryant and Addison Russell are looming at AAA Iowa and just waiting for the call up. Bryant will compete for the starting 3B job out of Spring Training. The next wave is not far behind them either with Albert Almora, Dan Vogelbach, Kyle Schwarber, and Billy McKinney slated to start the year in AA ball.

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MLB 2014 Review
The 2014 MLB season was a wild one indeed. The Indians and Tigers played into Game 163 for no apparent reason (neither was contending for a playoff spot). Stephen Strasburg became the first pitcher to eclipse 300 K’s since the Big Unit in 2002. Clayton Kershaw had an MVP season for the ages, but was robbed of the Cy Young, which went to Doug Fister. Fister had 1 more win to his stat line than Kershaw. Edwin Encarnacion and the Blue Jays put a hurt on the American League—Encarnacion channeled his inner Crush Davis and belted 53 HR to go with 135 RBI to lead MLB in both categories while winning AL MVP. Supported by strong years from Jose Bautista and Adam Lind, the Jays scored an eye popping 858 runs, but their pitching staff was so bad (4.80 team ERA), that they couldn’t even crack .500. The Brewers and the Red Sox both unexpectedly fell apart, while the Nationals challenged an all-time best record, ending with a 112–50 mark in a depleted NL East. The Orioles, however, had the final say with an epic 4–3 World Series win over their regional rival Nats.

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Offseason Movement
In an otherwise fairly conservative offseason, the Cubs reeled in the biggest fish on the open market. 30-year-old Max Scherzer signed on the dotted line when the Cubs showed Scherzer and Scott Boras the money. The 6-year pact eclipses Detroit’s earlier offer of 6 years and $144MM by about $30MM and includes a fairly attainable vesting option which was a key point in the negotiations. It’s the richest contract in Chicago Cubs history by almost $40MM over the Alfonso Soriano deal.

The Cubs also were busy filling minor holes. Chicago signed OF Chris Denorfia to a 2 year $7MM contract to platoon in LF. Chicago also snatched RHP Chris Withrow and RHP Stephen Kohlscheen in the Rule 5 draft. The Cubs brought in LHP Mario Hollands, LHP Joe Paterson, RHP Chris Leroux, C Jose Lobaton, 1B Vince Belnome, 2B Michael Martinez, and OF Brandon Boggs on minimum contracts. Finally, the Cubs pulled off a pair of minor trades sending RHP Blake Parker to the Rockies for 22-year-old C Jose Briceno and sending RHP Blake Cooper to Texas for 22-year-old SS Hanser Alberto.

The Tigers settled on Justin Masterson to replace Max Scherzer in the rotation, although Masterson was bombed to the tune of a 5.77 ERA in STL (one of the reasons the Cards missed playoff baseball for the 1st time in a while). The Tigers also let 1B/DH Victor Martinez walk. Of course, Ruben Amaro Jr. was giddy to sign the 36-year-old 1B/DH to a 4-year contract. The Tigers backfilled V-Mart’s spot with 35-year-old 1B Adam LaRoche. LaRoche remained productive for the NL Pennant-winning Washington Nationals in 2014.

The Nationals replaced LaRoche by dealing for Yonder Alonso of the Padres; the Padres got OF prospect Steven Souza in exchange for LaRoche. The Nats also made a 6-player trade with Toronto. After re-upping Asdrubal Cabrera, the Nats finally cut Danny Espinosa loose and sent him to a 2B-hungry ball club. The Jays lost Jose Bautista to a broken foot, so they were wise to pick up Nate Schierholtz in the deal as well to help bridge the gap. In return, the Nats picked up well-traveled platoon catcher George Kottaras and a couple of decent prospects in SS Dawel Lugo (Ian Desmond insurance) and lottery ticket OF Dwight Smith Jr.

The Red Sox turned out to be huge players in free agency and in general. As some expected, the reeling Sawx ponied up 5 years and $105MM to bring Jon Lester back. In another aggressive move, Ben Cherington inked veteran SS Jimmy Rollins. The terms of the deal raised some eye brows with 5 years and $75MM in the deal for the 36-year-old. They weren’t done. The Sox dealt a trio of players to haul in 3B Adrian Beltre from Texas. Boston sent Anthony Ranaudo, Brock Holt, and Will Middlebrooks to the Rangers in return. The deal helps shore up 3B for Boston and helps alleviate a huge logjam in the OF. Meanwhile Texas gets much needed above-replacement-level, warm bodies and opens the hot corner for the eventual arrival of Joey Gallo. The Rangers also outbid everyone for the services of James Shields at 4 years and $92MM to bolster their crumbling rotation.

Last, but maybe not least, the Yankees responded to the end of the Derek Jeter era with the beginning of the Jed Lowrie era at SS. The Yanks have above average to all-star level veteran talent at every position, so they could surprise in 2015 if they get any pitching at all.

A wild card that no one seems to be talking about is the Cubs’ entirely new coaching staff. The Cubs hired former Padres 3B coach Glenn Hoffman to be the new skipper. Interestingly, there is a Jed/Theo connection here. Glenn Hoffman, Trevor Hoffman’s older brother, was the runner up to Terry Francona in the Red Sox 2003 search and, of course, Jed Hoyer was a GM of the Padres while Hoffman was coaching there. The Cubs brought on ousted Astros manager Bo Porter as the hitting coach and ousted A’s former pitching coach Curt Young to serve in that same capacity. Former Cardinals 1B coach Chris Maloney and former Rangers 3B coach Gary Pettis round out the completely revamped staff. Theo and Jed passed on higher profile candidates such as Mike Matheny and Ron Gardenhire to assemble this crew.

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Cubs 2015 Preview
Spring Training saw the Cubs go 15–13 in Cactus League play. On the offensive side, Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler both went completely bonkers and tore the cover off the baseball. Rizzo batted .358/.429/.604 with 6 homers and 23 RBI and hit .400 against lefties. Soler continues his journey into becoming an elite hitter; Soler hit .340/.400/.606 with 6 HR while knocking in 15. In the only real position battle of the Spring, Cubs management decided to stay with incumbent Luis Valbuena at 3B and start Kris Bryant at AAA. Cubs fans were understandably nonplussed to put it mildly. After a pretty wretched 2014, Valbuena had a pretty miserable spring, too, batting .172 with a goose egg in the HR column. Bryant started off slow himself, but sent a parting shot to Cubs brass with an offensive explosion 2 HR 5 RBI game in the spring finale against the D'Backs. It’s hard to see how the Cubs keep Bryant under wraps for much longer; Bryant finished up with a .250/.344/.571 spring line to go with 3 HR and 7 RBI. The Scott Boras spin machine and the Chicago Cubs spin machine will do battle all spring until Bryant's inevitable call up.

Pitching-wise, new arrival Max Scherzer is what Denny Green and the rest of us though he was. Scherzer went 1–2 with a 2.25 ERA striking out 42 in 32 spring IP. Kyle Hendricks, Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop, Wesley Wright, Edwin Jackson and Co. followed suit and helped lead a stingy Cubs staff to a 3.60 ERA. Jake Arrieta was a little shaky with a 4.53 DIPS, but nothing to cause concern at this point.

Season Predictions

Record: 86-76, in the conversation for the 2nd NL Wild Card
Offensive MVP: Anthony Rizzo
Pitching MVP: Max Scherzer
ROY: Kris Bryant
Dark Horse Contributor: Chris Withrow
Inaugural Doug Dascenzo Award: Michael Martinez

Chicago Cubs Depth Chart - 2015

• Catcher
• Welington Castillo
• Jose Lobaton

• First Base
• Anthony Rizzo

• Second Base
• Javier Baez
• Logan Watkins
• Michael Martinez

• Third Base
• Luis Valbuena

• Shortstop
• Starlin Castro

• Left Field
• Chris Coghlan
• Chris Denorfia

• Center Field
• Arismendy Alcantara
• Matt Szczur

• Right Field
• Jorge Soler

• Starting Pitcher
• Max Scherzer
• Jake Arrieta
• Kyle Hendricks
• Travis Wood
• Edwin Jackson

• Relief Pitcher
• Pedro Strop
• Neil Ramirez
• Chris Withrow
• Justin Grimm
• Wesley Wright
• Stephen Kohlscheen

• Closer
• Hector Rondon

Aside from a few vets starting at AA in Mike Olt, Brandon Boggs, and Felix Doubront, there’s nothing all that surprising about how the Cubs farm will start 2015. Kris Bryant (#1 prospect) will make a cameo back at AAA after being left off the Opening Day roster. Albert Almora (#3 prospect), Addison Russell (#2 prospect), C.J. Edwards (#5 prospect) are the latest blue chippers to graduate to AAA, and the next wave is right behind them in AA. Kyle Schwarber (#4 prospect), Billy McKinney, Jeimer Candelario will join organization newcomers Hanser Alberto and Jose Briceno with the Smokies. The Iowa Cubs will try to repeat as division champs and the Smokies will try to catch the Jackson Generals in the Southern League this year.

Iowa Cubs Depth Chart - 2015

• Catcher
• Rafael Lopez
• Willson Contreras

• First Base
• Dustin Geiger
• Vince Belnome

• Second Base
• Stephen Bruno

• Third Base
• Kris Bryant
• Jonathan Mota

• Shortstop
• Addison Russell
• Elliot Soto

• Left Field
• Junior Lake
• John Andreoli

• Center Field
• Albert Almora
• Jae-Hoon Ha

• Right Field
• Rubi Silva

• Starting Pitcher
• Dan Straily
• Tsuyoshi Wada
• Jacob Turner
• C.J. Edwards
• Eric Jokisch

• Relief Pitcher
• Armando Rivero
• Mario Hollands
• Chris Leroux
• Joe Paterson
• Marcus Hatley

• Closer
• Brian Schlitter

• Designated Hitter
• Vince Belnome

Tennessee Smokies Depth Chart - 2015

• Catcher
• Kyle Schwarber
• Jose Briceno

• First Base
• Mike Olt
• Dan Vogelbach

• Second Base
• Gioskar Amaya

• Third Base
• Jeimer Candelario
• Christian Villanueva

• Shortstop
• Hanser Alberto
• Marco Hernandez

• Left Field
• Jacob Hannemann
• Bijan Rademacher

• Center Field
• Billy McKinney

• Right Field
• Brandon Boggs

• Starting Pitcher
• Corey Black
• Ivan Pineyro
• Pierce Johnson
• Felix Doubront
• Rob Zastryzny
• Tyler Skulina

• Relief Pitcher
• Lendy Castillo
• Frank Batista
• Zach Cates
• Carlos Pimentel
• Hunter Cervenka

• Closer
• Tony Zych

• Designated Hitter
• Dan Vogelbach

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[Deuce2223]

I doubt you will ever know how happy this makes me. No offense to anyone who has ever tried to do a Cubs Franchise and post it here, but you are by far the right man for the job.

Love the Scherzer signing. Was their a run at David Price at all or is he still with the Rays.

Also I am curious if Olt has a future with the team. He has actually played really well for me as has Lake since I acquired them in my M's Franchise. In fact Lake has been playing alot of SS for me because B. Miller went down.

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Quote: Originally Posted by Deuce2223

I doubt you will ever know how happy this makes me. No offense to anyone who has ever tried to do a Cubs Franchise and post it here, but you are by far the right man for the job. Love the Scherzer signing. Was their a run at David Price at all or is he still with the Rays. Also I am curious if Olt has a future with the team. He has actually played really well for me as has Lake since I acquired them in my M's Franchise. In fact Lake has been playing alot of SS for me because B. Miller went down.

The rosters I used to start were accurate as of Aug 31st so all the real life trades were already made.

Olt has his work cut out for him. With Rizzo at 1st and Bryant at 3rd (soon), I just don't see it. Olt will have to play out of his mind in the minors to get called up. At best, probably a bench bat, 1B/3B UTIL type I'm sorry to say. He would have to benefit from some injuries to get a better chance than that.