Biggest Offseason Additions:
Jose Veras: The Cubs went out and signed closer Veras to a one-year, $3.85 million contract. This team had a horrible time finishing off games last year so Veras should be very helpful. He is a veteran pitcher who turned into a closer last season with the Houston Astros. The Cubs took notice to what he was doing in Houston and went out and made him their closer full time. This guy has always been a decent pitcher but has yet to find his place in the baseball world as this will be his seventh team in the past seven years.
Biggest Offseason Losses:
Dale Sveum: I know that Sveum isn’t a player, obviously but losing him was a big mistake for the Cubs. Sveum was giving the boot after only two seasons as manager. Starlin Castro and Dale did not get along whatsoever and some people believe that is partly why the Cubs decided to let him go. He is a good coach who has been around the game and knows what he is doing. Sveum is hardly to blame for how bad the Cubs were over the past two years. He was given basically nothing to work with and was set up for failure from the beginning. Rick Renteria will be taking over the managerial duties for the upcoming season.
Name to Watch in Spring Training: Arismendy Alcantara
And here we are again, back to my second basemen love. Alcantara is the Cubs number one prospect and also the fourth ranked second base prospect in all of baseball. Last season he batted .271 with 15 long balls, 69 rib eyes and 31 stolen bases. He has the potential to make the team right out of spring training as long as he can cut down on the strikeouts. This kid is 22 years-old and has a lot of time to grow and continue to craft his skill.
What Went Right in 2013:
To find a definitive thing that went right for the Cubs last year would be very hard to do. They ended the season 30 games under the .500 mark and had the worst home record in the National League. The one plus side this team had was that they won 66 games. It is kind of remarkable how bad this team was yet they still managed to go home at night with a win 66 times. You know a team is bad when the best thing they did in the year was win more than expected and still had a record under 30 games. Sorry to say but I can not think of one thing the Cubs did right in 2013.