Chicago Cubs 2002 Season Preview

by Lou Parrotta

The vine-covered walls of Wrigley Field will contain some excitement this season. After finishing last season in third place at 88-74, the Chicago Cubs will no doubt be as persistent in their effort for a winning record once again, which would give them their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1971-1972. As a matter of fact, the Cubs may even contend longer into September than they did in 2001.

The Cubs are faced with some questions in their starting rotation. After ace Jon Lieber, there is some serious concern. Lieber provides some true ace stuff, but he cannot carry the load upon his shoulders all by himself. There will be many questions surrounding the starters manager Don Baylor chooses to send out to the mound. Will Kerry Wood continue to improve after the arm trouble that plagued his first couple of years? Will Jason Bere and Julian Taverez be strong enough and reliable enough to round out the rotation? Will sophomore Juan Cruz be able to prove he is not a young gun any longer? Will he be able to follow up his cup of coffee from last year with the necessary numbers a third starter needs? Only time will tell us the answers to these questions.

As for the bullpen, concerns abound. After Tom Gordon was lost for the season, again, and free agent Jeff Shaw decided to stay retired, the Cubs have found themselves utilizing a bullpen-by-committee at least to start the season. While Kyle Farnsworth has the potential to grow into the closers position, he does not as yet have all of the tools. As a result, Baylor will call on lefty Jeff Fassero to help out in tough situations.

As for the offense, the Cubs have not looked this good in a long time. Everyone already knows what Sammy Sosa adds to this potent lineup, but the addition of outfielder Moises Alou will offer Sosa with much needed protection in the lineup. Oh, what numbers Sosa might produce this year! To think that Sosa will have the numbers of Alou and the ever-consistent and reliable first baseman Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff surrounding him should make every Cubbie fan feel like a kid. There has not been this much offensive excitement since the days of Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams! Along with youngster Corey Patterson, who is developing finely in and of himself, Sosa and Alou have the potential to give the Cubs' one of the top five outfields in the National League this season.

The Cubs were dealt a blow when Bill Mueller came up injured. However, thanks to Andy MacPhails intuitiveness, the presence of the dependable Chris Stynes will help to ease that loss. The Cubs signed second baseman Delino DeShields, who no doubt will provide some much-need veteran leadership, and they also were shrewd enough to capitalize on the Blue Jays fire sale by nabbing shortstop Alex Gonzalez. This is a solid, dependable, but somewhat offensively unspectacular infield. This is just the type of infield that Baylor, a no-nonsense, gritty player himself, likes.

The major weak point on this team is the unfortunately advanced age of its catching corps. While Todd Hundley and Joe Girardi offer much as far as leadership goes, their best years production-wise might be past them. If Hundley comes back on a tear, then the Cubs have a shot to compete well into the season's final weeks.

If anyone can continue to improve this team, however, Don Baylor can. He has the ability to get the most out of his players. It should be a little more exciting in the confines of the famous Wrigley Field this year. The working class fans are going to be in for a nice treat now that the Cubs will be able to score some more runs. The only question is, though, whether or not they will be able to prevent their opponents from scoring more.

Ten Years Ago...

Strengths and weaknesses: Easy to generalize for this club: Good offense, inferior pitching. The Cubs were third in runs scored but first in runs yielded last year. A club that has Sandberg, Dawson and Bell will get you some runs. Dunston hits like a shortstop and fields like a dream. Mark Grace, he of the Will Clark swing, slipped from .300 lifetime to .270 and his production dropped from 80 RBI to 58. Staff ace Greg Maddux has become one of the most reliable starters in the game, but he can't carry the whole club. The rest of the rotation is questionnable---can Mike Morgan repeat his 14-10 campaign in L.A.? Can Danny Jackson beat the injury jinx? Can former #1 draft choice Mike Harkey recover from the shoulder surgery that sidelined him all of '91? In the pen, can 37-year -old Dave Smith return to his old Astro form? The overworked bullpen has only Paul Assenmacher (75 appearances) and Les Lancaster (64) to really rely on.

The 5 stars (Bell, Dawson, Grace, Sandberg and Dunston), probably will be up to par, although there is concern about Bell's health and Dawson's age and creaky knees. Third baseman Luis Salazar is only average and the catching platoon of Joe Girardi and Rick Wilkins doesn't inspire enthusiasm. CF is also open.

General Outlook: About the same as last year, 4th or 5th, maybe third if the pitching comes through.

Perspective: Is this Williams-Banks-Santo all over again? The club needs pitching in the worst way and the only new acquistion of the Himes-Lefebvre regime was Mike Morgan, an 11-year vet who had his first winning season last year. Lefebvre was not very popular with Seattle's players; Hines did a fine job of building the White Sox.