Chicago Cubs

Reports have surfaced that the Chicago White Sox have signed free agent first baseman Adam Dunn to a four-year, $56 million deal. After reading that statement, a collective sigh may have been audible on the other side of town, though each individual may have had a different reason for joining the chorus.

In baseball, divisions can be won or lost based on what a team does in the winter months, and perhaps more so than any other division, the NL Central could be decided by a few key off season moves.

The division looks to be a three team race between the Cardinals, Reds, and Cubs. The Brewers are also capable of making some noise, while the Astros and Pirates are in the middle of rebuilding and could see marked improvement in the years to come.

It's no surprise that the Chicago Cubs are looking for an everyday starter at 1st base, especially after they lost Derrek Lee in a trade.

They also lost Micah Hoffpauir after he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan. Hoffpauir was the front runner for the starting job.

But also adding to this, the Cubs have not won a World Series in over 100 years, making them more desperate to acquire a dependable bat.

There are many candidates for the job, with a good free agent market at 1st base this offseason. But here are the closest possibilities.

When Tom Ricketts took over the Cubs coming into the 2010 season, there was new-found hope throughout the entire Cubs fan base. A lifelong fan had bought the team. Surely a World Series was in the works.

Since then, all that's happened is more of the same. If Tom Ricketts (who admits he isn't "a baseball person") wants to bring a World Series trophy to the Cubs, he's going to have to shake things up.

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This is the final part of a series of articles outlining the decisions that the Cubs will need to make this offseason. You can read part four by following this link.

Wow. What to say.

For anyone in Cub-land who lives in a cave or doesn’t have electricity, the Cubs announced Tuesday that Mike Quade would indeed be retaining his job as manager.  Not, as many believed, losing it to HOF 2B Ryne Sandberg.

There’s Always Next Year: Intro

With catcher arguably the most important position on the diamond, the Cubs seem to have found a solid foundation for the future—hopefully.

Geovany Soto proved that he certainly had the talent to repeat and even build upon his rookie campaign after that came into question in the 2009 season.

According to a source on ESPN, Joe Girardi and the New York Yankees have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will pay him $3 million per season with a $500,000 bonus for winning the World Series.

The score was 3-2 in favor of the Yankees. There were two on and two out for one of the most feared hitters in the game today, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers led the series two games to one, so this was a critical at-bat for the Yankees and their underachieving pitcher A.J. Burnett.

Hamilton hit a pop foul down the left field line—and then it happened.

This time it's official. Mike Quade is the manager, not interim manager, of the Chicago Cubs.