Chicago Cubs

In the off-season between 2008 and 2009, Geovany Soto was riding high. The Chicago Cubs catcher had just won the National League Rookie of the Year award, having socked 23 home runs and posted an .868 OPS in his first full season of Major League work.

Perhaps in retrospect, the young backstop rode a little too high. He came to camp in poor shape, and admitted during the season to a positive test for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.

Stopping to read the Jim Hendry outfield foibles over the last few seasons reads like the tale of a man who just doesn't get it. Corey Patterson, Jacque Jones, Jeromy Burnitz, Matt Lawton, Cliff Floyd, Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Milton Bradley, just to name a few.

In pretty much every case, the Cubs have either failed to get the production that they hoped for, and/or wildly overpaid for it. I'll let you figure out which is which.

Watching highlights of new Chicago Cub centerfielder Marlon Byrd running the bases makes me wonder if the Cubs are trying out for “The Biggest Loser.”

If you have ever had your girlfriend ask you, “Honey, does my butt look big in these jeans,” you know where I’m coming from. We all know what the politically correct answer is, but boy does Marlon Byrd look big in his baseball pants.

Throughout history, birds have been symbols.

In the Bible story of Noah and the ark, a dove heralds the first sighting of dry land after the long flood. Even before Edgar Allen Poe forever linked the raven to all things macabre, it stood as a foreboding sign. Eagles represent freedom, doves symbolize peace, hawks typify tenacity, and cranes embody grace.

2009 was a disappointing year, once full of promise, but ended with drear.

Despite three consecutive seasons of winning ball, the Cubs once again failed to win it all.

Still we come out to Wrigley in record numbers, the fans cheering loudly while management slumbers.

Sweet Lou lived up to his name, that he seems so burned out is definitely a shame.

Randy Wells came out of nowhere to surprise, you could see the desire in his eyes.

Once washed up DLee was a sight for sore eyes, despite all the misguided Hoffpauir cries.

The Chicago Cubs took another outfielder from the Texas Rangers today (Thursday) when the club signed Marlon Byrd to a three year 15 million dollar deal.

This time, things should be vastly different then the Bradley experiment.

In addition to the signing of Byrd, the Cubs also signed Byrd’s old hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo who is said to have a hand in convincing the club to grab Byrd before it’s too late.

Last year, I ran what I hoped to become a tradition here at Cubbie Nation, the current team captured in pictures.

The premise is pretty simple. Teams and seasons come and go, and for as much time as we give to being with them, there's something wrong about the notion that many of these guys are gone, if not altogether forgotten, by the time the playoffs have ended.

Multiple sources have reported that the Cubs have inked free agent center fielder Marlon Byrd to a three year, $15 million contract. The question now becomes, is he worth it?

While Byrd is a good player and was no doubt the best available free agent center fielder on the market, he fails to address a number of the Cubs needs.

Not since the days of Corey Patterson have the Cubs had a clear cut center fielder. This search is finally over, with the Cubs singing 32-year-old Marlon Byrd to a 3-year, $15 million deal.