The Cubs Chronicle

Both Al Yellon (here and here) and Derek Smart (here) have roundups of their visits to the 2005 Cubs Convention.

Also, be sure to welcome Dennis back to the Cubs Blog Army. He’s left Scott lonely at the Northside Lounge for a couple of months.

UPDATE (1/28/05 11:35pm): TheCubdom.com has pictures (and here).

A roundup of what other blogs are saying:

• Old Style Cubs took a look at minor leaguer Dwaine Bacon’s performance. He’s got the speed and the OBP%, but no power and a high strikeout rate. He’s also an “old” prospect.

• Cubs Pundit called out Cubs fans who want talent but aren’t willing to spend for that talent, even if it means overpaying a bit (e.g., the San Francisco Giants with Armando Benitez).

• There have been some changes in the ranks of the Cubs Blog Army. Byron at TheCubdom.com has some of the details, including the announcement of the launch of Goat Riders of the Apocalypse, the effective merger of four Cubs blogs. Byron has also started a site devoted to listing and syndicating the Cubs Blog Army.

• Alex at The Cub Reporter discusses David Kelton. The player Jim Hendry has been so high on for so long increasingly appears to be little more than a future backup corner outfielder/infielder. Commenter John Hill points out that Kelton is out of option years. If he doesn’t make the team in 2005, the Cubs will have to subject him to the waiver wire in order to send him to Iowa.

• Also at The Cub Reporter, Derek continues his “Assuming the Position” series with third base (including a discussion of the fleecing of the Pirates) and outfield (his sentiments on Alou match mine exactly).

• There was much commenting on the Nomar Garciaparra and Todd Walker signings: The Cub Reporter; The Big Lowitzki; View From The Bleachers; Cubs Pundit; and another thing!; 1060West; A Cub Fan Rants; Behind the Ivy. Everyone’s happy.

• Rich Lederer of Rich’s Weekend Baseball BEAT has a fun round-up of the first day of the Winter Meetings, which he attended.

• Finally, Baseball Musings discusses an interesting scoring decision, stemming from this interesting RedSoxNation.net interview with Red Sox official scorer Chaz Scoggins.

A look at what other blogs are saying:

• The Cubs are increasing their ticket prices once again, including increasing the number of “prime dates". TheCubdom.com has the breakdown. 1060West says, “simple economics tells you the increase is the right decision.”

• Is it true? Is Milwaukee’s signing of Damian Miller (assuming he passes the physical) actually a good deal, as asserted by ‘Studes’ at The Hardball Times? Brewers blog Al’s Ramblings thinks so. Both the Dodgers and Red Sox–two teams with astute GMs–were also after him. Or is Miller just another add-on to a trivia question?

• The three bloggers of the The Cub Reporter answered five questions on Sammy Sosa for Mets blogger Jeremy Heit.

• At The Cub Reporter itself, Derek Smart continued his “Assuming the Position” series with shortstop.

• Byron Clarke at TheCubdom.com thinks the Cubs might shy away from a Carlos Beltran deal after coming oh-so-close to making the Mike Hampton mistake.

• Finally, 1060west looks at a few of the Cubs’ pitching prospects that have been left unprotected from the upcoming Rule V draft, stemming from this Rotoworld article. Perhaps surprisingly, 6′9″ lefty Andy Sisco is one of them.

A roundup of what other blogs are saying:

Wait Til Next Year’s Bryan Smith looks at the top picks of the 2003 draft, including the Cubs’ Ryan Harvey: “Ryan Harvey . . . is either going to be power hitter or bust.”

The Cub Reporter’s Alex Ciepley took a look at the Cubs’ arbitration eligible players, and gave recommendations on who should be offered arbitration and who shouldn’t. The deadline to offer arbitration is December 7.

Also at The Cub Reporter, Derek Smart has started his excellent “Assuming the Position” series. Here’s first base. Here’s second base.

Earlier, Alex Ciepley noted an interesting profile of Cubs prospect Adam Greenberg at MLB.com, who quite competently assessed one of the big problems with this past year’s big league ballclub. (A Cub Fan Rants had thoughts on Greenberg as well.)

Finally, this has been linked everywhere, but Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts had an excellent article on “the disposable baseball blogger”. Baseball Crank tags on a couple of additional thoughts.