The Cubs were pretty poor when righty starter Fergie Jenkins pitched for them but that didn’t stop him from winning his fair share of games. Jenkins pitched in 401 games (347 starts) in his 10 years for the Cubs and he was 167-132 with 6 saves, a 3.20 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He won the Cy Young Award in the N.L. in 1971 with the Cubbies. In that year he pitched in 39 games (all starts) in which he was 24-13 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He pitched an amazing 30 complete games in 1971 working 325 innings in which he allowed 304 hits and whiffed 263 batters. Jenkins is the Cubs’ all-time leader in games started (347) and strikeouts (2,038). He also is #5 all-time in games pitched (401), #5 in wins (167), #9 in WHIP (1.12), #4 in shutouts (29) and he is #3 in innings pitched (2,673 2/3). Jenkins was one of the best players in Cubs’ history and he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

34-year old Derek Lee is still one of the best overall 1B in all of baseball. He played in 141 games for the Cubs last season and he was 163 for 532 (.306 avg, .972 OPS) with 91 runs scored, 35 homers and 111 RBIs. Lee will continue to rake for the Cubs as it seems like the perfect kind of team for him to be on. He also is still solid in the field as he made 6 errors in 139 games at 1B last season. He is always a threat to win the Gold Glove as he makes the rest of the Cubs’ infielders better defenders.

29-year old lefty swinging Chad Tracy will back-up Lee in 2010. He played in 98 games for the D-Backs last season and he was 61 for 257 (.237 avg, .695 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 8 homers and 39 RBIs. Tracy has a career batting average of .280 with a .792 OPS so the thinking is that he just had a off season with the bat in 2009. Tracy only made 2 errors in 66 games for the D-Backs last season and he is an average defender.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 1B IN 2010: A

The Cubs have signed 29-year old lefty swinging 1B Chad Tracy to a minor league deal. Tracy played in 98 games for the D-Backs last season and he was 61 for 257 (.237 avg, .695 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 8 homers and 39 RBIs. He has now played in 704 games in his major league career and he is 654 for 2,338 (.280 avg, .792 OPS) with 293 runs scored, 78 homers and 318 RBIs. I like this signing for the Cubs as Tracy could give them a nice lefty power bat off the bench in 2010.

The Cubs have signed 31-year old righty swinging Xavier Nady to a 1-year deal worth $3.3 million bucks plus incentives. Nady only played in 7 games for the Yankees last season in which he was 8 for 28 (.286 avg, .739 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He missed most of last season due to Tommy John Surgery. Nady should be ready to go in spring training as he will be the Cubs #4 outfielder and he could work himself into a platoon in RF with the vastly overrated Kosuke Fukudome. Nady has now played in 679 games in his major league career and he is 632 for 2,257 (.280 avg, .792 OPS) with 290 runs scored, 87 homers and 325 RBIs. The injury risk is worth taking for the Cubs as they needed outfield help for 2010.

27-year old righty swinging Geovany Soto couldn’t follow up his awesome rookie year of 2008. He played in 102 games for the Cubs last season and he was 72 for 331 (.218 avg, .702 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 11 homers and 47 RBIs. The Cubs really need to get back the Soto of 2008. He played in 141 games as a rookie in 2008 for the Cubs and he was 141 for 494 (.285 avg, .868 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 23 homers and 86 RBIs. Soto was still solid behind the plate for the Cubs as he had 5 errors and 3 passed balls in 96 games. He threw out 28% of the runners trying to steal on him and Cubs’ pitchers had a 4.00 ERA with him behind the plate. If Soto’s hitting stroke doesn’t come back he will lose more playing time to back-up Koyie Hill.

30-year old switch-hitting Koyie Hill had his breakthrough season in his major league career in 2009 despite the fact that he is still not a good hitter. But, he is a elite defender behind the dish. Hill played in 83 games for the Cubs last season and he was 60 for 253 (.237 avg, .636 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 2 homers and 24 RBIs. Hill whiffed 78 times last season for the Cubs as he often looks overmatched at the plate. When he plays it’s almost like having two pitchers in the batting order. But, he only made 3 errors and had 2 passed balls in 79 games behind the plate. He has a howitzer attached to his right shoulder as he nailed 40% of the runners trying to steal against him last season and Cubs’ pitchers love to throw to him as they had a 3.69 ERA with him behind the dish.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: B

The Cubs have signed 34-year old lefty swinging catcher Mark Johnson to a minor league deal. He played in 22 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 12 for 71 (.169 avg, .478 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Johnson last played in the majors in 2007 with the Cardinals. He has played in 332 games in his major league career and he is 204 for 934 (.218 avg, .632 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 16 homers, 83 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Johnson will likely start the season in AAA and only get a call to the Cubs if he is playing well and the need arises.

The Cubs have signed 37-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Scott McClain to a minor league deal. He played last season in Japan and he last played in the majors during the 2008 season with the Giants. McClain has played in 44 games in his major league career and he is 15 for 78 (.192 avg, .579 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. McClain has 292 homers in his 16 years in the minor leagues making him a modern day Crash Davis.

The Cubs have signed 27-year old lefty swinging 1B Bryan LaHair to a minor league deal. LaHair played in 121 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 132 for 457 (.289 avg, .883 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 26 homers and 85 RBIs. He has also played in 45 games in his major league career in which he was 34 for 136 (.250 avg, .661 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. LaHair will get a chance this spring to earn a spot on the Cubs’ bench.

Leon “Bull” Durham played 8 years with the Chicago Cubs. He appeared in 921 games for the Cubs and he was 898 for 3,215 (.279 avg, .846 OPS) with 474 runs scored, 138 homers, 485 RBIs and 98 stolen bases. Durham was never an elite player with the Cubs but he had decent power and speed for a player his size. He saw more than his share of losing years with the Cubs as he was one of the better players in the dark years for the Cubs.

The Cubs are hoping for health and rebounds from a couple of slumping players to improve the team in 2010. I’m not so sure I like this line-up that much and if the season started next week the Cubs would look like this in the field:

C-Geovany Soto
1B-Derek Lee
2B-Jeff Baker
SS-Ryan Theriot
3B-Aramis Ramirez
LF-Alfonso Soriano
CF-Marlon Byrd
RF-Kosuke Fukudome

The Cubs really need Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez to stay healthy to make this line-up work. They also need Geovany Soto to rebound from his sophomore slump in 2009. I think the Cubs should play Jeff Baker everyday at 2B which I think will help the offense as he is a player who would likely excel from getting full time at bats for a whole year.