Former World Series MVP Curt Schilling told reporters he would like a shot to help the Cubs break their infamous curse and finally win a championship after a century of failure.  That’s IF he deems himself able to return from the shoulder surgery that shelved him for the entire 2008 season.  “”I’m hemming and hawing right now,” Schilling said of his future. “I’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks.”  Of course, the Cubs would have to want Schilling, who is 42 and coming off surgery.  They do have an opening for another starter, but might be better [...]

The Cubs took to the field for their first spring training game Wednesday and got a win for their troubles, beating the Mannyless Dodgers 5-3.  Alfonso Soriano batted lead-off – hopefully not a preview of things to come – and went 1-1 with a walk (he’s going to be more disciplined at the plate this year…uh-huh).  Ryan Theriot went 2-3 in the two-hole while Geovany Soto went 1-2.  The big hero, however, was Micah Hoffpauir, who jacked a 5th inning grand slam off L.A.’s Ramon Troncoso.  Hoffpauir has already virtually locked up a spot on the bench, according to Lou [...]

Former Diamondbacks second baseman Orlando Hudson has signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers worth around $3.3 million with a bunch of incentives.  The Cubs had been rumored to be interested in Hudson as a defensive upgrade in the middle infield, but they couldn’t have been very interested if they weren’t willing to go above $3.3 million for one year.  In other middle-infielder news:  The Orioles have finally and completely squashed all possibility of ever fulfilling Jim Hendry’s dream of making Brian Roberts a Cub by signing him to a four-year extension.  I hope Jim isn’t too distraught about it.

Those suffering anxiety over any Cubs potentially coming to harm while playing in the utterly superfluous and misbegotten World Baseball Classic can breathe a little easier, now that Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez have officially pulled out of the event.  Lee, for his part, said he wanted to participate but was told Kevin Youkilis would be starting ahead of him.  “I wanted to do it, I really wanted to do it,” the first baseman explained. “But they told me, basically, I wasn’t going to play.”  Lee found no value in sitting on the bench while other guys were in Mesa [...]

It was beginning to feel a little lonely over here on the MLB end of FanSided…but, thankfully, another NL Central team has scored themselves a blog on the network.  Okay, it’s only the Pirates – not a fun team to trash-talk like the Cardinals or Brewers – but, we’ll take all the company we can get.  The blog is called RumBunter and it’s run by a dude named Smitty.  No, not Dwight Smith, former Cubs rookie of the year runner-up and sometime anthem singer.  Welcome to the network Smitty…hope you enjoy writing about your hopeless last place squad.

A couple days ago, Lou Piniella made my heart sink by indicating his plan to use Alfonso Soriano in the lead-off spot again.  But now a ray of hope has broken through the clouds of despair:  Piniella said Monday he will probably tinker with the line-up quite a bit, meaning Soriano will wind up hitting in the middle at least some of the time.  “We’ve got a combination of Derrek, Bradley, Ramirez,” Lou explained. “You know, I’m not going to (rule) out the possibility of throwing Soriano into that mix, too. We’ll see how it works out. We can play [...]

Freshly-signed Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley, eager to make a good impression on his new team, showed up to spring training on Sunday, a day before he was required to appear.  “It’s a new beginning,” Bradley said. “It’s a home, finally.”  That “it’s a home” remark is a reference to his having signed a 3-year deal with the Cubs…after playing for four teams in the last five years.  It remains to be seen whether Bradley will actually last the whole 3 years though.  He tends to wear out his welcome, for reasons that don’t really need to be rehashed.
Funny I [...]

Carlos Zambrano rocked the first day of spring training by showing up in what can only be described as a disturbing moustache.  Am I the only one who’s hearing wah-wah guitar in the back of my brain right now?  Let’s hope he shaves the thing before the season starts.  By the way Carlos, I talked to Dick Tidrow’s moustache.  It’s not impressed.

It wasn’t exactly a confirmation, but Lou Piniella did suggest on Friday that Alfonso Soriano will start the season in the lead-off spot for the Cubs.  According to Bruce Miles, Lou cited the team’s “two division titles in a row” as reason for this.  And I’ll cite a weak division and good pitching as the main reasons the Cubs were able to win those two titles, largely in spite of the one huge flaw in their line-up, namely Soriano being the lead-off man.  Offensive inconsistency has been this team’s biggest problem the last two years and not having a real [...]

Friday was the first day of spring training for the Cubs, which meant it was also the first day of answering questions for Lou Piniella.  Questions like:  Why does the team keep doing well in the regular season only to get bombed out in the first round of the playoffs?  And:  Are you ever going to win a post-season game or do you plan on extending the losing streak ad infinitum?  Of course, Piniella was happy to address this issue, telling reporters he has “learned a lot” from the last two years and admitting there is “room for improvement” in [...]