Today marks the Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Goat.
When a goat reference is made, most Cub fans cringe. The Billy Goat Curse is still one of the foundational ulcer creating myths of Cub nation.
Now, with unbelievably high expectations for the 2015 season because of the signings of Joe Maddon and Jon Lester, the goat reference takes on a haunting significance.
Lester may be a good to great pitcher. He is a quiet leader (his actions on the field speak louder than his words). But he is now a Cub. He is not a Cub savior. However, there is no guarantee that he will be better than Samardzija.
Maddon has only managed in the quiet library of Tampa Bay. He has had success with the Rays, but one still must consider he got the talent benefits of one of the best young general managers in the game, Andrew Friedman. Maddon now has to roll the dice with Theo and Jed's take on "can't miss" prospects such as Soler, Bryant, and Russell.
Either Maddon or Lester could be this season's scapegoat.
If the Cubs start slowly, which is probably a given considering the distractions that surround the Wrigley Field rehab circus and at least two months of bleacher ticket holders removed from their seats, the blame game may be the only game in town.
A few hyperstatistic sites have crunched some numbers and predict that Rizzo is going to have a down year. One states that his contact (how hard he hits the ball) is one of the weakest on the team (which equates to more luck than hard contact). My concern with Rizzo is more body type. He has begun to square up, more beefy body frame. Add that weight to the stress of keeping up with the young, hard swinging, full body torque home run hitters like Baez and Soler, Rizzo is primed to have more back issues.
Castro continues to have off-season strange stories, including investigation of two shooting incidents in the Dominican Republic. He has not been charged with any crime, but just the fact he is in the area of questionable behavior is a concern. Some scouts believe that Castro will have his full batting stroke in 2015. It will be interesting to see how Castro performs with the pressure of Russell in AAA ready to take his job at shortstop.
The pressure is on all the young players to perform at veteran levels in order for the Cubs to even reach .500 in 2015.
