Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Are the Cubs the most un-clutch team ever?

It is getting downright comical at this point, isn't it? Are the Cubs seriously 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position (RISP) so far in the Detroit series? REALLY?!? Can't you just accidentally get a hit 1 out of 10 times? I mean that's only a .100 batting average which is half the dreaded Mendoza line. But 1-for-23? I don't think I've ever even heard of anything like that before and this is over a 2-game span. For you non-baseball enthusiasts out there, let me explain what this means. First, it's good that the Cubs had runners at 2nd and/or 3rd 23 times in a mere 2 games. Of course, it you start the inning with a hit and walk giving you runners at 1st and 2nd and the next 3 batters don't get a hit, you were 0-3 with runners in scoring position so that means they didn't get someone in scoring position 3 times...they just left the guy there over 3 at-bats. It is possible to score a run without improving your RISP as the Cubs prove night after night which just means you put the ball in play and a run scored without you getting a hit. This can happen on a fielder's choice, double-play groundball, sacrfice fly, squeeze bunt, etc. Of course the key to a BIG inning, is to keep the merry-go-round moving by getting another hit instead of trading a run for an out because eventually you run out of outs.

I thought Monday night's pathetic effort against the sub-.500 Braves was bad. I mean, when you have 10 hits and 3 walks over 9 innings, don't you just automatically score 2-3 runs? Nope! Not this year's Cubs folks! They went 0-for-6 in that game so if you add it up, that's 1-for-29 over a 3-game span - all losses of course. That's an .035 BA!!! You can't just get the bat in the way enough to put one between the infielders or shoot a little flare into RF or even one of those "swinging bunts"? NOTHING?!?

It happens ALL the time with this team. Classic example Tue night. Starts out great with Soriano getting a rare hit followed by another hit by Theriot. God forbid our $10 million dollar prized free agent actually get a hit and drive in a run, but at least he walked so now the Cubs have the bases loaded with nobody out (that's 0-for-0 by the way in the RISP stat). Our ONLY hitter is up there in D-Lee with a chance to get a big inning going. Well...not quite...soft grounder to SS is just soft enough for the Tigers not to turn the DP. The run would have scored anyway, but with no DP, D-Lee gets an RBI although that's now 0-1 for RISP. Hoffpauir whiffs (o-2) and Soto grounds out. That's 0-for-3 on their way to 0-for-8 and 1 whole run out of bases loaded and nobody out with 4-5-6 hitters coming up.

But hey - at least we're more left-handed this year! And hasn't that been a tremendous help for a team that led the league in BA, OBA, and Runs scored last year? NOT! Somebody get a mirror and see if Hendry can fog it to prove he's still alive. I know, I know...the Rickets/Cubs sale thing has hamstrung Hendry from making any deals right now. Well, it didn't stop him from TOTALLY screwing up this team in the off-season.

Is Lou asleep at the wheel? This is a new segment I'm introducing as a little Lou check. Lou, I know you don't have a computer with access to the internet, but how about picking up a paper or watching SportsCenter every once in a while? Did you notice Leyland benched his big money star for a few games after an extended slump? Yep, Magglio sat for 4 games. Soriano "rested" one game this week and is now "all better" so he's back in as lead-off boat anchor.
Soriano other than the 2-hit game he had to beat the cross-town White Sox in extras last week has ZERO 2-hit games in over a month. WHY is he still "hitting" lead-off? Since May 17th, Soriano's BA has gone from .280 to .224, his OBA from .343 to .289, his slugging from .580 to .426, and his RBI total from 25 to 30. We're talking about a span of 30 games and this THIEF (not stolen bases, rather HUGE paychecks!) has driven in only 5 more runs than ME.

WAKE UP LOU! YOU OLD FOOL!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Summer Time Bears Talk

How about a little football talk in the middle of the dog days of summer for our favorite baseball team (notice I won’t even use their name anymore until they give me a reason to). But there’s been a lot of Bears talk on the radio and in the papers in recent weeks, and I thought I’d recap a few things for everyone, and predict a few more possible moves.

We all the know the hysteria of the Jay Cutler mania seems to have died down, however if you read the papers apparently Cutler’s teammates are even more excited about him being their QB than the fans are, what does that say?

Despite a former football radio personality believing that the QB makes your WRs better, the Bears are still on the lookout for a veteran wide receiver presence, and right now, the market is choke full of them, let’s review the last few days in a special segment I like to call, As the Wide Receivers Turn.

Anquan Boldin
We all know the situation with Anquan Boldin, out there for a possible trade. He’s fired his agent Drew Rosenhaus as he was unable to get him out of Arizona, and still remains in a place he in no way wants to be.

Likelihood of a Bears Trade: 5%-10%.

My Outlook: This would be my first choice for the Bears at WR. However the Bears made the Cards an offer around draft day and the Cards rejected the offer. Nothing has been discussed since then, with the Bears or with any other team.


Plaxico Burress
Probably the most intriguing of all possibilities. Major talent could be facing a 4 game suspension for shooting himself at a NY Nightclub, and could possibly still serve jail time, however most likely not anything that would affect this season. He is a free agent, so no trade is required, just a whole lot of money, for a guy with a lot of issues on and off the field. However the Bears are interested, and recent reports say that QB Jay Cutler has been lobbying for Burress as well.

Likelihood of a Bears Signing: 60%-70%.

My Outlook: If the Bears can get Burress on a one year deal, do it. It’s worth it even if he serves the 4 game suspension, I’d rather have Boldin, Marshall or Edwards, but this is just a money deal, do trade needed.

Brandon Marshall
Another outstanding Broncos pro bowler who wants out. What the hell is going on in Denver? Pro Bowl offensive players can’t wait to get out of town. I think the thin mountain air has finally gotten to Bronco management, but hey if helps the Bears get a pro bowl WR to go with the pro bowl QB, then I’m all for it. To be fair Marshall is coming off hip surgery, has some pending legal matters for a domestic dispute, and has been labeled as immature as a player, but then again what WR isn’t considered that? Marshall will cost the Bears a bundle, and probably Devin Hester as part of that bundle. The Broncos already have the Bears 1st rounder next year, do they want our 2011 1st rounder as well?

Likelihood of a Bears Trade: 20%-25%.

My Outlook: Marshall is going to cost a lot, and I just don’t think the Bears have the draft picks the Broncos will be looking for. I can’t see this deal happening, but then again I thought that about Cutler.

Braylon Edwards
There was talk a few months ago that Edwards could be available for the right price. He’s scheduled to make a ton of money, and the Browns would like to not take that cap hit. There has not been much talk of this for a while, but a report this morning suggests the Browns could swing a deal for Brandon Marshall, and Cribbs would be part of that deal. If that were to happen, I can see a scenario that gives the Bears the opportunity to deal Devin Hester and a draft pick or two to the Browns for Edwards.

Likelihood of a Bears Deal: 1%-3%.

My Outlook: There’s been little to no talk of Edwards winding up on the Bears, however if the dominoes fall the right way, this could be a real possibility.

In the end, the Bears realize they need a better corps of wide receivers, and they are out to make that happen for themselves, but there are some chips that do need to fall in the right place, so right now the chance of the Bears upgrading with a better WR is 50-50 right now.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Worst Off-Season for a GM ever???

Did Cubs' GM Jim Hendry have the worst off-season ever or what? The guy did absolutely NOTHING right this off-season and we all have to deal with a .500 team because of it.

It started with the trade of Mark DeRosa. I was not completely against this trade at the time because I thought it just had to be part of a much bigger move - Jake Peavy. Instead what happened is the Cubs are left with NO backup for Aramis at 3B. Not only from a fielding standpoint as Aramis is a near gold-glove 3B, but primarily from a production standpoint. Although Aramis has played in only 18 games which is just over 1/3 of the Cubs 56 games and he's still only 11 RBIs shy of team leader Alfonso Soriano with 16. How could Hendry have possibly know Aramis would get hurt this year? How about looking at his career? He's had more years missing at least 20 games than years he didn't. You already know D-Lee is just not a big RBI guy, so how are you going to score runs if Aramis is out? Well, DeRosa has now driven in 42 runs following his game-winning grand slam last night for a LAST place team and those 42 RBIs would lead the Cubs by 15 over Soriano's pathetic team-leading 27 (not pathetic that the lead-off hitter only has 27 RBIs, but that 27 leads the team). So now you don't have the production from DeRosa (he was 3rd on the Cubs last year with 87 RBIs) but you signed Aaron Miles for nearly the same money. Well, after he got hurt along with Aramis, Hendry went out and spent even more money by adding Ryan Freel. I just don't get it.

It continued with more cost-cutting by not resigning Kerry Wood. From a purely numbers standpoint, Kerry Wood is performing very similar to Kevin Gregg so this wasn't a disaster (at least not yet). This was purely a cost-saving move which just doesn't sit well with me since they were one of the few MLB teams that actually raised ticket prices in the face of these rough economic times so while increasing their incoming revenues, they are cutting costs to further increase profit. Is this the right direction for a team fighting to end the drought at 101 years? Or are we, the fans the only ones concerned with this "streak"?

Jason Marquis leads the NL in Wins. OK - I'll admit I was not against this move at the time either. Marquis has been on three straight playoff teams but has never made the playoff roster. Why? Because he's known as a first half pitcher that usually falters big-time down the stretch so let's not go crazy here. He was one of the best 5th starters in baseball for the Cubs the last two years and was even used as a pinch-runner from time-to-time. Like I said, I didn't have a problem with the trade BUT that was assuming teh Cubs could get ANYTHING at all from Vizcaino. It wasn't because he didn't pitch well, but the Cubs got rid of him for whatever reason after 3.2 innings without allowing run in 4 games. Did I mention that the Cubs are still paying most of Marquis' salary for him to pitch for some other team? Brutal Jim!

Two words...Milton Bradley. This knucklehead was the key to the whole thing. This was Hendry's guy all the way in his quest to become more left-handed (Bradley is a switchhitter) AND to throw more money at last year's free agent mistake - Kosuke Fukudome. He was certainly warned how Bradley is a hot-head (although I was hoping he would add a spark to the clubhouse), he certainly knew he was coming off a career year (check out Jeff Blauser's last season in Atlanta prior to being signed by the Cubs), and he should have known he is injury-prone. Yes, Hendry jumped out there to make sure he signed this "prize" free agent ahead of everyone else rather than sticking it out and taking a serious look at Ibanez (any argument that this guy is the MVP right now?) or even Bobby Abreu. Instead, the Cubs are stuck with a moody guy with a hamstring or groin problem just waiting to happen every time he needs to run out a grounder. Did you see him whince in pain last night after hitting a roller late in the game? I will say his fielding has been better than expected, but his hitting is a JOKE. Should the team's clean-up hitter be up there looking for a walk in EVERY situation? You're in the middle of the order to drive in runs, not just get on base Milton. Hit the darn ball man!

How about that awesome bullpen Hendry has constructed? Hendry couldn't wait to run lefty Scott Eyre out of town last August so what has Eyre done since going to the Phillies for a minor leaguer named
Brian Schlitter? Well, he compiled a dazzling 1.88 ERA for the World Series champions last year and has a 2.63 ERA while giving up runs in only 2 of his 24 appearances so far this year. While the focus was on making the batting lineup more left-handed (how's that working out Lou? you had the best offense in the NL last year and now with your lefty-lineup, you can't score runs consistently; nice work!), maybe he should have spent more time on the bullpen. The only lefty down there these days is Neal Cotts although Sean Marshall is in the pen again now too. Trust me when I tell you NOT to compare stats between Cotts and Eyre.

Worst GM of the Year??? I certainly think so.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

2009 Chicago Cubs - WTF?

So as I'm listening to the game last night on the radio, and listening to Ron Santo moan and groan his way through another broadcast, I couldn't help but realize that my fantasy baseball team and my favorite real baseball team have the same problem, they have zero team chemistry!

Now that's to be expected on a fantasy team as none of these guys actually interact with each other nor do they ever really compete with each other, and after watching this years version of the Chicago Cubs, I'm starting to think the same can be said.

Now you can go back to the Mark DeRosa trade, the non Kerry Wood signing, the trade for Kevin Gregg, or even the signing of Bradley. Or how about the much ballhooed trade for Aaron Heilman (A guy Jim Hendry has been chasing for years for some odd reason). And in the end of this entire mess, I couldn't help but ask myself this one question.......

Has Lou Pinella lost it as a manager?

Lou has made a lot of bone headed moves lately, from not telling Koyie Hill he was going to be replaced in a game causing the team to have a player in the game they didn't want, or his insistence on playing aging struggling veterans like Derrek Lee or Milton Bradley, rather than hot hitting Micah Hoffpauer or Reed Johnson or even Lou's his insistence on using a total of 3 guys in a 6 person bullpen, essentially playing 3 guys down.

Anybody remember David Patton, the Rule 5 kid as Lou calls him, well guess what, that kid is still on the roster and has pitched a total of 15 innings this year, and with the exception of one bad outing at St. Louis on April 25th, his numbers aren't horrible, but no one would know that as this kid is still on the roster, but never plays!!!!! Great idea for a bullpen already struggling, let's keep a guy in there who NEVER PLAYS!!!! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for more playing time for Patton, I'm asking for him to either play or go away. I know the rule 5's procedures, and that the Cubs have to release him if they cut him, but which is worse, keeping your team a player short so you have a mop up guy, or getting someone in here that can actually help.

The question you have to ask is, is this Cubs team done in June? My answer, with great sadness in my heart, yes they are, but not for the reasons you may think.

It's entirely possible this team can turn it around, the veterans who have produced in previous years could very well get it back, and this team could make a run, however, the one area should be the main area of concern for everyone is the bullpen. I know it's an easy area to pick on after last night....But the reason there's no chance for help right now is because of the team's really lousy ownership situation.

Jim Hendry right now is completely hamstrung by the Cubs ownership situation, this does not allow him the luxury he has had in previous years, that luxury is the ability to buy your way out of your mistakes when you are a big market team. There's a reason you don't hear the Cubs name mentioned with guys like Jake Peavy or Roy Oswalt, because right now this team cannot afford to make a move like that. Every move the Cubs make from here out has to be an even money swap until Ricketts and Zell figure out a way to play nice.

What does this mean, it means unless there is a cheap pickup that can be made, a minor league kid who may catch lightening in a bottle (That's assuming Lou even puts them in the game) or Heilamn, or Gregg, or even Marmol some how fix their mistakes, this is the roster we're stuck with Cubs fans. Happy Summer!

The question I leave you with is this, once the Ricketts family takes over, is a house cleaning in order? Does the new ownership say the last few years have been a total failure, and fire everyone from Crane Kenny (rumored to be staying with the Cubs after the ownership change), to Jim Hendry to Lou Pinella, is a fresh start needed for everyone involved with this team?

Is this THE year or just another "Wait til next year"?

Well, the Cubs did it again last night showing us a new way to lose a game. The bullpen blew ANOTHER chance for Randy Wells to earn his first MLB W. He left with a 5-1 lead in the 8th after giving up an HR to Garret Anderson and E-3 on "gold glove" D-Lee (not fair as this was only his 1st E of the season) as he just whiffed on a low throw from Theriot. Enter Marmol who promptly walks Francoeur on 4 pitches, gets a nice catch by Fukudome on a hard-hit liner to RF and then plunks the .129 hitting Norton to load the bases. Ya .129 so let's start him off with a slider low and in...perfect. He's not done yet...as he walks in a run with .250 hitting Kelly Johnson to get to the middle of the Braves order. A sac fly by Escobar made it 5-3 and then he gets Chipper to ground out to end the inning and the damage. By the way, at this point the Braves had all of TWO HITS and 3 runs.

Moylan throws an 8-pitch inning for the Braves in the 9th to lower his not-so-stellar ERA to 4.82. It started with a horrific "I've never faced an MLB pitcher before EVER" AB by Soto on a 3-pitch strikeout where he guessed wrong on ALL three pitches swinging (if that's what you want to call it) at the last pitch that was 2 feet off the plate outside.

This set the stage for Gregg's second blown save (not sure how that's possible with a Borowski-like ERA of 5.24). It started well enough with a harmless fly out to Soriano (does anyone else HATE that little hop?). The next batter is the key to why I am calling this a new way for the Cubs to lose. On a 1-2 pitch, Gregg throws a nasty slider that Anderson swings over the top of for strike 3 and the second out, but wait...Soto fails to block the ball in the dirt instead letting it get all the way to the wall behind the plate and Anderson reached on a dropped 3rd strike so there's still only one out and a guy on first bringing the tying run to the plate. Prado flies out harmlessly to Reed Johnson in CF for the real second out although the Cubs should be out of the inning with a rare road W.

Now someone needs to explain the Francoeur pitch sequence to me. You've got a guy in Francoeur they once called "The Natural" batting 7th in a not-so-powerful Braves lineup because the rest of MLB figured out he can't hit a breaking ball. He's up there representing the tying run and does have some pop in his bat and Gregor Blanco up next still looking for his first hit of the season. Again, the scouting report says he CANNOT hit a breaking ball. You just struck out Garret Anderson on a nasty slider so what is the pitch sequence to Francoeur? How about 4 straight (and I mean STRAIGHT) 4-seam fastballs measured at 92-93 mph with the last one going out faster than it came in to tie the game with a 2-run HR. Soto wanted low and outside and Gregg threw it belt high on the inner half ending Wells' latest attempt to get his first MLB W despite a sparkling 1.69 ERA. The Braves summary through 9 innings is now 5 runs, 3 hits, and 1 error.

So WHAT was going through Lou's head (I would say "brain" but I'm not sure there's one in there) in the 12th? I have to admit I stopped watching after the 10th, but just looking at MLB Gameday (is this THE BEST applet EVER?!?) I can see what happened. With 1-out, base hit by Escobar who then stole second for his 2nd SB of the season and 9th in his 3-year career
. Come on guys! This was big as Chipper singled to LF to win the game for the Braves in the bottom of the 12th and complete the blown 5-run lead with 6 outs to go by the Cubs and probably worst loss of the season to date (there's still a LONG way to go for them to top this though). Anyway, so WHY does Lou pitch to Chipper with 1st base open? McCann was 0-4 for the game regardless of what he had been doing prior to this game so I just don't get it. Why was Soriano so deep in LF that he didn't even attempt a throw to get the winning run out at the plate?

So do I blame Lou for this loss? Fair or not, YES I do. Why pull Randy Wells after merely 83 super efficient pitches? The bullpen has proven time and again they can't hold a lead for this guy so why not let him try to finish it up himself? Would he have pulled him if Lee hadn't whiffed on the Theriot throw? Doubtful so why pull him after the E-3? The 83 pitches marked the LOWEST pitch count this season for Wells who threw 111 in his last start preceeded by 95, 97 and 84 in his three previous outings this season. Next...who is in charge of calling pitches and scouting reports? Why does Francoeur get 4 straight 4-seam fastballs when EVERYONE in MLB or watching at home knows he can't hit a breaking ball? Was Soto calling the game and worried about another wild pitch? Who cares?!? You had a 2-run lead so the guy on base means NOTHING.

Can't you just tell this season just has NO good vibe at all? Prized free-agent (prized by Hendry anyway) left the game with a strained calf in just his 33rd start this season (
out of the Cubs 50 games) as it is including a suspension. Theriot, Fontenot, and Fukudome have as many HRs as Bradley and are only 1 behind D-Lee for second on the team with 5 apiece. Zambrano has been hurt and suspended; Aramis apparently nearly lost his arm with as long as he's been out. Soriano leads the team in RBIs from the lead-off spot with Theriot second! In 19 games in the entire month of May, D-Lee drove in 9 runs. Just to put that in some perspective for 1st baseman getting paid what the Cubs pay D-Lee, Pujols had 7 RBIs in ONE GAME back in April.

In conclusion...this is NOT the year! Sorry Cubs fans - "Wait til next year!" AGAIN!