Is the Old Big Z Back?

I know the Bears just won a HUGE game against their arch rival in a game they were a 3-point underdog even though they were 2-0 just like the Packers AND playing at home…HUGE! And obviously the Cubs are WAY done, but I left ESPN on after the game and Baseball Tonight came on. They threw a stat up there about Zambrano that shocked me.  With tonight’s 1-0 win over the Padres, that was Z’s 10^th straight start giving up 2 runs or less in at least 5 innings.  That’s a Cubs record for the “live ball era” (i.e. since 1920).  So here are his stats over this last 10-game period:

    10 GS       7-0*          64 IP      41 hits    9 ER     1.27 ERA

    *The Cubs blew all three of his no-decisions

Those are some pretty sick numbers…as much as most everyone believes the Cubs REALLY blew it with their #1 starter entering the season by demoting him to the pen so early in the season (after only 4 starts!) and then suspending him for over a month while sending him to anger management classes, it is even harder to argue with the results.  Of course, there is definitely a “no pressure” factor in play here as the Cubs have been out of it for a LONG time so there really isn’t a lot of pressure right now, but I’m not sure I buy that completely. I think he puts an awful lot of pressure on himself and while that's not completely the same as playoff type pressure, it is still at least some pressure.

My question is - do the Cubs really know how much they need this guy? Did they have a premonition this season was going to end up in the dumpster and did this to get Z back to being the Z they signed to that $90 million contract a couple years ago? Nah....I don't believe that. I still think they TOTALLY screwed that up this year and have gotten VERY lucky with how it has turned out.

That's it for now...tick tock...another year of "Wait 'til Next Year" is about to wind down this weekend...next up is the pending manager signing screw up.

DA BEARS!!!

Now Its Over!

Well, the White Sox made a nice run this year, but are going to fall pretty far from the division title they seemed poised to get just over a month ago. They were last in first place on August 11th and are now 9 games behind those pesky Twins after being swept at home by those same rivals. The series this week was UGLY for the Sox too as they didn't just lose; they were destroyed and on their home turf. I read yesterday that one local writer is calling The Cell Target Field East as the Twins are now 12-2 in their last 14 games here. That is NOT good!

Let's face it...the only reason the Sox even made their unlikely run in the first place had more to do with their schedule than anything else as they simply feasted on the weak NL teams they were blessed to play this summer going 15-3 in inter-league play which was the best record for any team this season. The Twins on the other hand were 8-10 so that works out to a substantial 7-game advantage in the standings for the White Sox. Luckily for the Twins, they get to play the White Sox just as many times as interleague where they more than made up that 7-game deficit going 13-5 against the Sox. The AL Central is the biggest overall difference between the two teams with the Sox going 30-36 while the Twins dominated their division with a 43-20 record with winning records against all four of the other teams. That folks is what a division winner should look like...you shouldn't be able to feast on other teams while losing to your closest rivals and still win the division against those rivals.

So while the Sox entered this series in a "must sweep" mode as they were 6 games back to start ended up with an apocalyptic scenario instead...they got swept. With 16 games left, the Twins "magic number" is 8 which is the smallest for any of the divisions. That means any combination of 8 Sox losses and Twins wins finishes off the Sox officially, but everyone knows they're done already including the Sox themselves. This was as demoralizing a sweep as we've seen in Chicago since the 97-win 2008 Cubs (how long ago does that seem right now?) were swept by a steroid-aided, Manny-led Dodgers team in the NLDS. Too bad for Kenny Williams and the Sox they didn't get the steroid taking Manny from 2008 because they certainly paid for that guy with the nearly $4 million contract they picked up from the Dodgers. Instead, they got another Juan Pierre type singles hitter without the wheels. Manny is hitting .293 for the Sox since the trade, but in his first 14 games and 54 plate appearances in those games, he has ZERO home runs, ZERO extra base hits, and worst of all ZERO RBIs! WOW!

Kenny Williams chose to ignore the bullpen issues facing his team and put all his waiver-deadline eggs and nearly $4 million of his boss' money in the basket of an aging slugger. Was that his final move as Sox GM? Most "experts" feel like the Ozzie/Kenny show is just about done with the two clashing several times in the last 12 months...most notably over the signing/not signing of Jim Thome...and one of them is probably out the door. Will it be Ozzie or Kenny or maybe both? The Sox chose to not sign Thome to be their everyday DH and instead go with a committee approach which failed so miserably that they were almost forced to sign Manny at the waiver deadline. Thome made about $1.8 million for a full-season in Minnesota while the Sox paid Manny nearly $4 million for about 30 games...hmmm...sounds like someone screwed up BIG TIME to me. Of course, had Manny been Manny at the plate rather than just with his hair (pretty hypocritical of the Sox to allow him to keep the dreds) and helped push the Sox over the top to take the division from the Twins, most people wouldn't have worried about the money. Instead Thome continues to be a major force for the Twins while Manny again has ZERO RBIs in 14 games here. So it was Ozzie this past off-season that very emphatically stated he didn't want Thome but it was Kenny who put up Reinsdorf's $4 million for Manny...so who goes and who stays?

You can add in that Kenny brought in Edwin Jackson who has been amazing with the exception of his last start (3-1 with a 2.94 ERA in 7 starts), but he also brought in Jake Peavy who is 10-6 with a 4.11 ERA and only 20 starts pitching 127 innings in well over one year and about $18 million; he's also guaranteed another $37 million over the next 3 years. Of course, he gave up Daniel Hudson for Jackson who has really shined for the D-backs going 6-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 9 starts and he gave up Clayton Richard for Peavy and all he's done is go 17-10 with a 3.80 ERA in 42 starts pitching 246 innings for the Padres. On the face so far, those trades were HORRIBLE for the Sox as they gave up a 23-year old for a 27-year old and a 27-year old for a VERY expensive and injury-prone 29-year old. Forget Manny, these two deals do it for me...fire Kenny!

Has Jerry had enough of Ozzie's antics? Maybe even more importantly, have his players had enough? Is it not working any more? Have they tuned him out? I feel like you have to blame the manager at least a little bit for the losing. They have only been to the playoffs in two of the last ten years...that's kind of pathetic as even the lowly Cubs have been there 3 times in the same timespan. Granted they did win the World Series only 5 years ago...isn't that the grace period though...5 years? They haven't won a playoff game since winning the World Series in 2005 either. It may be time to start over from scratch here Jerry. The Twins are back and seem to be here to stay especially now that they have their own baseball park which should bring in a LOT more revenue and allow them to spend more money on the team's payroll. That was the one advantage the Sox enjoyed over the Twins and that seems to be gone now too.

Lets Talk Baseball

White Sox vs. Twins
It got pretty ugly out at The Cell tonight. After the Sox took the lead 3-2 in the 6th, they gave the lead right back in the 7th and the Twins didn't look back. Their D and their bullpen really let them down tonight. The nail-in-the-coffin play tonight was a 3-run double that usually reliable CF Alex Rios dropped a ball with the bases loaded after he initially broke in on the ball that went over his head. But you can't simply point at that play as the reason the Sox lost tonight...there were several reasons. First Sox MVP candidate Paul Konerko struck out in the bottom of the 7th with the bases loaded and only 1 out. The Sox were down just 4-3 so all they needed was a fly ball there to tie it up. That shouldn't have hurt all that much either as RBI-machine Manny Ramirez was up next. Unfortunately Manny wasn't being Manny, at least not the Manny they were hoping to be getting for their near $4 million as he also struck out to end the inning. Manny has now played in 11 games for the Sox and has the same number of RBIs as I do - ZERO. He has matched his RBI total with his extra base hits - ZERO. Getting those two guys in that situation seemed to energize the Twins while deflating the Sox. The bullpen Kenny Williams should have been looking to improve, gave up 5 runs in that fateful 8th inning. So in a must sweep series against their bitter rival Twins, they didn't exactly get off to a very good start. The Sox are now 7 games back with just 18 games to play and appear to be just about done now.

Cubs @ Cardinals
How about those Mike Quady led Cubbies?  They are now 13-7 under Quade and are playing the part of spoiler which is all they have left at this point after being officially eliminated yesterday as they have taken two straight from the rival Cardinals who are now in the same position as the Sox - 7 games behind the division leading Reds.

Aramis Ramirez decided today that there's NO WAY in the world he would get a contract that would come close to the $16.6 million he'll get from the Cubs by implementing his player option.

Bob Melvin is the latest managerial candidate to be interviewed by Jim Hendry. Really? Chris Wedge and Bob Melvin...these are the guys we're looking to make the new manager of a team dying to end their 102-year World Series drought? I know Ricketts came out and said we don't need a big name to help fill the seats at Wrigley, but that doesn't mean they should scrape the bottom of the barrel, does it?

Of course, I still just don't get why Jim Hendry gets to make this hire. He's hired the last two managers...what makes Tom Ricketts think the third time will be the charm? Is anyone ever going to ask Ricketts why this guy still has a job or what it might take for him to finally lose it? I mean if finishing in 5th place with the top payroll in the entire NL doesn't finish him off, what finally will? Is he now going to sign someone to a 3- or 4-year deal? And what if it doesn't work out again next year and it certainly doesn't seem like the new manager is going to have a roster able to compete so odds are it won't work? Will Hendry get fired then only to leave behind another bad contract?

Speaking of the Cardinals and GMs not making the right move...they traded a well-liked Ryan Ludwick on July 31st of this year. The Cards were 1/2 game up on the Reds at the time and 12 games above .500. They are now 7 games back and only 6 games over .500...OOOOPS!

As I discussed in an earlier post, the Cardinals got rid of their long-time GM Walt Jocketty just one year after guiding the Cards to a World Series win. Jocketty is now with the Reds guiding them to their first division title and first playoff appearance since the strike-shortened 1995 season. Coincidence that another playoff appearance follows so soon after the Reds brought in Jocketty? Don't think so...

Yankees @ Rays
Two straight extra inning games in an ultra-important late season series. The Rays took game 1 when Carl Crawford's replacement Reid Brignac who was only in there because Crawford had been ejected in the bottom of the 9th hit a walk-off HR to break a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the 11th. That win put the Rays 1/2 game up on the Yankees for the AL East division lead. Well, tonight was a totally different story...not just with the result but also the overall "style" of the game as the Yankees won this time 8-7 but also in extras.

AL
The red-hot Twins are very quietly creeping up behind the Yankees and Rays for best record in the AL. Right now, they stand only 1 1/2 games behind the league-leading Yankees. The Yanks have 17 games left while the Twins have 18 games left...we'll see how it goes.

Rockies vs. Padres
How is it that every single September the Colorado Rockies will themselves back into the pennant race? Well, they're at it again although they've now lost two straight to the NL West leading Padres. The Rockies are 10-4 in September and are now only 3 1/2 games out of first place. As late as August 25th, the Rockies were only 2 games over .500 and 11 games out. They are now 13 games over .500 and it wouldn't surprise anyone if they snuck into the playoffs yet again.

The Padres are another great story. Here's a team the nobody gave a chance with the second lowest payroll in all of baseball. Well, all they've done is led their division pretty much from mid-April to now where they currently hold a 1 1/2 game lead on the Giants.

I'm now officially a Twins fan and after watching the Bears barely squeak by one of the worst teams in the NFL at home, I can't wait for the Hawks and Bulls to start back up.

What is going on here?

I thought the Cubs new owner Tom Ricketts was supposed to be a real Cub fan. If so, WHAT in the world is he doing? Even if he isn't a fan of the Cubs like the rest of us, WHAT in the world is he doing? With the 3rd highest payroll in all of baseball only behind the Evil Empire NY Yankees and their arch rival Boston Red Sox leaving the Cubs with the highest payroll in the National League, how do you tolerate the 3rd worst record in the NL ahead of only the dismal Pirates and their MLB lowest payroll less than 1/4 that of the Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks who are far less than 1/2 the Cubs payroll? Oh, maybe because there are multiple people responsible for that dismal failure and its hard to put the blame on just one person...NOPE...one guy put this team together from top to bottom and that is Cubs 9-year GM Jim Hendry. He hired the manager (his second managerial hire in those 9 years), he signed all these guys to way over-priced and way over-extended contracts, and he traded/gave away some key personnel from the 97-win team from 2008 (DeRosa and Wood were replaced by Aaron Miles and Kevin Gregg). Hard to believe that was just 2 years ago, isn't it?

The Cubs have played slightly better or at least with what seems like a little more heart under former third base coach and current interim manager Mike Quade, but going 9-6 isn't exactly turning things around is it? Ya, they swept the Washington Nationals...sorry Mike, no parade for that even though that was the Cubs first sweep since taking 3 straight from the lowly aforementioned AZ D-backs back in early July. Kind of came back to reality in losing 2 of 3 to Dusty's first place Reds. They bounced back to take 2 of 3 from the even more lowly Pirates and a sub .500 Mets. So color me not quite impressed. Even so, how would the season have turned out had Hendry had the guts to tell Lou to stay home during his first visit to see his ailing mother and stuck in Quade? I seriously doubt they could have overtaken the Reds for the division or contended for the Wild Card, but maybe they could have made it competitive instead of the total embarrassment this season has turned into.

Ricketts has come out saying that the team's payroll is certainly tied to attendance...well Tom, the attendance is certainly tied to the team's performance. Cub fans are stupid...no arguing that, but we aren't dumb. When the team quits on the season, that's when the attendance starts to drop. 4 of the 5 lowest attendance dates at Wrigley this season have come in the last 10 days. And the numbers reported are tickets sold, NOT butts in the seats because I can tell you the attendance numbers announced on game day are WAY higher than the actual number of people in the ballpark. Well, Ricketts still gets that ticket revenue right so what does he care? Well, if your butt isn't in a seat at the ballpark, you can't spend a ridiculous amount of money on the food including Ricketts' own bison dogs. THAT is where he is now feeling it in the pocketbook.

So while I was shocked he didn't fire everyone after a disappointing 2009 season ended with no playoffs, I just figured he's the new guy and wants to get his feet wet and see what's going on rather than just come in and clean house. I didn't agree with that philosophy as he was supposedly involved with the team prior to finalizing the purchase deal this past off-season and should have known this was coming like most of the rest of us. But after Lou announced he was retiring at the end of the season (didn't quite make it) and the team just tanked I thought that heads were definitely going to roll now. Nope, business as usual for the Cubs. Ricketts came out and said Hendry was the GM going in 2011 and there was no word at all on Cubs team president (who?) Crane Kenney (former Trib guy remained team president following purchase). I have NO CLUE what this guy even does, but I know as team president of a major market MLB team, he must be compensated pretty well (he's a lawyer you know).

WHY keep these two guys? They've had 9 years to break the curse and bring a World Series to the north side. Instead we got to watch the Red Sox break the "curse of the Bambino" ending their 86-year World Series drought and the White Sox celebrate on the south side following their 88-year drought during that time frame and still nothing with an absolutely mind-boggling 102-year drought...and now the team is in reverse at full steam with about $120 million in contracts for 2011 and no starting pitching (how's Dempster look as a #1 or even a #2 right now having given up 14 runs in his last 7 2/3 innings?) and no bullpen or 1st baseman (and WHY didn't they try Colvin at 1B knowing they still have 3 highly paid outfielders for 2011?). Zambrano seems to have figured some things out...where was the anger management last year when he was taking out Gatorade machines left and right? Was it Lou or Hendry that made the fateful decision to can the season back in April by sending Z to the bullpen? If it was Lou, Hendry should have put a stop to it - how in the world can you put an $18 million pitcher into the pen as a middle reliever after only 4 mediocre starts? Anyway, NOW is the time to dump them both. Why allow Hendry to make the ultra important new manager hire now? He had his chance and blew it TWICE with Baker and Piniella. Of course, I think the bigger mistake of the two was hiring an aging and nearly retired Lou ahead of the up and coming Joe Girardi back in 2007. How might things be different right now if Joe were leading the team in 2007 or 2008? If things go south with the roster (and it's hard not to think that right now), are you then going to fire the GM and put someone else in place who may want to bring in his own manager? Is that really going to be cheaper than cutting Hendry loose now, bringing in a new GM and letting that person hire HIS guy as manager to start with?

I'll reiterate what I said in late July...NOBODY has spent more money for less playoff wins in the last 7 years - total Cubs payroll from 2004-2010 was $769,201,597 for an average of nearly $110 million per season and ZERO playoff wins. What else is there to know really? The Cardinals fired their longtime GM Walt Jocketty following the Cards' 3rd place finish in 2007. What did they do in 2006? They won the friggin' World Series!!! That was their 2nd World Series appearance in 3 years and when they finished 3rd in the NL Central (the Cubs are friggin' 5th right now!) just a year removed from winning the World Series, they fired their GM! See Tom, good organizations don't tolerate losing...don't you want to have a good organization? So where is Walt Jocketty now? He was out of work for about 3 months before being scooped up by the Cincinnati Reds. He started as a consultant in January 2008 and was then hired as GM in April 2008. Just a quick refresher...the Reds are now in 1st place in the NL Central 6 games ahead of the Cardinals and 19 1/2 games up on our 5th place Cubs. The FIRST PLACE Reds payroll is less than HALF the Cubs payroll too!

What is it going to take to get this guy out of here Tom? If you want to change the culture of these no longer lovable losers, it starts from the top. Well, you bought the club so that's the very top; Lou retired so that's near the top...it is time to get rid of the guys between you and Lou...that's Hendry and Kenney.

Bring in a fresh perspective and let's win a World Series before I die and before you die too!