Was last night's loss to the lowly and ultra-pathetic, Dusty-led Reds the most embarrassing loss of the season? A 4-hit complete game shut-out by a 32-year old making not only his second start of the season but second start of his career...REALLY? Lehr earned his first W since 2006! Boys, we HAVE to do better than that. I know you can't win them all, but that one you HAD to win. Now the Cubs go to visit a red-hot Colorado Rockies team for 4 games only to come home and face the defending World Series champion Phillies. How can you lose that game last night knowing you have an off day today and then 7 against tough opponents? It would seem the boys in blue took their off day a little too early.
This guy Jason Lehr was topping out on the radar gun at 85mph and yet, the Cubs just couldn't figure him out. Bob Brenly was simply amazed at how ineffective the Cubs bats really were against a guy throwing a straight fastball at 85. I just kept waiting for them to kick it into gear...surely the second time through the lineup would be better...OK, how about the third time? One extra base hit all night and that was Rich Harden's bloop double (I still say he's the fastest Cub). Soriano beat out an infield hit off Lehr's glove only to get picked off as he wandered off 1st base with his hands on his hips. Lehr looked over there like 3-4 times before whipping it over there so I don't get what Soriano was doing. Personally, I would have sent him to the locker room after that and try to get some kind of reaction or spark from the rest of the team. But, nope, Grandpa Lou just sent his lazy butt back out to LF.
It wasn't like the Reds were crushing the ball all over the park. They had only 1 more than the Cubs 4 hits, but took advantage on the bases stealing 3-of-4 on the night including ANOTHER missed tag by Fontenot at 2B. I would have yanked him off the field too as the throw beat Phillips by at least a full second.
It was "nice" (i.e. NOT nice) to see Aaron Miles back in the lineup after being on the DL since June 20th. WHY is this guy still here? Oh ya, another fabulous off-season move by Hendry. Wasn't this guy supposed to semi-replace Mark DeRosa? Not so much - he's hitting .198 with 4 RBIs in 47 games. Yuck! Is Andres Blanco really hurt or was that just some move to bring Miles back? Cut Miles and bring back Blanco - at least he's young and has a future. Miles is TERRIBLE (insert your best Charles Barkley impersonation).
This was also a prime opportunity to jump into 1st place by a full game as the Cardinals lost yesterday too. Let's hope the Cubs pull it together and finish up this road trip at .500 or better.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Kudos to Kenny and Jerry!
As a lifelong Cubs fan, it kind of pains me to say this, but I think the White Sox are setup for a far better "run" than the Cubs. The White Sox have built smart using less money and younger players while the Hendry-led Cubs are hand-cuffed with overpriced unproductive "talent" for the next few years. The Cubs seem to have a lot of young talent but given the salaries of Bradley, Soriano, and Fukudome, you just "can't" get these guys on the field.
While the Josh Fields experiment was a total disaster this year, it paved the way for what Ozzie basically called worst-case scenario at the beginning of the year, but could pay HUGE dividends. At the beginning of the season, Ozzie said that if Gordan Beckham was playing for the Sox, they were probably out of the race. Well, BECAUSE Gordan Beckham is up playing for the Sox, the Sox are IN the race. This kid is amazing and reminds me of Evan Longoria of the Rays - solid with EVERYTHING and acts like he's been up in MLB for 10 years rather than as a cocky rookie which he has every right to be. Don't forget the kid is actually a SS playing out of position at 3B after Fields proved he was NOT the guy to replace Joe Crede. This Beckham kid can just flat out play.
OK - but that's not why I am giving kudos to Kenny and Jerry. How about these guys pulling off THE trade of the deadline? To me, this is ANOTHER slap in the face of Cubs GM Jim Hendry as he couldn't pull the trigger on the deal for Jake Peavy as everyone reported as a done deal at the winter meetings. Well, after the Sox were somewhat embarrassed when Peavy turned down a trade to the south side earlier this year, he saw the walls crumbling around him in San Diego and decided to jump ship to a very competitive Sox team in a very winnable AL Central division. OK, so he won't really join the rotation until the end of August, but who cares? Who wouldn't want to add a former Cy Young winner in late August? The guy isn't even your typical "rental player" as he is signed through 2012 with a club option in 2013. AND he's only 28 years old! Ya, the Sox gave up a lot to get him, but do any of those guys project to be Cy Young winners? Don't think so! So kudos to Jerry for opening up the checkbook and kudos to Kenny for getting Jerry to do that AND pull off this trade and adding a #1 starter to the Sox for the next 3-4 years. You just don't see that everyday. The other factor here is what this type of move does to energize the rest of the guys in the dugout. When you see your organization pull off a deal like that, it just has to tell you they are serious about winning NOW so let's play some ball. They are 3-1 against the then hottest team in baseball NY Yankees and the now hottest team in baseball the LA Angels. Ya, they're beating them at home, but they're still beating them.
The Cubs have Sam Fuld who I just LOVE as the future lead-off guy on this team. The kid is hungry and plays hard ALL the time - remember that catch he made running full speed into the ivy to catch a ball in late September last year? Jake Fox has NOT been the horrible defensive liability we have been told he is so that is just an excuse to play these overpaid wastes of money ahead of him. The kid can just plain HIT and for a team struggling to score runs consistently, I don't understand why he isn't in the lineup every day. Randy Wells could give the north and south siders two Rookies of the Year in the same season. This kid has been amazing going 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA and could easily be 12-2 with some early offensive support and upheld leads by the bullpen. And they still have last year's Rookie of the Year in Geo Soto who comes back later this week.
So it's not like the Cubs are dead or anything; they're just stuck with some high-priced non-productive players that will seemingly continue to play ahead of younger, cheaper, and more productive players because of their big contracts. Although maybe the mentality is starting to change a little bit as Bradley was given the day off again yesterday in favor of Jake Fox after also having the day off on Sun. I have harped on Bradley in particular all season as the guy just doesn't drive in any runs - 9 in 24 games in July which was actually triple what he drove in during the month of June. How can your #5 hitter be 9th on your team in RBIs behind two guys (Aramis and Fox) that have played less than half as many games? Seriously! He's behind such non-RBI guys as Theriot, Fukudome, and Fontenot too! Let's get Fox in there more and sprint to the finish as we're no longer in the "it's still early" phase of the season here. It's time to drive to the playoffs.
While the Josh Fields experiment was a total disaster this year, it paved the way for what Ozzie basically called worst-case scenario at the beginning of the year, but could pay HUGE dividends. At the beginning of the season, Ozzie said that if Gordan Beckham was playing for the Sox, they were probably out of the race. Well, BECAUSE Gordan Beckham is up playing for the Sox, the Sox are IN the race. This kid is amazing and reminds me of Evan Longoria of the Rays - solid with EVERYTHING and acts like he's been up in MLB for 10 years rather than as a cocky rookie which he has every right to be. Don't forget the kid is actually a SS playing out of position at 3B after Fields proved he was NOT the guy to replace Joe Crede. This Beckham kid can just flat out play.
OK - but that's not why I am giving kudos to Kenny and Jerry. How about these guys pulling off THE trade of the deadline? To me, this is ANOTHER slap in the face of Cubs GM Jim Hendry as he couldn't pull the trigger on the deal for Jake Peavy as everyone reported as a done deal at the winter meetings. Well, after the Sox were somewhat embarrassed when Peavy turned down a trade to the south side earlier this year, he saw the walls crumbling around him in San Diego and decided to jump ship to a very competitive Sox team in a very winnable AL Central division. OK, so he won't really join the rotation until the end of August, but who cares? Who wouldn't want to add a former Cy Young winner in late August? The guy isn't even your typical "rental player" as he is signed through 2012 with a club option in 2013. AND he's only 28 years old! Ya, the Sox gave up a lot to get him, but do any of those guys project to be Cy Young winners? Don't think so! So kudos to Jerry for opening up the checkbook and kudos to Kenny for getting Jerry to do that AND pull off this trade and adding a #1 starter to the Sox for the next 3-4 years. You just don't see that everyday. The other factor here is what this type of move does to energize the rest of the guys in the dugout. When you see your organization pull off a deal like that, it just has to tell you they are serious about winning NOW so let's play some ball. They are 3-1 against the then hottest team in baseball NY Yankees and the now hottest team in baseball the LA Angels. Ya, they're beating them at home, but they're still beating them.
The Cubs have Sam Fuld who I just LOVE as the future lead-off guy on this team. The kid is hungry and plays hard ALL the time - remember that catch he made running full speed into the ivy to catch a ball in late September last year? Jake Fox has NOT been the horrible defensive liability we have been told he is so that is just an excuse to play these overpaid wastes of money ahead of him. The kid can just plain HIT and for a team struggling to score runs consistently, I don't understand why he isn't in the lineup every day. Randy Wells could give the north and south siders two Rookies of the Year in the same season. This kid has been amazing going 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA and could easily be 12-2 with some early offensive support and upheld leads by the bullpen. And they still have last year's Rookie of the Year in Geo Soto who comes back later this week.
So it's not like the Cubs are dead or anything; they're just stuck with some high-priced non-productive players that will seemingly continue to play ahead of younger, cheaper, and more productive players because of their big contracts. Although maybe the mentality is starting to change a little bit as Bradley was given the day off again yesterday in favor of Jake Fox after also having the day off on Sun. I have harped on Bradley in particular all season as the guy just doesn't drive in any runs - 9 in 24 games in July which was actually triple what he drove in during the month of June. How can your #5 hitter be 9th on your team in RBIs behind two guys (Aramis and Fox) that have played less than half as many games? Seriously! He's behind such non-RBI guys as Theriot, Fukudome, and Fontenot too! Let's get Fox in there more and sprint to the finish as we're no longer in the "it's still early" phase of the season here. It's time to drive to the playoffs.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Who's your Closer?
Did you get your blood pressure pill prescription renewed before this weekend? I sure hope so or you're probably not reading this right now. I've NEVER been a fan of the Cubs offseason move to sign last year's league LEADER in BLOWN saves. Did Hendry misread the leader stats from 2008? Why would you not resign a guy that was a lifelong Cub in order to sign this guy? I didn't get it then and I sure don't get it now either.
The Cubs went 1-2 this weekend but let's see why that happened. Marmol came in for the 8th inning on Fri night with the game tied at 2-2. Two walks, a hit and hit batter led to 3 Marlins runs and a Cubs loss. Sat didn't go much better for the late inning relief core. Gregg came in for an "easy" single inning save with the Cubs up by 3. The first two outs were easy enough so now he's down to a single out with a 3-run lead. Not so fast Cubs fans - 3 runs later and the Cubs are in extra innings. Gregg gets the blown save and the W (what's up with that?) but D-Lee saved the day with a bomb in the 10th. Sun was the real heartbreaker though. Dempster went 6 innings without giving up a run only to see Heilman give up the 1-0 lead keeping Dempster from getting the W. This time it was Jake Fox to the rescue to put the Cubs back up 2-1. Unfortunately, Lou is stuck bringing Gregg in and after getting the first out, 2 pitches, 2 bombs, Cubs lose.
I'm just wondering how some teams can seem to turn anyone into a closer while the Cubs have a guy that has all the tools but can't get over the hump. LaRussa has turned a better than average starter into a Hall of Fame Closer in former Cub Dennis Eckersley, then took a hugely disappointing starter and turned him into a darn good closer in Jason Isringhausen and now a journeyman starter is arguably the best closer in the game in Ryan Franklin. Of course, it probably has more to do with LaRussa's longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, but that isn't my point. His teams always seem to come up with guys out of nowhere to be pretty darn good closers and yet, the Cubs go after and sign the NL league leader in blown saves and he's who we, the fans are stuck with this year.
Based on Lou's comments after yesterday's second consecutive blown save against Kevin Gregg's former team (this time for a loss after the Cubs came back in the 10th Sat night to "earn" Gregg a W after blowing a 3-run lead on Sat), Gregg is going to stay in his current role. When Piniella was asked if he had plans to change his closer, he responded with "Why should I?" Uh...were you watching the games this weekend Lou? Gregg is now second in all of MLB with 5 blown saves but has the MLB lead in HRs allowed (uh, Hendry, that's NOT a good thing either!).
It's not like Gregg has been dominating hitters this season. Has there ever been a comfortable enough lead when he's in there? His fastball has no movement and is only coming in at about 91mph. His secondary pitch isn't all that special either.
But I can understand Lou's dilemma...what are his alternatives? Carlos Marmol was supposed to be the closer-in-training but after the Gregg signing and his decision to play for the DR in the WBC, was never even given the chance to become the closer. Well with the way he's been performing this year with his way LESS than dazzling WHIP of nearly 1.5 even though his BAA is only .159. He not only averages nearly a walk per inning, but he leads the league in hit batters too. When the guy is throwing strikes, he is amazing...unfortunately that just isn't close to being a given.
So what's Lou to do? How about starting with a pitching coach that can help this guy get his filthy stuff over the plate? If Marmol can effectively take over as the closer, the Cubs do have to then come up the 8th inning setup guy. Would you trust Gregg in this role? Ya, me either.
The Cubs went 1-2 this weekend but let's see why that happened. Marmol came in for the 8th inning on Fri night with the game tied at 2-2. Two walks, a hit and hit batter led to 3 Marlins runs and a Cubs loss. Sat didn't go much better for the late inning relief core. Gregg came in for an "easy" single inning save with the Cubs up by 3. The first two outs were easy enough so now he's down to a single out with a 3-run lead. Not so fast Cubs fans - 3 runs later and the Cubs are in extra innings. Gregg gets the blown save and the W (what's up with that?) but D-Lee saved the day with a bomb in the 10th. Sun was the real heartbreaker though. Dempster went 6 innings without giving up a run only to see Heilman give up the 1-0 lead keeping Dempster from getting the W. This time it was Jake Fox to the rescue to put the Cubs back up 2-1. Unfortunately, Lou is stuck bringing Gregg in and after getting the first out, 2 pitches, 2 bombs, Cubs lose.
I'm just wondering how some teams can seem to turn anyone into a closer while the Cubs have a guy that has all the tools but can't get over the hump. LaRussa has turned a better than average starter into a Hall of Fame Closer in former Cub Dennis Eckersley, then took a hugely disappointing starter and turned him into a darn good closer in Jason Isringhausen and now a journeyman starter is arguably the best closer in the game in Ryan Franklin. Of course, it probably has more to do with LaRussa's longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, but that isn't my point. His teams always seem to come up with guys out of nowhere to be pretty darn good closers and yet, the Cubs go after and sign the NL league leader in blown saves and he's who we, the fans are stuck with this year.
Based on Lou's comments after yesterday's second consecutive blown save against Kevin Gregg's former team (this time for a loss after the Cubs came back in the 10th Sat night to "earn" Gregg a W after blowing a 3-run lead on Sat), Gregg is going to stay in his current role. When Piniella was asked if he had plans to change his closer, he responded with "Why should I?" Uh...were you watching the games this weekend Lou? Gregg is now second in all of MLB with 5 blown saves but has the MLB lead in HRs allowed (uh, Hendry, that's NOT a good thing either!).
It's not like Gregg has been dominating hitters this season. Has there ever been a comfortable enough lead when he's in there? His fastball has no movement and is only coming in at about 91mph. His secondary pitch isn't all that special either.
But I can understand Lou's dilemma...what are his alternatives? Carlos Marmol was supposed to be the closer-in-training but after the Gregg signing and his decision to play for the DR in the WBC, was never even given the chance to become the closer. Well with the way he's been performing this year with his way LESS than dazzling WHIP of nearly 1.5 even though his BAA is only .159. He not only averages nearly a walk per inning, but he leads the league in hit batters too. When the guy is throwing strikes, he is amazing...unfortunately that just isn't close to being a given.
So what's Lou to do? How about starting with a pitching coach that can help this guy get his filthy stuff over the plate? If Marmol can effectively take over as the closer, the Cubs do have to then come up the 8th inning setup guy. Would you trust Gregg in this role? Ya, me either.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
First Place Cubs!
How does that sound? Pretty good, right? I agree and yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break...Aramis is REALLY back and Soriano is starting to hit too...Harden looked good again and how about doing so at home and during a day game? Fukudome is doing very well from the lead-off spot although he's not exactly your prototypical lead-off hitter as he won't steal you a base although he certainly does the job getting on base which is more important now that Aramis is here.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has bit the North Siders again. While Dempster is supposed to come off the DL and pitch this week, Ted Lilly (the Cubs lone All-Star rep) was placed on the DL yesterday. Soto is still on the DL keeping the pressure on Koyie Hill to perform every day. I think today was the 14th straight Hill has started and he has done well defensively, but is struggling with a .200 BA. And the latest is D-Lee and his back spasms although a DL stint is not supposed to be forthcoming for him. Jake Fox stepped in today and went 1-5 with an RBI although he hit two more balls to the warning track as well. The guy can flat out hit, but with D-Lee hitting the way he has been, I'd rather leave Fox on the bench unless he's spelling Aramis at 3B or playing RF for Bradley.
The good news is that the farm hands have REALLY done the job. That includes Hill, Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld, Jake Fox, Jeff Samardzija, Andres Blanco, and of course Randy Wells. They have each done their part to keep this team afloat while we all await the return of the big guys.
Bradley continues NOT to drive in any runs although he's getting on base with some serious regularity. He went 1-2 today with 2 walks and 2 runs scored including scoring from 1st on Aramis' double to the LF corner that finished with a very nice slide to avoid the tag. Other than the lost balls in the sun and the one he threw into the stands with only 2 outs, he has done more than just a solid job in arguably the toughest RF in baseball. He's got a ridiculous .465 OBA in July and I say ridiculous in a good way and it's also kind of nuts too since he's only hitting .269 for the month which means he is walking 20% of the time...crazy! So what I still don't get is why Lou has him batting 5th which is typically an RBI spot. He's got 23 RBIs on the year and only 6 in July. I love Theriot at the top of the lineup, but considering he has more than 50% more RBIs with 37 than Bradley, shouldn't Bradley be hitting #2? I've been against the signing of Bradley from the beginning, but he's here and he is what he is...why not embrace it and go with it? He has averaged only 50 RBIs per year over his career so you just can't leave him in the #5 spot. Why not put Soriano there since he's starting to get hot and you need someone to protect Aramis when Lee gets back in the lineup? I know it sounds a little goofy, but what about this lineup once everyone is back and healthy?
1-Fukudome
2-Bradley
3-Lee
4-Aramis
5-Soriano
6-Soto
7-Fontenot
8-Theriot
I was at today's game; well, I was not officially at the game, but I was on a rooftop for the first time ever which was pretty cool. I have now attended 5 games this season including today and Fri afternoon's W against the Reds. The Cubs are 5-0 in my visits and I have tickets for 4 more games yet this season. I am thrilled they have made it to 1st place which is where we all thought they should be anyway. But the pessimist in me is trying to keep it in perspective. Yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break, but they are 7-0 against the Nats who are the worst team/organization in baseball and Dusty's ultra-struggling Reds while going a fairly respectable 1-2 against the Phils who do have the best home record in the NL. Let's see how they do against the surging Astros in this week's 4-game set. The Cards host the NL-best Dodgers so both teams will have some solid tests this week.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has bit the North Siders again. While Dempster is supposed to come off the DL and pitch this week, Ted Lilly (the Cubs lone All-Star rep) was placed on the DL yesterday. Soto is still on the DL keeping the pressure on Koyie Hill to perform every day. I think today was the 14th straight Hill has started and he has done well defensively, but is struggling with a .200 BA. And the latest is D-Lee and his back spasms although a DL stint is not supposed to be forthcoming for him. Jake Fox stepped in today and went 1-5 with an RBI although he hit two more balls to the warning track as well. The guy can flat out hit, but with D-Lee hitting the way he has been, I'd rather leave Fox on the bench unless he's spelling Aramis at 3B or playing RF for Bradley.
The good news is that the farm hands have REALLY done the job. That includes Hill, Kevin Hart, Sam Fuld, Jake Fox, Jeff Samardzija, Andres Blanco, and of course Randy Wells. They have each done their part to keep this team afloat while we all await the return of the big guys.
Bradley continues NOT to drive in any runs although he's getting on base with some serious regularity. He went 1-2 today with 2 walks and 2 runs scored including scoring from 1st on Aramis' double to the LF corner that finished with a very nice slide to avoid the tag. Other than the lost balls in the sun and the one he threw into the stands with only 2 outs, he has done more than just a solid job in arguably the toughest RF in baseball. He's got a ridiculous .465 OBA in July and I say ridiculous in a good way and it's also kind of nuts too since he's only hitting .269 for the month which means he is walking 20% of the time...crazy! So what I still don't get is why Lou has him batting 5th which is typically an RBI spot. He's got 23 RBIs on the year and only 6 in July. I love Theriot at the top of the lineup, but considering he has more than 50% more RBIs with 37 than Bradley, shouldn't Bradley be hitting #2? I've been against the signing of Bradley from the beginning, but he's here and he is what he is...why not embrace it and go with it? He has averaged only 50 RBIs per year over his career so you just can't leave him in the #5 spot. Why not put Soriano there since he's starting to get hot and you need someone to protect Aramis when Lee gets back in the lineup? I know it sounds a little goofy, but what about this lineup once everyone is back and healthy?
1-Fukudome
2-Bradley
3-Lee
4-Aramis
5-Soriano
6-Soto
7-Fontenot
8-Theriot
I was at today's game; well, I was not officially at the game, but I was on a rooftop for the first time ever which was pretty cool. I have now attended 5 games this season including today and Fri afternoon's W against the Reds. The Cubs are 5-0 in my visits and I have tickets for 4 more games yet this season. I am thrilled they have made it to 1st place which is where we all thought they should be anyway. But the pessimist in me is trying to keep it in perspective. Yes, they are now 8-2 since the All-Star break, but they are 7-0 against the Nats who are the worst team/organization in baseball and Dusty's ultra-struggling Reds while going a fairly respectable 1-2 against the Phils who do have the best home record in the NL. Let's see how they do against the surging Astros in this week's 4-game set. The Cards host the NL-best Dodgers so both teams will have some solid tests this week.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
How about that slap in the face Hendry?
Just in case you were still questioning whether the Cubs GM screwed up with his big free agent signing this off-season, just look at today's game with the defending champion Phillies. No Milton Bradley in the lineup as it seems it is going to take special efforts from the manager to try to get this knucklehead to start producing runs. His BA is on the rise, but you all know my opinion that BA is one of the most over-rated offensive stat ever. The Cubs were reportedly looking for a run producer that can hit left-handed and our **** GM decided to pinpoint Milton Bradley as the person to fill this need. Well, he's hitting about .200 left-handed and as Steve Stone reported on The Score this morning, both Chicago teams have 8 guys each that have more RBIs than MB including White Sox rookie Gordon Beckham who has only been up with the Sox since the beginning of June.
So what happened tonight to really slap Hendry and all of us Cubs fans in the face? How about the #1 guy Hendry should have targeted belting a 3-run, 2-out HR in the bottom of the 1st inning that initiated the onslaught. Raul Ibanez now has more than 3 times as many RBIs as Milton Bradley with 68 vs. MB's absolutely paltry and pathetic 21. What a total joke!
It was interesting listening to John Kruk talking about how the Cubs completely screwed up the 1st inning defensively. Lou pulled in Aramis at 3B to try to prevent a bunt from Victorino that inning when Kruk said that Phillies manager NEVER bunts in the 1st inning (would you if you had his offense?). So Victorino hit what would have been a pretty easy double-play ball to a regular depth Aramis but instead turned into a double down the line ahead of the 2-out 3-run bomb by Ibanez.
My stomach turns every time I watch highlights from All-Star Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu thinking about what could have and really should have been. News flash for Jim Hendry, Milton Bradley has average 50 RBIs a year for his entire career so he was NEVER a run producer. Even in his career and contract year last season, he still only drove in 77 runs for a high octane Rangers offense. This is supposed to be the guy to make the difference? Don't think so Jim!
So what happened tonight to really slap Hendry and all of us Cubs fans in the face? How about the #1 guy Hendry should have targeted belting a 3-run, 2-out HR in the bottom of the 1st inning that initiated the onslaught. Raul Ibanez now has more than 3 times as many RBIs as Milton Bradley with 68 vs. MB's absolutely paltry and pathetic 21. What a total joke!
It was interesting listening to John Kruk talking about how the Cubs completely screwed up the 1st inning defensively. Lou pulled in Aramis at 3B to try to prevent a bunt from Victorino that inning when Kruk said that Phillies manager NEVER bunts in the 1st inning (would you if you had his offense?). So Victorino hit what would have been a pretty easy double-play ball to a regular depth Aramis but instead turned into a double down the line ahead of the 2-out 3-run bomb by Ibanez.
My stomach turns every time I watch highlights from All-Star Ibanez, Adam Dunn, and Bobby Abreu thinking about what could have and really should have been. News flash for Jim Hendry, Milton Bradley has average 50 RBIs a year for his entire career so he was NEVER a run producer. Even in his career and contract year last season, he still only drove in 77 runs for a high octane Rangers offense. This is supposed to be the guy to make the difference? Don't think so Jim!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mid-Season Grades
The All-Star break seems to be as good a time as any to do mid-season grades for our Chicago Cubs. I'm going to grade and comment on some the team's offense, defense, pitching, coaches, organization, and front office. I won't be grading individual players, but of course they will be mentioned in the comments for each piece.
So let's start with the Cubs Front Office... It starts at the top in my mind as these are the guys that put the team together. How much of this was demanded by Grandpa Lou is up for debate, but these guys write the checks and are ultimately responsible. My disappointment with Hendry is no secret on this blog. Since he hasn't done anything recently and his acquisitions have done even less, I have to give the Front Office a big fat F. Considering the ownership issues (i.e they don't have one AND they're considering filing Chapter 11), I don't see anything happening in the next couple of weeks either but it didn't seem like that was an issue this off-season when he was wasting all that money on Milton Bradley. The fact that the team has so vastly underachieved under Grandpa Lou's "guidance" with no talk of a potential managerial change to spark something in this club is also disheartening. The Rockies fired their manager pretty early on and now Jim Tracy is a manager-of-the-year candidate for turning them around quite a bit. What about Brenly as manager? You know he's ready!
Cubs Manager - Grandpa Lou...It continues near the top with the manager. This guy has ZERO control of this team and isn't a dragon either in reference to his response when asked if he should show some fire to get the guys going. How many Gatorade machines have they lost this year? How many other tantrums have we witnessed by these spoiled brats? How many times have these guys not known how many outs there are? What abous losing a ball in the sun at a day game while not wearing sunglasses? Don't these issues transfer to the coaches? When your team is dead last in hitting and RISP, that means your whole team is not getting it done and since you can't fire 25 players and the only other common denominator is the coaching staff. There just doesn't seem to be any control there of the team. One day you get Lou calling Milton Bradley a "piece of ****" and sending him home in the middle of a game and the guy is right back in the starting lineup the next day??? What the heck is THAT? It is my opinion that Grandpa Lou does a so-so job handling a pitching staff but a POOR job running the bench. He seems to sit guys to "rest" them the day after they go 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Don't get me started on this whole lefty/righty thing either - Milton Bradley is hitting .200 as a lefty which is worse than Reed Johnson's .222 against righties. The whole sending Sam Fuld back to AAA after he ignited the team like a REAL lead-off hitter was also a joke. I could go on and on, but my grade for Lou and the rest of the coaches is also a big fat F. Let's pick it up guys!
Cubs Starting Pitching...I wanted to get to something positve in here so we'll skip the offense for the moment. Cubs starters lead the MLB with quality starts so what else can you say there. The quality start stat came into being to give starters a more objective stat that would help show how often a starter did his job and kept his team in the game. Well, the Cubs starters have been doing that better than any other rotation in MLB. Unfortunately, the reason for the stat in the first place has been proven by the Cubs as their overall record should be much better by leading the league in that stat. So even though the #1 and #2 starters at the beginning of the season have pulled some real idiotic acts this year with Zambrano "ejecting" after bumping an umpire earning himself a suspension and now Dempster breaking a toe jumping over the dugout railing after a win last week. What else can go wrong? At least Randy Wells has REALLY stepped up - I think he should have been the Cubs All-Star representative. Considering they have zero shutouts as a staff and only one complete game which means the bullpen is working a little too hard, I'll give them a B.
Overall, the Cubs have tremendously underachieved this season. Yes, there is a lot of baseball left and they are certainly not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. Their pitching has been well above average; their defense hasn't hurt them; but their hitting is a joke as they are 14th in the NL in overall hitting, 15th in runs scored, 15th in productive outs (this is how you KILL an inning!), and LAST in MLB with RISP. Nobody seems to come through with that big hit to drive in two with the bases loaded. The non-productive outs keeps them from squeaking across even one run at a time as they seem to have trouble doing...the big K or pop-up with runners at 1st and 2nd and one out. They are middle-of-the-pack in double plays so they aren't killing themselves too much there, but with no speed you just have to advance the runners even when you make an out and they don't do that. So overall, I'll give the Cubs a pretty generous and injury-adjusted C-. If they can just get a B in the second half, they'll make the post-season for a club record-tying 3rd straight time and you just never know what can happen when you get there. Remember, the Cards won the World Series just 3 years ago after posting a record low 83 wins. The Cubs tried the whole "win the most games" thing last year and were 0-3 in the playoffs. Maybe struggling to get in will work out better this year.
In conclusion, I think both teams have potential to make the post-season but right now, I just don't know how well they will do if they get there. Ironically, both clubs sit 3 1/2 games back in their respective divisions. But both teams are in different situations in my mind. The Cubs have their $135 million payroll and plenty of fan support filling Wrigley for just about every game; but they don't have an owner which will more than likely keep them from making any moves before the trade deadline. The White Sox allowed their payroll to drop over $25 million from last year and dropped them below $100 million for the first time since 2005 and we all know what happened that year. Based on this comment from the Sox GM "Money is more of an issue now because we expected a little more [fan] support than we've gotten," it doesn't seem like the Sox will be making any moves this month either. The Sox have only sold out 4 games so far this season including all 3 with the Cubs so I have to say Kenny is right - where are you Sox fans? So it seems, barring some big and very surprising change in philosophy, we are looking at the teams that will or won't bring Chicago's baseball teams to the post-season or not.
So let's start with the Cubs Front Office... It starts at the top in my mind as these are the guys that put the team together. How much of this was demanded by Grandpa Lou is up for debate, but these guys write the checks and are ultimately responsible. My disappointment with Hendry is no secret on this blog. Since he hasn't done anything recently and his acquisitions have done even less, I have to give the Front Office a big fat F. Considering the ownership issues (i.e they don't have one AND they're considering filing Chapter 11), I don't see anything happening in the next couple of weeks either but it didn't seem like that was an issue this off-season when he was wasting all that money on Milton Bradley. The fact that the team has so vastly underachieved under Grandpa Lou's "guidance" with no talk of a potential managerial change to spark something in this club is also disheartening. The Rockies fired their manager pretty early on and now Jim Tracy is a manager-of-the-year candidate for turning them around quite a bit. What about Brenly as manager? You know he's ready!
Cubs Manager - Grandpa Lou...It continues near the top with the manager. This guy has ZERO control of this team and isn't a dragon either in reference to his response when asked if he should show some fire to get the guys going. How many Gatorade machines have they lost this year? How many other tantrums have we witnessed by these spoiled brats? How many times have these guys not known how many outs there are? What abous losing a ball in the sun at a day game while not wearing sunglasses? Don't these issues transfer to the coaches? When your team is dead last in hitting and RISP, that means your whole team is not getting it done and since you can't fire 25 players and the only other common denominator is the coaching staff. There just doesn't seem to be any control there of the team. One day you get Lou calling Milton Bradley a "piece of ****" and sending him home in the middle of a game and the guy is right back in the starting lineup the next day??? What the heck is THAT? It is my opinion that Grandpa Lou does a so-so job handling a pitching staff but a POOR job running the bench. He seems to sit guys to "rest" them the day after they go 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Don't get me started on this whole lefty/righty thing either - Milton Bradley is hitting .200 as a lefty which is worse than Reed Johnson's .222 against righties. The whole sending Sam Fuld back to AAA after he ignited the team like a REAL lead-off hitter was also a joke. I could go on and on, but my grade for Lou and the rest of the coaches is also a big fat F. Let's pick it up guys!
Cubs Starting Pitching...I wanted to get to something positve in here so we'll skip the offense for the moment. Cubs starters lead the MLB with quality starts so what else can you say there. The quality start stat came into being to give starters a more objective stat that would help show how often a starter did his job and kept his team in the game. Well, the Cubs starters have been doing that better than any other rotation in MLB. Unfortunately, the reason for the stat in the first place has been proven by the Cubs as their overall record should be much better by leading the league in that stat. So even though the #1 and #2 starters at the beginning of the season have pulled some real idiotic acts this year with Zambrano "ejecting" after bumping an umpire earning himself a suspension and now Dempster breaking a toe jumping over the dugout railing after a win last week. What else can go wrong? At least Randy Wells has REALLY stepped up - I think he should have been the Cubs All-Star representative. Considering they have zero shutouts as a staff and only one complete game which means the bullpen is working a little too hard, I'll give them a B.
Cubs Relief Pitching...Again, it is no secret that I was not a big fan of letting Kerry Wood walk away like they did. Now the Angels let K-Rod go to the Mets via free agency and their new guy Brian Fuentes leads the entire
Cubs Offense...There's more to scoring runs than just hitting so I'm calling this category offense instead of just hitting. Of course hitting is a BIG part of it, and while they are last in MLB for hitting, the Cubs are primarily struggling with the timely hitting. Again, they are last in MLB with RISP. Remember folks, you don't win games by having the most hits; you win games by having the most RUNS. That means RBIs and the Cubs SUCK at that as they are 15th of 16 NL teams ahead of only the NL West last place Padres. I have hammered D-Lee in this blog earlier in the season but he has clearly been carrying the team lately. We all know the story - Aramis has been out for 2 months with an injury, "prized"free agent Milton Bradley has 9 less RBIs than Ryan Theriot and under 25% of the NL-leading Pujols (21 vs. 85 - that's a TOTAL JOKE!), Soriano STILL hasn't done anything since April, and Fukudome has been ultra-inconsistent. The Cubs must have the most unproductive outfield in MLB especially if you factor in the money these guys are getting paid. The loss of DeRosa has been well chronicled on this blog so I won't rehash all of that. When your entire club is NOT hitting, you have to manufacture runs and the Cubs don't do this either. Their 13th in the NL in sac flies and sac bunts and 14th in SBs. Soriano had 41 SBs for the Nats in his contract year...he has 45 SBs in 2 1/2 years with the Cubs. Did he really get that old that quickly or is he just not running? I know he's running to the bank to cash those HUGE checks though. My grade for the Cubs offense is an offensive D. The only reason it is not an F is because of D-Lee and Theriot and the injury factor with Aramis.
Cubs Defense...The Cubs defense has been a bit spotty thus far with a mixture of nice plays, web gems, balls lost in the sun or just straight up dropped. They are 12th in the NL in turning the "pitcher's best friend" - the double play. Of course, this has a lot to do with the pitchers too so that's not exactly a telling tale. They're also 12th in outfield assists which is a little surprising as Soriano is usually up there and Fukudome has a good arm too. The Cubs are 6th in the NL in defensive efficiency which is pretty good as it measures the percentage of balls in play that are turned into outs. The Cubs have one guy that could potentially get a Gold Glove in D-Lee, so they are far from extraordinary. I'll give the Cubs defense a solid, but nothing fancy C+.
Overall, the Cubs have tremendously underachieved this season. Yes, there is a lot of baseball left and they are certainly not out of it by any stretch of the imagination. Their pitching has been well above average; their defense hasn't hurt them; but their hitting is a joke as they are 14th in the NL in overall hitting, 15th in runs scored, 15th in productive outs (this is how you KILL an inning!), and LAST in MLB with RISP. Nobody seems to come through with that big hit to drive in two with the bases loaded. The non-productive outs keeps them from squeaking across even one run at a time as they seem to have trouble doing...the big K or pop-up with runners at 1st and 2nd and one out. They are middle-of-the-pack in double plays so they aren't killing themselves too much there, but with no speed you just have to advance the runners even when you make an out and they don't do that. So overall, I'll give the Cubs a pretty generous and injury-adjusted C-. If they can just get a B in the second half, they'll make the post-season for a club record-tying 3rd straight time and you just never know what can happen when you get there. Remember, the Cards won the World Series just 3 years ago after posting a record low 83 wins. The Cubs tried the whole "win the most games" thing last year and were 0-3 in the playoffs. Maybe struggling to get in will work out better this year.
In conclusion, I think both teams have potential to make the post-season but right now, I just don't know how well they will do if they get there. Ironically, both clubs sit 3 1/2 games back in their respective divisions. But both teams are in different situations in my mind. The Cubs have their $135 million payroll and plenty of fan support filling Wrigley for just about every game; but they don't have an owner which will more than likely keep them from making any moves before the trade deadline. The White Sox allowed their payroll to drop over $25 million from last year and dropped them below $100 million for the first time since 2005 and we all know what happened that year. Based on this comment from the Sox GM "Money is more of an issue now because we expected a little more [fan] support than we've gotten," it doesn't seem like the Sox will be making any moves this month either. The Sox have only sold out 4 games so far this season including all 3 with the Cubs so I have to say Kenny is right - where are you Sox fans? So it seems, barring some big and very surprising change in philosophy, we are looking at the teams that will or won't bring Chicago's baseball teams to the post-season or not.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
July 1st - busy day in Chicago Sports
It was a really busy day in Chicago sports yesterday...Let's start with the Cubs as this team drives me as crazy as any sports team I have followed in recent memory. The good...took 2-of-3 in a road series for the first time since taking 2-of-3 from Dusty's Reds in early June. Let's not get too excited...it was the Pirates after all. Sam Fuld took Soriano's spot at the top of the order and in LF. He did a nice job getting his first MLB hit in his first AB, later scored on D-Lee's HR for his first run scored and earned a spot on last night's ESPN web gems with a sliding catch and perfect perfect throw to nail Jack Wilson at the plate later in the game. Now...does Dusty, I mean Lou have the guts to keep Sam in there for tonight's game at home against the rival Brewers? Doubtful, but we'll see. Actually, Lou FINALLY showed that fire we have all been looking for when he got ejected for the first time in nearly a year when he argued about a bang-bang play at 1st base. THAT'S what Lou MUST do! Was it a bad call? Doesn't matter! Both his player (pitcher Randy Wells) and his first base coach were not happy with the call so he MUST back up his guys. It was a nice hat spike too Lou! Let's see if that sparks this mostly lifeless team or not.
The White Sox finished off a sweep of the Indians. Don't get too excited Sox fans...the Cubs swept the Indians too so it isn't that hard to do. Let's see if the Sox can use that momentum better than the Cubs as they went 1-6 in the week following the sweep of the Indians. Of course, the Sox have been playing much better as of late winning consecutive series over the Cubs, Dodgers, and Reds. They also split the rain-shortened initial series at Wrigley after taking 2-of-3 from the Brewers. The Sox went 11-6 overall during interleague play as the AL once again dominated the NL going a combined 137-114.
As most expected, the Bulls lost Ben Gordon to the Pistons. The Bulls lost their leading scorer for the last 4 seasons to the rival Detroit Pistons as Gordon agreed to a 5-year/$55 million contract which was pretty similar to the deals he has turned down from the Bulls the last two seasons. Like most people (I think), I am torn here. While you certainly don't like losing your #1 scorer for NOTHING (that's the part that bothers me most), how truly valuable is Ben Gordon? While he's definitely a very good scorer and those guys are hard to find, he drives me crazy most of the time. He over dribbles MOST of the time; he takes bad shots a LOT of the time; and he doesn't play much defense. BUT...he DEMANDS defenders as they must respect his shot particularly at the end of the game...just as the Celtics. He was also a go-to guy in the locker room and if you've read my blog before, you know how I feel about losing those types of guys - i.e. Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, etc. Overall, I'll miss him especially when he's at the UC playing our Bulls. In theory, this makes us bigger which should work out better than becoming more lefty (I hope) like the Cubs did with a projected starting lineup consisting of Rose, Salmons (still a good scorer, but better on D), Luol (boy, I hope he figures it out next year), Tyrus (boy, I hope he figures out how to give 100% for the WHOLE game), and Joakim. Kirk becomes even more valuable at this point and should really work on his 3-point shot all summer as he'll back up both guards. The Bulls are taking a big gamble that they can get one or even two of the big FAs next off-season as they will have about $25 million in expiring contracts. As a season ticket holder, I'm not a huge fan of that strategy though but we'll see.
The Hawks made several franchise changing moves yesterday too. They decided to cut ties with Khabibulin and Marty Havlat and instead picked up ex-Red Wing and 4-time All-Star Marian Hossa on a 12-year career finishing contract. They also signed Tomas Kopecky away from the Wings too. Both guys know how to win and are true veterans that should mix nicely with the young nucleus of Kane, Towes, and Versteeg among all the rest of the young players. Not resigning Khabibulin means the Hawks are entrusting Christobal Huet with the primary net duties which is why they signed him last year anyway. The question is...do you trust Huet to guard the net for this team that arguably could be considered the team to beat in the west with these other signings. I didn't like reading some of Marty's parting shots at the organization though. Seemed pretty classless for a guy that made an awful lot of money for a 3-year contract where he basically only played 2 full season battling injuries the previous two years. He played very well and a lot of minutes/games for the Hawks this year but it was a contract year too. I understand the Hawks were only offering a 1-year deal at the end and he did what he should have done in signing a 6-year deal with Minnesota. It's business Marty! Enjoy your new digs up in Minnesota...there's no reason to start throwing dirt on your way out of town.
So what did we learn yesterday? I learned the Hawks are here to stay and aren't content with just getting to the conference finals...they want the Cup and they are better positioned now to do just that. Go Hawks! I also learned the Bulls are planning more for 2010-11 than they are 2009-10. They'll still compete in a seemingly much-improved Eastern Conference but I'm not positive they'll be in the playoffs at the end this year. I also learned there are worse teams out there than the Cubs and Sox. I hope I learned that Grampa Lou was just napping over the last couple months and now he's awake and ready to go. Lucky the Cubs still have half a season left.
The White Sox finished off a sweep of the Indians. Don't get too excited Sox fans...the Cubs swept the Indians too so it isn't that hard to do. Let's see if the Sox can use that momentum better than the Cubs as they went 1-6 in the week following the sweep of the Indians. Of course, the Sox have been playing much better as of late winning consecutive series over the Cubs, Dodgers, and Reds. They also split the rain-shortened initial series at Wrigley after taking 2-of-3 from the Brewers. The Sox went 11-6 overall during interleague play as the AL once again dominated the NL going a combined 137-114.
As most expected, the Bulls lost Ben Gordon to the Pistons. The Bulls lost their leading scorer for the last 4 seasons to the rival Detroit Pistons as Gordon agreed to a 5-year/$55 million contract which was pretty similar to the deals he has turned down from the Bulls the last two seasons. Like most people (I think), I am torn here. While you certainly don't like losing your #1 scorer for NOTHING (that's the part that bothers me most), how truly valuable is Ben Gordon? While he's definitely a very good scorer and those guys are hard to find, he drives me crazy most of the time. He over dribbles MOST of the time; he takes bad shots a LOT of the time; and he doesn't play much defense. BUT...he DEMANDS defenders as they must respect his shot particularly at the end of the game...just as the Celtics. He was also a go-to guy in the locker room and if you've read my blog before, you know how I feel about losing those types of guys - i.e. Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa, Aaron Rowand, etc. Overall, I'll miss him especially when he's at the UC playing our Bulls. In theory, this makes us bigger which should work out better than becoming more lefty (I hope) like the Cubs did with a projected starting lineup consisting of Rose, Salmons (still a good scorer, but better on D), Luol (boy, I hope he figures it out next year), Tyrus (boy, I hope he figures out how to give 100% for the WHOLE game), and Joakim. Kirk becomes even more valuable at this point and should really work on his 3-point shot all summer as he'll back up both guards. The Bulls are taking a big gamble that they can get one or even two of the big FAs next off-season as they will have about $25 million in expiring contracts. As a season ticket holder, I'm not a huge fan of that strategy though but we'll see.
The Hawks made several franchise changing moves yesterday too. They decided to cut ties with Khabibulin and Marty Havlat and instead picked up ex-Red Wing and 4-time All-Star Marian Hossa on a 12-year career finishing contract. They also signed Tomas Kopecky away from the Wings too. Both guys know how to win and are true veterans that should mix nicely with the young nucleus of Kane, Towes, and Versteeg among all the rest of the young players. Not resigning Khabibulin means the Hawks are entrusting Christobal Huet with the primary net duties which is why they signed him last year anyway. The question is...do you trust Huet to guard the net for this team that arguably could be considered the team to beat in the west with these other signings. I didn't like reading some of Marty's parting shots at the organization though. Seemed pretty classless for a guy that made an awful lot of money for a 3-year contract where he basically only played 2 full season battling injuries the previous two years. He played very well and a lot of minutes/games for the Hawks this year but it was a contract year too. I understand the Hawks were only offering a 1-year deal at the end and he did what he should have done in signing a 6-year deal with Minnesota. It's business Marty! Enjoy your new digs up in Minnesota...there's no reason to start throwing dirt on your way out of town.
So what did we learn yesterday? I learned the Hawks are here to stay and aren't content with just getting to the conference finals...they want the Cup and they are better positioned now to do just that. Go Hawks! I also learned the Bulls are planning more for 2010-11 than they are 2009-10. They'll still compete in a seemingly much-improved Eastern Conference but I'm not positive they'll be in the playoffs at the end this year. I also learned there are worse teams out there than the Cubs and Sox. I hope I learned that Grampa Lou was just napping over the last couple months and now he's awake and ready to go. Lucky the Cubs still have half a season left.
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