As a lifelong Cubs fan, I guess I should follow up the Bears problems with those of my favorite pro sports team - the Cubs.
The good news is the Trib is officially GONE - thank goodness. The only problem is the debris field they left behind. Wrigley is totally out-of-date and run down; the minor league player development is a total joke; the GM had arguably (no argument from me) the worst season of all-time; the team president remains in his old spot; and the manager who mailed it in for the second half of last year is back too. Did I mention the worst ever Chicago free-agent signing (and THAT is saying a LOT) ever remains on the roster? They have the most expensive and under-achieving outfield in the history of baseball including THE most overpaid player in baseball (that is also saying a LOT). Luckily, they are only stuck with Soriano for another 5 SEASONS!!!
Yes, we now have owners who are at least telling us they are in this because they are baseball fans - lifelong Cubs fans as a matter of fact. But I remain baffled that Tom Ricketts has been supposedly involved with this team for nearly 2 years and yet left all the leaders of the organization in their familiar places. Even scarier were his comments on how much better the team was doing recently by making the playoffs 3 times in the last 7 seasons. The Cubs are the ONLY major market team in the NL Central with the highest payroll too. WHY can't they win the division more than they have? And since they have been spending but not performing, doesn't that leave the leadership as the problem? Particularly the GM who oversees the draft, signs the free agents, makes or doesn't make the trades, and hires/fires the manager? So how does Jim Hendry remain? I just don't get it.
Lou had a club option to come back this year. After a VERY disappointing season, the Cubs didn't renew it right? Wrong! Jim Hendry for whatever reason exercised the club option back in 2008. Wait...yes, you read that right...the Cubs exercised Lou's club option for the 2010 season back in September 2008 right BEFORE the Cubs went 3-and-out in the playoffs for the second time in two years. Why the big rush Jim? Was there some huge demand out there for an aging skipper that can't get his team up for the playoffs? This guy spends money like it isn't his...you know why...because it ISN'T! That's not the guy I want leading my organization.
Lou totally mailed it in last year giving up on his team in August and never fighting to get them back on track. Let's not forget the Cubs were still in first place as late as August 5th. Then the wheels fell off and the guy in charge of getting them back on was asleep at the helm instead. But let's turn the clock back a little further. How about calling his starting RF a "piece of s***" and sending him home one day only to have him back in the starting lineup the very next day? Or how long did he leave the ultra-struggling Soriano in the lead-off spot? How many Gatorade machines did he allow to be destroyed by underachieving pitchers with no repercussions? Who's in charge in the dugout Lou? Even when it was clearly over towards the end of the season, Lou still kept throwing out the old guys instead of trying out the younger ones to see if they could salvage anything from an otherwise disastrous season. Sam Fuld, Micah, Jake Fox, and Andre Blanco should have been sent out there day after day towards the end.
The biggest problem with the Cubs today is the long-term contracts that lock the team up and totally limit flexibility. Soriano is making so much money, you just have to play him and he's got so many years left on his contract and he's already pretty old that you're just never going to be able to unload him without taking on another disastrous contract which means you won't gain anything. You still have Milton Bradley but hopefully, he's all but out of here - I heard when Hendry finally sent him home with a couple weeks left in the season that the remaining players cheered wildly - not a good sign. Fukudome has two more years on his ridiculous Jim Hendry contract so you're stuck with him starting too so there goes 2 of your 3 outfield spots. You have no real CF - no, Fukudome is NOT a CF; he's a RF. The oft-injured Aramis Ramirez is here for 2 or 3 more years; Dempster 3 more years; Zambrano 3-4 more years; and Aaron Miles (what a JOKE this guy is!) for 1 more year. The guy that had the best year last season was D-Lee and he's only signed for 1 more year. They'll lose Rich Harden to free agency and Lilly is only signed for one more year so what once was considered a strength doesn't seem very strong anymore. Dempster seems to have lost a little something and Zambrano just seems to be one of those guys you scratch your head about what could have been if he would just grow up.
So the Cubs have a new owner that arguably over spent during tough economic times which will probably limit their immediate further investment in the team. They already said they were going to increase ticket prices again (the Cubs were the only pro team in Chicago to raise prices last year) and they are trying to squeeze some money from the guy that owns the building that used to have the Budweiser sign painted on the roof who changed it to Horseshoe Casino. Sounds like the same story as last year.
Lou has asked AGAIN for a middle-of-the-order guy which will potentially be the third year in a row as Fukudome and then Bradley were supposed to be that guy. What they really need to do is get a REAL lead-off guy - right now, the roster includes 3 pretty good #2 hitters (Theriot, Fukudome, and Bradley) and zero #1 or #5 hitters (Soriano is a #6 hitter at best these days). They also need a healthy and productive Aramis and D-Lee along with Soto getting his head screwed back on right. How about Chone Figgins to lead-off and play 2B? How does this starting lineup sound?
1 - Figgins 2B
2 - Theriot SS
3 - Lee 1B
4 - Aramis 3B
5 - Soriano LF
6 - Soto C
7 - Fukudome RF
8 - Johnson CF
Or what about moving Soriano back to 2B and putting Jake Fox out in LF? Having both corner outfield spots sucked up by overpaid underachievers really limits the Cubs flexibility with their young guys. Of course, they did this to themselves.
Next up...Vinny and the Bulls...
No comments:
Post a Comment