I didn’t know what to make of the seemingly absurd Chris Deluca fueled rumors that the Cubs were going to move Ryan Dempster back into the rotation and make Carlos Marmol the new closer.
I didn’t know what to make of the rumors because they just seemed so, oh what’s the word…uh, dumb.
The problem with the Cubs’ pitching staff hasn’t been the closer, and it really hasn’t been the starting rotation. It’s been the inconsistent dopes in between. This change wouldn’t just ignore the real problems, but it could very well start two more.
This is just so typically Cub.
That’s not to say that the Cubs couldn’t use a closer upgrade. It’s also not to say that they couldn’t use another starter.
But we’ve seen Ryan Dempster as a starter. It included a lot of guys walking to first base, and then eventually scoring.
Plus, if you really wanted Carlos Marmol to be a closer, why didn’t you have him trying that in Iowa?
Things got more absurd yesterday. After the game, Dempster confirmed to the media that his closing days were ending that he’d be ready to make a start by the weekend in LA.
Then he went up to Lou Piniella’s office and they had some fudge (not making that up, and that’s also not a Jim Edmonds euphemism) and when Ryan came back down he said he was going to still be the closer. At least until either Angel Guzman or Marmol can learn how to do it.
What? Huh?
One of the reasons I came to loathe Dusty Baker was his unwillingness to try anything. Even the most obvious changes took forever for him to finally make. Dempster actually becoming the closer in 2005 was one of those cases. As well as any Neifi related decisions, Sammy batting anywhere but third or fourth, taking off the sweatbands because you’re not really a player anymore, all that crap.
We don’t have that problem with Lou. He’ll try anything. When he was hired, Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Theil was heard on the radio assuring Cubs fans that we’d never have to worry about Lou burning out one of our starters because he didn’t have the patience to ever let them pitch enough to get hurt.
The Cubs have played 42 games and have used more than 30 different lineups. Everybody on the team has played right field for at least an inning. (OK, maybe not everybody, it just seems like it.)
I don’t have a problem with Lou shuffling things around. If something doesn’t work, try something else. It seems so simple. Even if that idea seemed to scare the Bakers and Rigglemans of the world to death.
What does scare me is that it seems to signal something very bad for the rest of this season. I could be wrong (I typically am, but you know that) but until I see Jim Hendry make a trade, I am afraid he doesn’t have the authority to add any new players to this team.
Given the mediocrity of the division (and if you look up, you’ll see the Milwaukee Brewers hurtling back to earth) the Brewers, Astros or Cubs are going to make a move and win the thing. Right now, I wouldn’t put any faith in the Cubs doing anything other than shuffling the rosters in Des Moines and Chicago around.
Trading players means shuffling money around. Given that they can’t get approval to do the obvious and sign Carlos Zambrano to a contract extension (and no matter what Phil Rogers says, Hendry still WANTS to do it) that in today’s market is a relative bargain, how can we have faith that they’ll be allowed to trade for a player who makes a dollar more than whatever they’re trading away?
It could just be that nobody’s anxious to make a trade in mid-May. We know how hyperactive the GM on other side of town is, and he’s got gaping holes in the outfield right now and even he can’t find a party to deal with. (Part of that problem could be that whenever a rival GM parks his car at The Cell, Kenny’s kids strip it.)
But put yourself in Lou’s comfy grandpa slippers for a minute. Say you’ve got a team with pretty good talent, but a few glaring deficiencies that it does not seem able to overcome in close games, and you go to your boss and ask for some help. He tells you that the sale of the team has his hands tied. What do you do?
You figure you’ve go 40 guys you can try to shuffle around and fancy a team good enough to win the 85 games you figure are needed to get into the playoffs. You’ll try anything. You need to take your current roster and go 65-55 the rest of the way (and hope Milwaukee or Houston doesn’t add somebody really good which will only raise the number of wins you’re going to need).
This is what the closer merry-go-around said to me this weekend. You don’t have a lame duck manager, but you’ve got a lame duck organization. The long-term future of the Cubs should be served well by the sale. But short term? It means more Jock and more Will Ohman. And Lou cooking up any crazy scheme he can think of.
Hey, at least the guy’s trying. And if he’s lucky, he just might find something that works.
Yeah, I’m not counting on that either.
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I loved how fervently Lou downplayed the significance of the Cubs come-from-behind wins on Friday and Saturday. The Chicago media wanted him to act like beating the White Sox was huge for the Cubs. Lou wasn’t buying it. Beating anybody right now is huge. The fact that it was the Sox didn’t matter, except it made the fans happier. For whatever reason, these Cubs-Sox games are still a bigger deal for Sox fans than Cubs fans. It’s absurd, but maybe it makes sense. These fans take a few hours of their busy day of working at the muffler shop and then going home to make some more meth in the bathtub and it’s a happy little oasis for them.
Not that the Cubs’ catching situation is ideal, but when you need to go to AJ Pierzynski to improve your defense? Yikes.
Real Cubs’ fans knew yesterday was going to be trouble when you heard the words “first career start” for Sox pitcher Nick Masset. Nobody eases pitchers into the big leagues quite like our Cubs.
It wasn’t all that significant (other than the fact that a one run lead with this bullpen should come with Kaopectate) but Derrek Lee’s pinch hit grand slam was certainly very fucking cool. It led a lot of Sox fans to cry that Ozzie Guillen should have replaced Boone Logan and not let him face Lee. That’s great, except that Logan had just come into the game and he had to face the next batter. Ozzie thought he was bringing in Logan to either face Jock Jones (we know how Jock does against lefties) or Angel Pagan. Oops.
I’m not making this up. On Friday, Ron Santo called Boone Logan “Loon Bogan.”
Phil Rogers’ piece about how the Cubs should not fret if they lose Carlos Zambrano has a little tinge of truth to it. We don’t know if Carlos is ready to win big games yet. As Phil pointed out, Carlos was terrible when the Cubs really needed him in 2003 (he was also 22 years old). But he was the balls down the stretch in 2004 (4-0, 1.01 ERA in five starts in September of that year). His opening day struggles are now legendary and that makes you worry. But what Phil doesn’t point out is something Carlos brings to the Cubs that without him, nobody has. Not with Kerry Wood in a body bag again. He’s tough and he wants the ball. He wants to start the big game. He’s not afraid of it. He’s not afraid of anything. It’d be a lot better if his fearlessness came with an ERA lower than 5.61 this year, but only the Cubs could have six seasons with a guy and make a decision based on ten starts. Because he’s got a track record of being…you know…good. But again, they want to re-sign him. They’d have him re-signed except Hendry drug his feet during spring training and when he finally nailed down the extension, the sale of the Cubs put it on hold.
If the Cubs lose Carlos, for any reason, it will set them back, because they’ll spend years overpaying lesser players to try to fill his void. It’s not like we haven’t seen this (cough, cough, Greg) before (cough, cough, Maddux). But hey, maybe we’ll be lucky and Hendry can dig up Jose Guzman’s phone number.
In May, the Cubs have gotten good production out of two middle infielders, and one has blown big time.
| Ave | OBA | Slg | |
| Ryan Theriot | 302 | 380 | 413 |
| Cesar Izturis | 306 | 368 | 365 |
| Mark DeRosa | 176 | 364 | 235 |
Wow, did you ever think you’d want to see Cesar in the lineup? Good thing DeRosa doesn’t have a three year contract. Oh, wait.
Honestly though, as bad as DeRosa’s been (and he’s been bad) he at least can post a useful on base average even while he’s struggling. Apparently he’s never been warned about clogging those bases.
Somebody who know all about those dangers, though, former Cub Corey Patterson is sizzling right now. Tearing it up with no hits in his last 17 at bats, Corey is currently hitting .219 with an on base average of (drumroll please……………..) .285 for the Orioles.
Because some Cubs fans appear to think that simply by playing the same position and wearing the same number that Corey and Felix Pie are doomed to have the same future, I will not that Felix is also slumping horribly. He went 0-7 in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday in Iowa. He had three hits yesterday, a triple, an RBI and a stolen base and is currently hitting .417 with an on base average of .479.
As you know, I’m all for easing Felix into the big leagues by platooning him in center with Angel Pagan. Why not ride Angel until his deal with the devil expires? Felix is hitting a cool .508 (33 for 65) with a 1.283 OPS against righties in Iowa. Is that good? Of course, the question is moot, since Jock is frozen on the Cubs roster just like everybody else.
Just fuckin’ trade me already!
Why trade Jock? Why not trade Cliff Floyd and have Jock platoon in right with Murton? Do we really wanna get rid of Jock with injury-waiting-to-happen Cliff Floyd as the only thing standing between us and a full-time Matt Murton in right field? I know what some of y’all will say, but I know of at least definitely a few better-thinking fans that fear that very scenario. Unless Pagan became Murton’s platoon partner in right and Pie played everyday. I guess that’d be better. Maybe.
Beacuse Jacque sucks.
Love the Korey love.
Can we trade Floyd yet? I thought that players in the first year of a free agent contract can’t be traded until after some arbitrary date in June.
If you trade Floyd, then Jock’s your lefty off the bench in games in which he doesn’t start. “Jock” and “situational, clutch hitting” go about as well together nuts and gum. I’d rather roll the dice that Floyd stays moderately healthy.
And of the Cubs’ 22 losses, 11–exactly HALF–have been in games in which they led after 6 innings. That’s bad, right?
I thought Ward was the lefty off the bench. And weren’t there some statistics posted about “Jock” and “situational, cluth hitting” or were the numbers considered terrible for the standard Jock argument and, therefore, either non-existent or flawed?
JD–
The second part. If it contradicts my emotionally-charged anti-Jock argument, then I refuse to belive it.
I would like to see Felix look at me after another strikeout all summer long…
There was some veiled reference to a “trade that may have fallen through” on Comcast SportsNite last night, which may have been the switch in thinking on Dempster going to the rotation. I’ve gotta believe that a Jock-Howry package is being floated around, perhaps to Washington for Cordero. Sean Marshall being inserted in the 5th starter role was also a rumor. Whatever the case, I see 1-2 outfielders being moved and 2-3 relievers being moved/replaced by June 15.
Hey Felix (#8)
Don’t forget to strut and look like you’re too cool to care. If it helps, place a stick up your ass.
Also, on dropped-third strikes, just wait for the catcher to run and get the ball and tag you. Running on a play where you stand only a 4% chance of reaching base safely is totally for un-cool nerds. Have some dignity. You’ll never get any tail by spazzing out like that.
Follow these simple instructions and you, too, can be the coolest-looking cat on the field.
Speaking of running, I half-ass it a lot, don’t I?
Hendry and McDonough went to great pains to reassure everyone all spring that even though the Trib was on the selling block that money remained for in-season moves. Then the team was actually sold and we’ve heard none of that. Suddenly, the Tribune company execs can’t spend money without Sam Zell’s approval. Sam doesn’t seem too keen on spending any. And, after spending a billion dollars or whatever to buy TribCo I can’t say I blame him.
As for trading for Chad Cordero, the NL is reaching base at a cool .389 clip against him this year.
So he’d fit right in.
The only offset to the “dumb fuck” uh.. “Lame duck” organization theory is thet Hendry needs a job. His paycheck ends in 16 months. He ain’t getting anythign beyond “JUGS Gun Holder” unless he does something dramatic.
My bet is that Zells said, “No new spending.” Were he to unload $7.9mm of Jacque to acquire, say, $7.9mm of Abreu, that would be allowed.
I don’t think Hendry is prevented from doing moves as much as he is prevented from adding long t4erm salary commitments.
Does anybody have Dempster and Jones for ARod on their radar?
Speaking of not running on dropped 3rd strikes, did anybody else notice me get tagged out on my way back to the dugout the other day? And as for Soriano, he makes me look like David freakin’ Eckstein.
I’m ready for the big leagues for sure; I got picked off yesterday.
I don’t really care if you run to first on dropped third strikes or not. The same goes for the hamstrung Soriano.
Its great to get a free pass from everyone around here. Not only has my hitting been mediocre, you guys dont even care if I run after fly balls!!!!
I called Fonzie off on that popup. Not his fault
More needless Dusty Baker/Corey Patterson mentions, eh!
That middle infielder graph thingie was neat, though.
On Cordero — no thanks.
On Soriano not hustling — his hammy hasn’t been 100% for us yet. That’s the typical standard Aramis reply, but Soriano does look hamstrung, legit.
Also, Abreu may still come around this season, but downgrading to Abreu from Jones would be a needless misstep at this point. Unless you’re down with a .243/.320/.314 clip that only got worse thus far in May. Not that Jacque’s line is much better. Abreu is still the smart bet to finish with a better season, but his decreased bat speed (not to mention Abreu has looked lost as fuck at the plate) has me scared straight.
Duplicate comments? Por quoi?
More needless Dusty Baker/Corey Patterson mentions, eh!
That middle infielder graph thingie was neat, though.
On Cordero — no thanks.
On Soriano not hustling — his hammy hasn’t been 100% for us yet. That’s the typical standard Aramis reply, but Soriano does look hamstrung, legit.
Also, Abreu may still come around this season, but downgrading to Abreu from Jones would be a needless misstep at this point. Unless you’re down with a .243/.320/.314 clip that only got worse thus far in May. Not that Jacque’s line is much better. Abreu is still the smart bet to finish with a better season, but his decreased bat speed (not to mention Abreu has looked lost as fuck at the plate so far) has me scared straight.
Something isn’t letting me post my highly relevant thoughts on KPat/Dusty Baker/Soriano/Jones/Abreu/Cordero. Fuck!
More needless Dusty Baker/Corey Patterson mentions, eh!
That middle infielder graph thingie was neat, though.
On Cordero — no thanks.
On Soriano not hustling — his hammy hasn’t been 100% for us yet. That’s the typical standard Aramis reply, but Soriano does look hamstrung, legit.
Also, Abreu may still come around this season, but downgrading to Abreu from Jones would be a needless misstep at this point. Unless you’re down with a .243/.320/.314 clip that only got worse thus far in May. Not that Jacque’s line is much better. Abreu is still the smart bet to finish with a better season, but his decreased bat speed (not to mention Abreu has looked lost as fuck at the plate) has me scared straight.
More needless Dusty Baker/Corey Patterson mentions, eh!
That middle infielder graph thingie was neat, though.
On Cordero — no thanks.
On Soriano not hustling — his hammy hasn’t been 100% for us yet. That’s the typical standard Aramis reply, but Soriano does look hamstrung, legit.
Also, Abreu may still come around this season, but downgrading to Abreu from Jones would be a needless misstep at this point. Unless you’re down with a .243/.320/.314 clip that only got worse thus far in May. Not that Jacque’s line is much better. Abreu is still the smart bet to finish with a better season, but his decreased bat speed (not to mention Abreu has looked lost as fuck at the plate) has me scared straight.
I often get over-used. Who can’t toggle to get stats?
I’m available, bitches!!!
There is one advantage of Abreu over Jones. Abreu is a free agent after this year. Jones is under contract for 2008.
I’d be surprised if Cordero was traded for anyone in the majors. The organization is only interested in other teams’ “prospects” (read: organizational busts). Instead of paying market rates for even minimally experienced/competent starters, they held open tryouts for the starting rotation (which, tellingly, is not markedly worse than last year’s “staff”). Their idea of a Cordero trade would be Pie/Howry for Cordero, since Pie (a) is a prospect, and (b) will make the minimum (Washingtonians are avoiding the current product in groves, so there’s no extra revenue, although there should be good seats available for the Cubs series). Besides, Jock’s not an ex-Red.