What is this, every Tuesday the Cubs make a move to actually spend money and actually get better? Wait, are these the Chicago Cubs? The same Cubs who were five outs from a World Series and instead of wallowing in self-pity have measurably improved themselves since then?
Trading for Derrek Lee was a good move. It showed the Cubs aren’t content to try and outpitch people.
Signing LaTroy Hawkins was an even better move. It showed that the Cubs can still outpitch you, anyway.
The contract itself is curious. Hawkins will receive only two million dollars in 2003 (though incentives on games finished and games saved could increase that), which means he’s only making half of what El Pulpo made last year.
This leaves the Cubs with a pile of cash to throw at a lefty reliever, a fifth starter, a second baseman and a fourth outfielder.
Excuse me while I break out the maniacal laugh. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Even before they go out and sign either Gabe White or Ricardo Rincon to be their bullpen lefty, the Cubs have a formidable end of the bullpen with Regular Joe Borowski, The Farns, Mike Remlinger and LaTroy. Last year at this time we all thought Regular Joe would implode, we thought The Farns already had and we were praying that Dave Veres and El Pulpo could get some outs. This year, things are a little rosier.
I have one big reason why I want the Cubs to sign Ricardo Rincon. It has very little to do with his career 3.42 ERA.
It has everything to do with the fact the he looks just like Agilar from The Bad News Bears.
That’s Agilar on the left.
OK, so that’s just me.
Now the Cubs have three moves they still need to make.
They need to either re-sign Kenny Lofton to be the extra outfielder or find a reasonable facsimile thereof. Here’s a hint, Chris Singleton is not a reasonable facsimilie.
They need to find a second baseman. It’s appearing more and more like the Cubs are going to trade for one. They still want the Angels Adam Kennedy, and there’s always the Jose Vidro pipe dream. The Brewers are dangling Junior Spivey because they don’t want to pay him. It appears that the Cubs front office is not enamored with whatever’s left of Fernando Vina. Thank goodness.
My best guess is that the Cubs suck it up and sign Todd Walker. The rumors of him being bad at second base are untrue. He’s lousy. Every grounder is an adventure. When the Boston Red Sox pull you for defensive purposes you’re bad. He also only posted a .333 on base average. Though he’s been above .350 for most of his career. .350’s not great. It’s also not lousy. This is what it’s come to. Not lousy is good enough.
They need a fifth starter. Eric Milton is available but he makes $9 million and the Cubs are not really excited about that. They figure to pick through the non-tendered players and see if they can find one better than Juan Cruz. If not, the job’s Juan’s. Unless he’s pitching somewhere else next year because Jim Hendry used him to land a second baseman.
We’d all like a better catcher, but that’s not going to happen. Damian Miller ended a string of five straight seasons of hitting .270 or better when he hit .249 in 2002, and then he hit .230 in 2003. That’s not a good trend.
Paul Bako might as well take a rolled up newspaper with him to the plate. But enough about that.
But the Lee and LaTroy moves speak volumes about the 2004 Cubs. Forget our petty whining about the offense of our catchers or the defense at second base. This is a good team.
Take a moment Cubs fans to cast an eye on your favorite team and go forth in the knowledge that they have an actual clue for once. It feels pretty good.
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Last night we did our first basketball GameCast in the 88-81 Illinois loss to North Carolina. Things could have gone better. I could have shown up before 9:30 for instance. But it was fun, and we proved it works. So expect more. Join in the smartassed fun. It’s a good time.
—
I did not get a chance to partake of “The Simple Life” experience, but from what Jake said and what a few others have said, it’s very funny. Who knew? I did however get a chance (thanks to TiVo) to see The Real World Paris reunion last night, and just like the show itself, the reunion sucked. I don’t like any of those people except Ace and Mallory. But I don’t really like Mallory, she’s just super hot.
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LaBullpen is being fortified by LaTroy.
Get used to it Sox fans, moves like this one (yawn) are as exciting as it’s going to get as long as Kenny Williams is forced to build a team on the cheap.
By the way, the Cubs really should consider bringing Robbie Alomar in to play second, if only because it would just kill Sox fans if he came over and Dusty waved his Kenny Lofton magic on Robbie, too. Nothing better than watching a player dog it for you, only to go across town and light it up. Hee hee.
The Illini didn’t shoot so well last night. That’s kind of an understatement, really. Just because you want to know…I still like this team…a lot.
Aaron Spears, Luther Head and Bake McBride aren’t out of the woods yet. They still face expulsion for their little caper. Though, that’s not likely.
Dick Jauron said that Justin Gage will be a great player once Jauron leaves and the Bears run a real offense. Or something like that.
The Junkyard Dog is going to become a Desipio favorite, isn’t he? By the way, Donyell had 27 last night for the Raptors. Excuse me while I weep.
It took Scott Skiles three quarters of one game to see what Bill Cartwright couldn’t in three years. Jamal Crawford is a two guard. Thank you.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to proclaim that Jerry Angelo is a great general manager! Is Mariotti on ‘shrooms?
LaMike Kiley on LaTroy.
OK, bear with me on this joke. I think it’s worth it.
TRENT
What’s wrong? I saw you talking to that
beautiful blonde baby.
SUE
She was cute.
EDDY CURRY
She didn’t like me… I made a fool of
myself…and I only got six rebounds in 34 minutes.
TRENT
Baby, don’t talk that way, baby…
SUE
You are so money, and you don’t even know
it…
TRENT
That’s what I keep trying to tell him.
(to Eddy)
You’re so money, you don’t even know…
EDDY
Please, don’t mess with me right now…
TRENT
We’re not messing with you…
SUE
… we’re not…
TRENT
You’re like this big bear with claws and
fangs…
SUE
… and big f@#$in’ teeth…
TRENT
… and teeth… And she’s like this
little bunny cowering in the corner…and you could fall
out of bed and get 14 boards a night, easy…
SUE
…shivering…
TRENT
… And you’re just looking at your claws
like “How do I kill this bunny?”…and double digit rebounds every night…
SUE
…You’re just poking at it…
TRENT
… Yeah. You’re just gently batting it
around… and the rabbit’s all scared…
SUE
… and you got big claws and fangs…
TRENT
… and fangs… and you’re like “I don’t
know what to do. How do I kill this
bunny?”…
SUE
… you’re like a big bear.
Beat. Eddy smiles.
EDDY
You’re not just, like, f@#$ing with me?
TRENT
No, baby!
SUE
… honestly…
TRENT
… you’re money…
SUE
… you’re so f@#$in mmmoney.
Mario Austin was not a big fan of Russia, apparently. How does your lung just collapse? I mean, unless you’re riding in a car with Derrick Coleman.
Did I just make an Elridge Recasner joke? Sweet.
Gruddy needs to decide now or forever hold his peace, or something.
Bill Parcells takes no crap from any man.
Greg Maddux doesn’t exactly say he wants to come back. He just says he doesn’t want to not come back. Huh?
Hey, the Twins get a draft pick from the Cubs for LaTroy! Yeah, it’s the 24th. Big whup. Enjoy.
Newsday says that Big Stein now wants Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown AND Bartolo Colon. Oh, shut up.
Bill Plaschke thinks trading Kevin Brown is a no-brainer for the Dodgers. He wonders if the fans even remember any of his starts. I remember one in LA on a Sunday when Sammy hit two homers off of him and Mark Prior completely pantsed the Dodgers. That was a good day.
The Marlins have offered Pudge Rodriguez $16 million over two years. Unless he’s a moran, he’ll take it.
The Red Sox may have to dump Johnny Damon or Scott Williamson to sign Keith Foulke. Uh…why bother?
Justin Timberlake got his ass kicked by Frosty the Snowman.
I don’t know who’s more of a nitwit, the “hilarious” morning DJ who told everyone there’s no Santa, or the people who are so pissed off about it?
America’s finest news source proves that Gee Dub is creating new jobs.
Wait until the story comes out about us having the neighbor’s collie for dinner and you’ll know that we’ve been trying to demonstrate the Bear vs. Rabbit scene for Eddy.
Uhh…help?
Check this out. Some hack stole my Web address.
Hey Andy,
Can you teach those of us who are uninformed how to post pictures in the comment section? Then we could add hilarious pictures in addition to dragging our knuckles across the keyboard.
I’ll hang up and listen for your answer.
Hey, Andy
Post some pictures of yourself.
The nuder the better..
I’d be curious to take a look at the flesh around this cute little sarcastic brain of yours
yours affectionately,
bg4a
OK, your photo posting tutorial.
If you find a photo on the Internet and you want to post it here, do the following. Right click on the photo and select properties. Among the information you will see is Address (URL) for example https://www.desipio.com/images/smartest-cardinalsfan.jpg
Copy that URL and paste it inside of the HTML TAG
IMG SRC=”pasteaddresshere”
and put that entire thing in between < >
If I try and type out the entire thing, all you get is the photo, so let’s walk you through it like this.
You need a < then IMG SRC= then your URL inbetween quotes ” “ then a >
and you’re done!
Ah – didn’t quite work the first time, did it?
![]("http://blahblah.com/blah.gif"/)
Here’re a tip for you:
you can ‘escape’ html ‘special’ characters:
hope this helps.. and I can’t wait for those pictures
oops.. guess not. that comments cgi is not that smart after all
< img src="http://blahblah.com/blah.gif" >
D’OH! Sorry. How the hell did it end up so big?
Any truth to the rumor that Jim Edmonds’ girlfriend will be at Lambeau this weekend?
Sometimes the photos on the Web are too big for the space devoted to comments here. You can add a height and width specification, like Jim Edmonds did with the pictures of his dogs. If you check out the properties of that photo you’ll see that it’s height=598 and width=904, so in order to make it fit, you just halve both numbers.
height=299 width=457
Include them in the tag after the second " but before the >.
Why is the Derek Lee trade a good trade? The Cubs traded a 24 year old left-handed hitter who has murdered right-handers in the minors and in the Arizona Fall League for another right-handed hitter who is most likely as good as he will ever be. The Cubs have money to throw around, but if Choi is left alone he will be fine. And he plays for free compared to Lee. In a few years this trade will look stupid. Too bad Baker is hot for veterans.
Why isn’t the Derek Lee trade a good trade?
Choi will be 25 on opening day to Lee’s 28. Lee’s a gold glove first baseman with speed. Even optimistic projections for Choi make him out to be as good a player as Lee is right now, someday.
The Cubs have a once in a liftime pitching staff and currently have the best team in the National League. What’s to wait for?
And it’s not like they gave Choi away. In five years if Choi is good, Lee will still be good.
Stop clinging to your hopes for prospects. If you can trade them for very good players, you do it.
Besides, everybody bitches that the Cubs are cheap and then when they spend money they get ripped for that, too?
Oh, and the current World Champions were pretty right handed dominant. That seemed to work out all right.
You build a farm system for two things:
a. a nucleus of young players to build around.
b. a bunch of good minor league players who are overhyped intentionally to perhaps increase the market value for them and thus convert into much better major league players.
I like Choi, but I wonder if he’s (b) and not (a). Even if he’s (a), you haven’t exactly given away your true "A’s" like Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Patterson or Felix Pie.
Mr. Brown,
Until you’ve seen Felix Pie play 100 games, I think you’re hardly in any position to call him a true A.
Let me tell you about the …oh, damnit my nipple clamp fell off…just a second…
TRANSMISSION INTERRUPTED
prochoi and Antichoi? I had no idea.
Anyway, for those of you who have yet to pick up your copy of Oops, They Did It Again: The Story of the 2003 Chicago Cubs allow me to quote from a great man who wrote this on page 16.
If I could make three bold-print them in ink-predictions about Jim Hendry, they’d be these. 1)
He’ll NEVER trade Hee Seop Choi. 2) He’ll NEVER trade Corey Patterson. 3) He’ll NEVER wear a tie that actually
matches his shirt.
He’s still only 1-3.
Well, if you’re in the mood for scoops, Mr. Dolan, let’s just say that a source close to one of your reader reports that I have separated from my wife and am now renting a 1-br apartment off the kennedy expressway near O’Hare.
I guess I got tired of the old lady ridiculing me for my poorly matching clothing.
I will be employed until my death.
Hey, I thought the goal was getting a quarterback sack, not a quarterback’s sack!
Bryan has given new meaning to running a guy down from behind…
Oh, I tell you, I’ve got a MILLION of ’em.
I wonder what the real story is with B-Rob’s dogs?
It’s true that I had something to do with Jim Hendry’s separation from his wife.
Let’s just say I couldn’t keep my hands off his balls either.
Mr. Hendry is acting decidedly different THIS offseason than LAST offseason. I’m thrilled with the acquisitions of Lee and Hawkins (guess that puts me in the antiChoi camp). The next week will be fascinating: does Grudzy take the Cubs’ offer? If not, what rabbit will Hendry pull out of his hat for 2B? Do the Cubs stand pat at C? And what about that bullpen lefty? Man I’m so pumped about next season I can hardly wait for April….
The Choi trade was definitely a good one for the Cubs. Let’s say that in the worst case scenario, Choi develops into a top flight first baseman, and Lee gets run over by a bus. The Cubs can just reaquire Choi once he becomes eligible for arbitration. That’s why I don’t mind trading prospects to poor teams if we get quality players in return. If the prospects end up developing into good players, they will eventually become too expensive to be retained (see Sexon, Richie).
I’m not as sullenly disappointed as I was last night right after the Illinois game. Too bad it just didn’t work out.
Jim’s a strange man. Some guys dump their wife, buy a sports car and pick up hot new eye candy.
Jim’s dumped me, but instead of a sports car, he bought LaTroy Hawkins and he picked up Derrek Lee.
Cubs fans can only dream of what will happen when and if our divorce becomes final.
I never complained about the Cubs not spending enough money. I don’t care what they do. I visit this site for the thoughtful, enriching, even-handed commentary, not because I’m a Cubs fan. I am not. If Choi plays the whole season, he will be better than Derrek Lee NEXT YEAR. Choi was never given a chance because he’s had the misfortune of belonging to a franchise that doesn’t know what it’s doing. Gold Glove 1st base man? Yes, Derrek Lee is a fine fine fielder at first base. What’s the difference between an average fielder at 1st and a very very good one? It barely matters. One win? A fraction of a win? It’s not a good trade because you want it to be. No one knows how good a trade is when it happens. Was it likely a good trade? No. Choi was on his way to demolishing the rookie walk record when ran into Wood, and then the door was just completely shut on him. Anyone who picks up Randall Simon to fill a hole that could have been filled by Hee Choi ought to use his 2 for 1 CAT scan coupon. Lee is damn good. Every sign points to Choi being better, and soon, IF he is given a chance. He’s already be better if they were smart enough to play him sooner.
Something is wrong with my text box. It looks like stuttering.
LaTroy Hawkins, excellent pickup, by the way.
Go Tigers.
What’s the difference between an average fielder at 1st and a very very good one? It barely matters. One win? A fraction of a win?
We won the division by one win, so yeah…it matters.
We got who? Hanoi Jane? Oh, I hated her during the war. She’s hot though.
I’m not playing her at first. I’m just going to make her sit on my lap.
The even better part of this deal is, unless Florida has a swath of injuries, they aren’t going to play Choi much either. Cabrera in left, Encarncion in right, Lowell at third, and Conine at first… Or some combo of those four in those four positions.
And Choi better than Lee? Because he was going to break the rookie walk record? Puh-leeze… Did you even watch some of the at-bats Choi had last year? The inside portion of the strike zone was like anthrax to the guy. Do I think he’ll be a good player sometime? Yeah, I do think that. But, by the time that happens, the Cubs will have gotten a pennant…
Milton was traded to the Phillies. I’ve got a feeling I’ll be your next 5th starter.
No!
No!
C’mon, just sign Maddux. He said he wouldn’t not go back.
How cool would it be? Prior, Wood, Maddux, Zambrano, Clement. Yes, all righties, but all different pitchers, and all pretty successful.
Hmm, if they could manage at least 18 wins each…
What would be the starting pitcher order? Here is what I think:
1. Wood
2. Prior (Yes, he’s better than Wood but you don’t want him against another team’s ace all the time)
3. Maddux
4. Clement
5. Zambrano
Bring on the other team’s aces. I’ll kick those aces.
1. Me
2. Woody
3. Maddux
4. Zambrano
5. Clement
See?
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/hp/12-04-03-174439.html
We’re celebrities now, sort of. But we can’t go back into Highland Park.
And yeah, we technically aren’t Eddy’s dogs. But his personal assistant owns them and we lived at Eddy’s house, so that’s the next best thing, right?
Why hasn’t Desipio provided us with extensive coverage of the Juan Uribe trade?
Because I suck, that’s why
Choi is going to be better than Lee next year? Probably not, since he’s going to be stuck in a platoon role with Conine and/or Cabrerra. Also, regarding the comments about having a gold glove first baseman, the Cubs already have E-Ramis at third, and with the possibility of Todd Walker at 2nd, a good fielding 1st baseman is a must.
A Gold Glove firstbaseman won’t make a difference huh?
Hey, it works!!!!!
If you’re doing philosophy at all, if you’re engaged in the way that ideas work, then it’s a male peculiarity to wish to go right up in the air and go round in circles without relating them to anything else. by texas hold’em
Got here and seen your stuff – way to go!
Got here and seen your stuff – way to go!