One thing is true for Kerry Wood…he does the “welcome back” thing with style. Let’s hope he stops needing to come back this often. After a week in which they were either tied or trailing for 56 consecutive innings (is that bad?) the Cubs finally broke out, and solved the mystery of erstwhile Cardinals’ ace Karen Carpenter.
Don’t swing at the curveball and blast the crap out of his fastball. It took the Cubs…and the National League…three and a half months to figure that out?
Last night was a great display of fact checking from ESPN. In the morning they added this message to the crawl announcing that night’s Cubs-Cardinals game, “CHC — Kerry Wood first start since April 24.”
It’s true he pitched on April 24, he pitched seven innings in a shutout win over the Mets. Funny thing though, is that he also pitched on May 5 and May 11. However, ESPN’s stats don’t reflect that. They say he was 0-2 in May with a 4.00 ERA but never pitched. Oooh, spooky.
On Saturday Ramon Martinez injured himself while arguing with an ump. Does this kind of stuff ever happen to anybody but the Cubs? Ramon should have been safe on an inning ending double play, and had he been safe the Cubs would have tied the game at 2-2. Instead, the first base umpire showed his belief that Albie Pujols can defy gravity and called Ramon out. It would have helped if Ramon had actually sprinted to first, but hey, it was hot. Something Joe Buck and Tim McCarver continually reminded us of. One replay (the one from behind the play) looked like Pujols was on the bag, but another replay (that Fox only showed once) showed Pujols had come off the bag early on and then had to slide up the line to make the catch.
Chippy was in rare form on Friday night and managed to break his own record, he touted Albie Pujols for the Gold Glove BEFORE the game even started. I think he does this stuff on purporse just to make us all mad.
Pujols has a host of bad habits already at first base. Just watch him sometime. He always comes off the bag early, in an Eric Karrosian attempt to steal every call (even when the runner’s out by three feet). When he needs to get the ball from his glove to his hand he tosses the ball out of his glove and then catches it barehanded to throw. That’s a bad one. It looks cool, but it’s hard to get a decent grip on the ball the 40 percent of the time you don’t catch the seams. As Brian Fantana said, “Sixty percent of the time, it works every time.”
Last night he even caught a throw from Tony Womack barehanded for no apparent reason. That’s all cute now, but we’ll see how “The World’s Greatest Fans” enjoy a few needless errors.
The Cubs did the predictable yesterday, they activated Wood and Mike Remlinger and sent Mike Wuertz (thank God) and the Ice Man (noooo!) to Iowa. I was hoping that instead of carrying three lefties in the bullpen that the Cubs would realize how much Kent Mercker sucks and send him packing. No such luck. By the way, how’d you like Glendon Rusch’s inability to get a lefty out on Saturday? Apparently, it’s contagious. If you’re wondering, that’s not a good thing.
Rick Morrissey says that Todd Hollandsworth might be out for the season. If a real, talented reporter had written this, I’d be worried, but it’s just Morrissey. Heaven knows I’m miserable now.
How’s that for a long way to go for a joke that about nine of you will actually get? Anyway, Morrissey does think the Cubs should trade for an outfielder, in fact, so does Mariotti. Don’t they realize that the Cubs already have Tom Goodwin? Yeah, I just made myself laugh a little bit.
Last night Jon Miller ran down a list of guys the Cubs are supposedly interested in. It went something like this.
Ugueth Urbina, Detroit, closer — He’s not been that great for Detroit, but he didn’t go to spring training with anybody and most of his 4.62 ERA came in a bad May. He had a 2.52 ERA in June with five saves in five chances and two wins. And he’s 3-4 in save chances in July, and one bad outing shot his ERA for the month to 6.00, but batters are only hitting .182 off him this month. Hendry nearly traded for Urbina last July and if he had, well the Cubs would have won the pennant. So that was kind of a big decision.
Don’t believe me? Do the Marlins get to the World Series without Ugy? Would the Cubs have won game one of the NLCS and/or game six if they had had just one more guy in the bullpen? I rest my case.
Jose Mesa, Pissburgh, closer — Mesa’s been freakin’ unbelievable for the Pirates, going 22 for 23 in save chances with a 2.45 ERA. The Pirates don’t want to trade him because he’s cheap and they don’t have anybody else to close if they get rid of him. I’m doubtful he can keep this up, anyway.
Shawn Chacon, Colorado, closer — He’s not a closer, he ought to be starting. Colorado does funny things to pitchers and so his ERA of 7.23 is not that unusual, but it’s 6.41 on the road. That’s bad. Chacon’s a guy worth having, but at this point he needs to be reprogammed and who knows if he’d be of any help at all this year?
Orlando Cabrera, Expos, shortstop — The Cubs have had a bit of success grabbing guys from Montreal and re-energizing them. Rondell White had a good year and a half with the Cubs (when he wasn’t on the DL), Michael Barrett is loving his time in Chicago, Jose Macias hasn’t been completely useless (and yes, I know I need to update the Lemon-Aid banner), Andre Dawson was pretty good, Mel Rojas was…oh, never mind. All three area dailies (the Southtown does not count) reported that the Cubs and Expos seem to be making progress on a trade that would bring Cabrera to town for Alex Gonzalez and one of the Cubs pitching prospects (may I suggest Mike Wuertz?) The Cubs would likely pay a portion of the remainder of Alex’s contract so that the Expos can save a little money (Alex and Orlando make about the same.) Orlando has had some good years, but this is not one of them. He’s currently hitting .234 and his on base percentage is a tidy .293. Whoop dee damn doo! He’s worse than Alex Gonzalez! Well…actually he’s not. He’s quite a bit better. His bad first half aside, he has had some recent success. He’s a Gold Glove caliber shortstop with better range than Gonzalez and just as good an arm. Last year he hit .297 with 17 homers, 80 RBI and stole 24 bases in 26 attempts. In 2002 he struggled with a back injury and still stole 25 bases (he still hit .263..which isn’t great, but Alex couldn’t hit .263 if you let him bat with a canoe paddle.) His best year came in 2001 (I had him on my fantasy team that year, so I’m an expert on this…OK, whatever) when he hit .276 with 14 homers and 98 RBI. Ninety-eight! Yikes. Orlando has demanded a trade because he hates playing in the echo chamber in Montreal. The Expos are done with the San Juan portion of their schedule, and Orlando’s only going to get more unhappy. Better just move him along then, to the Cubs.
Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox, shortstop — There is a way in which the Cubs could get Nomar without hurting their starting rotation. They could trade Matt Clement to Boston for Nomar and then trade Bobby Brownlie, Jason Dubois, Matt Craig and Dave Kelton to the Diamondbacks for Randy Johnson. That’s probably not going to happen, is it? Did you know that over the last three years, Randy Johnson has averaged ten strikeouts per start (not per nine innings, mind you..per start) in day games?
That’s ten strikeouts per start, that’s 1.4 strikeouts per inning! That’s 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings. OK, fine. I’ll just forget about it.
Steve Finley, Diamondbacks, centerfield — If the Cubs traded for Finley, it would give them a bench with both Corey Patterson and Todd Hollandsworth and a safeguard against the inevitable Moises Alou injury. Plus, let’s say that the Cabrera deal is going to happen, and then you trade for Finley. How’s this for a lineup?
2b Gruddy/Walker
ss Cabrera
rf Sosa
3b E-ramis
cf Finley
lf Alou
1b Lee
c Barrett
Arizona is expected to trade Finley to the Padres, but aren’t really excited about trading him within the division. They’d like to send him someplace else where he might sign on for the last contract of his career and not come back to haunt them 19 times a season. But in the end, they’ll probably end up sending him to San Diego anyway. Just because Joe Garagiola is a dope.
It’s not likely that the Cubs will trade for a starting outfielder. It’s not a well kept secret though that Jim Hendry would like to find a lefthanded bat for the bench to compliment (or…replace…let’s hope Morrissey’s wrong like usual) Hollandsworth and Jeromy Burnitz and Matt Stairs are likely targets. Hendry almost got Burnitz last year and Stairs is one of the most popular ex-Cubs of all time. He’s still famous for his charter flight tradition of surfing on a beverage tray from the first row straight back to the last row during the plane’s ascent. I’ve tried it before, and the United stewardesses just have no sense of humor anymore.
This is just a guess by me, I do think the Cubs will end up with Cabrera. It makes sense, the Expos want to move him and for once Alex Gonzalez comes in handy because his contract is expiring and while Major League Baseball owns the Expos, their favorite kinds of contracts are the ones that are a) small and/or b) expiring. They actually might be interested in Rey Ordonez instead, because he’s cheap and probably wouldn’t mind playing for them considering he’ll be lucky to find a job when the Cubs release him. And yes, I did notice that Rey has actually played better the last couple of weeks. But no, there’s no reason to keep him around. His slide into the hole, throw the guy out at first play is cool, but it doesn’t come up that often. And I still haven’t forgiven him for botching the double play in the June 24 loss at St. Louis. So there.
With E-ramis set to return on Thursday (though with the Cubs…who knows?) we’ve likely seen the end of Brendan Harris this year. But he’s a good looking player, isn’t he? I also think his short stint in the big leagues will prove to be a turning point for the Cubs. When Harris debuted in Milwaukee on Tuesday night he was in dire need of a haircut and had a mullet-like thing going. Mike Remlinger obviously saw that and not only finally got a haircut, but also shaved off that weird, gray goatee of his, making him look 20 years younger. Thanks, Brendan!
Because LaTroy hadn’t pitched in a week, I wasn’t surprised he gave up a couple (three, actually) runs last night. The only part of that ninth inning that scared me was the sight of Mercker warming up in the bullpen. I think Dusty did that just to motivate Hawkins. You’ll notice that Larry Rothschild ran out to the mound with the bases loaded and nobody out and pointed at the bullpen. Hawkins saw Mercker out there and finished up the inning with just seven more pitches.
The All-Star Break is here and the Cubs need it. From May 31 through August 1 the Cubs will have played 51 consecutive games against teams with winning records. That’s a lot. Of course, if the Cubs do their job, they can end that string early, by starting to send the Brewers and Reds back under .500.
As well as the Cardinals have been playing, I still think the Cubs are more talented, and I fully expect that last night’s game was not the last one the Cubs will play at the Big Urinal Cake this year. And it won’t be the last one the Cubs win there this year, either.
—
Is it just possible that the Shaq trade to Miami will actually make both the Lakers and the Heat worse? I think it is. The Lakers cannot improve with this trade. Lamar Odom’s return to LA is the dumbest thing…ever. He’s a fine player, but coming back to the Staples Center just means we’re about to see another long string of failed drug tests. Sure, there are plenty of drugs in Miami, but Lamar’s already proven his liabilities in LA. Brian Grant is over the hill and bad, and Caron Butler’s scoring average dropped six points last year. You’re going to line Kobe up with a starting five of Gary Payton, Lamar Odom, Slava Medvedenko and maybe Karl Malone and win the West?
As for Miami, they did not beat a single winning team on the road last year, and they really only had three real players anyway. It was Odom, Dwyane Wade and Eddie Jones against the world. Now it’s Shaq and Dywane and Eddie? Will they be better? Maybe. Are they better than Indiana or Detroit? Nope. Oh, well. At least they’re trying.
—
This weekend I saw Anchorman, and I’m not one to come out of a movie and just blindly tout it. But that’s one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. It’s long for a comedy, too, at nearly two hours and worth every minute of it. So go see it. You have my blessing.
—
That was easy. The Cubs should have activated Wood last Monday and we could have avoided all those losses!
My favorite sentence from Carlos in this article was this one, “It’s going to be good to hang out with people like Sammy [Sosa], and Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Ben Sheets and all those quality pitchers.” If Jack McKeon makes Sammy pitch, and Sammy hurts his back, I’m gonna…
Rick Morrissey is…oh, just pick a mediocre adjective.
Phil Rogers just loves Jeremy Reed. Big whup.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut and says he wants the Cubs to go shopping. He also says the Cubs are going down and the Sox are going up.
Last ten games: Sox 5-5 Cubs 5-5
Yeah, look at that. You’re right Jay. Whatever.
Mike Kiley thinks the Cubs should trade either Gruddy or Walker. Yeah, because the goal is to have as few good players as possible. Just shut up, Mike.
Bruce Miles with his obligatory Cabrera article.
Jayson Stark on the Futures Game infield for the US. I saw Prince and Rickie play last year (sorry Jim Tocco I only saw 76 of Prince’s games) and they’re for real, though neither is tearing up AA yet.
K-Mart might end up a Nugget in a sign-and-trade that involves the great Nikoloz Tskitishvili. Ooh, I just got goosebumps. Or something.
The Twins are after Miguel Batista. He’d look pretty nice in the Cubs’ bullpen, too. We’ve seen him there before, but he’s gotten good since then.
Rich Aurilia is a free man and the Giants have no interest in adding him to their collection of bad shortstops. No word on whether or not the Cubs would like to add him to their’s.
When the Astros fire Jimy Williams on Wednesday (oh, trust me, it’s going to happen) they might just name Jackie Moore as manager. I know what you’re wondering, and yes, apparently Jackie Moore is still alive.
An organization is urging Muhammad Ali to refuse to throw out the first pitch on Tuesday because the Astros’ don’t have any black players. That’s semantics. What color are Carlos Beltran, Jose Vizcaino, and Raul Chavez. Granted, three is a pretty small number. Especially when so many of their white guys (Jason Lane, Morgan Ensberg, Brad Ausmus, Kirk Bullinger, Tim Redding) are so bad. But still.
Honestly, I’m surprised he even got this close to the All-Star break in one piece.
NBC’s boss says Fox rips off their ideas. Yeah, NBC’s had so many new hits lately. They’d be the ones to steal from. Whatever.
A plan is in place to move the election in case of a terror incident. Is there any plan in place to move the World Series if the Cardinals don’t fold like a cheap suit..even though I’m still pretty sure they will.
If your name was Kerry Edwards, you too might be worth $150K.
More than you need to know about Britney’s sex life with her first “husband.” Way to go buddy, you had sex with your wife.
What’s worse, prison or a Glen Campbell concert? How about both? Oh, I kid. I actually like Glen Campbell.
America’s finest news source says that a seven year old has lost respect for Shrek.
Yes, I know Ugy gave up Sammy’s game one, game tying homer. This just proves that once again, I’m dope.
Andy, the Cubs lost Game 1, anyway. Not having Urbina in Games 5, 6 and 7 is what would have mattered.
Did anyone notice how on Saturday (or early Sunday print editions), I put down the donut to complain about Hendry signing Maddux? Wasn’t I one of the hyper screamers in the winter telling Hendry he had to sign Maddux? Proving once again, I have no credibility.
How about that clown in the box seats at The Big Urinal Cake who makes the "funny" signs? Last night, he had a "Bartman for President" sign. Wow, that’s original. Maybe he can come up to The Cell and join their funny guys. Sounds like there were plenty of T-shirts for sale outside. Some of them actually had sleeves.
I’ve had the opportunity to umpire three high school games at the Big Urinal Cake (BUC?). Each time, I’ve pissed in a paper cup and carried it out of the locker room area, then poured it in the Cardinals’ dugout or on the field. Kinda juvenile, but kinda fun.
Heaven knows everyone knows who I am now….
Dave B:
Even more fun is to offer the cup to LaRussa and tell him it’s lemonade.
You tell him’s it’s unsweetened.
Well, unless you are diabetic, of course.
Um… Not cool, Chuck. Next time tell a better joke. One that has legs.
You don’t need to look all the way back to winter to see that I have no credibility, just compare my stories from Friday the 9th and today. On Friday, this wasn’t the year. It was time to pack up the bags and head home for winter. Today, the Cubs have a chance because Kerry Wood’s back. This despite a 1-2 series… I’m a good reporter.
I used to have a summer job at a waste treatment plant along the Des Plaines River. I was in charge of monitoring the progress of the "bugs" that would chew up the shit, leaving the water within EPA guidelines of "effluent in water". It got over 100 degrees several times that summer. I would watch as animal carcasses would disintegrate into unrecognizable parts of nothing.
Still, I cannot imagine the stench of the unwashed masses at last night’s game.
Andy,
Get your head out of your ass. Moises is as done as dirt.
I hate to admit it, because we need a GOOD Moises, especially with Hollandsworth’s shin on the fritz, but a 6-week period of sub .200 BA, sub .300 OBP, and sub .350 SLG–SIX WEEKS–that’s Rey Ordonez bad, and an amoen that Moises may need to start checking for vacancies at Shady Acres Retirement Habitat. His selection to the All-Star team is, in fact, a very bad thing. Not only is he undeserving but, even if he was on his last legs, a 3-day vacation might have been enough to push him to a productive final 10 weeks.
The Cubs can get Finley, yes. They need a leadoff hitter more than anything. But if they got Finley, Coery ain’t going to the bench–Finley will play Left. You heard it here first.
Right on, Mike D. Here’s the lineup:
cf Finley
2b Walker
rf Sosa
3b E-ramis
1b Lee
ss Cabrera
lf Alou/Patterson
c Barrett
My real question is, "How do the Cubs pry Beltran away from Houston? I’d think Patterson woudl do it, but I doubt either team would do so intra-division.
Any chance Selig can have re-alignment mid-year?
My computer is acting up, this one says that Mike D. just told me to take my head out of my ass.
Somebody e-mail me with what he really wrote.
I’m hitting .500 with a .750 on base average since July 11.
Sorry Andy,
I just think it’s time for us to face to face the reality that Moises’ hot May may have been his death rattle. I’m not on the edge–I’m not worried about the team, per se. I believe that we will catch the phuckign Deadbirds. But I AM worried about the fact that Moises is done, and it’s tiem to get prepared to truly deal with that.
"Randy Johnson has averaged ten strikeouts per start (not per nine innings, mind you..per start) in day games? "
Sure, but Andy, how many of those day games have been against… wait for it… the Cubs (who are just horrible against him). Randy won’t have that luxury if we trade for him.
Don’t worry, my main man Moises will be just fine for the Cubbies!
My main man Jay Blunk was at my wedding and he was telling me that my main man Mo is feeling good, but his timing is off.
My main man John McDonough, the Cubs senior VP of Marketing was also in attendance at my wedding at The Grand Geneva, and he was telling me that my main man Stoney says that Mo will have a big second half!
During the reception, the four of us got in 36 holes, and my main man Josh Lewin was in the group behind us, and said that the Cubbies should want nothing to do with Ugie Urbina, since my main man Josh saw him pitch last year with the Texas Ranger. Josh, You Da Man!!!!
How 2004 Cub-like would it be if Sammy wrenches his back in the HR Derby lunging at a Benny Cadahia meatball?
When did I become the protector of all things Moises?
You didn’t, Andy.
I just thought the suggestion of putting Finley in center and benching Corey while Moises’ rotting corpse would continue to grow mold in left was akin to taking one right down the middle for strike three.
Besides, I figured that putting some change in the PayPal kitty entitled me to rudely insult the host.
Or something.
Hey Buddy, can someone find a genuine hitter to protect me in the lineup instead of Grampa Moises? Because I’m ready for my traditional late summer barrage, I’ll be at 40 HR and 90 RBI by Labor Day with my man Nomar hitting in front of me and Aramis behind me.
Buddy.
I doubt this crowd will ever sniff the smelling salts and realize that the bulk of the league are not pushovers and should start to take each team seriously.
The Cubs certainly don’t suck and are among the five best in the NL, but the league is that much more competitive with some serious parity gripping the proceedings right now.
Sorry if that flies in the face of your "Cubs win 100 games this year" prediction, but it’s a fact. Only four teams make the playoffs in the NL. Yeah, I think the Cubs will be one of the four, but please consider there are a lot of decent competitive teams out there and none seem eager to just flop over and hand the NL pennant to the Cubs.
Give a little credit where it’s due: The NL is playing on a pretty even playing field right now. The Central was supposed to be the joke of the league and it has five! teams playing at or above .500 at the All Star break.
A show of hands for people who predicted this…
Is he the black guy on "The Simpsons"?
No! He’s the doorman!
I’m the guy from the Simpsons.
ESPN 1000 in Chicago is reporting that the Red Sox have announced that they will trade Nomar Garciaparra before the trading deadline. They also report that the Crimson Hose are scouting the Cubs AA and AAA minor leagues for pitchers. The report ALSO states that any deal would have to include a major league infielder.
We know that A Gonz is on the block as 4 Chicago papers reported today in the Cabrera deal. How about A Gonz and Sergio Mitre for Nomar and a little cash? I don’t give up a top prospect unless the BoSox provide enough cash to even out for Nomar’s salary, which is double A Gonz’s. Pony up $3 million (which allows the Cubs to make another deal) and the Sox can have Brownlie or Blasko
Sometimes it takes a sweep to keep you from falling asleep. And even as recently as Wednesday night, the White Sox were looking more like the 1984 team than the 2004 edition. And then, wotdoyaknow, we get back to winning and are now enjoying an All Star Break in first place. Yes!
I think I’m on the DL, but I could always be a PTNL
Oh, I’m sure The Score is right on top of a Nomar trade, they’ve been so accurate with their trade rumours before…..(rolling eyes)
Why would the Red Sox need another infielder anyway, that’s what makes Nomar expendable in the first place, they have Bellhorn, Mueller, Reese and Youkilis.
Not that I wouldn’t LOVE dumping K-Gonz or Grudz on somebody.
Here’s a package that makes better sense; Clement, Remlinger or Merkcer (pick) and Szuminski for Nomar. Boston needs pitching, we have it, we’re losing Clement for next year anyway, and Remlinger and Mercker suck.
Uh, we’re AM 670, dipshite.
Um, I was one of the ones talking about it. Don’t lump me in with George Offman.
I don’t suck! Also, I’m not Samson of Biblical fame!
I don’t want to trade Clement. Right now he’s our best pitcher, and other than Zambrano, he’s the only one with a track record and no history of injury (Prior, Wood, Guzman). If Boston wants Mitre, fine, take him. But I want to see more of Wood and Prior before I’d even consider trading Clement (besides, the fans would eat him alive in Boston).
I dunno if they’d eat him, but they probably would marry him.
It is legal in Massachusetts for one man to codify his love for another man.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Chuck, it is not illegal to have a same sex union in Massachusetts at this time. However, there will likely be a referendum in the fall election that would make such a union illegal. So you’d better hurry up and get married to your boyfriend before November.
I know I’ll be marrying my boyfriend before November.
Thanks for the tip, Senator. November? That’s gonna be tough to schedule. Dunno if the wife will give me tim to head to Beantown with a new baby due in late October.
Go fuck yourself!
There’s always a first for everything…
..I preach couth!! Stop with the gay jokes. It ain’t funny already.
…never thought I would be caught dead saying THAT! I wonder about myself…
…I’m getting soft. Softer than a roomful of priests watching lesbian porn.
Gee, thanks dad.
Oh, BTW: I’d rather have Cabrera than Nomar at this point. I think Cabrera could be this year’s Aramis.
Of course, I’d REALLY like Carlos Beltran. There is NO price too high.
We prefer gay porn.
And that has the advantage of tying two joke threads together: religion and homosexuality.
Now, if you want a third, about the tying thing…
I’ve moved on up to the eternal deluxe apartment in the sky.
Don’t these go in threes? Shouldn’t Wheezie be saving a place for some fellow 70s and 80s TV has-beens?
Isn’t Mindy Cohn about to end up in a drug-fueled bank robbery shootout? And when does Danny Pintauro finally die of AIDS?
That’s called the Old Navy commercial.
And she was there.
What is with all this Trade Clement talk? How does a contending team just throw over on their #2 starter in the middle of a competitive campaign?
Starting pitching is and will remain the hottest commodity in the game.
Today you are not about the Jews joking? Instead about priests and gays the jokes are. Why talking like Yoda I am?
"Isn’t Mindy Cohn about to end up in a drug-fueled bank robbery shootout?"
That is priceless…and Danny Pintatauro went from cute little sidekick/sibling to adolescent raging homosexual faster than you can say "Tina Yothers."
If you click on ESPN’s Cubs Clubhouse they have a story about the likelihood of a trade involving Cabrera and Alex Gonzales. Both names are high-lighted hyperlinks, and if you click on Alex Gonzales, the Marlins’ Alex Gonzales comes up. This would be a great deal for the Cubs. They give up the other team’s Gonzales and get Cabrera. Hendry is pretty good, but not that good.
cubbiebluestew – it’d be an even better deal if we could get the Marlins’ Cabrera.
Don’t you guys have enough injured players? You just know if you trade Clement for Nomar I’ll rupture during his first at bat.
Bruce Levine is reporting that the names involved for Nomar are Sergio Mitre and Francis Beltran.
Where do I sign?
Francis Beltran? If that happens, who’s going to box with me in the clubhouse? And Nomar better not kick any grounders…
Chuck, not saying I don’t hope this is true, but just keep in mind that Bruce Levine was also the one who reported that Boston and Texas were re-opening their A-Rod talks during the winter, and that they’d definitely get the deal done the 2nd time.
Listen, Connecticut!
I’m just reporting.
And Texas and Boston did get the deal done. The MLBPA nixed it.
My problem, along with ESPN, is the fact that there are so many Cabreras, Beltrans, Rodrigues and Gonzales spread around that I need a program.
Chuck, sorry, I won’t confuse your reporting with editorial again. And the incident I’m talking about took place AFTER the aborted deal that MLBPA rejected.
Chicago? Are there any good dike bars in Chicago?
I hear the chicken there (among other things) is finger lickin’ good!
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No prob, CT. And I did make an editorial comment.
I almost never comment on the veracity of rumors unless I know the source. And I almost never know the source.
Our Humble Host will confirm that I did have a teeny bit of inside info that Chip would be back and that I told him that Chip would be back prior to the Trib formally stating that they would start contract negotitations.
I wish I’d get better news….
My agent told me the trade is the Meat Tray, Wellemeyer and Frank Beltran for me, then the D’backs will try and flip Sergio and Welley in a bigger trade for Randy Johnson.
In the meantime, I’m going to hang with Jimmy Fallon, the most unfunniest guy in TV (and now movies).
![]("http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/tv_pix/nbc/saturday_night_live_episode_photos/_group_photos/jimmy_fallon23.jpg"/)
I thought the Cubs already traded me for Nomar!
It’d be nice to have my old double play partner back…
Todd? Can I fill in until he gets here?
Honestly, the Mitre and Wellemeyer rumors aren’t all that ridiculous. Whoever the Sawx trade Nomar too is only getting him as a rental. He’s not going to sign a long term contract in one of those cheesy 72 hour windows at the start of a trade. However, like the Cardinals were able to trade a relative pittance (Timlin, Bud and Placido) for Rolen, they took double advantage of it and paid Rolen to stay. You’d have to think the Cubs are in a position now (good team, wildly excited fans, etc) that they weren’t in two years ago when the Rolen trade went down.
I’m not saying it’s going to happen (how would I know) but it certainly could. And, by the way, the All-Star BP uniforms this year are the ugliest ever.
Let’s worry about the important stuff though…how much will Nomar have to pay Mike Barrett to get #5?
Ah, but will the Red Sox bite if they can’t swap for RJ? I reported on SportsCenter that it’s 50-50 the Snakes will trade, and that I don’t think an RJ trade will happen.
Alou, Clement, Farnsworth, Gonzalez, Brownlie and Richard Lewis for Nomar, Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and $20MM cash over the next 5 years (reducing Manny’s per-year from 20 to 16).
You know what? I’d do this, it would help both teams. Boston seriously upgrades its pitching, gets a veteran fill-in to replace Manny (or more likely be DH) for the remainder of the year, and gets a good glove veteran at SS to split time with Reese for the rest of the year.
We get two monster bats to seriously upgrade our offense, one of which (Manny) will be the bridge to get us to the post-Sosa era. Youkilis can play 2B next year and would be an upgrade over Walker. Since it is unlikely Alou, Clement and Gonzalez would be back for us next year, ditto for Nomar with Boston, we’re basically dealing Farnsworth, Brownlie and Lewis for Ramirez and Youkilis, with Boston getting better short-term rentals than us.
Would be a headline grabber, that’s for sure. Nomar, Man-Ram, Sammy and A-Ram hitting 2-5, with Walker leadoff, and Lee, Patterson, Barrett 6-7-8, is that a murderer’s row or what?
I let Dempster take Clement’s spot in the rotation, and bring back the Ice Man to replace Farnsworth in the bullpen.
Did everybody enjoy me over swinging and pulling my head out so much that I sucked in the homerun derby and made the rest of the derby boring?? Baseball has been berry berry good to me.
Problems with the Cubs, as I see them, right now…
1. Wood will still be limited for the next couple starts, Prior hasn’t lost anything stuff-wise but his location has been off a lot more in ’04 than in ’03, Zambrano and Clement have become more inconsistent as the season has gone along, and Maddux hasn’t been great but hasn’t been terrible.
2. Ramirez’s return. How long will it take him to return to form if he does return Thursday? One day? A week? The longer it goes the longer we hurt, since we saw over the past week he is the key cog in this lineup.
3. The bullpen. LaTroy hates the media and is inconsistent as closer. Farnsworth is probably throwing the best as of now, but still loves to get away from the heater for no real reason. Remlinger wasn’t great in 2003 but he was not bad. Getting him back to that form would be nice. Mercker just sucks.
4. Dusty. He can’t decide on a lineup or a consistent bullpen usage. Yikes.
So, how do we solve these problems? We can’t really do anything to solve #2 so let’s stick to #1, #3, and #3.
For #1, I think moving Rusch to the bullpen is the best move, although losing Leicester to Iowa because of it isn’t the best thing in the world. We will need a long man in the pen until both Wood and Prior can max out pitch-wise, and Rusch should fit the bill perfectly.
For #3, I think trading for Urbina makes the most sense. Yes, he did give up that homer to Sammy in Game 1, but if he were in the Cubs’ bullpen Dusty doesn’t get the smart idea to use Mark Guthrie to face Mike Lowell at the end of that game. Instead, every pitcher would have been pushed back and someone else would have been in that inning. Urbina may not be the sanest of people (Seriously, who kisses Pudge Rodriguez after every save?), but he’s got pretty good stuff and he’s been through the battles before. Getting a left-hander who could actually get a left-hander out would also be nice, but those are about as rare as people that think the media does a good job.
For #4, this one’s hard. I think Dusty’s a good manager but some of his decisions are just incomprehensible and indefensible. An example would be any lineup this year that he’s put Rey Ordonez in the #2 hole. Also, his insistence on putting Corey Patterson in the same spot for most of the first two months. Maybe if we let Rothschild make the pitching decisions, Dick Pole make the hitting decisions, and let Dusty handle the clubhouse stuff, then we can solve this one.
B.C., how can you think Dusty’s a good manager if you don’t trust his pitching or hitting decisions?
Seems to me you’re just saying you don’t think he’s a good manager, and you certainly provide some of the evidence to support that.
I’ll take care of the clubhouse.
BC, I’m not ready to question Dusty’s managing decisions just yet. If he fails to make the playoffs, then we can blame him. However, Dusty’s MO is ususally to rest his regulars as much as possible in the first half, then ride them down the stretch. I think we’ll see a more consistent lineup in the second half, especially since I expect Hendry to get rid of players like Ordonez (and god willing, Paul Bako).
I’m working my way baaaack to the big club!