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mrschroeder08 partyvancaptain pee_callus25 Tags 2010 Preview 5 Million Dollar Black Hole AAAA Aaron Heilman Aaron Miles Alfonso Soriano Andres Blanco Angel Guzman Aramis Ramirez Arizona Diamondbacks Atlanta Braves B.J. 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I officially apologize for saying that, because it looks like the Cubs are actually going through with it. I will comment more on this later tonight, but let me say this: this is not a smart move. Moving a historically good starter in favor of two historically below average pitchers based on a few turns of the rotation is to say the least crazy. Posted in: Carlos Zambrano While the Bulls and Blackhawks trail their respective playoff series, the Cubs have taken a commanding 0-2 lead in the World Series of Underachievers. My friends, it looks like this team is making a strong push for the "Worst Team Money Can Buy" Championship. But hey, at least the stuff off the field is fun to watch. Quickly the awards: Carlos Zambrano gets today's Glendon Rusch Player of the Game award as he held his own for six innings. That and there is not much else to be happy about here. There was a three way tie for the "Hang Your Head" award. Three 0-4, 2 strikeout performances out there. In the event of a tie, the win goes to the worst cumulative effort so far on the year. Therefore (and this is long overdue) Aramis Ramirez gets it. Any day now he will come around, but right now he just looks horrible. Today's real story centers around Bob Brenly's candid comments about your favorite $19 million salaried player and mine, Alfonso Soriano. Brenly made comments many comments. One in which he compared Soriano's hustle (unfavorably) to Ted Lilly. Another where he pretty much flat out said Soriano's contract was the only thing keeping him on the field. The final blow came when Brenly said he would have yanked Soriano "long ago" for his lack of hustle. All in all, it brought back memories of the 2004 season. The first thing to mention about Bob's points is that point 2 (Soriano's salary) would handcuff him from exercising point 3 (pulling his Cadillacing butt) even if he were the manager. There is too much invested in Sori, and he still has some potential to be that offensive force. The second thing to mention is that Soriano has been in the big leagues for about a decade now. He is what he is. The Cubs knew (or should have known) what he was before baseball-marrying the man. I admit I get angry too when he does that crap, but it isn't worth this distraction yet. The Cubs have much bigger fish to fry. (Off the top of my head: 1) bullpen, 2) bullpen, 3) relief pitching, 4) the entire offense, 5) a proposal to shorten games to six innings thus eliminating the bullpen.) For the record, I think Brenly is right (and is a good commentator to boot). It is pathetic that the man is given the moon by the Cubs and he can't sprint for up to 270 feet. My worry is that there is already a ton of problems here, and distractions from the organization can't be good. Soriano is not going to change. This is the same man who said he would stop hopping in left, and the next day he was hopping all over again. The Cubs have shown they are a very unstable team two weeks into this season, and this little issue could be a spark. Now the question going forward is will that spark ignite a run, or will it send this season down in flames?* * That is probably a tad bit dramatic. Only a group of weak-minded, pathetic excuses for grown adults would let something like this adversely affect their play that much. Oh, much like the 2004 team. Posted in: Carlos Zambrano, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Bob Brenly The three game series with Milwaukee was pretty much what was expected. Pitching was not good, and offenses were feasting. Since I am late on this post I'll be brief with my awards. Marlon Byrd wins his second Mario Encarnacion Player of the Game award. He had two hits including a two-run home run. He has shown a lot of power at the plate thus far, which is a bit surprising. Maybe Rudy Jaramillo really is that good with him. Carlos Zambrano wins the "Hang Your Head" award this time, after he avoided it opening day and had a decent game. He is pitching like he should be the one to leave when Ted Lilly returns. Obviously that will not happen, but it has not been a good start to the year for Z. Today begins a series that should be a feast for the Cubs. The Astros are even more atrocious early on than most thought, and the offense *should* continue their hot streak. Now it is time for the pitching to settle back down. Hi ho, Silva! Posted in: Marlon Byrd, Carlos Zambrano Well, you knew not every game would be blown in the eighth. Today John Grabow got a bit of defensive help from Derrek Lee, but he managed to preserve the lead for Carlos Marmol, who turned back the clock 2 years. I'm telling you, if Marmol goes 0-2 or 1-2 on a hitter, just end the at bat right there. A hitter who goes into protect mode against Marmol may as well be wearing a blindfold up there. You know, so far the awards have been pitcher heavy, and I thought Zambrano early on would break the streak of starters winning the player of the game award. Instead, Zambrano got stronger, pitched seven innings and earned himself the Bob Patterson Player of the Game award. That seventh inning was especially impressive, as he had clearly found his rhythm out there. So now four starters have turned in solid performances, and the pressure is now on Tom Gorzelanny to keep the streak alive. And today's "Hang Your Head" award goes to Geovany Soto. The man looks lost at the plate, and two backwards K's are pretty unacceptable. The early returns on the new lighter Soto are not good, but we are still at a point where you can call it merely a slump. Still, he needs to show something soon, or you can bet Koyie Hill will be seeing a lot more playing time. That is not a good thing for anyone. Well, maybe it is good for the guy who reattached Koyie's fingers since he can brag about how he pretty much reassembled a big leaguer. Today's final note is about the offense. It has been pretty average thus far, but I am liking Derrek Lee's showing so far. He has been very patient, and yesterday showed us he still has the power stroke. You know Aramis will get going, and maybe Soriano is starting to show up this year. If the Cubs are going to make a run, they either need the offense to go from average to good or the bullpen to go from awful to average. I feel at this point, today notwithstanding, that the former has a much better chance at happening. By the way, if someone can figure out a way to make Fukudome think it is always April, that would be greatly appreciated. Posted in: Carlos Zambrano, Geovany Soto It has been a rough week for the Cub's dugout Gatorade dispenser. That is really unfortunate, because I think it looks like a really cool Gatorade dispenser. What's more, it is very durable. Carlos Zambrano threw a grade A fit today after the umpire (correctly) called Nyjer Morgan safe at home. Let us not forget that Morgan was in scoring position because of a ridiculous error on our $17 million dollar man in left field. Zambrano is going to face a suspension because, no matter who appeared to initiate it, contact was made with the umpire. That is unfortunate, as the Cubs can't seem to keep anyone on the main roster... except for Aaron Heilman. I do have one suggestion for the Cubs, though. Stop focusing on the umpires. Reed Johnson has it right. I mean, it's not like the umpire blew the call at home plate today. That is one of the things that keeps me from realing buying into this team. They go off on umpires. They go off on coolers. At least they aren't going off on each other (but a quick trade for Michael Barrett could fix that). Right now, focus on playing. The 2004 Cubs are examples 1, 2 and 3 when it comes to an embarassingly talented team that got distracted by minutae and was ultimately taken down by it all. This team is scarily reminiscent of that team. All we need is Milton Bradley going off on Bob Brenley on a team flight. I really hope that the 2009 Cubs end up rising above that, though. As for today's game, I have one observation and that is on Babe Fox, the new superstar slugger for the Cubs. Does he not look like a guy that belongs in the bleachers downing Old Style after Old Style rather than on the field? I mean, I jokingly refer to him as Babe Fox because of his insane AAA numbers, but he has the physical characteristics to boot. As long as he produces like he did today (granted it was one at bat), he can look like Horatio Sanz for all I care. Tomorrow, the best team (recordwise) in the majors comes to town, and you have to be feeling hungry for revenge at this point. The Dodgers are looking really good this year, and they, like us, are down a Ramirez. Regardless of what happens this weekend, I hope the Gatorade dispenser can be left alone. At least for two days. Posted in: Gatorade, Jake Fox, Carlos Zambrano, Los Angeles Dodgers Been a bit since I've posted. Since we have a quick two-gamer against San Francisco, and I live in that area, I figure I'll give you a bit of knowledge as to what I know/heard about them. San Francisco is definitely a sleeper-type team. They have really good pitching. The man going tonight (and currently having trouble) is Jonathan Sanchez. He is a bit of a Sean Marshall type. Pretty serviceable lefty. Tomorrow's starter, Tim Lincecum, is in a couple words, a freak. The dude is about my size, but can really throw heat. He won the Cy Young last year, and deservedly so. You have to wonder how he gets that much power without killing his arm. Some out here wonder, too, but people have said it is the use of his hips and lower body that take the pressure off his arm. He uses his lower body as good as any pitcher in the game. Time will tell if that is enough to not destroy his arm. Offensively, San Francisco is a work in progress. They have a pretty veteran outfield, with nothing to fear too much. Aaron Rowand is coming off a down year after (you guessed it) a contract year. Randy Winn is decent, and Fred Lewis is one of those guys who could be a good leadoff man if he took more walks. The infield is still finding their way. Emmanuel Burriss beat out another youngster, Kevin Frandsen, for the second base job, and has yet to find his stroke. Travis Ishikawa is also trying to find his stroke. A man to look out for is Pablo Sandoval (nicknamed Panda by some). He is a very aggressive hitter, but people are talking up this man's hitting stroke. He had good numbers at the end of last season. He appears to be a switch-hitting Randall Simon. He won't walk much (4 walks so far, 3 intentional) but he can be dangerous. Benji Molina is their best hitter, but may be slower than Brad Miller speed-wise. Meanwhile the Cubs have found a new power source: Ryan friggin' Theriot. Let me set the scene for you. More home runs than Soto and Bradley combined. As many home runs as Lee and Ramirez. For a couple innings there, he was outslugging Mr. Lee. It is nice to see Ryan showing some power. Seriously though, Derrek Lee has me wondering what is going on with him. He hit two home runs, including one grand slam, against his old team, the Florida Marlins. The thing about those home runs, though, is that neither one were cheap. One overshot the bleachers. So what is the deal with Derrek Lee? Since July '08, he has shown mostly warning track power, and now all of a sudden he has shown that he has a lot more than just that. Maybe some nagging injuries are clearing up. Maybe he has heard Dan's pleas. But more than anything, it looks like he hit the ball where it was pitched. He finally pulled a ball that he should pull, and he went to center with a ball he should have hit to center. It is clear the dude still has power. If he can stay on this path, and Milton Bradley can get to form, the Cubs have a video game lineup. One can only hope. Finally, Carlos Zambrano. The Cubs have finally been informed of the magical DL so many of these kids are using these days. Unfortunately, Carlos has to be the one to go. The Cubs lose thier most durable pitcher, and maybe their best pinch hitter, all in one swipe. I can't fault him for doing what he did. Look, he's an athlete. He should be able to run out a bunt ground ball, especially one that well placed, without injury. Bottom line, the team shouldn't need to rely on him to do something like that. The slumps of Soto, Bradley, Lee and Miles forced us to rely on some offense from our scary pitcher man. We are paying the price now, but he will be back shortly. And maybe by then, our video game lineup will live up to its billing and live will be peaches again. Because, let's face it, the Cardinals are *not* that good. They will realize it, and it will be on the Cubs to get straight and reclaim what they should have. As I post this, Sandoval hits a double. Told you to watch out for him. Posted in: San Francisco Giants, Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano | ||