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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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He looked at me with his weathered eyes, full of wisdom. I remember what he said like it was yesterday. He said, "Boy, if you can only score 5 runs in 2 games against the 2010 Houston Astros, then you deserve to lose." Those words never rang true more than they did this weekend. First, let's talk about the first game. After scoring only one run in six innings, the Cubs had a conversation in the dug out. Blue Ivy has the exclusive transcript. Lee: Guys, you'll never guess what I just found out. Byrd: What's up, Derek? Lee: That man on the mound is in fact NOT Roy Halladay. Theriot and Fontenot: WHAT?!?! Soriano: No way. That guy can throw OFFSPEED pitches. It's got to be Halladay. Lee: No, guys. I'm dead serious. It's not Halladay. His name is Felipe Paulino. Theriot and Fontenot: WHO?!?!?! Lee: Exactly. Ramirez: So... we can hit this guy? Lee: Yea, man. We can. All Cubs: OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The Cubs would score 6, and fin. And sadly, it would be one of only two innings where the offense would show up. Carlos Silva gets the Steve Trachsel Player of the Game award for not only an RBI hit, but also 7 innings with only 2 unearned runs given up. Two starts in, and he has been very impressive. I am going to call the "Hang Your Head" award a no contest for that game. Every offensive starter got on base at least once, and no pitcher gave up an earned run. That is about as impressive of a game as you will see. Too bad it is downhill from there. Roy Oswalt turned back the clock Saturday, and if Michael Barrett were there screaming at him, I would have thought it was 2004. As dominant as he was, the Astros almost pulled one from the Cubs playbook and blew it late. Alfonso Soriano's error did not hurt the Cubs in the end, and his two hits included a key double in the 8th inning comeback. For those he gets the Luis Gonzalez (He was a Cub. Remember?) Player of the Game award. For being an 0-fer in the middle of the lineup, including a key strikeout in the 8th inning comeback, Marlon Byrd gets the "Hang Your Head" award. Though Marlon has been pretty darn decent in the first two weeks this year. You cannot get too upset with him. The real aggravation came Sunday, when the Cubs could only scratch across two runs against Wandy Wodwiguez and the Astros bullpen. When you do that, you are asking to lose. Ryan Dempster won the Joe Borowski Player of the Game award for another quality outing. He has emerged as the top starter in this rotation for sure. Carlos Marmol's first blown save wins him the "Hang Your Head" award. He can't save them all, but you darn sure need to save them against bad teams. Don't give me that "Geoff Blum is clutch" crap. If he can raise his level that much in the 9th inning and beyond, then he is an idiot who cost himself millions of dollars by playing at an inferior level from innings 1-8 for his whole career. If he is capable of hitting like that at will, then he should have been a perennial all-star. Therefore I think it is more a case of him getting pitches from the Cubs bullpen that he can handle. Still, you can't help but be frustrated by the man. Pitch around him next time. And now it is on to New York to face a team a couple of days removed from a 20-inning marathon in St. Louis. I expect more maddening play from the Cubs, especially with three lefties on the mound for the Mets. Also, interesting to note that Theriot will be dropped to eighth in the new and "improved" lineup. Ignore those footsteps, Ryan. It's just Starlin Castro coming. Posted in: Carlos Silva, Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd, Ryan Dempster, Carlos Marmol The home opener yesterday was a joy to hear. For the first time this season the offense broke out, and for at least a game, the Cubs made it look like it was 2008 all over again. Expecting that performance to be sustained is unrealistic, but it is nice to take the pressure off the pitching once in a while. The offense had a bunch of good performances, but the Jeff Blauser Player of the Game award goes to Xavier Nady. His three run home run started up the offensive outburst, and he would add another hit later. This is an encouraging sign after some reports had him not being a productive member of this team until June. He and Jeff Baker are making me like our lineup against left-handed pitching, albeit through one week. Plus with Derrek Lee out for a couple of days (possibly) and with Chad Tracy making me wish for the days of Kevin Millar (sarcasm), Nady may have positioned himself to get at least one start at first base. Let's see if he can sustain his early success. The "Hang Your Head" award was a bit harder to give out. All the position players got on base at least once, and none had any egregious defensive miscues. I will hang this one on Ryan Dempster with the caveat that he doesn't have to hang his head too much. Still out of all the choices, he is probably the player who performed the worst. His control was a bit spotty and he did give up a monstrous home run to Ryan Braun. While giving up a home run to Braun is not in and of itself shameful, I don't like Ryan Braun. Therefore if you give up a home run to him, it saddens me. Anyways, sorry Ryan. It's not like you were that bad. On the other hand, it's not like this matters much. Tomorrow could be another good one for the offense with Dave Bush on the mound. He has proven to be a pretty pedestrian pitcher. Now would be a good time for some players (*cough*SOTO*cough*) to get going. The rumor is Soriano has been threatened with a benching already as well, which is a bit eyebrow-raising. It has been pretty clear that the Cubs success is closely tied to how those two perform. I hope tomorrow is the day they finally start showing signs, and I think there is a good chance they will. Posted in: Xavier Nady, Ryan Dempster, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto The art of losing. Okay, that is melodramatic. But with a blowout loss yesterday and a terrible late meltdown today, we are getting a taste of all the different ways we can be frustrated. The only thing missing now is a walkoff. To the awards: The Jim Bullinger Player of the Game award goes to Ryan Dempster. Demp looked like the 2008 version tonight, and he also got it done at the plate (though Glaus did help him out on the error). His success hinges on his control. Tonight he was able to put his pitches in places the Braves just could not lay off, and nine strikeouts in six innings is evidence of that. We will see if he can stay as consistent as he did in 2008, but for tonight, good job Dempster. The obvious choice for the second 'Hang Your Head' award is John Grabow. Now anything negative I would say would come off as knee-jerkish so I will say this: go back to an older post 'Grabbing Grabow'. He is not a terrible player, and he will have good outings obviously. In my honest opinion he should not be paid what he is being paid, and he should not be the set up man for this team. Who should it be? I would try Esmailin Caridad. He looks like he has some really good stuff. I am sure he will get shelled some nights and will win his share of the 'Hang Your Head' awards. But he looked good last September, and he looked good (in one third of an inning) tonight. My bottom line: John Grabow is alright, but he is far from good. And more importantly he is far from what the Cubs think he is. Monday the pitching faltered big time. Tonight the offense sputtered and one bad outing cost the Cubs the game. It is a long season, and things will get better. I really do not want to see an opening series sweep though. Things could get ugly around here. This is my second warning, Cubs. Do not think I am bluffing. Posted in: Ryan Dempster, John Grabow, Esmailin Caridad With a sale finally near completion and a team on the very fringe of a pennant race, the Cubs are in quite a situation. This year looks increasingly lost, but it looks like some change up front may be on the horizon. What that means on the field is anyone's guess. The core of this team is in place for a while, but Hendry has wiggled out of bad contracts before with good results (Todd Hundley anyone?). I suppose Hendry may not be around long enough to do that though. Who's to say? This last game against the Dodgers was almost a chance to relive 2008 all over again. Dempster pitched like it was a contract year. Marmol was not as wild as Paris Hilton at a Las Vegas bachelorette party. (OK I give up on metaphors.) The Cubs even caught a couple of breaks. It was nice while it lasted, and with the Nationals coming into town, maybe it can last a little longer. The Tribune brings up an intersting point regarding Rich Harden, who is a free agent at the end of this year. That presents a sticky, sticky situation as talent-wise, Harden is probably the best pitcher the Cubs have. But there was another ridiculously talented pitcher with injury issues the Cubs had prior to this (heh heh) and that didn't work out all that well in the end. Honestly, I'm reluctant to say what to do. On one hand, we are sitting in a contract year, which has burned the Cubs many many times before. On the other hand, Harden is 27 unlike Dempster who is 32 or Soriano who was 31 when he signed. That tells me he is entering his prime. In a perfect world, the Cubs find someone to take Ryan Dempster. Maybe they can take on another bad contract in return, but one with less money due and in a place where even adequate would be an upgrade (second base for instance). You have a starting rotation of Z, Harden, Lilly, Wells and Gorz in 2010. Since I cannot think of a concrete example of how that could happen, and signs are doubtful Ricketts can open up the pocket book right away, you at least offer Harden arbitration. He will probably walk, but you get a nice draft pick in return, and with luck, the Cubs will have the personnel in place to actually make a good pick and develop it. Z, Lilly, Dempster, Wells and Gorz is still a respectible starting five. Still, 20-20 hindsight tells me (once again) that the Dempster contract was a bad idea, as the Cubs' hands may be tied in locking up a much more talented Canadian. So a story that I heard rehashed today, but was making the rounds this spring was the personnel the Ricketts family might place at the head of the organization lead by former A's GM and Padres' CEO Sandy Alderson. First of all, Alderson would be a GREAT hire. Alderson really helped bring statistical analysis into the front offices of baseball, and he had great results, including 3 AL titles and 1 World championship. His emphasis on on-base percentage was the basis which Oakland and Boston, among others, would build multiple playoff teams. The Cubs for too long have been drafting 'tools' guys, athletes with little strike-zone discipline, that almost never pan out. Alderson, and a new GM (potentially an assistant GM from Boston) could institute a top-to-bottom change in philosophy, from how they trade and sign free agents, to how they draft and develop players. The latter is the key, as a good farm system will circumvent any need to hand out overpriced contracts to marginal superstars like Soriano. Look at Boston (ugh). They have a payroll that is currently smaller than the Cubs. But they have homegrown talent all over: Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Lester, Papelbon to name a few. They know what they are doing over there. They won't win the World Series every year, but with a healthy payroll, a farm system producing a constant flow of players, and a some know-how on where to spend when one needs to: those are the 3 keys to a perenially successful organization. The Cubs have 1, and sometimes they demonstrate 2 and 3, but not nearly enough. I think Sandy Alderson can really help the Cubs moving in the right direction. Worst case, the Cubs end up like the Padres. Oh wait, that would be pretty bad, wouldn't it? Posted in: Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Sandy Alderson This may admittedly be a Captain Kneejerk type thread, and I hope by the end of the year I am eating these words. But to be honest, I sang this refrain for a while now, and so far it always ends up true. This isn't a problem that is exclusive to the Cubs (see: New York Yankees) but man, Jim Hendry seems to fall for this a lot. And in the end, I say the same thing: BEWARE THE CONTRACT YEAR. Let's look at the evidence.
I don't believe in curses. I believe in bad management. Jim Hendry has made good trades, don't get me wrong. But I think he is below average when it comes to free agents and contracts. Anyone can throw a bunch of money at the guy who just had a good year, and tie up the organization in a bad contract. It takes a good scouting staff and a keen GM to find guys like Ryan Ludwick, Carlos Quentin (who I do believe was traded for admittedly) and Jason Werth. Heck, David Ortiz was initially signed as a Twins castoff for 1 year and $1.25 million. I have a few other bones to pick with the way the Cubs are run. (Hint: one of the issues rhymes with the word Blinors.) I will talk about those later. Posted in: Free Agency, Contracts, Ryan Dempster, Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Jim Hendry, Captain Kneejerk | ||