Play Ball!
“Pitchers and catchers report.”
My favorite words. Also, “belt-sander” and “rutabaga”, though I’m not sure why on those last two, but let’s move on.
Spring Training is in full swing here in the desert, so it’s time to resurrect to ol’ MLBlog.
Week 1 in the books
It’s been a busy week at MLB. I seemingly haven’t stopped working since Opening Night, but with Easter weekend came reprieve, two days off. So, I decided to use this free time to … wait for it … write about baseball. I guess we are who we are.
I produced the Angels coverage during the first week, every game, though that tragically turned out to be one less than planned. I watched Nick Adenhart pitch the best game of his young career and a mere eight hours later, woke to the news that he had been killed by a drunk driver. Unreal. Here’s a kid who worked his entire life to realize his dream, was by all accounts a great guy, was doing something positive with his life, and had it all taken away by a drunk driver. I’ll hold back my thoughts on the perpetrator of this atrocity and only say this: Don’t drink and drive. It’s not only you you put at risk.
Rest in peace, Nick. We’ll see you at the pickup game in the sky one day. Say hi to Jackie and the Babe for us.
Now, back to the trivial.
As of Sunday, the Cubs lost two games, both in the final inning, both on the road. It happens. Good start. I’m not ready to trade Kevin Gregg just yet, but if Carlos Marmol throws strikes, his stuff is far and away superior. But games can be won and lost in the eighth inning, too, so Cubs Nation needs both to deliver, no matter when they take the hill.
Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez are swingin’ the lumber. Keep it up. The same goes for Kosuke Fukudome. The guy can hit. I have high expectations in Year 2.
I still haven’t given up the ghost on Jake Peavy, and not only because I bought a customized “Peavy” Cubs jersey during Spring Training, but I’ll spare that chatter today and take my daughter to hunt eggs instead. Later.
History 101: Cubs set out to end Century-plus drought
If it seems like we do this every year, it’s because we do. For the last 101 years, we’ve talked about next year. Well, “we” haven’t for that long, but Cubs Nation has. Anyway, next year is here … again. It feels different this time, though. The pieces are as in place as they have ever been, and I am once again overflowing with hope that the Cubs will capture their first title since 1908.
I really like this year’s squad, perhaps the strongest lineup 1-8 I’ve seen in my lifetime, and if it stays healthy, easily the strongest pitching staff. It would have been stronger with Jake Peavy, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. If the No. 5 slot struggles in the first half, look for that topic to come back up.
I made the comment yesterday that I’m not sure what I’d do if the Cubs actually brought home a title. A lot of being a Cubs fan involves the promise and the longing that follows annual disappointment. Would winning the World Series change what it feels like to be a citizen of Cubs Nation? I can’t wait to find out.
PS – Any resemblance the preceding has to a prediction is purely coincidental. I’m not contributing to the homer jynx.
The lineup and Soriano
Lou Piniella suggested on Monday he may do what I and many in Cubs Nation have long hoped for: move Alfonso Soriano down in the batting order. There’s a reason a guy with his power hovers around 75 RBIs per season: Nobody is ever on base.
Soriano also is far too often a strikeout victim — often times to sliders off the plate. True, it’s only a strike because the guy has trouble laying off, and more plate discipline would benefit him no matter where he bats, but moving to the meat of the order could only help. If Aramis Ramirez is on deck, you’re less likely to get garbage pitches out of the strike zone.
So, if Soriano doesn’t lead off, who does? The Cubs have lacked a solid leadoff hitter since Kenny Lofton’s short stint in the Friendly Confines. The Juan Pierre experiment was a bust and Chicago has had a cleanup hitter batting first since his exit.
Three ideas revolving around Fukudome:
If Fukudome holds the starting job, but is far from the Fukudome of April and May 2008
1. 2B Aaron Miles (S)/Mike Fontenot (L)
2. 1B Derek Lee (R)
3. RF Milton Bradley (S)
4. LF Alfonso Soriano (R)
5. 3B Aramis Ramirez (R)
6. CF Kosuke Fukudome (L)
7. C Geovany Soto (R)
8. SS Ryan Theriot (R)
If Fukudome holds the starting job and is close to the Fukudome of early 2008
1. CF Kosuke Fukudome (L)
2. 1B Derek Lee (R)
3. RF Milton Bradley (S)
4. LF Alfonso Soriano (R)
5. 3B Aramis Ramirez (R)
6. C Geovany Soto (R)
7. 2B Aaron Miles (S)/Mike Fontenot (L)
8. SS Ryan Theriot (R)
If Fukudome loses the starting CF job
1. 2B Aaron Miles (S)/Mike Fontenot (L)
2. 1B Derek Lee (R)
3. RF Milton Bradley (S)
4. LF Alfonso Soriano (R)
5. 3B Aramis Ramirez (R)
6. C Geovany Soto (R)
7. CF Reed Johnson (R)
8. SS Ryan Theriot (R)
A-Rod bashing is officially boring
OK. So the dude admitted using steroids. Here’s my position: I don’t care. I don’t. As a baseball man, maybe I should, but I don’t. I couldn’t care less.
Something to consider: He didn’t break the rules. It wasn’t illegal from 2001-03. It was against the law, but if we’re going to start crucifying professional athletes for breaking the law, we’d need plenty of crosses.
Dishonorable? Whatever. The top professionals in every field known to man are successful because they push the rules to the limit. And, with baseball, we are talking millions of dollars. In Alex Rodriguez’s case, $300 million and counting.
I’m disappointed in all the bad press, but I don’t think A-Rod’s “career is tainted” or he “disgraced the game” or anything remotely resembling that. Not him, not Bonds, not Clemens. I don’t care.
Clearly, there were a lot of guys on the sauce. Kudos to those who didn’t partake and were still able to compete. Too bad for them that they will still be looked at with suspicion simply for playing in this era. That’s unfortunate, but it’s the baseball chapter we’re living through.
Get the A-Rod talk out of your system before spring so we can focus on the Cubs’ title run.
Rant over.
Here’s to the O’s getting Rich
It was either that hed or a bad Hill pun. Out of creativity today.
Rich Hill and his CGI curveball are heading to the AL East. With the player to be named later depending on his success, I hope he does well. Any damage he can do to the Sox and Yanks will be just a bonus.
The O’s have some pretty impressive young arms in their system. We’ll see.
Peavy’s price is coming together
It seems to me that Wednesday’s acquisition of Aaron Heilman seals the deal. Jake Peavy is heading to Chicago. If the Cubs lack anything, assuming Sean Marshall is the current frontrunner for the final rotation spot, it’s left-handed bullpen help. So, why would they deal recently added southpaw Garrett Olson in package for a right-hander that hasn’t made a start since 2005?
I suppose Heilman could supplant Marshall in the rotation, leaving Marshall in the ‘pen with fellow lefties Neal Cotts and the out-of-options and currently unreliable Rich Hill, but that doesn’t seem likely. What does seem likely is Heilman having a better shot than Garrett Olson to crack the Padres rotation.
Unfortunately, a deal for Peavy might also have to include Marshall. I’m guessing something resembling: Heilman and Marshall with some midrange Minor League arms, likely including Jeff Stevens, who came over in the Mark DeRosa trade, and 2007 top pick Josh Vitters, a third baseman who is widely considered the Cubs’ best prospect.
This would essentially mean the Cubs surrendered Felix Pie, Ronnie Cedeno, Marshall, DeRosa and Vitters for Peavy. Hefty, but well worth it if Jake the Snake pitches to his potential over the next four years.
Cuban missiled. Crisis?
Like every Cubs fan I talked to or heard discuss the subject, I was on board with Mark Cuban as the next owner of the franchise. I wasn’t optimistic it would happen, as his high profile doesn’t fit the bill for a group of owners who are renowned for staying out of the spotlight — this side of the Bronx, anyway — but I couldn’t help but imagine the possibilities.
Despite making a reported bid in the opening round of offers that surpassed the $900 million that the Ricketts family ponied up last week, Cuban’s public PR troubles involving the FTC torpedoed his pursuit and that was that.
Cuban would have been interesting, but his tendency to find his way to the limelight might have grown tired. I was more pumped because I know he would spend money to try to form a winner. Thinking into it a little further, I see the possibility of him more interested in signing players to make headlines and not making the prudent choices that it takes to build a consistent winner.
So, though Cuban was definitely the sexy choice, he may not have been the best for Cubs Nation. Let’s give the Ricketts fam their shot and get behind the new bosses.
3 reasons to be excited about Henry Williamson
I’ve never seen this kid throw, but here’s a few things I noticed about the Cubs’ newest prospect after checking out his MiLB.com bio:
1 – Size: 6-foot-5, 233 lbs.
2 – Controlled power: 42 K to only 5 BB in 29 IP
3 – Born in Houston, Texas — home of the fastball
Sounds promising, but he’ll probably be pitching in the San Diego system come April.
Pie optimism comes to an end on North Side
Every year, I buy a baseball game for the 360. And every year, I adjust the skill level of a few Cubs I’m hopeful will break out. Often times, I’m right. See Geovany Soto. Other times, not so much. See Felix Pie. Pie has been a perennial All-Star on the ol’ Vizio, showcasing a high average with plenty of stolen bases from the leadoff spot — because his emergence bumped Alfonso Soriano to four where he belongs.
Unfortunately, this never came to fruition at Wrigley Field, and the out-of-options prospect was dealt to the Orioles on Sunday.
Ultimately, this will be better for Pie, who was never going to see the field even before the Cubs inked Milton Bradley. Pie could have been a late-game defensive sub for Soriano and Bradley, but getting only 50 at-bats this season wouldn’t help him at the plate.
He may face a similar problem in Baltimore, albeit far less daunting. Nick Markakis is a lock, as almost certainly is Adam Jones, but Pie could compete with Luke Scott in left and with Ryan Freel as the fourth outfielder, or potentially platoon with the right-handed Jones if Jones struggles at the plate in his second full season.
This trade also opens the door for the O’s to deal Brian Roberts, who has long been out there for the taking, which would make Freel the everyday second baseman and leaves them the loser of the Scott/Pie dual as a solid sub at all three outfield spots.
I won’t be shocked to see Pie break out and break out big… and not just because this is the kind of thing that seemingly happens to former Cubs. I liken Pie to Brandon Phillips, who was long the Indians’ most prized prospect but could never get it together in the bigs and ran out of options before heading to Cincy where he took one season to become an All-Star. Similar tools. Time will tell.
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