Election Hangover Has Creepy Cubs Feel
The Chicago Cubs simply cannot stay out of the limelight.
Baseball season officially ended on Monday night, but the Cubs have long been dead.
Long before the 75-87 campaign ended with a 4-0 loss on Oct. 3, Cubs baseball had been dug a grave and placed into its resting place until February 2011 when pitchers and catchers report.
That was, of course, until Mark Kirk raised the familiar white flag that sails above Wrigley Field as Cubdom sings “Go Cubs Go” after a victory.
Maybe it was fitting for the white flag with the blue ‘W’ to make a cameo appearance in Wheeling as Kirk defeated Democrat Alexi Giannoulias en route to taking over the seat once owned by President (and White Sox fan) Barack Obama.
Or maybe it was fitting because the election hangover was reminiscent of when Mike Quade, not Ryne Sandberg, was named successor to Lou Piniella on a full-time basis. (more…)
Cubs Manager Lou Piniella Deserved Better Fate In Finale
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Surely, this was not the way Lou Piniella envisioned his managerial finale.
After 48 years of being a Major League Baseball player, manager and general manager, Piniella took off the uniform for the last time after the Atlanta Braves routed the Chicago Cubs 16-5 sending the outgoing manager with a reminder what winning baseball looks like.
Thankfully, Piniella’s career won’t be judged by one lackluster August afternoon. (more…)
Moving Derrek Lee To Braves Could Open Up Position Battle For Cubs
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Before the wheels fell off in 2010, Derrek Lee had himself a productive career for the Chicago Cubs.
A fixture at first base since 2004, Lee has played 924 games in his career slamming 179 home runs, driven in 574 RBIs and hitting at a .282 clip. When you discount the season in which Rafael Furcal and Scott Eyre teamed to obliterate Lee’s wrist in 2006, the slugging Cubs first baseman averaged 31 homers and 97 ribbies in five fully healthy seasons from 2004 through 2009.
The 2010 campaign has been a struggle for Lee, who was coming off a 2009 season where he hit 35 home runs and drove in a career-best 111 RBIs. Lee hasn’t hit for power (16 home runs in 475 plate appearances) or average (.251), and his lack of production in the line-up is one of the many reasons the Cubs are among baseball’s biggest disappointments.
However, Lee could get a chance to make amends over the season’s final months and possibly into October now that this trade with the Atlanta Braves has gone through. And upon checking out the initial reports, it could be a win-win for all parties.
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Cubs Manager Lou Piniella Should Call It Quits
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What does it say about a franchise when Lou Piniella’s four years as Chicago Cubs manager ranks among the best over the franchise’s past 50 years or so despite not having won a playoff game?
Other than Sweet Lou, only Jim Frey (.519) and Leo Durocher (.504) have winning percentages above the break even point. Jim Lefebvre broke even with a .500 career in his two years with the Cubs.
With his 312 wins as Cubs manager, Piniella has more Ws than Frey, Don Zimmer and Don Baylor. Zimmer, Frey and Dusty Baker were the only Cubs managers to lead the squad to postseason victories. Baker was the only one to win a postseason series.
Now, here’s Piniella, on what amounts to be a victory lap void of actual victories.
And here I am, saying it must stop.
Now. (more…)
Starlin Castro (Not Jason Heyward) Is Earning Your NL Rookie Of The Year Vote
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Step aside, Jason Heyward, for Starlin Castro is in the midst of making a compelling case for National League Rookie of the Year honors. (more…)
And Now We Remember Ryan Theriot’s Time With The Chicago Cubs
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Mired in a crippling losing streak in a season that really never got off the ground, seeing Ryan Theriot wearing Dodger blue is a sight for sore eyes.
On the other hand, it took the Chicago Cubs dealing its most valuable asset, left-handed starting pitcher Ted Lilly, to get rid of the team’s underachieving pipsqueak second baseman.
To the untrained eye, the celebration of trading away a player with a .284 batting average and 19 stolen bases would be viewed as bizarre. However, like many of my fellow Cubs fans, yours truly tired of Theriot’s poor decision-making skills at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths to the point where it was acceptable to hate your own player.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t always like that. (more…)
Bums Carry Cubs Through Hot Stretch
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Oh, hi there Ryan Dempster. Nice of you to show up.
You know. Two years too late.
Yes, the Cubs beat the Dodgers last night 3-0 as Dempster outdueled Clayton Kershaw. Yes, Derrek Lee showed up with a 3-for-3 day which featured a homer and three RBIs. Yes, Chicago’s Northside baseball team has won seven of its last nine games, including four against teams that are a combined 76-56.
But where the hell was this in October 2008?
Yeah, I’m still bitter about that game.
When you miss what amounted to two days of classes and spend a combined 12 hours on the road just to watch the Cubs piss all over your hopes and dreams, you’re allowed to bitch about it.
Lucky for you, I’ll stop now only to inform you that the Cubs might actually find themselves contending at the top end of the NL Central rather than battling to stay out of the cellar. (more…)
Why Is Starlin Castro Not On Your Fantasy Baseball Team?
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Chicago Cubs fans must be awfully excited about Starlin Castro’s showing in his first two weeks as a professional.
And fans who also happen to be fantasy baseball players must be geeked as well.
As of this posting, the Cubs 20-year-old phenom shortstop is owned in only 36 percent of Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball leagues. Had he been the phenom shortstop from the Yankees, Mets or Red Sox, Castro would have been scooped up by at least 136 percent of leagues.
No one denies this.
In 13 games as the Cubs shortstop, Castro is hitting .375 with a home run and 10 runs batted in. Three of his 18 hits have been extra-base knocks. Castro has also drawn five walks (against five strikeouts) and (in a small sample size) owns an OPS of .934.
Jason Bartlett (78 percent owned) has a .248/.330/.357/.686 line this season, and in his last 12 games is only hitting .233/.340/.372/.712. Miguel Tejada has name value, but is hitting only .268/.307/.399/.705 this season and is hitting only .179 over his last 13 games.
Shortstop isn’t a make-or-break position, but it is a spot where you can get some value out of a guy hitting at a high average to balance out where some of your power hitters lack in the average department.
Cubs fans probably swooped to get Castro when he hit the free agent market if they didn’t already use a late-round draft pick on him. Shortstops that OPS in the .900s do not come around often. Shortstops that can reach first base with throws without having to crow hop and pray don’t come around too often for the Northsiders, either.
That is why Castro is a special talent.
The lone knock thus far on Castro is that he is hitting at the bottom of the Cubs’ line-up — right in front of the pitcher. It is May 21. Kosuke Fukudome is due for a June swoon, and Ryan Theriot (a career .268 hitter in June) surely can’t keep up his hot hitting for too long.
Castro will get his time in a prime spot in the order.
I know Cubs fans have heard this before, but your patience will be rewarded. Eventually. But if you patiently wait for Castro to drop in your lap, you’re sadly mistaken.
Go grab him before someone else in your league does, then holds him for ransom.
Cubs’ Marshall Plan Effective Thus Far
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Lost amidst Aramis Ramirez bringing his bat to the ballpark and Randy Wells’ quality start might have been Sean Marshall’s performance out of the bullpen last night.
Marshall’s line in picking up the extra-inning win: 2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 4 K
It would have been unnecessary had John Grabow not gagged a one-run lead in the eighth.
Grabow’s line last night: 0.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 0 K
Outside of Carlos Marmol, Marshall has been the best reliever out of the ‘pen. In 18.1 innings of work, the 6-foot-7 southpaw owns a 0.796 WHIP, 12.08 K/9 ratio and a 5.4-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.
That’s flat-out nasty coming from the left side in the late innings.
His splits make me think he can be more than just another LOOGY.
Opponents are batting .162, slugging .226 and have accumulated a total of two extra-base hits against Marshall — none of which have been home runs.
Lefties have only drawn one walk and are hitting .227 off Marshall and have been held without an extra-base hit in 25 plate appearances. And to think, righties actually have it worse against Marshall as right-handed batters are batting .150 with a slugging percentage of .225.
If I posted John Grabow’s stats, you’d spit up your lunch all over your computer. Your employer probably would not be pleased, but hey, you might get a new computer.
And if I told you how much he was making this year ($2.7 million) and next year ($4.8 million) you would immediately reconsider your life path, damn your parents to hell for not teaching you how to throw left handed and weep during your lunch hour.
Even Mike Tyson thinks spending $7.5 on an aging LOOGY is fiscally irresponsible.
Grabow is this year’s Kevin Gregg, but without stupid goggles and an extra year on his contract.
At least, Grabow does not have no-trade protection — that we know of.
With Marshall becoming the premier set-up man for Marmol, maybe manager Lou Piniella can make another move that does not defy common sense and move Carlos Zambrano back into the starting rotation.
But that might be asking too much, too soon.
Could The Cubs Have Multiple All-Stars?
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At 16-22, the Chicago Cubs have no business having anyone being on the National League All-Star Team — let alone potential candidates.
Yet, when I woke up this morning and checked my e-mail, I was encouraged to vote for my favorite Cubs for the Midsummer Classic.
I have always been of the belief of not stuffing the ballot box for your favorite player, especially after Bud Selig’s “Let’s Make It Count” campaign began after the Milwaukee debacle.
Go back to 2003, when the Cubs were contending in the NL Central. Do you really want to vote Damian Miller or Hee Seop Choi onto the team when home field advantage rests on a glorified exhibition game?
Didn’t think so.
And rather than stuff the ballot box with undeserving Cubs, I tended to lean toward getting the best talent on the field.
Think about it.
How cool would it be knowing that it was Albert Pujols’ game-winning single and Adam Wainwright closing it out that propelled the Cubs to home field advantage and a Game 7 win in the World Series.
It wouldn’t happen — especially under Jim Hendry. But can a man dream?
After the jump, we’ll break down actual candidates vying for All-Star game bids. (more…)
