The new phone books are here, The new phone books are here!....

Well everyone has finally reported to the Fitch Park for the start of spring training and we don't even have to wait for Sammy's late arrival this year to a myriad of excuses. Frankly, I am overcome with nothing at this point. As the glorious moment known as opening day comes closer I'll get more towards the wet-my-pants excitement level, but it's still February for God's sake. Out of all the training camps in the professional sports baseball's has to be the most unimportant. Back in the day when guys worked second jobs in the winter and didn't work out year round, there was a need for a 5 week training period to get into playing shape and to fight for jobs on the team. Now guys train year round and are virtually guaranteed spots with all the money they make. But it's tradition and as we all know baseball must follow its tradition to the T.

Despite the laziness of the time of year we're in, there is some Cubbie news to be had. Last week the team reworked Nomar's one year deal to include an extra $250,000 in the base, while cutting his bonus for 130 games started. What was the point of this maneuver, who the hell knows, it doesn't really change the total, unless Nomar doesn't plan on playing, and what will an extra $250,000 guaranteed to a man with his riches mean? But if it makes him happier, more power to the deal.

Acting true to his word to try and fix the situation between himself and Sammy Sosa now that it is meaningless, Dusty Baker called the Cubs all-time home run leader last Wednesday. After some idle chatter Baker said he asked, "Hey man, I'm still bewildered about what happened and why,' to which Sosa responded 'It's in the past, good luck and god bless you." I'm glad that Dusty found the time to clear the air with Sosa, and that Sammy was desperate to explain his end of things - we don't need him coming to camp upset. Oh wait, I forgot, he was traded three weeks ago, how could I have forgotten that. I really cannot think of a reason for him to do this and announce it to the media. The only reason for him to call Sosa is to satisfy his own questions about it, but if it was more than a media-hyped event, he would have done this before Sosa was traded. I am going to be praying this year that Dusty actually controls this clubhouse somewhat this season, because even with the dismissal of the 'problems' from last year's club, if the team gets off to a slow start or has a rough stretch during the year they will need a strong field general to get them through it - something Dusty hasn't proved to be yet in his tenure with the Cubs.

Speaking of field generals, they're only as good as the leaders below them. Not only did Todd Walker think that Sosa was the leader last year, he is also of the opinion that there will be 25 leaders next season on the team, not one or two head guys in the clubhouse. Sorry Todd, but if that happens this team will fall apart in the first month of the season. Twenty-five leaders means being lead in 25 different directions, which means being pulled in 25 different ways, which means maybe 25 wins on the season. Well not that low, but you get the point. You know you're not going to be able to count on Nomar leading the team this season, as he already has said in his first locker room media conference today that, "I'm definently not the face of this organization," while deferring to other Cubs like Woodie, Prior, and Michael Barrett as guys who 'represent the team well.' All this means is that he will act here in Chicago like he did in Boston, a guy who comes to play everyday, but will not be a impactful clubhouse presence. My money is on the guys he Nomar mentioned becoming the unquestioned leaders of this team, or at least I hope they will. Much like needing a strong field general, teams need solid captains as well. Wood and Barrett can be very fiery at times, while Prior seems to be very even keeled so far throughout his career - which can be a good mix of leadership for the team. Here's to it leading to a more successful season than we have had in about 95 years.

The more I look at this season the more I seem to have the feeling that Jim Hendry has created it to be a one year experiment which can be blown up if it doesn't work out. Nomar, Walker, Jeromy Burnitz all have one year deals, while Jerry Hairston can be let go through arbitration. Hendry likes the core of this team which will be around for a while: Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Barrett, Corey Patterson, Prior, Wood, and Carlos Zambrano should all be here for the next five seasons at least. If the formula doesn't work this season my guess is he'll change the parts for the next. Eventually he will have to give up some of the minor league talent in the system to fill these holes, but we will have to cross that bridge once we get there.


Come on down....

The 2nd annual Cubs Blog Army prediction contest is finally here for the 2005 season. Take a look at the rules and then answer the questions. There are two divisions, one for owners of sites in the CBA and one for readers of those sites. You guys can email the answers to cbapredictions@gmail.com. Good luck on the contest as there will be Cubbie prizes at the end that are yet to be determined.

THE RULES
1- The contest is open to all CBA readers and bloggers. There are separate divisions for each.
2- All responses must be emailed to mailto:cbapredictions@gmail.com?subject=CBA and received no later than noon CST on Opening Day, Monday April 4.
3- All entries must include the full name of the person entering.
4- All entries for the blogger division of the contest must include the name of the blog.
5- Any blogger whose blog goes dormant will have their entry moved to the readers division.
6- Once an entry response is received, it can be changed only by sending a complete new set of answers in an email that requests that the new answers replace the old answers.
7- All questions refer to events occurring between the first pitch and last play of the Cubs 2005 regular season.
8- Rookie eligibility follows the rules of the Rookie of the Year voting. If your choice is not-rookie eligible you will get no points.
9- Ties will be decided by closest entry to Q#1, then Q#2, then Q#3, proceeding as far down the list as necessary.
10- Prizes for the winners of each division will be announced once I decide what they will be.
11-All decisions made by the contest organizer are final.

THE QUESTIONS
General
1- How many games will the Cubs win? (30 points minus 2 for each game off)
2- What place will the Cubs finish in the Central? (5 points for correct answer)
3- How many runs will the Cubs score? (30 points minus 1 for each five runs off)
4- How many runs will the Cubs allow? (30 points minus 1 for each five runs off)
5- How many Cubs will make the All-Star game? (5 points for correct answer)

Offensive Leaders (5 points for correct answer)
6- Who will lead the Cubs in batting average? (min 3.1 PA per game, hitless AB added as necessary)7- Who will lead the Cubs in OBP? (min 3.1 PA per game, hitless AB added as necessary)
8- Who will lead the Cubs in SLG? (min 3.1 PA per game, hitless AB added as necessary)
9- Who will lead the Cubs in HR?
10- Who will lead the Cubs in runs?
11- Who will lead the Cubs in RBI?
12- Who will lead the Cubs in stolen bases?
13- Who will lead the Cubs in caught stealings?
14- Who will lead the Cubs in stolen base percentage (min 5 attempts)?

Pitching Leaders (5 points for correct answer)
15- Who will lead the Cubs in IP?
16- Who will lead the Cubs in wins?
17- Who will lead the Cubs in losses?
18- Who will lead the Cubs in saves?
19- Who will lead the Cubs in holds?
20- Who will lead the Cubs in ERA (min 100 IP)?
21- Who will lead the Cubs in K?
22- Who will lead the Cubs in BB?
23- Who will lead the Cubs in CG?

Fielding Questions (5 points for correct answer)
24- Who will lead the Cubs in outfield assists?
25- Who will lead the Cubs in fielding percentage among 2B, 3B, and SS? (min 150 total chances)

Bonus Questions (10 points for correct answer)
26- Name a Cub that will make the All-Star team.
27- Name a Cub (majors or minors) that will be traded out of the organization.
28- Name a non-Cub (majors or minors) that will be traded into the organization.
29- Name the rookie that will get the most plate appearances for the Cubs.
30- Name the rookie that will throw the most innings for the Cubs.

Calling all pitchers and catchers...

Spring time is here again! Or at least the baseball season has started up for the 2005 season. Hopefully this new year doesn't bring another season that makes me want to commit suicide at the end of it, but we'll see. Pitchers and Catchers finally reported to camp today while the other lazier players don't report until Feb. 21st. As camp opens the two main questions for the Cubbies next season come from their pitching staff; Is Glendon Rusch going to be able to handle the 5th starter slot or will he turn into the man who led the league in losses during the 2002 season? Who is going to close on this team? There really aren't two any more important questions to answer, with the latter being the most vital.

Rusch pitched well in spot duty last year, but he has only had one decent season before last (2000) when his team went to the World Series, and he didn't start for them in the playoffs. If the Cubs make it that far this season he definently will not start barring multiple injuries, but how effective will he really be. It is possible that Rusch just had the lightbulb turn on last season, but he was 29 and that doesn't seem like a logical solution to that question. I really think that last season was an aberration of his career numbers and the Cubs will eventually have to look towards another source for a 5th starter, or only have him start when necessary ala Shawn Estes in 2003. It must be noted that according to baseball-reference.com one of the closest starters in pure numbers to Rusch historically was Cub immortal Shawn Kealoha Boskie, and we all know how he good turned out to be(minus a decent year in relief).

As the closer goes this team will go in 2005. The bullpen choked away a lot of games last season and apparently Hendry thought that addition by subtraction was the best method of re-tooling it for next season. He dumped malcontents in Farnsworth and Kent Mercker while not adding any of the big name relievers out there this offseason. He is apparently still hot on the trail of Jorge Julio, but God knows why he is still doing that as Jorge Julio is the Latin translation of Kyle Farnsworth. Hendry seems to have given the preliminary lead for closing to Ryan Dempster, who has never closed before in his career. Even Dempster seemed a little surprised at Hendry's insinuated announcement saying at the Cub Convention that, " Apparently I won the lottery and they just gave it to me." The other x-factor is 2003 closer and polish king Joe Borowski coming back at full strength. Reporting to camp today he said that he was 100% and that "Feeling better has put the smile back on my face and im able to do everything I was before." Borowski was noticeably slower with his fastball last year, which wasn't that fast to begin with, and wound up being put on the self in June with a partially torn rotator cuff. Instead of having surgery last year to fix the problem he elected to rest it and then rehab the injury over the winter. He says that the rest seems to have fixed the problem, but no one will know for sure till he starts pitching in some Arizona league games, which begin March 4th.

There are two things that bother me about this team right now besides these problems. One, the team has no feared hitter on the team anymore. Two, the media keeps asking where 75 HR's and 180 innings are going to come from now that Moises, Sosa, and the weasel Matty Clement have departed.

I say the team has no feared hitter in this respect, there is no one in the lineup that opposing pitchers consciously have to think, 'don't throw a bad pitch to this guy.' Sosa used to be this guy until 2002 and during stretches of the 2003 and 2004 seasons, but now there is no-one on the roster that makes the opposing pitcher weak in the knees. Aramis Ramirez may develop into one of these hitters eventually, maybe even during this season, but I see this as a problem during the upcoming season.

As for the deal the media is making for the departures of Alou, Clement, and Sosa and how they team will replace them, even Mark Prior is into this game saying the other day, "Thats the scary thing, we lost an awful lot. I mean you're talking about 40 homers in left, 30-plus in right and close to 200 innings on the mound. When you look at the numbers, you don't know if you can replace them." I think this is a giant example of the media trying to make something out of nothing when there are other things that could be discussed. Like how the team speed, defense and chemistry will be improved next season. Or how about bashing the Cubs for putting a rotating sign behind home plate LESS THAN ONE YEAR after the team said they will not deface the walls of Wrigley with advertising. Or how about making a bigger deal about the closer situation, because the losses of these other players will not be a problem. Sure Clement was the best pitcher on the team during a couple of stretches last season, but he failed miserably at the end of the year when they needed him most - getting roughed up/injured in three of his last four starts (not making it out of the 3rd twice) while not making a start the last two weeks of the season. Will his 180 innings last year be missed, yes. But how about this, if Woodie and Prior stay healthy next season, and giving them a conservative 200 innings each while being healthy, that makes up 140 of those 180 missing innings right there. Not a problem in my point of view. And as bad as Jeremy Burnitz is going to be, combined with whoever hits lefties in his place and the new LF they will probably make up about 40 of those 75 HR's, at least. Sure the team will have less power, but in Hairston playing LF they will produce more runs and he will create more RBI opportunities for the guys batting behind him.


He got how much money...

The Twinkies avoided salary arbitration with Cy Young winner Johan Santana the other day signing him to a 4yr/$40 million deal, which would eclipse the first two year he could have been eligible for free agency. Santana started for a full season for the first time last season, after splitting time between starting and the 'pen the previous two seasons. If Santana got $40 after only one full season of starting, I would hate to see what the Cubs will have to pay Prior in two years if he continues to pitch at his 2002/2003 rate.


Happy Trails to you...

R.I.P National Hockey League, 1917-2005, We hardly knew thee.



A-Fresh-a Pepp-a....

In a surprisingly disgusting twist to the fate of the infamous 'Bartman Ball', Harry Caray's restaurant, which purchased the ball at auction for $113,824 a little over a year ago and subsequently blew the ball up on TV, has decided to take the remains of the ball and serve them to customers. That's right, for a limited time (Feb. 20-24) you can celebrate the 7th anniversary of Harry's death by ordering spaghetti sauce which will have the balls remains in it. At both the Downtown and Rosemont locations the cooks are going to soak the ball remains in Budwiser and other 'curse-ending' ingredients and put the specialty in their sauce. Personally these kind of antics are turning me against this restaurant because in all reality they are probably perpetuating our teams losing ways, but I guess some people will enjoy it. They say they got the idea from suggestions that customers sent them on what to do with the ball. I don't know what's more disgusting, the fact that someone came up with the idea of seriously eating the ball or that the restaurant saved the ball from a year ago and had this planned eating of a year-0ld blown up ball.

The Farns kicks the Cubbie Bucket....

And I guess that's better than kicking an electric fan and breaking your foot, but only the Farns can tell you that answer. High on potential and low on results, Jim Hendry finally got tired of Farnsworth and dumped him off to Detroit today along with the infamous PTBNL for 3 minor leaguers. The three minor leaguers coming from Detroit are RHP Roberto Novoa, 3B Scott Moore, and OF Claerence (Bo) Flowers. Novoa, 25, sports a hard slider with a fastball that tops out at 97. He can get his pitches over the plate, but he tends to leave things over the middle, which led to him giving up about a hit per inning until his AA season last year. Novoa was promoted to Detroit towards the end of last season pitching in 16 games with a 5.57 ERA, although his ERA at home in 10 games was 2.76. In AA last year Novoa had a 2.96 ERA in 79 innings, striking out 59. He'll be given a chance to make the 'pen in spring training, but most likely will start the season in AAA.

The good news is that Moore and Flowers, both 21, made the Baseball America list as the best power hitter and best athelete respectively for the Tigers Farm system. The bad news is neither is in the Tigers top ten prospect list and that system is very weak right now. Flowers may be more of a reach to jump to the majors in his career but Moore appears to be a legitimate prospect. Moore was the 8th pick in the 2002 draft by Detroit, and was ranked as the 2nd purest hitter in that draft. A lefthanded batter, Moore was drafted originally as a shortstop and has also played some 2B in his career. It will be interesting to see where the Cubs want him to play, but he will most likely start the season in either AA or high A ball, where last year he hit .223 with 14 HR's in 391 AB's. He can take a walk, but his rate of about 1 every 10 AB's needs to lower, as well as his 1 strikeout every 3.13 AB's. Flowers is a native of Westmont and was a 5th round pick of Detroit, also in 2002. He was named the best 'athlete' in the Tiger system in both 2003 and 2004 but spent his first two seasons in low A ball until promoted to regular A for 22 AB last season. Look for him to spend more time there with the Cubs new 'A' affiliate the Peoria Chiefs(I wish we still had the Lugnuts) to see if he can develop into anything this season.

The Kyle Farnsworth era in Chicago is going to be remembered for two things: the untapped/wasted talent of the Farns, and his unfathomable beatdown of Reds pitcher Paul Wilson in 2003. It really is a sad story that a pitcher with his arm is going to be best remember as the guy who flattened then bloodied Paul Wilson, but thats the way it goes sometimes. Once thought to be the future closer is long line of Cubs closing immortals; Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Lee Smith, Mitch Williams, Randy Myers, Mel Rojas, Rod Beck - Farnsworth never lived up to the hype of his 100 mph+ arm (yes Mel Rojas was a joke). At times he had signs of brilliance as a reliever, including an entire seasons worth of it in 2001 and 2003, he was just too inconsistent overall to be effective on a regular basis. There were always tales of his late-night exploits (many ladies will be upset with his departure) as well as some rumors that harder things were ruining his career, but it might just be that he will never 'get it' as an effective MLB pitcher. Maybe this trade will be the pitchfork to his ass to get his baseball career in order.

Personally I believe Hendry made another desperation move here just to get rid of someone because he could. As he did with the Juan Cruz deal before the season last year, it appears that Hendry just dumped a player to the first offer he recieved. Cruz was turned into Tim Hudson for the Braves, and Farnsworth might turn into the effective reliever the Cubs wanted him to be. Some say he might have never turned it around in Chicago, but I would have given him one more chance to prove himself - especially with the 'pen the team is going to throw out next year- that is unless the rumors of Farnsworth doing exactly what Sosa did on the last day of the season is true, then I can see why Hendry dumped him so eagerly. But what i really want to know is, does this mean the value of my Farns Bobblehead will skyrocket sometime soon?

Ol' Stoney's, Back in Town...

Looks like Steve Stone will stay in Chicago to continue his broadcasting career as he signed a new deal with 670 the Score WSCR to become thier new baseball analyst during the upcoming season. Citing that "nobody knows baseball better than Steve Stone," and realizing his obvious respect and following of all Cub fans from his nearly 20 years as the color guy on WGN. After watching the national games for years I can say that Stoney was the best color man that I have ever heard in MLB. He was almost always spot-on correct in his ability to decipher what was going to happen and never second-guessed players and managers like most of the people in announcing booths do now-a-days. If he really wanted to, Stoney make make a great manager. My guess is he doesn't want to deal with all of the garbage that goes with a job like that.

I still can't believe that the Cubs paid new color man Bob Brenly $1.2 million, or nearly three time the amount Stone would have made if he accepted the option year in his contract. If it is true that management sent Stone packing based on a couple of comments made toward the end of the season, despite all the crap he and Chip took during this season, that's pretty sad and is more of an indication of how things work at the Tribune Tower than I want to know. I, like many other Cub fans, would like to see Stoney back in the booth, but it looks like we'll have to settle for him in the studio. Something's better than nothing, I guess.


Motor City Calling Mags Home....

Well actually it's the other way around, but the point is that former Palehoser Magglio Ordonez has agreed in principle to a 5yr/$75 million deal to play RF for the Tigers. Now if you think that contract is straightforward, then you don't know superagent Scott Boras. The Tigers wanted some protection from Mags left knee operation in Austria last year so only the first season is gauranteed money. Next season Ordonez will get a $6 million signing bonus as well as a $6 million salary. Here is where is becomes tricky, so pay attention. If he misses 25 games or more due to a left knee injury this season, the Tigers can void the contract after the season, relieving them of the $63 million left on the deal. Now if he doesn't get hurt next season, after that he will make $15,$12,$15, and $18 in consecutive seasons. In the 2010 season the team has a $15 million option with a $3 million buyout and another $15 million option in the 2011 season. However, if he logs 135 games or 540 at-bats in the 2009 season, the 2010 option becomes gauranteed at $18 million. If he has 135 games or 540 at-bats in the 2010 season, or 270 games and 1080 at-bats combined in the 2009 & 2010 seasons then the $15 million 2011 option becomes gauranteed. Got all that?

Now if Magglio comes back healthy, this is a good deal for the Tigers as it adds another star player there to attract some top flight pitcher to the city next season. Here's the problem though, supposedly Magglio has the same condition in his left knee that Bo Jackson got in his hip years ago, a disease that causes lack of blood flow to the bone essentially killing it over time. Now it's not supposed to be as bad as Bo had it, but the condition is still there - it's not reversible. This is why I am SHOCKED that Magglio got this much money out of Detroit. I understand that the Tigers badly wanted a free agent and probably had to through a lot more money towards Mags to get him to sign, but Ordonez had no other serious suitors as all the other teams interested dropped out voluntarily - and the Mets refuse to bid until they could see a personal workout. Is it possible the Tigers bid made the Rangers, Cubs, and Blue Jay go away? Yes, with some other factors. But to lay down this much money, even if it costs them only the $12 million for this season, is a giant risk - one apparently the Tigers brass believed they needed to make. Detroit is now going to probably be the shiek pick to win the weak AL Central with this signing, but Magglio Ordonez doesn't solve thier problems of overall defense and starting pitching. The Tigers do have young starters waiting to bloom, but you cannot expect them all to come out at once, and really thats the only chance they have of taking the AL Central next season.


So that's what he was worth...

Remeber when Seattle was chastized for trading away Jose Cruz Jr. to Toronto in the mid 90's for pennent run relief pitching(Mike Tomlin maybe?). I wonder if Tampa Bay will get the same reaction as the Diamondbacks traded LHP Casey Fossum to the Devil Rays today for Jose Cruz Jr., filling the open spot they have in CF. There was, and still is, a giant log-jam in the OF in Tampa, so they dumped Cruz to help thier depleted pitching rotation.

Now that the D-Backs have traded Fossum, the Curt Schilling trade essentially boiled down to 23 games worth of Richie Sexson and Jose Cruz Jr, I wonder how much longer Joe Garagiola Jr. will given in the GM spot with the new mangement team now in place.

The team is set....

But are they ready to go? With the signing of arbitration eligible players Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano they team that will be competing next season is nearly set. With only a few pitching spots up for grabs I'm going to take a look at what I believe the batting order should be in a bit. Aramis got $8.95 million for next season while Carlos (or Victor if you read the cubs.com homepage - that naerly made me wet myself) is going to get nearly $3.76 million. This marks the 10th straight offseason that the Cubs had arbitration eligible players who did not go to a hearing, a pretty remarkable feat in this day and age. Hendry has stated all along that he wanted to sign Aramis to a one year contract before his arbitration hearing and then open up negotiations for a long term deal.

The Cubbies also signed former Cub Dave Hansen to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. The roster for position players is pretty much set for next season and Hansen's primary use is a pinch hitter so he'll have a hell of a time making the 25-man out of spring training - unless people get hurt. I think my favorite moment of the new Dave Hansen era in Chicago is going to be when he finishes that first bag of ranch seeds during a split squad game in Tucson.

Well on to my batting order for next season. I placed these guys based in part on where I think they should hit and where they have had the most success over the last three seasons. So here it is with the splits(AB, BA, HR, RBI,OBP) players three year total numbers in that batting spot(name, position, batting side):

#1 - Jerry Hairston Jr./LF/R - Had a .378 OBP last year which has risen each of the last three seasons, 25+ SB-man
#2 - Todd Walker/2B/L - 528/.295/12/74/.347
#3 - Nomar Garciaparra/SS/R - 1270/.312/53/222/.355
#4 - Aramis Ramirez/3B/R - 831/.285/29/135/.331; hit .408/.447 OBP last season
#5 - Jeromy Burnitz/RF/L - 601/.268/34/114/.339; Don't look for these numbers this year
#6 - Derek Lee/1B/R - 848/.282/50/136/.369
#7 - Corey Patterson/CF/L - 136/.324/8/28/.384; SB numbers are way down at this spot
#8 - Micheal Barrett/C/R - 542/.244/19/65/.310; hit .280/.327 OBP last season in 8-hole

If one thing is true, this is one of the most balanced lineups the Cubs have put out in a long time. Although I put together this lineup based on how each player does in a specific batting position, I would have to say that I would switch Todd Walker and Corey Patterson in the lineup to see how Cpatt can handle the 2-hole with one more year of maturity at the plate. The team really needs his speed at the top of the lineup as Walker brings next to nothing in that catergory. In the lineup above however, everyone is at the position in which they have historically performed the best (minus Micheal Barrett who plays better in the seven spot).

There were some trends I noticed while looking up those numbers that were encouraging and concerning. Encouraging: Corey Patterson's walk rate. In the last three years he has gone from a walk ever 32 plate appearances, to every 23 PA, to every15 PA last season. Now if only he can drop that strikeout total. Encouraging: Aramis Ramirez's decreasing strikout rate and increasing walk rate. Up till last season Aramis struck out every 6 PA, last season it was every 9.6 PA while his walk rate before last year was every 16.8 PA but fell to every 12.15 PA. Hopefully this trend continues after he signs his coming anticipating extension. Discouraging: Derek Lee's declining walk total. He's gone from 98 to 88 to 68 the last three seasons. Getting on basemore more will really help Barrett and whoever else bats behind him (Burnitz/Patterson/Walker).


On the Bench the Cubs will have (with pinchhitting numbers from the last three seasons):

Henry Blanco/C/R - 1 hit in 5 AB; Will be Maddux's valet next season
Jose Macias/3B,2B,OF/S - 25 hits in 97 AB; 2 HR
Nefi Perez/SS,2B,3B/S - 14 hits in 41 AB
Todd Hollandsworth/LF,RF,1B/L - 17 hits in 52 AB; 3 HR
Jason Dubois/RF,LF/R - 3 hits in 14 AB

Not a bad bench, but they lack someone with the ability to steal bases as a pinch runner. This is something Hendry will need to find during the year so they have one come crunch time in September and October.


- The Cubs announced that individual game tickets go on sale Feb. 25th for those of us that don't have seasons. Here's the schedule for everyone to peruse.

In Dusty We Trusty?....

Dusty Baker is at it again, this time talking about recent happenings in the Chicago Tribune. The more things that come out of his mouth, the more and more I can start to understand why the inmates ran the asylum last season. Baker started the press conference by stating that he wants to find out why Sosa was so upset with him and said,
"(I) was going to wait until the whole thing was over with, until the trade was over and things went down, I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to call him. I call anybody that's traded away from the team I'm on and I talk to everyone that's traded to the team I'm on."

So wait a second, now you're ready to call him and talk to him for the first time to see what the problems were while he was here. So instead of meeting this thing head-on to try and correct it, you decided to dodge the problem and hope it went away, and now that he's gone, you're ready to deal with it - now that it doesn't matter. Is this the way that competent managers go about handling thier players? But don't fret, it goes on. When Baker was asked about the rumors that he had Sosa forced out of the organization and that with this trade Dusty got his wish he had this to say, "Hey, man, there's always speculation, speculation is usually wrong." And when asked if he had gotton his way Baker replied, "No, man, I've said that before, I said what I said and how I felt. No, Dusty didn't get his way. That's the craziest speculation there is."

And with that all of the months of rumored has settled my worries about him running a clubhouse. Except for the fact that this speculation was probably right. Even if he didn't come out and say he wanted Sosa gone it was probably insinuated somewhere along the lines of the offseason. He had a major rift with his start player, and didn't even contact him once in 4 months - and one month to go before spring training - to work things out. Give me a break. The other thing bothering me here is Dusty refering to himself in the third person. I know players do this a lot but I have never heard a manager talk like that. This little display is really bothering me alot and as much as players might like to play for Dusty (where are all the free agents by the way?) he doesn't seem to have a handle on things on the field or cracking the whip in the clubhouse to show who's boss. Sometimes you have to put your job over being these guys friends every once in a while.

Another gem that came out of the press conference was this from GM Jim Hendry talking about the Sosa trade,
"I would hope [the relationship] would be repaired," Hendry said. "… He not only hit the 60-plus home runs and had great seasons. He also did a lot of good things for the organization behind the scenes. It's very unfair to see it get to the magnitude of the negativism that has happened."

Wow, what a load of double talking outta both sides of your mouth that was. The magnitude of negativity was perpitrated by Hendry and the Cubs so the media would build a case to vilify Sammy so the fans would turn on him, which he got at the Cub Convention, so he could dump Sammy easily without any real backlash from the fans. I'm not trying to be a Sosa homer here, as I think he needed to go for the sake of clubhouse sanity, but c'mon Hendry, anyone can see through this display. Does everyone really think the fans will just live off the company line, like last year when Prior was only going to be out a week or so. The more and more lies told will become distrust from the organization to thier fanbase and will eventually wreck the relationship they have.


Go Home Young Ball, Go Home....

Former BoSox and current Mets 1B Doug Mientkiewicz has returned the ball that caused such a fiasco during the last month and it landed today on Yawkey Way and found a home in the Fenway Park Museum. The ball was the final out of the world series, which Mientkiewicz caught and kept, and after a minor fight between the Red Sox and Mientkiewicz he decided to loan it to them for one season. The ball had armoured gaurds, was brought to the park on a Brinks truck, and was carried by those same gaurds till it was handed over inside the park after walking down the red carpet. There hasn't been drama like this surrounding a meaningless baseball since Harry Carays restaurant blew up the Bartman Ball last year. I don't know whether to think it's funny or pathetic to see things like this.


March 1st or else....

New Atlanta Braves ace Tim Hudson has laid down an ultimatum of a new contract by March 1st otherwise he will test the free agent market at the end of next season. If Hudson is actually intent on signing a contract now and not just providing lipservie Braves GM John Schurholz better get a move on since Hudson will be one of the top, if not the top, free agent next season. If Hudson can stay healthy during this upcoming season you can be sure that the Yankees will look to fill the convient void Kevin Brown's departure leaves with Hudson. This will dramatically push up the annual salary on his new contract. Chipper Jones has gone on record saying that he'll be willing to restructure to make some room for Hudson, so now we'll have to see how serious he is on resigning with Atlanta.


It's Deja Vu all Over Again....

Yogi Berra is suing the TBS corporation, one of Ted Turner's cable companies, for an ad on a bus promoting the show Sex and the City, which he claims has caused 'severe damage to his reputation'. The ad on buses is a multiple choice question which asks what the definition of a 'yogasm' is: (a) a type of yo-yo trick, (b) sex with Yogi Berra or (c) what Samantha has with a guy from yoga class. Berra is seeking $10 million on charges of commercial use of his name without permission and unjust enrichment by use of his name without permission.

There's no way in hell Yogi is gonna get all that money, but here's my top ten favorite Yogi-isms from over the years:

10. " The future ain't what it used to be "
9. " When you come to a fork in the road....Take it "
8. " It's deja vu all over again"
7. "I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early."
6. "I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
5. "Texas has a lot of electrical votes." - after George Bush stated that Texas was important to the election.
4. "The wind always seems to blow against catchers when they are running."
3. "It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
2. "Slump? I ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting."

And the Number one Yogi-ism (drum rolling....)

(still rolling....)

1. "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical."


Other MLB news...

- The Dodgers have bid on and signed 3B Norihuro Nakamura to a minor league deal and invited him to spring training. Nakamura has been injured the last two seasons in Japan since he spurned an offer he verbally agreed to with the Mets in 2002. The Dodgers are hoping he can come in and challenge either Jose Valentin at 3B or Hee Sop Choi at 1B.

- The new ownership of the Toronto Blue Jays has renamed SkyDome after themselves, with the new stadium being called the Rogers Centre. Rogers Communication has also announced that they will be allocating $210 million in payroll over the next three seasons, including thier $50 million payroll this season. So instead of looking to a $30 million increase next season in payroll look for them to try and sign guys but not nab them in the end, allowing the team to pocket that extra money.

The more things change...

Well next season the Cubs will have a strikeout prone, pull-hitting, free-swinging, moderately walking, can't-hit-the-opposite-waying, oversized lumbering Right fielder with declining power who was once considered an above average defensive player but has fallen drastically in the last few years. Now you're telling me that the Cubs just traded Sammy Sosa to Baltimore, right?? Well I'm telling you they are about to replace him with Jeromy Burnitz, essentially a left-handed Sammy Sosa. Although he might not even be that good. Sosa put up .253, 35 HR, 80 RBI last season in 125 games, missing a quarter of the season with assorted injuries and headcase problems, while Burnitz put up .283, 37 HR, 110 RBI in 150. Not bad numbers for Burnitz, till you dig a bit deeper into his profile. Here is an exact match for the theory that guys just hit better in Colorado - his home away splits from last season: .322, 24, 68/.244,13, 42 - guess which one was put up at Coors. The road numbers he put up last year are much closer to his career average of .254, which is much more indicative of what kind of number he will be putting up this year at the Friendly Confines. Burnitz used to be a walk machine, averaging nearly 82 (or 14 more than the highest Cub last year) walks a year from 1997-2001, but the last three years he's had only a high of 58 - all while continuing his massive strikeout rate.

On the defensive side of things it would appear that Burnitz is going to be a slight upgrade in Range Factor but a huge downgrade in the Zone Rating. Although Burnitz did throw out 10 baserunners last year, 5 more than Sosa, and even though he has a better arm commite more errors in the outfield. So suffice to say, despite the horrible year the former no.21 had in RF last season, Burnitz could concievably be worse - both at the plate and in the field.

If you ask me, this might be the worst move Jim Hendry has done since he took over the GM duties in the middle of the 2002 season. I have defered to his judgement in making moves since he took over because there was at least some redeeming qualities about the moves he has made to have some faith over. I'm afraid I cannot find any of that with the Signing of Jeremy Burnitz. Handing Burnitz a 1yr/$4.5 million deal with a $7 million option year seems like giving money away to me. Hendry has appeared to have a bulge in his pants for Burnitz, trying to trade for him in 2003 and 2004, and it appears that he finally has gotton his man. Whether or not this will hinder any chances that will appear later in the season for the Cubs, or if Burnitz will be a giant hole in the no.5 spot, time will tell. As for me, I think this move will turn out badly for the Cubbies.


So Long Sammy...

So the trade is finally complete. Sammy has made his last chest thumping two-fingered kiss towards the sky in a Cub uniform as the trade of him to Baltimore was finally completed with Sosa passing his physical today. I already discussed Jerry Hairston Jr., so lets look at the other two prospects they are getting in return. David Crouthers, 23, and Mike Fontenot, 24, are the two players the Cubs have recieved in return. Both are top ten prospects in the Oriole system, and Fontenot might immediately become the best Cub middle infield prospect they have. Lets start with Fontenot.
Described out of the draft as a potential 5-tool player, he accelerated through the minors to start last season in AAA ball after two seasons. He started poorly last season in AAA and on June 12th he was hitting .234 with a .500 OPS, by the end of the season he had risen those numbers to .279 and .766 - in only two and a half months. Fontenot has a lefty stick and plays good D so far in the minors, and if he continues the success he had in the second half of his last season - he could be the starting 2B in 2006 to replace Todd Walker.

David Crothers is a right handed pitcher with a mid 90's fastball and good slider. He has a season and a half of AA ball under his belt, and has put up impressive strikeout ratio numbers and high WHIP numbers, the Orioles had plans of turning him into a reliever this upcoming season under the impression that his fastball and slider would be enough of a combination to get through the late innings in relief. With a slew of good young starters in the minors, and a lack of dominating relief men in the majors, the Cubs will probably have the same rational.

Although most peoples first impressions are probably that the Cubs got snookered in this deal, especially with all of the money the Cubs are paying to dump Sosa (a bit over $16 million), I have to say that the potential of these young players, plus the addition of a leadoff hitter that can play defense in LF- should sway the pendulum towards the Cubs side of things. Sosa had to go for this team to do anything next year otherwise the poor chemistry and clubhouse problems might have destroyed the team - like it did last season. So for everyone in MLB knowing the Cubs had to deal Sosa, I think Jim Hendry got a lot in return for Sosa, and hopefully these minor leaguers pan out and can help the team within the next few seasons. However, if clubhouse problems loom next season, and the Cubs dont start well despite the excise of all of the supposed bad cancers last year, you might be seeing a lot more of these.


Best rumor...

That I read regarding this whole Sammy Sosa deal came out of the New York Times the other day. It stated that all of Friday morning that the rumor among baseball insiders was that the New Washington Nationals had locked up the deal for Sosa with the Cubs footing even more of the bill then they would up doing with the Orioles (all but about $2 million or so). Then a call from someone high up came down saying they couldn't allow a salary bump for the team and they had to withdraw from consideration. Then the Orioles immediatly jumped into the fray headfirst, and secured Sosa. But this reporter was questioning why the salary wasn't approved for the Sosa deal, but a 3yr/$18 million contract offer to Odalis Perez was green-lit a few weeks ago. The offices of MLB do owe some favors to Baltimore owner Peter Angelos, so is it possible they killed a deal sending Sosa to the O's new compitition?? Really makes you think about it.