Filed:December 31st, 2009
One last look back the 2009 Chicago Cubs (Cubbie Nation/file)
Last year, I ran what I hoped to become a tradition here at Cubbie Nation, the current team captured in pictures. The premise is pretty simple. Teams and seasons come and go, and for as much time as we give to being with them, there's something wrong about the notion that many of these guys are gone, if not altogether forgotten, by the time the playoffs have ended.
You know the guys. The Jose Ascanios, Kevin Harts, and Andres Blancos of the game. Maybe we'll see them again; maybe not. But you wore the uniform, and we cheered for you, so consider this my way of saying thanks. One photo for each (sans Mitch Atkins and Chad Fox) man who spent time on the 25-man roster, captured in a way that only a fan can.
This year, the photo galleries have been moved to my new multmedia site, Triple Play New Media. You can find it here. Cubbie Nation will be undergoing some pretty extreme upgrades by the start of next season, and as such we've moved the media galleries over to a professionally hosted site that specializes in serving photos. I think you'll find it makes for a much better viewing experience.
Some folks have said they've been completely blown away; other said do better. Why don't you take a look, drop me a note, and let me know what you think. And Happy New Year from Cubbie Nation.
Filed:December 20th, 2009
(Former) Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley (Cubbie Nation/file)
I'd been hoping over the last day to see some movement, some twist, some nuance -- any indication of a plan, really -- that would make the trade of Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva palatable. In the end, I keep coming back to the same conclusion: pathetic.
Yes, pathetic. I went back through the notes, looked at some old Silva footage, and combed over the Mariners blogs to see if the Silva that I remembered had evolved into someone else. Nope. He's still the same old poorly conditioned, soft-tossing fifth starter that I saw back in 2006 - 2007. Albeit, one of the luckiest men in memory as well though, given that he hit free agency at its peak, turning a few better-than-average starts in 2007 in $48 million dollars of goodness.
In Silva, the Cubs shake themselves free of the Bradley fog, allowing the clubhouse to hopefully bring itself back to a collective equilibrium. And the salary relief -- somewhere between 6 and 9 million, depending on who you speak with -- could very well be transformed into someone who can give the Cubs something productive over the next season or two.
But here's the problem that I keep coming back to, and that is that Silva is a negative value player. He was average with the Twins at his peak, awful with the Mariners in a spacious pitchers park, and comes to the Cubs off a shoulder injury. In other words, he couldn't be expected to get more than a minor-league deal right now if he was out there looking for work, and with good reason; there's simply no indication that he can effective for a club in 2010.
Yet, at the very least, the politics of the matter force him to remain on the 25-man roster for at least the bulk of the season, forcing the Cubs to likely either carry an extra pitcher, reduce their effectiveness by not allowing them to bring along a more useful minor-league arm who might otherwise make the team --- we're talking to you, Blake Parker, Jon Gaub, and Justin Berg -- or even worse, precluding the Cubs from acquiring a more useful piece as he's got a lock on a roster spot for at least the first month or two of the season.
But the part that makes this so sad is the simple question that no one wants to answer: If the Cubs had simply agreed to eat this $15 million of so difference rather than playing this accounting game with the Mariners -- effectively turning Bradley into a 2/8 contract -- what could they have gotten back in return? I'm going to hazard a guess someone a lot more useful than Carlos.
When you couple this with the fact that rather than choosing to make this move months ago and move one, allowing them to acquire either a Mike Cameron or getting back in on the Curtis Granderson talks, they puffed and pontificated instead, making them look amateurish in the process. Face it, when you wait out the market and come back with good return, you're a smart guy. When you do that and come back with Carlos Silva, arguably the worst of the Bradley trade scenarios, you don't come across as very competent.
Bradley will be fine in Seattle, and I wish him well there. I'm confident that he'll come back under a much more laid back environment to his usual offensive norms, especially given the chance to DH again. As for the Cubs, well they may be able to put a nice face on this if they can turn that Mariners cash into a good outfielder. But given Hendry's desire for Marlon Byrd, he might be better served spending that money on a t-shirt that simply reads "I spent 30 million dollars, and all I got was this lousy Silva"!
Filed:December 19th, 2009
Red Sox outfielder Mike Cameron (Cubbie Nation/file)
Sigh. I just finished watching the Cameron - Red Sox press conference. Charming. Charismatic. Humble. Relaxed. You got to see so many of the reasons why managers love Cameron, and what I had been hoping to see over at Clark and Addison sometime this winter. That said, first off let me say that I was wrong. I didn't think it was possible for the Cubs to let Cameron pass them by. Somewhere, I suspect that Lou Piniella is still muttering things under his breath about it, and perhaps about Jim Hendry as well, but it's done. He ain't coming.
Which begs the question, what the hell is this team going to do next season? Re-sign Johnson, and pray for a decent platoon with Tyler Colvin? Sign Marlon Byrd, and watch Hendry have to explain this time next year how he yet again overpaid for a Texas outfielder, turned bust? Trot Sam Fuld out there until Lou's head explodes, and he pulls an Elia-esque tirade about rookies, and the @#$@$!!! fans who love them?
It was a big fat fail on Curtis Granderson. A bigger fail on Cameron; and I have to ask as an aside, how long are the Cubs going to let Milton Bradley hold them up? And any signing of Byrd, Scott Podsednik, or Coco Crisp is surely going to be an epic fail. So, because I at least used to like Hendry, I'm going to give him a workable idea: Go get Jacoby Ellsbury.
No, no. I'm very serious. The ultra-hot rumor out of Boston is that with the Cameron signing, the Red Sox would seek to put Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz in a package for Adrian Gonzalez. Now, I wouldn't do this deal personally, as I'd likely ask for a third prospect for what I consider one of the top 25 players in the game. But if these talks are going to get serious, I'd recommend that the Cubs elbow in on this, and turn it into three-way talks.
As a matter of fact, I'll go one-step further, and actually offer a trade proposal; send Randy Wells and Tyler Colvin to San Diego for him. Wells looks like a strong, back-of-the-rotation type starter, pre-arb, who can be inserted into the rotation along with Buchholz immediately. Boston gets their man, the Padres get two major-league ready starters, and a near-ready center field prospect, and the Cubs finally get an athletic, left-handed starter who is a) under 30, and b) doesn't suck.
Now go, and pluck a Jon Garland out of free agency (who would be likely cheaper than what the Cubs would spend for Byrd), and you have a problem solved, and a real, long-term solution in place.
The stats guys and I are going to fight again, and Ellsbury's splits are pedestrian, his defensive stats are a touch shaky, and his stolen bases make him overhyped. Accepted.
But Wrigley is a small park that I'd expect him to cover fairly well, and at 26, he may very well develop into something so much more. This is a chance that I would take, even if I had to overpay a bit on prospects.
I was reading today that Buster Olney didn't see Ellsbury as a good fit in Petco. I tend to agree. And while it's tough to say right now whether these talks are going to go somewhere, if they do, the Cubs would be wise to get in on them.
Filed:December 9th, 2009
Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson
You know, for years I've respected Jim Hendry. Oh sure, I thought he was overmatched, and in over his head at times. But he worked tirelessly to improve the team, supported his manager, turned Chicago in a preferred free agent destination again, and did get around eventually to vastly improving the Cubs farm system. While he certainly wasn't of the Schuerholz or Jocketty caliber, I felt like he was better than average, and improving.
Somewhere along the line though, I feel like he lost his way, or perhaps I just came to conclude that he lacks the chops; you know, the ability to handle the fine details, required to take your team from competitive to contender. I think it was when he doled out relatively large deals to 1) Aaron Miles, 2) Joey Gathright, 3) Paul Bako, and 4) who can forget Milton Bradley, and came to regret them all. Why? Because someone told him that the club needs to get more "left handed.
For me, managing to let Curtis Granderson slip through his hands, and into a Yankees uniform was probably the last nail in the coffin. You've heard about it; Granderson to the Yankees, Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks, and Max Scherzer & Austin Jackson to the Tigers. There's some additional pieces and parts involved, but that's the meat of it.
On the face of it, it's a nice deal for just about everybody, although I'm left to wonder what Arizona knows about Scherzer that has them spooked enough to part with him this soon. For the Yankees though, it's practically a fleecing. That you turn a LOOGY in Phil Coke, the serviceable Ian Kennedy, and a prospect of much hype, and even more debated talent level (Jackson) into Granderson is quite a feat. Given that they've actually been able to upgrade their outfield now, while reducing the money spent to boot is simply oh so New York.
Which takes us back to Hendry, who effectively been asking for the impossible, somehow got it, and blew it. Let's see: "I need a young, athletic, left-handed, middle-of-the-lineup hitter who would be comfortable in Chicago, and can help chill out my clubhouse after the Bradley debacle. And oh, by the way, he needs to be able to fit into my modest discretionary budget for 2010." Did I miss anything? And given the unimaginable opportunity to get that player he fumbles it, because reportedly, he won't part with 19 year-old Starlin Castro. Because, you know, the Cubs have such a storied history of developing young, raw, positional talent.
The stat guys and I have been in debate over this deal all night, and I'm sure I'll hear chiming in about Curtis's inability to hit left-handers, average reads in center, and down 2008. I say BS. This was a rare chance to acquire a cornerstone piece at bargain prices, saving the Cubs their annual foray into questionable free agent signings for at least a few seasons in the process. Given that we all know that the Mike Cameron signing is right around the corner now, and at likely more for the next two seasons than Granderson will receive, and this is amateur hour; a textbook example of how not to run a major market franchise, just one offseason removed from Hendry's last lesson on this.
The Cubs under him just can't seem to get out of their own way, and I can't wait for a new steward to start leading them on a straight path.
Filed:December 4th, 2009
Jake Fox (Cubbie Nation/file)
The Cubs solved a number of problems in one fell swoop Thursday, trading fan favorite Jake Fox, the not-so favorite Aaron Miles, and cash to the Oakland A's for Jeff Gray, and minor leaguers Ronny Morla & Matt Spencer. The official word is here.
Wow, has it really been two weeks since a post? Ouch. I've recently found myself with the opportunity to pursue a few other media endeavors, shooting some pro and collegiate sports. I'm finding that photography is, well, time consuming. That project is still in progress, but if you'd like to get a sneak peek at what I've been working on, take a look at the development site, and look for the go-live for Triple Play in early January.
But back to the trade, where Jim Hendry has managed yet again to show why I like him, and yet still think he should be fired, all in the same trade.
With the move, he managed to do what many considered the unthinkable, in making the albatross of Aaron Miles disappear, and not having to eat all but the league minimum to do it. Some quotes say it all, and Hendry himself put it best in regards to Aaron Miles:
"Aaron will be better served going elsewhere after a very, very tough year for him."
Enough said. According to the news reports, the Cubs will be eating roughly $1 million of his remaining $2.7 million salary, but we'll just chalk that up to the cost of doing business.
In Jake Fox though, the Cubs lose a very potent right-handed bat off the bench, and we're still left to wonder how the Cubs intend to resolve what's looking like a very thin bench, to match a very shaky bullpen. Fox appeared at least serviceable at three positions, making it a bit surprising that he didn't get at least a longer look from the Cubs, even if only to boost his value a touch further.
Price of making Aaron Miles go away? Maybe. However, it still doesn't explain why he couldn't get off the bench in September, with Lou Piniella trotting out Bobby Scales at one point on a daily basis.Or while we got abused by Ryan Freel and Mike Fontenot manning third base for weeks, when he appeared to be a reasonable internal option.
We'll get to listen for the next month about how Spencer could be good, Gray can break camp with the Cubs next season, and that this was just good business, and maybe that's all true. But this looks like yet another move that doesn't help the club immediately, and at best is simply lateral movement. A fringe reliever, and a prospect described as "a more athletic version of Jake Fox" simply don't sound like real improvements to a ballclub in need, and if this is what it takes for the club to save a couple of million, I'm left to wonder further about their 2010 prospects.
I'll wait for the counter-move before passing judgment overall, but this is looking like more of the same from the Hendry team; making a problem go away by creating an even bigger one.