Archive - Mar 27, 2008

Catching up on day-old news here, but former Cubs manager Preston Gomez was critically injured Wednesday morning when he was struck by a pickup truck in Blythe, California.

The 84-year-old Gomez, who has been a special assistant for the Angels for many years, was on his home from spring training at the time of the accident. Gomez stopped for gas and after refueling his car, "stepped out around the end of the gas pumps and into the path of a large pickup truck," according to the Blythe police.

Read the rest of this entry>>>

Micah Hoffpauir slugged two home runs to help rally the Cubs from an 8-4 deficit, but then grounded out with the winning run on third with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, leaving the Cubs and Brewers tied at 10 in what was the final Spring Training game for the Cubs in Arizona.

box score

Read the rest of this entry>>>

The Cubs final game in Arizona this spring, as they'll hop on a plane to Vegas to finish off the spring training schedule this weekend versus the Mariners. With the Brewers and Cubs set to play next week, both managers go with minor league pitchers, Cory Bailey versus Mark DiFelice.

Time will tell if the Cubs just lucked out by not acquiring Brian Roberts. His strength wouldn't have been in the field as we already have a solid second baseman in Mark DeRosa. Roberts would have given the Cubs a leadoff switch-hitter with a track record of well above average OBP and basestealing ability. Not making the trade keeps the Cubs farm system talent pool of near MLB ready talent available for the future, whether it be a different transaction or if those prospects develop further, maybe a spot on the roster if an injury occurs. Could Sean Gallagher replace one of our 5 starters if more than one breaks down? Will Eric Patterson become a bona-fide mlb leadoff hitter? Can Jose Ceda or lefty Donald Veal become the power arm that teams drool over with just a little more seasoning? Will Roberts back spasms limit his playing time this year devaluing his baserunning skills and therefore his trade value on a team which needed to completely rebuild with young talent?

I tried to think of deals that were rumored but never happened, but ultimately worked out better than if the trade had occurred. Last year Jacques Jones was almost dealt to the Marlins while being nearly useless to the club the first half of 2007. After that "almost trade" he started hitting again and some would say that was the difference the team needed to make the playoffs.

I'm sure Cubs history is full of rumored deals that never happened giving credence to the cliche that "not making that trade was the best thing that could have happened". So here's a chance for TCR readers to chime in on trades that almost happened (but never did) and the historical hindsight that goes with it.