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TCR Afternoon Notes
Alright, here's my half-ass plan for the next few weeks...try to get one of those offseason target posts up sometime in the morning and then some type of quick notes/news of the moment update in the afternoon or early evening if there's enough news out there and if Phil doesn't have an update from Arizona. I will inevitably fail at keeping up that pace...
- Naples, Florida is making their run at the Cubs to be their new home for spring training.
The Cubs’ 25-year lease with the city of Mesa expires in 2016. However, the team has an escape clause, allowing them to pay $4.2 million to the city next spring in order to leave Mesa in 2012.
That's a pretty well-done and detailed article at the link, so I encourage everyone to check it out. I will say while it's probably better for many Chicago residents, who I know would prefer the shorter trip to Florida, it would likely mean the demise of Arizona Phil here at TCR, so suck it up and write a letter to Ricketts that you want the Cubs to stay in Arizona.
- Things are going well for Jeff Samardzija in Winter Ball....
gave up four runs, five hits, and four walks over five innings in Mexicali's 9-4 win over Navojoa on Sunday
- Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan will be back next year for the Cardinals and LaRussa is dragging Mark McGwire back with him as their new hitting coach. It's the holy coaching trinity of cheaters...
- Speaking of managers, Manny Acta will helm the Cleveland Indians for the next three years, but only because the Astros have some odd policy of not going past two years on a manager contract. Rob Neyer rightfully takes the Astros to task for their odd line in the sand. David Clark, Phil Garner or Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills seem to be the final candidates now.
- Neyer is on fire today, taking on a Mike Celizic article that goes after Joe Giradi for overmanaging...
...For the most part, at this time of the year all a manager can do is wind up his players and send them off to battle like little tin soldiers. Maybe Girardi really has been guilty of overmanaging; if so, he's overmanaged his team to the World Series and lost only two games along the way. I suspect that a lot of teams would love to be overmanaged so well.
Similarly, it would make no more sense to move Chone Figgins down this month than for Larry Dierker to have moved Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell down, amid all their October struggles. Or to have moved Willie Mays down, or Joe Morgan. All of these brilliant players struggled in October, and their managers did what you have to do with struggling superstars: leave them alone and hope for the best.
Well not sure about Chone Figgins being a superstar, but you get the point.
- After failing miserably on my NLDS choices, I did better when I re-picked at the LCS games (sorry, can't find the link but I had Phillies in 6 and Yankees in 7) and I did pick the Yankees from the beginning. I know, that's a helluva a limb a climbed out on. Of course, it was a sad evening in the G family household last night as the Angel Fan Wife was visibly distraught after the Angels case of the yips last night in the 8th inning. I'll stick with the Yankees of course for the World Series, I say 6 games.
- Be sure to check out the right sidebar for payroll, minor league free agent and Rule 5 info courtesy of the aforementioned Arizona Phil.
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