VFTB

Morning Cuppa Joe: Carlos Marmol Injured

By Joe Aiello  |  Posted in General  

Carlos Marmol was injured in a car accident in the Dominican Republic (Source) - “Out of precaution they did different studies on my body, and I don’t have any kind of serious injury” Do you think that involved any kind of test on his shoulder after Lou pitched his arm off? I’m curious to see what route the Cubs are going to go this off-season with the Marmol and Wood situation. Marmol will be here and if Wood returns, you have to think the roles will remain the same. If Wood moves on, Marmol would step into the closer’s role, but is he ready?

The Reds have paved the way for the Cubs to bring back Corey Patterson (Source) - Obviously you know I’m kidding when I say that, but I found it funny that amid all the rumors that Patterson was getting his freak on with Dusty’s daughter, the Reds have decided not to bring back the one time prized prospect in the Cubs system. Question of the day then becomes. Would you rather rely on Corey Patterson or Felix Pie for your centerfield future? In other news, Shawn Estes also became a free agent. Anyone interested? Anyone?

Could Jim Hendry leave the team? Anything is possible. (Source) - “In recent days, the Cubs’ brass have taken the first steps toward convincing general manager Jim Hendry to stay with the team.” Wow, that’s something I hadn’t heard before today. I thought Hendry was happy here, and maybe he is. The fact that he can opt out never even came to my mind. Awhile back some might have been in favor of this, but I like Jim Hendry and the job he has done with this team in his tenure. It would be a disaster if he were to leave this off-season, especially if it happened in December.

Rich Harden decision not made yet. (Source) - Carrie Muskat mentions that Jim Hendry is still weighing his options on this one. I’m not worried about it one bit. I fully expect him to be back and ready to go for this team in 2009. That’s not to say that I see him making 32+ starts.

I genuinely feel bad for Fukudome. - So many people have hated on the guy and trashed him. “My record as an individual wasn’t good at all, and I’m sorry that I disappointed some of the fans who had really high regards for me.” That was what Fukudome had to say and I would imagine it was a hit to the pride to say it. Call me a softy, but I’ve forgiven him for the bad season and I’m ready to embrace him come next year.

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If I Were King

By cubbiedude  |  Posted in General  

As will soon become obvious, there are plenty of reasons why I’m neither the Manager nor the General Manager of the Chicago Cubs. But Joe Aiello asked me to play “King For A Day”, so here goes.

For the purposes of this Off-Season drill, I will assume that the Cubs Organization, under its new ownership, has beaucoup bucks; enough $$ to do all the things I suggest without blinking an eye.

Since we have two totally different performances (2008 Regular Season and 2008 Post Season) upon which to base our decisions, there will be a degree of cognitive dissonance inherent to the process. Fasten your seatbelts.

Lou says we need good pitching, good defense and timely hitting. I agree, and we’ll address each of those requirements in that order.

PITCHING
I have confidence in the starting rotation of Ryan Dempster, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano. From what I’ve seen recently Angel Guzman, Sean Marshall or Jason Marquis could be the #5 starter in 2009.

Now we get into the intangibles. Guzman looked good during his two innings in Milwaukee. I could go with him as the #5 starter based upon that. Marshall looked good in LA against the first 3 batters he faced, but then he gave up a double to DeWitt and was gone in a flash. Maybe there are some historical negatives in his resume that I’m missing. Marquis was superb against the Mets, but since then not so good.

For now I call Guzman our #5 starter and bump Marquis and Marshall to the bullpen in the hope that one or both will become the middle reliever we desperately need.

Carlos Marmol was lights out Saturday night mowing down five in a row. Neal Cotts fired three Ks in the LA’s eighth inning Saturday, but walked the only man he faced on Thursday. Decision time for King Cubbie Dude. OK, Marmol and Kerry Wood will alternate the Closer role. Cotts and Samardzija stay in the bullpen and may serve as set-up men. Gaudin, Hart, Howry, Wells and Wuertz become expendable. I keep Wells and Wuertz if I can.

Just for insurance, and to help in the eventual 2009 postseason, I sign CC Sabathia and Jonathon Broxton.

DEFENSE
Geovany Soto remains my catcher with Henry Blanco as his backup.

Aramis Ramirez remains at 3B, Ryan Theriot at SS, Mark DeRosa at 2B, and Derrek Lee stays at 1B. Cedeno, Fontenot, Hoffpauir and McGehee stay in supporting roles. Daryle Ward is gone.

Since I have lawyers, guns and money at my disposal, Rafael Furcal may be joining our infield. Albert Pujols, too.

I really like Alfonso Soriano’s arm in left field. Did you see his throw to 3B Saturday night? That was surgically precise, if there is such a thing. Unfortunately, Alfonso’s arm is attached to the rest of him, and I’m just not that fond of the rest of him at the moment. So the Fonz is gone and Manny Ramirez joins us in left field. That was easy. Kosuke Fukudome is our new center fielder. Jim Edmonds is retiring. Reed Johnson and Felix Pie will platoon right field. Unless Manny can’t make it, in which case either Reed or Felix moves to left.

HITTING
The lack of offense killed us in the postseason. Of this there is no doubt. As King, I have tried to fix that problem by hiring Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols and Rafael Furcal. In addition to those acquisitions, however, I’m gonna bust a move in a different direction.

Rather than hire guys with a history of hitting and then cross my fingers hoping they continue to hit here (I’m not mentioning any names), I’m going to invest big time and create a cabinet level hitting department. I can’t get Ted Williams to head it up, but dammit, somebody is out there who can coach and instruct and motivate and get our guys to provide the offense we need. I’m gonna find that person and build around him. And it’s gonna work. The 2009 Cubs will be a hitting machine: pre, regular and post season.

As you can see, I don’t believe in the “Fire Everybody, Start Over” method of team building. We have a good team. I want to keep the good parts and improve where there’s room for improvement.

I may travel to Arizona in February to personally oversee the implementation of my plan to dominate the world of professional baseball. I’m considering it.

So, for now, that’s my plan and I’m sticking to it!

P.S. I also plan to petition MLB and insist that, henceforth, all Wrigley Field Postseason Games will be day games starting at 1:20 pm CST. Who the hell ever heard of starting an October game at Wrigley at 9:00 pm? Bad Karma. Screw the Extremely Annoying BiCoastal Media Jackals.

Trade Carlos Zambrano - My Offseason Plan for the World Series

By Joe Aiello  |  Posted in General  

That got your attention, didn’t it? The truth is, I’m dead serious. I’d like to present to you my plan for the offseason as we head toward winning the World Series in 2009. In begins with a drastic move, a bold move that demands teams take notice of Jim Hendry and the Cubs. The move? Trading Carlos Zambrano.

All year we heard that the Cubs needed a move to bring in another starter and we did. Rich Harden came in, pitched well, and in the end it was our hitting that let us down in the playoffs. Say what you will about how pitching wins in the playoffs, but the Cubs have done everything humanly possible to disprove that age old theory in the past two years. We’ve seen the team beat itself and virtually go hitless. Now, I’m proposing we fix that issue with a move to bring in some of the hitting needed.

Move # 1 - Trade Carlos Zambrano and Mark DeRosa to the New York Yankees for Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

The snag with this move is Zambrano’s no trade clause. If you can get him to waive that to have the opportunity to play for the pinstripes, this deal works. In my mind, and obviously I may be wrong on this, Phil Hughes value is lower than the Yankees would have hoped. He struggled in both the Major Leagues as well as AAA this season and forced the Yankees to turn to guys like Carl Pavano and Sidney Ponson. He and Kennedy would give the Cubs two promising young arms to begin to build around. They would be able to slot into the rotation near the back and compete with the likes of Sean Marshall and Jason Marquis for those last few spots in the rotation. Cano would allow the Cubs to have a left handed bat in the lineup that doesn’t strikeout a good amount of times. He hits for above average power and has the potential to one day be a 25 - 30 homerun guy. He’s coming off a down year and because of the need for starting pitching, becomes expendable for Brian Cashman, who loves to move the farm and leave the team with a thin prospect pipeline.

For the Cubs, moving Zambrano makes sense for the simple fact that many may not agree with. He’s now an injury risk. He wasn’t himself down the stretch and was forced to get a cortisone shot to even pitch. For years we’ve seen him take the ball each and every day and never had injury concerns…until 2008. It’s time to move him before he becomes an all to familiar problem for Cub fans. We’ve had our share of arm injuries to franchise pitchers, and I’m not in the mood for another. We had a chance to move Mark Prior back in the day for Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada. In the end, we got nothing for him. Let’s not let that happen with Zambrano.

On the Mark DeRosa front, it would be tough to lose him. He’s one of the most likeable Cubs and was one of the most valuable members of this team over the past two years. He’s versatile and has nothing but a good attitude about he. Sometimes you have to give up to get something in return, and DeRosa would be an appealing replacement for Cano in the lineup.

Move # 2 - Sign Raul Ibanez to a one year deal with a mutual option for a second.

Ibanez doesn’t get much praise as a quality left handed stick, but the truth of the matter is that he has driven in 100+ runs over the past three seasons, all while playing for a bad Seattle team. At 37 years old, he’s not going to warrant a long term deal. He would provide another quality left handed bat in the OF and could play RF for the team next year as well as fill in for Soriano in LF and Derrek Lee at 1B. What would that mean for Fukudome? Just wait and find out.

Move # 3 - Resign Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster and Reed Johnson and pick up the option for Rich Harden.

These guys all deserve to come back and it’s important to reward them for a job well done all year. All four were welcomed surprises to the team this year and I feel all will be important in the 2009 run as well. Some may worry that Wood and Harden will break down or that Dempster and Johnson were just flashes in the pan. With any move comes risk, but Wood and Harden still have electric stuff. Dempster played a vital role as the ace and seems to have figured out his issues with tipping pitches. Johnson found a role on this team in the platoon and that can help Felix Pie in the long run.

Conclusion - The Cubs have the tools to make it to the World Series in 2009. I liked this team coming into 2008 and I don’t think it needs much tweaking. Sometimes you just go cold at the worst possible times and for the Cubs it’s happened to the bats the past two years. In my mind we were the best NL team this year and in the end, we went home early. Tough break.

That’s it for the off-season. Here is my opening day roster for the season.

Catcher (2) - Geovany Soto, Koyie Hill

Infield (6) - Derrek Lee, Robinson Cano, Ryan Theriot, Aramis Ramirez, Mike Fontenot, Ronny Cedeno

Outfield (5) - Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie, Reed Johnson, Raul Ibanez, Kosuke Fukudome

Starters (5) - Rich Harden, Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster, Jason Marquis, Sean Marshall

Relievers (7) - Chad Gaudin, Michael Wuertz, Jeff Samardzija, Carlos Marmol, Neal Cotts, Kerry Wood, Angel Guzman

Down on the Farm

In addition to the 25 man roster, we’re presented with a bright future with possible reinforcements down below. Here are some notables.

• Micah Hoffpauir (1B / RF)
• Wellington Castillo (C) - Hit .292 / .362 / .414 in AA in 57 games
• Casey McGehee (IF)
• Josh Kroeger (OF)
• Jake Fox (1B)
• Ian Kennedy (SP)
• Phil Hughes (SP)
• Rich Hill (SP)
• Mitch Atkins (SP)
• Donald Veal (SP)
• Jose Ceda (MR)
• Jose Ascanio (MR)
• Kevin Hart (MR/SP)
• Dumas Garcia (MR)
• Andrew Cashner (MR)

BOHICA

By cubbiedude  |  Posted in General  

I’m floating in a dream sequence. It’s not the least bit unpleasant. There is music. These are the words I’m hearing:

There’s a place for us
Somewhere, a place for us
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us,
Somewhere

There’s a time for us
Someday, a time for us
Time together with time to spare
Time to learn, time to care
Someday,Somewhere

We‘ll find a new way of living
We’ll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere

There’s a place for us
A time and a place for us
Hold my hand and we’re halfway there
Hold my hand and I’ll take you there
Somehow, Someday, Somewhere

You might recognize the words to the song “Somewhere” from West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The particular version I’m hearing is by Tom Waits from the “Blue Valentine” project. (Hey, it’s my dream sequence and I can pipe in what ever music I want.)

In MY dream, however, the play is titled “North Side Story”, and the place is, of course, Wrigley Field. Someday is this past baseball season. Or the one before that. Or any season before that. Or next year. In my dream, time is pretty fluid.

The Chicago Cubs’ 2008 Postseason ended a few hours ago, but I’m feeling OK. My secret is something which I will refer to in the comedic sense as “A Paradigm Shift”.

Simply stated, I’m not thinking of this very short postseason as a big disappointment. Rather, I’m thinking of the 2008 Regular Season as the most spectacular Chicago Cubs Baseball Season of my life. I’m serious. And it works for me. I’m just happy that I was here to enjoy it.

The way I (choose to) see it, we were doing just fine, and things were chugging along magnificently, until these Extremely Vulgar BiCoastal Media Jackals appeared out of nowhere, crashed our party, and brought everything to a screeching halt. Full stop.

Because up until then, it was our party. They hijacked our party and it became their disgusting “Celebration of BS Fest”. And that’s where I get off. In case I wasn’t sure before, when I saw an entire stadium full of people waving white “Hankies”, that’s when I knew for sure that I was in the wrong place. And the directors at TBS are showing this as if to demonstrate that “something is really happening here”. Which only emphasizes that “nothing is happening here”.

I’m not going to play “The Blame Game” in trying to explain why the Cubs’ postseason ended so prematurely. I suppose there are some lingering questions which a reasonable person might reasonably ask one’s self. Such as:
- What happened to Sean Dempster in Game 1? Answer, I don’t know.
- What happened to our entire infield in Game 2? Answer, I don’t know.
- How come our leadoff man went 0 for 5 in Game 3? Answer, I don’t know.
- How come our leadoff man went 1 for 14 in the Playoffs? Answer, I don’t know.
- How come the #2 hole in our lineup went 2 for 12 in the Playoffs? Answer, I don’t know.
- Could the Cubs’ Hitting Coach use a little additional help? Answer, I don’t know.
- How come Ted Lilly and Kerry Wood and Reed Johnson saw no action at all in the Playoffs? Answer, once again, I don’t know.

I’m not blaming anyone.

The thing is, there was this enormous positive energy generated during the regular season. And then, in what seemed like only a heartbeat, all of that positive energy was redirected by events into an even bigger negative energy. But, as Albert Einstein demonstrated, energy doesn’t go away. It just changes form. Or it doesn’t.

So we can use this enormous energy, currently negative, and rechannel it into something equally but oppositely positive, like say, an artistic creation or a web site creation, or something. Or, as Duke Ellington said, you can sublimate the energy from a negative experience, using it as the inspiration to create a positive musical composition.

Or, if you are not careful, the negative energy can auger in deeper, dragging you downward to depths of depression from which you might not recover. I would not recommend this last course of action.

Like I said, I’m not gonna dwell on the Playoff Series. That was somebody else’s party. A Hankie party. I’m going back to my dream sequence, reliving the most spectacular Chicago Cubs regular season of my life.

I will leave you now with these thoughts, which have served me well over the past 12 hours or so, and beyond.

Do not underestimate the value of lowered expectations.

All good things come to an end.

Nothin’ Lasts Forever (by Delbert McClinton).

And never forget - tears are a form of wealth - you earned ‘em.

Until the Levee Breaks

By Matt Jacobs  |  Posted in General  

 I posted an early version of someone’s work to Eddie Vedder’s tribute to being a Cubs fan, “All the Way” a few weeks back.  I lamented that it wasn’t the greatest work I’d ever seen, but for the time being it was good.  I’ve spent the last few evenings working on this, for my own sanity, and now I’ll post in hopes that it brings the Cubbie faithful some peace before this evening’s storm.   Hopefully, I’ll see everyone Tuesday night.  I’ll be the one screaming his head off, because by that point, I know we’ll be going “All the Way.”