The Days of Santo
The easier thing would be to just get up tomorrow, slap on the chinos and a polo and shuffle off to work, as usual. Instead I’ll be up an hour earlier, donning shorts and a t-shirt apropos of the occasion and motoring solo to Chicago for, yeah, Ron Santo Day III (or is it IV? Yes, it’s IV).
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Theo Epstein doesn't have control of Ryan Dempster
This waiting for the Ryan Dempster trade to happen is OUT OF CONTROL!
Or at least it's out of Theo Epstein's control since Dempster has the right to say no to a trade.
Here's what I can figure out:
Soler Attacks Scoreboard with Laser at HoHoKam Park
Jorge Soler drove-in three runs with an infield single and a two-run home run, Ben Carhart blasted a three-run homer, and Shawon Dunston Jr doubled, tripled, and walked, and scored three runs, leading the AZL Cubs to a 9-2 thrashing of the AZL Indians in Arizona League action this evening at HoHoKam Park in Mesa.
Dempster "Blindsided" by Trade, Confused by Baseball's News Cycle
So the latest on the Dempster saga is that Ryan Dempster was "blindsided" by the trade yesterday and because of this, he's going to take the full week to decide. Rumors are that he strongly prefers to go the Dodgers and seems to be trying to push the Cubs into accepting a deal from them, although it certainly won't be as good as getting Randall Delgado from the Braves.
Other things Dempster has been blindsided by (a few I'm stealing from Twitter):
- His Birthday
- the birth of his chidren
- the start of the season
- spring training
- warmer temperatures in the summer
Yeah, it would have been great if the Cubs got to him before the news leaked out, but you work in a multi-billion dollar business with reporters that are good at their job, throwing a temper tantrum over it isn't particularly professional.
1st Round Pick Leads Cubs to Victory in 1st Pro Game
In his third AB in just his first professional game, Cubs 2012 1st round draft pick Albert Almora (Mater Academy - Hialeah Gardens, FL) blasted a two-run HR over the LF fence and onto the berm in front of the scoreboard to cap a three-run 5th, leading the AZL Cubs to a 7-3 victory over the AZL Brewers in Arizona League action tonight at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.
Braves Appear to Win the Ryan Dempster Lotto
David O'Brien started it all with a tweet saying that the Braves were close to finalizing a deal for a starting pitcher and then Jon Heyman, Jerry Crasnick and Jason Stark said it was Ryan Dempster.
Soler Wind Blows Two-Run Bomb
Dan Vogelbach ripped an RBI single through the 3.5 hole and Jorge Soler followed with a 420-ft two-run HR over the berm beyond the left-centerfield fence to highlight a three-run 4th, but the AZL Reds scored six runs over the final five innings and defeated the AZL Cubs 6-4 in Arizona League action tonight at HoHoKam Park in Mesa.
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The Last Heel Click
Ron Santo, HOF. Bittersweet, yet hasn't that been the Cub way in Ronnie's life?
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Sol-Era Begins with a Whimper at HoHoKam Park
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Recent comments
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
For sure. This lineup isn’t exactly stacked as is, and subbing out a Cooper or even a Tauchman for Madrigal won’t do it any favors.
crunch (view)
the ESPN bottom graphic taking up 1/8th of the screen sucks.
i only use ESPN during baseball season and i'm forced to watch a baseball broadcast designed to be broadcast in sports bars and betting parlors where the news/scores of other games is as important as what you're actually tuned in to watch.
crunch (view)
morel triple to start the season....yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Arizona Phil (view)
LHP Blake Weiman appears to have been the last cut from the AAA Iowa roster. He is with the Tennessee group at Minor League Camp.
crunch (view)
bruce bochy is hobbling rather badly for a guy who's had 2 hip replacements. his gait is extremely wonky taking the lineup card to the ump.
crunch (view)
yeah, for me this isn't about who's better at 3rd. it's madrigal, period. for me it's about who's not hitting in the lineup because madrigal is in the lineup.
occasional play at 3rd for madrigal, okay. going with the steele/ground-ball matchup...meh, but okay, whatever.
seeing madrigal get significant starting time...no thanks.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
Yeah I am very disappointed Madrigal is starting. He has no business as a starter. He is AAA insurance, a back up at best. Sure his defense looks fine because he plays far enough in that his noodle arm isn’t totally exposed. It comes at the cost of 3B range.
He’s garbage, and a team serious about winning would NOT have him starting opening day.
crunch (view)
in other news, it took 3 PA before a.rizzo got his 1st HBP of the season.
Eric S (view)
With two home runs (so far) and 5 rbi today … clearly Nick Martini is the straw that stirs the Reds drink 😳
crunch (view)
madrigal at 3rd...morel at DH.
making room for madrigal or/and masterboney to get a significant amount of ABs is a misuse of the roster. if it needed to get taken care of this offseason, they had tons of time to figure that out.
morel played almost exclusively at 3rd in winter ball and they had him almost exclusively there all spring when he wasn't DH'ing.
madrigal doing a good job with the glove for a bit over 2 chances per game...is that worth more than what he brings with the bat 4-5 PA a game? it's 2024 and we got glenn beckert 2.0 manning 3rd base.
this is a tauchman or cooper DH situation based on bat, alone. cooper is 3/7 with a double off eovaldi if you want to play the most successful matchup.
anyway, i hope this is a temporary thing, not business as usual for the rest of the season. it will be telling if morel is not used at 3rd when an extreme fly ball pitcher like imanaga is on the mound.