January 2006

The powers that be here at TCR are unable to attend the Cubs Convention unfortunately. But, I'm guessing a few of you will be fighting the crowds this weekend. So please, drop us your notes in the comment and let us know the buzz filling the event. Who showed up, what's being said, which players have the hottest wives, and if anyone can get a question into Baker or Hendry, please, please ask them why they've soured on Todd Walker and what would possibly possess them into thinking of starting one of the historically worst offensive players of all-time over one of the best offensive 2B in the game today? I demand answers...

The group-prediction project is going great! So far I have 45 entries for Barrett and 29 for Dempster. You can still get predictions in for those two, as well as today's candidate, Henry Blanco:

Catcher 5'11", 220 lb Bats Right, Throws Right Age 34 (DOB 8/29/71) BRef card | ESPN card | BPro card 2005 stats (career highs in bold, lows in italics) 54 G, 161 AB, 39 H, 6 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 16 R, 11 BB, 24 K, 0 SB, 242/287/391

Look at that photo! His "action shot" on Cubs.com is one of him running the bases. Pretty funny. Please send your predicted stats for Blanco to cubreporter @ gmail.com. The categories to be predicted can be found at the initial post. Only predictions sent by email will be included in the final prediction. One other thing -- you'll notice that I'm not asking for predictions on any sort of average (batting, slugging, OBP, ERA). I'm figuring all of those automatically from the counting stats that you're sending in.

Congratulations to ex-Cub reliever Bruce Sutter, just elected to the Hall of Fame. The rest of the ex-Cub candidates didn't fare as well -- Andre Dawson, Goose Gossage, and Lee Smith missed the cut, and Rick Aguilera, Gary Gaetti, and Doug Jones received less than 5% and fell off the ballot. I'm happy to see Sutter get in. He's deserving both as an innovator (he was the first great practicioner of the split-fingered fastball) and due to his performance on the field, and his election makes me hopeful that we're seeing the beginning of a re-eveluation of the pitchers of the first great relief era. I don't know if guys like Smith and Gossage deserve to be in the Hall or not, but I do know that they need to be examined through a lens that isn't distorted by the one-inning-only, 40+ save statistics being put up by today's closers. The complete results, with ex-Cubs in bold:

Bruce Sutter    400     76.9
----- 390 Votes Needed For Election -----
Jim Rice        337     64.8
Rich Gossage    336     64.6
Andre Dawson    317     61.0
Bert Blyleven   277     53.3
Lee Smith       234     45.0
Jack Morris     214     41.2
Tommy John      154     29.6
Steve Garvey    135     26.0
Alan Trammell    92     17.7
Dave Parker      76     14.4
Dave Concepcion  65     12.5
Don Mattingly    64     12.3
Orel Hershiser   58     11.2
Dale Murphy      56     10.8
Albert Belle     40      7.7
----- 26 Votes Needed to Stay on Ballot -----
Will Clark       23      4.4
Dwight Gooden    17      3.3
Willie McGee     12      2.3
Hal Morris        5      1.0
Ozzie Guillen     5      1.0
Gary Gaetti       4      0.8
John Wetteland    4      0.8
Rick Aguilera     3      0.6
Doug Jones        2      0.4
Greg Jefferies    2      0.4
Walt Weiss        1      0.2
Gary DiSarcina    0      0.0
Alex Fernandez    0      0.0

The Cubs have traded Corey Patterson to the Orioles for two minor leaguers. ESPN Radio reports that the players are shortstop Nate Spears and lefthanded pitcher Carlos Perez. We'll gather as much info on these guys as we can find and post it here. * Spears is 21 years old. He was a 5th round pick in the 2003 draft. At High A Frederick last year he hit 294/349/429. From the Orioles Hangout prospect list, where Spears is ranked #14:

20-year old who hits .294 with 42 extra base hits in the Carolina League is something, but what is the real question. Only average defensively and not a speedster on the bases. His 36-82 BB-K ratio is a bit of concern as well. A little guy who doesn't have a projectable frame. If he turns those doubles into homers at a higher level he may become a better prospect, but right now it's hard to project him as more than a lower Division second baseman. He's a baseball rat who continues to beat the odds, so don't bet against him.

* Perez is 24 years old. He was signed as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican in 1999 and has started throughout his time in the minors, which means he has logged nearly 400 professional innings. Lat year at Delmarva (A) he went 11-8, 4.28. In 151 1/3 innings he struck out 146 (8.7 K/9) and walked 61 (3.6 BB/9). He's #36 at Orioles Hangout:

Started off the year like gangbusters. Went 4-4 with a decent 3.08 ERA with 72 strikeouts and 26 walks in 70 innings pitched through his first 13 starts. Lost his command a bit after that stretch and even worse, started to get hit like Mike Timlin in a save situation. Ended up with career highs in just about every category but allowed Sally League batters to hit .280 off him. With less then overwhelming stuff, and at 23-years old, Perez will need to prove more next year at Frederick.

At this point I would have been happy with a bag of used baseballs and a cheeseburger (As long as it was from In N' Out) in exchange for Patterson. Yes, he had five tools, but he misplaced his toolbox in 2003 and even a trip to Iowa last year couldn't help him find it. David Appleman at Hardball Times put into graphic terms what we all knew, which was that Patterson had a really bad year last year. Can he bounce back? Maybe. But it's not like he's a green youngster who is still learning how to play baseball. He's 26 years old, an age at which most players have figured out what works for them and what doesn't. Even more damning is the fact that he has over 2,300 major league plate appearances. That's nearly four full seasons, and it's more than (for example) Mark Bellhorn, Luis Rivas or Robert Fick. Again, he's not someone who has spent only a little bit of time in the majors and it still feeling his way. He's a guy who came up, got established, had some success, and has now settled into a specific style of play that leads to occasional power, guesswork swings, and very low on-base percentage. I didn't want the Cubs to even tender Patterson, so the fact that they're going to not only avoid paying him the millions of dollars he'd get in arbitration (or a new contract), but also get someone (anyone) in exchange for him, makes me happy. Vaya con Dios, Coreylito. May you rediscover the joy of occasionally taking a pitch. If you end up turning things around in Baltimore, I'll be in the front row cheering for you, but I haven't bought any tickets to Camden Yards yet. PS - Bonus points to whoever remembers the last time I used this headline (no peeking in the archives).

We can all go about the business of counting the days until spring training. It appears that Miguel Tejada has mellowed out on his trade demand and he'll be staying put, for now. It could all be a smokescreen from the O's camp to get teams to pony up their offers, but this quote from Orioles GM Jim Duquette makes me think it's on the up and up.

"This is the first time we heard this directly from him. We're elated that he's chosen to stay. We're all committed to improving the team, and it's easier to do it with Miguel than without him."

Doesn't mean Miggy won't change his mind in the middle of the season when the O's are hovering near last place, but for now, I think he's staying put.

Put your pin in the Cub Reporter Frappr! Thanks to Geoff at Ducksnorts for the idea.

ìNice guys finish lastî ñ Leo "The Lip" Durocher The 1965 season closed with the Cubs mired in 8th place in the National League, with a 72-90 record, 25 games behind the N. L. pennant-winning Dodgers. 1965 was the fifth year for the College of Coaches, and the experiment wasnít working. After the season, Cubs Athletic Director Col. Robert Whitlow (USAF ñ RET.) resigned, and there was some question about who P. K. Wrigley would hire to replace him. Two Ton Baker? Bozo the Clown? The Doublemint Twins? Garfield Goose, perhaps?

The Cubs made a few minor league signings official today. Marquis Grissom, Augie Ojeda and Mike Restovich will all get a chance to show off their veteran savvy and catch the eye of the Cubs coaching staff come March. Grissom's old, once upon a time could hit lefites and has a good chance to become next year's Neifi Perez, a vet that Baker has an unhealthy affection towards. Ojeda comes back to the Cubs organization after a brief stop in Minnesota where he actually managed a .339/.429/.458 line in 59 AB's. If you're looking for an example of the dangers of "small sample size", you needn't look any further. He did once make an amazing diving stop to help preserve a Mark Prior complete game that I had the pleasure of attending. A game in which Sammy Sosa launced 2 homers off of Kevin Brown that I still don't believe have landed. Restovich is a corner outfielder that hits a lot like a middle infielder. He was a second round pick of the Twins in 1997 and once upon a time was pretty well touted. At 6-4, 250 you'd expect some power, which he did show at times in the minors, but his offensive game has been seriously lacking at the major league level. He played with the Pirates and Rockies last year. [Ruz:] Rob is too modest to point out that he mentioned the possibility of signing Grissom back in August. I see a glimmer of hope in the Grissom signing. When the Cubs signed Jacque Jones, one of the things I heard (and said) most often was that Jones is a player who should platoon but, because of the size of his contract and Dusty's proclivities, probably won't. With the Grissom signing (and the fact that it's a minor-league deal is merely a formality -- I'd say Grissom is just about a lock to make the team), what the Cubs now have is a suitable platoon partner for Jones that Dusty might actually play. Jones' splits over the last three seasons: Vs. RHP: 280/333/474 Vs. LHP: 238/295/363 And Grissom's: Vs. RHP: 267/299/396 Vs. LHP: 322/359/567 That's some decent pop against lefties. Grip is old, spent much of '05 injured, and will swing at just about anything, but given what we know (or think we know) about Dusty's managerial and lineup construction styles, this is about the best little deal Jim Hendry could have come up with.