November 2006

In my lifetime, the Chicago Cubs organization has designated 19 different men as "manager." Those 19 include the undefeated Rene Lachemann, with a career record as Cubs manager of 1-0, and the hapless Joe Altobelli, at 0-1. There are the thoroughly mediocre records of Jim Lefebvre (162-162) and John Vukovich (1-1), which in the context of Cubs history, are actually quite impressive. When I learned in October that there would be a 20th Cubs manager in my lifetime, I began wondering, "who in their right mind would accept this professional death-sentence?" There's the whole 98-year thing, of course, but more practically, the Big Office in the Cubs' clubhouse is where managerial careers go to die. Throwing out Vukovich, Altobelli, and Lachemann, who collectively managed four games, and we have 16 Cubs managers in the last 30 years of Cubs baseball. Of those 16, 12 had prior managerial experience. They are:

Herman Franks Preston Gomez Charlie Fox Jim Frey Gene Michael Frank Lucchesi Don Zimmer Jim Lefebvre Tom Treblehorn Jim Riggleman Don Baylor Dusty Baker

The four without any previous major league experience, by the way, are:

Joey Amalfitano Lee Elia Jim Essian Bruce Kimm

Here's where it gets interesting. (At least, for me.) The collective managerial record of those 16, in their jobs before coming to the Cubs, is 4229-4282, for a .497 winning percentage. Almost perfectly average. Then, they arrived in Chicago.

Player A: Contract: 3 years (2006-2008), $16,000,000 Ages: 31-33 Career: .280/.328/.461/.789 amd 11 SB/162 Games A noodle-armed left-handed hitting right-fielder who struggles (to be generous) against left-handed pitching, he's also a great "hustle" and "character" guy. Player B: Contract: 5 years, $55,000,000 Ages: 32-36 Career: .263/.336/.419/.755 and 12 SB/162 Games A switch-hitter who can play all OF positions adequately and will appear on Sports Center with a couple of ridiculous Web Gems. Also a great "hustle" and "character" guy. Player C: Contract: 5 years, $44,000,000 Ages: 29-32 Career: .303/.350/.377/.727 and 52 SB/162 Games A noodle-armed left-handed hitting CFer. Yet another great "hustle" and "character" guy. Also a "True Leadoff Man" And just for kicks, Player D: Contract: Near league-minimum for 2007-2008, Arbitration Elgible 2009-2011, FA 2012 Ages: 25-29 Career: .303/.370/.462/.832 and 6 SB/162 Games A noodle-armed left-fielder who sometimes looks ugly out there, but by at least one measure has good range. Also considered a great "hustle" guy. I take it that you can figure out who these four gentlemen are. Player A is suddenly looking a lot more appealing than he did when he signed that contract last year. Player D looks golden. Or maybe that's just the sheen from his hair. Update Player E (as in Lee): Contract: 6 years, $100,000,000 Ages: 31-36 Career: .286/.340/.495/.835 and 13 SB/162 Games A right-handed hitting left-fielder with possible weight issues and a reputation for attitude problems/basic jerk-ness. The contract the Astros just handed Lee, in conjunction with the Pierre and Matthews contracts, is beginning to make that Soriano deal almost sort of look like something kind of reasonable. What's your early vote for the most ridiculous contract this off-season?

Althouugh no official announcement has been made by the Cubs, LHP Ryan O'Malley and OF Miguel Negron have quietly been removed from the Cubs 40-man roster. I suspect both have been Designated for Assignment, with their final disposition TBD within 10 days.

With today being the deadline for moving players from the minor leagues to the 40-man roster, the Cubs announced today that they have added LHP Clay Rapada and RHP Rocky Cherry to their 40-man reserve list. All players still remaining on a Cubs minor league roster will remain "frozen" (cannot be added to the 40-man roster and cannot be traded) until after the conclusion of the Rule 5 Draft, which will be held on December 7th at the MLB Winter Meetings. If any player currently on a Cub minor league roster is to be part of a trade consummated sometime in the next couple of weeks, that player will have to be identified as a"Player to be Named Later" (PTBNL), and cannot be named until the Rule 5 Draft concludes. Although players on minor league rosters are now "frozen," players on major league 40-man rosters are not. Players on MLB 40-man rosters can be traded, and players on MLB 40-man rosters can even be assigned outright to the minors during the "frozen" period. Also, free-agents can be signed to minor league contracts and can be assigned to a minor league club during this period. By adding Rapada and Cherry, the Cubs would seem to now have 42 players on their 40-man roster, which (of course) is not allowed. So the only obvious explanation is that apparently Mark DeRosa and Alfonso Soriano have yet to be officially added to the Cubs roster, because no other roster moves were made today. Some of you may remember the same thing happened last year when Bob Howry was signed as a free-agent, but wasn't officially added to the Cubs 40-man roster for several days. But at least two more roster moves will need to be made in the near future, possibly by means of a a two-fer-one or three-fer-one trade for a starting pitcher. A lanky side-armin' slinger who is death on left-handed hitters, the 25-year old Rapada was THE best reliever I saw in the Arizona Fall League this year. I believe he can pitch in the big leagues right now. Signed out of Virginia State University by Cubs "bird dog" scout Billy Swoope in 2002, Rapada is notable for being a one-time "Non-drafted Free-Agent" (NDFA) who made good. Cherry, 27, was drafted by the Cubs out of the University of Oklahoma in the 14th round of the 2002 Rule 4 Draft (June Draft), but didn't sign until January 2003. He made his pro debut at Boise that season. The Rock underwent Tommy John transplannt surgery in 2005, after suffering a torn elbow ligament. A starter earlier in his career, Cherry returned to action this season, working out of the bullpen at AA West Tenn (Cherry and Rapada were an extremely effective 1-2 punch out of the DiamondJaxx pen). Like Rapada, Cherry pitched well-enough to earn a mid-season promotion to AAA Iowa. Showing a mid-90's heater and a devastating breaking ball, Rocky was supposedly about to be called up to the Cubs when he suffered a season-ending finger injury that required surgery.

Bruce Miles points out this little tidbit which seems to mesh with what Lou apparently said on the radio last night that Soriano would be a corner outfielder.

Most reports had the Cubs looking at Soriano as a center fielder, but sources said Sunday that the Cubs will put Soriano in right. That means Jacque Jones (whose injured left shoulder prevented him from throwing well in 2006) will go from right to center with the Cubs, if they donít trade Jones, hoping for the best.

I mentioned in the comments yesterday that I would be surprised but certainly not shocked if the Cubs still ended up signing J.D. Drew or Julio Lugo to play center field and if Jacque Jones becomes the expendable outfielder over Matt Murton, let's say I shall be pleased. I guess the assumption was always that Murton was going to be shown the door or the bench but Jones suddenly has an extremely cheap contract for a guy with a decent lefty bat, who can go get them in the outfield and could be a valuable trading chip for a team trying to compete in the now. It's just some speculation at the moment, but it could be an interesting twist. I'll weigh in some more on this whole adventure once the contract details are clear. It's seems to waiver between 6/90 with option years for the 7th and 8th or a straight 8/136 and there's supposedly a full no-trade clause for the first five years (until Soriano becomes a 10/5 man and the no-trade becomes automatic) as well.

Ken Rosenthal at Foxsports.com is reporting the Cubs are on the verge of signing Alfonso Soriano. The first paragraph alludes to an eight year deal but it's not really clear if that's what is being offered or what Alfonso is asking for. If true, when did George Steinbrenner buy the team? UPDATE: Yahoo is confirming the story via an ESPN 1000 report that it is an eight year deal for $136 million. I guess the Cubs were serious about that whole winning the World Series thing. The years are ridiculous, the money is ridiculous and I'm pretty sure Soriano isn't that great of a player and definitely won't be in eight years. But for today, I'll have a little smile on my face knowing the Cubs picked up the two best free agent pieces off the board.

In our first Spring Training story of the year, six players recently signed by the Cubs to 2007 minor league contracts have received Non-Rroster Invitations (NRIs) to Spring Training: * bats or throws left # bats both Jason Anderson, RHP # Koyie Hill, C Ben Howard, RHP * Jason Smith, IF-OF * Les Walrond, LHP John Webb, RHP If some of the names sound familiar, it's probably because all six have at least some MLB experience. Webb and Smith are both one-time members of the Cubs organization, both have done time on the Cubs 40-man roster, and both were rated as Top 10 Cubs Prospects by Baseball America at various times (Smith in 1999, and Webb in 2001). Smith was one of two players sent to Tampa Bay for Fred McGriff in July 2001, and Webb was claimed off outright waivers by the Devil Rays in February 2004 after suffering a broken leg while walking his dog during the off-season. (Tough break). Now 27, Webb has evolved into a jouneyman AAA rotation starter, spending last season in the Cardinals organization. But Jason Smith would appear to have something to offer. An athletic left-handed hitter who started his career as a shortstop, Smith is capable of playing all four infield positions and both corner outfield spots. In 49 games with the Colorado Rockies in 2006, he hit .263 with five HR in just 107 PA. In 166 career MLB games with TB, DET, and COL (about equal to one full season's worth of games), Smith has gone 230/260/385, with 11 HR, 10 doubles, eight triples, and nine SB (12 CS). Depending on who else Jim Hendry is able to sign this off-season, Smith, who is now 29, might have an outside chance to win a bench job with the Cubs in 2007. A lefty "swingman" and a one-time Kansas Jayhawk, Walrond had some previous MLB experience with the KC Royals in 2003 before signing a minor league contract with the Cubs after the 2005 season. Walrond received an invitation to Spring Training with the Cubs, but was sent to Iowa after failing to make Dusty Baker's Opening Day pitching staff. Walrond had a decent year at AAA Iowa that earned him a September call-up with the big club, and Les showed a pretty good strikeout pitch with the Cubs (21 K in 17 IP). Unfortunately, between the punch-outs he was pretty bad (6.23 ERA and 1.79 WHIP). Walrond is 30 years old. A switch-hitting catcher, Koyie Hill played college ball at Wichita State and is a one-time BA Dodgers Top 10 Prospect (2003-04) who failed to seize opportunities over the past couple of years with the Diamondbacks after being acquired by Arizona from the Dodgers in the 2004 Steve Finley trade. Hill suffered a broken ankle in August 2004 shortly after arriving in Arizona, and that likely has had a negative impact on his career. But he is an MLB-ready catcher, and he could be a viable back-up catcher for the Cubs in 2007 in case anything happens to Barrett or Blanco. Hill will turn 28 during Spring Training. Jason Anderson, who pitched collegiately at the University of Illinois, got into 28 games (combined) as a middle reliever with the Yankees and the Mets in 2003, and Ben Howard is a one-time 2nd round draft pick of the San Diego Padres and BA Top 10 Padres Prospect (2002-04) who got six starts with the Pads in 2003 before getting traded to Florida in 2004, where he got into 31 games out of the bullpen (5.50 ERA & 1.54 WHIP). However, both Anderson and Howard have settled into life as AAA middle relievers, and "considerable AAA experience" is their primary attribute at this point. Both are presently 27 years old, although Howard will turn 28 in January.

With Tim Wilken and all of the Cubs scouts from around the world watching from the picnic area above and behind the third base grandstand, the Mesa Solar Sox hosted the first-place Phoenix Desert Dogs at HoHoKam Park in Mesa last night.

Organizational meetings started yesterday in Arizona but still very little on the rumor front. The Cubs did hire former A's hitting coach Gerald Perry to fill out the coaching staff. He use to work under Piniella in Seattle from 2000-2002. If you go read the press release linked above, you'll notice an unusual amount of stress put on OBP and walks for the teams that Perry was a coach. We can only hope it carries over to the Cubs. - An expose on Lou Piniella in USA Today confirms a bit of the Cubs game plan.

"Just get me two starting pitchers, two position players, and, I'm telling you, we'll win."

Piniella seems to indicate that Soriano, Zito and Schmidt are on the top of the Cubs wish list. There's also a mention that Hendry is pretty confident he'll bring back Ramirez, but not so much on Pierre. If Pierre does leave, Matthews Jr. could move to the top of the list. Don't expect any bullpen signings but the bench will get an overhaul with a stress on power bats. And if you read between the lines, you get the sense that Murton is going to get moved to the bench for a power upgrade. There are also mentions of Ted Lilly, Miguel Batista, Vicente Padilla and Jeff Weaver along with a $115 million payroll but they don't seem to be direct quotes from Lou himself.

The free agent period gates open up next week, hundreds of ballplayers and their agents on one side, thirty GM's waving contracts on the other. Let's hope one of them isn't Aramis Ramirez. Here's a rundown of the names bandied about in some rumors and trades that I've read in the mass media. 2B - Mark Derosa CF - Alfonso Soriano, Gary Matthews Jr., Vernon Wells 3B - Nomar Garciaparra LF - Carlos Lee, Gary Sheffield P - Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jason Schmidt, Ted Lilly, Miguel Batista, Hiroki Kuroda, Kei Igawa, Aaron Heilman And of course all the incumbents like Ramirez, Wood and Pierre. Jimbo likes to hold his cards close though and organizational meetings begin Tuesday, so I imagine the beat writers will be kind enough to feed us rumor vultures with a few more bits over the next week. A few new ones from today... - More Marcus Giles trade talks although this one has him in a move to the Padres to play with his brother and move to 3b. - Some of the teams that dropped out of the Matsuzaka race may have done so because Boras told them Matsuzaka wasn't interested in playing for them, specifically the Dodgers (I like the guy already) and Mariners (didn't want to play under Ichiro's shadow). - Kind of a throw away at boston.com in there that the Cubs are on the block for $1 billion dollars. The Nomar to the Cubs mention is in there as well. The $1 billion does make sense, I believe the Cubs are valued around $600 million or so and I'm guessing Tribco would like even a little more to cover the problems with their other businesses. So start saving those pennies. And go Bears!!

I really didn't intend to do one of these again today as there isn't much news and I was working on something else, but the comments have gotten out of control on the last post so I'm going to shut those down and hope cooler heads will prevail. Bruce Miles of The Daily Herald answered some message board fodder over at Northside Baseball. A lot of interesting stuff he touches on. A few of the hot topics: - He says the Score report yesterday doesn't jive with his sources and his people tell him it will likely go down to Nov 11th. Stresses the whole two sides to the negotiation and that Kinzer and Co. are going to milk this for everything it's worth. - Kinzer is part of Adam Katz's agency and last time they signed Aramis, Katz swooped in the last minute with a lot of changes and sweeteners. - Cubs are warming up to OBP as Miles stated that Pierre's low OBP got the Cubs' attention. - Out clause was a Macphail creation at the last minute - Hendry probably trusted Ramirez and agent's stated desire to stay a little too much. - Rumor has that Soriano wants a full no-trade clause and the Phils are quite reluctant to offer that, preferring a limited no-trade clause. - Lee Elia resigned from the O's citing a desire to spend time with his family. He may take a scouting gig or something but doesn't want a job requiring lots of travel. - Cleveland and San Francisco are being talked about as destinations for Gary Sheffield. - Angles are making a run at Gary Matthews Jr., the White Sox and Cubs are rumored as well. - And in a sad note, Joe Randa has retired. Let's remain calm everyone, it's just baseball.