Archive for June, 2009
My vote for MVP this year goes to Thurston:
Our pal Tim Souers was inspired by Saturday’s post and gave me this awesome graphic. And I don’t really care to harp on the trade, but let me give you my final thoughts. The Cardinals got a good player and it should help them…a little. DeRosa was a 3.8 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) last year, he’s been 1.1 so far this year as his defense at third hasn’t been too great (at least according to UZR). The Cardinals are going to get him for a little over a half year and the 2 main guys he’s replacing are Joe Thurston and Brian Barden who have combined for 0.8 WAR to this point. You can’t just simply add and subtract it though, so my rough back-of-the-envelope guestimating says he’s probably gonna be good for anything between 1-3 more wins on the year for the Cardinals, which is indeed significant for an individual player.
As for the Cubs not getting him, if we go by prospect lists and assuming the Indians like our pitchers as much as they liked Chris Perez and a supposedly top-end player to be named later, it would have cost something in the neighborhood of Jeff Samardzija and Jay Jackson. Samardzija has a no-trade clause of course, so maybe it would require Sean Marshall or Randy Wells and maybe that second player would be Kevin Hart or Angel Guzman instead of Jackson or another decent arm that could be ready for the majors by next year. It’s a whole lot of speculating on who the Indians might like and who the Cubs are willing to trade, but let’s take some educated guesses.
So if in the theory the Cubs met the Indian asking price, it would be something in the neighborhood of (let’s just say) Marshall and Jackson for John Gaub, Chris Archer, Jeff Stevens and a half a season of Mark DeRosa, plus the $2M or so added to the Cubs payroll that is owed DeRosa. That actually doesn’t sound too terrible for the Cubs, they basically replace some of the arms they would have had to given up to reacquire DeRosa with the initial trade and the Cubs get back the wind beneath their wings.
Looking at the WAR values of the guys that DeRosa would be taking playing time from (Fontenot, Miles, Blanco, Scales and Jake Fox), they add up to -0.1 WAR so far and as I said you can’t just simply and add and subtract due to playing time and small sample sizes and all that, but had the Cubs been able to make this trade back in early May (and the asking price was reportedly higher back then), you’re talking probably 2-4 wins (once I again, more a guestimate than anything). The impact probably would have been less if Lou would have had just sucked it up and played Jake Fox at third to begin with instead of having his Neifi/Lee 2006 moment. With Aramis Ramirez due back soon, that impact is going to be a bit limited, although we still don’t know if we’re getting the old Ramirez back and how many days off he’ll have to take. I guess I would have liked for Hendry to pull the trigger, DeRosa’s a quality player that has been able to get it done with runners on this year. Whether that would translate to the Cubs or not I can’t say for certain, the slump and inexplicable inability to get a hit with runners on seems to be nearly a team-wide affliction and maybe DeRosa would have caught it like a cold.
I’m disappointed that DeRosa could be the dagger in the Cubs 2009 hearts and it sure does seem like the Cubs could have avoided some of this mess back in January. But he’s a Cardinal now and be damn certain I hope he strikes out everytime he comes up. And every moron at Wrigley that ends up cheering for him in a Cardinals uniform, go jump off a cliff with the other lemmings.
In other news, Aaron Miles is back to the disabled list with a hyperextended right elbow and the Cubs have called up Sam Fuld. Soriano has had four mult-hit games in his last five so I’m guessing that Fuld won’t get a shot at being a leadoff hitter/center fielder for a few games, not that I really thought he had shot at that, but maybe he can spell a still struggling Kosuke Fukudome. Fuld’s warmed up with the weather down in Iowa with a 398/474/506/980 OPS line in June.
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Any tThoughts?
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Ryan should be traded,
Anyone else want to just chuck the whole major league team and start over? Let’s see the lineup: 1. Thomas 2B 2. Castro SS 3. Vitters 3B 4. Fox 1B (We’ll count him as a minor leaguer) 5.Colvin LF 6. Clevenger C 7. Burke CF 8. Guyer RF 9. Jackson SP. OK, they’d lose 120 games. But they’d at least be interesting. And we’d get Bryce Harper next year.
Iowa Cubs
The I-Cubs were stopped by the Round Rock Express 8-4.
Greg Reinhard started and took the loss, giving up five runs in only three innings. Reinhard surrendered eight hits and a walk while fanning four.
Right fielder So Taguchi led off the game with his first home run of the year. It was his only hit in five trips to the plate.
Second baseman Luis Rivas went 2 for 4.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies were eclipsed by the Huntsville Stars, 3-2.
Marcos Mateo pitched well, allowing only one run on five hits in his five inning start. The one run scored on a solo home run. Mateo didn’t walk anyone and struck out two. He did hit two batters.
Jake Muyco took the loss in relief when he allowed a solo home run in the ninth. Muyco pitched one inning and allowed only that one home run. He struck out two.
Right fielder Doug Deeds was 2 for 4 and scored a run.
Daytona Cubs
The D-Cubs denied the Fort Myers Miracle, 5-1.
Andrew Cashner continues to put up zeros on the scoreboard, pitching another four innings today, allowing no runs on two hits. Cashner walked three and struck out three. He has now not allowed a run in his last three starts, which spanned 12 innings.
Dustin Sasser got the win because Cashner didn’t go five. He pitched three innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk. Sasser struck out four.
Second baseman Nate Samson had a big day. He went 4 for 5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Peoria Chiefs
The Chiefs rode a nine-run eighth inning to skin the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 15-6.
Starter Aaron Shafer had a rough game, allowing five runs on six hits over five innings. Shafer walked two and struck out two.
Jeffrey Beliveau is putting up some ridiculous numbers for Peoria this season. Today he pitched four innings and allowed one run on two hits and two walks. The ridiculous part was that he struck out eight. Beliveau has now struck out 72 batters in only 53 innings this season.
The Chiefs banged out 17 hits today, led by Drew Rundle, who was 4 for 5 with a double. Rundle scored three times and had one RBI.
Josh Vitters, Ryan Flaherty and Rebel Ridling each went 2 for 5 with a run scored. Vitters had one RBI, Flaherty two and Ridling three. Both of Ridling’s hits were doubles.
Right fielder Nelson Perez was 2 for 6 with two RBI and a run scored. We’re also past the MWL All-Star Break and I don’t think I’ve called him Nelson Cruz yet, which is something of a miracle. Not only do they have similar names, they’re similar players.
Boise Hawks
The Hawks came home today and managed to defeat the Yakima Bears, 3-2.
Jeffry Antigua got the win with four innings of shutout relief. He gave up three hits and a walk while striking out three.
Second baseman Logan Watkins was 2 for 4. Catcher Alvaro Sosa went 2 for 3.
AZL Cubs
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Look who is making news, ryan! This time, How Many Ways Are There to Not Play a Game? In the interest of saving time, we have a summary: The Jays’ affiliates had an off-day, a postponement, and a suspension. In the remaining 3 games, they went 2-1.
Sacramento 3 at Las Vegas 6
Brian Burres is pushing for a promotion! 11 days after spinning a masterful shut-out, the 28 year old pitched 7 innings of effective ball, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits and a walk while striking out 8 and getting 9 ground outs to only 4 flyouts. By the time he exited, the 51s had built a 6-3 lead which they never relinquished. Bill Murphy and Bryan Bullington each pitched a scoreless inning to ensure that this game was pitched entirely by guys who have been on the big club at some point this year. And whose first names start with B. Coincidence!
Las Vegas spread the offensive love around, with every starter getting a hit. Of note, J.P. Arencibia went 2-4 with a double and 2 ribbies, and Randy Ruiz had a double in 4 trips.
Portland at New Hampshire (suspended)
Charlotte 9 at Dunedin 8 (11 innings)
It was a wild one in Dunedin. Andrew Liebel got the start and had his first bad outing in a while, giving up 6 runs in just 4 and a third innings. However, only 2 of those runs were earned, and it really was a tough luck day for Liebel: he allowed unearned runs in three separate innings, and Kyle Ginley allowed 1 inherited runner to score, so this wasn’t simply one of those situations where one error leads to a whole bunch of unearned runs. Nevertheless, it wasn’t Liebel’s greatest outing.
Liebel’s mediocrity and the D-Jays’ horrific defense put them in a 7-0 deficit by the time the 6th inning rolled around, but they finally broke through against Jeremy Hall on 3 consecutive hits by Sean Shoffitt (single), Raul Barron (triple) and Moises Sierra (single). And then, in the 7th, Dunedin exploded for 6 more, highlighted by a 3-run homer by John Tolisano.
Charlotte tied the game up in the 8th, and a scoreless 9th sent the game to extras. In 3 innings, Dunedin was held baserunner-less by the Stone Crabs’ bullpen, and Charlotte won the game in the 11th by, you guessed it, scoring what turned out to be an unearned run charged to Tim Collins. Collins was otherwise good, pitching 3 innings, allowing 4 baserunners and striking out 3.
No hitter had a spectacular day, though Shoffit, Barron and Sierra each had 2 hits, and Tolisano had the aforementioned 3 run jack.
Young Henderson Alvarez was the story for Lansing on Sunday afternoon, going 6 innings while only allowing 5 hits, walking nobody and striking out 5. Alvarez allowed 1 run, and had a 7-6 GB-FB ratio. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the win, as the bullpen allowed the Dragons to tie it up in the 8th. But Lansing stormed right back with 2 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, and Matthew Daly nailed it down with a perfect 9th inning for his 14th save.
Chris Emanuele reached base 3 times with a single and 2 walks, and A.J. Jimenez had 3 hits including a double, and drove in 2 runs to lead the Lansing offense.
Jamestown at Auburn - post-poned
GCL Jays - scheduled day off
By the way, ever wonder what attendance is like at minor league games? Well, much more extensive research could be done on this topic, and who knows how representative these attendance figures are, but for what it’s worth here were the crowd sizes for each of today’s minor league games:
Las Vegas: 2,195
Dunedin: 399
Lansing: 4,918
Elsewhere… Lake Elsinore beat High Desert 33-18. Seriously. There were 58 hits. Also, Lake Elsinore walked 13 times, while High Desert only walked once. Weird.
Three Stars!
3. Brian Burres - 7 IP, 3ER, 9K
2. A.J. Jimenez, 3-4, 2B, 2 RBIs
1. Henderson Alvarez - 6 innings, 5 baserunners, 1 run, 5 Ks
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How do you think this news will affect the rest of the team this season?
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Tim Lincecum looked ready for a return trip to Busch Stadium in two weeks for the All-Star game. The St. Louis Cardinals could not touch him. Lincecum threw a two-hitter for his third complete game of the season, all in his last four starts, in the San Francisco Giants' 10-0 rout Monday night. Travis Ishikawa's three-run homer for a 4-0 lead in the fourth was way more than the right-hander…
Tim Lincecum looked ready for a return trip to Busch Stadium in two weeks for the All-Star game. The St. Louis Cardinals could not touch him. Lincecum threw a two-hitter for his third complete game of the season, all in his last four starts, in the San Francisco Giants' 10-0 rout Monday night. Travis Ishikawa's three-run homer for a 4-0 lead in the fourth was way more than the right-hander…
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ervin Santana could be back in the rotation for the Los Angeles Angels next weekend.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ervin Santana could be back in the rotation for the Los Angeles Angels next weekend.
Ha, I just can’t get enough of Ryan:
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Nolan Ryan Baseball Review (IronCapBatmen43)
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Nobody’s better than Ryan nowadays -
I’m sure the Fox-TV crew won’t say a single thing about the Milton Bradley incident on today’s telecast. One of the best things about baseball is that if there’s a distraction or problem one day, there’s generally another game the next day so a team can take its focus and put it on defeating its opponent then, rather than looking back. That’s what I hope the Cubs do today.
In the middle of everything else, Lou had some comments on Geovany Soto’s positive marijuana test:
Piniella said he would have encouraged Soto to talk about the incident weeks ago but wasn’t aware of it until this week.
“It really has had a negative effect on his performance,” Piniella said. “It was supposed to have come out a few times, and they’ve delayed it, and I don’t think it has done any good.”
Asked about the seriousness of the offense, Piniella said: “Look, I smoked dope one time in my life, and it didn’t do a damn thing for me and I never tried it again. And I’m fortunate because of that. But a lot of people do smoke marijuana. You can buy it for medical purposes in California.”
Somehow, I can’t picture Lou doing that. But he’s right. Maybe this was weighing on Geo to some extent. In any case, he sure had a big hit the day after the revelation, and for the last five weeks, he’s been hitting well. Keep it up, Geo.
And, good news for Ryan Dempster and family:
On the mound will be Mark Buehrle for the Sox and Ryan Dempster for the Cubs. Buehrle is having a fine season, going 7-2 with a 3.17 ERA. Dempster is 4-5 with a 3.83 ERA while being distracted by family health worries.
Those worries may be lessening now that his infant daughter, Riley, is home. She was born April 1 with DiGeorge’s syndrome, a disorder that affects her ability to swallow and digest food. Riley had spent her first 2½ months in hospitals.
“I think I’ve slept better the last three days than I have in months,” Dempster said Friday of having his second child home since Tuesday.
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Mark Buehrle is 4-4, 4.57 lifetime vs. the Cubs in 10 starts. Too bad Reed Johnson is on the DL — he’s 10-for-27 vs. Buerhle. Other Cubs who hit him well include Derrek Lee (5-for-11, 2 doubles, a HR) — and Milton Bradley (8-for-25, 2 doubles, a triple, four walks). One thing about Buehrle — he works fast and throws strikes. Today’s game is likely to be a quick one. (Someone should have told him to stop crying before they took his picture, though.)
Ryan Dempster threw pretty well against the Sox ten days ago at Wrigley Field, but the impotent Cubs offense couldn’t help him out. He’d certainly like to pay the Sox back for the pasting they gave him at the Cell one year ago today. Watch out for A.J. — he’s homered off Dempster, but that was on July 1, 2006, when Dempster was closing, a game best forgotten.
Today’s game is on Fox. The other two games are Red Sox/Braves and Angels/Diamondbacks, so it appears most of the middle of the country will get the Cubs game. Complete market listing here. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
To find out what Sox fans are thinking, visit our SBN Sox site South Side Sox.
Overflow comment threads will post today at 4 pm, 5 pm and 5:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
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Look who is in this news - Ryan! Milton Bradley Must Go. :
Had there been no incidents in yesterday’s win over the White Sox, I probably wouldn’t have posted anything this morning — the first post today would have been the preview thread at 1 pm CDT.
But given the passion exhibited in last night’s recap regarding Milton Bradley — and I commend all of you for keeping it on topic and not making anything personal — I felt it was important to have a post up this morning where discussion on this issue can continue, because this appears to be a real turning point for this team, just as the Michael Barrett/A.J. Pierzynski brawl did the same thing two years ago, coincidentally in a game at the Cell.
First, I continue to stand by the two things I posted last night regarding things I have heard about Milton Bradley. I learned these a couple of weeks ago but decided to sit on them at the time, only posting them last night because I felt they were relevant to yesterday’s incident. No, I can’t and won’t post names. Believe what you will, but I have absolutely no doubt I was told the truth.
There’s another take on this situation this morning from Chris DeLuca in the Sun-Times:
Veteran Alfonso Soriano, who doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being a true team leader, said he had never seen anything like it during his nine-year career. And then Soriano — always one of the first Cubs in the clubhouse — put the onus on Bradley to shape up or ship out.“That’s my first time to see a manager fighting with a player; get mad with a player,’”Soriano said. “Sometimes you can get mad, but not like that. It’s something new for me every day.
“We are 25 players, and we have to be on the same page. If he is not 100 percent to help the team win, we don’t need him. If he’s 100 percent and he wants to play, he’s more than welcome.”
That means Bradley must arrive today at U.S. Cellular Field earlier than usual — which means, don’t be the last position player to wander into the clubhouse. He must put the team first — for the first time in his career. He must accept responsibility for his selfish actions — instead of blaming everyone else.
You can criticize Soriano all you want, justifiably, for his play on the field. But one thing you cannot say is that Soriano has the wrong attitude. Soriano’s a leader, and he is absolutely correct. I have a lot more to say, so there’s more below the fold.
I’m also posting again about this because of two articles written by Cubs beat writers, one by Paul Sullivan, the other by Gordon Wittenmyer. I posted this from Sullivan’s article in the comments last night, but felt it deserved further attention:
Bradley blamed himself for his poor start (.237 batting average), and conceded he didn’t realize how “overwhelming” it would be to be a focus of attention on the North Side.
“People are always watching and looking at everything I’m doing,” he said. “My personality is more of a guy who likes to go unnoticed — to show up, do my job and go home, and really not have a whole lot of hoopla about it.
“I’m really not a guy who’s seeking any attention. I’m not seeking to be noted, like ‘Milton Bradley and the Chicago Cubs.’ I don’t want that. I just want to be part of a group and fit in and just love and be loved. That’s the basis of what I am.
“Maybe years ago I might have thought I wanted all this, but I really don’t want all the attention.”
He didn’t want the attention? Exactly where did he think he was signing? The Yukon? The Cubs get more attention than perhaps any team in baseball save the Yankees and Red Sox! They have been on national cable for 30 years and have a national fan base! Yes, I know — he played in “major markets” before (Oakland, Dallas, Los Angeles). But neither the Athletics nor the Rangers have the huge and rabid fan bases that the Cubs do, and in laid-back LA, the Dodgers don’t get the kind of scrutiny that the Cubs do, nor are they under the pressure to win that the Cubs are. Didn’t Bradley think of this? Didn’t Jim Hendry do his due diligence regarding Bradley’s personality and whether it would fit in the pressure cooker that is Cubs baseball?
Bradley was, in some sense, signed to be “Milton Bradley and the Chicago Cubs”, given the desire for LH-hitting production and the dollars he signed for. All of this could have and should have been known to him last December. I have no doubt that Bradley wants very badly to succeed and perform well. The “passion”, however, that he supposedly brings to this team isn’t the kind of “passion” we need. Instead, it’s a daily soap opera of one kind or another. If Bradley wanted to “show up, do his job and go home, and really not have a whole lot of hoopla about it”, he should have signed with Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Florida, places where baseball is an afterthought.
The second point, brought out in Wittenmyer’s article, is more disturbing and more direct:
Piniella ordered Bradley to the clubhouse and followed him — with Carlos Zambrano joining him — through the tunnel from the dugout.According to sources, Piniella then shouted at Bradley, “You’re not a player! You’re a piece of sh–!”
Bradley then said, “I have too much respect for you to respond to that,” a source said.
Presuming the above exchange is true — and I have no doubt that it is — there are a couple of things I’d like to say. First, a manager really shouldn’t say that about one of his players. Bradley’s reaction, when he surely could have exploded and made the situation far worse, does give me some respect for him.
But keep this in mind: two years ago after the Barrett/Pierzynski incident, it’s clear to me that Lou likely went to Jim Hendry and said, “Get him off my team.” And two weeks later, Hendry obliged him.
It’s unlikely Milton Bradley can be traded anywhere at this point, unless the Cubs are willing to eat large chunks of his remaining contract. As some say, however, he is a “sunk cost”. Maybe this is the thing to do — admit this was an enormous mistake, see if any team will send a face-saving prospect or two, eat most of the deal, and move on. Perhaps Adam Dunn could be acquired to play right field the rest of the year — honestly, I don’t care how bad his defense is, at least he’d be getting on base and hitting home runs (and you could run Reed Johnson, Ryan Freel or Kosuke Fukudome out there the last couple innings for defense). Or send Jake Fox out there once Aramis Ramirez returns — Fox has shown he can be at least capable in the field.
If not, then the Cubs are stuck with Hendry’s bad decision, and hopefully can go out and reclaim Mark DeRosa to get another bat in the lineup — yes, the Cubs are interested and have inquired about DeRo, says Wittenmyer. For me, I will not boo Bradley unless he makes an egregious on-field mistake (such as tossing another ball into the stands with less than three outs). I’ll cheer his positive contributions as long as he wears the blue pinstripes. I have no doubt that he wants to win and do well, very badly. The problem is: I don’t think he knows how, how to be part of a team, how to channel that passion and aggressiveness to the team.
And I will expect nothing from him. Because that’s what he has given us so far.
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How do you think this news about Ryan will affect the team this season?
Take a look at a video of Ryan trying his best work:
Ryan Braun Major League Baseball Player with the Milwaukee Brewers from SolisE by SolisCompany.com
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