Tag: Cubs

The Friendly Confines are under reconstruction and Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue has some photos of the whole deal.

 

Rumor has it that the Cubs have traded for Juan Pierre though Hendry hasn’t confirmed it.  The rumored price is two minor league pitching prospects Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto.

Good.  Leadoff problem solved.  In 6 seasons, Pierre has batted .305 with a OBP of .355 and 267 stolen bases.

He comes at a fair price too.  JP will more than likely cost the Cubs between $5-8mil/year. 

That said, it is certainly not a bad trade for the Marlins and belies the notion that they are “selling the farm”.  Pinto and Nolasco are quality pitchers and in time, the Marlin staff will be one to contend with.

Prior-Abreu Rumor?

The Philadelphia Daily News is rumoring about a Prior-Abreu swap.  From the article: 

“According to National League sources at the winter meetings here, the Cubs asked the Phillies yesterday what it would take to pry away two-time All-Star rightfielder, Gold Glove winner and reigning Home Run Derby champion Bobby Abreu.

The answer: Mark Prior.

The Cubs didn’t say yes.

But they didn’t say no, either; at least, they haven’t so far.”

If that is true, I implore the Cubs to do it now.  Prior is a good pitcher but in the four year we’ve had him, we got one good solid year out of him in 2003.  Bobby Abreu, on the other hand, has consistently hit for power (eight straight years with 20+ homers), average (career .303 hitter), and on-base (career .411 OBP).

If Prior is what it will take to get Bobby Abreu, dig deep and pay the piper.

Mabry (yawn)

In other Cub news, they have acquired John Mabry, a free agent.  I’ve never been a Mabry fan but Hendry wants to beef up the pinch hitting crew and I guess he does that with Mabry at little cost.

Update:  Right-hander Sergio Mitre was also part of the deal along with the two minor league pitchers to get Pierre.  Meh,  I think we can live without him.  I was high on him at first but my enthusiam for him fizzled after a while.

 

 

Furcal will not be a Cub it seems.  He has been picked up by the Dodgers in a three year, $39.5 million deal.

Now all this time, I haven’t seen Furcal as the savior of the Cubs.  Yes, I’ve seen his stats.  They’re very good and fit the Cubs’ lineup well.  I’ve just never been a Furcal fan and I’m not heartbroken that he’s not going to be a Cub.

On a side note, some posters on other forums have said that Rafael was just going for the money.  To me that’s kind of a naive statement.  Most MLB players are going to the highest bidder.  Let’s not hold that against him.

Now for the more important matter at hand, have the Cubs put all their eggs in one basket or do they have an alternate plan.  Is there a plan to grab Johnny Damon?  I personally like the guy but I know his hair scares others.

What about Juan Pierre?  He’s still available.  Rumor has it he is talking with the Cubs and the Yankees.  Milton Bradley is another option.

And Nomar.  He could be re-invited to stay.  Or would that be a little uncomfortable?

Followup:  Somebody else I forgot… Julio Lugo.  He’s coming off a career year but that may be a case of the free agent factor.  Nevertheless, not someone to overlook.

The Cubs signed Scott Eyre to an $11 million contract today.  Some key points on Eyre.

• He led the majors in appearances with 86 this year.
• He had a career low 2.63 ERA.
• The Texas Rangers drafted him in 1991.
• He has ADHD and has recently begun treatment for it.

I know it’s popular to make jokes about ADHD but I know what’s involved with the condition so I’d wager he’s feeling a whole lot better now he’s getting what he needs.

Read the article.  Compared to some “journalism” out there now, it actually very insightful.

Yes, the Cardinals are the division leaders.  Yes, they are going to the playoffs.  But the Cubs can hold one thing over their rivals’ heads.  After the Cubs’ 7-4 win today, they have a 10-6 season series record over the Cards.  It’s not much but when you’re a Cub fan, you take what you can get.

Chris “Cy Young Candidate” Carpenter was in for only four innings today.  Four very ineffective innings.  Four innings, four hits, four runs, four earned runs.  I see a pattern here. 

And what was up with Chris’ little spat with Dusty?  Neither the broadcasters or the media knew what exactly what was going on with the “discussion” between the two of them.  Or maybe they’re not tellin’.

Near as I could tell, Dusty was trying to get under Carpenter’s skin and it finally got to him. 

The Cards have wrapped it up.  I don’t need to read it on the news to know that.  It’s pretty evident here in east central Illinois where 49% of the baseball fans are Cardinal wonks and are wearing their red and white (yes, 49% are Cub fans, the other 2% might be Sox fans).

That’s hard to explain to my Chicago baseball friends.  Downstate fans of baseball root for the Cubs or the Cardinals.  Period.  It wasn’t until 10-15 years ago did local news stations start listing Sox scores.  I think they only do it for the U of I students from Chicago.

Anyways, congrats to the Cardinals.  As a representive of the NL Central and of my geographic region, they will be the team I will be rooting for in the playoffs. 

Which confuses some of my friends who are Cub fans from Chicago to no end.

 

Barry

ESPN calls it “The Barry Show”.

I call it media overload.

Update:  Bonds didn’t disappoint Giant fans in his first at-bat back.  He nearly hit a homerun.  It was ruled ground rule double and he eventually scored.

 

Andruw

Is it official?  Has Andruw Jones after hitting his 49th homerun, now reached his full potential? 

That may be a bit harsh.  After all, AJ has hit over 25 HR for the last 8 years, driven over 100 runs for 4 years and scored over 100 for 3.  But am I the only one who feels that he hasn’t played up to his potential (at least what we were told he could do when he came up) until now? 

In 2006, Jones will have to deal with “perceived expections”.  Whether or not, he can match this year’s performance remains to be seen.

 

Cubs Wild Card Chances?

Wait, can that be right?  Ok, they may be slim but after going nine for their last twelve, their names are beginning to be mentioned.  At this point, they are 5 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race.  And the difficult part is that there are lots of teams ahead of them.  But that won’t stop a die-hard from from hoping. 

Bleed Cubbie Blue takes us back to 1995 when the Cubs were in a very similar situation as they are now.  They lost the last two games of the season and didn’t win the Wild Card race.  But it was dang close.

 

I walked into my son’s third-grade classroom two days ago to find his teacher wearing a genuine St Louis Cardinals jersey.  That was the day after the Cubs defeated the Cards 5-2.  I almost went up to give her heck about it but I decided to save my son the embarrassment. 

Closer examination revealed it had a big red “5” on the back.  I had to give her credit for that.

Aflac Trivia Question for that game:  Two pitchers drafted by the Cubs in 1984 have amassed over 500 wins in their career.  Who are they?  It’s an easy one.  Answer later.

The Cubs have just finished a yummy 2-1 series win over the Cards.  That puts them at 8-4 over them for the year.  If they can avoid a four-game sweep at home, they can win the season series against St Louis for the first time since 1995.  A friend and I were discussing this and his comment was “Now if we could only beat teams like Pittsburgh”. 

Aflac Trivia answer:  Greg Maddux and Jamie Moyer