Off Day Rant

The Karros Vs. Choi debate rages on. One side says Karros should play because we are in a division race, while the other side says Choi should play to be ready for next year.
Now i am sure most people know my position i want Choi to start no matter what. But how weak is the arguement for people who want Karros to start by using the were in a Division race arguement? I understand were only 3.5 out and i will take winning the division if we get it. But i am not holding my breath or want to delay the development of Hee Seop Choi for Eric Karros who has about 60 games left in his Cub career.

Lets put things in perspective. Boston is 3.5 games behind the Yankees. Same as the Cubs. Does that mean we are as good as Boston? Boston is 18 games over .500. Or take for example the Reds are they better than Philly, Montreal, Florida, LA, and Arizona?
The Reds are 9 games under .500 and 9 games out from the division lead while all the rest of the teams are .500 and above and 10+ games out of 1st.

Its hard to explain. Sure i love to be 3.5 out and in a Division race. But i know this team isnt very good. And me personally have not lost sight that this was supposed to be a building year. If we were 20 games over .500 sure play all the vets you want. But were .500. Thats nothing to be proud of if your trying to contend for a division title and its not Dusty magic dust thats making us .500 either. With or without Dusty Baker this team was expected to be .500 or better with the pitching staff we had. A full season of Prior, Zamb to go along with Clement and Wood? You do the math.

Dontrelle Who?

How good has Matt Clement been since July 1st? How bout a 2.11 ERA in 51.1 IP. And opposing batters are hitting around .130 off him in that same time span. More importantly he recently beat Arizona and San Fran going 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA and was named NL player of the week.

When we needed a win or innings out of our starter Clement has stepped up big time and is pitching better than he has ever before in his career. The good thing is this isnt a couple starts of being awesome followed by some down starts. He has been pitching like this for over a month with consistency which means he has found that happy medium where starters blossum into dominate forces. The only knock on Clement over the years is that his down periods were longer than his good periods.

Grudz injured

Most of the people are acting like this is another major blow to the Cubs season. In fact i am happy he is injured provided Bobby Hill gets the starts when he comes off the DL and isnt going to Pitt (I dont think he is). Call this the last hurrah for Bobby Hill either way. I know some people call him over rated but lets give him a nice 4 week stint of full playing time to see what we truely got. What do we have to look forward to? Resigning Grudz? I dont think any of us want to see that happen. If he fails, then go get a 2nd in the off season. But you will never know until you play him.

No offense to Grudz, i never expected much out of him but i could care less if he is hitting .400 just like Karros. Neither one figures into next years team and i see no point finding out if the crusty veterans can play so we can just be .500. Been thier seen that too many times. How bout trying something fresh and new? When is the last time any of us have seen a Cub team go young? Just a thought for future refrence.

Misc

Corey Patterson began his rehab Saturday and will continue to do rehab down down in Georgia. Hurry back Corey!!! We miss ya!

Once Prior is ready, Juan Cruz is headed for the bullpen and to a role the Cubs believe they sorely need: long relief.

Zzzzz we all knew Estes would never get bumped out of the rotation. I am just hoping this quote is an out right lie!