New Blogs Added

I have just added 2 new blogs that i havent linked to before. Cubs Now! and The Forklift.

If you feel you would like a link to your site that i havent noticed before, just drop me an e-mail.

Lee Locked Up

And now Derek Lee has a new multi-year deal that also isn't over the top.

Under his new deal, he gets base salaries of $5.5 million this season, $7 million in 2005 and $8 million in 2006. He also receives a $2 million signing bonus spread evenly over the three years.

Like The Cub Reporter says, "more nice negotiating by Hendry."

I wanted to add that you shouldn't expect Derek Lee to come out of the gate hitting. He is a notoriously slow starter. If the Cubs get off to a shaky start people are gonna start pointing fingers at Derek Lee because of the memories of Fred McGriff. You may not be able to win the division in April and May but you can lose it in those months.

3 year averages for Lee.

April .223 - BA, .326 OBP
May .246 - BA, .315 OBP
June .304 - BA, .412 OBP
July .275 - BA, .352 OBP
Aug .272 - BA, .377 OBP
Sept .332 - BA, .428 OBP

As you notice he is terrible to start the season over the last 3 years. But by time September rolls around he turns into a monster. Which could come in handy in a close playoff race. If Derek Lee can get hot in April and May he could truly have a monster year. Here is hoping we don't see those .223 and .246 batting averages to start the season. That's the main reason why he has never crossed the 100 RBI mark.

Rehab Project Anyone?

You figure with Aaron Boone, now released from the Yankees, the Cubs would be standing by with a checkbook and accepting him into our rehab program. If your an injured player, the Cubs love to have ya, and love to pay ya.

Enough of that non-sense. But why not take a flyer on him? I know we have Am-Ram and Boone is in his 30's now. But maybe he can be converted to a SS or 2nd. At the very least he is insurance if Am-Ram tanks it this year and we dont want to pay him more than his $6 million per year.

Personally i think he could make a very fine 2nd baseman. Both fielding and offensively. Shortstop? Well it could look like Mark Grudz stats as a SS. Not so sure about that.

Ofcourse its ultimately up to him about switching positions. Most players take it as a personal attack that they should try a new position. Just my idea of brainstorming of things i would consider as a GM.

Wood Signs 3 year deal

All my doom and gloom predictions about Wood leaving this year, finally went up in smoke. I am glad i was wrong on that issue.

Wood agreed Friday to a $32.5 million, three-year contract, the most lucrative deal for a pitcher in club history. It includes a mutual option for the 2007 that could increase the value to $43 million.

His new agreement calls for a $3 million signing bonus, payable at $1 million annually over three years, and salaries of $7 million this season, $8.5 million in 2005 and $11 million in 2006. Wood also has a no-trade clause in those three years.

A very fair deal. Not over the top.

Here We Go Again, Excuses Excuses

Is everyone looking for their Lenny Harris to boo everyday? May I present Alex S. Gonzalez and point to his most recent interview on Cubs.com.

Apparently Alex Gonzalez's poor .228 batting average can be linked directly to an injury he had on May 22nd when diving for a ball. I want to use an Uncouth Sloth quote so bad, "I smell Bull****!" Yeah that explains why he hit .202 in the month of May. Or over the last 3 years he has an average of .210 in the month of May. Must be those mysterious shoulder injuries happening every May 22nd to explain that 3 year trend. Excuses, Excuses.

The shoulder injury didn't bother him in the field but made it tough to swing a bat. He hurt his finger diving back into second base, which made it nearly impossible to grab the bat.

Lets see a ball has a bigger area to wrap your hand around than a bat handle has. Yet he fielded balls perfectly. Ohhh wait what's next that boo boo was your excuse for not fielding that ball in the playoffs? Right gotcha. Excuses, Excuses.

The Cubs would appear to benefit with Gonzalez, 30, batting second based on last year's numbers. He hit .256 (80-for-312) in the No. 2 spot with 60 strikeouts, and batted .146 (24-for-164) in the No. 7 spot with 45 Ks.

What? We would benefit because he can hit .250? Since when is that a benefit? If he cant hit in the #2 or the #7 spot why does he still have a job is my question.

"I enjoy hitting second. I love it," said Gonzalez, thinking more about scoring runs than driving them in. "You really score a lot of runs hitting in the second spot. You're in the action. Whether you walk or get on base, you'll have a chance to score. It's a fun part of the game."

Hee Hee ofcourse its fun. For you maybe. Not for us fans. You don't walk or get on base nearly enough to even sniff the #2 spot. Since when is it fun to watch a below .300 OBP player bat #2? Notice how he doesn't mention one thing about what that spot means to helping the team? Just what it feels like to him, adding some cool stats to his numbers. Blah blah blah.

Gonzalez began his transformation at the end of last season.

"I made a few adjustments in the batters box, trying to get different angles on the pitches," he said. "I did it in the last month of the season and it really helped me out. Hopefully that will keep helping me. I strengthened my arm during the off-season. I spent three hours every day in the rehab clinic. I put my work in there and my shoulder feels real strong and that should help me there."

Ahh yes that explains his .238 September batting average. Way to work out those kinks and show progress. Maybe this April you can have your 1st month with a batting average above .240 since last April.

There are some Baker quotes and more talk of Alex Gonzalez in the #2 slot. But all I see coming out of Gonzalez mouth are excuses. Nothing is ever his fault. He wants the #2 spot, not because he will be more helpful to the team, but because its cool and he gets some stats. Never mind the fact he is probably the least helpful person in the #2 spot, and hurts the team twice as bad by batting from that spot.

Read the whole thing. The "blameless" one never ceases to amaze me with his never accept responsibility ways.

Michael Barrett Should Not Be a Catcher

Most fans like the trade that brought us Michael Barrett because he had more upside than Damian Miller. Maybe hitting wise he does, but when it comes to defense we took a dramatic step down. When you look for catchers you think defense 1st and any hitting they do as an added positive.

Michael Barrett was tried out at 3rd base in Montreal for a reason. He stinks as a catcher. If Michael Barret is allowed to start the majority of the games at catcher for the Cubs he will do more harm than good to our pitchers. Mainly because opposing teams will be running like crazy on him. He cant throw out runners to save his life, and opposing teams have known this since day one.

1999 - 51 GS at Catcher - 54 SB Allowed - only 16 CS - .229 CS%
2000 - 24 GS at Catcher - 14 SB Allowed - only 4 CS - .211 CS%
2001 - 121 GS at Catcher - 95 SB Allowed - only 23 CS - .195 CS%
2002 - 105 GS at Catcher - 59 SB Allowed - only 24 CS - .289 CS%
2003 - 63 GS at Catcher - 16 SB Allowed - only 10 CS - .385 CS%

Now if you compare him to Damian Miller you will notice Miller gave up quite a few of SB's also. But Miller always threw them out at around a .375% clip. Factor in his other defensive attributes and he is leaps and bounds better than Barrett. I can see why the A's wanted him as their catcher over Barrett.

The guy i wanted Pudge Rodriguez has a lifetime .491 CS%. But the last 2 years he has only thrown out runners at a .350 or so clip. Obvious effects of his back surgery. The amazing part is that from 1994-2003 he averaged only 37 SB's per year. And cut down on average over 37 runners per year.

I dont want to mention catchers ERA because thats more dependant on the pitchers throwing to you. Pudge caught some of the worst pitching in baseball for years and his catchers ERA is 4.72. But as soon as he went to a team with a half way decent pitching staff it dropped to 3.83.

In Barretts defense he has improved his SB against % from pathetic to bad. He still has a long way to go. But if i was an opposing team with speed i would be licking my chops to cause havoc on the basepaths to try and rattle our starters, because our starters know our catcher has no shot to shut down base stealers. I guess thats why Vince Coleman is in camp.

Blown Out of Proportion

I really wanted to stay out of this. I really did. But I feel compelled to voice my disgust in this whole matter of Uncouth Sloth versus Clark And Addison Chronicle. Lets get this perfectly clear, if you link to porn, if you cuss in every single sentence, then you must accept responsibility for those actions and run the risk of other people being offended. This means your voice and your writings may not get the best publicity. Uncouth Sloth has chosen that route and he must understand that those are the consequences. Out of all the bloggers I think Sloth understands this the best. Others I am not so sure.

What other bloggers are doing, by attacking Jason Steffens of Clark & Addison and pulling his link off their site is wrong. Cub Fan Nation makes a totally out of line comment......

His official stance on the Sloth may be "my blog is a family-oriented site," but I personally believe it's actually "professional jealousy." 'Nuff said.

You think Jason is doing it out of petty Jealousy? Obviously Cub Fan Nation hasn't been around long enough to know that he has NEVER linked to Uncouth Sloth. And as far as I know Clark & Addison has enjoyed much more success in terms of hits than Uncouth Sloth. When a person is jealous they usually want what another person has. What does Jason want that Sloth has? Only Cub Fan Nation can answer that question, since he seems to think jealousy is involved.

When I think of blogs, I think of each one as its only little cable channel. Some blogs are like ABC and NBC, no nudity and no cussing. Other blogs are like HBO, anything goes. You don't see HBO's commercials for OZ running on any of the major networks unless those ads are cleaned up. If you want to advertise or get your material out to the major media you got to clean up your act. Porn channels don't advertise on religious channels do they? So why attack Jason Steffens because he doesn't feel like linking to someone who he deems as not "family-oriented?" Wal-Mart bans lots of crap it considers offensive. People don't stop shopping their, because its still the same store with affordable products.

When I first started out blogging I used to cuss a lot. I wanted to get linked on Clark & Addison. He said he doesn't link to people who use cuss words. I made a decision if I wanted to get linked on his site to clean up my wording. Once in awhile I slip up but for the most part I keep it clean. That was my sacrifice to try and get my voice heard in more areas.

You liked what Jason wrote before, he always had the same stance. What has changed? Nothing. Yet people are removing links to his site because he doesn't want to link to "offensive material." So what? Remove a link from your site if he totally crosses the line of objectivity, or completely sucks at writing. But to take down a link for doing NOTHING wrong is complete stupidity on some of yours parts. Jason's profile is on his website for anyone to see. No one should be upset with his stance or come as a surprise. You guys removing links should of known this, and by placing that link on your site you accepted his stance. To remove his link now looks totally too-faced. I call this pulling a "John Kerry." You support a stance and when it becomes unpopular you attack the very thing you were supporting just so you can gain support for yourself. Thats what sickens me about this whole episode. You didnt have a problem with it before, nothing has changed, yet you feel the need to attack him. Shame on you.

Ultimately it is our choice who we want to link to. No one should be shunned or attacked because he didn't link to someone else's site. This whole situation has been completely blown out of proportion and some of you fellow bloggers need to come back to reality. Get a hold of yourselves and actually think about what your arguing against. You will see its just plain stupid.

We all love the Chicago Cubs, that part is not in question.

Baker hits it on the head, sort of

2 posts in a row agreeing with Baker? I must be coming down with the flu.

"I think a lot of times, guys who are April players, they're fastball hitters because pitchers aren't ready to get their breaking balls over yet," Baker said. "If a guy can get a breaking ball over and change speeds early in the year, he can get everybody out. Your eyes aren't ready and your muscles and hand-eye coordination aren't ready to make that speed adjustment yet.

To me that statement is like Deja Vu. For the last 2 years Alex Gonzalez has started off strong. Only to finish in the dumps for the rest of the year. I have always explained why Alex Gonzalez started off strong and then failed the rest of the year and usually get the "Your an idiot" comment. So to me its sort of like vindication that Baker kind of see's it also.

"I haven't been around Alex long enough to say he's an April hitter," Baker said. "We want him to be an April, May, June, July, August and September hitter."

I dont know how much more of Agonz he needs to see before he realizes he is the definition of an April hitter. But its Bakers way of trying to turning an obvious negative into a positive. Ofcourse we would love for him to be a April through September hitter. But dont count on it.

Over the last 3 years Agonz averages for the month are as followed.

April - .276
May - .210
June - .250
July - .223
August - .239
September - .253

April hitter? Yeah i think so.

Good Move Baker

I usually spend alot of time ragging on Baker. But i like who he has brought in for spring training...

Coleman, who played 16 seasons in the big leagues, is an outfield and base running instructor for the Cubs. This is his first season in the job and on Saturday, he talked to the Chicago pitchers about a base runner's mindset.

Baker wanted Coleman in camp.

"The amount of games you lose, especially close games by one run or a couple runs or less, a lot of it can be directly pointed to a base runner in that particular game," Coleman said. "It's also a chance to make them aware of base stealers and what they do and the pattern they fall into.

"You want to stimulate their brain," Baker said. "The hard part is putting that thought process in their brain and get them thinking on their own. That's what Vince Coleman has done -- he's given them a start."

Very good heads up move by Baker. Read the rest.

Shoeless Joe Jackson

I was reading Red Bird Nation and his comments about a Rob Neyer article about the 10 greatest players. I pretty much agree with that list. Except for one individual named "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.

The debate has raged for decades did he or didnt he throw the World Series? One thing that most people forget was that he was aquitted in a trial in 1920/21(?). But Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Baseball went against the ruling and banned all eight players including Joe Jackson from baseball for life.

At age 30 Jackson's career was over. In his final year in 1920 he batted .382, had an OBP of .444, drove in 121 RBI, and scored 105 runs. To go along with that he only struck out 14 times for the entire year.

His career totals are a .356 BA, .423 OBP. His batting average is 3rd all time. OBP is 18th all time. In almost every single one of his offensive categories he was in the top 10. HR's, RBI, OPS, Runs, OBP, BA, tripples, doubles, hits, total bases, slugging %. If you want to get more in depth he finished 1-3 more often than he finished 4-10 in those categories.

I dont believe for a second he threw the World Series. He made a couple of spectacular catches in the 1919 World Series and batted .375. And he was aquitted in a court of law. Who knows what this man could of accomplished if they just let him play. If you compare him to Ty Cobb the only thing Cobb had on Jackson was speed and got a few more walks than Jackson. Other than that they are mirror images. So when i see Ty Cobb on the list of 10 greatest players, i think Shoeless Joe Jackson's name should be right beside him. Cobb got to play until age 41, Jackson was regulated to semi-pro teams and running a successfull dry cleaning business. Forgotten as one of the greatest players of his era.

I know its not Cubs related, its just what came to my mind as i read that over at Red Bird Nation. I am always fascinated with the old time baseball players. Playing the game of baseball was a passion, not a paycheck to most. They loved baseball for what it was. It was just a game. Something i think many of todays baseball players forget or take for granted in the world of "show me the money."

1 Final A-rod Trade Thought

Listening to the sports talk radio here late at night a guy just called in saying the Redsox could offer some prospects to the Rangers and maybe try and get Alfonso Soriano. After all the Redsox have a need at 2nd base.

The idea struck me as a pretty good one. We know Soriano looked like a little leaguer trying to hit curveballs in the playoffs, but its a low level risk to try and get him. Plus it is kind of a counter punch to the Yanks landing A-rod.

On the other side, what if the Cubs threw some pitching prospects at the Rangers? The only problem is he isnt a great fielding 2nd base man and scouts say he is better suited for the OF. Well thats all fine and dandy because Alou will probably be gone after this year.

That caller just got me thinking of what if's. I dont expect them to ever seriously pursue this angle.

Roto League Is Up

Yahoo has now began taking signups for leagues. If your interested in joining my league the league ID # is 10266 and the password = prior. Its on a 1st come 1st serve basis. The draft is Sunday March 7th at 12:45 PM.

Please only play if your going to be around for the whole season. Thanks

Hmmmm

My last post seems kinda harsh on getting Maddux. For clarification i am very happy that he is a Cub. It makes our rotation look awesome. And one thing i forgot to take into consideration when i posted that, is that i have always wanted a mentor for Kerry Wood. Like what Nolan Ryan did for Randy Johnson and then Randy Johnson doing it for Curt Schilling to a small extent.

I have always wanted someone by Wood's side everyday telling him how to make a better pitch or make better decision. How you dont need to strike out every batter you face. Pick and choose your battles. I think that is Wood's single biggest fault. He believes has to strikeout every single batter he faces in the order to win.

I hope Maddux steps into that role as mentor more than i care about his contract or his performance on the field. I think he can help Clement and Zambrano as well. In those respects i think he can have a bigger impact than what he does on the field.

Maddux a Cub Again

Well its official Maddux is a returning to the Cubs at the pretty stupid price of 3 years at $24 million dollars. Could the Cubs better spent their money? Hell yes. But it was either this or nothing. So i guess i am happy with getting him.

Cubs dont want to pay Pudge for 4 years because the track record of catchers shows a drastic decline after age 35. But the Cubs turn around and shove $8 million per year on a 38 year old pitcher. Which means he will be 41 when the contract is up. If you thought it was risking signing Pudge to 4 years. Its twice as risking signing a guy approaching 40 who is a finesse pitcher. And if you want to go with history, like with catchers. Finesse pitchers never grow old gracefully. One year they are winning 15 games, the next year they are 7-17 with a 6.00 ERA.

Thats one point of the arguement i have never understood. Signing Pudge = bad. Signing Maddux = good. Its never made any sense to me.

In the meantime i will clap with joy everytime Maddux pitches and hope he wins 15 games for us. He is back home where he belongs and I wish him the best of of luck. I dont think for a minute he makes us dramatically better. Thats unless he can help Wood cut down his BB's from the 90-100 range to 50-60. Thats the only way Wood will ever win 20 games.

Welcome home Gre Maddux, bring on spring training!!!!!

A Cruel Joke?

Cubs fans are fine if the Yankees aren't screwing them over, but when the Evil Empire starts reaching its tentacles into our history something has to give. I haven't been for or against Maddux if he signs, but for the Cubs sake and for its fans it better damn well get Greg Maddux.

This weekend the Cubs increased their offer to Maddux, which was a little strange considering they already had the best deal on the table anyways. A lot of us just chalked that up to Hendry just wanting to get it over with. While true, it makes much more sense now with this little rumor that is flouting around since the A-rod deal......

The rich in talent might be getting richer still ...


Free-agent pitcher Greg Maddux will sign with the New York Yankees sometime later this week, according to a report on New York's WABC-TV.


The Bergen Record, a New Jersey newspaper, reported that the Yankees have offered Maddux a deal but not that it would be accepted.

Ofcourse it also says....

"We are not involved with Greg Maddux," Cashman said at the time.

The Cubs increased their offer because the Yankees are trying to squirm in and pick him up. Hendry knowing he will get lynched by Cubs fans for not getting him is desperately trying to stop this from happening. One thing to note is that the Cubs NEVER negotiate free agent contracts. Its always one offer take it or leave it. In Maddux's case it has always been one offer on the table. Suddenly the Cubs want to negotiate? They are upping their offer? That's totally out of character and makes me believe the Yankees are very serious about getting Maddux.

If Maddux wants to go to any other team, fine. But for him to put on the pinstripes it will be just like what the Yankees did to Boston. Kicking a franchise in the face.

In a Perfect World

I was looking over diffrent sites on the soon to be A-rod deal, just marveling at what their lineup looks like. It then suddenly struck me. The Yankees need a second baseman. And the Texas Rangers need a SS. In my perfect little dream world Mark Grudzielank would have his bags packed and heading to the Yankees to be their every day 2nd and bat #9. Alex Gonzalez would be shipped out to the Texas Rangers to give them at the very least a competent fielder. Hell we will even pay half his salary.

As you know i hate Agonz with a passion, i would rather see some rookie be given a shot to hit .220 than watching this piece of garbage do it and for $5.5 million a year no less. Poor hitting, great defensive SS's are a dime a dozen for the league minimum. And just think if it wasnt for Agonz we could of had Kaz Matsui for SS at $7 million. $5.5 million for Agonz, $7 million for Matsui? Hmm hmm hmm?

Maybe when he is actually gone we can seriously look at fixing this position. A rookie 2nd and a rookie 1b hit .250 and .230 and their asses were shipped so quick it wasnt even funny. Yet the human garbage machine still resides. It wasnt acceptable for them, how is it for Alex Gonzalez?

Street and Smith's Baseball Preview: Also for those of you living in the midwest region of the USA, Street and Smith have a great cover shot of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. So naturally i had to pick it up. Overall they gave the Cubs a 93 grade and predicted us to win the division with St. Louis and Houston finishing 2nd and 3rd. As long as we dont make the Sports Illustrated cover we should be fine.

Update: Ivy Chat is expressing the same interest i am in getting rid of Alex Gonzalez. If it wasnt for Steve Bartman, Alex Gonzalez would of been lynched by the media and fans for missing that routine grounder.

Steinbrenner to Epstein: You Cant Deliver, But I Can

Ohh man if this does turn out to be true its going make Theo Epstein break more than a window after he lost out on Jose Contreras. Alex Rodriguez is being reported by ESPNnews as heading to the New York Yankees for 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano. Rodriguez would play 3rd base and it would send a huge "Screw You" to the Boston Redsox organization.

I can not imagine what Theo Epstein is going thru hearing this. I would probably be furious being so close to landing him then my division rival swooping in and picking him up.

If this deal turns out to be true and it looks like it is. Steinbrenner has totally stole all of the Epsteins off-season thunder in one fell swoop. The Yanks will be the expected division winners with the Redsox finishing 2nd again. Maybe thats good for the Redsox, because it puts less pressure on them to win when they arent expected to. But for the Yanks the pressure goes up ten fold, with that pay roll and that talent its World Series or bust. I am just shocked that the Yanks are even trying to get him.

Change The Cubs Fate!!

I got a laugh out of this when i read it on Chicagosports.com....

If Moises Alou wants another shot at that infamous Game 6 foul pop-up, all he has to do is visit his local video game retailer. Acclaim's All-Star Baseball 2005, due out in March, includes a feature that allows users to re-create — and possibly alter — memorable moments from 2003.

"The Leaping Alou," puts gamers in control of the Cubs' left fielder as he dives into the stands to corral the foul pop. In "Kick the Goat," the user takes over with the Cubs down by five runs in the bottom of the eighth.

I got one more feature they could add. "Field the Ball," the user takes control of Alex Gonzalez after the "Leaping Alou" game and tests the user on basic fielding skills. If you fail at those 2 then you move on to "Kick the Goat" where you need to score those stupid 5 runs.

Roto League

About a month ago View from the Bleachers began taking sign ups for a head to head roto league. I naturally signed up and he is still taking sign ups as i write this.

I was thinking about doing a league before I heard of his, but i want to do a straight up Roto league with accumulated stats because i havent done that in awhile. So if you want to sign up just leave your name and email address in the comments section of this post.

It will be on Yahoo. So it will be free.

Grudz vs Walker vs Baker

I was reading Clark & Addison's recent entry on his blog. And the thing that gets me the most is that a lot of people think Todd Walker will get the majority of the playing time. Sure, that's what I want, that's what I would like to see. Any person can see Todd Walker is the better option to hit against RHP. But just like last year we don't run the team. Dusty Baker does. And in "Dusty Town" anything goes.

The fact is Dusty Baker has said repeatedly that Mark Grudz is the starter.....

So, who starts things off for the Cubs in 2004? With Kenny Lofton gone, the Cubs don't have a true leadoff hitter.

"I don't know," Baker said when asked who would hit 1-2 in his lineup. "(Mark) Grudzielanek is probably both."

The Cubs also added second baseman Todd Walker. Does that mean Mark Grudzielanek could move to shortstop to get Walker playing time?

"No," Baker said. "(Walker) realized he's not slated to start every day from the get-go. He's like having a good sixth, seventh man (in basketball). Sooner or later, you're going to need him."

Walker was told to bring a first baseman's glove and also to expect to shag in the outfield. He may be asked to play left to give Alou a breather.

There was another quote Dusty had on Todd Walker which I cant locate but remember very well because I was gonna do a rant on it but decided not to at the time. Basically he said Todd Walker knows his role and how can you take away the 2nd base job from Mark Grudz after he hit .314 last year?

Us fans are thinking Walker will start but in Dusty's mind its gonna be Mark Grudz. Even if Grudz hits his normal .270/.310 he will probably remain the full time starter. Because Dusty is a stubborn manager. The troubling thing is I don't think Walker knows what he got himself into.

MLB.com: How well do you know Cubs manager Dusty Baker?

Walker: I don't know him at all. He wears the wristbands and he's into the game and he's fired up. People I've talked to say he treats his people fair.

Walker is about to find out that Baker doesn't treat people fair. Walker knows he is better than Grudz, most Cubs fans realize Walker is better than Grudz in atleast hitting RHP. But like with the Lenny Harris situation, Baker does things that are extremely unpopular to prove a point. That he is in control and that he doesn't look at stats. Even if it is hurting the team.

I am just glad Baker is keeping an open mind about the 2nd base situation and is keeping the door open on who should be playing. Ahhhh to live in "Dusty Town". Ignorance truly is bliss.