Archive for the ‘players’ Category

Ricketts should keep eye on the ball

Tom Ricketts is a smart, likeable guy. He talks a good game for the most part, but most of what I hear lately has very little to do with winning baseball in 2010. 
I heard a Lou soundbite from the Cubs Convention: ‘We have a good team up here in Chicago’ he said. And Lou is [...]

January 20, 2010  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, Lou Piniella, Ricketts family, Team Ownership, lineup, observations, players, playoffs  No Comments

Dawson the big draw at Cubs Convention

With the 25th annual Cubs Convention next week, I am struck by who the most exciting, most anticipated player in attendance will be. No, it won’t be a big star from last season or a high profile acquisition for this coming season. No, the biggest player appearance will be from a guy who hasn’t played for [...]

January 10, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Team Ownership, awards, observations, players, roster  No Comments

Why Byrd over Reed?

Jim Hendry went to the free agent market to get his center fielder for 2010. Marlon Byrd was signed this week to a 3-year contract worth $15 million. I took a look at his stats and was astonished by how close his numbers are to that of now former Cub Reed Johnson.

Nearly every category is [...]

January 2, 2010  Tags: , , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, biz of baseball, players, roster, stats  6 Comments

DeRosa is no Six Million Dollar Man

Today the San Francisco Giants made former Cub Mark DeRosa the six million dollar man – per year. I like DeRo plenty, but 6mil is a big payday for a guy like him. He has made just over $15 million in his professional baseball career (in salary, exluding endorsements). Today he signed a 2-year deal [...]

December 29, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, biz of baseball, players  One Comment

Granderson Price Likely Too Steep for Cubs

Well meaning Cubs fans are loudly advocating the team to dump Milton Bradley and move to acquire Curtis Granderson to play center field and lead off for the 2010 Chicago Cubs.  At first blush, perhaps that would be a fine swap. But realistically I just don’t see how it can happen without an extrordinary alignment [...]

November 17, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, biz of baseball, players, roster  No Comments

Hendry Compares Notes With Other MLB GMs

With the Ricketts family firmly in control, Cubs GM Jim Hendry is attending the annual GM meeting in Chicago. He has a lot on his plate and is no doubt discussing who needs what, or more accurately, who needs to dump what.
For many MLB teams, the economic climate is forcing clubs to cut payroll and [...]

November 10, 2009  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Hot Stove, Jim Hendry, Team Ownership, biz of baseball, controversy, players  One Comment

Another thought on Milton Bradley

The struggles of Milton Bradley are well documented. However something occured to me as I listened to Talkin’ Baseball on ESPN Radio with Bruce Levine – arguably the best baseball talk show on the radio. Today Bruce’s new co-host Jonathan Hood related some comments that apparently came from Bradley’s mother. She had alluded to Milton’s young son [...]

September 26, 2009  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: controversy, observations, players  3 Comments

Bradley Gone Despite Budget Cuts at Newspaper

I bet Milton Bradley would have preferred Bruce Miles would have just stayed home.
Earlier this season, management at the Daily Herald decided to stop/limit their Cubs beat writer, Bruce Miles, from travelling with the team. Newspapers are under pressure to cut costs, but when coverage is affected, I think really calls into question a paper’s ability [...]

September 21, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: observations, players, the media  No Comments

Vintage film on Fergie Jenkins review

The National Film Board of Canada produced a documentary on Cubs Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins in 1974. Fergie was a rare Major Leaguer at the time, he was Canadian. This 60-minute film is a fascinating look at the baseball life of Fergie during the 1972 and 1973 seasons as a Cub. The film quality and content [...]

August 22, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Wrigley Field, oldschool, players, review, tradition  3 Comments

Kevin Gregg versus Kerry Wood

In April I tried to give now former Cubs closer Kevin Gregg a chance to prove himself. But instead by June he validated all of my original concerns – the guy just isn’t a “winning” closer. He has given up 12 home runs in the closer role, for an average of a hefty 1.9 per 9 [...]

August 18, 2009  Tags: , , , , , , ,   Posted in: Lou Piniella, game strategy, lineup, observations, players, stats  No Comments