While I cannot say the Bulls were the best movers in the league on draft day, at least they were not the Minnesota Timberwolves. The T-Wolves drafted 4 guards after trading away their proven back-court for a couple of nobodies. I understand the term rebuilding, but around a 17 year old and a man who stands 5'11".... you've got to be kidding me?
The Bulls did a nice job finding value with lower first round picks. James Johnson was able to drop 15 and 8.5 while shooting over 53% in a very tough conference. The man provides size at the 3 position and depth for Luol Deng who missed the end of last season battling stress fracture like injuries which tend to be very nagging. Johnson also wore number 23 in college, so maybe the Bulls are hoping he can bring some of that magic to what now appears to be a very deep team.
Taj Gibson was able to play in a system where many stars had to share the ball and found success by doing the little things. Getting rebounds, blocking shots, throwing his opponents timing off. He averaged nearly a double-double in his final season at USC and did it on 59% shooting. And oh yeah, throw on 3 blocks per game. Not bad for the 26th overall pick in the NBA draft.
Gar Forman did a nice job in his first draft filling immediate holes and deferring to the proven players rather than limitless potential. Too often NBA teams pick the athlete before the ball player. These men coming out of good systems with good stats appear to be the latter of the two and hope to help the Bulls advance beyond the first round in 2010 and for years to come.
With the added depth at the 3/4 position, John Salmons can move to the 2 guard and be one of the bigger in the league at that position. This will fill the void often left open with a midget Ben Gordon having to guard the likes of Wade, Kobe and VC.
While the Bulls had a solid draft day, it was certainly not the best. The Cleveland Cavs made a big move acquiring the Big Aristotle, Shaquille O'Neal. Though some say this does not address their ability, or lack thereof, to stretch the floor and guard the pick and roll. The Orlando Magic got themselves a scorer to go along with Shard and Superman, though must hope Vince Carter stays interested in the game of basketball long enough to get them back to the finals. They did so at the cost of super-rookie Courtney Lee who showed his ability to take games over from time to time. Still, none of these teams had the best draft day. It was the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs not only acquired another scorer to accompany Duncan, Parker and a hobbled Manu with Richard Jefferson, but maybe had the pick of the draft with Dejuan Blair at the 37th pick. Though he is undersized at 6'6, his 7 foot wing span, wide frame and heart could be enough to be the key rebounded the Spurs lacked next to the Big Fundamental. Critics say his lack of achilles will limit his upside and longevity, but at the 37th pick, does that really matter?
Parker-Ginobili-Jefferson-Gooden-Duncan as a starting 5? Now add Finley-Mason-Bowen-Blair-Thomas as a second unit. As much as I hate to say it, the Spurs may be back at the top this year. That is, unless the Bulls can move past the Ben Gordon era and how about coming to terms with Chicago native Sean Marion. One can only hope
Friday, June 26, 2009
Cubs Sqeak One Out on South Side
Well it only took a week since throwing a ball into the stands with 2 outs, but Milton Bradley was at it again. After making a routine catch in the outfield look difficult, Milton celebrated and showboated only to come up the next inning and strike out for the second time on the day.
On the way back to the dugout, Milton did not try to break his bat as he did the day before unsuccessfully, no. Instead he threw his helmet in the direction of his manager, then took his anger out on a gatorade dispenser. As if this was not enough of a mockery of himself and the game, he decided to exchange words with his manager, as if it were Lou Piniella's fault he [Bradley] was the worst signing in Cub history. Sources say Bradley was seen moments later leaving the ball park in street clothes. With Bradley and his voodoo curse out of the ballpark, the Cubs were able to get back down to business.
Randy Wells pitched another gem, and though the bullpen, and Soriano's lackluster defense, tried its hardest to blow another one for the young pitcher, the Cubs pulled away with a 5-4 win over the ChiSox.
Jake Fox had another 3 hit day at the plate and his only out was a scorcher that was chased down by Brian Anderson. Fox's day included a 2 run homer plating Derek Lee and a rope double. The man stands at the plate and looks like an old school baller from the 20s and swings even harder. He is definitely in the running for the team Lumberjack award and hopefully with Aramis out and Bradley in the doghouse, Lou can find a way to keep Fox swinging his big stick. Fox now has 11 RBI in only 38 at-bats (compared to Bradley's 16 RBI in 169 at-bats).
Only days after being dubbed a pot-head, Geovany Soto hit what turned out to be the game winning 3-Run Home Run. He was obviously smoking the good stuff before this game as he went 2 for 4 and hit the ball hard each time.
The Cubs bullpen once again kept Ron Santo on the edge of his seat as Carlos Marmol walked 2 men to lead off the 8th before Alfonso Soriano lost a lazy fly ball in the sun and then ran into his own teammate. Luckily, Sean Marshall was able to come in and get AJ Pierzynski to roll into a rare 3-2-3 double play. Honestly as a Cub fan, there isn't a White Sox player I'd rather see end their chance at a potential game winning rally.
The Cubs look to make it two in a row tomorrow as hard luck pitcher Ryan Dempster takes the mound. Hopefully Fox, Lee and Soto continue to provide the offense as Soriano, Fontenot and Bradley continue to see their averages dwindle in the low .200s.
On the way back to the dugout, Milton did not try to break his bat as he did the day before unsuccessfully, no. Instead he threw his helmet in the direction of his manager, then took his anger out on a gatorade dispenser. As if this was not enough of a mockery of himself and the game, he decided to exchange words with his manager, as if it were Lou Piniella's fault he [Bradley] was the worst signing in Cub history. Sources say Bradley was seen moments later leaving the ball park in street clothes. With Bradley and his voodoo curse out of the ballpark, the Cubs were able to get back down to business.
Randy Wells pitched another gem, and though the bullpen, and Soriano's lackluster defense, tried its hardest to blow another one for the young pitcher, the Cubs pulled away with a 5-4 win over the ChiSox.
Jake Fox had another 3 hit day at the plate and his only out was a scorcher that was chased down by Brian Anderson. Fox's day included a 2 run homer plating Derek Lee and a rope double. The man stands at the plate and looks like an old school baller from the 20s and swings even harder. He is definitely in the running for the team Lumberjack award and hopefully with Aramis out and Bradley in the doghouse, Lou can find a way to keep Fox swinging his big stick. Fox now has 11 RBI in only 38 at-bats (compared to Bradley's 16 RBI in 169 at-bats).
Only days after being dubbed a pot-head, Geovany Soto hit what turned out to be the game winning 3-Run Home Run. He was obviously smoking the good stuff before this game as he went 2 for 4 and hit the ball hard each time.
The Cubs bullpen once again kept Ron Santo on the edge of his seat as Carlos Marmol walked 2 men to lead off the 8th before Alfonso Soriano lost a lazy fly ball in the sun and then ran into his own teammate. Luckily, Sean Marshall was able to come in and get AJ Pierzynski to roll into a rare 3-2-3 double play. Honestly as a Cub fan, there isn't a White Sox player I'd rather see end their chance at a potential game winning rally.
The Cubs look to make it two in a row tomorrow as hard luck pitcher Ryan Dempster takes the mound. Hopefully Fox, Lee and Soto continue to provide the offense as Soriano, Fontenot and Bradley continue to see their averages dwindle in the low .200s.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cubs Get Out NLed, Take Loss To ChiSox
Less than 50 games after a season in which the Chicago Cubs were top 5 in the Majors in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Hits and Walks it was deemed necessary to fire hitting coach Gerald Perry. Seems like an unlikely scapegoat for a line-up which contains the names Miles, Fontenot and Blanco, not to mention a lead-off hitter carrying a .222 average and even more miserable .291 OBP. Only Jimmy Rollins entered today's games with a lower OBP in the lead-off spot, but at least he steals bases and doesn't consistently swing at the first pitch and balls out of the zone. Oh yeah, and Rollins comes at a price of 60 cents on the dollar compared to Soriano.
Just one day after the firing of Perry, the Chicago Cubs took ZERO walks and made the opposing White Sox throw only 122 pitches to seal a victory on the North Side. The Chicago White Sox are not supposed to know how to win without their DH, but were able to beat the Cubs at their own style of game by much more than the 4-1 score would suggest.
Seven White Sox took walks, and although only 2 ended up crossing the plate, the Sox patience put pressure on Ryan Dempster and the Cubs defense all day long. Three of these walks came with no outs in the 7th or 8th inning either leading off the inning or advancing a runner to scoring position, both allowing the White Sox to get runners in scoring position with nobody out and, unlike the Cubs, execute. A well placed suicide squeeze may have taken the last of the life out of the Cubs as the lead-off walk crossed the plate with no one on the field prepared for it.
This certainly makes one wonder, why not? Especially after the White Sox manager, who made a living scoring on the suicide squeeze, stated to the press he needed to play small ball to win. And even more especially with Scott Podsednik at the plate? And even more especially, coming just one play after a botched wheel play on an infield grounder to Angel Guzman who opted to throw to second base rather than force the lead runner at third.
So before the next pitch, why was Geovany Soto not infront of the plate before his infielders of a possible trick play? Why wasn't he at the mound calming his pitcher and telling him they may try a squeeze? And why when his player did not realize the situation was Lou Piniella not calling for a pitch out, or at least setting his defense with the corners in? It just signifies the whole mentality of the Chicago Cubs right now. Not knowing their steroids from their reefers...
The White Sox came into this game more prepared and with a greater desire to win, and it showed on every play. They ran the bases well and played great defense, with Brian Anderson making two catches that saved potential runs. One was a Derek Lee bloop with no outs and runners on the corners. If the ball drops, a run scores and there is first and second with no outs. If Anderson slides to make the catch, he still makes the out, but a run scores. Anderson kept his feet keeping Theriot harmlessly at third as Soto failed to even make contact with a runner at third and less than 2 outs. Anderson also made a stellar leaping catch underneath the basket on a nearly missed home run by Jake Fox.
The Fox flyout hopefully shows the Cubs coaching staff he deserves more at bats coming off a low and away pitch off the very end of the bat which flew 399 feet against the wind. Now that is power. Fox, though in limited plate appearances, is also the only Cub with an OBP over .400. Fox did make a 9th inning appearance in Left Field and recorded 2 outs, 1 on a difficult running grab. With the Cubs needing offense, why not replace the bat of Aaron Miles with Jake Fox? And no, Jake Fox doesn't need to play 2nd base because the Cubs have a second basemen on their roster with 150+ career home runs at the position.
Perhaps the move back to the infield could help save the legs of Soriano as he went to the disabled list for the first time as a pro last year with a leg injury and has been battling knee problems most of this season. Soriano's stolen base numbers have also all but disappeared since he moved to the outfield. Moving him away from an inplay bullpen mound and a brick wall 81 games a year probably wouldn't hurt the longevity of a man who is signed until the age of 39 at superstar pay levels.
The only bright spot for the Cubs today was Ryan Dempster who had far from his best stuff today but still gave his team a quality start and a chance to win the ball game. Dempster, who threw more balls than strikes really only had one mistake, a first inning home run to Alexei Ramirez. Even the Getz triple was on poor contact and even a broken bat. Twice Dempster got in trouble and wiggle his way out with double play balls, and ended another jam with a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.
Hopefully Big Z can shut the door on the Southsiders tomorrow after his scheduled start yesterday was rained out. No make-up date has been announced, but here is one true Chicago sportsfan's idea. Find a day when the Cubs and Sox both have home day games. After the day game, the White Sox board the front car of a red line train, with their fans in every car behind them and ride on up to Wrigley Field with the Cubs and their fans already in places. Could baseball get any more exciting than that? How bout if it was a World Series game? This Cub fan can only hope, as he has done for 25 years, but maybe its just easier to wait til next year.
Just one day after the firing of Perry, the Chicago Cubs took ZERO walks and made the opposing White Sox throw only 122 pitches to seal a victory on the North Side. The Chicago White Sox are not supposed to know how to win without their DH, but were able to beat the Cubs at their own style of game by much more than the 4-1 score would suggest.
Seven White Sox took walks, and although only 2 ended up crossing the plate, the Sox patience put pressure on Ryan Dempster and the Cubs defense all day long. Three of these walks came with no outs in the 7th or 8th inning either leading off the inning or advancing a runner to scoring position, both allowing the White Sox to get runners in scoring position with nobody out and, unlike the Cubs, execute. A well placed suicide squeeze may have taken the last of the life out of the Cubs as the lead-off walk crossed the plate with no one on the field prepared for it.
This certainly makes one wonder, why not? Especially after the White Sox manager, who made a living scoring on the suicide squeeze, stated to the press he needed to play small ball to win. And even more especially with Scott Podsednik at the plate? And even more especially, coming just one play after a botched wheel play on an infield grounder to Angel Guzman who opted to throw to second base rather than force the lead runner at third.
So before the next pitch, why was Geovany Soto not infront of the plate before his infielders of a possible trick play? Why wasn't he at the mound calming his pitcher and telling him they may try a squeeze? And why when his player did not realize the situation was Lou Piniella not calling for a pitch out, or at least setting his defense with the corners in? It just signifies the whole mentality of the Chicago Cubs right now. Not knowing their steroids from their reefers...
The White Sox came into this game more prepared and with a greater desire to win, and it showed on every play. They ran the bases well and played great defense, with Brian Anderson making two catches that saved potential runs. One was a Derek Lee bloop with no outs and runners on the corners. If the ball drops, a run scores and there is first and second with no outs. If Anderson slides to make the catch, he still makes the out, but a run scores. Anderson kept his feet keeping Theriot harmlessly at third as Soto failed to even make contact with a runner at third and less than 2 outs. Anderson also made a stellar leaping catch underneath the basket on a nearly missed home run by Jake Fox.
The Fox flyout hopefully shows the Cubs coaching staff he deserves more at bats coming off a low and away pitch off the very end of the bat which flew 399 feet against the wind. Now that is power. Fox, though in limited plate appearances, is also the only Cub with an OBP over .400. Fox did make a 9th inning appearance in Left Field and recorded 2 outs, 1 on a difficult running grab. With the Cubs needing offense, why not replace the bat of Aaron Miles with Jake Fox? And no, Jake Fox doesn't need to play 2nd base because the Cubs have a second basemen on their roster with 150+ career home runs at the position.
Perhaps the move back to the infield could help save the legs of Soriano as he went to the disabled list for the first time as a pro last year with a leg injury and has been battling knee problems most of this season. Soriano's stolen base numbers have also all but disappeared since he moved to the outfield. Moving him away from an inplay bullpen mound and a brick wall 81 games a year probably wouldn't hurt the longevity of a man who is signed until the age of 39 at superstar pay levels.
The only bright spot for the Cubs today was Ryan Dempster who had far from his best stuff today but still gave his team a quality start and a chance to win the ball game. Dempster, who threw more balls than strikes really only had one mistake, a first inning home run to Alexei Ramirez. Even the Getz triple was on poor contact and even a broken bat. Twice Dempster got in trouble and wiggle his way out with double play balls, and ended another jam with a strike-him-out-throw-him-out.
Hopefully Big Z can shut the door on the Southsiders tomorrow after his scheduled start yesterday was rained out. No make-up date has been announced, but here is one true Chicago sportsfan's idea. Find a day when the Cubs and Sox both have home day games. After the day game, the White Sox board the front car of a red line train, with their fans in every car behind them and ride on up to Wrigley Field with the Cubs and their fans already in places. Could baseball get any more exciting than that? How bout if it was a World Series game? This Cub fan can only hope, as he has done for 25 years, but maybe its just easier to wait til next year.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Milton BADley
For many years as a Cubs fan I've been able to keep my mouth shut but enough is enough
Sure, hindsight is 20-20. But the day I heard Milton Bradley was just signed by the Cubs, my body ached and my teeth cringed. "That man is a disease." I said aloud. I then recalled with colleague several Bradley anecdotes including fan altercations, injuries most able bodied major leaguers could avoid, and several bonehead plays that ANYONE who grew up in or around the game of baseball could never fathom.
Throughout the season I've watched him ground into double play after double play, leave men on base, make half assed attempts at fly balls, and run the bases with the Baseball IQ of a oversize headed Gerber baby... but what I saw Friday, Are you kidding me?
Now the double play number, 6, is seemingly harmless on the surface, but digging deeper, it is outpacing a career high and even more revolting when compared to a measily 16 RBI. I need not mention he has only hit 5 Homeruns to point out how awful Bradley's production has been, but why not throw it out to the fans anyway? Afterall, he did.
The half assed attempts at fly balls, I can understand. I find myself half assing my way thru most of my life. But, Milton, this is your profession, act professional. You have 24 other teamates and the city of Chicago counting on your efforts, give it your all.
Twice this week we actually got to see Milton Bradley run the bases. That's right. He actually got on base and then was able to run around them without injuring something. Ok now he reached base more than twice this week (slightly), but these two times happened to cost the Cubs outs and potential runs as complete bonehead decisions were made and Bradley was tagged out. In both these situations I would like to say he was caught in the heat of the moment, but both situations were pre-empted situations in which a runner should be thinking "HOLD" There really is no excuse for not knowing the game.
All of those failed to compare to the most recent blunder. The audacity of a man to even pose for a routine fly ball as if it were some great catch making up for his prior (uncharged) error of losing the ball in the sun, while wearing white designer sunglass, mind you. After making the catch and posing for a matter of seconds, still wearing white designer sunglasses, Milton, threw the ball into the stands with 2 outs. Somehow he was so caught up in his own glamour that neither his teamates running at him with their mitts up, nor the fans yelling at him to throw the ball back to in the infield were enough to deter this mockery of the game.
Bradley is signed for the next 3 seasons at a hefty penny. At the age of 31, we can only hope his prime has not passed, though lingering injuries to the lower body seem to be taking their toll making this signing even more questionable.
In 2008, Bradley's best season. He hit only .273 with RISP and a mere .163 with 2 outs and RISP. He hit a solid, but much deflated .290 on the road, and only 6 home runs came away from hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. His power numbers also diminished over the course of last season with only 3 HR and 20 RBI in the second half of last year.
The reason for the signing in the first place was to add a left handed bat, Milton hit .309 as a lefty, while .346 as a righty, so really, they didn't even get the left handed bat they desired.
Milton's struggles have been so great he has considered hitting only right handed and his 35 runs produced this year (19 R, 16 RBI) have come at a cost of $200,000 per. Using the same metric, Albert Pujols' runs produced (48 R, 55 RBI) come at a cost of $140,000 per.
And did the Cubs forget that Micah Hoffpauir hit .342 last year and a stellar .355 against right handing pitching. Did they not realize that is runs produced in 2009 come at a cost of only $15,673 per!
Now I understand Micah Hoffpauir may have not been ready to play every day against the better left handers in the league, but without Bradley's $30 mil collective deal, there was no need to trade Mark DeRosa, who hit .310 against southpaws. DeRosa's runs produced in 2009 have come at a cost of $66,265 per.
What makes the DeRosa trade even more dispicable is the abandonment of Casey McGehee The Cubs entered the season knowingly having no legitimate back-up to Ramirez who missed 43 games over the last 2 seasons. McGehee, age 26, is coming into his own after the rival Brewers who scooped him up for a bargain $400,000. MeGehee is hitting .311 and .356 as a starter since filling in for the injured Ricky Weeks.
Of course without McGehee, DeRosa still could have moved to third and Hoffpaur becomes a deserving everyday outfield, or Lou Piniella could chose to promote Jake Fox to fill in for DeRosa against lefties, Fox is hitting .416 in AAA but has yet to catch on with consistant MLB at bats.
With DeRosa's salary compared to Bradley's, the Cubs would have saved $1.5mil. This would have been coupled with the $9,750,000 in salary they dumped on Colorado with Jason Marquis, who happens to be tied for the NL lead in wins.
This saved money would have been more than enough to fill the more immediate hole vacant at the closer role with the departure of Kerry Wood. For $6,000,000 their competition (again the Brewers) were able to sign Trevor Hoffman, who has yet to allow a run this season. Instead, for $4,200,000, or $1.8 mil less (or pretty close to the DeRosa to Bradley pay increase) the Cubs settled for Kevin Gregg, who oh by the way has already given up 13 runs, and blown 2 saves. Once again, it makes me wonder if the Cubs did their Due Diligence. If so, they may have realized in 2008, Kevin Gregg blew 23% of his save chances. Hoffman blew a mere 11%.
If the Cubs wanted to really spend the money, for the full price of the Marquis and Bradley/DeRosa savings, they could have had K-Rod, who blew only 10% of saves last year and finished the season with 63.
Of course, even without the mistakes of this year's offseason, the Cubs would still have to deal with Kosuke Fukudome's $12mil a year or $227,272 per run produced, oh ya and his helicopter swing, and Alfonso Soriano and his $250+ per run produced, and stupid ass crow hop in the outfield.
In fact, the Chicago Cubs $36,500,000 starting outfield cost a mere $334,000 more than the entire Florida Marlins team! The Cubs big boppers in the outfield (Bradley, Fukudome, Soriano) have produced 154 runs while the Marlins starting outfield (Hermida, Gload, Ross) has produced a grand total of, gee, 154 runs! Let's also mention the Marlins outfield payroll is a mere $6,375,000... or less money than any one of the aforementioned Cubs as an individual, and each of the Marlins are 3-5 years younger than any of the aforementioned Cubs. Oh yeah, the Marlins are also 2 games under .500 while the Cubs are a whopping 1 game better than that.
With these hefty long term deals to aging players, trades become unlikely without giving up too much of the future. Luckily, I believe the Cubs have the answers on their bench. Reed Johnson has hit .296 as a starting centerfielder and .326 when hitting in the 5 hole in the batting order, offering protection to the clean-up hitter, and oh yes, he's hitting .364 at the friendly confines. Need we be reminded of the countless incredible, and clutch, catches he has made in the outfield, his knowledge and aggressiveness on the basepaths and a game winning or tying hit scattered in here and there. and another oh yeah, he's making $3,000,000 this year.
Micah Hoffpaur is hitting .278 against right handed pitching, but the power numbers are there (4 HR, 16 RBI in under 100 at bats) and he is hitting .308 as a starting right fielder.
Perhaps while the Cubs struggles continue some sort of platoon, or all out changes are in order.
It was refreshing to see Alfonso Soriano play second base instead of Aaron Miles (the man is useless and a sad excuse as a DeRosa impersonator, much less life) Perhaps this opens up the door for a Lee, Soriano, Theriot, Ramirez infield and a Hoffpauir, Johnson, Fox outfield. Sounds thunderous to me... Rumors are swirling that the Indians may trade their leading RBI man, Mark De Rosa, and the front runners to get him are once again, the Brewers. The Cubs need to address they made a mistake and get back the man Lou Piniella once dubbed, "The Cubs' MVP" before their division rivals do.
Sure, hindsight is 20-20. But the day I heard Milton Bradley was just signed by the Cubs, my body ached and my teeth cringed. "That man is a disease." I said aloud. I then recalled with colleague several Bradley anecdotes including fan altercations, injuries most able bodied major leaguers could avoid, and several bonehead plays that ANYONE who grew up in or around the game of baseball could never fathom.
Throughout the season I've watched him ground into double play after double play, leave men on base, make half assed attempts at fly balls, and run the bases with the Baseball IQ of a oversize headed Gerber baby... but what I saw Friday, Are you kidding me?
Now the double play number, 6, is seemingly harmless on the surface, but digging deeper, it is outpacing a career high and even more revolting when compared to a measily 16 RBI. I need not mention he has only hit 5 Homeruns to point out how awful Bradley's production has been, but why not throw it out to the fans anyway? Afterall, he did.
The half assed attempts at fly balls, I can understand. I find myself half assing my way thru most of my life. But, Milton, this is your profession, act professional. You have 24 other teamates and the city of Chicago counting on your efforts, give it your all.
Twice this week we actually got to see Milton Bradley run the bases. That's right. He actually got on base and then was able to run around them without injuring something. Ok now he reached base more than twice this week (slightly), but these two times happened to cost the Cubs outs and potential runs as complete bonehead decisions were made and Bradley was tagged out. In both these situations I would like to say he was caught in the heat of the moment, but both situations were pre-empted situations in which a runner should be thinking "HOLD" There really is no excuse for not knowing the game.
All of those failed to compare to the most recent blunder. The audacity of a man to even pose for a routine fly ball as if it were some great catch making up for his prior (uncharged) error of losing the ball in the sun, while wearing white designer sunglass, mind you. After making the catch and posing for a matter of seconds, still wearing white designer sunglasses, Milton, threw the ball into the stands with 2 outs. Somehow he was so caught up in his own glamour that neither his teamates running at him with their mitts up, nor the fans yelling at him to throw the ball back to in the infield were enough to deter this mockery of the game.
Bradley is signed for the next 3 seasons at a hefty penny. At the age of 31, we can only hope his prime has not passed, though lingering injuries to the lower body seem to be taking their toll making this signing even more questionable.
In 2008, Bradley's best season. He hit only .273 with RISP and a mere .163 with 2 outs and RISP. He hit a solid, but much deflated .290 on the road, and only 6 home runs came away from hitter friendly Rangers Ballpark at Arlington. His power numbers also diminished over the course of last season with only 3 HR and 20 RBI in the second half of last year.
The reason for the signing in the first place was to add a left handed bat, Milton hit .309 as a lefty, while .346 as a righty, so really, they didn't even get the left handed bat they desired.
Milton's struggles have been so great he has considered hitting only right handed and his 35 runs produced this year (19 R, 16 RBI) have come at a cost of $200,000 per. Using the same metric, Albert Pujols' runs produced (48 R, 55 RBI) come at a cost of $140,000 per.
And did the Cubs forget that Micah Hoffpauir hit .342 last year and a stellar .355 against right handing pitching. Did they not realize that is runs produced in 2009 come at a cost of only $15,673 per!
Now I understand Micah Hoffpauir may have not been ready to play every day against the better left handers in the league, but without Bradley's $30 mil collective deal, there was no need to trade Mark DeRosa, who hit .310 against southpaws. DeRosa's runs produced in 2009 have come at a cost of $66,265 per.
What makes the DeRosa trade even more dispicable is the abandonment of Casey McGehee The Cubs entered the season knowingly having no legitimate back-up to Ramirez who missed 43 games over the last 2 seasons. McGehee, age 26, is coming into his own after the rival Brewers who scooped him up for a bargain $400,000. MeGehee is hitting .311 and .356 as a starter since filling in for the injured Ricky Weeks.
Of course without McGehee, DeRosa still could have moved to third and Hoffpaur becomes a deserving everyday outfield, or Lou Piniella could chose to promote Jake Fox to fill in for DeRosa against lefties, Fox is hitting .416 in AAA but has yet to catch on with consistant MLB at bats.
With DeRosa's salary compared to Bradley's, the Cubs would have saved $1.5mil. This would have been coupled with the $9,750,000 in salary they dumped on Colorado with Jason Marquis, who happens to be tied for the NL lead in wins.
This saved money would have been more than enough to fill the more immediate hole vacant at the closer role with the departure of Kerry Wood. For $6,000,000 their competition (again the Brewers) were able to sign Trevor Hoffman, who has yet to allow a run this season. Instead, for $4,200,000, or $1.8 mil less (or pretty close to the DeRosa to Bradley pay increase) the Cubs settled for Kevin Gregg, who oh by the way has already given up 13 runs, and blown 2 saves. Once again, it makes me wonder if the Cubs did their Due Diligence. If so, they may have realized in 2008, Kevin Gregg blew 23% of his save chances. Hoffman blew a mere 11%.
If the Cubs wanted to really spend the money, for the full price of the Marquis and Bradley/DeRosa savings, they could have had K-Rod, who blew only 10% of saves last year and finished the season with 63.
Of course, even without the mistakes of this year's offseason, the Cubs would still have to deal with Kosuke Fukudome's $12mil a year or $227,272 per run produced, oh ya and his helicopter swing, and Alfonso Soriano and his $250+ per run produced, and stupid ass crow hop in the outfield.
In fact, the Chicago Cubs $36,500,000 starting outfield cost a mere $334,000 more than the entire Florida Marlins team! The Cubs big boppers in the outfield (Bradley, Fukudome, Soriano) have produced 154 runs while the Marlins starting outfield (Hermida, Gload, Ross) has produced a grand total of, gee, 154 runs! Let's also mention the Marlins outfield payroll is a mere $6,375,000... or less money than any one of the aforementioned Cubs as an individual, and each of the Marlins are 3-5 years younger than any of the aforementioned Cubs. Oh yeah, the Marlins are also 2 games under .500 while the Cubs are a whopping 1 game better than that.
With these hefty long term deals to aging players, trades become unlikely without giving up too much of the future. Luckily, I believe the Cubs have the answers on their bench. Reed Johnson has hit .296 as a starting centerfielder and .326 when hitting in the 5 hole in the batting order, offering protection to the clean-up hitter, and oh yes, he's hitting .364 at the friendly confines. Need we be reminded of the countless incredible, and clutch, catches he has made in the outfield, his knowledge and aggressiveness on the basepaths and a game winning or tying hit scattered in here and there. and another oh yeah, he's making $3,000,000 this year.
Micah Hoffpaur is hitting .278 against right handed pitching, but the power numbers are there (4 HR, 16 RBI in under 100 at bats) and he is hitting .308 as a starting right fielder.
Perhaps while the Cubs struggles continue some sort of platoon, or all out changes are in order.
It was refreshing to see Alfonso Soriano play second base instead of Aaron Miles (the man is useless and a sad excuse as a DeRosa impersonator, much less life) Perhaps this opens up the door for a Lee, Soriano, Theriot, Ramirez infield and a Hoffpauir, Johnson, Fox outfield. Sounds thunderous to me... Rumors are swirling that the Indians may trade their leading RBI man, Mark De Rosa, and the front runners to get him are once again, the Brewers. The Cubs need to address they made a mistake and get back the man Lou Piniella once dubbed, "The Cubs' MVP" before their division rivals do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)