Even with new owners who claim to be committed to winning, the Chicago Cubs are at it again this off-season doing everything wrong.
The poor off-season started early with the moves the Cubs did not make in a year of limited free agents at positions the Cubs needed to adress. After parting ways with Mark de Rosa last year, and allowing him to be traded back to the division rival Cardinals, the Cubs were left with a huge hole at 2nd base leaving Mike Fontenot the every day starter. The Cubs also have been missing a true lead-off hitter since Juan Pierre was driven out of town after just 1 season with the club.
On the market this year were two viable options to play second base and lead off. Chone Figgins was the spark plug for the Angels for the past few years consistently getting on base, putting pressure on the defense and scoring runs. He would have made a great combo up the middle with Theriot defensive and allowed for plenty of hit-and-run opportunities with the Riot hitting behind him in the order as a 1-2 punch. This pairing could have been the table setters thumpers like Lee, Ramirez, Soriano and Soto needed to be true run producers. According to several sources, the Seattle Mariners are close to locking up Figgins.
The next choice for the Cubs that would have made much sense was Placido Polanco. While he is not the typical speedy lead-off hitter, he works deep counts and carries a .303 career batting average and consistenly scores 80 to 100 runs a season. Polanco signed with the Phillies willing to accept a lower contract and move to 3B just for a chance at a winner.
Perhaps the Cubs passed on these 2nd basemen because the rumors of moving Theriot to 2B are true. Even so, moving The Riot to 2B just shifts the gaping hole to SS. Sure the young Andres Blanco looked very solid defensive and had a few clutch doubles at the end of the season, but with an aging team heavily invested in older talent, is this the year to start over at SS? I think not. The best SSs on the market this year were Orlando Cabrera and Marco Scutaro. Both of whom do not seem worth the money as Cabrera is getting older and Scutaro is coming off a possible fluke year. The Cubs already passed on Scutaro as he inked with Boston this week.
The Cubs also put alot of pressure on Aramis Ramirez for this season just as they did last year. Ramirez has never really been all that durable, with DeRosa spelling him occassionally in past years. Without DeRosa last year, the Cubs were lucky to have Jake Fox to fill in with his bat on the cheap. However, that insurance policy is no more. Fox and his $400,000 a year contract were GIVEN AWAY just to rid the organization of the awful Aaron Miles signing and contract. Miles hit .185 last season and was often paid to sit around and be 5 feet 8 inches tall.
In exchange for Fox, who had 35 Home Run potential, the Cubs received a few no-names and Jeff Gray, a 28 year old who has yet to establish MLB success. He seems to me just a cheaper and younger version of Aaron Heilman, who did not work out at all for the Cubs this season.
The Cubs have not addressed the problems with the most overpaid outfield in the major leagues. If the Soriano, Bradley, Fukudome outfield is still in-tact, it will still be making more money than the entire Florida Marlins roster with much less production. Fukudome has proven to be a terrible signing and the worst all star ever. Soriano is coming off his worst season as a pro and Bradley, well, we all remember him being sent home at the end of the season. I hate to say it but nobody is going to help the Cubs rid themselves of these problems. Therefore filling the hole up the middle was essential to bringing some change to the Chicago Offense.
The returning struggling offense will just put more pressure on the Cubs rotation. Carlos Zambrano who was inked to big money is coming off a mediocre year for a man making those kind of dollars. He will need to bounce back with an 18 win or better season if the Cubs hope to go anywhere.
Ryan Dempster regressed from his All Star year and was oft injured this season, including a freak broken toe. Knowing the kind of competitor Ryan is, he should work hard this offseason and bounce back.
The staple of the Cubs rotation has been and will be Ted Lilly. Lilly has been a rock and a slump stopper for the Cubs since being signed 2 years ago. He was finally shown the respect he deserves being named an All Star this season, tho he did not see game action.
Randy Wells will have to bring the same magic he brought last season. The tough luck pitcher still managed 12 wins with virtually NO run support and his 3.05 ERA was stellar. Wells, lacking the stuff of top tier major league pitchers has the guts to go after hitters, but will it be enough to maintain an established career as a winning pitcher? we can only hope so.
After that the Cubbies have a few question marks on the mound. Sean Marshall proved his weight in gold as both a reliever and a back-up Left Fielder to Alfonso Soriano and without lefty help down the left field line, the Cubs may be forced to leave him there. Tom Gorzelanny is still a project and we hope had can bounce back to his prior form but that remains to be seen. Jeff Samardzija looked terrible in his starts continually giving up long-balls and does not seem to be anything other than the 2nd coming of Kyle Farnsworth. One of these guys will need to step up and fill the spot as the Cubs fifth starter or the Cubs will have to look elsewhere.
With the money saved from finally letting Rich Harden walk, though a season too late, the Cubs are rumored to be looking at Vicente Padilla. Again I must wonder if the Cubs do their due diligence. Padilla made a whopping $12,000,000 in 2009 and is unlikely to sign for much less being sadly one of the better names in the free agent pool of pitchers this year. Padilla however really isn't anything special. He has a career record of 98-85 and a not so sexy 4.33 ERA, which has been inflating since he left the Phillies in 2005. This is one signing I hope does not happen
Hopefully this article is put to shame and the Cubs have something in the works to move Bradley and bring in another ACE or a true power hitting Right Fielder. It does not address the lack of a lead off hitter, but maybe, just maybe if Bradley and Fukudome can be moved for a stud in RF it opens the door for the young Sam Fuld to start in Center Field and lead off. He has shown his ability to play an above average defensive centerfield, he has shown he has the arm to play a stellar defensive centerfield and the man has the speed, patience and bat control to fill the void at the top of the Cubs order, all at a bargain. With no Chone in the future, let the Fuld era begin.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Bulls Fans Pissed-on BG's return
I heard alot of boos for Ben Gordon but almost as many people asking why the boos? I heard some rumblings of it being because he left for more money, which might make sense in this anti-capitalist state of mind we find the mass public in, but that is not why I was booing BG.
The bottom line is the man was a disease for the Chicago Bulls. It really was amazing to watch Gordon and Salmons on the court and just compare the two. Now i know they were not traded for one another, but essentially Salmons signaled the end for Ben in Chicago.
Ben Gordon played his typical game tonight. Sure, he had 18 points, but on 6-16 shooting. Many of these shots were off-balance and after a long series of dribbling.
He was 2-8 from downtown and consistently threw up 3s early in the shot clock. It looked like he didnt have teammates out there and the 0 assists back it up.
He committed 5 fouls, most of which were just down right silly fouls to begin with. Now I understand the man wasn't 100%, and if he was, he just wasn't in game shape his first night back. But if he knew this was the case, why lead your team in shots?
Now the Bulls did not play their best overall game, and I'm not sure they have since opening night. But there were stretches tonight when the team looked good enough to make it out of the first round. At times the energy was very high and the crowd reciprocated. Most of the excitement came on 2 seperate Brad Miller to Derrick Rose alley-oops. Both seemingly on set plays and both executed to perfection. Rose was good with 19-4-6 but did get a little sloppy with the ball in transition from time to time and had 5 TOs.
The story of the night had to be John Salmons. He played stellar defense, including his late steal which lead to a give and go with Deng. He hit clutch shots for the second night in a row. But most importantly, these shots came on either rhythym shots, or by cutting/driving to the basket. Salmons was on the attack all night.
A critical piece to letting Ben walk was to ensure Luol Deng would be back to normal this year, and hopefully even beyond. Luol being steady at 3 allows the Bulls to move Salmons back to the 2 and upgrade from a 6'3 body to a 6'6 man. Deng in the 3 stands a long 6'9 so the Bulls can now play big with Miller and Noah helping in the post. Deng so far has been brilliant. Sure he's had his off nights but they happen, the nice part about this year is they've been fewer and far between.
Deng was an animal early attacking the basket. He had the recognition to take Gordon into the post each time that mismatch ocurred and it worked early on. Deng finished with 14 and though the percentages were down he took decent shots. He added 8 boards but more importantly 4 off the offensive glass. It was nice to see him crashing the boards and banging around with the big guys.
Brad Miller and Joakim Noah just did what they do combining for 23-21-11. Their interior and high post passing may have won them the game as they continually hit players in rhythym increasing the chances of a made basket. If the Bulls Bigs can keep this up, it will be a nice change having big men who can get the job done offensively. Tyrus Thomas needs to be able to come back strong and productive to help out the duo as they 2 combined for 76 minutes...
The Bulls need to learn from this game and carry a little of the momentum into Cleveland where they've already won once this year. Big Bad Brad has been great at stopping the Shaqtus and Deng matches up nicely on LeBron. The Bulls need to keep turnovers to minimum and not give up 2nd chance points or easy buckets. If they play within themselves, they match up very well against these Cavs. Back to back division wins would be a great way to erase a dismal west coast trip from the memory especially in the process of getting healthy.
I would like to see more tick for James Johnson. The Bulls short rotation played a ton of minutes tonight and could probably afford to save the legs with back-to-backs on friday and saturday. Johnson was one of the lone bright spots against Utah dropping 10 and 5 in limited minutes on good percentages with only 1 TO. We have not seen him on the court since.
The bottom line is the man was a disease for the Chicago Bulls. It really was amazing to watch Gordon and Salmons on the court and just compare the two. Now i know they were not traded for one another, but essentially Salmons signaled the end for Ben in Chicago.
Ben Gordon played his typical game tonight. Sure, he had 18 points, but on 6-16 shooting. Many of these shots were off-balance and after a long series of dribbling.
He was 2-8 from downtown and consistently threw up 3s early in the shot clock. It looked like he didnt have teammates out there and the 0 assists back it up.
He committed 5 fouls, most of which were just down right silly fouls to begin with. Now I understand the man wasn't 100%, and if he was, he just wasn't in game shape his first night back. But if he knew this was the case, why lead your team in shots?
Now the Bulls did not play their best overall game, and I'm not sure they have since opening night. But there were stretches tonight when the team looked good enough to make it out of the first round. At times the energy was very high and the crowd reciprocated. Most of the excitement came on 2 seperate Brad Miller to Derrick Rose alley-oops. Both seemingly on set plays and both executed to perfection. Rose was good with 19-4-6 but did get a little sloppy with the ball in transition from time to time and had 5 TOs.
The story of the night had to be John Salmons. He played stellar defense, including his late steal which lead to a give and go with Deng. He hit clutch shots for the second night in a row. But most importantly, these shots came on either rhythym shots, or by cutting/driving to the basket. Salmons was on the attack all night.
A critical piece to letting Ben walk was to ensure Luol Deng would be back to normal this year, and hopefully even beyond. Luol being steady at 3 allows the Bulls to move Salmons back to the 2 and upgrade from a 6'3 body to a 6'6 man. Deng in the 3 stands a long 6'9 so the Bulls can now play big with Miller and Noah helping in the post. Deng so far has been brilliant. Sure he's had his off nights but they happen, the nice part about this year is they've been fewer and far between.
Deng was an animal early attacking the basket. He had the recognition to take Gordon into the post each time that mismatch ocurred and it worked early on. Deng finished with 14 and though the percentages were down he took decent shots. He added 8 boards but more importantly 4 off the offensive glass. It was nice to see him crashing the boards and banging around with the big guys.
Brad Miller and Joakim Noah just did what they do combining for 23-21-11. Their interior and high post passing may have won them the game as they continually hit players in rhythym increasing the chances of a made basket. If the Bulls Bigs can keep this up, it will be a nice change having big men who can get the job done offensively. Tyrus Thomas needs to be able to come back strong and productive to help out the duo as they 2 combined for 76 minutes...
The Bulls need to learn from this game and carry a little of the momentum into Cleveland where they've already won once this year. Big Bad Brad has been great at stopping the Shaqtus and Deng matches up nicely on LeBron. The Bulls need to keep turnovers to minimum and not give up 2nd chance points or easy buckets. If they play within themselves, they match up very well against these Cavs. Back to back division wins would be a great way to erase a dismal west coast trip from the memory especially in the process of getting healthy.
I would like to see more tick for James Johnson. The Bulls short rotation played a ton of minutes tonight and could probably afford to save the legs with back-to-backs on friday and saturday. Johnson was one of the lone bright spots against Utah dropping 10 and 5 in limited minutes on good percentages with only 1 TO. We have not seen him on the court since.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Victory Liquors - Victors of what exactly?
So Hi Tops sold us out tonight and cancelled 10 cent wings so a bunch of past their prime Michigan State Fans could sit around in their too tight jerseys to watch their Spartans lose to the Tarheels...again.
Not wanting to lose our already paid parking spots we decided to walk to another bar in the area that had a food special and our regularly scheduled Tuesday Night Trivia. Victory Liquors it was. Now I must say I had been there once before and I was entirely blacked out so I could not provide a proper review, but from what I remember it was crowded and sweaty and being a white, skinny male I was definitely the minority. Not that theres anything wrong with overweight foreign females but its just not when you expect in Lincoln Park, home of the skinny white girl in leopard print.
Deciding to give it one more chance we walked in for half price sandwiches... I guess half priced meant you get what you paid for and it was only half cooked. After we received our first pitcher, we removed the dead spider that was floating in it and drank it anyways... yes, alcohol is a disinfectant and money is tight in this Obama Economy... sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Honestly, the spider beer was the best thing on the menu.
I decided to not be too risky with my order and went with the Turkey BLT. Poor decision. The Bacon was as undercooked as a frat boy after a 10 minute discount tan and about as saggy as Betty White's Breasts. Definitely not a good combination.
In ordering my choice of side, our server informed us that the french fries were very similar to McDonald's making them very difficult to pass up. The server obviously smokes loads of crack before eating the fries as the similarities to McDonalds were parallel to my similarities to Brad Pitt.....Overall I give the food 1 star... and I'm still not sure if thats on a 5 or 10 star scale.
The atmosphere was as bland as the food. We heard Weezer was playing in Chicago tonight but I was confused to see them sitting at a table in the corner. Obviously the lead singer put on a ton of weight and if it werent for the terrible flannel and thick nerd glasses I would have never recognized him. I would also have thought he would have been there with a girl much more attractive than the Star Jones look-a-like sitting next to him... Just ewwe.
Now the trivia was very entertaining, if you are into Twilight and Insects. Seriously, who tailors these questions? Wouldn't you want to make them about things like Music and Sports to maybe attract a better crowd? Perhaps the saved energy from undercooking the bacon isnt enough to offset the profit loss from half priced food so they purposely drive people out. And if that wasnt enough to do it, the first time a customer steps into the bathroom might be... it was less appealing to the eye than the Star Jones look-a-like and less appealing to the nose than snorting Ajax... hey, we've all been scammed in a coke deal before...
There's about as good a chance I return to Victory Liquors as there is Milton Bradley becomes the most popular man in Chicago.
Not wanting to lose our already paid parking spots we decided to walk to another bar in the area that had a food special and our regularly scheduled Tuesday Night Trivia. Victory Liquors it was. Now I must say I had been there once before and I was entirely blacked out so I could not provide a proper review, but from what I remember it was crowded and sweaty and being a white, skinny male I was definitely the minority. Not that theres anything wrong with overweight foreign females but its just not when you expect in Lincoln Park, home of the skinny white girl in leopard print.
Deciding to give it one more chance we walked in for half price sandwiches... I guess half priced meant you get what you paid for and it was only half cooked. After we received our first pitcher, we removed the dead spider that was floating in it and drank it anyways... yes, alcohol is a disinfectant and money is tight in this Obama Economy... sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Honestly, the spider beer was the best thing on the menu.
I decided to not be too risky with my order and went with the Turkey BLT. Poor decision. The Bacon was as undercooked as a frat boy after a 10 minute discount tan and about as saggy as Betty White's Breasts. Definitely not a good combination.
In ordering my choice of side, our server informed us that the french fries were very similar to McDonald's making them very difficult to pass up. The server obviously smokes loads of crack before eating the fries as the similarities to McDonalds were parallel to my similarities to Brad Pitt.....Overall I give the food 1 star... and I'm still not sure if thats on a 5 or 10 star scale.
The atmosphere was as bland as the food. We heard Weezer was playing in Chicago tonight but I was confused to see them sitting at a table in the corner. Obviously the lead singer put on a ton of weight and if it werent for the terrible flannel and thick nerd glasses I would have never recognized him. I would also have thought he would have been there with a girl much more attractive than the Star Jones look-a-like sitting next to him... Just ewwe.
Now the trivia was very entertaining, if you are into Twilight and Insects. Seriously, who tailors these questions? Wouldn't you want to make them about things like Music and Sports to maybe attract a better crowd? Perhaps the saved energy from undercooking the bacon isnt enough to offset the profit loss from half priced food so they purposely drive people out. And if that wasnt enough to do it, the first time a customer steps into the bathroom might be... it was less appealing to the eye than the Star Jones look-a-like and less appealing to the nose than snorting Ajax... hey, we've all been scammed in a coke deal before...
There's about as good a chance I return to Victory Liquors as there is Milton Bradley becomes the most popular man in Chicago.
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