Cubs Convention Recap

I wasn't at the Cubs convention myself, but there are a few tidbits of news that came out of it which might be interesting. Here's a little recap of the highlights (and lowlights):

• Zambrano thinks Lasik surgery will fix his subpar numbers from the second half of the season last year. Seems unlikely that fixing his eyes will fix the fatigue in his arm.



• Speaking of tired arms, it appears that Harden has a minor tear in his shoulder. It's unclear how serious it is, but the coaching staff assures us its no big deal. Hmmm.



• Apparently Soriano is willing to bat in whichever position Lou puts him. Lou says he likes Fonzy in the leadoff but will consider other options. Same old same old.



• Apparently there will be a competition between Gregg and Marmol for closer. I'm on board with that, but we all know Marmol is the guy. As I've said a hundred times, Gregg is Bobby Howry 2.0.



• Hendry was booed on Friday. I presume it had to do with dealing DeRosa, but who knows with Cubs fans. Apparently when Aaron Miles was introduced, the fans chanted "De-Ro, De-Ro" so there you have it.



• Apparently Samardijza was told to report to spring training "ready to start". Obviously injuries and other circumstances may change that, but the question becomes; Who does he start over? With Harden, Z, Lilly, Dempster, Marshall, there's not much room. I guess Marshall would be the obvious one to lose his spot if Samardijza has a good spring.



• Improvements to Wrigley were discussed. The new Friendly Confines Cafe by right field will be opening. Also the new triangle building across the street should be ready around 2012-2013.



• Soto was MIA from the convention. Probably not a big deal.



• Day 3 was much of the same as day 1 and 2. Repeated assurances from Hendry all weekend that the dealing was far from over. Numerous questions about the order of the lineup.



• Were you wondering why Bradley was given Sosa's number 21? So were a lot of fans, since there are some expectations that his number may be retired.



• A lot of discussion had on Day 3 revolved around the Cubs farm system. I'm not too familiar with it, but apparently there is a push for "more athletic pitchers". Hopefully that means pitchers not made of glass.

All in all the biggest news to come out of the convention wasn't related to it at all. That was the deal that sent Pie to Baltimore for spare parts. Otherwise there was nothing especially interesting. Hendry was very coy in responding to all questions about Jake Peavy, which would lead one to believe a deal is still possible. Pitchers and catchers report soon, so stay tuned...

Money Well-Spent....Sort Of; Welcome to Chicago Milton Bradley

Milton Bradley coming to Chicago is good and bad news. The 3 year 30 million dollar deal he was given by the Cubs Monday has been splashed all over the sports media outlets, but what does it mean for the Cubs? For starters, we have to look at how it came to this.

Two things led to the sense that an acquisition of someone like Milton Bradley was necessary for the Cubs to have more success than last season. The first is Kosuke Fukudome. Even now I still want to like Kosuke. He seems like a hard worker that plays the game the right way (and I wasted $25 on a Fuku jersey tee). Unfortunately his average, which was around .325 6 weeks into the season, took a huge dip. Even though he was still drawing walks, he could not hit. Not only that, but the little he did hit was not for power. The second thing, which is tied directly to the first, is the perception that the lack of a power hitting left handed bat is what caused the Cubs to falter in October. There is no reason to discuss the faultiness of that rationale here, but suffice it to say that perception created the "need" for a player like Milton Bradley.

There is no question that Milton Bradley is a talented player. In 9 seasons he has an OBP of .370 and a SLG of .457. Unfortunately he has only played in 817 games during that time, an average of 93 games a year. As someone recently pointed out to me, his career arc through his first 9 seasons is eerily similar to that of Carl Everett's (844 games, .349 OBP, .477 SLG) in not only statistics but also attitude. While Bradley has been effective when he's played, he's been a bane to the teams he was on while he was not playing.

Was Bradley a good acquisition for the Cubs? The injury history should make all Cubs fans a bit cautious, as should the theatrics and behavior problems of his past. There is no way to predict whether he will stay healthy, though it seems like a good bet that he will not, but in terms of his behavior there really is nothing to worry about. Lou Pinella will be able to control Bradley. He does not take much crap from anyone, and Milton Bradley will be no exception. Pinella will have Bradley playing by the rules or he won't be playing.

What about the outfield, you ask? Well if Bradley stays healthy and sane (that's a big if), the outfield should work out just fine. Soriano in left, Fukudome/Gathright in center, and Bradley in right. Obviously the corner positions will leave something to be desired defensively, but Fukudome and Gathright are fast enough to help pick up the slack. ***UPDATE: Reed Johnson can also get starts at any of the 3 outfield positions to give guys a rest or fill in when someone gets hurt, which is likely. (Thanks to reader Cousin Danis for reminding me about Reed).

One last quick note: Whether this works out or not, the loss of Mark DeRosa to clear cap space was unfortunate and will cost the team. He was a beloved player in the clubhouse and among fans. Besides that he had a career year at the plate and his versatility in the field will be missed. Good luck De-Ro.

Today's Links--Blame The Cubs For Underfunded Schools Edition

• Reverend Meeks protested funding disparity in schools by pulling thousands of kids out of school and making them go to Winnetka. Now he's suggesting the same thing except this time 6,000 kids to surround Wrigley Field during the first playoff game? Come on guy, give it a rest.
• Cubs lost, but Harden looked solid and Hoffpauir is hitting his way onto the playoff roster.
  
• Hugging Harold Reynolds discusses the current Zambrano situation. He hasn't looked great since that no-no 2 years ago, or wait, I guess it was 2 weeks ago. Sure seems like longer.
• Why did the Phillies blow up a package of hot dogs? I'm still not sure.
• Tie Break scenarios for MLB playoffs.
  
• Benson will not be indicted for all that messiness. Who cares I guess.
  
• Mr. Cub is a dad? At age 77? Interesting...
• This is how you shit the bed. Sox lose and get swept out of Minnesota. Ugly.
  
• Should the Bears be limiting Forte's carries? Take a look at the first comment, it lists the max carries by a rookie the last ten years.
• Illini star Martez Wilson wants to be in the NFL...no wait, my bad, he wants to open a convenience store chain?
  
• Lion's new management has one goal--beat the Bears. I know its tough times in Detroit, but shouldn't they dream a little bigger?
• Remember the Bears number 1 pick Chris Williams? Well it looks like he's back out on the practice field.
  
• Dempster is the Game 1 starter.
• Wait, wait, wait, Lou didn't mean he was quitting exactly.
  

Today's Links--Sleeping With Dusty's Daughter Edition

• Is Dusty Baker's daughter sleeping with Corey Patterson? Why else would Dusty have a guy that can't bat his weight leading off? Oh right, because he is an idiot.
• "Air" McNabb will be throwing all night next Sunday against the Bears, especially with Westbrook on the shelf.
• Is this Lou's last year managing? Whether he wins or loses he may be considering retirement.
• Some good Ozzie quotes. Also, is "Big-Game" Floyd ready to pitch the most important game of the season? Also Orlando Cabrera rips his team.
• Top ten Millen disasters. There were so many candidates for this list, it must have been difficult to pare it down to 10.
• I should not even be posting these, and you would never see them on NQTC until the Cubs actually make it, but here's what Cubs World Series tickets look like.
• Benny the Bull takes out one of the Sausages in the infamous Sausage Race...on ice.
• Cubs win to help Brewers move into a tie for the Wild Card. Personally I would rather play the tired Brewers than the Mets, but that's just me. Unfortunately Z did not perform that well.
  

Today's Links

• Kosuke has been relegated to defensive replacement. He wasn't even in the lefty heavy lineup on Monday.
• Top ten Chicago baseball surprises. This is a great top ten list. Also top ten Chicago no-hitters. That one is a little obscure for most of the list, but still interesting.
  
• Cubs win. Magic number is down to 4. "We are on the cusp of history every single night". A little dramatic, but it is an exciting time to be a Cubs fan. Oh, and C.C. Sabathia takes his first loss in the NL. Boo-hoo.
  
• So how badly is Hester injured? Will he play next week? In two weeks? Ever? We'll find out at the press conference today.
• Do some Cubs want to have a new ballpark? It was a good time at Miller, that's for sure.
• Konerko's return was a huge boost for the White Sox. This guy is great. White Sox won by the way.
• More Bears post-game notes. Kevin Payne had a great game.
  
• Pinella and Hendry in line for extensions? They definitely look like they've earned it right now.
• As Ron Santo always says in those Cubs commercials: "This is the year!!". Could it be the year for him to get into the Hall of Fame? Statistically he is better than half of the third basemen that are already in. We'll see.
  

Lou Asks Cubs Fans Not To Panic, Cubs Fans Ask Lou To Stop Losing

Cubs fans all over are getting a little nervous. We've been through too many of these and we want this one to end differently. We want it so bad that we are starting to hit the panic button after a two-week slump. Well Lou thinks we should just chill out:

''I think the people in Chicago get really high and then they get really low,'' Piniella said. ''It's a long season. There are a lot of ups and downs. We've had mostly ups, and we've had a little downer. But it's to be expected. I never thought coming into the season that this team here was a team that would win 100 ballgames. And if we stayed on that [early] pace, that's what we would have won...Look, there is no need for panic, I can tell you that. We got into this funk when we lost our two starting pitchers [Harden and Carlos Zambrano]. I've said along that this club here is pitching first, defense second and timely hitting third. We've got to pitch here. And for the most part, we have. But as we lost those pitchers, our offense cooled.''

But what about the heart-wrenching late-inning meltdowns Lou? And the almost-meltdowns (Woody has looked shaky at best in the recent wins) Well Lou has something else to say:

'We got ourselves in a little rut hitting,'' he said. ''We didn't score many runs, and we lost a few ballgames. If it's gonna happen, do it now as opposed to later. Obviously, you would want to be 8-2 in the last 10 as opposed to 2-8, but what are you gonna do? Basically, there is nothing to panic about. We've just got to close the deal.''

Don't you tell me not to panic Mr. Pinella! 2-8 in the last ten is kind of a big deal. It's definitely not good, I can promise you that. Straighten shit out!

Cubs Take Wrong Turn at September

With the off day on Thursday, Lou Pinella and first-base coach Matt Sinatro decided to take a nice drive to Cincinnati for the series opener there on Friday.  That crazy pair is always getting into mischief and this time is no different.  Apparently Lou falls asleep, and Matt drives them to Cleveland instead of Cincy:

It was an ugly day all around for Piniella and Sinatro as they took the scenic route to Cincinnati.

"We actually Googled the trip and we were Googled to East Liverpool, Pa., evidently. Who in the heck knows?" Piniella said. "On the [printout] sheet we had Cincinnati-Liverpool. And I'm thinking to myself, I was in Cincinnati for three years and I don't remember a Liverpool around the area."

That might be because East Liverpool, Ohio, is on the western border of Pennsylvania, so the printout took Piniella and Sinatro east instead of south.

With Sinatro driving, Piniella took a short nap.

"When I woke up we were about 80-90 miles from Cleveland. I said no, I don't think so. So we backtracked and came down through Columbus and got here at 5 o'clock. We left Chicago at 8 in the morning so we should have been here at 2 [p.m.]

"I probably shouldn't have taken the nap."

At least there's something to laugh about these days.  The way the Cubs and Sox have been playing and with the injuries piling up, its hard to even smile.  At least Lou and Matt are getting stoned and taking some sweet road trips.

Bobby Cox Will Control the Lights, Thank You

In this afternoon's game between the Cubs and Braves, Bobby Cox was a little irritated when ump Joe West started playing with the lights. Joe West had the typical reaction to Bobby's arguments: he threw him out.

It's believed Cox began yelling at West because he didn't allow Nunez to deliver his first pitch until the lights were fully illuminated before the start of the fifth inning.

Well, naturally. Cox, by the way, was sitting in the dugout when he was tossed and never came out to argue. So lazy. West had similar incident involving the Cubs last season at Wrigley, which then prompted sweet quotes from Sweet Lou.

"What happens [at Wrigley Field] is it takes a while once you turn them off to get the juice back flowing. I told the Cowboy he's a good umpire, but an electrician he's not."

Cox wasn't the only man tossed today. Francisco Bueno made his MLB debut for the Braves and was ejected for throwing at Alfonso Soriano's head in the ninth. The Cubbies won the game 10-2.

I'm Busy As Hell Today, But....

Check out my post over at Luol's Dong. Its about the Cubs. I'll give you a preview: Rim Job.

Whaaaa??

Whatever Lou is reading, its definitely not the scouting report.

The Cubs didn't have much of a scouting report against Karstens (1-0), whom the Pirates acquired from the New York Yankees in the Xavier Nady deal. Friday was his first big league appearance this year, and he gave up five hits, walked four and struck out two over six innings.

Ummm, oops?