Last night's game was a good one. Dempster pitched very well, and the Cubs hitters seem to have Milwaukee's number. Lots of people are commenting on the surprising effectiveness of the Cubs' lineup, composed as it was of many bench players. What I think they don't understand is that it was a lineup, not an agglomeration of players batting in certain spots without rhyme or reason, which is most of the time what the Cubs do field, even though their regulars, on paper, look like a more formidable team. Last night's lineup had most guys batting in positions where they could contribute, and it had a nice alternation of lefties and righties and batting styles so that a pitcher was not likely to be able to get too comfortable. The result was nine runs, and the other result was that most of them came from solid innings with multiple hits and walks rather than home runs.
There are lots of rumors on the Cubs boards of looming blockbuster trades. I rather think it is a little early in the season for such talk. The most rational one is the idea of trading Gorzelanny for a proven setup man, most likely Heath Bell of the Padres. Not a bad thought. If Lilly is healthy, this brings Zambrano back to the rotation and even if he is not, there are some other options down on the farm.
Realistically, aside from finding someone to fill the hole left by the Guzman injury, the Cubs do not seem to have pressing needs that cannot be ameliorated from within their own organization, and I'm not sure they have the chips at hand to pull off a genuine blockbuster that would really improve their chances this year and into the near future. They sure don't want to trade Castro. In fact, they should seriously consider bringing him up right now.
The Cubs would surely be improved by dumping Soriano, but who wants him, what are they willing to give in exchange, and how much will it cost? Aside from Gorzelanny, the only chips on their major league roster that have value and are likely to be considered trade bait are Ted Lilly and Derrick Lee, who are both in the final year of their contracts and are at least possible candidates for being allowed to go in free agency. I would consider trading Lilly even this early in the year. He is a good pitcher, but, if you look at the numbers, he isn't that good. He is 34 and has a history of injuries. Given that the strength of the Cubs, both in the majors and minors is starting pitching, you've got to think they are going to be hesitant to tie up big money on this guy and that he could be dangled for sure around the trade deadline, especially if the Cubs are out of contention.
Lee is also a potential chip for the same reasons as Lilly, though, to my mind, the Cubs have no one coming up to replace him and moving Nady to 1B, though possible as a stopgap, is a significant downgrade. I could see a potential blockbuster in moving Lee to the Padres as part of a deal for Gonzalez, and I would take that deal in a minute if it didn't cost too much in the way of serious prospects.
Nady and Tracy are also potential trade bait, as is Baker, but I'm not sure they bring much in return. There is probably a lot of interest in some of the Cubs better minor league prospects, and the fact that Hendry has said he could move some of them is cause for some concern. This is always a problem when you have what is essentially a lame duck organization in place that is on the bubble. They want to win now, and based on past performance, it doesn't look like they know how.
Hello again, you old Ivy Blogger. One of the djs on WMVP today said he didn't think bringing up Castro now to play SS, thereby moving Theriot to 2d would be a good move now, because it may screw up the Riot by him playing a new position, even tho he played the keystone in the past. It would also take some time before Castro and The Riot got comfortable with one another,especially in double play situations.
ReplyDeleteI say bring up Castro now, he's red hot at the plate in Tenn., and the Cubs sure aren't hitting with RISP.
ReplyDeleteMr Beagleman, also the author of the above post.
There are arguments on the Castro front both ways. I personally think they need to decide whether they are going to play their good young guys sooner or later. Are they a better team with Castro and Colvin playing every day or not?
ReplyDeleteThey would obviously be a better team defensively with Castro and some kind of combination of Theriot and Fontenot. Theriot is not a great SS for sure and when they play against lefties with Theriot and Baker they are very weak up the middle, and that, incidentally, is one of the reasons they don't match up well against lefties.
They are not losing games for this reason, though. They are losing because they are not scoring runs. They are not scoring runs because they usually do not field the best possible lineup and because Lee and Ramirez are not hitting consistently. After today's game, Theriot has an OBA of .370 and Fukudome's is .429, but they have only 23 runs between them, about one run per game.