It's Finally Over

The Cubs wrapped up their third consecutive losing season Wednesday night, each more depressing and futile than the last.  It was done in characteristic fashion with a philosophical Ryan Dempster, a longtime favorite of the Cubs inept management and particularly a favorite of Mike Quade, hanging around to pitch his 200th inning of the season, giving up nine runs, eight hits, four walks, and two home runs in the process.

Dempster rambled on after the game about how it was an achievement to pitch 200 innings even though for the most part they were not quality innings but he gave the team a chance to win and that was what it was all about anyway and if the team could not give him the run support he needed to deliver, which, given an ERA close to five, an ERA+ of 81, and a WHIP of 1.45, is quite a few runs indeed well, too bad, he gave it everything he had.

He also confessed to not even having thought about whether he would exercise his $14M player option next year.  Come on, is this guy playing Ricketts and the fans, or what?  Make no mistake, Dempster is only hemming and hawing about this because, like Ramirez, he wants at least three more years from the Cubs.  He faces a harder choice than Ramirez in this matter because he is less certain to get a good deal elsewhere and the Cubs at present are not in a position to make the necessary commitment.  Nor, in his case, should they.

Dempster is a pretty ordinary pitcher who has made a lot of money for a guy who arguably has had only one good season, 2008.  He's been on a downhill slide since then, his stuff has deteriorated, and he is 34 years old.  I would venture to suggest that the Dempster contract is an even greater albatross than the Zambrano deal.  At least Zambrano is only 30, and there is considerable upside there if he can conquer his demons.  In Dempster's case, though there are no apparent demons, there is no upside either.

I wrote in an earlier post about the seemingly delusional behavior of Mike Quade who seems to think he did a good job this season and, worse yet, believes he will return next year.  This peculiar form of complacency is shared by his ultimate boss, Tom Ricketts, who, once the season had mercifully ended, proudly announced there was no timetable in his search for a new GM.  He would take as long as he needed to find the right man, and, anyway, this team was only a few tweaks to be competitive next year, by golly.

Haven't we heard this before?  As a matter of fact, we heard this mantra from Jim Hendry after each unsuccessful year?  Is Ricketts channeling Jim Hendry?  Or was Hendry channeling Tom Ricketts all along?  Here's a horrible thought, what if Ricketts has secretly rehired Hendry and not told anyone about it?  Or maybe Ricketts has deputized Hendry to head up the search team for his own successor without telling anyone, even Hendry?  The possibilities are endless.

Say It Ain't So

After yesterday's game, Mike Quade threatened to return next year to guide the Cubs again.  I would imagine the reporters would have fled the friendly confines in horror and disbelief, but, probably inured to the fantasies emanating from that dais on a daily basis they just turned off their tape recorders and dozed off.

Iron Mike further testified that he had no reason to suppose management had any problems with his style or lack of achievement.  The players all loved him and blamed themselves for the team's failures, promising to try a lot harder next year if the team gave them all multi-year extensions.

When he was asked about the poor fundamental play throughout the season, he averred that sure it was disappointing, but he had emphasized strong fundamental play in spring training and he did not blame himself for the team's lack of attention.  Most of the guys had tried real hard, so they were not to blame either.  He was certain that if they all got a vote of confidence from whoever the new GM was, they would try even harder next year.

Finally, the skipper said he would like to have Zambrano's arm back next year, but he confessed to doubts that he could deal with bringing back the entire player.  But that would be a conundrum the new GM would certainly figure out.

On another note, both Aramis Ramirez and his agent Paul Kinzer have made it pretty clear they are angling for a multi-year extension.  They have stated they would turn down the one-year option the Cubs hold and opt for free agency if the Cubs exercised it.

Actually, that is not much of a surprise, and it tends to work out in the Cubs favor.  The Cubs can exercise the option knowing Ramirez will turn it down.  This buys them at least a compensatory draft selection.  Ramirez has said he would consider an offer from the Cubs when he is a free agent, so the door is still open.

It is likely that Ramirez is worth around $12M/year for a two or three year deal.  I would think the new GM would offer this kind of deal for two years with an option for year three or some kind of performance-based vesting option for the final year.

I've been of two minds on the Ramirez question.  On the one hand, the Cubs have built their team around his bat for several seasons and they have been disappointed the past three even though he has had reliable production when he is healthy.  So it might be time to move on.  On the other hand, there are no immediate alternatives available on the farm or through free agency.

The guy you want to see opt out is Ryan Dempster, who holds a player's option for around $14M.  I've never been a big Dempster fan simply because even though his numbers have been pretty good, he just is not a stopper.  This year his stuff has very noticeably declined and should the Cubs bring him back for another season - and as it stands now, this is not their choice - they are going to be looking for a replacement very soon.  Dempster wants a multiple year extension.  Under no circumstances should he get it.  The best result for the Cubs is for him to walk.

With both these guys, the Cubs are in a bad spot with a caretaker administration.  It is unlikely they will have a new GM in place within five days of the season's end, so they are just going to have to make the best of it and let the players who have an option make up their own minds.

Last Night Game of the Year at Wrigley

I haven't been posting individual game reviews lately because there hasn't been much to say, but, since I managed to get out to see the final night game of the year, this is an exception.

Last night's game was a lot like many of the other games in a disappointing season.  Randy Wells started out very well and I thought it would be a nice pitcher's duel, but he came apart in the third inning after allowing two sharp doubles to the opposing pitcher Marcum and Brewers leadoff man Corey Hart.

I couldn't tell whether they had figured out his change-up or he lost his release point, but everything was up and he got hammered.  The Cubs typical bad defense did not help matters.  For some reason Castro was positioned at double play depth with a runner at second base, so he missed Morgan's line drive at shortstop.  Soto threw the ball into center trying to nab Morgan on a steal attempt and Morgan scored on a Braun single.  Fielder worked the count to 3-2 before hitting a weak grounder to second.  Braun was going with the pitch, so the Brewers were able to avoid a double play.  Then Weeks hit a hard smash to third that Ramirez misplayed.  Only one error, but characteristic sloppy play turned a shaky inning into disaster.

The only other excitement from the Cubs viewpoint was a home run by Starlin Castro to lead off the sixth.  Marcum pitched a good game and had the Cubs hitters off-balance throughout.

Still, it was a pleasant night at Wrigley Field, warm temperatures.  Good to get out one last time before the season is over.  Props to Stub-Hub as well.  I hadn't used the service in a long time, but I managed to score $60 tickets for $20 each.  One of the perks, I suppose, of continued mediocrity.

I snapped the photo above after Bryan LaHair fouled off a pitch before striking out in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Kicking the Can

One of the hallmarks of the Ricketts ownership of the Cubs seems to be a spirit of temporization and indecision that pervades the whole organization.  What I mean is that the whole gambit seems to be geared toward postponing necessary decisions more or less to the point where they no longer matter.

To begin with, Ricketts should have replaced the major players in the front office immediately upon taking ownership of the team.  He was clearly unready to do so and everyone cut him some slack for this misdemeanor, arguing that he needed time to evaluate the situation.  Lost in this initial round of excuses is the fact that negotiations had been in progress years before the actual takeover, so the Ricketts family had ample time to put some sort of minimal transition team of advisors in place.

Just to give the highlights, we witnessed the Lou Piniella death march before Hendry finally pulled the plug on him in August, only to install his protégé Mike Quade as interim manager.  Quade continued to play the same mopes that Piniella played, trotting out the same lineup that included the same weird platoons that made no sense at all (Colvin/Fukudome, for example).  He got lucky though as his starting pitching came around, notably Carlos Zambrano, who won his last eight decisions during that stretch.

Hendry should have been fired in the off-season.  He had assembled a mediocre, flawed team that was totally dysfunctional and had suffered consecutive losing seasons, actually embarrassing losing seasons.  Instead he was allowed to continue, perpetuating the culture of postponement.  He promptly installed the increasingly befuddled Quade as skipper.

There were two genuine difference-makers available in the off-season, Adrian Gonzalez on the trade market and Cliff Lee as a free agent.  Whether he had a legitimate chance of obtaining either is somewhat beside the point.  Hendry chose not to pursue either in a serious way, opting instead to sign the placeholder Carlos Pena.  Evidently this was done on the off chance that Pena would resurrect his career in Chicago and they would make a run at Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder when and if they became free agents the following year.

Instead of taking a shot at Lee in the free agent market, Hendry traded away four of the top ten prospects in the organization to obtain Matt Garza from the Rays.  However this move works out in the long run, this is a move you make if you are a pitcher away from a division title.  Making it when you are not argues that you are just postponing the inevitable recognition that you are not a contender and that you need to deal with that conclusion decisively and quickly.

So having postponed the matters to the point where nothing could be done to salvage another depressing season, Ricketts dismissed Hendry.  However, he and Hendry didn’t tell anyone for a month, allowing Hendry to completely mess up the trade deadline situation when they might have dumped one or more of their useless pieces just for the sake of dumping them if nothing else.

The one player they did dump from their awful and unproductive outfield was Kosuke Fukudome, who, incidentally, has been an important reason the Indians have stayed as close to Detroit in the AL Central as they have until they collapsed last week.  They traded Fukudome ostensibly to make room for Tyler Colvin to play every day.  However, Mike Quade, managing in the forlorn hope of returning next year, has chosen, just as he did last year, to stick with his veterans.  So Colvin hardly ever plays and has continued to disappoint.

It is getting to be really hard to watch this team day in and day out.  One thing that kind of keeps you going is following some of your favorite players, but, as I have remarked before, it is hard to have favorite players on this team.  I woke up the other day, went over to the blogs and team sites I usual follow.  Then I came to the terrible realization that I actually dislike this team.  Now I find myself unconsciously rooting for the other side in the hopes that something like losing all the rest of their games will wake somebody up.

Now we have news that someone from Detroit called up Ricketts and asked for permission to discuss a job next year with Oneri Fleita.  Ricketts, who has been running around putting all the decisions on the new GM’s plate, promptly signed Fleita to a four-year contract.  Was the inept owner/fan played again?

So far the scorecard on the new Cubs regime is two seasons, two lost years.  The only truly promising sign yet to be realized is the emergence of Starlin Castro as a potential star.  Otherwise the team and everything about it has actually gotten worse.

We are told, however, that the new GM will fix all that.  He has a big job ahead of him and he better get going quick, that’s for sure.  Even assuming he or she is not associated with a playoff team, there is a lot on the plate.  First off, there is the issue of a new manager.  Then the pending options for Ramirez (mutual) and Dempster (player) with all the implications of extensions involved.  Then there is the whole Zambrano mess.  Then he/she will have to find away to replace at least two outfielders, a first baseman, at least one starting pitcher and maybe two if Dempster walks, and three if Zambrano doesn’t return, not to mention a third baseman if Ramirez leaves, not to mention improving the team at catcher in the wake of Soto’s awful year.

Well, you get the picture.  Most of this mess is the result of Ricketts’s indecision and Hendry’s ineptitude and insistence that the team was fundamentally OK.  Two years is a long time to sit tight in baseball and the Cubs are experiencing the results of having wasted that time.  Never fear, though, help is on the way and Mr. Right will save the day.

Good luck with that.

I posted a version of this at Bleacher Report, where it got a lot of reads earlier this week.

Nothing to Write Home About

Lest my readers suppose I have not been watching the Cubs, rest assured, I have been, more or less. I cannot say I have watched every inning. It is simply there is nothing much to say. Since my last post, the team has gone 6-6, pretty much playing to type.

Quade continues to play the usual suspects, Byrd, Soriano, etc. The lineups are especially bad against lefties because they include Baker and Johnson as well. I don't really dislike Johnson as a player, but honestly what does it prove in the end. Baker is a player I cannot stand even though he hits left-handed pitching pretty well. You have to ask yourself, what does this prove, other than that the team can play .5oo ball if everything goes right? Quade seems to have completely given up on Tyler Colvin. He has played badly for sure, but what is the point of benching him? Actually winning games in the end hurts the team's draft position if nothing else. Not to mention taking playing time away from any prospects they have brought up.

Speaking of prospects, though, the Cubs chose to bring up Lou Montanez again, as well as D.J. LeMahieu. Le Mahieu may have a future although he looks overmatched. Montanez does not. Nor presumably does Gaub, who, in any case, is never used, Quade preferring to mop up and lose extra inning games with another solid incompetent in Grabow.

Allegedly to allow him to prepare for playing on Team USA, the Cubs chose not to promote potential star Brett Jackson. Actually this was more likely because some accountant figured out his major league credits would not begin and so they could potentially save arbitration money down the road.

One bright spot has been Bryan LaHair, who has hit for power and average in his brief stint. He has not embarrassed himself in right or left field, though, again, why they don't give him a shot at first base is something only Mike Quade could explain. Sure, Carlos Pena is a major leaguer and all that, but everything you want to know about him and his abilities is known. All you do by playing him is to enhance his value as a free agent by letting him build up his numbers in meaningless games. If you played LaHair and he turned out solid, you might save yourself $10-20 million next season depending on whether the team signs Pena or goes after Fielder or Pujols.

Actually, I am very suspicious of any numbers the Cubs veterans might put up in the last month of the season. These guys with something to prove like Soriano and Byrd and Pena and Soto are just going up there and swinging for the fences. They aren't playing baseball any more. Ramirez a bit less so because he has a little less to prove at this stage.

One bright light has been the performance of Randy Wells over the last few weeks. He seems finally to have recovered from his injuries and his crisis of confidence. He has pitched back to his 2009 form lately and this bodes well for the future. I was glad to see Cashner return even if only to the bullpen. The Cubs need to be very careful with him through the rest of the year. It serves no purpose to over extend him in a lost season.

Another observation that I have probably made before. Watching the Cubs outfield play in a big stadium like Citi Field just highlights how bad they are, how slow they are, how bad their jumps on flyballs and popups are, etc. This is a major reason they "stinks," as Carlos Zambrano so aptly put it. I just see balls the Cubs hit in the gaps get run down with regularity and balls their opponents hit fall in and roll to the wall. If the Cubs are going to contend again, they need to get some outfielders who can hit and run and catch and play fundamental baseball. If they cannot get them from the farm, they will have to trade for them or sign free agents.