What We Learned Last Week

Actually, not too much.  We learned that the bunting contest still goes on and that nobody really cares who wins it.  We learned that despite repeated threats, Alfonso Soriano will not bat leadoff for the Cubs.  That honor will go to David DeJesus, who was the only conceivable candidate in the first place.

We learned that the aforementioned Alfonso Soriano has made some slight adjustment to his timing mechanism and this accounts for his rejuvenation this spring.  Hey, guys, it is spring training.  It is Arizona.  Nothing that happens here with veteran players matters.

Actually, I am starting to lose some patience with all the stories about Soriano and how he can still hit home runs and all that blather.  Come on, this guy stinks and everybody knows it.  I'm prepared and even anxious to give the new regime a shot, but when the manager starts talking about playing Soriano every day and moving him up in the order, it makes you wonder.

It's still too early to say much about the rest of the camp.  Samardzija, by all accounts, looks very good.  Garza looks awful, but he seems to be allergic to Arizona, so I would not worry.  I watched a lot of the first televised game on Sunday.  Not very impressive.  In fact, it looked as if they were sleepwalking.

I know it is spring training, but one cannot help but wonder if this spring is really all that different than the past.  I know that they are stressing fundamentals, and so on and so on, but here's the thing.  Every year there will be someone who has a breakout spring, some young player who is not expected to make the roster, or at least is not expected to start, who plays his way into the lineup. 

Last year that player was Darwin Barney.  This year, there appear to be two interesting players that the brass assures us will begin the year in the minors, namely, Anthony Rizzo and Brett Jackson.  I can see letting Rizzo regain his confidence as he was rushed up prematurely by the Padres last season, but why is it that Jackson, no matter what he does, seems assured of demotion?

The least the Cubs can do is to play these kids against major league pitchers and not be content to insert them into the lineup in the late innings when you will largely learn nothing of their readiness and potential.

Another thought is this.  Aside from starting pitching, the biggest problem the Cubs had last year was their outfield, particularly Soriano and Byrd.  Everybody knows they are going to be replaced and that as long as they are fixtures, the Cubs will never really be any good.  Logically, the young players they are blocking are Jackson and Rizzo, as the Cubs are likely to move LaHair to LF if Rizzo is ready.  The least they could do is give LaHair a few innings in the outfield to prepare for this eventuality.