The Ivy Covered Burial Ground: The Trade

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

The Trade

I haven't seen a lot of reaction to the Cubs acquisition of Mike Montgomery from the Mariners for Dan Vogelbach. To my way of thinking, its satisfies a current need for the team in terms of getting a left-handed reliever to complement Travis Wood. Granted it is not the drop dead deal a Chapman or Miller trade would have been, but I think I predicted in an earlier post the Cubs would more than likely go after a less spectacular arm. Maddon sort of telegraphed this with his remarks the other day when he talked about getting a guy who would fit in and fill a role.

By all accounts, Montgomery is pretty good. He should be able to slot in as a lefty specialist and seventh inning guy. Richard has not filled that role this season and Wood is starting to show a little fraying from overuse. In terms of giving someone up, Vogelbach has always looked like the most trade-worthy player in the farm system. It is clear from today that any deal with the Yanks framed around Vogelbach was not going to pan out. The Yanks are more likely to trade Chapman and get someone to overpay for a rental player or to get a blockbuster deal from a team more desperate than Chicago. Vogelbach is going to be a solid major league player for years to come, but on the Cubs, or indeed most NL teams, he was not going to be a good fit. For the Cubs, Rizzo clearly blocks him, and, to be honest, he does not really have a position, first base being the spot he is least likely to cause damage.

On the field, the Cubs took the rubber game of the series from the Mets. Hendricks once again dominated a good team and the Cubs pounded Bertolo Colon from the start. The Mets strength is still their pitching and injuries are beginning to impact their prospects for repeating as league champions. They are definitely not the offensive team they were at the end of last season despite their performance in sweeping the Cubs in New York. I have my doubts they will make the playoffs this year unless they get lucky. If they do, it will be as a wild card.

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A Manifesto of Sorts

Somehow I have been conditioned to be a Cubs fan. I grew up with the profound conviction that it was nearly impossible or at least a feat of some exceptional athletic prowess to throw a baseball accurately from third base or the hole at shortstop to first base. This odd belief was fostered no doubt by the great fuss Jack Brickhouse made when a Cub infielder actually succeeded in doing so and from the observation of Handsome Ransom Jackson and Roy Smalley, Cubs stalwarts of the era, who rarely succeeded in that endeavor. It was only when I began playing the game in earnest in sandlots and little league that I came to realize it was really not all that hard to do.

Another legacy of my youth was the observation fostered by my father, a lifelong fan, that every Cubs executive who followed William Veeck, Sr., Bill Veeck's father, was an utter nitwit, as were most of the managers they hired. In this opinion, he was not far from the truth, and I cherish it as one of the few useful bits of knowledge he passed on to me.

Anyway, like all fans, I can dream. And, I suppose, rant.

By the way, I owe the title of this blog a line in the Steve Goodman song, "Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request."