My first reaction was to rofl, I guess this is the Astros response to Milwaukee getting Sabathia and the Cubs getting Harden and Gaudin.  Um, Really Ed Wade? 

Wades latest folly

 

Sabathia..........Harden.................................................................Wolf??????????

 

Someone needs to tell Ed Wade that the Astros ship sailed long ago and that any moves he makes at this point is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  Someone needs to tell Ed Wade that the Astros shouldn't be trying to compete with the Joneses when you're so far away from being a Jones yourself you can barely see them.  I'm left wondering where the 'Stros are going to be in two years?  They didn't have a great farm system to begin with and now Wade has gutted it for the likes of Miguel Tejada and Randy Wolf among others.  Where are those guys going to be in two years?  Where are the prospects he traded going to be in two years?  If Mr. Wade was smart he'd stop being the Anti-Beane and start trying to stockpile some good, young talent to the organization and stop adding aging players who are on the down hill side of their careers.

Anyway, nothing personal against Randy Wolf.  He's descent enough I suppose.  He's not going to do a damn thing for the Astros playoff chances though this year and I suspect anyone who's paying attention knows that.  Oh well, maybe before it's all said and done Wolf will administer a beating to Ed Wade, ala Shawn Chacon.  Might as well get some entertainment from this after all.

Finally, somone with a chance of making something happen has said it.  That someone is DeRosa, he's apparently making noise about playing short if Roberts is acquired.

 

Continue reading this post »

Mike Myers was release by the Yankees because of his inability to get out left handed hitters.  I can see the logic in that since he's a lefty specialist and all.  What I'm having trouble understanding is WHY he's a LOOGY?  Here are his splits:

Continue reading this post »

Interesting point from Ken Rosenthal in this article.

# Don't rule out the possibility of the NL wild card coming out of the Central division. The Phillies and Braves have faded in the East, and the second-best team in the West might not be better than the Brewers or Cubs.

Keep in mind also that the Central includes three of the league's four worst teams -- the Astros, Pirates and Reds. After Tuesday, the Brewers face those clubs 30 times, the Cubs 33. And the other team in the division, the Cardinals, isn't exactly imposing . . .

I have to believe he's got a point.  I still think the Cubs have as much chance of winning the Central as the Brewers.  Yeah, it'll be tough but it can be done.  And really, I don't see the Dodgers or the Diamondbacks as being superior teams to the Cubs or Brewers.  I do think the Fathers are a better team than those four and that they'll likely win the West.  As far as the East, I'm surprised that the Braves have as good a record as they do, though I think they started out a little better than they really are.  Philadelphia probably belongs in the discussion with the Cubs/Brewers/Dodgers/Dbacks but I think they lack the pitching they need given their home park.

So really you could look at it as the Cubs have a 50% chance at winning their division (or maybe 40%) and if they don't then they still have a 25% chance at the wild card.  

FYI, for all the haters (you know who you are) who'll accuse me of drinking the Kool-aid (yawn) or want to know who my crack dealer is, you should probably know that I just pulled these numbers out of thin air without any statistical reasoning or logic attached.  Let's hear your numbers.

On June 22nd Jayson Stark hosted an ESPN.com web chat.  I don't really care for Stark, not a good writer.  It seems to me that he spends the first 2/3 of his column wasting space and writing cliches to tell you about the point that he's going to try and make, without ever getting to the point.  Very frustrating trying to read the guys stuff consistently.  However, he can't waste so much time during a web chat so it's a little easier to read his stuff there, and I found something fairly interesting in yesterday's chat.....

Continue reading this post »

Not much info yet but ESPN is reporting that Roger Clemens will pitch for the Yankees this year.

Continue reading this post »

Not sure if this has been posted yet, I haven't seen it but if it's up already then accept my apologies.  This is a nice article on why the Cubs aren't going to be sold.  Makes sense on some levels.  I for one have wondered about why they would be adding payroll when everyone else slashes payroll when they are getting ready to sell.  I think that the article is drawing the correct conclusion in that the reason why the Cubs are spending so much is directly related to no-shows at the park and declining television ratings.  Add that to the Sox recent success and Cubs brass has had the appropriate fire lit underneath them.  Just my opinion.  I don't doubt that something could happen and we may even end up with new owners but I doubt that the Trib is going to decouple from the Cubs and sell them as a separate entity.  But hey, that's just one relatively uninformed guys opinion, so take that for what it's worth.  No "Voice Of God" prophecies from me about this, just guessing and speculation.  Here's the article.

The quick and dirty is that in present day value Fonsie's contract is worth approximately $12.5 million a year.  The contract is backloaded heavily and when we're paying him $18 million a year a few years from now $18 million just won't be worth as much as it is now.  Heck, by then Rich Hill will probably be making at least $18 million a year given what mediocre at best guys like Adam Eaton are getting this year.

Link

about the Soriano negotiations.  In fact I got ahold  of a transcript as follows....

Continue reading this post »

I just saw the replay of Hunter's missed dive on ESPN.  That was the second inside the park home run in the playoffs in the A's history.  ESPN showed the replay of the other from way back in 2002.  The previous was also against the Twins, and also because Hunter missed a ball in center field.  Hunter said this time that it seemed like it took Cuddyer an hour to get to the ball (he wasn't commenting on Cuddyer's speed, he was commenting on what it felt like to have to watch the ball roll all the way to the wall).

In the replay of the 2002 inside the park home run Hunter missed the ball but this time it was the Twins left fielder who ran to get it.  The one and only Jacque Jones.  What happened?  Jones picks up the ball and throws it back into the infield, except.....(wait for it).....he threw it into the ground about 50 feet in front of himself, just like we saw him do all season.

I thought he was supposed to be playing hurt this year?  Was he hurt in 2002 as well?  Same injury?  Chronic or freak injury?  Did I miss something about this or is he hurt or not?

My guess?  The Cubs brass new he couldn't throw before they signed him, and they didn't care.  This is just more talk with a side of smoke and mirrors thrown in by the Cubs wonderful PR driven spin machine.  Thank you for the legacy you've left us, Andy McPhail.

Is Theriot really this good?  Is he good enough to be our starting second baseman next year?  

Continue reading this post »

I had the good fortune (or bad fortune, whichever) of going to both Cub games last Friday and Saturday in Atlanta.  The Cubs got pounded both times but I took something away from those games that has me somewhat optimistic for the future, at least for Rich Hill's future.  Here goes...

Continue reading this post »

The trade as proposed (or what we proposed, or made up or conjectured, whatever) would include Ramirez, Jones and Howry for ARod.

This give the Yankees some financial breathing room.  The loss of Sheffield, assuming he isn't resigned, is worth about 13 million to them.  Subtract Jacques 5 million or whatever and they'll free up about 8 million there.  Howry would be used most likely as Tom Gordon had been prior to this year, which slots Farnsworth further down in the pen.  And Aramis takes over at third and puts up respectable numbers.  Problem solved, except they may not want to make the trade, so where do we go from there?

How about we (The Cubs) take Pavano off their hands as well?  They're very dissippointed in him because of injuries and general ineffective ness.  He's got 2 years worth approx $20 left on the contract after this season that the Yankees would be happy to get rid of.  

So I say expand the deal and include Carl Pavano (addition by subtraction for them) and free up money for their ineviteble run at Zito.  We get a bonafide starter back who's good but unreliable.  If any team in the leage know's a thing or two about that it's us.

Peripheral players would have to be worked out, as well as how much $ Hendry is willing to accetp to take Pavano, but it could get done.

Thoughts?

The Astros just just fired Gary Gaetti as their hitting coach because of their struggling offense.  Oh, and in related news Jim Hendry said Nothing has changed in regards to Dusty Baker.

Continue reading this post »

And overall I wasn't very impressed.  I went to their game against the Tennessee Smokies (Knoxville).  Here are some thoughts about what I saw.

Continue reading this post »

Nice article over at Beyond the Boxscore about the Cubs offensive problems.  I have to say that the depth of their troubles surprised me even though I see it on a regular basis.  Take a look at how far below they are to the next lowest team in VORP.  Amazing.  And yes, our worst fears are confirmed, Neifi! sucks!

Continue reading this post »

If you believe ESPN then it sounds like some teams are actually calling Hendry and inquiring about Freddie Bynum.  If it's true it makes you wonder what Freddie is still doing on the team.  What, nobody offered a bag of "Genuine MLB" baseballs?

I don't see any downside to trading him, he will never be a descent major leaguer so anything you get in return is a bonus.  It's not like trading Korey, who at least had potential.  We could bring up almost anybody with speed from the minors and probably get the same or more then what Bynum gives us.  I say trade him, trade him now.  Go Jim Go!!!

According to the Chicago Tribune, GM Jim Hendry says the Cubs are not in a seller's mode, but some teams reportedly have called about the availability of Jerry Hairston and Freddie Bynum, two role players whose roster spots will be in jeopardy once Derrek Lee returns from his wrist injury.

ESPN Insider only

Godzilla just went down with an arm/wrist type injury.  We all know how long those take to heal.  Perhaps King George won't be happy with Bubba Crosby manning left, especially since Sheffield is out right now too.  Maybe this is our chance to unload Jones on the Yankees?  The trick would be getting it by Cashman, he seems a little too bright to do this on his own, no matter how much of Jocks salary Hendry would be willing to eat.

I know, not much chance Hendry will go for such a public mea culpa on Jones this early, especially with our offense already hurting for bats.  A Cub fan can dream though can't he?

The Yankees don't have much to offer back in return but who cares?  Who really cares?  Unfortunately I don't think they'd want someone like Jones sitting overpaid on the bench when Sheffield and Matsui get back, but Steinbrenner has done stranger things.... remember he once gave Jose Conseco a job.

Linkage