Chicago's Inside Pitch
Baseball mourns passing of Lee MacPhail
Posted by Bruce on Fri, 11/09/2012 - 15:53
Baseball has lost one of its greats. Lee MacPhail died Thursday evening at age 95. Mr. MacPhail, former general manager of the Yankees and Orioles and president of the American League, was the father of former Cubs president Andy MacPhail. He was the oldest living Hall of Famer at the time of his death.
I had the good fortune of meeting the elder MacPhail a couple of times, courtesy of Andy. Although I can't say I "knew" Lee MacPhail, I always felt that if you knew Andy MacPhail, you were well on your way to knowing Lee MacPhail. The two seemed the same temperamentally: thoughtful, measured and deliberative. And both always had the respect of those with whom they dealt, whether they be baseball executives, umpires, managers or players.
Report: Haren denies injury concerns
Posted by Bruce on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 17:04
Cubs bosses Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod are out near Palm Springs, Calif., for the general managers meetings. As we’ve reported a couple of times over the past week, Cubs GM Hoyer said he hopes to advance talks with other teams and with the agents for free agents while out in California.
While meeting with Hoyer last week, the writers heard him say he had been having talks with several clubs already about possible trades. Then came word late last Friday that Hoyer had dealt closer Carlos Marmol to the Angels for starting pitcher Dan Haren. Or not. It seems Marmol jumped the gun on announcing the deal when he told a media member in the Dominican Republic that he had been traded.
News on U.S. Cellular Field, Nieves
Posted by scotgreg on Wed, 11/07/2012 - 16:14
Many White Sox fans still refer to their home stadium as Comiskey Park, even though it changed to U.S. Cellular Field in 2003.
According to a report in Chicago Crain’s Business, U.S. Cellular is selling off markets, including Chicago, to Sprint Nextel for $480 million.
In addition, U.S. Cellular is reportedly cutting 640 jobs in the Chicago area.
That leads to the obvious question – is U.S. Cellular Field going to become Sprint Nextel Field?
Apparently not.
“Our naming rights to the ballpark are not a part of this deal with Sprint. The White Sox are a great partner and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them," U.S. Cellular said in a statement.
Jed Hoyer unfiltered: Cubs GM covers it all
Posted by Bruce on Mon, 11/05/2012 - 17:19
Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer will fly out to Palm Springs Tuesday for the GM meetings. The meetings get under way in earnest Wednesday, and they’ll wrap up early Friday. Last week’s Carlos Marmol for Dan Haren trade that didn’t happen notwithstanding, the GM meetings usually set the groundwork for trades. It’s not often a trade gets done or announced at the GM meetings. Player agents also are on hand at the GM meetings, so teams are able to move some free-agent talks along.
The Cubs writers had a chance to meet with GM Jed Hoyer last week, and we had a story in Friday’s paper. As we did with Theo Epstein a couple times already this fall, we’ll run some of Jed “unfiltered,” as it were, on this blog.
Here are some of Jed’s general thoughts about the meetings:
Ozzie: Time to move on
Posted by scotgreg on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 13:50
By now, you've undoubtedly heard the Miami Marlins fired manager Ozzie Guillen last week even though he's got three more years - and $7.5 million - remaining on his contract.
After a messy exit from the White Sox late in the 2011 season, Miami hired Ozzie and he was expected to guide the Marlins back to the postseason this year.
After all, they spent $191 million on free agents Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and Heath Bell and moved into a new stadium.
Instead, the Marlins finished last in the NL East with a 69-93 record and Ozzie did not survive.
He addressed his future on Ozzie Guillen.com.
Barney a Gold Glove finalist; Soriano misses cut
Posted by Bruce on Mon, 10/29/2012 - 12:52
The off-season and the free-agency season began Sunday night with the end of the World Series, a resounding sweep of the Tigers by the Giants. The Cubs have one free agent, reliever Shawn Camp, and team president Theo Epstein said the team would like to keep him. Players no longer have to “file” for free agency, and they can sign with new teams beginning at 11 p.m. Central Time Friday.
Barney wins Fielding Bible award; Cubs make roster moves
Posted by Bruce on Thu, 10/25/2012 - 16:42
We’ll know soon enough if Darwin Barney will win a Gold Glove for his stellar play at second base, but on Wednesday, he was named the Fielding Bible award winner as the top second baseman in major-league baseball. The Fielding Bible named nine award winners, with Barney getting the nod at second base.
Fielding Bible co-author John Dewan had this to say about Barney in a news release: “Darwin Barney’s defense is a shining star in an otherwise cloudy season for the 2012 Chicago Cubs. After a nondescript debut at second base in 2011, when he saved only one run defensively, Barney led all second basemen in 2012 with 28 runs saved. This total led by a wide margin.
Theo unfiltered on Cubs' on-base woes (UPDATED)
Posted by Bruce on Wed, 10/24/2012 - 12:32
The last time Cubs president Theo Epstein entertained the media, we used this blog to run some of his comments unfiltered. It seemed to go over well, so we’ll do it again here today. On Tuesday, Theo met with the Cubs beat writers for about an hour. Since he tends to give expansive answers (a good thing), there isn’t always space in the papers to fit everything in.
Our blog space is unlimited (mostly), so we’ll get into a few things in more detail here. That also gives you, the reader and baseball fan, a chance to get your Theo unfiltered. We’ll also recap some of the organizational promotions at the end of the blog, so stick with us. Although Theo and GM Jed Hoyer have made numerous changes since coming in a year ago, they’ve also kept a lot of people from the past regime.
Sporting News tabs Dunn as AL Comeback Player of Year
Posted by scotgreg on Tue, 10/23/2012 - 12:50
White Sox designated hitter/first baseman Adam Dunn has been named The Sporting News American League Comeback Player of the Year.
Dunn, 32, batted .204 with 41 home runs, 96 RBI, 105 walks and 87 runs scored in 151 games with the White Sox this season.
Last year, Dunn hit .159 with 11 homers, 42 RBI, 36 runs scored and 75 walks in 122 games.
Dunn did lead the major leagues with 222 strikeouts this season, one shy of the record Arizona’s Mark Reynolds established in 2009.
But he also led the majors in walks and ranked among American League leaders in pitches per plate appearance (1st, 4.43), home run ratio (3rd, 13.15), home runs (5th) and RBI ratio (7th, 5.61).
Anybody want A-Rod...Anybody?
Posted by scotgreg on Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:02
The rumor is out there, so we might as well have some fun with it.
A-ROD IS COMING TO THE WHITE SOX!
You probably know Alex Rodriguez is likely on the way out of New York after another poor season (.272, 18 home runs, 57 RBI) and even worse postseason (3-for-25, 12 strikeouts) with the Yankees.
He is available, and the White Sox are “rumored” to have an interest.
Let’s just say that is true, since you can never downplay Kenny Williams’ interest on any possible deal.
My question is this Sox fans: Would you want Rodriguez on the South Side, even if the Yankees picked up the bulk of the $114 million (gulp) the 37-year-old third baseman is still owed over the next five seasons?
