Congrats, Cory Provus
MESA, Ariz. _ Just heard from Cory Provus, and it's official. He's leaving the WGN broadcast booth to head up to Milwaukee to work alongside Bob Uecker doing Brewers games in the WTMJ booth.
"It's an amazing opportunity," Cory said by phone. "It was an opportunity too hard to pass up. I had a blast in my two years with the Cubs. I learned so much about the game from Pat (Hughes) and Ron (Santo). I also learned about having fun over a six-month season. From Pat, I'll take how well he prepared for the game and how much about the game's history he knows. I'd like to continue doing 'This day in baseball history' in Milwaukee. And Ronnie is the most genuine, inspirational man I've met."
Cory added that the most fun he had was not the one inning of play-by-play or the pregame and postgame shows, but sitting with Ron and Lou as they taped the manager's show every day. "Lou had stories about George Steinbrenner and the Yankees, and Ron had stories about Leo (Durocher). I would laugh every day for 20 minutes."
With the Brewers, Cory will get to do three innings of play by play in addition to the pregame and postgame shows. Cory is a lifelong Cubs fans, and I kidded him about calling a walk-off homer by Prince Fielder in the 10th against the Cubs, if that should ever happen.
"I'm a Brewer now," he said. "I know where I'm at."
All the best, kid.
Congratulations on the opportunity in Milwaukee. Follow what you learned here and you'll succeed. Best wishes!
Bruce- Do you have any idea who will replace Cory on WGN Radio?
WGN Radio has to open interviews. I'm sure there will be no shortage of candidates.
Sorry, if this question has been asked and answered before but, why did the Cubs trade Mark, who appears to be a high quality multi-position player, and happy in Chicago? Did he want the trade or is he upset about the trade?
Am I the only one who thinks that the trade of this multi-position player and good batter was a major mistake by the Cubs?
The Cubs felt they had to get more left-handed, and you can argue the merits for or against that. DeRosa was the only right-handed hitter they realistically trade. They aren't treding Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Soto and Theriot. Some of those guys have no-trade clauses anyway. So it was DeRosa. The Cubs seem to like their infield defense better, and they didn't seem overly thrilled with DeRosa's play at second there last year. The outfielders on the roster are Soriano, Bradley, Johnson, Fukudome, Gathright and possibly Hoffpauir as a backup.
DeRosa seemed more hurt that the Cubs traded him for three minor-leaguers than anything else. He definitely did NOT want to be traded.
Hey Bruce,
I know I have posted about his in the past but wanted to get your opinion. Do you think this years team is as deep as last years team? I keep looking at this players in camp and I just can't get comfortable with the bench. I know that Fontenot will be the starter but Miles seems week when compared to Fontenot(last years reserve). Also, with the resent injury history to Soriano and Bradley do you think the Cubs are deep enough in the outfield? If one of those guys goes down for an extended period of time(God forbid both) who filles in?
Soriano went down for eight weeks total last year. The Cubs' depth then in the outfield was a little better than it is now. They filled in with Reed Johnson, and of course, DeRosa could play all over. If you start Soriano, Bradley and Fukudome/Johnson, then either Fukudome or Johnson will have to play a lot more as might Hoffpauir, whom Lou said today has a backup job to lose. We'll see about the infield. It's my feeling the Cubs weren't overly thrilled with DeRosa's second-base defense, as good as he was at everything else. They'll certainly miss his bat and his versatility. I think they're happier with their infield defense up the middle this year. Third base behind Ramirez remains a concern. Today, the Cubs had Miles, Fontenot, Bobby Scales and Jake Fox taking grounders there.
How are Fontenot and miles defensively? For some reason I thought Fontenot was average or slightly below? How is Miles defensively??? Also, what if Fukudome doesn't find it? I mean he was quite lost at the end of the year.
Miles and Fontenot are OK to good defensively, with Fontenot better at second. Miles is a better option than Fontenot at short. Range is so-so for both.
Cubs will cross the what-if-Fukudome-is-bad-bridge if it gets to that point.
How do you think Fukudome will be this year?
I have not seen him. He's in Japan getting ready for the WBC. Things near the end of last year were far from encouraging. The Cubs seem to think that he wore out based on a number of reasons: not playing a full season in 2007 in Japan because of the elbow problems; the adjustment to major-league baseball, with its more rigorous travel and longer season; the adjustment to a new country; and the fact that pitchers adjusted to him. He is said to have worked on his "core" fitness this winter in an effort to strengthen himself.
Really, we won't know until we see him.
because it is a scary proposition if he doesn't. Plus, he is very good in the field...let's hope for the best!
Bruce,
Sorry if this has been asked and answered in a previous thread. Is there any evidence to suggest that the Cubs are (secretly or otherwise) looking to sign Orlando Hudson? He could help in 2 key ways: great glove at 2B and bat leadoff (over .380 OBP against left-handers). His market value has imploded, so the Cubs could probably get him for 1 year around $4-5M. He would be a much better everyday player than Aaron Miles IMHO. I like Miles for that super-sub role.
Hoops
The Cubs have not had any interest in Hudson. From what I heard, he was on MLB TV saying that the Cubs were not one of the teams on his list. Miles is not scheduled to be the everyday second baseman. He will share time with Fontenot at second and will spell Theriot at short. Even Hudson's price, as you suggest is, is too much for the Cubs at this point.