No WBC for Lee (and other stuff)
MESA, Ariz. _ First baseman Derrek Lee did a couple rounds with reporters today. While chowing down on a post-workout sandwich, he told us he would not take part in the World Baseball Classic. Nor will third baseman Aramis Ramirez.
"I wanted to do it, I really wanted to do it," Lee said. "But they told me, basically, I wasn't going to play."
Lee said Boston's Kevin Youkilis is ahead of him on the Team USA roster, so D-Lee will be in Cubs camp all the way through.
On an even brighter note, Lee said it's almost 100 percent certain that his daughter, Jada, does not suffer from LCA, the congenital eye disease that causes blindness. Lee said Jada's vision began to stabilize last year and that perhaps she suffers from an auto-immune disorder. Needless to say, that's a big relief for Lee.
D-Lee also said he'd give new teammate Milton Bradley the benefit of the doubt. Bradley has had some well-documented on-field outbursts in recent years.
"We've all seen his episodes on SportsCenter," Lee said. "But when you think of them, it's like two or three of them, which his not that (many). He has a clean slate coming in here. So far, he seems like a great guy. We'll let him show us his true character."
Jeff Stevens, one of the relievers the Cubs got from Cleveland in the Mark DeRosa deal, snapped off a few nasty curveballs during his throwing session today. Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to be able to throw breaking balls in the desert air of Arizona.
Speaking of DeRosa, Lee said the Cubs would miss his presence in the clubhouse, along with that of Kerry Wood.
"It's not easy to recoup," Lee said of what DeRosa and Wood brought. "These guys were core guys in the clubhouse and on the field, so it's not easily replaced. We replaced the talent, I think, but it will take us a little bit to jell together and kind of mesh the way Woody and DeRo did in the clubhouse."
Hey, don't look now, but Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano are the only two Cubs who've been with the team the whole way since the 2003 division-title season. Catcher Paul Bako is here, but he was gone for several years.
"We're the oldest here now," Ramirez said, referring to length of service. "Hopefully, we'll get a championship before we leave here, too. We're the last from that '03 playoff."
Hi Bruce,
I keep seeing a lot made of what DeRosa brought to the clubhouse and reading between the lines in recent posts on the Cubs from the media, I get the feeling that there are some question marks in regards to the Cubs' clubhouse dynamic. Milton Bradley is really played up as a loose cannon emotionally, which should be entertaining when Big Z sees him lose a ball in the sun...The question is, without the "clubhouse skills" that DeRosa and Wood, do you see any dramas on the horizon in the clubhouse due to the massive turnover? Can Lee and Ramirez fill this gap?
I've never been quite sure of what to make of the whole "chemistry" thing. It seems to me that winning breeds good chemistry. When a team wins, guys are happy and (with the exception of some teams throughout history) get along with each other.
I don't really see or foresee any major problems. When I was in Mesa, Bradley freely talked with minor-league invitees such as Jason Dubois just as freely as he did with D-Lee.
You always need clubhouse leaders to settle things during losing streaks and to help band the guys together when some other adversity strikes. Derrek Lee is a quiet leader. When he does speak, people listen. Ryan Dempster is a leader, as is Ted Lilly. Geovany Soto is moving in that direction.
Good question about Ramirez. He's never been much of a vocal leader. But it was interesting that both he and Soriano took the time this winter to work out with the young players at the baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. Equally as important, Ramirez took the time to address the young players from time to time and to talk informally with them during his workout schedule.
As much as we analyze (and with good reason) Jim Hendry's moves, three playoff appearances in six years (should've been four out of six if Dustbag, LaChoke Hawkins and the rest of the team doesn't meltdown in the final week) ain't that bad given the roster turnover. Hopefully this is a big, big year.