D-Lee, Aramis, Castro, Ricketts! (UPDATED)
MESA, Ariz. _ They're all here today on the first day the Cubs' full squad works out. The TV cameras have weathered a couple false alarms about the big arrival of the Ricketts family, and a PR operative (non-Cubs; their media-relations staff is great) already has told us they won't be doing a formal press conference, that they'd talk to us unwashed medias outside. Hey, lighten up and let's have a little nicer entree. This isn't the Trib Company after all. Left to his own devices, I think Tom Ricketts will be just fine. Too much gate-keeping can be a bad thing.
UPDATE: Tom indeed did address the media today after he addressed the team, and despite the best efforts of the non-Cubs PR handler to cut things short, he gave us about six minutes of time and did well.
"I think there were two messages," he said. "One, it's a family ownership now, and we want everyone to feel like they're part of a family, and the second message is we're just very, very excited to get the season started. We think we had a terrific off-season. We have great players and great coaches, and we should have a great year."
In response to a question about the Cubs finally having a real person as an owner instead of a corporation, Tom flashed a sense of humor by saying that "I pride myself on being an actual person." Well played.
Tom added the family will be accessible to the fans, players and the coaches.
The first attempt to cut off the informal little news conference, held under bright sunshine, came at the 4-minute, 25-second mark (when things were going nicely enough), but we forged on. Tom said he didn't want to address opposition to the so-called Cubs tax for spring training but that he would be looking at various property sites down here.
As far as the baseball goes, Aramis Ramirez says his left shoulder is good after doing therapy "Monday-Friday" all winter. D-Lee says he took some therapy for his neck over the winter after some flareups last year. Neither said they were pre-occupied by their contract situations. Aramis has an opt-out, and D-Lee will be a free agent.
Oh yes, Starlin Castro is here, too. We'll grab him after the workouts.
The "chemistry" question just won't go away. You-know-who was subtracted, and Kevin Millar and Marlon Byrd were added. D-Lee probably summed things up best.
"I don't think that was our problem last year," Lee said of bad chemistry. "I just think we didn't play good baseball, and the injuries mounted up on us."
On Millar, D-Lee said: "He's great to be around. I had a chance to play with him in Florida. He's probably the funniest guy I know. I woke up this morning looking forward to seeing him."
The rain has moved out. It's cool but sunny. Maybe I can give that digital camera a go of it today and then drop it off at PhotoMat.
Just read that Lou wants to play Fontenot at shortstop this spring to see if he can handle it. Where was Lou the last few years when the "Little Babe Ruth" proved he has the same range and a worse arm than Theriot. Hope they don't get rid of their best infield defender -- Blanco -- because Fontenot hit good two years ago.
has started 3 games at SS the last 2 years, 2 E's. he hit good 2 years ago as a bench/PT player. range wise he's another Theriot, has no arm, height for SS.
I thought they tried this a couple of years ago and decided that he didn't have enough range to even be a backup at short? Maybe this means that it's going to be down to Blanco and Fontenot for the backup middle infield position.
Wow, if that wasn't the most canned response about chemistry. Probably 100% correct, but a very bland, canned answer.
>> "I don't think that was our problem last year," Lee said of bad chemistry. "I just think we didn't play good baseball, and the injuries mounted up on us." <<
At least Lee's finally coming clean about the embarassment of last season and getting a grasp on reality, although he's still clutching to the injury thing (ALL teams have injuries yet find a way to get it done).
I think we all saw how this team laid down and were satisfied to simply play out the string when they were challenged to suck it up. The chemistry thing and injuries were merely an easy and available excuse that allowed them the opportunity to do so.
I sure wish that both Hendry & Piniella also have an epiphany about what really happened last year and take some responsibility for once.
On 7/31/09, the Cubs were half a game behind St. Louis but 2 up in the lost column. Matt Holliday had been a Cardinal for about a week at that point. The Cubs' top 2009 starter, Ted Lilly, had just gone on the DL and undergone arthroscopic knee surgery, but there was no reason to panic yet: he was expected back in mid-August, and Ryan Dempster, who had missed most of July with a broken toe, had been activated to take Lilly's rotation spot. Lilly hadn't been too effective all month (4.91 ERA in July, the only month last season he posted an ERA higher than 3.80), so it seemed possible the Cubs could brush through the time Lilly was expected to miss.
Note: Geovany Soto had also been on the DL for 3 weeks at the time. But as he was hitting .230 with a slugging percentage under .400 at the time he was DL'ed, his injury may not have played much of a role in the season's outcome -- though June and the first week of July before the DL stint was the only time all year he hit the ball with authority (.560 slugging percentage).
The next day, 8/1/09, Carlos Zambrano left the game after 3 innings with back spasms and Aramis Ramirez also left after getting hit by a pitch. Zambrano was not initially expected to go on the DL; Ramirez missed one game, then got back in the lineup. Still no particular cause for alarm. At the end of day on 8/8/09, the Cubs were 1 game behind St. Louis and still a game up in the lost column. But that was the day the wheels fell off: Zambrano was placed on the DL retroactive to 8/2; Ramirez left the game in the 4th and, though not placed on the DL, missed the next 6 games. The Cubs lost the first 5 of them. As noted, they were a game out after winning on 8/8; they were 4.5 games out by the time Ramirez returned to the lineup. Moreover, Ramirez's numbers were down for the rest of the season: as of 8/1, he was hitting .349 with a .414 OBP and a .596 slugging percentage; his numbers from that point to the end of the year were .287/.363/.450.
Zambrano's next 2 scheduled starts were taken by Sean Marshall (who had pitched nothing but relief since May) and Jeff Samardzija (who has yet to show anything as a starter); they lost both by a collective score of 18-7. Ted Lilly came off the DL thereafter to put a Band-Aid on that particular wound.
In the meantime, Dempster, who had rushed off the DL to replace Lilly without making a minor league rehab appearance (he pitched one simulated game), was demonstrably rusty after his 25 days off: he allowed 17 earned runs in 31 innings (4.94 ERA) in his first 5 starts, in which the Cubs went 1-4. Dempster settled down thereafter -- but by that time, the Cubs were 8 games out.
That's about when Zambrano returned. Carlos proceeded to make that worse, getting bombed for 12 runs (11 earned) in 7 2/3 innings in his first 2 starts. He pitched well in September, but the Cubs started the month 10 1/2 games behind St. Louis. The Cubs, pretty healthy again at last, picked up 3 games by the time the season ended; but the Cardinals weren't looking in the rear view mirror any more by that time.
In sum, the Cubs dropped 10 games in the standings from 8/1 until 9/3 (the day before Zambrano got back on track). They went 12 and 18 (.400 winning percentage) during that span while the Cardinals went on a 21-7 (.750) tear. Over that time, they scored roughly half a run per game less than they did in the rest of the season and gave up about half a run per game more. Had they matched their winning percentage during the rest of the season (a little over .540), they still would have fallen short with 87 wins; the difference in the standings would have been their 6-10 record head-to-head with St. Louis, none of which took place during the August implosion.
So 30 teams tied for WS Champions?
And Lee has nothing to apologize for regarding his 2009 season.
How'd they do with their injuries last year?
Sure, there were several guys that didn't play well. But it certainly didn't help that Soriano, Ramirez, Zambrano, Bradley were all injured last year, not to mention that I think every starter spend time on the DL. When you have guys like Ramirez miss 50 games, the team is going to suffer. You can't argue that.
Sure all teams have injuries, except the team that wins. Carpenter missed a few starts early, but otherwise, Wainright, Pujols and the rest were out there every day. You take Pujols out for 50 games, and let everyone of your starters miss time on the DL and have one of your 3 or 4 best hitters battle a knee injury all year, and the Cardinals are just like the Cubs.
If you want to blame Hendry for having a team which is aging and more prone to injury, then I can buy that, but to say that we should just ignore all the injuries and that the team laid down is just wrong.
Bad shoulder and then a strained abdominal cost him nearly half the season, too. Not going to win the division when Koyie Hill is playing as much as he had to play, last year.
Injuries didn't play a part in the Cubs' underacheivement, last year? Really? The two guys that they were counting on most for offensive production each missed significant portions of the season! Most teams would not be able to weather such a storm. Take Pujols and Holliday out of the Cards lineup, this year, for a couple of months and let's see how many games they win.
Every year guys like Millar are in camps for every MLB team. Someone has to man 1B when D-Lee, Nady or Hoffpauir isn't out there late in the games / split squad. Just like having Chad Fox in camp the last few years when he realistically didn't have a great shot at making the opening day roster, Millar is along for the ride and if he can help mentor a younger player or keep things light in the clubhouse then he's done his job. If he hits .300 and Nady's elbow isn't good enough by Opening Day then Millar could fill a gap.
I love all the talk about chemistry and Kevin Millar, but I can't figure a scenario where this guy is on the 25-man April 5? He can only play first base effectively anymore - and you already have a well-paid 4th outfielder/ back-up 1st baseman in Nady.
Enlighten me Bruce - absent Nady being unable to go on Opening Day, is there any path to Millar being in Atlanta with the Cubs on April 5? Will Spring Training be enough time for Millar to transfer all of his great chemistry on to the 2010 Cubbies?
But I believe the Cubs could ask him to accept a Triple A assignment and keep him stashed there. Not sure if he'd go for that, though.
Seems like he's just here to hang with his buddy Dempster and add to this whole "chemistry" thing, with no shot to really make the team.
He probably has very little shot to make any roster, so why not go hang out with some friends. The only scenario in which he makes the team is if Derrek Lee were to be injured and we had a platoon at 1st base. That being said, it doesn't bother me that he is there. What does it hurt.