walt's Blog

Hey, I like Felix as much as the next guy, but we need to face the facts here. Right now, he's pretty much a track star carrying around a big piece of ash (or maple). He's shown signs of offensive abilities, but never with any consistency, which is why he's in AAA for now.

IF Felix can hit...which he has proven he can't. Sorry.

Any thoughts on the recent trade? We lost Matt Murton, which is sad, but picked up a Dan Harden, a pitcher who might help us out quite a bit. He has a bit of a Prior/Wood health record, so that's a little disconcerting.

Hopefully Murton will get the chance to play every day with the A's.

A few things come to mind:
1) I seem to remember Ryne Sandberg having the same type of injury in the spring of 1994 (or was it 93?). He was never really the same after that, but as noted above, Utley has had no lingering effects. I guess it depends on the player.

2) Yeah, Patterson hits about as well as his brother...which is NOT AT ALL. Where's Matt Murton when we need him? I'm a little confused as to why they didn't bring him up.

3) I think the Cubs can win without Soriano, just not by as much. As Lou has said, the worst thing about the timing of this injury is that he was just starting to run well again. We'll miss his speed on the bases and his arm in the outfield.

Believe it or not, I think we should have picked up Kenny Lofton. I was thinking about this the other day, and today I found an article on http://ESPN.com about all the teams (including the Cubs) that could use Lofton in their lineup. He's old, but he always ends up being a key figure for winning teams -- think 2003. Also, as much as we all love Pie, I'm pretty sure Kenny would get on base about 800 times more this season than Pie will for his entire career.

As for Edmonds, I'm not convinced he'll get the job done at all. He'll probably be this year's version of Rob Bowen -- just taking up space and striking out for a few months before he gets shipped off.

It was great to have Mark Grace lead the 7th inning stretch today. By a wonderful coincidence, my favorite current Cub, Mike Fontenot, pinch hit for Lilly during the bottom of the 7th -- Fontenot wears number 17, Grace's old number. They commented on it briefly in the press box. Unfortunately, Mike hit a lazy pop fly.

I enjoyed Grace's self-effacing comments and good humor. He really was a great player -- wonderful hitter and a great defensive first baseman.

Lilly was definitely the star of the game, with a great pitching performance and a key RBI single. It was good to see the Cubs pull out a close one.

Soto has shown he can play at this level -- at one point last week he was leading all MLB catchers in batting average, slugging and on-base percentage. Plus, he has a much better arm than our catchers last year (there were so many of them).

I know what you mean, jim. The Reds pretty much owned us last year, as did the Pirates. Very frustrating.

I was not able to watch more than a couple of early innings (I was stuck in a grad class most of the game).

It certainly is a dubious start to the season. The box score looks pretty disheartening -- Fukudome was the only hitter to really do ANYTHING. At least Zambrano and Marmol pitched well.

Mike Fontenot hit a triple and a three-run homer today in the Cubs spring training opener. What a great ball player! I love this guy. He really impressed me, along with every other Cubs fan, last year. I hope he continues to do well and stays with the Cubs for a long time.

That's pretty cruel -- making them report to camp on Valentine's Day. Must make for some sad wives.

Notice how many empty seats there are in the immediate vicinity...

The news hot off the press is a trade that brings Johan Santana to the Mets for four prospects. Santana has been arguably the best pitcher in the majors for the past five years. (He ranks first in the majors since 2003 in wins, ERA and strikeouts.)Does this make the Mets the best team in the league?

My wife also points out that when discussing Roberts' All-Star status we should remember that he plays for Baltimore...and they have to send SOMEBODY every year. In other words, on a better team, would Roberts even be an All-Star selection?

Thanks for the side-by-side comparison, paul; it really is enlightening. You're right about the numbers -- they aren't that impressive for Roberts. They are pretty evenly matched. Roberts stole about 50 more bases than DeRosa last year, but is less versatile in the field.

I felt kind of the same way when they signed Steve Trachsel last year. I was pretty sure I felt a collective groan from all of Cub-dom when the deal was announced.

I don't know about Lieber, though. He used to a be a pretty reliable work horse. He may have another good year ot two left. Look at the re-emergence of Kenny Rogers a couple of years ago, for example.

How do people feel about the Cubs' alleged pursuit of Baltimore 2nd baseman Brian Roberts?

I've heard that Mark DeRosa has expressed concern about his playing time and getting enough at-bats if he becomes relegated to a utility man as a result of a Roberts trade. I tend to agree with him. He was signed as a 2nd baseman, and plays the position well. Also, Mike Fontenot showed he can play reasonably well at the Major League level least year (for a back-up, that is). So, it seems like 2nd base should be locked up.

I also see the benefits of acquiring Roberts -- an All-Star with all the defensive and offensive skills a 2nd baseman should have in abundance. The Cubs are primarily focused on his speed and switch-hitting ability.

Another question is who would we give up to get Roberts? Pitchers? Several bench players?
Any thoughts?

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Mark Grace was the last Cubs-rasied position player to make the All-Star team (as a Cub, that is).

I'm a big fan of Dawson, too. His detractors say he was just very good and that his lifetime totals should be higher given the number of years he played (21). I guess they may have a point. Still, it's hard to argue with 400+ homeruns, 1500+ RBI and almost 2800 hits. I'm surprised, as are many others, that his stats haven't been viewed more highly in light of the steroid era.