Now, let's examine this left handed obsession

So Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella, both of whom have done good jobs since coming here, we need a left handed bat. In fact, it seems we need as many as possbile - Aaron Miles - switch hitter, Milton Bradley - switch hitter, Paul Bako - left handed hitter. So we've got them. I've questioned every one of them.

Miles is NOT DeRosa.
Bradley played 20 games in the OF last year
Bako - well, he's just Paul Freakin' Bako.

Cost wasn't a factor -
Henry Blanco - 750,000
Paul Bako - 750,000
Bear in mind the 2008 stats are skewed buy Bako having 170 more AB's than Blanco - AVG/OBP/SLG -
Blanco 2008 - .292/.325/.392
Bako 2008 - .217/.299/.328
More hits, more walks, more power
Ohh but look at the career stats -
Blanco Career - .227/.289/.364
Bako Career - .231/.305/.317
A whopping .004 higher BA. Woot!
Now, here's the REALLY fun part -
Blanco vs LHP - .316/.350/.421
Bako vs LHP - .240/.240/.408
Ok makes sense - Blanco is a righty, so of course.
Blano vs RHP - .316/.350/.421
Bako vs RHP - .224/.315/.303
Holy Crap! But Bako's a LEFTY. and lefties hit righties better right??
Wrong....

Oh...one last thing.

Blanco - Mentor to the upcoming star Geovani Soto
Bako - Stands on the "correct" side of the plate.

Yeah...

First of all - let's recap what I've said...

http://oneminutecubs.blogspot.com/2008/10/more-offseason-thoughts.html

"FA's the need to be re-signed - ... Henry Blanco - A better backup catcher cannot be found."

http://oneminutecubs.blogspot.com/2008/11/tough-question.html

"Right now, the need is a bat. The Cubs will tell you they need a left handed bat. I would argue that they need a bat that can hit righties as well as lefties."

I know this is crazy stuff....so what actually happened -

Blanco signs with the Padres.
Paul Bako signs with the Cubs.

Blanco is right handed.
Bako bats left handed.

Peavy deal Dead. DeRosa still not here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Heilman-deal-appears-to-end-pursuit-of-Peavy-for?urn=mlb,137550

"We've had no talks about Jake Peavy since they were well-documented during the winter meetings," assistant general manager Randy Bush said. "I don't anticipate anything happening."

Ok, so I'm officially ticked. Not only, have you traded away arguably our most reliable hitter from last season, traded away a lefty from our lefty sparse bullpen, manged to hang on to Rich "out of options and out of baseball" Hill, and traded away our best extra pieces, but now you're once again killing the Peavy trade possibility.

Maybe Jim Hendry is just a baseball genius and I just don't get it. Do we have a better team than last year? I seriously doubt it. Maybe after Milt plays more than a baker's dozen games in the OF I'll change my opinion, but for now I don't think so.

And a minute later, DeRosa is still not here. Hope that World Series ring looks good on him...

Know where your checks come from.

Ryan Dempster was recently criticized by the entire nation of Canada (or at least those not watching the hockey All-Star Game) recently when he revealed he would not pitch for Oh, Canada in the upcoming WBC. Here's the thing - I think it could be argued that pitchers run the highest risk of injury during the daily execution oft heir job. Yes position players could get hurt, but it seems that pitchers are more fragile than the average shortstop. Here's a thought -

Instead of adding 1,000 more pitches to an MLB'ers season, why not use minor league pitchers for the classic? AAA type guys who are not quite ready for prime time. It gives them the opportunity to try out at the big league level, on a world stage, and frankly, it gives the fans the offense they crave. Now, I'm not saying some college hurler should go up there and throw batting practice or anything. But your Kevin Harts and Angel Guzman types.

Just a thought. and a minute. A minute-thought.

What a shame

I realized recently that I snubbed Ronny. Once again, Ron Santo failed to get into the Hall of Fame, and I was completely remiss on reporting it, cuz it's a big deal. So allow me to update this entry with a backdated minute about Ron Santo and his quest for the hall.

HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!

You wanna make the hall? Stop making everyone listen to you day after day.

HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!

Ok...Sorry for the omission folks. There's a minute in the past...

Ricks is the picks...

So all I'm hearing over the past couple of days continues to be - "Hey, this Ricketts guy's gonna be a great owner..he's a great fan and we drink beer together all the time.." Ok, so not that last part, but from what these folks are saying, it seems like that line should be in there. Seriously. "He lived across the street from Wrigley", "He met his wife in the bleachers" - hmm, makes me wonder - bikini top? - "He's a big Cubs fan."

Folks, just because he's a Cubs fan, does not mean he's a bad business man. From what I hear, it's going to cost somewhere int he neighborhood of $250 million to fix up Wrigley so it's all pretty and ready to go. He's already spent $900 million on the team. So, where exactly do you think that money's going to come from? Nostalgia? No, it's going to come from several different places, to name a few possibilities: Higher ticket prices, lower payroll, naming rights. Those are just off the top of my head.

Now this isn't anything different that what any other owner would do. But, just because Ricketts used to sit in the bleachers, contrary to popular opinion, does not make him an automatic idiot. "But no, he wouldn't do that to us, the true fans." Yes he would, and probably will, because there are other fans out there with more money than you, so be sure to pay your cable bill, and keep calling WGN for those free tickets.

Tom - wanna win my love? Bring me Peavy on a platter. And some of those kindergarteners Hendry got for DeRosa better be in the package cuz otherwise that'd just piss me off...

I'm the winning bidder for this minute...

Bye Bye Fe-Pie

Finally, we no longer have to listen to Pie this and Pie that. Great defender yes, but hasta la pasta pookie. Maybe, MAYBE if he had more options, I could see holding on to him, but no ...buh bye. So long. Next goes Rich Hill, which is by the way, a sad story, but anyway...Finally, Ronny "Squeak" Cedeno.
And we get back Garrett Olson. Lefty, with a horrid ERA. Maybe LArry can straighten him out, or maybe he too will be flipped for Peavy.

Still waiting for a good reason why D-Ro was traded. Haven't gotten one yet...

Patiently waiting Jim...

For a minute

A coupe of signings...

Just a couple of short entries - 30 second each on a couple of interesting lifers jumping ship and moving to different teams -
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/brewers-nearing.html
This is actually a really good signing for the Brewers. It makes their bullpen suck less and I do not look forward to ninth innings vs the Boo-Hoo Crew. What I DO look forward to is innings 1-8. :D

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-lowesmoltz010809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Somltz is moving on to the Red Sox. Smoltz has been with the Braves longer than Atlanta practically, but the Red Sox topped the Braves offer by "a couple of million". Seriously? You made 14 mil last year. I said it about Dempster before we resigned - what can you do with 5.5 that you can't with 3.5, when you made 14 mil the year before? it's a difference between 19.5 and 17.5.
Seriously Smoltz. You've got like fumes left in the gas tank, and you're going to piss off an entire city for 2 mil? A-hole.

Miiiiiill--toooooooooonnnn!

So it's official, the Cubs are getting a highly qualified DH. Wonderful. I find it really amazing that the number one concern I've heard expressed about this signing is his temper/personality. Don't get me wrong, if my parents named me after the Monopoly guy, I'd probably rather piss on you than look at you too.

Yes he's got good numbers. Yes he led the AL in OBP last year. Yes he'll wig out if anyone start Jaques Jonesing him. I'm totally not worried about that. Here's the little factoid I'm worried about.

He played 20 games in Right Field last year! 20 games. For the non-mathematically inclined, that's 12% of games last season. That would be 2/27ths of last season. And Wrigley Field is supposed to be one of the hardest RF's to play.

But hey. I'm sure it'll be fine. Who needs an actual right fielder who's a consistent left handed power bat (cough cough) Abreu (cough cough)...

But heck. What do I know? I was begging JH to sigh Barry Zito a couple years ago...

Welcome to Chicago Milt. Don't piss us off, or we'll never let you forget it...not even for a minute.