Cubs say "No Thanks" to another dominant pitcher.

So the Cubs passed on Arb for the following players -
Kevin Gregg - Heck, he's lucky we didn't shoot him, let alone take a pass on him.
Reed Johnson - On the fence for this one, but honestly Sam Fuld will do a passable job of 4th OF. So no big deal
Rich Harden - I don't get this one at all. Granted he's an injury risk, but I will remind you once more, Richy didn't even think of the DL until the last two weeks of the season. Frankly, I think that was more a ploy to scare off other teams. There was no reason to not offer him Arb this year, just as there was no reason to not offer Wood arb last year. Worst case - he accepts and you pay 8 mil - below market value - for a solid #1/#2 rotation guy.

Damn. That would suck.

Less than thrilled.

Judd Sirrott...sucks...Listened to about 10 minutes of him in the car...dang...

Cubs in NY...Less than impressive. Lilly and Harden both got lit up. Excellent.

But hey, it's spring, so who gives a crap. The biting commentary starts Monday.

Nothing to worry about?

So I'm listeing to WSCR Zach Z, and he's going on and on about how this is the best spring trianing and we have nothing to worry aobut and blah blah, and I'm thinking to myself - we have more holes than last year! Let's talk aobut a few things -

A. A closer that can't close out the Dutch
B. A starting pitcher who can't be relied on for over 80 pitches, maybe 25 times.
C. No full time second baseman with all due respect to Fontenot.
D. A Right Fielder who played 20 games in RF last year - this is not a knock on his defense. This is a knock on his health.
E. No backup for Aramis Ramirez.

Three Words - two-thousand-four. everyone was sitting pretty back then thinking we had it made....for a minute anyway...

Here we go...

Ok, I did not root root root for anyone but the Cubs. I honestly would've loved to see the Mets, but the Dodgers were #2 on the list. With Ramirez, Ethier, Kemp, Blake, Martin. That's a heck of a lineup.

I hate to see if but if Zambrano freaks out again, this is going to be a tough series. If he can stop psyching himself out and just pitch how he's capable, then we're golden. The first two games will determine the rest of the series. Dempster needs to grab that first win, so Z doesn't put even more pressure on himself. If we split, I can live with that. If the Dodgers win 2, may as well go out and party Sat night, cuz there won't be anything else happening...

If Z does blow his top, all is not lost. I feel good about Dempster, Harden and Lilly. If Zambrano steps up and proves he's the ace of this staff - grow up dude - then we can all start booking hotels.

With Lowe's sinker, the Cubs are going to be hard-pressed to get the big hits. It's therefore necessary on them to just hit the ball. Preferably to the holes in the infield. No swinging for the fences unless he's leaving them up. If he's not, God help us all...

Throwing a fit part II

So the old guy did it. Not in a playoff game, but close enough. I'm not surprised. He will probably kick off before pitchers and catchers report, so he had to get in soon. He did bounce it though. But hey, he's 104. His arm's prolly thrown more pitches than Kerry Wood, Ryan Dempster, and Rich Harden combined. Bet he's had less surgeries too...

For those of you just joining us:

http://oneminutecubs.blogspot.com/2008/08/throwing-fit-i-mean-pitch.html

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1100868,CST-NWS-fan11.article

so good for the old guy. He lasted a few minutes longer than I expected.

P.S. Yes, I'm going to hell.

Dr. Piniella. Paging Dr. Piniella!

Here's the downside for not watching/listening to postgame or BBTN after a loss. I had NO idea what's been going on in the past few days...

Ok seriously folks. Zambrano is getting all creepy and supposed to get an MRI, but doesn't. Harden's hurt? WTF is going on here?? Oh, and a minor little 5 games losing streak...Hey good times...

It's a good thing Milwaukee Sucks donkey butt or we'd be really screwed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still on board. but this train's gettin' bumpy...

Still a minute...

Really????

Sorry so late for this one. I didn't get a chance to watch or even listen to the game much last night. No problem. Comcast is rebroadcasting.. bwah hah! Watching now. Here's what I heard tho. Harden was pretty much unhittable through seven - I'm sorry did you say seven? Yes seven. No really SEVEN??? Like two more than five? Yes really seven. I don't believe you. I'll check the box score....holy crap seven - innings.

Turns out it was actually 7 innings.. how bout that eh? Cool. Now apparently Votto did something to really mess up int he 8th, but I didn't see it, so I'll have to see that today, but I LOVE the fact that it resulted in 4 runs.

Dusty? Really? The Reds...so is this like so you have an excuse when you can't win a game? Patterson? Hairston Jr? Really? Wow...Good luck with that.

Just because this one bears repeating -

"Can I have a minute please with a side order of "I suck"? --Rickie Weeks.

I freakin' love that!!!

Twin killing...

I knew Atlanta was pretty bad this year but sheesh! The only thing more brutal than the beating the Cubs gave the Brave - on the road no less - was the tongue lashing I got from my wife for watching two - yes two - games in one day. Since I have to yield the rest of my TV priveledges for the rest of tonight, I figure I'll write up a post.

Marquis threw halfway decent. got himself out of a couple of jams today. Good defensive play getting to first on a shot hit past Lee and almost past DeRosa. Harden looked kinda human today. Certainly not the dominating performance we got the first four starts. But he gets the W, so all's well.

The big story today/tonight was the bats. Up and down the lineup, just hit after hit after hit. Great to see. Maybe these guys have figured out how to hit on the road. Against rookies yes, but I've mentioned in previous posts, rookie seem to give the Cubs trouble.

Overall a pretty happy day, except the Brewers are currently beating the bejesus out of the Padres, so we only gain 1/2 game...considering we lost 1/2 game yesterday, that's not all that encouraging.

One more tomorrow, and that's the way the minute crumbles...

off day...

So the Cubs put the cap on a nice series yesterday. I just love it when the opposing team boots a ball and we turn it into 5 runs...And Chris Carpenter left the game on a medical...Hello Mark Mulder - where ya been? If that's not enough to drive the final nail into the coffin, I don't know what is...

So the Brewers won today - a-holes. The Diamondbacks picked up Adam "Dunn hit ball with little stick!!" (It sounds a lot funnier when I _say_ it, but anyway. Do they really think Dunn is the answer? Nothing against the guy, but boy oh boy, I hope the Dodgers don't have anything planned for October - they'll be busy. At least for 4 games while the Cubs wipe the floor with them. I'm factoring in one loss since we did split the series in LA this year.

Following that, if I had to pick the Phillies/Marlins/Mets vs Brewers, I'm going to have to go Brewers. History has proven though that we can beat them. It'll be an interesting series. I'm thinking Sheets v Zambrano, Sabathia v Harden, Parra v Dempster and with all the extra off days the networks throw in, prolly Sheets v Zambrano again. Or possbily Lilly v Busch? Not even sure where the Brewers rotation depth goes after Parra. We'll see...

I don't even know enough about the AL to make any predictions...

How sweep it is...

Wow. I would've been happy if the Cubs won 3 up north. But a sweep? Wow...

Harden gets his first win! woo hoo! But he only struck out 9 in 7 innings this time, so overall, not a great performance...:)

Great offense, great pitching. Hey Brew Crew - this is how the big boys play. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll catch up to the wild card leader soon enough.

Wow. Went into this series hoping to wrestle 1st place away, and you end up in third. I'd love to say, I'm sorry, but I'm really not.

BTW: Ned, Eric, Prince -...... really? lol

Trades...

Well the deadline has come and gone. Considering we'll prolly be second or third last on the waiver wire, I don't see much else happening. Eh well. The Sherrill idea was fun to think about.

Overall, can be unhappy. Harden's about to get his first win, unless "Bomb" Howry manages to blow an 8-run lead - even that should be safe from him...Gaudin's been filthy. The Brewers made a couple of big deals that will help them, but not enough. The Cardinals did squat. Which is, by the way, exactly what they'll do in this Divison.

One last thing - What the heck are the Sox thinking??? People are HAPPY about this? Glad I'm not a Sox fan, I'd be pissed...

All we are is minutes in the wind....

poll is up for Howry.

A pol is up to vote for what Bobby's new nickname will be. Myself, I'm leaning more towards Gopher, but that's me.

Great outing by Z and the offense tonight. Good to see the bats come alive again on the road. With Dempster and Harden going, you're almost starting to talk Sweep...I dunno...

Samardzija gave up a run, but with a 7-0 lead, your job is to throw strikes. No biggie. Run with it kid. 2 of 4. So far, I'm happy...we'll see how long it lasts....

Hey. I'm just being honest...

Another minute, another W.

Howry.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the game yesterday, but I REALLY wanted to BEAT CC. 4 - and - 1, MF'er. But enter Gofer Howry, or possbily "Bomb" Howry. Throws a low-outside pitch to Russel Branyon. WHO THE HECK THROWS A LOW-OUTSIDE PITCH TO RUSSEL BRANYON. The fact that he can't hit a pitch above his shoelaces is well-documented...

Again, great win, so that rules. A buddy of mine asked if we should have a bet - who gets more wins - Harden or Gaudin? Not funny, but funny.

If I can figure out how to do a poll, maybe I'll put Bomb or Gopher up for a vote...

There's a minute for ya. Let's kick the crap out of Sheets

Cubs win, Brewers lose...

Good day. The bats woke up, especially "Little Babe Ruth" Mike Fontenot (Ok Ron, seriously - he has _8_ home runs...). Marquis pitched like crap, but hey - it's July. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again - With a rotation of Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly - who gives a crap who the fifth starter is?

The BIG series begins tomorrow. Biggest of the year? Maybe. Biggest of the year thus far? Definitely. Cubs ned to win two to leave town in first place. Gonna be rough. Lilly v. Sabathia - ew. Z v Sheets. Interesting.

The key for the next two games, and really all four, but especially against Sabathia and Sheets - Deep counts and a lot of them. Foul balls galore. Get those guys OUT of there, and then systematically dismantle their bullpen.

Here's hoping - and a minute for you...

Dear Rich,

Maybe if you could throw more than 17 pitches per start this wouldn't be a problem.

Love, The Cubs

Dear Cubs

WTF!!!

Love, Rich.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Our sluggers...

Ramirez isn't allowed to play on the road any more...I'm not serious about that, but 0-fer Astros, 0-fer Diamondbacks.

Marquis is pitching tomorrow...Great...Lovely...Marvelous...

The bats fell asleep on the plane again. Maybe we should put these guys in buses so they dont' sleep so well at night. The Cubs do have this winning at home thing down, but 2 hits against Randy Johnson. 7 years ago, I'd be celebrating that. Tonight it just pisses me off...

Note to Cubs: A 360 foot out is still an OUT.

Harden's stuff was weird. Balls were either up, or in the dirt. His strikes were STRIKES. Missed a lot of bats. Except one of course...

Seems appropriate that the winning run tonight was #$%head's first career HR. Sucks that it came off Harden, but right now he's gotta be thinking "What the hell do I have to DO???"

That's a minute, which is about how long this game lasted...Goes quick when you get 2 hits doesn't it?

Marquis performance

Man, Marquis was dealing today...think the writing might be on the wall for him. If it is, it probably says something like this - "You pitch the way you did in the second half of last year, don't unpack after the break..."

Marquis actually did kinda suck at the beginning of the year, so maybe he got it out of his system. Time (August) will tell...meantime, assuming Harden isn't a DL trip waiting to happen, he'll do just fine as a number 5.

On a cuter note, Ryan Theriot's 3 year old son Houston (Houston? seriously? You were a CUB when you named him...) sang his rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on Sportsnite tonight. Very cute.

56-37. Hopefully we return to 20 games over before the All Star Break. Brewers lost. Eat it Brew Crew.

P.S. No looking at magic numbers until the All Star Break. I've resisted thus far - so can you...

That's my minute...

Harden/Gaudin = Cubbies

Initial reaction? Good deal. I'll hesitate on great deal for now - to be determined. Matt Murton, Eric Patterson and Sean Gallagher go to the A's.

Murton and Patterson and are corner outfielders (with Patterson also playing 2B). We have Fukudome and Soriano for 4 and 7 more years respectively - no job opportunities there. We've got Fontenot, DeRosa, and Cedeno at 2B. No job opps there. Gallagher will probably be good, but not today. So basically we gave away 2 pinch hitters and a bullpen guy.

Harden from what I've heard has Carlos Zambrano stuff with Kerry Wood injury history. Scary, both good and bad. I heard once that Harden has yet to pitch 10 consecutive starts without some sor tof delay/DL stint. Scary. Legit #2? Oh yeah. So now Dempster is #3 and Lilly is #4. Who gives a crap who is #5? Very good deal. I'll reserve judgement until Harden and Gaudin pitch a few times.

Ok, that's my minute, but more to follow I'm sure.