MU Scrimmage/ Cubs Question

I had the oppurtunity take in MU tonight at "Haunted Hoops." I saw them also at Marquette Madness a couple of weeks ago, but didn't have time to report anything much because of an job interview the next day. But I did go tonight to check the team out. I got there at 9 with about 5 minutes left in the first half. I kind of guessed right again. MU always has these things "start" but they don't actually play for a half hour or an hour. The team overall looked tired and kind of beat up. Lots of noticable limps for the team overall. James looked frustrated overall in the offensive sets. It was hard for him to penetrate against the taller Fitzgerald and his shot was noticably long. It also looked like he had some kind of trunk/hip injury that was affecting his running. Mortensen has a nice stroke, but I didn't see much outside of that. Fitzgerald is really good and is probably one of our top 5 players. He's probably the second best ball handler at this point. We'll see if that translates to a starting postion. Burke is active, but smaller than I remember him. Novak had a typical night. I think he will have better this season simply because James sees the floor so well and is a great penetrator. McNeal was obviously limited by his ankle. I was wincing everytime I saw him run. I think he's still in some pain. Matthews was one of the best players tonight. However, he will have a tough time being the point guard as seen when James picked him clean and went in for an easy lay-up. Chapman looks to have an improved stroke, but looks to be limited on the left? knee. Grimm was Grimm. He's very vocal on the defensive end. Kinsella is out until December. Barro looked kind of lost at times tonight. Amoroso hit a lot of 3's from other reports I saw, but I think he's our best post player at this time. And finally Lott is very active, offensively and defensively. He's a little smaller than Marcus Jackson, but has more movement. That's my report for now.

Cubs
The Cubs have reportedly picked up the options on Walker, Williamson and declined the option on Burnitz. My dream would be to have Walker back to play second base. I hope Hendry did not do this to trade him. Todd deserves to start somewhere. Willamson showed promise out of the bullpen and will hopefully be one of the main set-up men in front of Dempster. And as for Burnitz, 7 million is too much, but if we would be willing to be a pinch hitter and a glove off of the bench I hope the Cubs would welcome him back.

Let’s talk specific players. Should Baker and Hendry give the keys to left field to Matt Murton or do they look for other options? (Cub Reporter)
I think Murton should be given a starting job next year. He should bat 2nd in front of Lee, although Dusty will probably bat him seventh. The Cubs have to start playing the young guys and the best of them should play LF or RF for the Cubs next season.

Question #9

What are 3 things the Cubs MUST NOT DO this off-season? (Cub Reporter)

1. Overpay for some old outfielder for a multi-year deal. Preston Wilson and Matt Lawton are two players that come to mind that I hope the Cubs DO NOT sign.

2. Worry about what "others" are doing and when I say "others" I mean the team on the other side of town. I hope the Cubs are too money hungry to spend money just to match what the "others" did this season.

3. Spend big money for middle relief. Big money goes to closers or BJ Ryan, not to LaTroy Hawkins and Mike Remlinger.

Question #8

What are 3 things the Cubs MUST DO this off-season? (Cub Reporter)

1. Figure out how to get more baserunners in front of Lee and Ramirez. Whether that means Walker and Murton or Juan Pierre or Ronny Cedeno, whatever. This would help win some games next year.

2. Figure out the health problems. Kerry Wood's mechanics have to be changed, according to Steve Stone anyway. Give Nomar a leg workout program that works, etc..

3. Improve the bench. I would like to see Abraham Nunez and maybe Juan Gonzales. He can't possibly get hurt if he doesn't play everyday right?

Question #7

The free agent market is one of the weakest in years, but the Cubs look to have plenty of cash to spend on it. Should they spend, spend, spend, and if so what should their targets be? Or should they hold on to it until next year or use it to take some garbage contracts off other teams? Should they spend it on extensions for any current players? (Cub Reporter)

I don't think the Cubs should spend, spend, spend simply because the free agent marked isn't that good. According to Al's recent rumors, the Cubs are targeting both Brian Giles and BJ Ryan. I think Giles would be a good addition in a 2, maybe 3 year deal. Ryan should be about a 3 year deal as well. Otherwise, I think they should hold onto the money for next year. I don't know whose bad contracts will be available, maybe Ramirez or maybe A-Rod after all of the negative articles after the post-season. I think both of those players should be looked at seriously, but not taken for a crap load of prospects. I would like to see extensions for both Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano.

It's been a long time

So I've been stuck the last ten days studying going to Chicago for job fairs or coming back to Valparaiso for fall break. My take on the White Sox: blah. I did watch most of Game 1 tonight. It was good baseball and was definately nice to hear some real baseball fans. I've always had this theory that an underdog or a team that hasn't been there before has a different kind of sound from their fans. I could say it's more masculine, but I think that's stereotyping too far. Anyway, good for the White Sox, but I don't really care what happens from here on out.

Question #7 (Cub Reporter)
How about three things that went right, besides Lee’s breakout?

1. Dempster- He provided a much needed back of the bullpen stopper that helped the other pitchers feel comfortable in tight games.

2. Murton- I liked how when he got the at-bats, not too many at first and made the most of them. He was terrfic in August and September and hopefully earned himself a starting spot next year.

3. The other bullpen guys- I liked Wuertz, Ohman, and Novoa in the other bullpen spots. As you can currently see with the White Sox, they patched together their stellar bullpen with journeymen (Polite, Cotts, Hermanson, and in my opinion Jenks). Bullpens are crap shoots and these three guys are solid bases in front of Dempster next year hopefully.

Question #6

What are the top three things that went wrong for the Cubs this year, foreseeable or not? (Cub Reporter)

1. Injuries. Nomar, Wood, Prior, some really freaky like Nomar's and Prior's. If all three are healthy, the Cubs I don't think ever flirt with a .500 record and contend for a wildcard.

2. Bullpen. LaTroy should have never been the closer. Dempster should have been and Rusch should have been a starter. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I was never sold with Dempster being the closer before he was installed. But, LaTroy has always been a set up guy, Rusch has always been a better starter, and Borowski was injured at the start of the season. Dempster was the best option then.

3. Tie- Patterson vs. Neifi and Macias. Corey Patterson's decline was dumbfounding and dissapointing. Neifi and Macias got too many at-bats not allowing the rookies to pinch hit or play every day.

Question #5

What about Jim Hendry — should McPhail and the Trib re-up him or is his fate tied with Dusty’s? (Cub Reporter).

I think Jim Hendry's contract should be renewed. Many people have been down on Hendry because of the bullpen and the bench. I look at the players he's brought it. Basically, the Cubs would have no offense if Hendry's trades had not happened: Choi for Lee, Hill for Ramirez, and Miller for Barrett. I think you are rolling your dice every year with a bullpen, see Donnelly, Brendan. I think Hendry deserves to stay in the Cubs organization than Baker does at this point. He even made the biggest deal at the all-star break when he got Matt Lawton. It didn't work out, but at least he tried.

Question #4

All signs point to Dusty Baker returning for the final year of his contract in 2006. But what lies ahead for Dusty? Is an extension on the way this off-season? Is he in any danger of losing his job in 2006? Should he be? Any other coaching changes on the horizon? (Cub Reporter)

I'm torn on this. For one thing, I have always kind of believed that if a person is above .500 in their coaching profession, they are succesful. Dusty as a Cub has been over .500, however his decisions are maddening. I don't think an extension is on the way this off-season. There were too many distractions last season, like the interest in the Dodgers job, etc.. I don't think he will be in danger unless the Cubs really suck right out of the gate. As for other coaching changes, I don't pay attention enough to notice things. Speier was better than Kim. I would have liked to seen better progress with the hitters, specifically Patterson. Again, I'm not there on a day to day basis so I don't know if new coaches are needed or not.

Question #3

At what point did you give up on the Cubs this year? (Cub Reporter)

Well, if you read this, I think this was about the game I kind of felt like it was over. This Mets was the make or break series for the Cubs. Wood, Nomar and Williamson were all back in uniform and couldn't stop an 8 game losing streak that eventually knocked the Cubs out of the playoffs. Like in '69 or '04, the Cubs luck turned crappy in New York, pretty much ending the season.

Question #2

From Cub Reporter: If you had a disposable time machine that could only travel back as far as October 4th, 2004 and was good for only one trip, plus the superhero power to change people’s minds and actions - what one move, moment, play or decision from this past season would you alter?
The one thing I would do would have Dempster be the closer from day one. That was really the only thing that I feel could have started at the beginning of the year and been successful. Obviously the Nomar injury hurt a ton, but injuries happen all of the time. Could Nomar's injury prevented Wood's injury or the Hawkins woes? Who knows if the Cubs would have been a better team? I would also have traded Sammy earlier, as Hendry said it really handcuffed him on what he wanted to do in the off-season.

Lee for MVP?

Over on Cub Reporter, they are doing a roundtable discussion with their main writers on the 2005 season. They do such a great job, that I thought I would just use their questions and answer them here. The first was on Derrek Lee's season and whether he should be the MVP. Here are some stats of contenders.

Player A: .306/.402/.559
Player B: .323/.385/.561
Player C: .263/ .347/ .575
Player D: .335/ .418/ .662
Player E: .330/ .430/ .609

The Answers
Player A: Jason Bay
Player B: Miguel Cabrera
Player C: Andruw Jones
Player D: Lee
Player E: Albert Pujols

Derrek Lee has had the best offensive season of anybody in the league. Unfortunately, he played for a bad team who stuck two bad OBP guys ahead of him in the lineup all season. Lee is the MVP. However, he probably won't get it, because his team isn't in the playoffs. That should count for something, so if Lee doesn't get it, Albert Pujols should. The writers will be enamored with Jones's HR totals, however his slugging percentage was almost 100 points less than Lee's. If we compare to Lee to Bonds's last 4 seasons:

Lee '05: 1st BA, 4th OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '04: 1st BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '03: 3rd BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '02: 1st BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG
Bonds '01: 7th BA, 1st OBP, 1st SLG

As you can see Lee is not far off from what Bonds did the last 4 MVP seasons in the NL compared to his peers. But he will probably not win the award.

Season Over

There hasn't been to write about the last couple of weeks, and I have been busy with the start of tests and stuff and beer. The Cubs 2005 season is over and unfortunately it ended dissapointingly. There will be a ton to think about this off season, so I'll wait before I comment on anything. So I'll stick to one of my other passions: The Amazing Race.

The Amazing Race, this season, has gone to 10 families. We'll see how this plays out. I don't know how the show will turn out entertainment wise, but I'm going to tell you what I think about the teams anyway. Ok, here we go. In Week 1, the Black family was unable to complete their water house in time and they were eliminated. On a side note, the Detour last week was ridiculous in terms of time and effort. I hope CBS does a better job of that. I don't think the Gaghan family has what it takes either. Little kids are little kids, what happens when they come to a Roadblock? In the end, they will be beaten on a task like the Black family was last week. The Schroeder family has already been annoited as the evil team that comes through every year. The evil team always loses, so they are out. The Weavers are intriguing, but the sentimental team usually doesn't win either. I see that trend continuing this time. The Paolos fight way too much. You have to have some chemistry. The Godlewskis won't win either, too many women. I'm not trying to be offensive, many of my female friends agreed with me. You have to have a male influence at some point to settle things down. There is a reason the males won "Battle of the Sexes" twice. I just don't see them winning.

That was teams that I don't think will win. Here are the ones I think have a chance. The Aiello family are a good team but they lack a female. There will be one event where that will come in handy. I still think they have a chance. I didn't see much of the Rogers family, but I think they could be pretty good, a good family. The Linz family could also be very good. Many people think that the one girl with 3 guys would be troublesome. Normally, I think this would be, however they are siblings. By the time, you reach the age of 18, you have dealt with every little battle with your siblings and you can get along with each other. Plus, they are young, a definite plus to the two teams above. Then there is the wildcard, the Bransens. The father was actually a former roommate of mine's little league coach. I don't see a father not sacrificing everything for his 3 daughters, so expect them to do well.

We'll see how Tuesday goes. Until then, "they still play the blues in Chicago, when baseball season comes around"- Steve Goodman.