Irrational Thoughts and Foolish Assumptions

Many of us like to believe in a higher consciousness, a higher stream of intelligent thought, where all the answers to all the important questions may be found. Many of us look to the past for the answers to our future, and it is there we find wisdom and guidance in the sage advice of ancient philosophers.

One such philosopher, the son of David, King Solomon, long ago gave us this deep and meaningful passage:
"What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun."
Wow....very powerful....very poignant....an ageless piece of wisdom, right?
I guess there isn't anything new....nothing to be surprised about....we got it all figured out already....right?

Well, I hate to break it to ol' Solly, as I am sure in his leisure time he was been able to sit around and come up with all kinds of cool and inspirational pieces of logic and reason, but, as always, the responsibility falls upon me to separate fact from fiction, and make Solly, and all CCO readers fully aware that they really should know better!

Why Solomon Erred When It Comes to the Cubs

Sorry King Solomon, but no one has ever seen a pile of manure on the mound quite like He Who Must Not Be Named. After all, this poor excuse for a MLB starter is a career 32 games under .500, with an ERA hovering near 5.00. If Solly was a Cubs fan, he would have likely given all his riches away in an effort to see He Who Must Not Be Named removed from the Cubs roster!

There is nothing new under the the sun? Could Solomon have imagined the greatest pitcher of this era, Greg Maddux, would pitch his finest stretch of starts at the age of 40? Especially after his decline seemed imminent after he won less than 15 games last year....?

Could Solly have really expected Carlos Zambrano to remain feisty and hot-headed, yet winless in 6 straight starts? Despite this unexpected turn of events, the Cubs still remain three games above .500, without two of their best starters, with two rookies performing well in the field, and two rookie pitchers on the mound, and their All-Star 1st baseman on the shelf. Surely even Solomon would admit that these bizarre and unexpected circumstances and events have thrown a wrench into all the preseason predications of the Cubs 2006 season!

I have consistently said that I fault Baker/Hendry/Tribune for not putting the Cubs, and especially their pitching staff, in the best possible position to win and be successful, right out of the gate. I do not have to be a mind reader to know that the following are the thoughts and ideas of the Cubs "brain trust":

Irrational Thoughts

It is better to continue pitching He Who Must Not Be Named, and letting him lose games, rather than taking a chance on a rookie like Rich Hill losing games.

It is ok to start the season short 3 starting pitchers.

Since two of our starting pitchers are injured in Spring Training, signing Jason Simontachi just makes good sense.

Any pitcher that is coming off major surgery....sign him....quickly.

Don't spend more money, just because you added more seats, and raised ticket prices, and you like to scalp your own tickets to your loyal fans.

Dude....I should play all my guys, dude.

Foolish Assumptions

If we sign a pitcher in the offseason, then we will have too many quality starting pitchers in June, so we shouldn't do that.

If we just hang around .500, until Wood and Prior return, then it is ok to let the Cardinals and other teams get huge leads on us early in the season....for the third year in a row....as the first 1/4 or 1/3 of the season doesn't really count anyway.

If we trade for a quality 1st Baseman to fill the void of D-Lee, to allow Walker's bat to stay at 2nd, then we won't be fully utilizing the talents of Neifi Perez.

If Ryu and Hill take He Who Must Not Be Named's rotation spot, and they lose, then the Cubs will be worse off.

If He Who Must Not Be Named sucks the energy, confidence, and chemistry out the Cubs lineup, every time he pitches, and causes the Cubs to lose any positive momentum and creates a downward spiral that spills over into Zambrano's start, then that is just something that we have to put up with, because we don't want to rush Hill/Ryu into the majors.

What do CCO Readers think?

Please take this time to get out your frustrations and your observations on poor management and coaching. Let me know what things are bugging you....maybe you have noticed some irrational thoughts and foolish assumptions that you would like to point out? Maybe you throw up at the mere mention of rehab starts, or at the sight of seemingly normal small towels? Maybe you want to peek into Zambrano's brain and find out what the heck is going on in there? Maybe you are revisiting frustrations about what was done (Jones) and what wasn't done (a starting pitcher) this offseason?

I think we all know what is going right; Maddux, Marshall, Dempster, the young kids. So how about telling me what YOU think are the Cubs problems and what the Cubs need to do to fix them!

Let me have it, CCO readers....you can be optimistic, you can be pessimistic, you can be prophetic, or you can study events in hindsight. Most of all, I just want to hear what you think is going wrong right now, and most importantly: what should be done about it!

Until next time, let's hope Maddux goes 10-0, and go Cubs go!

nick

sorry about all of the duplicates, something was messed up on my end. internet thing

nick

Hey Jason, I agree with you on trading Hill. Hill is still lacking one more pitch, unlike Marshall and Guzman. And I would love to find another 1st basemen, that way we can keep Walker at first and keep Perez and Hairston on the bench. I forget where I read it today, I will have to find the site, But it said seeing if Murton can move to fist base, and then bring Pie up to play left. He has to be a better bat at this point then what Perez and Hairston is. I thought that was an interesting idea. Murton just seems like he would have the ability and smarts to make a transition like that.

Jason B. from AZ

Hey Nick,

Great comments!

I agree on Zambrano, Ramirez, and Jones as being key contributers that should rebound very soon...and if they had gotten off to a good start in the first place, we may be first in the division!

It is nice to see that Rusch (I can call him by his name now that he has been rightfully exorcised from the starting rotation) has been demoted to the bullpen. After he screws up his next stint out of the bullpen, I am hoping for him to be cut from the team completely.

It should be noted that it is highly unusual the way that Wuertz, then Williams, and now Rusch have all been jettisoned somewhat quickly this year.

When I say "quickly", I don't mean by my standards, but by slow-to-change mlb management standards.

This is noteworthy because it shows a trait that I believe has been absent from Hendry/Baker/Tribune the past two years: a sense of urgency, and a desire to win NOW!

This is great news for the Cubs Faithful, to see that the manager and GM of the Cubs are finally using commonsense, and not letting a season go in the toilet out of petty loyalties and silly clubhouse politics. Forget being a veteran...forget what you did last year...forget being one of "Dusty's guys"...if you don't produce now, it is apparent you will be kicked off this 2006 team rather quickly!

If Hill pitches well, I really hope we consider trading him. I know that sounds odd, but his value will never be higher if he wins a couple games in a row, and our rotation will start getting bloated in the coming weeks.

If you have a youth brigade of Zambrano, Prior, Marshall, and Guzman...where are you supposed to put Hill? This becomes even more obvious when you factor in Wood, Maddux, and Miller.

I would still go for Zito, and/or a replacement for D. Lee's bat...and Hill may be just the bait needed for such a deal.

nick

Good article Jason. As April is over I look at the 13-10 record; one part of me says it could be alot worse, and the other part says it could be alot better. The reasons i think it could have been alot worse are. 1) Imagine if Maddux would have gotten off to a start like last year? We would be fighting for last right now. 2) What if Marshall just proved to be a hoax in spring training and lost all the starts he has made. 3) What if Murton and Cedano didn't play as well as they are playing now.

The things that make me say it could have been alot better. 1) First of all Zambrano wakes up and pitches like we and he knows he can pitch. We could be at least 16-7. 2) Ramirez would have started to hit and get rid of his .197 BA. 3) Dusty and Hendry would have cut the cord on Rusch after his first loss. Instead of waiting till he is 1-4 with a 99.00 ERA 3) Jones just shuts his mouth and hits like he did a few years ago.

The thinks that are still giving me optimism; 1) Wood and Prior are on the comeback trail, and hopefully can do what they did in 2003. 2) Ramirez will start to heat up and when he does, he usually stays there. 3) Zambrano will get that first win as he is jumping and screaming all over the mound and wins his next six starts. 4) Murton and Cedano are playing very good. 5)Pierre gets up to his .300 BA 6) And of course we get Lee back in July.

I guess all in all after looking that we are 13-10 without Wood, Prior, Lee and Zambrano has yet to get a win in six starts, we should be glad we are not 10-13. Lets Go CUBBIES!