The current manager of the Chicago Cubs played Ryan Theriot at 2B on Saturday, and it paid off in a big way. With the dream of playoffs hopelessly lost, the rest of the season should prove a great launching pad for the careers of several young Cubs players and prospects. It appears that, maybe, Hendry and Mimi (manager I must ignore) are putting commonsense first here, and realizing that the next 2-1/2 months should be spent developing the Cubs' youth, so that we go into 2007 completely aware of which players are ready for the big leagues, and in which areas we need to go out and acquire help in the off-season. I am very happy now, as all I ever wanted was for my Cubs to openly admit their failings, and then act like they had a reasonable and rational plan for fixing their problems so that my favorite baseball team can have success in the future.
So....Hendry and Mimi are committed to the youth movement now, right? You know better....
And I don't know if I can do it....
Sunday morning, I read this quote from Mimi in a Chicago Tribune article by Paul Sullivan, where the fine manager of the Chicago Cubs went on to say that "We still have to win ballgames. Everyone says 'Mix in the young guys.' I have a bunch of young guys in already."
Huh? What's that? Neifi Perez starting in place of Ronny Cedeno gives the Cubs a better chance to win in 2006? Hey....you know what....using this philosophy, why not just start Phil Nevin in place of Derrek Lee for the rest of year, since Nevin is older than Lee? The idea that age, by itself, indicates that one player is better than another is nonsense. You get the feeling that if Marquis Grissom had made the Cubs team, that he would be getting more at-bats than Juan Pierre using Mimi's logic. While I admit that rookie pitchers have hurt us (Hill, Guzman, and Ryu) the reality is that mediocre veterans, such as Glendon Rusch, Neifi Perez, Jerome Williams, Phil Nevin, Greg Maddux, and the defensive shortfalls of Todd Walker, Michael Barrett, and Jacque Jones have brought us the record of twenty-something games below .500. So why does Mimi act like playing the young guys somehow equals the Cubs losing? We have already been losing....it can't get worse! Ok....technically, we could be in last place, so it could actually be worse....but you know what I mean.
That was just a dream....
So was I just dreaming that the Cubs were about to do the right thing, the smart thing, and the only thing that makes sense when you are over 20 games below .500 in mid-July: build for next year? In the South, the phrase "losing my religion" roughly means "I'm about to go out of my mind". The last time I was this frustrated was during Hurricane Katrina. I was watching the news, and day after day, people seemed to be trapped and suffering in New Orleans, and it appeared that no one was doing anything about it, or knew what to do, or how to do it. Finally they put that military guy in charge, Lt. Gen Russel Honore, and he kicked some butt and bused everyone out of there in what seemed like an hour. I am one of those guys that knows when things can be done better, but that you need to have the right people in charge to put forth the right amount of effort to make things happen. The current Cubs coaching staff's philosophy towards this roster, and this season, makes me feel like I did before General Honore showed up in New Orleans.
Forget my dislike of Mimi. Before the season started, I stated the Cubs could win, but would largely do so in spite of their manager, and not because of him. I also said that if the season became about Mimi, that the Cubs would not make the playoffs. So in addition to playing a sports writer on the weekends, I also do a little Nostradamus impression on the side for extra cash every now and then. The fact is that I would be perfectly fine with Hendry keeping, and even resigning, Mimi as the manager, provided that they would both be on the same page about the future of the club. The club's future is not Neifi and Rusch. You know that, I know that, Sox fans probably know that....even Australian Aborigine tribes, untouched by modern civilization, seem to know that. So why doesn't Hendry get rid of Rusch asap, and make sure his manager realizes that Neifi is, and only ever should be a: backup, benchwarmer, reserve, utility-guy, late-inning defensive replacement, pinch runner for the pitcher in the 8th inning, even a left-handed batting practice pitcher....anything but a starter!!!!
The hint of the century....
The window is now closed. We had a window, with the group of Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Aramis, and Lee. Due largely to the persistent injuries of Wood and Prior, the window of opportunity for winning with this core of relatively young talent, in or near their prime, has expired. When milk expires, you don't teach it to throw a towel in Iowa, you throw it away. I don't mean the Cubs have to give up on Prior, or even Wood, but you have to revise the plan....you have to develop a new window of opportunity, and proceed down a modified path than the one in which you started. I say "modify" because the other three guys are still young and healthy, and you can build on them to create a new core.
I think Prior is salvageable, but he ought to be shut down for another month. Let him pitch the last month of the season, just to get his mechanics back in shape....and for the sanity of Cubs fans everywhere, hire some new trainers and doctors, please! Spare no expense in ensuring that Prior shows up to Spring Training next year, actually in shape, and ready to pitch in (gasp!) a Spring Training game. Wood needs to go with the Nomaresque incentive-laden hometown discount contract, and start out in the bullpen, and maybe work his way back to being a starter, if we need him due to injury or ineffectiveness of one of the other starters. Just make sure that Wood is the backup plan next year, and not the main plan. If we don't need Wood to start, he may just be a lights-out closer for the next 5 years, and not a pseudo-closer ala Joe Borowski or Ryan Dempster.
Consider this....
So we can count on Zambrano, and depending on how Prior ends this year, I am guessing we will count on him as well. That is two above-average, and potentially great, starters. While I like Marshall and his composure, I am not sure I have seen any reason to think he will get appreciably better than he is now. In other words, he may simply be 4th or 5th starter material his whole career....and that is fine. However, you don't win championships with your 5th starter being a "core" guy, so the Cubs have to get a solid 3rd starter. I would like Barry Zito as much as the next guy, but as I have mentioned a lot on the CCO lately, I don't see Hendry and the Tribsters paying top dollar for an established and healthy star, who is in his prime, and is coming off a good year....they have no history of spending money on this type of player. So right now I will label our 3rd core starter as "Mystery Starter X" and hope that Hendry makes something happen in a trade this year or that he surprises me in the offseason with a big move for a quality arm.
We can also continue to count on Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, and I hope that Juan Pierre is resigned as well. Those three, alone, will give us a good enough core to build around. The key will be getting the right supporting pieces to fill in the gaps. Is Murton the future? Will Cedeno improve? Right now, those two guys are only adequate....but that could change with time, and with the seasoning the rest of this year could provide them. They don't need to be All-Stars, but they need to be better than just average on offense and defense....they need to give the Cubs an edge. Can we afford to put up with Jacque Jones on defense and on the basepaths? I strongly believe that if Jones goes into an offensive slump, that things will get terribly ugly at Wrigley for him....Jones is, I believe, more unstable than LaTroy Hawkins ever was, and it would be wise for the Cubs to move him while his worth is so high. We won in 2003 with great defense behind the plate with Damien Miller. I like Michael Barrett's bat, but he would be better suited trying to become an outfielder, as his defense and game-calling have caused this once-great staff to underachieve during all three years of his tenure.
Oh no, I've said too much....
I always write my article after the game on Sunday, but this time I didn't. Hopefully the Cubs will have won, and hopefully Mimi will have played Theriot, Cedeno, and Murton at the same time, and tried to win with the future. If not, I am sure I will have been mentally yelling at my television, and losing my religion.
What do you think CCO readers....what should be the goal for the Cubs the rest of the year? Do they develop youngsters? Should they make blockbuster trades for Zito and Carlos Lee? My belief is that the latter just isn't likely, so I really hope they do the former....it may be our only hope for winning seasons the rest of this decade! Until next time, keep the faith that commonsense will prevail, hope for Maddux to win a few in a row, and let's go Cubs!
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I agree completly. The biggest problem right now, of many, is the question of which direction to take. And Hendry is completely blowing it. It's hard to blame a manager in the last year of his contract to try to win games as his only priority. But it is obvious that the Cubs need to look to the future by playing as many young guys as possible and seeing who sticks. Hendry needs to either fire Baker, or extend his contract. I think he should fire Baker (and Dusty probably would be grateful). Dusty has given his players too many excuses for failure.
But the way Hendry is doing it now is showing horrible leadership. It makes you wonder if Hendry is leaving Baker out to dry to keep the heat off of himself...its either that or he believes in the miracle of all miracles.
Jason:
Great title!! Although I prefer True Faith(New Order). One of these years they will get it right.
We were doomed this year by:
* Hendry's lack of attention towards the starting rotation.
* The Baker Bunch's inability to make anyone better.
What about another scenario for Hendry's public silence on firing Baker?
I think it may be possible, (despite all of Hendry's mishaps this year), that Hendry may still be working behind the scenes on securing Baker's replacement before actually firing him. For example, the Charlie Manuel is likely to be fired as well, correct? Which means that in theory the Cubs have at the very least one other team to compete with over a new manager. If the Cubs fire Baker now, Manuel would also be fired almost immediately and the arms race would begin to compete over the best manager available. By retaining Baker and not stating publicly that he's done, Hendry can work the smoking room and avoid the all out competition with other teams for another manager.
Does this theory make any sense? I'm not saying its true, but it is at least possible that Hendry is looking towards the future manager right now. He failed to make the necessary moves last year but he isn't dumb enough to disregard the fact that Dusty has lost the trust of the city, the team, and the Cubs faithful.
WOW. Get rid of Barrett. The only guy in the lineup who is hitting. I don't see Barrett's defense losing games for us. He's not perfect. We have 0 offence and we should think about gaetting rid of him? What games have you been watching?
Everyone is angry and wants some sort of immediate fix. Not going to happen. We based our season on two guys who never showed up. Have never filled the holes in the outfield since Sosa and Alou. Have a good second baseman but his weakness is in the field.
The bullpen is fine and should only be in need of minor tweeking.
The bench needs to be wiped clean.
The holes in the outfield need to go.
and everyone needs to stop whining.
Chad,
I agree...Hendry has lacked in leadership on this issue big-time. He seems more concerned with posturing about his timeframe with the media, than with actually doing anything about the current mess.
Jim (from TP),
I agree on both counts. Injuries do happen, but when you don't have two main starters healthy in Spring Training, then the time to act would have been in March and April.
Trevor,
I do believe there is a fair amount of politicking going on (as there is with any GM) with regards to the manager's status with the Cubs. It is a shame, too, because I think Chicago is definitely a town that appreciates straight-talking guys in management (think Ditka instead of Dick Jauron, and Paxson/Skiles instead of Jerry Krause, for example). Hendry knows he can't publicly kill his manager, because then other guys won't want to work for him. He also can't say he screwed up, because his likes his job, and doesn't want to give MacPhail an easy excuse to pass the blame to his GM...so he is walking the tightrope, and meanwhile, the Cubs are over 20 below .500, and look embarrassing on tv.
jim,
Again...read what I said...Barrett is a good hitter, but not a 30-40 HR guy. He has a good average, and decent pop, and below average defensive skills. Imagine if Mark Grace was a below-average first baseman...he wouldn't have lasted as long as he did, at a traditionally power-position, unless he brought something else to the table, which he did with his defense.
Barrett is at a traditionally defensive position, and he is poor at that. He compensates with a good average, but not a lot of power. Is that enough? For you, obviously it is. For Hendry, it probably is, too. For me? No, it is not....and I, and everyone else on the planet, are allowed to have our opinion on the Cubs. Just because others opinions don't match with yours, doesn't mean the others are simply whining.
Which holes in the outfield are you referring to? The .280 hitting Juan Pierre, who is an elite leadoff hitter? How about Jacque Jones...the guy putting up better offensive numbers than Barrett? Or did you mean the rookie in LF?
I can make a case for all of them staying, or all of them going...why do you think they all need to go?
I agree on the bullpen...perhaps Wood will help there next year, and they need to get rid of Novoa and Rusch.
Barrett would look nice in an Oakland A's uniform...playing some DH/OF/C for them. I will take Jason Kendall and his defense. If this club is going to have a number of young starters and bullpen arms next year, I want a defensive catcher to maximize their performance. It doesn't do us any good to have our catcher go 2 for 4, while our pitchers consistently have ERAs ballooning over 5.00.
No way does Barrett need to go. He is the least of our problems and no replacement for him would serve an enough of an upgrade to make the Cubs a legitimate team again.
Barrett has proven he has the bat,which is something our offense sorely needs.
I also don't believe its fair to push off all the ballooning ERAs on Barrett. He has had to deal with Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams, 2 "stud" pitchers who are always hurt, an aging Greg Maddux whose stuff is clearly not even close to what it used to be, and then a ton of rookies. No way is that all his fault. Is he the best catcher at handling rookies? Probably not. But he's no slouch either.
The bullpen only needs a slight tweak and if no upgrades were made there in the offseason because the money was spent on a corner outfielder/starting pitching I would be fine with that. I still have faith that Novoa will prosper under a new pitching coach and think he should stay.
You trade Jones because he will never be hotter than he is right now and you overpaid for him to begin with.
You keep Pierre because there isn't anyone on the market that is a significant upgrade, not to mention J.P. seems to have finally remembered that he used to be one of the best leadoff men in all of baseball. His range in CF had never been a question either.
As far as whining/opinions go....this is a site for the Cubs faithful. We all have strong opinons and if you are at this site you probably have plently of pent up frustrations as well. I don't run the site but I see nothing wrong with venting about the season/problems. Of course, that could be taken out of context as well. Perhaps it meant the players/manager needs to stop whining about "not having all his horses dude". Regardless....go Cubs and keep up the posting, its the only thing that makes the season bearable.
Jason these are all of your quotes from this page. And Jones is putting up better numbers than barrett? Not trying to start anything but come on. You have taken two different positions on everyone on the team except for DUSTY BAKER and his staff.
Player TEAM POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
1. J Jones CHC OF 84 300 38 90 20 0 15 48 155 12 61 5 1 .329 .517 .300
2. M Barrett CHC C 68 237 37 78 14 3 9 34 125 26 27 0 0 .396 .527 .329
"How about Jacque Jones...the guy putting up better offensive numbers than Barrett? Or did you mean the rookie in LF?"
"and the defensive shortfalls of Todd Walker, Michael Barrett, and Jacque Jones have brought us the record of twenty-something games below .500."
"I strongly believe that if Jones goes into an offensive slump, that things will get terribly ugly at Wrigley for him....Jones is, I believe, more unstable than LaTroy Hawkins ever was, and it would be wise for the Cubs to move him while his worth is so high"
And to all who want to get rid of Aramis please tell me why. I don't understand why. He has had a bad year so far. So has everyone else on the team with exception for a select few. Who would we replace him with? A-Rod? LOL. Casey McGehee? (Our AAA 3B). Everyone is frustrated but...........
I don't understand the furor over Barrett. Look around baseball and how many catchers would you take over Barrett? And of those, how many would be available for a trade? We could do a lot worse than having Barrett as the catcher on the Cubs. How many of those bases are stolen on our pitchers? Is he the reason Maddux gets hit hard? Is he the reason Prior and Wood are not pitching? Funny, but Zambrano and the good relievers (Howry and Eyre) do ok with him catching. Rusch? Williams? Johnny Bench could come back and not improve those guys. Remember, people, the pitcher can always shake off the catcher. I think we have many other spots to worry about more than the catching position.
dtp,
Jones has hit more homers and has far more RBIs than Barrett...so, yeah, I think he has been better offensively up to this point.
That doesn't change the fact that I would trade Jones asap.
This isn't double-talking...this is just you being too lazy to read everything.
I was pointing out that the poster I was replying to was all gung ho on getting rid of all the Outfielders, yet was overly defensive about keeping Barrett. My point was to say "why do you want to keep Barrett so badly, yet you want to trade Jones, when Jones has arguably better offensive numbers?" Since they are both weak defensively, I was pointing out that Jones at least hits in more runs. That wasn't a vote for keeping Jones, though.
I agree with you on Aramis, though...I wouldn't think about trading him. You can tell a guy to run to first base harder...but you can't always tell a guy to learn how to hit 30+ HRs and knock in 100+ RBIs. Not to mention Aramis has played very good defense this year...the ball hitting him on the head, notwithstanding.
Gramps,
I wouldn't die if we kept Barrett. I am out of time to name off catchers I would take over Barrett, but it would probably be closer to 10-15. I have always liked the idea of our big-city-budget team going in and fleecing the Oakland A's for Jason Kendall, and for Zito. Oakland can use the cost savings, and I truly believe the Cubs would benefit quite a bit. We have had a lot of different pitchers over the past two years, and Barrett has always struggled to throw guys out, no matter who is on the mound. The Cubs have bigger problems to address than Barrett...I will easily concede that!
Another great article, Jason B. from AZ!
Thanks!
Now here are some comments I enjoy reading and the emotion, it is great to see it, I am just going to sit back and watch. My two cents...KEEP Barrett.
Stay Classy Folks.
Jason,
Big city budget team??? When have the Cubs ever spent money on a free agent? As far as trading for Kendall and Zito -- what do we have to give up? Oakland is in a dog-fight every year and the way we are playing right now, why would any free agent want to come here? Don't you think players all across the leagues look at the Cubs and wonder to themselves if the Cubs can ever win a pennant and get to the Series? I think the team needs a few players but most important to me is getting new leadership. The Tigers are amazing to me, almost the same team as last year, but Leyland comes to manage and they are the best team in the major leagues.
I looked up all the defensive categories pitting Barrett against Kendall and was surprised to see that Barrett holds his own in match-ups. He has a decided advantage in offensive categories. All of the catchers that are better than the two of them are guys that their respective teams would probably not trade or let them go to free agency without matching any offer.
Jim (from TP),
I didn't mention free agency.
I have pointed out plenty of times that the Cubs don't shell out big bucks on free agents.
They have, however, made some trades (like for Nomar, Lee, and Ramirez) to upgrade talent...taking on salary in the process.
They have one of the highest budgets in the NL...they are a big-budget team. Hendry should always be looking to fleece the Pittsburghs, Kansas Citys, and Oaklands of the world.
Hell's Kitchen is on...whoo hoo..I love this show!
Jim (from TP),
I didn't mention free agency.
I have pointed out plenty of times that the Cubs don't shell out big bucks on free agents.
They have, however, made some trades (like for Nomar, Lee, and Ramirez) to upgrade talent...taking on salary in the process.
They have one of the highest budgets in the NL...they are a big-budget team. Hendry should always be looking to fleece the Pittsburghs, Kansas Citys, and Oaklands of the world.
Hell's Kitchen is on...whoo hoo..I love this show!
I meant to respond to you, Gramps...not Jim from TP, with that last post!
The following are catchers I would take instead of Michael Barrett, and listed is their stats for this year:
Victor Martinez, .307/11/56
Ramon Hernandez, .269/15/62
Ivan Rodriguez, .312/8/41
Joe Mauer, .375/7/45
AJ Pierzynski, .317/7/30
Paul Lo Duca, .300/3/30
Kenji Johjima, .292/10/42
Jason Kendall, .273/1/22
Jorge Posada, .279/11/47
Johnny Estrada, .321/8/48
Benjy Molina, .287/8/25
Mike Piazza, .290/13/41
Brian McCann, .348/9/40
take a good look at the above numbers of all these different catchers, and then tell me why Barrett's numbers should stand out so much:
Michael Barrett, .329/9/34
That is a nice average, but is there really any reason to think that Barrett is going to finish the season that far above .300 when his career average is .268? His career OBP is a modest .327 as well.
By the way, Jason Kendall's career average is .300 and his career OBP is a whopping .380! In the past three years, Kendall has thrown out 28% of baserunners to Barrett's 22.5%.
A lot of people like to say "well...Barrett works hard, and he seems to be getting better". Is he?
I put the statistics to the test...I took the top 32 catchers in the CS category, and checked out their % of throwing out baserunners, this year.
At 20% (15 baserunners thrown out of 75 attempts) Barrett ranks 28th out of 32 catchers.
That is bad.
Most of the catchers with lousy percentages are also, not coincidentally, run on the most. Not surprisingly, Barrett ranked #1 in stolen base attempts...this is because opposing teams know they can run on him!
So far this year, Jason Kendall has thrown out 34% of baserunners. Twenty different catchers are have a caught-stealing % of 30% or better.
That is a lot of catcher that are better than Barrett...and many of them have more homeruns and rbis and runs scored than Barrett does.
Sorry...he has a nice batting average, but he appears to be a fairly one-dimensional ballplayer with modest power (16 homers is his high) at best.
I have always liked Barrett. He does lack defensively, but he has the one thing lacking most from this team......leadership. Derrek Lee does show some leadership, but he is more of a lead by example kind of guy. You should get the most leadership from you manager, but we all know that story already. The leadership on this team is nil and void. Barrett is not a major concern of mine.
This season his steals against average is inflated dramatically by the pitching staff. Teams run on Maddux all day long, even if "Pudge" Rodriguez was behind the plate that wouldn't change. The parade of rookies aren't going to be nearly as aware of baserunners as a veteran would be. They are to worried about keeping the ball in the park. Barrett certainly isn't great at throwing out base runners, but he's not as bad as his numbers show this season.
Don't get me wrong, I would be thrilled if Jason Kendall or Ivan Rodriguez was in Cubbie blue, but I don't see it happening. Jason, most of the catchers on your list, I would take over Barrett. There's a couple on there though that I definitely would not take. Piazza??? That guy is one of the worst defensive catchers of all time. Not to mention that he's aging and his offensive numbers are declining as well. AJ is the only other one I have a real problem with. He is a good catcher but he's too much of an a-hole. I guess I don't have anything against him as a player I just plain don't like him. And I disliked him prior to the "punch heard around the world". All in all, you could do a lot worse than Michael Barrett.
I definitely do not think the answer is getting rid of Barrett. His work ethic is out of this world and since he has been with the Cubs he has gotten better each year. I am amazed when anybody brings up trading Aramis. He is another one that has only gotten better each year since being with the Cubs, not too mention he was an All Star last year. Okay the guy is having a bad year, but the year is not over yet.
As for the rest of this year, I blame Hendry more than Baker, granted I am so tired of all of Bakers excuses, and if he is such a good manager he needs to find a way to win with out "the Horses". But Hendry has dropped the ball with the pitching staff, counting on two guys who had major shoulder surgery at the END fo last season. As for Baker, tick tick tick, the time is ticking away
Hey Steve,
I threw Piazza in because he is also bad defensively, but produces more offensively than Barrett...that is the only reason I would take Piazza, but he wouldn't be my first choice.
Barrett also caught the 2004 staff...no rookies...he still was poor in throwing out runners.
I don't question that Barrett has a good hard work ethic, but leadership also means leading by example, and his punch of AJ was poor judgement, did nothing to rally the team, and cost the team his services for 10 games. If he could be as good as, or better, than Jones defensively, I would say trade Jones and put Barrett in LF. This way, his offense would probably improve...more power numbers...from not having the grueling day of squatting in the Summer heat in pads.
Then you also could get a pretty penny for Jones right now, I imagine.
Hi Nick,
While his average is higher now, it is hard to say where else he has improved...the numbers don't show it defensively, or in the HR/RBI categories.
We could do worse than Barrett, though...
I agree completely on Hendry.
The punch didn't do anything to rally the team. It should've though. That was the first thing I thought of after Barrett hit him. I thought, "alright, now that should fire these guys up". I was wrong and so was Barrett. It probably would've help if Dusty didn't throw him under the bus. If Dusty would've riled everyone up a bit that might have been the moment that we turned things around. Any manager would have used that moment to get things rolling. Instead we've heard excuse after excuse and watched loss after loss.
i do like the idea of trying him in the outfield, but I don't think Baker and Hendry would be able to think of that.
Nick, the reason for the trade rumors surrounding Ramirez is he as an option in his contract that if he decides he wants out of Chicago he can become a Free Agent at the end of the year.
nick,
I am sure Cubs management has thought about Barrett in the OF, as well as a lot of oddball things we haven't even thought up ourselves!
However, I don't think it would happen just because I think Hendry would consider that to be admitting that he was wrong on getting Barrett as a catcher. That is too bad, because I think you can spin it in a positive manner: here is a guy that hit around .200, and we turned him into a Silver Slugger winner...we think he will be even more productive if relieved of the grueling catcher duties...blah, blah, blah.
By the way, Barrett played some 3B and, get this, SS in the past...so Hendry knows he can be moved to another position. The problem is that he wasn't very good at 3B, which is why he became a Catcher in the first place...so I don't know if he has the athleticism to play the OF, but just by looking at him, you would think he could.
Neil,
You are right on that point. I don't think Ramirez wants to go anywhere. Chicago is a nice big market, with full crowds...and don't forget that Aramis basked in all the love from 2003, so he knows that when things are good in Chicago, they are really good!
Plus, he has played for Pittsburgh, to small attendance, and probably doesn't want to risk returning to that type of situation.