Updated 12:01pm C.T. - With Information on Mark DeRosa
News from Day 10 of Camp Lou surrounded Mark DeRosa's early exit from practice in an ambulance. DeRosa was taken to the hospital with an irregular heartbeat. Several reports early in the afternoon indicated DeRosa was alert and never lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons only. According to a report from the AP on FoxSports, DeRosa was released from the hospital on Saturday evening. Piniella said he does not "expect this to be serious" and does "expect it to be too long."
Here is the rest from Mesa, including Lou Piniella on Talkin' Baseball....
Lou Piniella on Talkin' Baseball
Sweet Lou joined Bruce Levine and Chet Coppock Saturday morning on ESPN 1000. The interview was very similar to the one Lou Piniella gave Mike North on Friday morning....with a few additions.
Piniella reiterated that if Alfonso Soriano is unable to run then they will adjust the lineup accordingly. He said the team is going to work hard at stealing third base this year and added this is not a typical power team. Piniella likes the idea of Alfonso Soriano, Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome supplying speed at the top of the lineup with Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa in the middle of the order. Geovany Soto will be an important key for the Cubs this season according to Piniella. Then either Felix Pie or Sam Fuld will hit 8th. Piniella added that they will make adjustments during the spring but not once the regular season starts....and he revealed once again he has been toying with a lot of different lineups in his head.
Chet Coppock brought up the centerfield competition between Sam Fuld and Felix Pie. Piniella said he thinks it is good to let a player know where he stands. He then said, "What I should do is tell Pie its his job, go out and play but that would not be fair to Sam Fuld." Piniella indicated someone will know by mid spring who has the job so they can relax.
Piniella expects to win the division again this year.
Piniella said he is more comfortable with a year in Chicago under his belt. He thought "Chicago was a nice quiet Midwestern town" and was surprised by all of the media attention and scrutiny. Piniella was talking to Soriano about the same subject. Piniella indicated Soriano felt the same way and is more comfortable than a year ago. Lou finished the interview by saying this is a good way to end a career....start in New York and finish in Chicago.
From Bruce Levine
- Kerry Wood is curious to see if is arm will hold up to a full season.
- When asked if the Cubs are still interested in Brian Roberts.... Levine indicated the Cubs have been ready to make the deal for the last 9 weeks. He said they were asked to wait until the Orioles dealt Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard.
- Scouts from the Orioles are in Mesa looking at players.
Jason Marquis
Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out the merits of Jason Marquis.
- Only 13 pitchers in the NL have won at least 10 games in the last 4 seasons.
- Marquis is 43-28 with a 4.22 ERA in the first half but only 25-33 with a 4.97 ERA in the second half
- In 7 years in the big leagues, six of those years Marquis' teams have made it to the post season
Marquis wants to remain a Chicago Cub and sees himself in the starting rotation.
From the Baseball Blogosphere
Big League Chatter has a four part series about the future of the Cubs. Part one ran on Saturday.
A new site dedicated to Kosuke Fukudome , Fukudome-cubs.blogspot.com, is half in English and half in Japanese....very cool.
Video from Tim Sheridan at Boys of Spring.com
Finally.... Baseball Prospectus released the PECOTA cards for the upcoming season, check back for more on this as the CCO gears up for the first game of the Cactus League schedule. Also, the first edition of Talkin' Cubs Live for the 2008 season is 4 days away.
Update - According to a report on Cubs.com, Mark DeRosa was kept overnight at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa and is expected to be released on Sunday. Test took longer on Saturday than expected and was kept overnight for observation. The Associated Press reported on Saturday night that DeRosa had been released from the hospital....that report was apparently inaccurate.
DeRosa "will be examined by a cardiologist on Monday" before he is cleared to resume practice.
"His heart condition was not expected to keep him from playing but the second baseman won't return to workouts until the Cubs medical staff decides what treatment he needs."
As I stated yesterday, I think that Soriano is still a huge assett to this ballclub, but is he perhaps the latest victim of the curse?
Curse? Curse? What the hell is a curse?
I expressed caution yesterday about Soriano--but it just seems not possible that he turns out like Dizzy Dean. Dizzy took a shot off a toe and the neglect of his injury put him on a downhill spiral and ended his career. I really think Soriano will heal with proper attention and hit and throw well at least. If he doesn't, there won't be enough "Stupid Awards" to go around.
Is this incredible also? Shannon Stewart, age 34, a versatile outfielder (and maybe an all star once) who hit .290 in 576 AB's last year for the A's just signed a minor league, 1 year contract with the Jays. He is a .298 career, right handed hitter, and would have been a big plus for us. You wonder if the O's delays over Roberts is causing JH to miss some good, affordable player acquisitions.
JimK -
There are reasons we weren't in the running for Stewart.
First off - he had expressed interest in being closer to his family in Florida... and while Toronto and Florida aren't exactly around the corner, Toronto has spring training there, so it's another month he gets to spend at home. That was one reason given for him choosing Toronto over Seattle... and it would have applied to the Cubs too. Add to that the AL East which gets him to Tampa for several series a year given the lopsided in-division schedules and that's another point.
Plus from the Cubs standpoint, he's 34 - he's missed significant time two of the last four years with injuries (only 44 games two years ago), and although his career average is good, he has very little pop... he's only had one year in his career with more than 13 homers. And I checked - never made an all-star team.
He might have made a decent fifth outfielder, but personally I'd rather have that filled by someone with a little more potential than experience.
Plus truth be told - he's not a viable center fielder anymore due to his foot issues, so he stands to get more playing time in Toronto than here.
I'm not pinning this one on JH - just doesn't seem like a fit for either us or him.
I agree with Gary J., Shannon Stewart does nothing for us. We need a Right handed hitting CF to platoon if necessary with Pie/Fuld. Since Stewart only got a minor league deal he's not even a lock to make their ballclub.
Stewart's stats, last year and career wise are comparable at least to Payton and Byrd, and we're looking for a fourth outfielder who can play all three positions for one year. Payton is 35. I see how Byrd or Payton might be better in cf, and, if he prefers the AL East, that could have been his deciding factor. He makes $1.5 million if he sticks with the Jays in 2008.
My thoughts ran to Payton having a $5 million contract and Byrd about $2 million. Stewart would have cost no players to sign and Murton + doesn't seem to be enough to get Bryd. I haven't heard tht JH gave Stewart any consideration--probably because he has a Roberts and Payton deal on hold, on hold, on hold.
The Roberts' delay also delays (possibly) the fate of Murton, and some of his potential teams (Jays, Indians) are moving ahead with their roster committments. Let's hope the Roberts deal does get done. I will be happy with Roberts and Payton.
True that! On Roberts/Payton. I would love to see those guys in Cub Blue.
I don't like the idea of adding Jay Payton at all. I know he will just be a back up outfielder, but his career high in SB is 8. He doesn't give us anything we need. He may be a great clubhouse guy, but so is Kenny Lofton. He may cost a little more moneywise, but imagine the help he would give to Pie and Fuld. That would be worth it in itself.
Lou and JH want a right handed hitter--so Lofton (a better player) seems to be out. Anything we get from Payton above a .250 b.a. and steady defense (assuming a deal is finally made) will be a surprise. The O's want to drop Payton's $5 million contract so he is linked with Roberts. He's OK as a backup under the circumstances.
Brandon W. I totally have to disagree with you on the subject of Lofton being a great clubhouse guy and I’ll explain with a short anecdote. He truly is a great player but a nomad nevertheless, therefore highly unstable. My take- I always blame him big time and Sammy for the 2004 collapse when the Cubs threw away the Wild Card at the end.
They came to Puerto Rico to play the Expos at the end of the season while fighting for the WC and where out partying in the casinos and drinking past 3 in the morning Friday and Saturday. The Expos kicked the Cubs butt in that series. One of the days Matt Clement had a no hitter past the seventh and was screwed by a dropped fly ball and later lost the game. Anyway I remember Lofton and Sosa having a little too much fun, which we all deserve, but not in the thick of the WC race or Division.
Any way I think Lofton is a great party guy and friend but a good clubhouse guy…helps his team day and night.
Yeah.. I know I’m whining like the neighbor old lady. I think I am ready for baseball. I will never get past 03’ with our dear Alex or 04’ with Dusty and Lofton for that matter. Sorry.
Agustin. I dont mean to be the smart ass, but Lofton in 2004? I wish Kenny was a Cub in 04 but he had another fairly good season with New York. We had the barely mediocre but powerful Corey Patterson in 04.
The guy of Fukudome-cubs even intentionally mispelled "Samurai" without the "u", quite promising; I hope that sword cuts off the curse.
I need to restore some confidence with what we have right now. Without more harm from the other 5 batters, a season of 900 OPS from each of Fuk-Lee-Soriano will get us 1 Win Probability Added (WPA) out of this current lineup. And 900 is not even their career year or a match of their historical best.
The starting pitchers, if healthy, is another 3 WPA. The question is, can Marmol and Wood reduce walks? Because if Wood and Marmol, combined, can pitch more than 150 innings with at least half the efficiency of Howry, then we'll see at least 4 WPA from our bullpen.
You know what this means? We'll beat the Braves, the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Brewers, and even the Padres. But we still don't have enough to match the Mets and the D'Backs.