Game Seventy-Eight - Cubs 2 Brewers 11
WP - Braden Looper (7-4) LP - Rich Harden (5-5) Save - None
The Cubs lost for the first time at Wrigley since dropping the opening game of the White Sox series back on June 17. The Cubs suffered a rare blowout at home behind another horrible outing at the Friendly Confines by Rich Harden. Harden barely made it out of the first inning after allowing five runs ... a two-run single by Casey McGehee and a three-run homer by Mike Cameron. The Brewers hit Harden incredibly hard in his two-plus innings. Harden allowed seven runs on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout on 52 pitches.
Wrigley Field has definitely been The Un-Friendly Confines for Rich Harden this season. Harden has not posted a win at home since May 12 and is 2-4 in eight starts with a 7.65 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP (33 runs, 32 earned, on 43 hits with 20 walks and 42 strikeouts). Rich Harden has allowed 15 home runs this season in 13 starts ... nine at Wrigley Field.
Casey McGehee proved to be the difference early on in the game ... and was only a double short of the cycle. McGehee, who the Cubs put on waivers in the off-season, drove in five of the Brewers 11 runs and finished the afternoon 4-for-5 with a two-run homer, a triple, three runs scored and five RBI. While the Cubs did not let Prince Fielder beat them, Casey McGehee sure stuck it to his old organization.
The Cubs had chances to make a game of it in the beginning. They loaded the bases twice against Braden Looper but came away empty both times. The Cubs looked bad again at the plate and left five of the seven runners on base in the first two innings. The Cubs finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position ... and hit into three inning ending double plays. To say the 4th of July on the North Side was not pretty would be an understatement.
The Cubs lone highlight came courtesy of Milton Bradley in the third inning. After a Derrek Lee single, Bradley hit his first home run since May 25 ... a two-run shot into the bleachers in right center.
The Cubs did not manage another hit after Bradley's home run in the third until a two-out single by Mike Fontenot in the ninth.
Alfonso Soriano finished the afternoon 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and three left on base out of the sixth spot in Lou Piniella's lineup.
In a game that was over before the Cubs had a chance to swing the bats, Lou Piniella's crew dropped to .500 once again at 39-39 on the year.
Saturday afternoon was just a bad game from beginning to end. Poor pitching, no offense to speak of and only one hit after the third inning. The Brewers took the Cubs out of the game early on and kept trying to prove a point all afternoon. From Braden Looper throwing high and tight to Derrek Lee to Ryan Braun's unnecessary sliding catch late in the game, the Brewers appeared to enjoy sticking it to the Cubs a day after they felt they were on the bad end of a close call.
Craig Counsell led off the first inning with a single to right on a 2-2 pitch from Rich Harden. J.J. Hardy struck out looking but Ryan Braun went the opposite way on a 1-2 pitch and lined a double off the wall in right. The Cubs intentionally walked Price Fielder to load the bases with one-out.
Casey McGehee singled to center on Harden's first pitch. Mike Fontenot dove but the ball hit the second base bag and rolled into center. Counsell and Braun scored, 2-0 Brewers. Mike Cameron followed and ripped a 3-2 pitch from Harden into the bleachers in left center.
The Brewers ended up batting around in the first inning and put a huge 5-spot on the board before Braden Looper threw his first pitch.
J.J. Hardy made it 6-0 with ninth home run of the year in the second ... again on a two-strike pitch from Rich Harden.
After the Cubs failed to capitalize with the bases loaded and one-out in the bottom of the second, the Brewers came out swinging again in the third. Casey McGehee tripled to start the inning. Bradley made a good attempt on the ball that hit off the wall ... but came up empty. Mike Cameron followed with a double and plated McGehee with the Brewers seventh run. Rich Harden departed after allowing his eighth hit ... six for extra bases.
David Patton replaced Harden and kept the Brewers from adding on in the third but did not fare as well in the fourth.
J.J. Hardy reached on a one-out single to left. Ryan Braun followed with a single to right center and Hardy advanced to third on the play. Braun, for some reason, stole second and took the bat out of Fielder's hand. The Cubs intentionally walked Fielder for the second time and McGehee made them pay.
David Patton uncorked a wild pitch, that was ruled a passed ball, on a 1-1 offering to McGehee. Hardy scored and both runners advanced ninety feet. With the infield in, McGehee singled to left past Ryan Theriot. Ryan Braun scored, 9-2 Brewers.
Mike Cameron walked to re-load the bases but Corey Hart blooped out to Theriot and Jason Kendall grounded out to third to end the inning.
Jeff Samardzija retired the Brewers in order, and kept them off the board, for the first time in the fifth. Casey McGehee added his exclamation point in the sixth off Samardzija, a two-run homer that gave the Brewers a convincing 11-2 win.
Lou Piniella emptied his bench in the eighth and the Cubs went through the motions in the final two innings.
Sunday is a new day and the Cubs are in a good position to win the series ...
Ted Lilly is slated to face Mike Burns on Sunday afternoon.
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A few thoughts.....
* Patton and Shark didn't exactly impress today. Hart has options, either Hart or Shark will be in Iowa.
* IF the cubs make the postseason, does David Patton have to be on that roster also?
* Bradley still sucks and I wish they would trade him.
* I think Fuld needs to play until he gets cold.
* Even though a bunch of guys have played 2b this year no one has stood out. If Hendry makes a trade it should be for a 2b.
Bradley pretty much to me is a right handed batter not left handed.
OB Steve Mcnair dies by a gunshot woon. He was only 36 uears old.
It looks like the most important key to a trade being possible, is about to happen. Kaplan is reporting that the sale of the Cubs will be final in 2 weeks. Ricketts probably won't get full control until after the trade deadline, but I am hoping there is a provision in the agreement to give the go-ahead on spending some money before the trade deadline. Ricketts needs to spend now in order to salvage this season, so next year's ticket sales can immediately start producing a return on his billion dollar investment.
The solution isn't spending more money. My gosh, we have the 3rd highest payroll in all of baseball. The key for Ricketts is to quickly fire Hendry and Pinella, then bite the bullet on some of our terrible contracts (e.g. - Soriano), and then set a new charter for the organization built around building from within along with prudent, and I mean prudent, external signings.
JHendry has always--always--"remedied" his horrible signings by eating the contract. Jock-strap Jones, Sosa's final year, Marquis, etc. This is poor business, and will eventually bankrupt the Cubs and lead them to a place where their payroll will be the smallest in baseball. It is very poor management. Just another of one hundred reasons I can garner to fire JHendry.
Right now, if the Cubs were to eat the bad signings, you're looking at Bradley's $32 million; Sorry-oh-no's $138 million; Funko's $50 million; Aaron Miles' $5 million; not to mention future possible busts in Zambrano's $91 million; Dumpster's $70 million (I expect him to start underperforming even moreso than he currently is); perhaps DLee in time to come.
Lilly is a FA this year. Sign him? Let him walk? Trade him now?
Lilly is signed through next year.
But for salary relief and prospects...the Cubs may consider a trade.
Lilly is under contract with the Cubs through the 2010 season.
http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2009/05/cubs09_payroll.php
Neil...do you have any insights to the Cubs dilemma...I'm with you and Aaron re
DL for Soriano and Bradley...but that is only short term.
Suzy, I wish I did. I really feel they should DL Soriano. He is a big key to their success but he is hurting the team right now and not helping. Plus the Cardinals have owned him and they are on the horizon.
This would be a great time to give him a physical and mental break. 15 days off, plus the all-star break.
I really think Bradley will benefit from the return of Aramis. He is not a run producer and maybe his walks will help once there is someone that can drive him in.
The Cubs are locked into these contracts and the only hope is that they (Bradley, Soiano, Fukudome) start to turn it around like Lee and Soto.
You just can't dump all that salary and now cripple the organization. And it should be noted, you can't sign people for that kind of money, play them simply because you are paying them so much, and cripple your minor leagues by having no room at the major league level to play your rising stars. Thus Fox, Hoffpaiur, Wells, etc have to rot on the bench while we watch Bradley and Sorry-oh-no and Funko. It is ridiculous. JHendry is a poor GM.
Cubs should of hired Walt Jockety when he quit St. Louis.
And I should add, McGehee is a perfect example of a minor leaguer who had no room to advance because somebody at the MLB gets paid a ridiculous amount of money. Who--who is worth $138 million? Or $91 million? Or $70 million? Ridiculous.
ripsnorter...I agree with you...but look around baseball...there are tons of bad contracts...(DiceK/Zito/Wells/)just to name a few.
The Cubs have options at second- they have that McGahee kid- oh, yeah, they let him go for nothing... Then they have DeRosa- oh, that's right, gave him away too... Hendry is overrated.
Neil, I've been thinking that about Soriano for a month. I do not like him as a player...but I know he is much better than he has shown...It just seems like common sense to give him a chance
to clear his head, recoup, rest and start
over.
And that is the thing that is really bothersome about the Cubs this year.
Not a lot of common sense managing...not just Lou but the entire organization.
Re Bradley...you may be right...I almost laugh every time I think of him now...
he's been so bad...it's funny....
and yet he was 2 for 2 with 2 walks
today.
With such a bad start...I don't think the fans will let up on him...no matter what he does at this point.
Johnson has walked in his only AB for Peoria so far, Ramirez is 1-2 with an RBI and a walk. Rami is the DH for the Chiefs, who are trailing 4-1 in the 8th.
In a dream scenario, MLB would have no guaranteed contracts and every player would play their ass off every game, because their very livelihood depended on it. In my opinion, it's what vaulted has made the NFL the #1 sport in the country.
Thoughts to consider re. the Blue.
Ricketts won't make organizational changes or player additions in August--unless to continue a "Seller Mode" program that is likely in place later this month. I'm looking to the end of October for the Ricketts era to begin.
The big contracts' issues come down to Soriano's, Zambrano's, Aram's, Bradley's, Dome's and Lilly's. Lee isn't going anywhere because he has earned his final year in Chicago, and he won't waive his no-trade. Aram is probably in the same category as Lee.
Lilly is tradeable for a decent 25 man roster guy and a very good prospect (a #4 to #8) or two very good prospects. Dome and Bradley likely require covering 2/3rds of their contracts and getting a non-top 15 prospect or two in return. A non-top 15 prospect would be a Wells, a Fox or a McGehee who might just need a chance (or maybe not). It could also be a Cedeno, Wuertz or a Gallagher.
Dome and Bradley and their bad deals may, MAY, be worth as much to us as we can get for them. The "worst" case is that Lee's and Lilly's $13 and $12 mil deals expire in '10 and Dome's $13 mil along with Bradley's $10 mil expire in '12. (Bradley's '12 is a vesting option with unfortunate terms.)
Soriano's $18 mil runs thru '14 and Z's $18 mil runs thru 12. Aram's $15 mil goes through 10 with an opt out. There is a player option for '11 and a club option for '12. I don't know if Aram would opt out in '10. How good we are looking for '11 could be important to him--assuming $15 mil contracts are still around. (I'm looking for those to be very rare going ahead.)
My GM preference is to move high value, Zambrano, ("Ace minus") to the Red Sox if possible. They do need a big stage, top pitcher and the bucks don't matter in their competition with the Yankees. That moves our second most haunting contract and likely gets us Bucholz (a major-league ready, budding Ace Minus--plus a top 5 like CF Josh Reddick, a top 10 LSP Doubront (AA) and a couple of others in an exchange of prospects. The Red Sox get prospects Chirinos, Guyer and a non-top 10 pitcher. (It would help a lot if Z strings together a couple of strong outings.)
Then I would try to do a similar, bad contracts deal of Soriano and prospects the Giants need for Zito and prospects we need. I have AAA, top OF, John Bowker and very good prospect, AA, RSP, Henry Sosa plus LRP Ben Snyder coming. Barney, Flaherty and Rhee go to the Giants. The Giants badly need a 25 HR guy, and they might take a chance on Sori. He would likely go to San Francisco.
Getting some excellent building blocks for Z and/or Sori makes it possible to drop or get little for Bradley--should his struggles continue. Dome has some value for us due to his versatility.
Thinking only AA and up, and not considering further trades or free agents, our 2110 depth chart after drops like Gregg, Harden and Heilman would be:
C. Soto, Hill, Robinson, Clevenger
1B. Lee, Hoffpauir
2B. Fontenot, Miles, Thomas
3B. Aram, Baker (Vitters Hi A or AA)
SS. Theriot, Blanco
LF. Fox, Johnson
CF. Dome, Fuld, Reddick
RF. Bowker, Bradley, Colvin
RSP. Demp, Bucholz, Wells, Samadzija
LSP. Lilly, Zito, Doubront
RRP. Marmol, Guzman, Ascaino
LRP. Marshall
Others. Sosa, Jackson, Hart, Atkins,
Snyder(L), Atkins, Stevens,
Gaub (L)
I do think a couple of other moves would/should take place improve our "ready" talent at 2B and left-handed relief.
JimK
I do appreciate your in depth analysis, and I have no idea how you garnered all those names from the minors, but I just don't see the fans or Ricketts being patient enough for a ground up rebuilding process, even if that is the right way to build a team. Let's face it the Cubs have moved into the Yankee-Red Sox realm of doing whatever it takes to be competitive every year.
Gary, what JimK is proposing is not a ground up rebuilding...but a necessity
to be competitive.
Z is getting Ace money...and has not performed to that level...this season,
Lilly and Wells have been our most solid performers as pitchers.
The Cubs are hamstrung by highly paid, underperforming and aging players. It is essential we shuffle the deck around a bit...and make some moves unless we want to see a sub .500 season next year and the year after with still one of the highest payrolls in mlb.
Jim...If you were the Red Sox GM; would you trade a AAA pitcher that costs nothing, who is ranked above everybody in the world and has a no-hitter in MLB with limited time for an expensive Wacko-Nut Case who is out of shape, that barely strikes out anyone and has an attitude that thinks he is above his teammmates? Big Z could easily be wanted elsewhere, I like him in Chicago, but the Cubs are getting close to nothing for him if he gets traded.
**Z is not a bad contract like Soriano,Bradley or Fuku....his problem is the baggage.
BTW I like that Piniella said that Soriano is staying in the 6th spot for a while and sounded as if he never was to lead off again.
I think that Soriano and Bradley will both bounce back after the break. Numbers don't lie.
**We need a second baseman.
***We need a closer...Guzman? Harden?
What Pinella should have said is that Soriano will now SIT for the foreseeable future (aka Magglio Ordonez) in place of some kids that are just getting it done. And he should have added that "sorry Mr. Bradley, but you'll be joining him on the pine if you don't start earning your salary as well".
With Ramirez and Johnson returning tomorrow, guys like Fox, Hoffpauir and Fuld will likely be impacted for the sake of these crappy contracts that Hendry has saddles the franchise with. Nice. Back to boring baseball.
JimK, as an opening salvo, do you think it would be wise to jettison Harden now
to Philly...insisting they take Miles in the deal...without asking a lot in return?
Gary....I appreciate your viewpoint. I think that the economics of professional sports are the next balloon to burst. Teams like the Cards and Braves are back to $90 - $100 mil payrolls (post Busch and Turner), and I don't see the Ricketts much above $100 mil. Opening the checkbook got us two division titles and this year's $140 mil + payroll, but I see $30 mil coming out of that over two years.
I realize that if you string enough "if's" together you can do anything. But Bucholz could be capable of winning about as many games as Z in 2010 and the lefty Bowker could be a .300-15-75 guy. Bucholz has a major league no-hitter to his credit and Bowker got some votes for ROY two (?) years ago. Reddick, Doubront and Sosa are all top 10 prospects at AA. So (again with the "if's), the Cubs could contend again in 2011 (like they are not doing with the Big People in 2009.
Suzy....Thanks for your support, daughter. LOL I look for Harden to pitch well again--but his fragility is such that I wouldn't re-sign him for the $7 mil he's now getting. So, I would trade him like you suggest. We would likely get a decent prospect or two--outside of the other team's top 10.
Bucholz is a lot better than Zambrano, I would take that deal in a heartbeat!
As a long as we are playing fantasy, how about:
* Milton Bradley and Mike Fontenot to Detroit for: Placido Polanco and Dontrele Willis. (It s/b a dollar for dollar swap)
* Alfonso Soriano to SF for Barry Zito.
Agustin....If the Red Sox think Z is as you describe, no. But they likely see him as a big stage guy who helps them match up with CC, Burnett and others and who isn't intimidated by anything.
Bucholz fell from favor with some immaturity and has added to that by saying he deserves to be in the bigs. Believe it or not, Michael Bowden whom they have called up on occasion, is ranked higher than Bucholz. If the Sox want to keep Bucholz, I'd be happy with Bowden. And he is from Illinois.