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Analysis, News & Rumors
Archives
July 2006 Headlines
Cubs Trade Walker and Maddux - 7/31/06 9:30pm
Deep Pockets Interested in Club - 7/27/06 7:53pm
Throw it Back? It Depends - 7/23/06 5:27pm
Why Pitch Novoa, Dusty? - 7/16/06 8:15pm
Ability to Play at Wrigley a Must - 7/16/06 7:35pm
Zambrano Injured by Fungo Bat - 7/11/06 11:27pm
The Rumors Begin - 7/6/06 10:33pm
Zambrano an All-Star - 7/4/06 7:16am
7/31/06 9:30pm - Cubs Trade Walker and Maddux
As anticipated, the Cubs made several moves near the trade deadline, dealing Todd Walker and Greg Maddux.
Walker was sent to the Padres for 19 year-old minor league pitcher, Jose Ceda. Ceda was 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA
with the Padres Arizona League club.
Most difficult of all, the Cubs also bid farewell to Greg Maddux, who was sent to the Dodgers for Cesar Izturis. As part
of the deal, the Cubs will pay $2M of Maddux's salary.
Izturis is expected to play shortstop and bat second in the batting order, while Ronny Cedeno is
expected to move to second base. Izturis was a Gold Glove winner in 2004 and an All-Star in 2005. This year, he
has been recovering from elbow surgery and wasn't activated until June 20th.
Its no secret the Cubs are now planning to play out the remainder of the season with Zambrano, Prior, and the remainder
of the rookie starters. This will be their chance to step up and potentially hold a spot in the 2007 rotation.
Maddux fans will have one more chance to see the future Hall of Famer when the Dodgers come to Wrigley Field in
September.
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7/27/06 7:53pm - Deep Pockets Interested in Club
First it was Mark Cuban mentioning that he would be interested in purchasing the Cubs franchise. Recently,
Donald Trump made the same comments. Does any of this really matter if the Tribune Company isn't interested
in selling?
Its strange to hear these rumors because any sports fan with a couple billion dollars would be very interested
in the Cubs.
Cuban and Trump are fans like us. They are disappointed with Cubs management and feel that a change in ownership
might be the key to success. Until the Tribune Company puts the team up for sale, we can always imagine.
Speaking of imagining, with Cuban in charge, the Cubs would have an owner with an obsession for spending
money to win. With Trump, Wrigley Field would be turned into a Casino or Golf Course during off-days. Cuban would
have DVD Players and Sony Playstations in the clubhouse. Trump would have toupee night at Wrigley.
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7/23/06 5:27pm - Throw it Back? It Depends
Throw it back? Think again!
The age old rule in the Bleachers at Wrigley Field is that you throw the
ball back
when an opposing player hits a home run. If you don't, you can expect
boos from
your fellow bleacher creatures.
With today's memorabilia market, collectors will pay up to six figures for
game
caught balls and other game memorabilia. It doesn't take much to
understand why
some fans want to keep the trophy. On the other hand, some fans wait
years to finally
catch a home run ball. If this ball happens to come from the opposing team's
star, then its that much more important.
There are three different reactions when a home run is hit. The first is
that
the fan immediately throws the ball back. The crowd cheers as the ball
rolls in the
outfield. The fan is left without a trophy, but will receive quite an
ovation and
will forever have the memory of satisfying the Wrigley Field crowd even if
more
often than not, the Cubs lose.
The second reaction is that either the fan who caught the ball
or a different fan throws a different ball back. If the fan who caught
the ball throws
a different ball back, the crime is usually premedidated. The ball is
either a cheap
Little League ball from home or a ball that came from batting practice.
If a different
fan throws a ball back, its usually to either save the fan who didn't
throw the ball
back or to become the hero themselves. Either way, the fan who caught the
original ball
still receives some boos, but much less than the alternative.
Finally, if a fan doesn't throw any ball back, they could be in trouble.
Fans will
typically get pretty aggressive in the bleachers when this happens. The
penalties
can result in beer poured on your head, peanuts thrown at you, drunk fans
swearing,
and several minutes of booing.
In the end, it better be worth it to you if you plan to keep a home run
ball without
a replacement to throw back. It will forever be a trophy that came off
the bat of
a Major League Baseball player and will give you a pretty good story to tell.
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7/16/06 8:15pm - Why Pitch Novoa, Dusty?
Why, Dusty, Why? Why do you continue to pitch Roberto Novoa?
We understand there isn't much to choose from, but Novoa is absolutely horrible this year and you
have an undesirable tendency to pitch Novoa day after day.
Dusty, look at the stats. Roberto has a 5.23 ERA going into Sunday's game when he gave up a
grand slam and then a two-run homer. Of course, none of these were earned, which may be the reason
you continue to pitch him.
On second thought, lets look at the stats in more detail. He has 25 earned runs in 43 innings... His ERA
with runners in scoring position is 9.00... His ERA with the bases loaded is 9.00... And worse of all,
his ERA with runners in scoring position with 2 outs is 17.55!
Its obvious that Novoa is another player on the Cubs who can't handle the pressure. Why continue to
put him in these situations? We have Howry, Eyre, Ohman, and Williamson. We also have a slew of rookies
that should be given more of a chance, especially if you want Novoa to pitch.
Please.. Please.. Please.. Dusty, stop pitching Roberto Novoa.
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7/16/06 7:35pm - Ability to Play at Wrigley a Must
Cubs management may want to put more of an emphasis on the types of players they bring to Wrigley Field since
expectations have risen and proven players have been struggling.
The past few years, expectations have been high and the team hasn't performed. Could that be because the players
can't handle the pressure of playing for the Cubs?
The pressure on the Cubs is slightly different than pressure on teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, and Cardinals. The
difference is that with these teams they are already winning and are pressured to continue to win. Once you start winning, its
easier to keep winning. After the 2003 season, expectations were high and the team was a favorite to go to the World Series.
Pressure continues to build as this moves further and further from reality.
An example of this is the collapse of Corey Patterson with the Cubs. As his struggles continued, fans continued to get
on him. Now that he is in Baltimore, the pressure isn't as high and he is flourishing. Baltimore is a city that typically doesn't
boo their players.
Could players be falling apart under this pressure or is it truly a combination of bad luck and injuries? Maybe the Cubs
should adopt the motto of the Detroit Tigers: "Don't think, have fun". There doesn't seem to be anyone on the Cubs having fun,
except Carlos Zambrano of course.
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7/11/06 11:27pm - Zambrano Injured by Fungo Bat
If you were unhappy that Carlos Zambrano didn't pitch in the All-Star game, there was a good reason.
Believe it or not, the rumor is that Zambrano was injured after being hit with a fungo bat on his throwing elbow
during a practice session with White Sox Third Base Coach, Joey Cora.
The Houston Chronicle and The Score in Chicago have both reported that Zambrano was unavailable due to X-Rays
that were being taken on his throwing elbow.
If it is true and Zambrano misses any time, it would be the final dagger for the Cubs and
fans would have all the evidence they need to believe in the curse.
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7/6/06 10:33pm - The Rumors Begin
Its almost that time again. The time of the year when the Cubs make one last-ditch effort to trade for a top free-agent.
Two of the quiet rumors has the Cubs trading Michael Barrett to the Blue Jays and moving Jacque Jones and Aramis Ramirez
to the Yankees for Alex Rodriguez. While its too early to tell what will happen, both of these trades seem unlikely as Ramirez
and Barrett should play a role in the future plans of the Cubs.
What makes more sense is for the Cubs to trade for players like Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Carl Crawford, or Bobby Abreu. Each of these
players may even be available this year for the right price. The only players that should factor into the 2007 Cubs roster should be
Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Cedeno, Zambrano, Prior, Eyre, and Dempster. Everyone else should be available one way or the other.
The Cubs could get some good offers from teams looking to build for the future. Their interests would likely be with players like
Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, Ronny Cedeno, and Matt Murton. In return, they may be able to land a big name player who would be
a free-agent in 2007. Teams looking to make a run in the playoffs could have interest in Jones, Maddux, Walker, Nevin, and a few other players who
have proven to be successful in the past.
More than likely moves like these will not miraculously move the Cubs into contention, but it will be a great start at
building the 2007 team. When the free-agency period starts, the Cubs will also need to get a solid starter. Names like
Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Jason Schmidt would be great additions to the starting rotation. Depending on injury prone starting
pitchers but actually relying on minor league arms should not be part of the 2007 plans.
After the past few years, the Cubs should understand one thing. The 2007 season can not be planned around injury prone players, unproven minor
league arms, or journeymen players in key positions. This plan has failed for the past few years and its time for a change.
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7/4/06 7:16am - Zambrano an All-Star
This year, the Cubs will only be sending Carlos Zambrano to the All-Star game.
Excluding the first few weeks of the season, Zambrano has been dominant. He is 7-3 with
a 3.33 ERA. He has 118 strikeouts in 18 games. Though he made it as a pitcher, Zambrano
jokingly hoped he could be in the home run derby.
The Cubs had been hoping to also send Jacque Jones and Michael Barrett to the 2006 All-Star
game in Pittsburgh, but Zambrano will be the only Cubs player. Jones is having a great year
batting .309 with 15 homers and 44 RBI's. Barrett is batting .308 with 9 homers and 31 RBI's.
Barrett started the season hot with 18 RBI's in his first 13 games, but has cooled since. He
might have had a better shot at the All-Star game if he wasn't suspended for 10 games for punching
White Sox catcher, A.J. Pierzynski.
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