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Analysis, News & Rumors
Archives
May 2006 Headlines
Cubs Trade for Nevin - 5/31/06 11:29pm
Wait Till Next Year? - 5/28/06 11:44am
Barrett's Dark Side - 5/21/06 7:27pm
Cubs Sliding Fast - 5/7/06 7:54pm
5/28/06 11:44am - Cubs Trade for Nevin
On Wednesday, the Cubs and Rangers agreed on a trade that would send Phil Nevin to the Cubs in return
for Jerry Hairston.
Nevin, who is batting .216 with 9 homers and 31 RBI's will add a much home run threat to the Cubs. He
will be expected to mainly fill first base until Derrek Lee returns.
Despite the poor batting average, this move was a decent move for the Cubs. With the arrival of a
hot hitting, Tony Womack, there wasn't much need for Hairston. Trading the 4th second baseman was the
logical choice.
Nevin should play a big role this year filling in at first base, as well as sharing time at third base
and potentially some outfield positions. He has even seen some time behind the plate in his major
league career.
Nevin's low batting average shouldn't be an issue since he wasn't very happy with the DH position in
Texas. A change of scenery is just what he may need.
The other benefit to this trade is the Rangers will pay all but $375,000 of Nevin's $10.5M salary. Figuring
the cheap price and the fact that Jerry Hairston probably wasn't going to see much time at second base with
Tony Womack surging makes the Nevin trade a low risk with the potential of a high reward.
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5/28/06 11:44am - Wait Till Next Year? Not Quite Yet
Is it time to wait until next year? If you ask most Cubs fans that question, the answer would be simple.
The Cubs are now 13 1/2 games out of first and their slide continues without an end in sight. They have
lost 5 in a row and dropped 20 out of their last 25 games. Their hitting is dead last in the league
with runners in scoring position. Their starting pitchers are mostly rookies and their star first baseman
is on the disabled list.
Depending on who you ask, things can't get much worse for the Cubs. They can't hit when it counts, their
defense is sloppy, and their pitchers are inexperienced aside from Maddux and Zambrano. So, is it too early
to say "Wait till next year"?
Last year, the Astros were in a similar position and came back to go to the World Series. At this point,
the Cubs need to forget about the past and start to play baseball. If they can hold out for a few more
weeks, we should see the return of Lee, Prior, and Wade Miller. This should give a huge boost to
the club.
On the other hand, if the team continues to slide for the next few weeks, it may time to part ways with
Baker. Though this season can't be attributed to his leadership, the fans will demand to see someone
take the fall.
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5/21/06 7:27pm - Barrett's Dark Side
Playing hard and trying his best has not been enough to help the Cubs turn around their disastrous turn since losing Derrek Lee. On Saturday, Michael Barrett's frustration boiled over.
In the second inning, A.J. Pierzynski was tagging from third base when he bowled over Michael Barrett, who was blocking home plate waiting for the throw. As Barrett fell backwards to the ground, Pierzynski adamantly slapped the plate. Pierzynski then stood up and appeared to toss Barrett a shoulder, but was actually attempting to pick up his helmet. Barrett immediately grabbed Pierzynski in a bear hug and threw a round-house punch to Pierzynski's face. Both benches immediately erupted, eventually leading to four players being ejected.
Though Pierzynski's slap on the plate wasn't necessary, Barrett's punch to the face was a little overboard. A suspension will be likely.
This wasn't the first sign of Barrett's dark side. In 2004, Barrett had a bad feud with Astros pitcher, Roy Oswalt, after Oswalt appeared to throw a bean ball at Barrett. Several days later, Barrett confronted Oswalt when the pitcher was batting. The anger Barrett has towards Oswalt apparently hasn't gone away. At the 2005 Cubs Convention, Barrett was jokingly asked about his friendship with Oswalt, to which Barrett had no reply.
Barrett is one of the best catchers in the game today, but he is known to have a very dark side on and off the field. Though respected and liked by his teammates, he has been described as a different type of player who keeps to himself. According to a very credible CBB source, Barrett was the first player to take a bat to Sammy Sosa's boom box at the end of the 2004 season when Sosa walked out on the Cubs.
Most fans would agree that they love to see the emotion from a player like Barrett, but Michael would be the first player to say that he wants to do whatever he can to help his team win.
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5/7/06 7:54pm - Cubs Sliding Fast
Being Cubs fans, the latest 6 game losing streak shouldn't be anything new to us. We have seen it all in the
past few years.
From the tease of a potential World Series in 2003 to the below expectations of 2004, 2005, and now, 2006.
Yes, it is early, but its getting to the point that the Cubs need to win now. The NL Central is stacked
with talent and could produce 5 teams with winning records. Currently, the Cubs are 2 games below .500 at
14-16. Meanwhile, the surprise is the Reds, who are 21-11. The Cardinals and Astros are winning as expected.
The only question is, can the Cubs stay close enough to the top of the NL Central? Can they truly hold
their ground until Prior, Wood, and Lee come back? Will it even make a difference when they do eventually come
back?
As fans, we have to have this mentality this early in the season, but should we already have the mindset that
we are in "must win" situations?
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