The official 8-year, $136 million 2007 CUBS thread

Prior, who's trying to shake his shoulder problems, started the game and struggled from the start, falling behind every batter but one and using up his 40-pitch limit in just 1 1/3 innings. His velocity topped out at 88 mph, and that was only one pitch. Scouts in attendance said his fastball was generally 84 to 86 mph.

''That's not going to get it done,'' one National League scout said.

...

Wood, who's moving to the bullpen this year after three straight injury-shortened seasons, looks as worry-free as anybody in camp.

He needed just 12 pitches -- most of them clocked in the mid-90s -- to dispatch Adrian Beltre, Jose Guillen and Richie Sexson in order, including a strikeout of Guillen on a slider.

''I feel great. I've been ready to go this spring,'' said Wood, who like Prior was making his first Cactus League appearance since 2005. ''It's just nice to get some adrenaline running through my body for the first time in a while.

''My heart was racing, but I was able to stay composed and make some pitches.''

If anything, Wood has looked so strong this spring -- and no more so than Monday -- that it might be tempting to start thinking about the starting rotation again with him.

Uniform uniformity

Cubs starting pitchers usually get to select which color jersey the team wears, with the choice of blue or gray on the road and blue or white at home. Carlos Zambrano always has preferred to pitch in the blue jerseys, as he did all of spring training, but the team wore gray Monday.

As it turns out, Zambrano had no choice. Cubs President John McDonough has decided the Cubs will wear gray on the road and white with blue pinstripes at home. The move corresponds with the decision to put names on the backs of the uniforms.

Apr 12 The Associated Press reports Chicago Cubs SP Mark Prior (shoulder) left his extended spring training start after two innings Thursday, April 12, with right shoulder discomfort. The Cubs said Prior is scheduled to visit orthopedic specialist Dr. Lewis Yocum for further evaluation.

I mean, who could have possibly imagined this?

Cubs top prospect Felix Pie will be in the lineup today, batting leadoff and playing center field for the injured Alfonso Soriano, who is expected to be put on the disabled list.

Pie was recalled from Class AAA Iowa and will face San Diego Padres pitcher Greg Maddux.

Well guess what, folks? Mark Prior has been trying to pitch for what looks like two-plus years with the kind of damage in his shoulder that would have you or I thinking about worker's compensation even though our jobs probably require little more than sitting in from of a computer much of the day. You own him an apology, and if he comes back in the way Dr. Andrews believes he can, many Cubs fans don’t deserve to reap the benefits.

The Z Man in pitcher VORP the last 4 years: 5th, 12th, 9th, 26th (this year)

True, but VORP doesn't take into account mound flair or regular beanings of Jim Edmonds.

It would be very Cub-like if they found an injury now.

I think BLORP might though.

I think it is safe to say that this is a less dumb deal than Zito's, but I'm still not sure it's particularly smart.

Reasons why this is good deal: Zambrano is 1) still pretty young at 26, 2) will likely have posted 5 consecutive 8.0 WARP3 years by the end of 2007 and 3) has been a model of health.

Reasons why it ain't: 214 innings from 22 year olds can come back to haunt and his BB rate is still ridiculously high and SO rate doesn't seem like its impressive enough to compensate.

Joe Sheehan: Given where the market went last winter, that contract looks like a bargain in the context of current pay rates for pitchers. It's Barry Zito money per year, and Zambrano is a much better pitcher than Zito is. It's also five years instead of the seven that Zito got.

I have to believe that had Zambrano hit the market, he would have been able to command $20 million per season for at least seven years.

I hate giving five-year deals to pitchers as policy, but that seems to be what you have to do. Better Zambrano than someone like Gil Meche. This seems to establish the top of the pitcher market at $18MM/year, at least until Johan Santana becomes a free agent.

Hello, Craig Monroe.

Just what they needed, an insurance policy for Jacque Jones.

You mean body double.

ha!!

That 9th was a thing of beauty, Lou. Also, starting Monroe against a righty, it's like Koyie Hill never left!

what Lou do?

An ill-advised hit and run call with runners on first and second and nobody out in the top of the 9th, down one. Kendall struck out and Little Lord Fontenot was thrown out easily at 3rd. Kendall does ground into a lot of double plays, but Valverde was so wild yesterday that he should've just let Kendall take the walk.

Cubs were 8-11 in Soriano's absence and gained a couple games on the Brewers to move into first. What a terrible division.

well, can't wait for this series to see if the space-time continuum will permit both teams to get swept.

Ugh, this offense.

...can really get it going when it matters!

I'm inexplicably starting to love Jacque Jones. His approach at the plate is terrible, he can only hit RHP, the Cubs had two trades for him fall through in June, and he must absolutely hate Chicago and its fans given how poorly they've treated him. And his bat is red!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/2006/09/17/vm2GbmUP.jpg
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

wow, bigtime Schadenfreude on that telecast yesterday.

Soriano's certainly earned his pay today.
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3756/tacokx0.pnghttp://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3756/tacokx0.png

Sigh.

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1918/dumpstersmsa5.jpghttp://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1918/dumpstersmsa5.jpghttp://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1918/dumpstersmsa5.jpg

Dempster Juice

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070909/capt.92ce01aa977141d0a587329524d02e1e.cubs_pirates_baseball_paks106.jpg

Veteran starting pitcher with playoff experience.

The "race":

CHC		MIL
@HOU		@PIT

@HOU		@PIT

@HOU	

@STL		CIN

@STL		CIN

@STL, @STL	CIN

CIN		@HOU

CIN		@HOU

CIN		@HOU

		@ATL

PIT		@ATL

PIT		@ATL

PIT		@ATL

		STL

@FLA		STL

@FLA		STL

@FLA		SD

@CIN		SD

@CIN		SD

@CIN		SD

I give the Cubs a slight edge if 1) they don't totally choke at Houston this week (swept in last series there) and 2) SD is still playing for something on the last four days.

15 LOB last night, these guys are going nowhere.

matt, look at the other guys!

SOME 9th inning last night. I think Lou was yelling that he wishes it was winter when he came out of the dugout after the win.

Record against the NL Centlol:

11-5 vs. St. Louis
9-6 vs. Milwaukee
8-7 vs. Houston
5-7 vs. Cincinnati
5-7 vs. Pittsburgh

Naturally, 9 of the last 12 are against the Reds and Pirates.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7389/19cub091907lcstfeed2007hg0.jpg

5 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H and 3 BB

Worst performance to get a standing ovation ever?

hey, they've caught the Mets at the top of the NL Defensive Efficiency ranks (after the weekend the Mets had, someone had to):

Chicago Cubs, .713
New York Mets, .713
Washington Nationals, .707
San Diego Padres, .707
Arizona Diamondbacks, .705

Magic number is 8. They're on a roll, too, they'd almost be tied for 3rd in the NL West!

oh yeah

Good article on closers, regardless of inning. Another example of how Dempster sucks.

Soto took Kendall's job without much fanfare (unless you could good hitting and capable defense as fanfare).

After all those trades and callups of career AAAA catchers, all Hendry had to do was call up the best catcher in their system. Weird how that works.

4!

my brother was standing outside wrigley at the spot on sheffield where you can see through the "keyhole" and i got to relay the news of the brewers loss to everyone there.

:D

Atmosphere at the game was great today. The impromptu Tomahawk chops were annoying though.

Really, I hate the Braves. I'd rather them lose and only be up 2 1/2 games.

how many times will Lou's June 2 ejection be replyed in the Division Series? ARGUING IGNITES TEAMS!

I read somewhere that the Cubs have the best record in the NL since Lou's June tirade. Their second half schedule has been pretty weak though.

The tirade's effect was unintentional. Writers and commentators were talking about Piniella and no one else for several days: Does this schtick really work?/How dumb can Piniella be?/Will this fire them up? Piniella was quite possibly naive enough to think it would fire up his team, but it took the media focus off his players. Wouldn't know if it had anything to do with the upswing.

The Cubs haven't beaten the Marlins since last year.

Lou's been pretty capable this year, but sending Trachsel out there today (alternative: Rich Hill on normal rest) seems like a really, really dumb idea.

Remarkably similar to this <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=230924117";>really, really dumb idea</a> that worked. Shawn Estes, never forget.

Current National League Playoff Odds (BP)

Cubs 89.8%
Mets 85.8%
Diamondbacks 83.0%
Padres 57.2%
Phillies 41.7%
Rockies 32.2%

Clearly, any system that doesn't include a Trachsel coefficient is flawed.

it's awesome that there are like 5 games left and no one has even clinched a playoff spot in the nl

awesome, or perhaps the Rockies should play the Big Red Machine old-timers for the title.

taste the excitement!

Well that worked as expected. My favorite part was when the bullpen was up after the 3rd batter.

The Sun-Times with some real talk for Steve Trachsel:

Off Trax

If the Cubs close out the division title in Cincinnati, their next step should be closing the book for good on pitcher Steve Trachsel's Cubs career and cutting him loose before the playoffs. Veteran status and track record aside, his outburst at media waiting near a clubhouse TV for players after Wednesday's game -- "Turn it the (expletive) off!" -- underscored how bad a fit he is in a clubhouse that otherwise is filled with good guys with professional attitudes. One teammate abruptly stopped in mid-sentence during an interview when Trachsel yelled, glaring across the room at him. As for his pitching since the Cubs reacquired him, well, that's a whole different set of expletives.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6704/corkqi7.gif

And I'm totally cool with Trax starting the next two.