9/27 Road rage
The Cubs now are 0-16 on the road against the National League West. According to STATS Inc., no team has ever finished a season winless against one division on the road. The Cubs have three games remaining against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.
***
Worst Road Record vs. Division since 1969
2012 Chicago Cubs vs. NL West: 0-16
2002 Milwaukee Brewers vs. NL East: 1-14
2005 Kansas City Royals vs. AL East: 2-17
2004 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. NL West: 4-33
mlblogsmuskat1
Okay on one–lets all sing together. Go Cubs go–go cubs go-go cubs–
Good for you Mamma Mia! If you mean let’s not give up on the Cubs I am with you. I will never ever give up on the Cubs. Losing season, yes. Hope for the future, yes. We know that hopefully some of the players who flubbed this year will not be with us next year. Volstaad and Vitters need to go down to get more practice. Mathers needs to go somewhere else. Hopefully Ian Stewart will be healthy and he and Valbuena can man 3rd. Etc. etc. We NEED PITCHING pros.
If Valbuena has enough playing time to be considered “maning” third base, even equally with Stewart (or anybody) then we are yet again in serious trouble and Hoystein would not be doing an adequate job of filling needs.
Joey, my computer is acting up but this is in reply to your statement about Valbueno and Stewart at 3rd. The thing is – who else is there to play 3rd? Do we have someone from AAA coming up or what? I sure would like your input.
White, my point being is that Valbuena belongs in the ranks of ALL the other CURRENT options for third base and that is NO GOOD. I can see no other viable alternatives and offer none. This is a gaping, black hole that I believe must be filled by acquiring somebody from outside the ogranization via free agency or trade. Hopefully third base and the starting staff will be part of the “spending” that Hoystein as recently alluded to. I think the Cubs are more able to fill outield positions from within (in the next few years) but are very far away from grooming a solid RUN PRODUCING third baseman. Should they land a run producing second baseman or SS then maybe they would consider moving Castro to third??? Between third, short and second we need to add a run producer to compliment Rizzo, I don’t care which postion and if players need to be shuffled.
White there aren’t any options in the minors YET… We do have some options that are a couple years away though. The return in the Dempster trade (Villaneuva) had a very solid perform with his short time here in A+ ball. Hopefully next year he can stay hot when he hopefully starts in AA. Christian V is supposed to have a very good glove with a solid bat (average to slightly above ave). But the EARLIEST we would see him in next September but more likely the following year sometime. After C.V. we got a STUD (so far) in Javier Baez. Drafted last year in the first round. The kid is a BALLER!!!!!!!! Very excited to see him develop. Has plus plus power and still hits for a good average. Has a great glove and is playing SS now but could easily transition to 3B or even 2B in the future(theo’s comments). So to sum it up I think if we do spend on a 3B its only going to be a 1 or 2 year deal because we have some great options waiting in the wings.
A fellow just commented under Carries mlb article of last night and an interesting paragraph. He comments that what is really disturbing is how the team is still pulling bonehead stunts at the end of the season. He does not see improvement. Sure, we have a couple young guys but they played Little League-Pony League-High School-College for many-Rookie ball-A-ball-high A ball-Double A ball-Triple A ball-Winter leagues-Instructional league every fall-Arizona Fall League for many-Extended Spring ball—in other words hundreds of games with strict disciplined coaching at every level and yet we see them run bases and bunt poorly and make mental decisions that create loss after loss after loss. Bob Brenly would not be interviewed after the game and rub his head and chuckle (heh heh heh) and say “well, I just don’t know-have never seen that in 30 yrs. But no(I am not going to bench him–he knows he made a mistake). Brenly and his hand picked coaches would be in that clubhouse having some heart to heart conversations that is if the clubhouse wasn’t in ruins. Bosio gets a by because with this pitching staff it is hopeless. Shame on the shirts for this team yet me and 30,000 other loyal fans spend our hard earned cash and they want us to ignore this year and maybe next and maybe next. Theo left Boston in chaos and only thanks to Magic Johnson they have been able to dump 250,000,000 of discontents and injured players on the Dodgers. Optomistic that we do have some future stars and money to buy but a daunting task and a lot of luck needed.
Brenly didn’t even want the job… give it up!!!!!!!!!!! Sveum is doing the best he can
You can’t polish a turd guys…. the players making the mistakes now will now be here for the future… they are cheap fillers that gave/gives us flexibility to build for the future. The team got blown up what do you expect the result to be? Bad players will make bad mistakes. Did this FO ever promise to be in the race this year? NOPE… They have a plan and will stick to it.
Petrey–sounds like you have seen Baez play a bunch of games. I have a second home in Phoenix and have been able to see him play and practice. The Arizona Fall League starts soon and he is on the Solar Sox at HoHoKam and I all ready have my season ticket. He is so talented that it is like watching a future super star develop. Fielding needs improvement but that is only short term. Tremendous power for his size. Come down to HoHoKam and I will buy you a cold one. Season lasts 6 weeks and tickets are $6.00 and day games and frequent night games just minutes away from each other. Best prospects only and great chance for him to show out. Junior Lake is my other favorite prospect.
I have seen him play at Peoria…. the guy is amazing. Give him credit on his fielding though because he won’t stay at SS. He will be a good fielder at 3B and 2B. At 2B he won’t be Barney but he will be average to above average fielding wise. Just think of this young infield in 2 or 3 years…. Rizzo, Baez, Castro, and Villaneuva… or Rizzo Castro, Saunders/watkins/lake, and Baez… then you got Soler and Almora in the OF leaving us to spend $$$ at C and the other corner OF spot plus a big $$$ rotation if needed. Future looks fine
So Petrey–being at Peoria you probably knew Casey Kopitzke. He was looked at as a rising managerial star for the Cubs and then he left the cubs and is going for a degree in sports law. We really liked him and he seemed a perfect fit for the dugout. Either he knew Theo wanted him out or he tired of riding buses. Either way he will succeed but a huge loss for the organization.
Sometimes in camp you’ll be watching 140 players in Cub uniforms — it’s an amazing sight, actually — and one guy in that mob scene simply, silently compels you to watch him. Call it “presence” or some other word, but it happens, even before you see him swing a bat. Then he does swing a bat, you hear the sound, and your suspicions are confirmed. That one player, last spring, was Baez.
Yep, I saw him hit two home runs on top of those houses on 8th st. in games and really can not recall even Soriano and others reaching those rooftops. A scout friend said to me–making of a super star–and scouts never ever use that language–not even with Mike Trout.