Goodbye Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot

By the Trade Deadline had come and past the Cubs had officially declared themselves as sellers and had traded away two fan favorites who had been Cubs each for over three years.  In a terrible trade sending them to the Dodgers, their Cubs career was officially over.  I am sad to see these two guys go because they always played hard and did everything right on and off the field.  Theriot was a team leader in a way because of how he played the game.  Lilly was a great teammate to everybody and a pitcher that gave his all every time out there.  His old school style became intriguing quickly as he found ways to win games.  The only time he was ever frustrated and showed it was the semi-infamous glove slam seconds after allowing Chris Young a three-run homer in the 2nd inning of Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS, losing the hard earned lead just given to him by some young catcher named Geovany Soto.

The stats with the Cubs:

Ryan Theriot .287 15 HR 174 RBI 100 SB 35 CS 330 R
Ted Lilly 3.67 47-34 712.2 IP 603 K 102 HR 184 BB 1.13 WHIP

Theriot began his career with the Cubs in 2005.  Being an original product of the Cubs farm system, he soon became a favorite of Lou Piniella's and he was given the starting shortstop position in 2007.  Theriot was an all-out gritty guy during his time in Chicago, routinely diving or leaping the get rocketed baseballs.  He was an aggressive baserunner who knew the meaning of sprint and really made a difference to the Cubs on the basepaths.  He became the Cubs main speed weapon especially near the end of his Cubs career and could be counted on for 20+ steals.  Not including an odd power spree in 2009, Theriot was a slap hitter who was fantastic and singling to right field.  He led the NL in singles in 2008 and I believe in 2009 as well.  When Starlin Castro took his job at shortstop and moved him to second base, Theriot didn't complain to anybody.   A player like him is not easy to find.

Lilly had bounced around with the Expos and a few teams in the AL when the Cubs signed him away from Toronto prior to 2007.  Pitching in a small market since 2002, Lilly had been highly under the radar.  Arriving in Chicago, he became a winner instantly with a great 15-8 season that saw him make 34 starts, a career high.  His calm and ready attitude mixed well with the organization right away.  In 2008 he was the model of consistency, pitching exceptionally well after a Cubs loss.  One of Piniella's admitted biggest regrets about 2008 was not having Lilly pitch in the playoffs, taking Rich Harden in Game 3 over Lilly for reasons unknown.  The combination of Ted's pitching skill and fantastic way of going about business made him one of the most valuable players on the Cubs teams during his stay on the North Side.

I've made this post to say bye to these guys with class.  Now it's about to get trashy.  The only major leaguer the Cubs got back was Blake DeWitt, a lifetime .263 hitter who was, let's just say, less than impressive in his rookie campaign in 2008.  There's nothing special about the guy.  With 12 HR in almost 700 at-bats, he has little power.  He has poor speed.  I don't see him being in baseball in five years unless there is some hidden talent he's hiding.  We got two bad minor league pitchers as well, both of whom we probably will never see on the Cubs.  This is one of the worst trades I have seen Jim Hendry make in quite a while.  Also, one more thing.  The Cubs ranked last in steals in 2009.  They will suffer a similar finish in 2010 with no more speed.  Now they have traded away the only actual speed threat, and the Cubs won't have anybody else with more than 10 steals.  What was Hendry thinking?  Is he going to acquire speed in the offseason or something?  There is literally no speed on this roster anymore unless Starlin Castro starts feeling like stealing a bit.  It just doesn't make sense.  But right now, just a goodbye to Ryan Theriot and Ted Lilly.