Darwin Barney: The Right Man for the Job

Cub fans, meet Darwin Barney.  Many of you have already been acquainted last season, but still many of you are still getting to know the former Oregon State University Beaver.  Getting to know the guy will come quite in handy, as he's here to stay.  If Barney is sent back down to the Minors even once this season, it will come as a surprise to me.  He played so well in Spring Training that he pole vaulted right over the two above him in the depth chart in Blake DeWitt and Jeff Baker.  Becoming the first rookie to start on Opening Day since Kosuke Fukudome in 2008, Barney has already entered the Cubs' record books.

Not only does Barney bring energy; he's a hardball, max-effort type player.  These kind of guys are very fun to watch and also conducive to winning, which is obviously a plus.  The max-effort skills of players like Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki have contributed to their widespread popularity probably more than anything else.  This status means that the player will hustle on every single play, work as hard as possible on fundamentals, and play the game 'the right way'.  Barney didn't show up in the Majors just to wave to the TV cameras and bask in popularity; he's here to win.  And he's going to prove that this season.

Barney is also Mike Quade's type of player.  Right away from the Carlos Silva incident, Quade took a no-nonsense attitude.  Barney's just here to play.  The fact that Quade even allowed a rookie to hop over a six year Major League veteran in Baker and a 'valuable' trade return in DeWitt shows that Quade is going to play whoever is going to get the Cubs the win on a certain day.  And as of Opening Day, that man is Darwin Barney.  Although Baker and DeWitt will be getting starts at second base as well, Barney could have the position locked up in just a month or so.      

2011 Profiles: Carlos Zambrano

Which Carlos Zambrano shows up to play?


Writer's Take: This is probably the fourth consecutive Spring Training in which this has been the main question with Zambrano.  In past years, it's been the exact same situation every year.  In 2007, 2008, and 2009, Zambrano would go on hot streaks where he could be as dominating as any pitcher in the league with his mix of a great fastball and decent offspeed pitches (July 2007: 5-1, 1.38 ERA in 39 innings).  But he would also suffer months in which he struggled every start (August 2007: 0-4, 7.02 ERA in 29.1 innings), leading to him getting angry and taking it out on umpires, teammates, and/or assorted dugout equipment (just ask the poor Gatorade dispensers at Dodger Stadium and Wrigley Field).  His inconsistency and temper flares have frustrated Cubs management again and again.

In 2010, something was finally done about it.  Zambrano had already been relegated to the bullpen due to ineffectiveness out of the rotation after just four starts when the Cubs took action.  After his annual blow up of the year, a one-sided shouting match in late June with Derrek Lee in dugout of US Cellular Field after Lee didn't dive for a base hit that ended up contributing to a three-run homer, Zambrano was placed on the restricted list.  He wouldn't pitch again until over a month later in Colorado.  But he made it back in to the rotation on August 9th, and turned many heads with his play.  He went 8-0 in 11 starts after he returned with a 1.41 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 70.1 innings.  He did walk 40, but his control was much better than it had been in quite some time.

Scouts picked up on his control improvements, and labeled it in a way that hadn't been thought possible with Zambrano.  For probably the first time since 2006, Zambrano was actually locating pitches and putting his gameplan around that.  From 2007 to the first half of 2010, he had been living on his power fastball and dropping in offspeed pitches, doing just enough to fool batters.  He was the kind of pitcher who made the catcher's glove move considerably on every pitch, but it was okay because he had enough pure stuff to make up for it.  At 29 years old in 2010, his fastball stopped hitting 94 and 95 mph and would top out around 91 or 92 most days.  So he improvised.  He transformed from "a thrower into a pitcher" in one scout's words.  He's less of a strikeout pitcher than he once was, but getting ground balls leaves less risk for hits than high challenging fastballs.  So while Carlos Zambrano has been more of a perennial question mark than any player not named Mark Prior, Zambrano's mix of newfound anger management expertise and newfound control-focused pitching skills should make him a strong #2 starter for the Cubs.

Ideal Production: 13-15 wins, sub-4.00 ERA, sub-4 BB/9 and 7 K/9.

Expert Opinion: Bruce Levine of espnchicago.com wrote an article on Zambrano's tutoring of fellow Venezuelan Carlos Silva.  Zambrano's tutoring is probably gaining him respect in the Cubs clubhouse.  Plus, he's probably learning a bit himself from his teammate.

 

Is Matt Garza Worth It?

Ben Nicholson-Smith of mlbtr.com reports that GM Jim Hendry is trying very hard for Matt Garza in a deal that would send Hak-Ju Lee, Robinson Chirinos, Chris Archer, and Brandon Guyer.  Garza is 42-44 in his career with a 3.97 career ERA, playing his career with the Twins and Rays.  He is 27 and has pitched 592.1 innings over the last three years, including at least 200 in the last two.  Garza will be an innings eater no matter where he goes but could become even better with the possible move to the National League, especially moving out of the powerful AL East.  There's no doubt that he is a great pitcher and could win 15 games, and is exactly the kind of guy the Cubs need, but he comes at a high price.

As I said yesterday about a possible trade for B.J. Upton, Chris Archer is the top pitching prospect in the Cubs organization.  If we are able to get Garza, Archer could be a guy we no longer need.  Hak-Ju Lee, a man I called the Korean Jose Reyes before the 2010 season, has fantastic speed and has shown it over the last two seasons.  He is the guy I would be most concerned about parting with; he could be a breakout player down the road.  But the fact is that the Rays have Reid Brignac at shortstop after trading away Jason Bartlett, and Brignac will never be a starting infielder in his career.  Lee is the speed that the Cubs need in the future, and trading him would add a lot of risk that he would burn us and become a star.  Guyer ripped through AA ball hitting a ridiculous .344 with 13 homers and 58 RBI in 102 games.  Guyer plays all three outfield positions, but that doesn't necessarily help his chances of making the Major League version of the Cubs.  He also stole 30 bases in 2010 and is a future 20/20 talent in the Majors.  But the Cubs have Tyler Colvin, Marlon Byrd, Alfonso Soriano, and Kosuke Fukudome in the outfield rotation and the Cubs would not want Guyer sitting on the bench playing every once in a while.  None of those four outfielders appear to be going anywhere soon, so Guyer is out of luck.  He's like Tyler Colvin, but with a lot of speed.  I think the Cubs would love to have him, but there's not room so he should be traded.  Chirinos isn't a youngster anymore at 27, an average hitting catcher who isn't anything special.  The Cubs don't have a necessity for him.

To the Cubs:
SP Matt Garza

To the Rays:
SP Chris Archer
SS Hak-Ju Lee
OF Brandon Guyer
C Robinson Chirinos

The Verdict: Pull the trigger.  If the Cubs acquire Matt Garza, this should be a winning season and the NL Central should be weak in 2011, giving the Cubs a shot at the division title.  Garza would give the Cubs a rotation of Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Carlos Zambrano, Randy Wells, and Tom Gorzelanny or Carlos Silva.  An adequate rotation, to say the least.  Just reading that rotation is exciting!  Let's hope Hendry figures it out.

Road Trip Wrapup: Houston, Colorado

Record: 1-5
Final Record: 46-59
Games Behind First: 13 GB

This season probably marks the end of the playoff hopes for the Cubs.  With 57 games remaining and 13 games behind first, there is virtually no chance the Cubs can reach St. Louis and Cincinnati.  This series saw the Cubs do a whole bunch of things wrong and it was quite ugly.

On Monday the Cubs continued on their semi-roll with a 5-2 win improving to 7-4 after the break.  Carlos Silva, who had been just 1-4 in his last five decisions, got a win and Carlos Marmol closed it out after doubles by Geovany Soto, Marlon Byrd, and Alfonso Soriano collectively drove in four runs.  The most notable scoring on the night, however, was when in the 6th Ryan Theriot, wearing his socks high for a change of pace, homered to left center.  The homer was his first in 2010 and first since June 2009.  The next night Ted Lilly made his last start as a Cub and sadly it was a loss even though he got a no-decision.  Getting the worst run support in the major leagues, Lilly got none on this night while he was in and had to hang around for 5.2 innings before the Astros started scoring.  The Astros got two in the seventh before Lance Berkman hit a grand slam to open it wide open.  Being a face of the franchise for many years, that would be Berkman's last homer as an Astro before he was traded to the Yankees on Saturday.  A Tyler Colvin homer was the only damage the Cubs could muster against Brett Myers who threw a complete game.  Myers has been terrific for Houston, going at least six innings in every start this season.  Surprisingly, he was not traded but rather will become the ace of the staff after Roy Oswalt's Thursday trade to the Phillies for J.A. Happ and other prospects.  In the finale Randy Wells gave up three of the eight runs the Astros would score in the final three innings.  Carlos Lee hit two homers, including one off the foul pole that sent the fans home with chicken due to a local promotion.  The Astros took two of three.

Friday night in Colorado was all about making history.  That meaning the Rockies scoring 12 in one inning.  After an Ian Stewart homer that cleaned the bases obviously, the Rockies put up five more.  12 in total.  12!  Rockies win 17-2.  Carlos Gonzalez will remember the game Saturday night for his entire life, hitting a walk-off homer that completed the cycle.  Impressively, the Cubs rallied to tie it at five from a huge Derrek Lee homer.  However, the second Rockies cycle in as many years against the Cubs (Troy Tulowitzki did it last year) powered the Rockies to another win.  Carlos Silva was removed in the first inning with an irregular heartbeat and that accurately describes the state of the Cubs right now.  The Rockies got two in that inning before Blake DeWitt, the newest Cub, stepped in in the top of the 2nd.  He hit an RBI double off the wall in right field, putting the Cubs on the board in his first Cubs at-bat.  It was a blowout at 8-1 by the fifth in the Rockies' favor, but the Cubs put together a mad rally.  Alfonso Soriano's solo homer in the 8th put the Cubs within four at 8-4 and the Cubs might have tied it in the 9th if not for Dexter Fowler, who stole Soriano from extra bases.  Byrd scored on the sac fly anyway, but Soriano probably would have made third with the carom of the ball back the center field.  Soriano would have been the tying run.  The Cubs couldn't finish the rally, and were swept.

The only thing I was impressed with on this trip was their ability to rally showed in the last two games in Colorado.  I am a big fan of that because it makes the other team uncomfortable.  You don't want the other team to be able to sit back and relax and not worry if they make stupid mistakes.  Also, this is a huge team confidence and morale builder even if the game is not won.  Everything else about this trip was terrible.  The playoff hopes, slim at the start of the trip, and now gone.  I will make a post soon about the horrible trade that sent Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Blake DeWitt and two minor leaguers.  I was quite sad at the deal and I was very surprised that Theriot was traded.  To find out why, read the upcoming post which should be posted in anytime from tomorrow to a couple of days from now.    

Homestand Wrapup: Philadelphia, Houston, St. Louis

Record: 6-4

Final Record: 45-54

Games Behind First: 10 GB

The Cubs caught fire on this homestand.  The record may not show it, but the Cubs really started to put everything together in this week of 10 home games, the longest homestand of the year.  With two of the three teams in playoff contention for the past few years, the Cubs would be put to the test.  Ironically, they went 5-2 against those two teams but struggled against the 5th place Houston Astros.

The Phillies came to town after the All-Star Break pretty beaten up.  They're missing Chase Utley, their All-Star 2B, Placido Polanco, Jamie Moyer, whose future in baseball is now in question at 47 years old, and they're also missing consistent production from 38 year old Raul Ibanez.  The Phillies were falling behind the Atlanta Braves and were just trying to hang on until their stars return which will permit them to make a run at it.  Starlin Castro was credited with a steal of home on what should have been a wild pitch to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead Thursday night, and they never looked back.  Homers by Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, and Geovany Soto and two two-run doubles by Aramis Ramirez allowed the Cubs to cruise to a 12-6 victory despite the unreliable Bob Howry giving up four in the ninth.  He gave up two RBI singles and then a two-run homer to Ryan Howard, his second such homer of the night.  Ramirez, already on a hot streak at the time, came up in the clutch Friday.  Trailing 3-1 in the 6th, Marlon Byrd hit a two-run homer to tie the game and then two innings later Ramirez gave the Cubs the lead with a homer of his own.  The Cubs once again overcame a homer by Howard to win.  Saturday had the kind of game that you can't lose when you are a team trying to get back in the race but down a whole bunch of games.  Excitingly scoring in a scoreless ballgame was Starlin Castro in the 7th and the Cubs looked for a shutout.  Carlos Marmol was brought on for the save and the wrong Marmol showed up that day.  He beat himself rather than letting the Phillies beat him allowing five walks to just one hit in only two thirds of an inning.  Four runs came around and just like that Brad Lidge shut the door in a very frustrating loss.  Moving onto Sunday night the Cubs knew a win would be tough off Roy Halladay.  However, the Cubs impressively jumped on him supporting Tom Gorzelanny with a homer from Soto in the second, a four-run inning.  Later, Soriano homered to drive in two including himself.  The Phillies made it 6-3, but a five-run 7th opened the game wide open.  Halladay went just six innings, an unusual low for the veteran, as the Cubs took three of four from Philly.

The Astros aren't having a season to remember.  Filled with a few overpaid veteran contracts with guys past their prime and minor leaguers with little talent rushed to the bigs, the Houston franchise is pretty out of sorts right now.  Years of neglect to develop talent in the minors is hurting them badly as the franchise is in 5th place.  The Cubs really wanted a series win against a poor team like this.  Carlos Silva struggled badly in the 1st Inning of the game Monday night, allowing five in his only inning pitched.  Jason Castro hit a three-run homer in the 3rd, his 2nd career homer and that gave the Astros an unbelievable 8-0 lead. Soon enough, however, the Cubs offense started to piece together a rally.  Two runs had already scored for the Cubs in the game when Tyler Colvin hit a solo shot, followed by Aramis Ramirez launching a two-run homer that really was amazing in the moment because the Cubs offense didn't usually fight back like they did Monday.  Four runs put the game out of reach including a homer from Chris Johnson, his first Major League homer.  Tuesday night the writer witnessed the best home game for the Cubs all season.  The Astros, in their red alternate road uniforms like always, got another early lead this time for six runs.  Ramirez hit a solo homer to chip into the lead that looked somewhat meaningless at the time.  Chris Johnson hit another homer, his second in as many days, and that negated Ramirez's cut into the lead.  Wesley Wright, making his first career start for Houston, really ran into trouble in the 5th.  A passed ball after a strikeout of Xavier Nady brought in a run, and then a Starlin Castro RBI groundout, and then another homer for Ramirez, this time a three-run homer.  Just like that, it became a 7-6 game.  The Cubs took advantage of their momentum now with Geovany Soto hitting a huge tater to center over the Batters Eye lounge (447 feet!) to tie it up.  But the Cubs weren't done yet.  Derrek Lee picked up three RBI over the next two innings and Alfonso Soriano added an RBI single, and that set the stage for history.  Coming up with a 11-7 lead, Aramis Ramirez batted with two on and an excited crowd backing him for what would happen next.  Another fly ball went zooming into the night, and Ramirez incredibly got his third homer of the night!  He is the first Cub to do that since Alfonso Soriano did it in Cincinnati in 2008 after he did it in Atlanta in 2007.  Ryan Dempster joked after the game about not getting the win despite watching his team score 14.  For the finale the Cubs became frustrating again because they were not able to get a hit when they needed to.  Tied at 1 almost the entire game, the Cubs put runners on base in the bottom of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th including multiple runners in all except the 10th.  If they had scored in any of the first three innings mentioned, it's game over.  But no, the Cubs did like they always do and they let the other team just sit and hang around until they come back and beat you.  Interestingly Soto hit a two-run homer in the 12th but it was too late and the Cubs lost by one.

A frustrating series loss to Houston gave the Cubs an off day to stew in their anger before the rival Cardinals came to town.  These games would prove to be crucial with the Cubs chasing them in the division, down by 11 games at the start of the series.  On Friday afternoon, Randy Wells gave the Cubs pure greatness forgetting his catastrophic start his last time against the Cardinals.  He allowed hits to the first five batters and didn't record an out back in May.  Wells went seven shutout innings to earn the win supported by homers from Colvin, Soto, and Soriano all of whom appeared pretty hot this homestand.  Colvin hit another leadoff homer on Saturday, pretending to be Soriano, but the lead didn't last long.  Tyler Greene singled in two runs, but that lead didn't last long either.  Starlin Castro hit his first Wrigley Field homer to give the Cubs the lead again 3-2.  A critical wild pitch in the 5th with a ball that was thrown away proved extremely important as the 6-3 lead would prove necessary as the Cardinals crawled their way back to 6-5 in the 8th.  The Cubs pulled out the nail biter however, Carlos Marmol picking up the save.  If the Cubs could sweep Sunday night on ESPN then they would be just eight games back of the Cardinals.  After an early 2-0 lead for St. Louis, the Cubs came back with rallies in the 4th and 5th.  Albert Pujols homered in the 6th to tie it, locking up the score for extra innings.  Again the Cubs wasted opportunities and Felipe Lopez burned them with a go-ahead homer in the 11th for the win.

The Cubs could have easily been 9-1 on this homestand.  The only game where they were truly beat was the one on Monday night against the Astros, and even then they put up a great fight.  But little issues like Carlos Marmol on Saturday and offense hitting with runners in scoring position didn't allow the Cubs to make as much progress as they would have liked.  As I said before, the Cubs to are looking better and beginning to put things together but the Astros series this week in Houston certainly isn't promising.  They'll be put to the test against a good team in the Rockies this weekend at Coors Field, where the Cubs are 38-36 all-time.

1st Half In Review

For the Chicago Cubs, the first half of the 2010 baseball season has been about as disappointing as a half for any team this season.  Coming into the season with high hopes of regaining form of spectacular play in the regular season of 2008 with new ownership and a new attitude, it became clear early on that the 2010 Cubs would struggle to score runs.  This was quite evident in the entire first half and the 7-0 shutout loss to Vicente Padilla and the Dodgers summed it up frustratingly.

After exciting runs for and in the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, the Cubs changed from being perennial cellar dwellers to a high profile team that looked to win every year no matter what.  The 2008 season was the high point for the Cubs on the field, a team that did so many things right fell to Los Angeles in the playoffs and joined past playoff futility.  The Cubs didn't perform to expectations at all in 2009, and many changes to the bullpen and the controversial signing of Milton Bradley while losing team pieces like Mark DeRosa and Jason Marquis were cited as the problems with the team.  However, as the Cubs have yet again struggled in 2010, they may go back to being baseball's 'Lovable Losers'.

Report Card:

Offense: D+
Defense: C+
Starting Pitching: A-
Bullpen: B
Coaching: B-

Overall Grade: C

The biggest struggle so far has to be scoring runs.  The Cubs have been just terrible scoring runs, ranking 13th in the NL in runs.  The Padres, yes, the Padres who play in enormous Petco Park and have Adrian Gonzalez for their only real home run threat have scored more.  The Cubs are 11th in walks, a category that was praised in 2008 when the Cubs' patience lead to a more efficient offense.  They are also 11th in OBP and BA.  They are tied for the least stolen bases in the NL with 34.  Looking up and down the roster, this is not a team made for smallball.  It is a team to get runners on and get them around using big doubles or homers.  So far, neither the runners nor the bop from the big boppers has arrived.  The defense, long a troubled category for the Cubs, is nothing special thing year except maybe the all out play of Marlon Byrd and the over/under on how many errors Starlin Castro can make in a week.  The pitching has become a real bright spot from the most unlikely places like Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, and Sean Marshall.  Lou Piniella has literally done all he can and now he just has to wait but you just have to question his ability to get through to the players.

The Cubs are stuffed with huge contracts and are severely overpaying more than a few on the roster.  From now until the Trade Deadline, look for the Cubs to try to unload at least one of these contracts whether they are in contention or not.  I think the first one to go will be Ted Lilly.  Lilly has become a fan favorite at Wrigley Field because of his old school yet effective pitching style.  And okay, his crazy adventures on the basepaths.  Ted has drawn interest from the Mets who would be able to take his salary and are looking for another arm to beef up for the stretch run.  While I don't think the Cubs will be able to get rid of all the big contracts they want to if the Cubs are bad, I wouldn't be surprised if Derrek Lee and/or Kosuke Fukudome go.  Fukudome has a ridiculous $14 million contract when a player with his stats doesn't even deserve a quarter of that.  Lee has been a fixture at first base for many years now on the North Side and had a comeback campaign in 2009 but hasn't recaptured the magic into this year, disappointing fans once again after his MVP-caliber season in 2005.

I think the Cubs will make a run.  Aramis Ramirez is back and healthy as he proved on the West Coast trip before the break.  He will be key in this run and it won't be anything crazy like the White Sox but the Cubs will play good ball on this homestand here and continue it on the road.  The starters can be relied upon for great starts and the bullpen can survive long enough not that they have everything figured out, including the playing time for impressive rookie Andrew Cashner.  The young kids that the Cubs are fielding in the minors and even the majors now like Castro and Cashner should provide reason to be excited.  Attendance at Wrigley Field has taken a surprising downturn but I think it will get higher with the continued weather of summer and a better home record by the Cubs.  With their blowout win Thursday night, I think they're headed in the right direction.

Final Prediction: 80-82

Road Trip Wrapup: Arizona, Los Angeles (NL)

Record: 4-3
Final Record: 39-50
Games Behind First: 9.5 GB

Aramis Ramirez got on his first hot streak of the year as the Cubs finished the trip with a winning record.  A sweep of Arizona meant the Cubs only needed one win in LA to make this a winning trip and they got that one win but none more, losing three of four to the Dodgers.  The offense woke up in the series, and the Cubs will be winning more ball games if they can swing the bat like they have recently.

The Arizona series had a different feel to it than most of the series this season.  It felt like the Cubs were in control and they usually had the lead.  Kosuke Fukudome hit a leadoff homer in the 1st, Starlin Castro hit a two-run triple in the 2nd, and Geovany Soto hit an RBI double in the 2nd to put the DBacks down 4-0 early.  Arizona made it a tight game at 4-2 and 5-3 but another Soto RBI double and a Mike Fontenot RBI single extended their lead.  The blow that put the game out of reach in the 9th was Alfonso Soriano's two-run homer.  Tom Gorzelanny was efficient enough for a win.  Diamondbacks pitcher Barry Enright made his Chase Field debut starting on Tuesday and began well but faded as the game progressed.  With a 1-0 lead in the 6th, he gave up homers to Fukudome (solo) and Ramirez (two-run).  A Kelly Johnson homer made it 3-2, but an RBI from Ryan Theriot and another two-run homer by Ramirez made it 6-2.  Sean Marshall gave up two to make it interesting but Carlos Marmol shut the door closing it out, striking out all five he faced.  Carlos Silva gave up two runs over six innings and earned the win.  In a 3-3 game Wednesday night, Starlin Castro hit a two-run single to take the lead in the 5th.  Another home run from Ramirez, this time a three-run jack, gave the Cubs a 8-3 lead in the 9th and they never looked back.  Ryan Dempster went five and struck out six to earn the win, beating Edwin Jackson who had also knocked in an RBI in this game.

The first game at Dodger Stadium Thursday night was reminiscent of games earlier in the season.  James Loney hit an RBI single in the first but Soriano homered in the second to tie it at one.  Geovany Soto hit an RBI single and that was all the Cubs could do as Randy Wells was left in the game late once again with a tiny lead.  The time bomb went off when All-Star Rafael Furcal mashed a two-run homer down the line in right to completely shift momentum and the lead just like that.  Jonathan Broxton picked up the save.  Ted Lilly didn't pitch well at all Friday and the Dodgers jumped on him early.  After getting a 1-0 lead he gave up a three-run homer to Russell Martin, his first homer in nearly two months.  He gave up RBIs to Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Casey Blake, and Andre Ethier again.  What seemed like a blowout at 7-2 wasn't as the Cubs came crawling back from a wild pitch, a sac fly, an RBI triple from Ramirez, and an RBI single by the All-Star Marlon Byrd.  The Cubs couldn't finish though and lost 9-7. On national TV Saturday, the Cubs put on a show.  Soto gulfed a two-run homer in the 2nd and the Cubs put on the offense.  Aramis Ramirez hit another homer, his fourth of the trip, in the 7th.  John Ely was rocked for six runs over only two and a third innings, his fourth straight bad appearance at Dodger Stadium.  Tom Gorzelanny got the win as the Cubs took it 7-3.  In the series finale Sunday night on the ESPN, the Cubs were shut out in their last game before the break.  Vicente Padilla was on his game and threw eight shutout innings, including not allowing a hit until the 6th when Starlin Castro lined a leadoff double.  Ryan Theriot did the same in the next inning but didn't score.  The Dodgers jumped on Carlos Silva early, who was using too many breaking balls in this game and needed to get back to his hard sinker.  James Loney got a three-run homer in the first off him and the Dodgers got three more in the second.  Silva was ejected after Loney was called safe on a play at first base, and by the replay he was clearly out.  It was Silva's own fault because he didn't cover first base and Xavier Nady had to race to the bag to get the out.  It was the second close play already at first base and although the first one wasn't an out Silva was enraged and yelled in frustration.  He was tossed but was going to be taken out anyway by Lou Piniella.

The ESPN crew asked Piniella during a commercial break, a traditional questioning with the manager that takes place on Sunday Night Baseball, what the Cubs need to do to get back in the Central race.  "If we swing the bats, we're gonna be okay."  That was the line that stood out to me, and the way the Cubs swung those bats in this past week was certainly reason for excitement.  If they can do it like that consistently we will have no problem coming back to .500 like the Sox did.  With a big ten-game homestand coming up after the All-Star Break, the Cubs will need to score runs to beat the Phillies and Cardinals for sure and to avoid embarrassing losses to Houston.  They will also need to improve in one-run games where they are just 11-20.  I was really proud of the Cubbies during the Arizona series who showed some real fight.  I was impressed by their command of the game and I sense we will see more of this in the second half.  If there was ever a team to take out your frustrations on, make it Philly, easily my least favorite team in baseball.  Easily.  But now, Marlon Byrd heads to Anaheim for the All-Star Game and everyone else goes home.  According to a promo, the All-Star Game will be played on the beach right by Santa Monica Pier.  It won't really, but wouldn't that be interesting?  A sand diamond with the ocean the outfield 'wall'.  Ideas for the future....

Crosstown Classic: Round One

There have been plenty of skeptics the last two years of the relatively dull popularity of the Cubs-Sox series.  However, I believe this series really revitalized it once again.

On Friday, the buzz returned to Wrigley Field as the Sox fans marched in.  They had plenty to cheer about with Alex Rios and AJ Pierzynski both collecting four hits and a homer each.  Carlos Quentin poured on the score with a homer along with a bunch of hits in the late innings, and the Sox rolled 10-2.  The only highlight and scoring for the Cubs came in the second when Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer, the 300th of his career just two days after Derrek Lee got his in Milwaukee. 

Carlos Silva had reason to be frustrated Saturday.  More problems with Xavier Nady cost the Cubs another win.  Paul Konerko hit an RBI single early on that would have been caught with Tyler Colvin or Kosuke Fukudome in right.  However, Nady pulled up instead of going all out.  There wasn't any scoring until the top of the 8th, when Konerko hit an RBI single to the same spot and once again Nady pulled up.  The Cubs pushed across a run in the 9th, and the tying run was on base at the end of the game.  If Nady had gotten both of those like Fukudome or Colvin would've, the Cubs had a win.  I'm aware that Nady is basically a DH, but I really think that for him to be making over three million dollars to be a fifth outfielder/backup first baseman he needs to be diving at every opportunity.  Guys like him aren't playing all-out ball.

Sunday night was what has made this series a big deal again.  This was the definition of a pitchers duel.  Ted Lilly and Gavin Floyd both threw 6.2 IP of no hit baseball, but Alfonso Soriano doubled ending Floyd's no hitter.  On the next pitch, Chad Tracy brought him home with a single up the middle.  That was all the scoring the Cubs would need, but Ted Lilly lost his no hitter in the top of the 9th in shocking fashion against former Cub Juan Pierre.  Carlos Marmol loaded the bases, but got Carlos Quentin to pop out to end the ballgame.  Ted Lilly pitched by far the best game of his career.  The only thing that consistently bothered me was Jon Miller's constant mentioning of the no hitters in progress.  Joe Morgan even mentioned later that it "used" to be an unwritten rule not to mention it on the air.  They just said that because they realized that fans weren't too happy about what they were doing.

This series is changed.  You can bet this won't be the last time the media reminds you of what happened this weekend, especially with Ted Lilly.  I'm just putting it out there that if the Cubs follow the regular rotation with Lilly, he will get the first start of the second Sox series.  If both the Cubs and Sox are done for the season, which the upcoming two weeks of interleague play could decide, enjoy the next Crosstown Classic series in two weeks as the only playoff atmosphere either team will have in 2010.    

Road Trip Wrapup: Pittsburgh, Houston, Milwaukee

Final Record: 27-33
Trip Record: 3-6
Games Behind First: 7.5

It could be a long summer for these Cubs.  The Cubs, who can't live up to winning expectations, haven't been able to beat even the bad teams the last two years.  This road trip should have swung momentum in the opposite way it actually did, and with a 6-3 or 7-2 record the Cubs would be pumped to play the Sox to resume the interleague dockett.  But here we are again, asking questions about how guys like Felipe Paulino can overwhelm the Cubs offense for the majority of a game. 

The first two games in Pittsburgh were frustrating, but the way the Cubs played gave me an indication that they brought the winning attitude with their luggage this time.  The lead on Monday, May 31 slipped off a rare bad outing by Sean Marshall, including a Garrett Jones homer.  Hopefully Cub fans had something nice to do on this Memorial Day than allow themselves get stressed by this loss.  The next one, however, on the next night, was nothing short of heartbreaking for me.  It was one of the hardest losses to take this year, because of how fundamentally well the Cubs had been playing all evening.  Like mentioned in an earlier post, it was Neil Walker who drove the Ted Lilly pitch out for a huge go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 8th, and before the Cubs could react it was game over.  The next game was postponed, but on Monday the next week Carlos Silva squeaked out a quiet 6-1 win.

The Houston series was pathetic.  I don't care to recap Friday except that Felipe Paulino 'dealing.'  The Astros plastered together three runs, and that's it.  Aramis Ramirez and Tyler Colvin both homered Saturday night and the Cubs responded well pouring on eight runs.  Ryan Dempster went a strong 6.1 IP with 7 K, which made me think we were going to turn it around on the trip.  But no, as Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer in a three run first inning off Randy Wells on Sunday.  The Cubs left town having lost two of three. 

After playing the makeup game Monday in Pittsburgh, the Cubs headed to Miller Park where they are already 3-0 in 2010.  Two of the three games there were Pittsburgh-esque heartbreaking, as the Cubs fell in the opener because of a two blown leads in as many innings.  There were no runs until a Cubs rally in the 8th, but a Corey Hart homer gave that lead away on one pitch.  In the ninth, the Cubs put up another run only to put men on and Carlos Marmol surrended a go-ahead, walk off two run single to Casey McGehee.  ESPN carried Wednesday's game, and the inconsitent Cubs offense put up nine including five homers coming from three hitters.  The 9-4 win set the stage for a disaster Thursday.  Xavier Nady hit a two-run homer earlier in the game, but blew it anyway in the bottom of the 10th.  In a 4-4 game, Craig Counsell sacrificed Carlos Gomez to second with none out, but Gomez just kept going all the way to third.  Nady made a dumb throw, a very ill-advised action in youth baseball, and the throw got away, scoring Gomez and ending the game.  The whole thing happened so fast, it was unbelievable.  Here's my question: Nady was at first because Derrek Lee had the day off.  Understandable.  But the fact that Lee is a three-time gold glover who hates days off and was ready to go merits the question of why wasn't Lee, in a big extra inning game, inserted for defensive purposes over a perennial DH in Nady?

The Cubs really screwed up this time.  They played great baseball in seven of nine games, and easily could have won those seven.  If the Cubs can't beat these teams, then who can they?

Lights Out Performance by Tom Gorzelanny

On Wednesday against the Dodgers, Tom Gorzelanny got rocked by the Dodgers who ended up winning 8-5, their only win and only runs in the series.  However, Gorzelanny performed lights out.  Literally.  A power outage in the top of the 4th inning delayed play for 18 minutes due to an electrical fire that triggered a shut down of a certain power grid, including Wrigley Field.  The power failure, the third at Wrigley Field during a night game (when it actually matters) before two games against the Brewers in 2003 in separate series, was received with the following call by Len Kasper from the WGN TV booth: "...excellent week weatherwise for this homestand against the Dodgers and Cardinals and...the lights are going out...and they've all gone out!  A power outage here at Wrigley Field.  As DeWitt took the walk some of the lights went out, then pretty much all of them did.  There are about-as I can see-eight or nine lights bulbs that are still actually working.  And we see more light from the cameras taking pictures, I don't ever recall a power outage at Wrigley Field."  Len Kasper and Bob Brenly did great improv work as always with unexpected circumstances.

Blake DeWitt, at the plate with a 3-1 count at the time of the outage, took ball four while the lights were going out.  Gorzelanny was disappointed but took what he got.  "The lights went out during the pitch," Gorzelanny said. "It's kind of brutal. You're in the middle of a pitch. The guy ends up walking. There's nothing you can do about it. I begged for the pitch back, but they wouldn't give it to me.  The good thing about that was I actually did well the rest of the inning," he said. "It's one of the uncontrollable things that ballparks do to you."

DeWitt couldn't see the ball after seeing some flash of light and took his eye off it, luckily it was ball four.  "Thinking back, I wish I had hit a pop up," DeWitt said. "It would've been a good time. I would've had an inside the park home run in the dark."  However, the Cubs players were a little worried and confused.  An inside-the-park home run pop up might have been too hard to deal with for some of the players.  Ryan Theriot was asked what he was thinking at the time of the outage.

"Get the heck out and get off the field as soon as I could," Theriot said. "That was a little scary. I didn't know what was going on."

"It was a little crazy," Alfonso Soriano stated.  The Cubs went on to lose 8-5, but shut out the Dodgers in the other two games of the series in impressive fashion 3-0 and 1-0.  Randy Wells didn't record an out through six batters against the Cardinals on Friday, and was promptly yanked after giving up five runs.  James Russell pitched four impressive scoreless innings after that, but the offense could only muster a pinch-hit solo shot from Tyler Colvin, losing 7-1.  Carlos Silva looks to go 7-0 against new guy Adam Ottavino at 3:10 this afternoon on FOX.

We Buy Silva

Cubs fans likely don't all run jewelry shops, but they all, so far, buy Silva.  I was skeptical of him being named to the rotation no matter what kind of spring he had, but he hasn't pitched this well since pitching in Minnesota around five years ago.  The sinker is moving, the fastball is topping out, and the changeup is making hitters look like fools.  I don't get how he does it with his size.  The only run he gave up was to another big man, ironically.  Rod Barajas smoked a home run to left, but Silva was solid throughout besides that.  The offense returned with Alfonso Soriano collecting three hits and three RBI, so Silva got the win.  Silva has now, in the mind of Cub fans, been moved up to the #4 spot ahead of Tom Gorzelanny and we all hope to see such a feel good story keep going.  He isn't a strikeout pitcher necessarily, but reminds me of Randy Wells with the sinker and the changeup to go with the low 90s fastball that won't smoke anybody but can run up on you.  Both guys have very good control, so neither have gotten in trouble walking guys.  Tonight, Tom Gorzelanny faces Johan Santana in a big southpaw matchup.  Santana is one of my favorite pitchers in baseball, but I do hope the Cubs offense obliterates his circle change and fastball tonight because we do need to get the offense going consistently.  I could see Gorzelanny going six innings, giving up three runs or something.  Righty hitters have an advantage at funky Citi Field because although it is easier to pull one down the line for a home run to right, the gap in right-center in enormous!  The bullpen is a mile from home plate and the setback right field part of the wall knocks down fly balls.  Go Cubs! 

The Pen Just Got Bigger

The Big Z.  A book, written by Pedro Miranda, was even made about the Cubs' most troublesome pitcher.  Supposedly an ace, he lost that role probably two years ago, yet he keeps starting Opening Days out of respect.  Carlos Zambrano was relegated to the bullpen in a move I never thought I'd see.  The Cubs have a reputation for sticking with bad players through struggles and not being aggressive enough on the hook, so this is a good sign.  For the first time since 2002, the Cubs will look at a Zambrano-less rotation.  The last time Zambrano pitched from the pen was also 2002.  Despite the fact that this photo is from 2009, these types of incidents have frequented Zambrano's career the last five years or so.  Lou Piniella and the Cubs drew a lot of criticism for waiting too long to take Alfonso Soriano out the leadoff hole, so this is a move that sends a message: The Cubs are cracking down on struggling players.  No job is safe if they're not producing.

The new rotation looks odd with Dempster, Lilly, Wells, Silva, and Gorzelanny.  Zambrano will become a setup man and I hope replace John Grabow for the moment.  Grabow can't pitch.  That's all I have to say about him right now.  Zambrano will get straightened out in the bullpen, becoming available Friday and I predict he will be back in the rotation in three weeks.  The biggest issue here is my fantasy team.  The market for setup men on fantasy baseball is very, very small which means they better be playing half the games or striking out 10/9 IP.  Since Zambrano does neither, there is no trade interest out there for the guy except that he could come back and start in a few weeks.  I sympathize for fellow Zambrano owners.  Go Cubs!

Cubs Positional Breakdown: Bullpen

This bullpen was very shaky out of the gate in 2009 when most of the effective relievers on the 2008 squad were replaced, for reasons unknown.  However, the cumulative ERA went down as the season went on, and this tight group looks to become the best bullpen in the division.  With a year of experience under their belts, they start the 2010 season ready to go.

Closer: Carlos Marmol, RHP
Marmol is really a one-of-a-kind pitcher.  He is the definition of unhittable, allowing only a ridiculous 43 hits in 74 innings (or 5.23 H/9, the second-best rating among full season pitchers behind Jonathan Broxton).  However, his problem is definitely the walks and sometimes lack of control.  His slider is one of the best in baseball, but you see too many nights were it is consistently breaking too much into the dirt on every pitch.  This will draw the strikeouts (93 in those 74 innings), but more and more hitters are figuring out to just not swing until they have two strikes on them.  Marmol's walks rose from 41 to 65, causing a few red flags coming into this season for his first full season as closer, although he was perfect in opportunities after taking over for Kevin Gregg last year.

Setup 1: Esmailin Caridad, RHP
A little known reliever out of the Cubs system, Caridad wasn't billed up to be much.  His velocity was good but not excellent, his breaking stuff was good but a little inconsistent, but overall he just seemed like a solid guy who could get outs.  Caridad is already being given a shot at the setup spot after just one season with only 19.1 IP career in the major leagues.  He did hold a handsome 1.40 ERA and struck out 17 in that time, so I can see why the Cubs made this move.  I like this guy, but like all Cub fans, have not seen enough to really give a report yet.  We'll see how he does in his second big trial.

Setup 2: John Grabow, LHP
A crucial left-handed part to the pen is filled by Grabow, who's durable, ground ball style of pitching kept opponents at bay for the last two years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which have easily been his best years.  In limited action during the second half of 2009, he showed no signs of stopping.  Grabow pitched in 75 games total and doesn't have much of an injury history, so he should be a lock for success out of the Wrigley left-field line.

Middle Relief: Sean Marshall, LHP*
Although he fit the bill better in 2008, Marshall continued to be a consistent, durable presence in 2009.  His ERA rose a bit to 4.32, but cut down on home runs and actually threw one of just three complete games by a Cubs pitcher last year.  Besides that, though, he was inconsistent and not dependable in rotation, which is why after nine starts he was moved back to the bullpen in favor of young Randy Wells.  Although he aims for a spot in the rotation for 2010, I believe he was much better suited in the bullpen.

Middle Relief: Carlos Silva, RHP*
Not much should be expected from the big righty this season, but he could be somewhat effective in the right role.  Silva was a huge disappointment to the Mariners after they gave him an overpaid $48 million contract to be a starter.  Silva's best season has been just 14-8 with the Twins, so it was a bad idea to expect him to be an ace.  Sure enough, here we are in Year 3 of the deal and Silva has been terrible.  We'll see what he can give us in 2010.

Middle Relief (Injury Permitting): Angel Guzman, RHP

Guzman was a pleasant surprise in a bullpen with many question marks the first half of 2009.  Keeping his ERA well below 3 most of the season and finishing at 2.95, he was the sturdy factor that anchored the Cubs and kept them in many games until things got figured out.  He performed exceedingly well during his eventual transition from middle relief to setup, although his work went much unappreciated thanks to 8 blown saves by a certain Gregg.  With Marmol coming in in the 9th now, however, Guzman should be setup to be the best setup man of the division in 2010, unless his injury bug catches back up to him.  He could be out for the season.

Middle Relief: Justin Berg, RHP

Yet another product of the Cubs system, this guy appears to have won a shot at the pen.  Like Caridad, Berg was impressive in his 12 inning debut year.  Berg has the poise of a man beyond his age.  Adjustments will need to be made for both guys as hitters catch up, but the new, surprisingly young Cubs bullpen has all kind of characters in it.  Berg will certainly do better than the old Aaron Heilman of 2009, who I must say good riddance to.  I don't have much on Berg either except for his minor league success, so watch this guy as well.  Watch for him in the 5th, 6th, or 7th innings of ballgames.

Middle Relief: Jeff Gray, RHP
Acquired from Oakland for Aaron Miles and Jake Fox, I really like this guy.  He can turn up the heat on the fastball or fool hitters with great breaking pitches.  He walked only four in 26.2 innings last year which will make the Cubs an even more control-focused team, which they already are.  He is relatively young at 29, yet has a lot of baseball under his belt which is a big key to the bullpen, where we have a few upcoming rookies and some veterans.  Gray will be a nice bridge in between.

Others: Jeff Samardzija*, Justin Berg, Mike Parisi, and Mitch Atkins are the main other candidates.  Samardzija, in case you haven't heard a million times, is a former WR at Notre Dame, but chose baseball instead.  Jeff hasn't brought all of his game from the minors to the majors yet, but this could be the year.  Given a crack at starting two games in 2009, he didn't perform as Cubs coaches would have liked.  I think he deserves a shot over Marshall, Silva, and possibly Gorzelanny for the 5th spot in the rotation, but the depth there is good enough for nice protection.  Berg was brought up for 12 innings in 2009, and although he pitched well, that wasn't a big enough sample to see how he will perform over an extended period of time.  He needs some more seasoning to train his skills.  Parisi was a Rule 5 pick from the Cardinals, which means he must stay on the major league roster for the whole season or else he must be sacrificed back to St. Louis.  I don't know much about this guy, but he will probably be used in the low risk roles that David Patton was used in last year.  Atkins is new to me as well, but pitched to an impressive 17-7 in 28 starts between AA and AAA.

The Pen looks to be in good shape for 2010, although a big hinge here is Guzman's health.  He has been in the organization for over 10 years now, but because of injuries he didn't make an impact over a full season until last year.  Marmol is an interesting choice as closer but needs to watch out for the walks.  Also, there are a few variables like Gorzelanny, Berg, Atkins, Samardzija, and Silva.  How they pitch could decide the Cubs' fate at the end of ballgames.

*in consideration to start also. 

Cubs Positional Breakdown: Starting Rotation

This area of the Cubs, fortunately, is a big strength. However, it's safe to say the Cubs' rotation underperformed in 2009.

#1: Carlos Zambrano, although he lowered his ERA for the second straight year, finished with a mediocre 9-7 record in 28 starts, signaling his first full season as a starter in which he finished with less than 13 wins. He did show promise right near the end of the season, however, including a two-hit shutout in San Francisco. The difference-maker for the hot and cold Zambrano in 2010 will be his dedication to keeping himself in shape and focus on what he needs to do to compete at the highest level, like frustrated Cub fans have seen flashes of. The dominant Zambrano could win 20 games and a Cy Young, or the other Zambrano can continue to do what he has been doing.

#2: Ryan Dempster also took a step back seeing his win total drop by six to 11. His ERA rose, although he did log his second 200-inning campaign. Dempster is a very good starter still with a live fastball and sneaky slider to go with his changeup, allowing him to get out of high pressure situations. Dempster is a positive clubhouse influence with his practical jokes and Harry Carey impersonations. Expect a bounceback year with more run support (part of the problem in 2009). 15 wins is a reasonable estimate.

#3: There are a few question marks with Ted Lilly's shoulder surgery, but it could form to be a nice audition spot for a few starts to see who deserves the #5 spot for the rest of the season. Lilly shook things up himself though, when today he announced his goal for full recovery is Opening Day. "I don't know what the date is," Lilly said Wednesday. "I'd like to be ready when all the other healthy guys are. That would be good for me. If I can't, I'll be disappointed. I have to understand that sometimes you take one step back to gain a couple forward. The whole idea is to not only come back as soon as possible and be out there contributing but be productive, too." Lilly, if healthy, will give a strong year like he has for all three of his years with the Cubs. His 44-26 record with the Cubs contains the most wins of any Cubs pitcher during that time period.

#4: Randy Wells was the biggest surprise without a doubt. A little-known rookie coming from AAA Iowa in early May to fill in for an injured starter, he became one of the most important cogs in the pitching by summer. It took a while to get a first win because of run support (see: Ryan Dempster), but he wrapped up consistent play all around for a 3.05 ERA. Another double-digit win season can be expected from Wells.

#5: Here is where things get interesting. The Cubs have a bunch of mediocre, #5 type starters, so Spring Training will tell who breaks camp with the job. Newcomer Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, and Jeff Samardzija all eye the spot. Silva would best be used from middle relief before starting, judging from his 5-18 record from two years in Seattle, making just 34 starts. Marshall has earned the spot before and didn't perform great, so many were pleased when he performed very effectively in various bullpen roles (not closer). Gorzelanny turned heads in 2007 going 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA, but has changed much since. He showed flashes of starting well with the Cubs, but still ended up with an ERA over five. Samardzija has started only two career games and was bashed in both, but his relief efforts and training have changed some minds within the Cubs organization. My verdict: Jeff Samardzija wins the job. He has the most upside here. Marshall was most effective in his bullpen role and should stay there, Silva is a mess and should be eased into an easy job to see if he can pitch at all, and Gorzelanny will be the backup (#5A) if Samardzija is overwhelmed again.

Overall Grade: A-
I gave them a minus because of the instability in the #5 spot and also the indentity theft risk of Carlos Zambrano. This would appear to be the year for him, but we just don't know. The run support that these guys had to work with was ridiculous considering the Cubs lineup. There is a 0% chance it will be that bad again. Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, and Wells are all capable of 15 win seasons in 2010. In fact, that is more likely than not. The #5 spot is kind of up in the air, I don't see what we can get from it. Those nights with the bases loaded and two outs might make us miss Rich Harden to just get a fastball high to strike 'em out, but besides that it appears Randy Wells has taken his spot effectively. The rotation will be back in 2010, watch out.

Silva Lining Despite Bradley Fail

As we approach the end of a wild 2009, most Cub fans are excited to turn the page onto a fresh, new season. Jim Hendry has already done some shopping and now he looks to add to a team that is just a piece or two away from getting back to 2008-style Cubs Baseball. To the relief of many, Milton Bradley was finally traded when it looked like all possibilities had frozen, to Seattle for on-field troubled right-hander Carlos Silva and cash. The deal is actually amazing in my opinion, because of the salary offset solution. Bradley and Silva are two players with very overpaid contracts and neither have lived up to their lofty expectations. Bradley, coming off an All-Star season in 2008 in Texas, was signed to a $30 million contract over 3 years. Silva, after moderate success in Minnesota, was signed to a 4-year, $48 million contract with Seattle. Silva went 4-15 in 2008, frustrating fans in Seattle even further while they suffered through an 100-loss season. In 2009, he was injured for the majority of the season, returning briefly to pitch poorly with an ERA over 6.

The salary offset I was talking about is that the Mariners will send $3 million to the Cubs for each of the next three years to help offset the differences between the two contracts, so its as if the players we traded have the exact same salary. I'm sure Silva will be working with Larry Rothschild this spring very much to become the pitcher that won 47 games over 4 years with the Twins. Silva is a sinker-baller who doesn't strike out many. In fact, hardly anyone at all. Although sinker-ballers are well-suited for Wrigley Field, Silva has struck out just 474 batters in 1128.2 innings in his career. Larry Rothschild and the rest of the Cubs staff will be hard on Silva to be a relevant pitcher again. There is a chance he could make the Cubs' starting rotation out of Spring Training, but it is a long shot. I don't think this is the right move. This guy, like he has been for most of his career, is an overweight, overvalued hurler who is not ready to step onto the big stage of Chicago and perform, especially after his last two seasons. If he makes the team, and again IF, then he needs to be put in the bullpen in and used in situations with no danger. This means being used in the role Rule 5 pick David Patton was used in last season where you use the person only with a big lead or when you are well behind. If he performs well, then we can put him in the mix with the middle relievers.

As for Milton Bradley, I see him having a bounceback in Seattle. Although the off-field issues will always be there, a calming leader presence like Ken Griffey, Jr. will continue to mentor Bradley on how to handle himself on and off the field. You might hear that line a lot for young rookies being mentored by veterans, but for a guy like Bradley, mentoring should never get old. With Bradley and Griffey, Jr. the Seattle Mariners are really on their way. The AL West will be one of the most exciting divisions in 2010, and the most surprising players in the free agent market could make a run for the wild card or (gasp) upend the invicible LA Angels for the division crown. But that's next year.