Baseball thread No. 8 - play nice

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

That "soft" Joe Mauer cranked a three-run homer to put the Twins up 6-2 in the seventh.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

The silliest column of the week...my comments are in italics:

Don't count out A-Rod in blue stripes
Remember Hendry's 2004 surprise

Phil Rogers
On Baseball

July 24, 2006

Jim Hendry has pulled a rabbit out of his hat before at the trade deadline. But can the Cubs general manager top the Nomar Garciaparra deal of 2004 this time around?

It's not impossible.

While most people are looking at the Cubs just to be sellers, Hendry could add at least three intriguing players to change the face of the franchise. If you don't think he's exploring the availability of Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu and Miguel Tejada, you don't know Hendry.

That's right, Alex Rodriguez.

It's hard to see Yankees GM Brian Cashman pulling the trigger on an A-Rod deal, but the two-time Most Valuable Player has become such a target for upset fans at Yankee Stadium that owner George Steinbrenner might decide to pull the plug. Rodriguez is a great player who has lost his confidence, first struggling to deliver runs in the clutch and recently bringing back memories of Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch with his errant throws. (He's still one of the five best players in the game. That fact cannot be argued.

The guy gets blamed for everything in New York. I swear I saw a column that blamed him for the power outage in Queens. Last I checked, baseball was a team game. That Yankee bullpen ain't lights out and the starters, save for Mike Mussina, are middling.)


ESPN analyst Steve Phillips, former general manager of the New York Mets, believes the Yankees should deal Rodriguez.

"It's become the thing to do in New York to boo Alex Rodriguez," Phillips said Sunday night. "When that happens in New York, it doesn't stop. Now you see it's impacting his performance. Ultimately I don't see how he gets out of this rut. I think they have to trade him." (By all means, listen to the guy that didn't sign Rodriguez when the then-Mariners shortstop was a free agent. Steve Phillips is the same GM who traded Melvin Mora for Mike Bordick. That deal did not work out so much.)


If the Yankees let it be known they would move Rodriguez, a lot of teams would be interested. The Cubs are among the few who realistically could pursue a deal. They have both the financial flexibility and the parts to move back to New York. (A lot of teams? ARod's 31 years old, obviously in his prime. He averages 44 home runs and 125 RBI a season, along with a .307 batting average. Name me one team that would not want him.)

Aramis Ramirez, signed through 2008 and lately killing the ball, would be welcomed with open arms in New York.

If the deal were expanded to include Jacque Jones, essentially making this one-stop shopping for Cashman, Rodriguez's biggest-in-baseball salary would not seem to be a huge issue. (Ramirez and Jones would not be enough for the Yankees. I'd presume that Cashman would also want a minor league stud or two coming back.

Six years into his 10-year, $252 million contract, Rodriguez is due an unprecedented $27 million a year from 2007 through 2010. But the Texas Rangers so needed to get out from under their commitment that they are obligated to pay $52 million of that remaining $108 million.

Rodriguez has a full no-trade clause, complicating matters on the Yankees' end. But remember his visit to Wrigley Field during the 2003 National League Championship Series? He was shopping to relocate at the time, and Chicago was high on the list of places he would have liked to land. (Rodriguez told reporters last weekend that he doesn't want to leave New York. Kind of puts a damper on a trade, especially when he has final say where he goes. Why would he leave New York, a team that can compete for a World Series every year to go to the second-most mismanaged organization in sports, behind the clownish New York Islanders? )

Hendry, under as much heat as at any time since joining the Cubs, is motivated to make a move that improves his team and pleases fans. He could do both by adding Tejada, whom he has chased since last winter, or Abreu.

Dealing with the Orioles can be like banging your head against a wall. No one knows if owner Peter Angelos would really trade his shortstop for prospects, though it's clearly the right thing for Baltimore to do. Tejada isn't exactly taking the Orioles anyplace.

The same holds true with Abreu and the Phillies, though they're still on the fringe of the National League's wild-card race. He's 32 and signed through 2008 (including a club option for that season, which would be guaranteed with any deal), which is one year shorter than Tejada's contract.

Abreu doesn't offer as much power as Rodriguez or Tejada. But he's the kind of hitter the Cubs have been badly missing—a run producer who works counts and is a high on-base-percentage guy.

The Orioles and Phillies are looking for young pitching. The Cubs wouldn't seem to be a likely partner there, but never dismiss Hendry when it comes to putting together complicated trades. This should be an interesting week.

progers@tribune.com

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

;D ;D ;D

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Phil Rogers and Paul Sullivan are freaking delusional. If the Tribune does not fire them at the end of the season, something is really, really wrong.

If the Cubs trade for ARod, they won't trade Aramis Ramirez. ARod would go to shortstop. Anyone other than Rogers and Sullivan, the Abbott and Costello of baseball writers, would know this.

But it won't happen. The Cubs have nothing to trade. And the Tribune is not going to take on this much salary. And Rogers knows this. He simply has nothing else to write about because he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about and hasn't the entire season.

I've heard the Cubs might go after Abreu, but again, they have next to nothing to trade.

The Tribune has been laughably out of touch with its Cubs coverage the entire season, and so it keeps throwing out stupid shit like this column to try to mask its stupidity.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

psssssssst! Zeke!

I know your sig is tongue-in-cheek, but.......

[/mom rosie]

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Arrrr... Joe Mauer be a regular drivelswigger compared to Brian McCann

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Zeke........your sig!

This is an insult-free thread! [/mom rosie]

Joe Mauer's Sideburns. They are giving imitation ones away at an upcoming home game.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Doesn't hafta be a grounding-free thread.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Damn. Way to throw zeke under the bus, Dools.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Like I hafta give Rosie any pretext to ground somebody. She'd ground a ham sandwich faster than a grand jury would indict one.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

why the fuck am i still up watching the blue jays in seattle? 10 hits and down 6-3 in the sixth.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

I just spit water all over my keyboard! ;D