The loss of Minnie Minoso...

Some Chicago sports blog, eh?

No posts talking about the passing of Ernie Banks, the Cubs legend who had his best days in the late 50's and early 60's but was still productive when I became a fan in the late 1960's (mostly 1969).  He was never my favorite player.  I tended to like good ol' number 10 (Ron Santo) and Glenn Beckert and Fergie Jenkins.  But he was always a favorite player.  And I didn't even bother to post when he died.

No posts on the injuries to Derrick Rose and Patrick Kane.  No posts on the moves made by those teams to cover for those losses (the Bulls made no significant moves; the Hawks got the best available forward/center and a solid defenseman).

No posts on pitchers and catchers reporting.  On Kris Bryant.  On much of anything.

But I saw on the news last night that White Sox great Minnie Minoso passed away over the weekend, and it made me think about this blog.  I didn't see Minoso play; I only know that he was the first black Cuban player in the majors, and I believe that his numbers are thought to be Hall-of-Fame worthy.

But he was one of my grandmother's favorite players.

My grandmother, who died before I was even born, was a huge Sox fan.  And by "huge" I mean she liked them a lot, not that she was a large woman.  She was only about 4'11".  My grandfather was a Sox fan, also.  (He was a big fan, but he WAS also a big man -- something like 6'2")  So how did I become a Cubs fan?  Well, that's another blog entry.  Maybe some day.

Anyway, when I heard about Minoso's passing, I thought about my grandparents.  And I remembered some pictures that my grandmother took at a Sox game in 1951.  Some of the players were identified by just their first name, some by both names.  But here are those photos if you'd like to see these old Sox players and even a bit of the ballpark.  I have a few others as well.

Minnie Minoso

Lou Aloma

Chico Carrasquel (I think) (sp?)

Eddie Roberson (again, I think)(sp?)

Four old black and white photos of White Sox players from the old days. I've heard the names here and there. I don't think any of them except for Minoso were exactly "great" players (whatever that means), but they were solid players.

Rest in peace, Minnie.

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Busy Chicago Winter...

So a lot has been happening in Chitown sports.  I don't have time to do much in-depth writing about anything in particular, so I'm just going to touch on the high points:

1. Bears go 5-11, fire Emery, Trestman, Kromer, and every other coach.  They turn around and hire John Fox, fresh off a playoff appearance with the Broncos after being in the Super Bowl last year.  Fox has hired good coordinators (a d- coordinator from the 49'ers who's supposed to be great, and the o- coordinator from Denver who seems pretty good too) and a bunch of decent position coaches.  Chicagoans are giddy about having a REAL head coach who knows how to run an NFL franchise.  Oh, and they hired a young fresh GM named Ryan Pace, who seems to not be threatened by making strong hires like Fox.
2. Cubs already had announced Joe Maddon as their field manager, and then they turned around and grabbed Jon Lester, the top free agent pitcher.  They made a few other signings as well, including Jason Hamel (who was traded with Samarzidja  for the A's top prospects last summer) and a catcher (name escapes me) from the D-backs.  Then they traded for Dexter Fowler, a high OBP guy from Houston and a switch-hitting CF.  
3. The White Sox made headlines by trading for Samarzidja, getting him from the A's for a package of prospects.  They also signed Adam LaRoche and a closer named Robertson.  They should get significantly better next year.  
4. The Bulls were doing great but seem to have hit a wall, with injuries slowing Noah and Mike Dunleavy, and with Jimmy Butler coming back down to Earth after a pretty incredible start to the season.  Taj, Derek and Hinrich have also missed a few games (as has Butler) due to injuries and illness.  The best thing has been Pau Gasol, who has been absolutely outstanding at the PF for the Bulls.
5. The Black Hawks look a little inconsistent, but they're coming off their All Star break, and they should look better into the second part of the season.  Their rookie, Tavo Taravinin (I know I butchered that spelling) has received some valuable experience, as has rookie goalie Scott Darling.  Kane and Toews are doing great, and Sharp is back from an injury.  Versteeg is out currently, but should be back sometimes soon.  
6. Ernie Banks died at age 83.  Was there a better person to represent Chicago baseball, indeed, Chicago sports?  Incredible player, and as nice a guy as you'd want to meet, by all accounts.  He's one of the players I never had a chance to get an autograph.  He was never down in Arizona for spring training.  (I got Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins and Ron Santo down in Mesa, and got guys like Hundley, Beckert, Kessinger, and many others at my one and only Cubs Convention.)  

So that's about it.  There is plenty to say about each and every one of those topics, but for now, that will suffice.  Now go buy a Scott Dyson horror short story!  (Thanks, if you do so...)

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So what's going on?

Maybe a blog titled "Chitown Sports Ramblings" should occasionally have a post expressing an opinion about, oh, I don't know, Chicago sports? 

Well, I did have that one about the Hawks about a month ago.  And one about the Bulls in April.  And then there were the ones about the Bulls in March and January. 

But not too much on any sort of regular basis.  And I don't see that changing (the 'regular basis' thing). 

I thought that maybe I'd put up a couple of thoughts in short form about potential future topics for me to post about, all the while hoping that maybe someone will see and buy the anthology QUANTUM ZOO that my short SF story will be part of, to be released on June 17th.  So here goes:

The Black Hawks need a jolt, perhaps, but no major changes.  Everyone always complains about the lack of a second line center to go with superstar Patrick Kane (and apparently Andrew Shaw is NOT that guy).  They don't appear to have a good candidate in their system, but maybe it will turn out that they DO have someone and we're just not aware of him yet.  Barring that, a trade may make sense - if it brings a quality player and doesn't sacrifice something vital to the Hawks' future.  What's vital to the Hawks' future?  That's another good question. 

The Cubs have shown some signs of life, winning 5 of their last 6 versus the Mets and Marlins.  The promise of Anthony Rizzo is becoming more apparent, and Starlin Castro has looked better this year than last (even if consistency is still a problem).  But the big issue is the pitching, which has been pretty good.  Jeff Samardzija has pitched like an ace most of the time.  He's just about in the prime of his career.  The Cubs have indicated that they'd give big money to players that made sense for the big picture.  So what about Samardzija doesn't fit?  They talk like they want to deal him before the deadline, along with Jason Hamel, who has also been pretty good.  But why?  I'm not sure this makes sense to me.

Sox hit the jackpot with Jose Abreu, or so it seems so far.  Made a good signing with Adam Eaton, and they've improved themselves up the middle.  Their pitching has been up and down, but they're hovering around .500.  Is that what they are, a .500 team?  Or can they be better?  I think they can make a nice run.  I don't know if they're a division champ, but I think they can be a wild card contender.  They may need to acquire a pitcher, however.  Maybe the Cubs have someone that will make sense for them. 

The Bulls have two picks in the first round of the draft, and apparently they've made an offer to Minnesota for Kevin Love.  I'm not sure Love is a HUGE upgrade over Taj Gibson, who is reported to be part of the package offered to Minnesota, along with Jimmy Butler, the rights to Nikolai Mirotich (spelling?) and possible draft picks.  But he's DIFFERENT.  Love, Noah and Rose to go with...who at shooting guard and who at small forward?  A resigned Deng?  Anthony?  A draft pick or a free agent?  I just don't know.

And finally, the Bears:  A nice draft and a nice free agent season put them in the thick of things in their division.  They've improved their defense and not made any significant downgrades (except backup quarterback) to their offense.  Should be a nice year. 

Perhaps I'll get time to write a bit more in depth in the near future on some of these topics.  Thank you for reading!

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Thanks!

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Arrow pointing up or down?

Bulls:

Derrick Rose is back and looks to be pretty well recovered from his torn ACL from the 2011/2012 season playoffs.  Dunleavy is probably an upgrade from both Kyle Korver and the Italian guy from last year (I can't even remember his name).  Hinrich moving to the second unit is an upgrade from Nate Robinson, though Robinson was outstanding offensively last year, better than Hinrich likely will be.  Marcus Teague is a year better, and the frontcourt rotation of Noah, Boozer, Gibson and Nazr Mohammed should be similar to what it was last year.  Jimmy Butler was a revelation in the playoffs and should be solid at the two guard.  Undefeated in preseason. 

The arrow is pointing up.

Bears:

Cutler and Briggs both injured.  Melton already out for the year.  Peppers looking like his age might be catching up with him.  Tillman still looking good but fighting injuries.  Defense in general has gone the wrong direction.  O line looks improved, running game should continue to be solid.  Tight end is a 100% improvement.  But...Cutler out for minimum 4 weeks. 

Arrow pointing down.

Black Hawks:

All the stars back and healthy.  Some role players gone (I always liked Dave Bolland) but there are others to step in and take their places.  Corey Crawford locked up, hopefully he continues to perform.  Looking good so far. 

Arrow pointing flat.  How can it go up from a Stanley Cup Championship?!?!

White Sox:

Konerko a shadow of his former self, and may be gone.  Relatively young arms like Danks and Floyd and Quintana and Chris Sale are average to very good, but a couple (Danks and Floyd) are injury prone.  Defense was horrid last year.  Will it improve?  How? 

Arrow pointing down.

Cubs:

Figuring things out with their young "stars" - are they really star major leaguers or are they run-of-the-mill guys?  (I'm talking about Castro and Rizzo.)  Young stud prospects are still at least one season away.  Pitching is rough after Samarzidja and Travis Wood.  Edwin Jackson is an expensive journeyman.  Scott Baker might help.  Ryan Sweeney and Nate Schuerholz at least give them a little something in the outfield.  There will be a new manager, but we don't know who yet. 

For 2014, arrow pointing down.
For 2015, arrow starts to point upward, we hope. 

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Baseball Trading Deadline...

So here we are at the All Star Break, and both the Cubs and White Sox are about 14 games out, thought the Cubs have the better record.

Both teams are sellers as we approach the deadline for non-waiver deals.  Both teams have a few chips.  The Sox have Alex Rios and Jake Peavy, both of who they would love to more.  The Cubs have Matt Garza, who may be the best available pitcher in baseball, if not for the fact that he is a free agent at the end of the year.

Others could go as well.  I've read that the Sox wouldn't mind moving Alexi Ramirez and of course they'd let Adam Dunn go at the drop of a hat, if there was a taker.  They've already moved lefty reliever Matt Thornton to the BoSox.  The Cubs have already moved Scott Feldman, and I would guess they would consider trading Edwin Jackson for the right amount of prospects.  Likewise with David DeJesus, Kevin Gregg, and Nate Schuerholz, if the deals make sense.  Like Dunn, the Cubs also would move Soriano provided they don't have to eat every last bite of his contract, and Carlos Marmol.

Here's how I feel about trade deadline deals.  There are a couple of reasons to make trades.  First, you want salary relief.  (See Alfonso Soriano.)  Second, you have a young player coming up the ladder who you want to make playing time for.  Third, you can get players who likely can help you in the future.

As a Cubs fan, I've seen too many of the "salary dump" types of deals where the players coming back are little more than minor league roster filler, no matter how management tried to spin them.  That was a different management team.  This year it's different.  It seems perhaps the Cubs have people in place who can actually evaluate talent.

Still, I wouldn't trade a guy like Kevin Gregg for nothing.  Cash in on him, yes.  He's been really good as closer since being signed off the major league scrap heap, and if someone wants to give the team one of those players who can help you in the future, not just minor league filler but a true prospect, by all means deal him.  But to trade him for this year's version of Micah Bowie, I don't think I'd do it.  First, he doesn't cost much.  Second, there is no young player pushing for innings in the closer role.  Third, he is helping the team win a few games.

See, I feel these two teams still have an obligation to their fans to try to put a major league quality product on the field.  This obligation will continue unless they slash ticket prices to minor league levels or something not much more than that.  If someone tells me that they are "building for the future but sacrificing the present", I will tell them that I don't feel I should pay premium prices for an admittedly inferior product, especially one that is inferior by design.  I'm all for getting better, but I still don't have to spend my money on bad baseball.

Right now Kevin Gregg makes the Cubs a little better.  If they can get a real prospect for him go for it.  But don't deal him just to be trading him, and have some B-level prospect come back to the organization in return.  I feel the same way about Schuerholz, Scott Hairston and others.  They are major leaguers and I'd like to see them stay around.

Unless they bring back real prospects in return, as we all expect Matt Garza to do.  Maybe not that quality of prospect, but still - guys with a major league future.

Let's see what happens now...

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Chicago Sports Bits

Just a few notes that have struck me as 2013 takes over...

The Bears, despite finishing 10-6, didn't make the playoffs and promptly fired coach Lovie Smith.  Their coaching search has extended to 13 different names, including 7 current NFL offensive coordinators.  Lovie was a decent coach, but did not seem to have the ability to develop a consistent offense, and it was definitely time to move in a different direction.

The Cubs signed Edwin Jackson, a guy who seems to have been on most of the teams in MLB, to a relatively long term contract.  Four years, I think...and something around 52 million total, if I recall correctly.

The White Sox said goodbye to A.J. Pierzynski, their long time catcher and one of the few holdovers from their 2005 world championship team.  A.J. was looking for a big money committment and the Sox have a younger player, Tyler Flowers, who is ready and needs the opportunity.  As long as A.J. was here, he wasn't going to get it.  He may flop, but that's the way of the world.  Out goes the old, in comes the new.  Can't wait till it is too late...

The Black Hawks will apparently have a few games to play this season, since the strike appears to be settled.  By this time, however, are there enough people left who care?

And finally, the Bulls have held their own without Derrick Rose, going something like 19-12 up until today.  Apparently it projects to a 49 win season without Rose, who is coming back soon.  Guys like Gibson and Jimmy Butler are stepping up their game a little, which is a very good thing.  Hinrich and Nate Robinson will be an upgrade in the backcourt over last year's C.J. Watson/John Lucas tandem, and though Kyle Korver was better overall, I think this Belinelli kid seems to be getting a little more comfortable and he too can be a three point threat.

Have a happy new year!!!

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Almost 3 months...

A lot can happen in 3 months.  And maybe it did.  But I didn't blog about any of it.  So here goes:

• The Cubs are still terrible.  Actually they were approaching respectable when the trade deadline showed up and several Cubs found themselves in new locations.  Gone are Soto, Baker, Maholm, Reed Johnson, and Ryan Dempster. Marlon Byrd was gone a long time ago.  In return we got...well, no one for the major league roster.  Since then they've only won 2 or 3 games.  Those guys were replaced by names like Castillo and Clevenger, Brett Johnson, Josh Vitters, Anthony Rizzo, Tony Campana, and a host of minor league arms vying for a major league tryout.  No one on the pitching staff to get too excited about.  But Rizzo is showing a major league bat.  There's always next year.  In the Cubs' case, though, it's looking like "next year" is two or three years away at the minimum.
• The White Sox are in first place, hanging in there against a good Detroit team.  Starting pitching, namely Peavy, Quintana and Chris Sale, have been very good.  Floyd and Humber, not as good.  Danks, injured.  Rios is having a great year.  Dunn is having a very good year.  I hope they can hang in there.
• The Bears look more loaded than I can ever remember on offense, with Forte and Bush in the backfield, Cutler at QB and Brandon Marshall and rookie Alshawn Jeffrey (sp?) looking solid at wide receivers.  Their defense looks solid, Brian Urlacher's health notwithstanding.  Special teams should be fine.  It could be a fun season.
• Lastly, the Bulls had to remake their bench, saying goodbye to CJ Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, and Omer Asik, replacing them with Kirk Hinrich (hello again!), Vlad Radmonanov (sp again?), Nazr Mohammed, rookie Marcus Teague, and a bigger role for Jimmy Butler.  I actually like this bunch better.  Mohammed is a long time NBA backup who won't make dumb mistakes and who can score at least a little bit.  Vlad can shoot threes, and Hinrich will be an upgrade at point until D. Rose comes back.  He's better than Watson at defense and at running the offense.  And everyone says Butler is ready for the much bigger role.  He looked it to me, last year. 

So there it is...the summer of 2012 in a nutshell.  Or at least my take on it.  I know I didn't mention the Black Hawks, but I don't know what to say about them.  Did they do anything besides getting photographed shirtless in Madison Wisconsin? 

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Chitown Sports Update

I haven't been very good about updating this blog, so if you're depending on it for your
Chicago sports news, you've been disappointed and are ill-informed. 

But what the heck?  I thought I'd throw out these totally obvious factoids just to have something to post.

• The Cubs suck.  Oh, they've won three in a row, but they aren't good.  I understand that they're building for the future, but c'mon.  They should be able to score a few runs on occasion.  During their 12 game losing streak, it seemed that they couldn't buy a run or a hit. 
• The White Sox are good.  I suspected that they might be.  It all hinged on their pitching, and Danks, Floyd and Peavy are quality major leaguers.  Humber was pretty good last year, and their fifth starter has been solid, from what I've seen and heard.  (Can't think of his name.)  Everyone seemed to think that because Dunn and Rios were bad last year, they'd be equally bad this year.  They haven't been.  Getting them to play to their major league averages is like adding two solid free agents.  And that's why I thought they'd be better than a lot of people were saying they'd be before the season started.
• The Bulls were exposed in the playoffs.  They really didn't have anyone who could back up Derrick Rose, and it showed.  Rose was injured much of the year and while Watson, John Lucas III and Mike James did decent jobs, and at times way better than decent, their lack of postseason exposure (especially Lucas) showed.  When Noah went down, they were cooked.  I didn't understand why Thibs didn't go with Boozer and Gibson instead of starting Asik, but it is what it is.  5 and out.  Wait till next year...and they probably won't be all that good since Rose won't be there to start the season (probably out till December) and Deng may not be there to start the season either.  If I were the Bulls, I'd probably try to build for the following season and not worry about next year.  Let Boozer play a lot, hope he's better in the fourth quarter, and you're one year closer to the end of his contract.  (And who knows?  Maybe he lives up to it finally, next year.)
• The Black Hawks were a disappointment.  They just couldn't get it going in the playoffs and were 6 and out (I think it was).  Goaltending has been a problem since Niemi was allowed to leave.  Hope for better things next year.  They have the horses (if Hossa can come back from that horrific hit in the playoffs)...
• The Bears look to have had an excellent off-season, with their new GM Phil Emery addressing the weakness at wide receiver and picking up some help in the draft for the defense.  They didn't do much with the O-line, but maybe they figure with Tice moving to offensive coordinator, this group will suit the playbook...or maybe it's the opposite and the playbook will suit this group.  Either way, as long as they get Forte back, Cutler should have some weapons and I'm looking forward to watching them next year.

That's all for now.  Have a great summer.  I'll try to post more often (optimistically assuming that I have a reader or two...)

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Pitchers and catchers...

Some of my favorite words in pro sports are "pitchers and catchers report..." and it's coming up. I don't know the exact dates for either Chicago team but I think it must be sometime in the upcoming week.

So for the Sox, they have some solid pitchers coming. Their candidates for their rotation are John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Edwin Jackson, Mark Buehrle, and Jake Peavy, if he's ready. Chris Sale has apparently been working all winter to get a chance to start. So the Sox appear to be set with some combination of those six. Their bullpen is in a little more flux. They did sign the guy from the Twins (can't recall his name) and they still have Thornton and Sergio Santos, but Bobby Jenks is gone and their closer role is a little up in the air.

On the north side, the Cubs will go to camp with Zambrano and Matt Garza at the top of their rotation. Ryan Dempster slots in next, with Randy Wells, Carlos Silva and a couple of youngsters out of the group of arms that gave them starts last year competing for the back of the rotation. Their bullpen is a little more settled, with Marmol returning in his role as closer and many of the same names as last year.

Pierzynski and Soto return to backstop their respective team's rotation.

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A look at the past

I'm a bit of a packrat, and while I was cleaning out old magazines today in my office, I came across an old SI that contained an article called "The Next Generation". The magazine is dated August 22, 2005, and the article is "SI's All-25-and-Under Team". Here's the names from the article:



Catcher Joe Mauer, age 22

1B Albert Pujols, 25 (honorable mention to Texiera, 25)

2B Rickie Weeks, 22

SS Bobby Crosby, 25

3B David Wright, 22

Utility Inf Jose Reyes, 22

OF Miguel Cabrera, 22

Grady Sizemore, 23

Carl Crawford, 24

SP's Rich Harden, 23

Jake Peavy, 24

Mark Prior, 24

Dontrelle Willis, 23

Carlos Zambrano, 24



Closer Francisco Rodriguez, 23



I thought it was sort of interesting that all of the starters have been related to Chicago teams in some way; 4 for the Cubs (two were Cubs at the time of the article) and 1 for the Sox. I thought it also interesting that not a single position player was from either organization in Chicago, and none can be associated with any of them either. FWIW...


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Sox ink Konerko, Cubs get Pena

The White Sox signed Paul Konerko, their own free agent first baseman, to a three year deal for something around 37 million. This is on top of signing Adam Dunn, presumably to split time at first and DH with Konerko, and resigning AJ Pierzynski.

The Cubs, meanwhile, signed Carlos Pena, a LH first baseman with some power, from the Tigers. He hit only .196 last year (but had a .340 OBP), and apparently this is good enough for a 1 year 10 million dollar deal.

The Cubs are also said to be interested in dealing for Matt Garza, whom the Rays would apparently like to trade for prospects.

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Chitown Sports Update

• No news, really, from either major league baseball team. We're starting to hear a name here and there that the teams might be interested in, like Jon Garland and Adam LaRoche on the north side, and of course Adam Dunn on the south side, if Paul Konerko decides to go to Arizona to finish his career. But nothing concrete.




• The Bulls appear to be improving, beating the Golden State Warriors soundly at home, then handling the Washington Wizards, also at home. Now they go on their circus trip, 7 road games in a row. Three will be in Texas, then it's on to Los Angeles and other west coast teams. This trip has been the downfall of many Bulls' teams, and was even hard for the team back in the Jordan days. But this is a new team. It will be interesting to see how they handle it. I heard one beat reporter say that he thought if they came back 2-5, they'd have to consider it a decent trip.




• The Black Hawks have looked like anything but defending Stanley Cup champs, but I think they're finally getting healthy. Dave Boland gets back soon (maybe he has already returned!) and Marion Hossa should be back soon. They too depart on their own extended road trip while the circus is in town.




• The Bears are 6-3 after beating the Vikings at home yesterday. That isn't at all bad. Certainly better than most expected. They're 3-0 in the division, tied by record for the top spot, but owning the tie breaker with Green Bay. Currently that puts them in first place in the NFC North.




• Earlier in the year I read that the Bears' offensive line would need about half the season to really get comfortable with the new scheme and with each other. They've played better the last couple weeks in victories over the Buffalo Bills and now the Vikings. And they go to Miami, on a short week, with Miami down to their third string QB, and their right tackle and their leading rusher listed as doubtful for Thursday night's game.

That's it for today, I think.

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Chicago Sports News

Okay, here's the bare bones:

Bears are 3 and 1. They looked terrible in Week 4 but not bad in weeks 1 through 3. Cutler got a concussion in their loss after being sacked an NFL record 9 times in one half.

Bulls opened their preseason, and Carlos Boozer, their big signing, is already out for 8 weeks with a broken hand. They did NOT make a trade for Carmelo Anthony, and they DID sign Joakim Noah to a 5 year, 60 million dollar contract extension. Derrick Rose will come up soon enough; he'll likely command a max deal.

Cubs won a lot more under Mike Quade than they did under Lou Piniella, but still were under .500 and have a lot of question marks to address in the offseason. More about that, hopefully, as the year goes on.

Sox couldn't make that final push to stay in front of the Twins, and fell off at the end of the year. Still, not a terrible season for them. They have a couple things to address in the offseason, but they should be strong next year.

Black Hawks have a very new look except for their stars, and have not looked bad in the preseason. But they haven't looked unbeatable or anything, either. Season starts tomorrow.

And that's a wrap for today!

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So what's there to talk about?

It would appear that there would be plenty to say about the world of Chicago sports. After all, the Sox are in the hunt, 4 1/2 back of the Twins and playing well still. And the Bears' season is imminent, even though they went 0-4 in the preseason.

But there is no real Bulls news right now, and the Cubs are an afterthought to most people, though I'm still interested in what they might do for their manager next year and in seeing how the young players that they've brought up are doing.

I guess I could talk about acquisitions for our teams: The Sox have gotten starting pitcher Edwin Jackson from the D-backs for prospect Daniel Hudson, and also got Manny Ramirez in a waiver deal. These would seem to have addressed their two weaknesses: a fifth starter (after Peavy went down) and some left handed power. And they have been playing well with the new guys.

On the other side of town, the Cubs traded off Derrick Lee and Ted Lilly (big contracts) and Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot (smaller contracts), and come away with one major leaguer: 2nd baseman Blake Dewitt from the Dodgers. Apparently some pretty good pitching prospects came along with DeWitt from the Dodgers, and some decent arms came from the Braves for Lee. So we're seeing a combination of Micah Hoffpauir (the time to see what he could do was two years ago probably) and Xavier Nady at 1st base and we're seeing DeWitt and Darwin Barney at second. (They're stuck with Soriano and Zambrano, so may as well just sit back and hope for the best...)

And the Bears - well, what can I say? They don't look good. But they might surprise us. Fingers crossed.

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Chicago Baseball

From the "Not-really-breaking News" department:

The Chisox are still in the hunt for a division title, but the Twins are currently in front by 4 games with two more left to play in their series with the Sox in Minnesota. Could they use a big left-handed bat? It appears so...and it is also painfully obvious that they had that guy in Jim Thome but didn't want to pay him.

They need to take the next two, I think, in order to get back in the race. Some have said that if they leave this series 4 down, they're okay, but I think losing the series would do more harm than where they are in the standings.

The Cubs, on the other hand, are still losing. Another 1-0 loss last night to the Padres, exposing their lack of hitting. Yes the Pads have good pitching (Jon Garland was the guy last night; he was a guy I sorta hoped the Cubs would take a look at in the offseason last year) but still.

Apparently Atlanta is looking to do a waiver deal for Derrick Lee. Lee does not want to leave Chicago, or so I thought...so would he waive his no-trade rights to go to first place Atlanta? Perhaps... I don't know what good it would do for the Cubs unless they get salary relief and plan on using that relief for the betterment of the team instead of just making the new owner's bottom line look better.

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Changes in Chicago Baseball...

...were few and not very inspiring...

The Cubs did complete one deadline deal, sending Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot and cash to the Dodgers for infielder Blake DeWitt and (I believe) two minor league arms. This deal made the starting rotation weaker, but didn't affect the everyday lineup very much, since DeWitt steps in where Theriot stepped out. Theriot was a fan favorite, with his attitude and his work ethic, and Lilly has been a solid starter for 3 1/2 years. When they signed him to a 4 year, 44 million dollar contract, I thought he was overpaid, but it turned out that Lilly has been worth every dollar of his deal, unlike a certain other Cub righthanded starting pitcher.

The White Sox dealt rookie Daniel Hudson to the AZ Diamondbacks for Edwin Jackson. Jackson has a ton of talent but hasn't had much success this year. His first start for the Chisox looked good, so maybe he can turn it around and help them stay in first place.

Though I didn't really expect deals for any of the bigger names on the Cubs, there were no pleasant surprises and Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Silva, and Alfonso Soriano are still all Cubs. And Adam Dunn is NOT a Chisox.

Meanwhile, the Cubs continue to lose, and the Sox had a rough weekend against a (suddenly) hot Baltimore team that just changed their manager, hiring Buck Showalter and trying to change their fortunes for the future. The Sox hold their lead by 1/2 game over the Twins with a big series coming up against them.

Go Sox!

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Trade Deadline Looming

As July 31st approaches, the teams on both ends of town have some opportunities. For the North-siders, the opportunity to shed some salary and move some players that aren't part of the future has to be explored and taken advantage of if possible. And for the South-siders, they are in first place and there might be a move or two that can put them over the top.

For the Cubs, the players they'd like to move include Ted Lilly (probably the most attractive of their properties), Kosuke Fukudome (it'll take a miracle) and Derrick Lee (should be attractive to some teams). Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano are likely untradable because of their huget contracts. But if someone wanted a DH and was willing to accept a pretty good part of his salary, I believe they'd trade Soriano in a heartbeat. They probably don't, however, want to pay the lion's share of that 18 million a year for the next four years to watch him DH for an AL team.

The Sox could really use a big left handed bat and maybe another starting pitcher, since Peavy is down for the rest of the year. But those LH run producers are few and far between, and will cost a lot in terms of prospects. Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder are the two who are being talked about, and both will likely cost Gordon Beckham and maybe Daniel Hudson.

How about this one? Now I don't claim to know the Sox's prospects like I do the Cubs, but what if they could put something together where the Sox get Lilly and Aramis Ramirez, and the Cubs get Dayan Visciano, the Cuban third baseman, a couple of pitching prospects and maybe a top AA prospect? Ramirez has a player option for 2011, and I believe it is only for one year at about 15 million. There was the thought that he would opt out because he could likely get more for longer, and that's still a possibility, even with his crappy start to the season. He's hitting now, and he plays a pretty good third base. Lilly is a quality middle of the rotation guy who is a free agent after the season.

The Sox get their run producer and an everyday third bagger, even if ARam is not a lefty, and another solid guy for their already very good rotation. And they don't give up either Hudson or Beckham. The Cubs get a guy with some major league experience and a lot of upside in Visciano, who can step in and play third every day, and salary relief.

The Sox would be pretty well set, and Ramirez could also step in and DH when Vizquel plays third, giving them a very potent lineup. The Cubs will likely still try to move Lee for prospects, and will likely continue to try to deal Fukudome and pay a bunch of his salary. The Fukudome move makes sense because he's only signed for one more year, and Colvin NEEDS to play now. So if it were me, I'd pay 7 or 8 million next year to move Fukudome now. Maybe even a bit more.

It will be very interesting to see what plays out in the next few days.

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B-ball (Base- and Basket-) Bits

Some comments on our Chicago teams in action and in the news:

The White Sox are playing like I thought they were capable of playing at the beginning of the year. They've won 6 straight and 8 of their last 9 (the one loss coming against the Cubs in the crosstown series at Wrigley). They've hit .500 and are starting to hit the ball and get some better pitching. Of course, those 9 games were against the Cubs, the Pirates and the Nationals. So how they'll do against better upcoming competition should tell us all we need to know about this year's White Sox team.

The Cubs got a decent performance out of Big Z, and everyone hit against a pretty good Angels team on Sunday. But this followed a blowout on Saturday and a tough loss on Friday. Tyler Colvin seems to be getting more at bats and is still hitting. They've been getting some better pitching and have more stability in the pen. But it hasn't been translating into wins until yesterday. Hopefully they'll start showing up more and winning some games.

The Bulls have the excitement of this year's free agent signing period, where they're planning on being players for the big names like LeBron, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudamire, and maybe even Dwayne Wade. Of course the biggest of those names is LeBron, and we have to wait and see what he does. It doesn't look to be a fast process.

Upcoming this Thursday is the NBA draft, and the Bulls will pick at 17, assuming that they don't trade the pick in a sign and trade for Bosh or Boozer. Tom Thibideux will be announced as head coach on Wednesday, as he comes off the NBA finals series with the Lakers, where his Celtics lost it in the 4th quarter of game 7. Who, and indeed, if the Bulls select at 17 should tell us something about what they feel they're going to be able to do in free agency.

Stay tuned...

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Cubs, White Sox 2010 Amateur Draft Picks

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The Cubs selected Hayden Simpson, a 6'0" right handed pitcher from Southern Arkansas. Baseball America ranks him 191 out of their top 200 prospects, and say that he throws a low 90's fastball and hard breaking stuff. He went 35-2 at an NCAA Division II school.

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The White Sox, selecting 4 picks before the Cubs (13 vs 17) selected Chris Sale, a left-handed pitcher from Florida Gulf Coast. Baseball America has Sale ranked as their third best pitcher in the draft, and fifth overall. He's 6'6" but only weighs 183, and they say he throws two plus pitches for strikes.

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As a Cubs fan, I have to have faith in Tim Wilken. So far he's done an admirable job of rebuilding the Cubs' farm system. Tyler Colvin and Andrew Cashner are two of his picks who are up and contributing at the major league level.

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Sports Bits from Chitown

Here it is, already April 16th! We're a couple weeks into the baseball season, the NHL playoffs have started, the NBA playoffs start tomorrow, and the NFL draft is coming up. We have representative teams in both of these playoffs, though the expectations for the Hawks and the Bulls are polar opposites - the Hawks are expected to go deep and compete for the Stanley Cup, and the Bulls are expected to be one and done versus Lebron and the Cavaliers.

In baseball, so far our mediocrity is showing on both sides of town. The Cubs are 4 and 5 through yesterday, and their middle relief is the problem so far. They are at a payroll point where they cannot add any more veterans, so instead are depending on names like Justin Berg, Esmail Caridad (currently injured), Jeff Gray, and Jeff Samarzidja (spelling?). All young players, all unproven, all potentially inconsistent.

The problems on the South Side look to be their 5th starter and perhaps their offense. Freddy Garcia has been rocked a couple of times now, I believe, and I have my doubts that he can get better. He might just be done. I personally believe that their offense will be okay in the long run. It looks like Andruw Jones has something left in the tank, and if Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez can hit, they should be fine. Juan Pierre made a boneheaded baserunning blunder yesterday against the Blue Jays, but offensively he'll be fine for them. They just need to come together.

I won't expose my ignorance about the Bears any more than I have to, but they do not pick until the third round in the upcoming college draft. There is a slim chance that they are going to deal tight end Greg Olsen and that could produce another pick, maybe even as high as a second rounder. But in this uncapped year, it looks like they've done what they're going to do. We shouldn't be too upset - they did get the best player out there in Julius Peppers, and filled other needs with a blocking tight end and a running back (Chester Taylor).

So here we go. Hold onto your hats, the real action is coming up!