Signing pitchers like it's 1999

The Cubs have made a couple moves lately. The most recent was bringing back Jon Lieber to my Cubbies for a 1 year deal. Last year they had Steve Traschel (and smartly let him walk this offseason) and this year they sign Lieber? Our pitching staff wasn't all that good back then. Back when we had both of those guys, Kyle Farnsworth was a starter! Do you remember that? Me neither. Bringing those guys back on the wrong side of 37 might not have been a good call. That being said, a lot of people think we can use some extra help at the end of the rotation. I disagree. I think Marshall can be as effective as Lieber, but I guess we'll see.

The way I see it, we have 7 starting pitchers now: Zambrano, Rich Hill, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Sean Marshall, Ryan Dempster and now Jon Lieber. I'm hoping we make a move to ship one of these guys out for something decent. My choice would be to let Dempster and /or Marquis walk. I would hope you could couple them with Matt Murton and get something decent back. Maybe a shortstop? I like Murton, but we have both corner outfielders locked up until 2011 (and Soriano beyond that). I think Murton can start in leftfield for someone. We just don't have the room. If you can't play him, get something for him.

Another recent move was letting Mark Prior go to the Padres in free agency. I have to say I'm upset about this. I think they should have dumped the cash in good faith and tried to keep him around. You know he's going to bounce back eventually. Maybe not to the same form, but the guy's a good pitcher. I think that's one they will regret.

LaRussa = Jackass

Was Tony LaRussa asleep in the dugout when he sent Aaron Rowand to the plate with the bases loaded? I like Rowand and he is a pretty good center fielder who happens to be awesome at running into stuff, but he's no Pujols. It pains me to say it, but Albert's destruction of Lidge's career in the 2005 NLCS has to rank in the top ten coolest baseball moments that I've watched on TV. At the time, Lights Out Lidge was best closer in the game with the nastiest slider, but since that bomb got dropped on his head, he's Kyle Farnesworth without the ass kicking factor.
This leads me to be even more pissed off about the "Now it counts" rule. The tie game in Milwaukee was consequence of bad luck, but it was the right decision. There were a lot of other ways to avoid it, like adding 2 or 3 pitchers and telling manager to not use pitchers for 1 batter. Now the World Series champion could be determined by Devil Ray Carl Crawford's home run in an exhibition game. Since when do the Devil Rays matter, except to guarantee Yankee and Red Sox 15 wins a year.
I just thought of a better way to determine the 7th game of the World Series. If the series is tied 3-3, I say we take inspiration from the soccer World Cup and solve it with a skills challenge. Take each teams 5 best players and fly them to Las Vegas and see who can hit more dongs off of a pitching machine chucking those dimpled orange balls. At least then it won't be determined by a manager making a point with a player or a Devil Ray, and ESPN would love it because Berman gets to do a few more "Back, Back Back's".

The Rumble in the Dugout

My Cubbies are on a slide. The season has not started out as everyone had hoped. Highest expectations were a 90 win team and average expectations were they could win 81 - 85. Unfortunately, the bullpen (a relative strength last year) has fallen apart. There has been no timely hitting and while 3 starters have been solid (Hill, Lilly & Marquis), the ace of the staff (Crazy Carlos Zambrano) has struggled. Things boiled over yesterday while Zambrano was in the middle of a meltdown. Big Z's ERA this season is a hefty 5.62, while he has never had a season ERA over 3.66 in his career.

Zambrano threw a pitch low and outside while Barrett was obviously expecting it inside. Michael ole'd the catch and let it pass. He then had a throwing error in to the outfield. When the inning was over, Carlos came at Michael, pointing to his head as if to say, "Where is your head?!?" Michael then pointed to the scoreboard and likely said something to the effect of, "Those 15 hits weren't my fault." The two came to slap-fight blows before they were very quickly broken up. Apparently the ruckus boiled over again in the clubhouse and Barrett went to the hospital for stitches to his mouth after the game.

2 things here:

1. Never fight a Cubs pitcher. Anyone remember when Farnsworth football-tackled Paul Wilson of the Reds who decided to walk towards the mound? Farnsworth pummeled him! The guy left with a shirt full of blood. Have you seen Carlos after a good inning or bad at-bat? The guy is nuts! He breaks bats on his knee and fist pumps like he's Ali. And Barrett? His last fight, he threw a sucker punch and failed to even phase Pierzynski. Bet on Crazy Carlos.

2. This had better energize the team. Carlos has already taken full blame for the fight and I think the two of them will be fine as it comes to teammates. But, Lou Pineilla had better get his stuff together. These guys need a fire under them and if Lou can get everyone together and really energize the team, they could string together some wins. He needs to throw a tantrem during a game, and soon. Get tossed. Throw bases, cuss at umps. I know he's got the fire. Energize and rally your team around this and get us some wins!