Mike Fontenot is a Third Baseman
For the balance of Aramis Ramirez’s absence, it appears Mike Fontenot will be the Chicago Cubs’ primary third baseman.
“I think what you’re seeing is the way we’ll go,” manager Lou Piniella said of Saturday’s lineup, with Fontenot at third and Bobby Scales at second. Scales had been given a chance to try third as well. “Fontenot is honestly our best option there. When we get Aaron Miles back [from the disabled list] it will help the situation too. But we feel very comfortable with Fontenot at third, and we can use Scales and [Andres] Blanco at second.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Fontenot’s bat – ice cold in late April through most of May – has started to come around, and frankly, he’s looked pretty serviceable at third. So this appears to be the right decision.
Of course, it leaves a gaping offensive hole at second base, but that’s beside the point, I suppose. That tends to happen when your best hitter goes down for several months.
Enhanced Box Score: Dodgers 0, Cubs 7 – May 30, 2009
That was the first game in a long time where it felt like the Cubs were going to win from the word go.
The Cublogoverse is BOOOOOOOOO!
There was an excellent dialogue flying back and forth in the Cublogoverse a couple weeks ago (yes, yes, I’m late to the party) on the subject of booing. It’s actually consistently a hot topic in the Cubs world year in, year out. It must have something to do with the combination of increased expectations and continued suck (the boo side), along with rich history and a loving fan base (the no boo side).
Well two of my favorite Cublogoverse blogs, Not Qualified to Comment and Another Cubs Blog got into a war of words on the subject – culminating in boos on both sides.
Details on the spat, and my thoughts on booing, after the jump
Obsessive New Ownerwatch: Actually, Maybe it Will Happen Soon?
Without getting into complicated finance stuff (that I don’t fully understand), the gist is that this past week, lending institutions got a whole lot less likely to be happy about doing long-term financing, especially at the very nice interest rates of a month ago. Folks in the know (read: not me) were afraid that this could put the kuybash on the Ricketts deal – recall, the Tribune is requiring Ricketts to get financing for the majority of the deal (as opposed to just paying cash) so that it can save on its capital gains when it sells the team.
But, sources close to the deal are now saying it may go down sooner rather than later, despite the recent financial turmoil.
Read about the Cubs sale, after the jump
Enhanced Box Score: Dodgers 1, Cubs 2 – May 29, 2009
Turnabout is fair play, eh Dodgers? Beating Billingsley is a serious accomplishment. Series is tied 1-1, and a split would be juuuust fine with me.
Obsessive New Ownerwatch: MLB Peeved at Slow Pace
We’ve all accepted the fact that the Cubs sale is not going to be finalized any time soon. But it sounds like MLB is none too pleased about that fact.
A highly placed MLB source said Wednesday that the slow pace has been due to the ongoing negotiations between Ricketts and Zell, as well as between Ricketts and the banks, not any red tape on MLB’s end.
“It’s not even on our desk,” the MLB source said. “We can’t do anything until we have it. We wish we had it already.” chicagotribune.com.
As you’ll recall, the slow pace of the deal is driven in tandem by the frosty availability of credit, and the Tribune’s insistence that purchaser Tom Ricketts finance the majority of the deal (so that it can avoid some of the adverse tax consequences of its tremendous capital gain on the team).
More, and some troubling concerns, after the jump
Carlos Zambrano Suspended for Six Games, Won’t Appeal
Major League Baseball suspended Carlos Zambrano for six games for his outburst on Wednesday, culminating in a street beating of the dugout Gatorade machine.
Zambrano does not plan to appeal the ruling and the suspension period begins with tonight’s game.
The MLB statement said the suspension was for “inappropriate and violent actions” on and off the field. Daily Herald.
The suspension is essentially the equivalent of one start for Zambrano, which leads me to this: it has always struck me as bullshit that suspensions for starting pitchers are always extended so that it causes a missed start. If a positional player and a starting pitcher do the *exact* same thing – bump an ump, say a swear, pee on a base – their suspensions will NOT be the same.
I get that if you suspend a starting pitcher for two games, it doesn’t have an impact on that starter’s games. But the team still plays with a 24-man roster for those two games. Same punishment for same activities. That’s all I’m saying.
Obsessive Harden Shoulder, er Backwatch: Harden Could be Out Several Weeks
The good news is that Rich Harden’s shoulder seems to be holding up despite a pre-existing tear.
The bad news is that the seemingly manufactured back injury is actually real. And actually kind of bad. Slipped into a game recap by the Tribune was this unfortunate nugget:
Rich Harden’s DL time may be extended, and he could miss three or more weeks.
Well that sucks. Fortunately, for now both Randy Wells and Sean Marshall are pitching well enough that the Cubs haven’t noticed Harden’s absence. But as much as I like both Wells and Marshall, you don’t just replace a healthy Rich Harden.
Fortunately, Harden did some tossing yesterday, and apparently responded well. Still, optimistic time-tables have him out another 10 to 14 days – which would put his total time out at right around three weeks.
