Josh Hamilton can hit a baseball, eh?
- Kerry Wood, who gave up the two-run margin in last night’s loss before angrily tossing his glove and hat into the stands, wasn’t too thrilled when reporters asked him about that frustrated act. ”Irrelevant, dude. Why the [bleep] would you even bring that up?” Wood then cut off questions, and walked away. I actually didn’t think it was a big deal, and he undoubtedly made the nights of two Cubs fans, who otherwise would have left pissed off and without a story.
- Before that, Wood spoke about his performance, in which he said he threw good pitches (beg to differ…). “The shoulder is great and that’s the frustrating thing,” said Wood. “I bounced back from the [cortisone] injection and the shoulder feels great, stuff feels fine. I actually threw some good curveballs tonight for the first time in a while. It’s all about results and I didn’t have any tonight.”
- Tickets go on sale Saturday for the June 14 Hot Stove Cool Music concert at Metro in Chicago featuring Smashing Pumpkins (headed by super-awesome-musical-genius-screw-you-if-you-think-otherwise Billy Corgan, a big Cubs fan), the Figgs, Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents, members of Buffalo Tom and the Hot Stove All-Stars. Theo Epstein is also scheduled to perform, along with Len Kasper and Bob Brenly. Proceeds benefit Cubs Charities and Theo Epstein’s Foundation to Be Named Later. The Red Sox are in town the next day, and so am I. Which means I’ll miss the chance to party with Theo and Billy by one day. If they just met me, they’d totally want to be my friend, and we’d go on adventures together!
- FanGraphs looks at Starlin Castro versus other young stars through the years, and concludes that he’s good. Yup.
- It’s time to start really thinking about the 2012 Draft, which is less than a month away. If you’re into mock drafts, John Sickels’ Minor League Ball has put together mocks for the first round and the supplemental first round. Right now, they have the Cubs taking Puerto Rican high school shortstop Carlos Correa with the sixth overall pick, JuCo pitcher Dylan Baker at number 43, and then high school outfielder Travis Jankowski at number 56. It’s a fun dance, but keep in mind: because MLB teams don’t really draft to a need, projecting whom they’ll pick after the first round is a total guessing game, unless there have been some private workouts or leaks of targets.
- Speaking of the Draft, Baseball America’s Jim Callis lists the amount available to sign each first rounder (the Cubs get $3.25 million added to their bonus pool (recall, the gist of the new Draft rules is that you get a pool of cash to use on the first 10 rounds of the Draft, and if you go over, there are penalties) for the sixth overall pick, which last year cost $5 million to sign). Speaking of amateur signings, Baseball America’s Ben Badler looks at all the shady ways teams might try to circumvent the international signing limitations.
- There continues to be a number of good conversations going on over at the Message Board, including Dale Sveum’s decision to use Carlos Marmol the other night in a tight game, some Harry Caray bathroom humor (not what it sounds like), Guillermo Mota’s ridiculous explanation for his second PED positive test, and even how to be a good t-ball coach. Check ‘em out, and join the discussions, or start some of your own.
- Today’s MLBullets at BCB focus, predictably, on Josh Hamilton’s feat.
Sorry, I will say otherwise about Corgan/Uncle Fester. That first album with his old band holds up. His solo album? Yow.
I CAST THEE OUT!
(I actually didn’t love his solo work. But all SP stuff, as well as Zwan, is awesome.)
Gish was an amazing album, and Siamese Dream was flat-out brilliant, but I though Mellon Collie could’ve been pared down by half, and haven’t been a fan of much since then. A song here and there, but no great albums. around 1998, I ended up in the same social circles as Billy, and I definitely have to say, to know him is not to love him. Most arrogant man I have ever met. Still a great musician, but whoa.
Yeah, he’s a bit of a megalomaniacal douche. I agree with your assessment of their catalog.
Whimper. Whine. Scratch at Bleacher Nation door. Whine.
I agree by and large on the Smashing Pumpkins output being generally excellent (I think Mellon Collie is one of the more consistently entertaining double albums I have ever purchased… didn’t much care for Adore,) but I thought in addition to having one of the worst album covers in the history of man, Zwan was just kind of uninspired (though apparently a lot of the people who went to the early shows suggest that a lot of the better songs that were being played didn’t make the album).
pumpkins have a new one coming out next month called oceana. corgan claims its the best since mellon collie. we’ll see. i cant get it to the music as much since jimmy, james iha , and darcy left.
Josh Hamilton a free agent in offseason? Playing right field for Cubs? DeJesus/BJax/Hamilton? A guy can dream can’t he?
well if you are going to dream, dream something different then DeJesus. If you are going to be realistic then fine, but no dream should involve DeJESUS
Well…unless that dream is about Kimberly DeJesus. Wow.
I honestly don’t think she’s all that hot. She not ugly by any means, but far from Hot. Her face, eh, at best and she is about as straight at a bat from her stomach down.
So in otherwords, No dreams about Dejesus’s needed. Think Hamilton, BJax and Campana.
The dreaming part is strictly about Hamilton. This team sorely needs some power. Right field or left could save Hamilton’s legs. DD is pretty decent, no complaints for the money. And BJax, it’s half-hoping he lives up to the hype. Campana could be a 4th OF.
That would be LaDiculous without LaHair… Don’t forget Rizzo at 1B. And let’s not forget the Yankees, who’ll be giving Hamilton a blank check.
Gee, I wonder what Sullivan would have said if the glove and hat thing had been done by Zambrano………
Kerry Wood is the Cubs clubhouse leader?
If he’s not I’d say he’s close to it or he contributes with other guys like Garza and Dempster to being a leader. He provides that veteran viewpoint and can teach things to younger bullpen guys. There is more to being a leader then just playing in games. No disrespect to you, but people always seem to undervalue the leadership and knowledge that veteran players can bring to a team.
What is his role as an overpaid clubhouse leader suppose to? He was supposedly given the overblown contract to pitch and pitch well for this team.
Was it an overblown contract? I guess $3mil isn’t a small amount, but it’s less than .5 mill more than Randy Wells is making, and in the context of baseball contracts, seems to be not all that large. Certainly not overblown.
I agree. You can question whether or not you needed to pay a veteran reliver to be on this team, but the contract iteself was extremely fair. And he’s only thrown 4.1 innings this year after being largely innactive in Arizona, so give him a chance to come around before burying him.
“…teach things to younger bullpen guys.”
Throwing your glove into the stands is a great lesson. Acting like an a-hole to a reporter asking about is another wonderful lesson.
The guy can’t pitch or act like a professional adult. It would seem to be impossible to undervalue Kerry Wood.
It’s also often hard to say who a “clubhouse leader” is: it seems to be quite common that the players labeled “clubhouse leaders” by the media are the guys who give good quotes after games.
Man, I’m actually really looking forward to seeing who Theo, Jed and Jason bring in, in there first draft. Carlos Correa would be a great pick. If we got him we could potentially have a lot of flexibility with him Castro and Baez as far as positions go. Him or any college arms and Lucas Giolito if he throws well off his minor elbow injury would be very exciting.
I’d be a bit surprised if the Cubs took Correa while arms like Appel and Fried are still on the board.
Ditto.
Isn’t Fried the high school kid that plays with Gilito? Obviously I have no idea who’s higher on the Cubs board, but a lot of top 100′s I’ve seen have Correa as a top 3. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Cubs draft him if the top 3 college arms are off the board.
KLaw has Correa at #2 in his latest Top 100 rankings, so hopefully someone drafts him before the Cubs. I know you should always draft BPA, but with the Cubs lacking pitching prospects and a good number of SS-turning-into-3B prospects, I’m hoping for a pitcher. If Giolito checks out medically, then one of the college arms should drop to #6. I’d love for it to be Gausman, but I think Appel is more likely.
Luke,
I agree. Appel would be a better pick at that point but I’d take Correa over Fried. Fried just hasn’t blown me a way with what I’ve read about. He should be in contention for the pick. Gausman and Zimmer are also guys I would take over Correa, but really it’s all about BPA in the draft as you never know what could happen. Correa would have a lot of versatility with his size and speed.
Any word on Soler?
You’d know if there was.
How ’bout now?
Now?
When will then be NOW
later
Just signed with the A’s.
Suddenly everyone rushes to oaklandathletics.com …
I heard he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters and they want a $50 million posting fee.
Recently, news on Jorge is almost as rare as a Solar flare…see what I did there
I am a huge Kerry Wood fan but can Dale Svuem please not bring him in again in a close game until he figures out his troubles? He is as bad as Carlos Marmol right now.
“They’d totally want to be my friend, and we’d go on adventures together!”
I remember thinking that about the Osmond family when I was 6.
You’re so cute, Ace!
first off i love watching josh hamilton hit! and it was fun talking to friends last night and using lines from the natural “hey josh, interesting way you mistreat a baseball” or “hamilton’s a natural…singles, doubles, triples, homers, whatever he wants to hit he hits. i’ve never seen anything like it”.
i was on twitter with this last night so i’ll bring it up here…he’s probably juicing. yeah i know, it’s still a taboo topic in sports. seriously it is. over the last 20 years the best players in baseball have juiced, give or take a few i guess. but for the most part the best have been PED users. i don’t give a rat’s ass about mlb’s steroid testing policy. they can’t test for HGH! or should i say they won’t. i felt bad that after being amazed at hamilton’s night that my thoughts went to who is using PEDS in the game right now. Clearly Ryan Braun is, i doubt A-Rod just stopped using because he got outed, who honestly thinks Albert has been clean for the last decade? not me.
for the last 20 years in baseball if you’re doing amazing things, or things that make people say “i’ve never seen anything like it…”, that person is probably using.
yeah it sucks that the discussion has to be this way, but in my opinion baseball is as clean as they want it to be. which is to say it’s probably not very clean. it’s clean in baseball terms and policy…but the policy is flawed. the NFL tests for HGH! cycling- yes, IOC- yes….baseball-no. enough said.
Cool piece on Castro with Fangraphs Brett. I really don’t get why he isn’t getting more hype as a young superstar across the league. What he’s done at that age and position is ridiculous and he looks to be on a HOF path. The only thing I can think of is stuff like that jerkoff Bobby Valentine pulled when he talked smack about Castro’s demeanor on the field.
I do not understand how in the world a professional pitcher comes into a game and pitches like a high school pitcher. He was all over the place. These guys are not working hard enough in the bullpen. If you can’t come out and repeat your motion twice that means your not throwing and working on your fundamentals. No excuse for his work last night. He was no where near the strike zone.
The opinion of most Cubs fans: Kerry Wood throws his stuff into the stands then cusses at reporters = no big deal, he was just frustrated with himself. Carlos Zambrano beats up a Gatorade container and throws stuff onto the field = HOLY SHIT THAT GUY IS EFFING NUTS!
Disclaimer: yes, I’m aware there are stark differences between Wood and Zambrano. It’s just interesting to look at the treatment of the two.
Zambrano got the same treatment at the beginning. It wasn’t until he gathered a long history that everyone turned on him. Most people even enjoyed the “fire” that Z showed at the beginning of his history of tirades.
very interesting
With Z the issue is more about the fights with teammates and clearing out his locker. Having a private fit is acceptable and even fun (unless they continue to suck) but getting in fist fights and shouting matches with teammates (on multiple occasions) is unacceptable- that’s the difference.
You’re comparing apples and unstable, consistently troublesome, openly hostile oranges.
forget billy, i want to jam with theo and eddie
i can play a little bass
Wood has had one melt down in 14 years (not counting an attack on a certain boombox). Zambrano did it regularly for a decade. That doesn’t make it right, but does merrit giving the guy the benefit of the doubt. And for most of Z’s time he got the benefit of the doubt too – it really wasn’t until the last couple of years did everyone start to get fed up with it. Really not a valid comparison…
that boombox had it coming.
Ha! I forgot about Sammy’s boom box!