Aramis Ramirez Unlikely to Be Traded
It was an exciting 24 hours, but the odds of Aramis Ramirez being traded to the Atlanta Braves is approximately 0 to 1. Or 0 to 1,000,000. Whichever seems more unlikely to you.
You can forget about any of those rumors that have third baseman Aramis Ramirez going to Atlanta to replace the injured Chipper Jones. Cubs people were quick to dismiss them.
Ramirez, who has 10-and-5 rights and no-trade protection, holds an option on next year’s contract, and he has indicated he will exercise it. He has had a down year at the plate, much of it because of injury, and there might not be much of a market for him.
On top of that, if Ramirez were to be traded, an option for 2012 kicks in, making him a cost-prohibitive option for most teams. Daily Herald.
As I said yesterday, the deal would have made little sense from the Cubs’ perspective, unless they are going into a full rebuild. There is no third baseman ready to go in the Cubs’ system, and Blake DeWitt doesn’t have a big league bat at third. Throw in the fact that Jim Hendry has said the Cubs will not rebuild next year, and you’ve got a highly unlikely trade scenario that just got an obvious back of the hand.
Aramis Ramirez Might Return Today
The Chicago Cubs have been without third baseman Aramis Ramirez – who was actually starting to sort of hit like Aramis Ramirez – for the last few days. Ramirez hurt his rib cage on a dive earlier in the week. He was expected back yesterday, but that didn’t happen.
Ramirez said on Thursday that he expected to be back in the lineup on Friday, but manager Lou Piniella decided to give him more time.
“He is going to take batting practice today. And if he is OK, we look forward to getting him in the lineup tomorrow,” Piniella said. “We’ll see.” cubs.com.
If Ramirez misses the game today, the Cubs might once again put Blake DeWitt at third and let Darwin Barney get another start at second. Jeff Baker has had some minor injury issues, himself.
Aramis Ramirez’s Thumb is Still Bothering Him
Aramis Ramirez sat out yesterday’s series finale against the Rockies because his thumb – which kept him out for a significant stretch earlier this year, and crapped up his performance before that – was bothering him.
Ramirez, who missed 15 games in June because of the injury, said he should be back in the lineup on Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers. But interim manager Alan Trammell, filling in for Lou Piniella who is attending a funeral, wasn’t sure about that timetable.
“I’ve seen some wincing with some of his swings and misses,” Trammell said before the Cubs lost 8-7. “I guess we’ll have to tell him don’t swing and miss. Going back to when he first hurt the thumb, that seems to aggravate it more than anything else. I’m not going to guarantee he will play [Monday].” ESPN Chicago.
The Cubs aren’t likely to rush Ramirez at this point, so he’ll play again when he’s ready.
Series Preview: Cubs v. Rockies, July 30 – August 1, 2010
The Chicago Cubs head out to Denver to take on a team nearly as disappointing (recently) as the Cubs, the Colorado Rockies. At least it’s really pretty out there. Shrug.
A refresher on the series preview here at Bleacher Nation:
The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year streaks, lineups, game times, broadcast schedule, etc. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of beautiful women, too.
Check out the Rockies series preview, after the jump
In News That Isn’t News, Aramis Ramirez Likely to Stay With Cubs
Yesterday, the Chicago Cubs online sphere blew up reporting that third baseman Aramis Ramirez was likely to exercise his $14.6 million player option at the end of this year, to remain with the Cubs in 2011.
I did not immediately report this factoid. Why? Because I’ve been assuming he’d exercise the option since he was hitting a buck-fifty in May. In fact, I thought it was so obvious that I was assuming you all were assuming the same. But now that it’s being reported everywhere like it’s the hottest scoop in town, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention it.
Ramirez, who was named National League Player of the Week on Monday, stopped just short of assurances that he’ll pick up the option.
”I want to stay here, but I’ve still got two months,” he said. ”I haven’t talked to my agent about it. But everybody knows I want to stay here. I guess I’m staying here [in 2011].”
Between baseball’s salary recession and Ramirez’s miserable first half, it would be shocking if he opted out of the contract.
His agent, Paul Kinzer, is well respected, has several Cubs among his clients and has a good relationship with the team.
”And he has a place in Chicago,” Ramirez said. ”He don’t want me to leave here.” CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Even if Ramirez continues to blow up the rest of the year, and even if the market changes dramatically, there’s no way he gets more than $14.6 million next year from another team (plus at least another $2 million in 2012 associated with a buyout that kicks in if he exercises the 2011 option; so it’s really more like a $16.6 million option).
Could he get a multi-year deal totaling more than that? Of course. But would he risk leaving all that money on the table? He’d be crazy to do so.
Chad Tracy, We Hardly Knew Ye
Or is it, we hardly liked ye? In any event, Chad Tracy is no longer a member of the Chicago Cubs.
Infielder Chad Tracy, who was designated for assignment last week to make room for Aramis Ramirez’s return from the DL, cleared waivers and declined an assignment to Class AAA, making him a free agent. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
The emergence of Starlin Castro and continued success of Tyler Colvin were ultimately the causes of Tracy’s evaporating roster spot. He’ll probably catch on with a team looking for some versatility on its bench – and then promptly hit .400.
Series Preview: Pirates v. Cubs, June 28 – June 30, 2010
The Chicago Cubs welcome the best team in the National League – at least according to the Cubs – the Pittsburgh Pirates. After all the weekend excitement, it will be nice to enjoy a laid back, relaxing series. Right? Amiright? Time for the Series Preview.
The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of hot chicks, too.
Check out the Pirates series preview, after the jump
Lou Piniella is Officially Out of Ideas
In his desire to retain some semblance of control over the Chicago Cubs’ clubhouse, increasingly apathetic manager Lou Piniella is taking it straight to the players. For ideas. On how to manage.
He had a team meeting this weekend, and sought the players’ input on what he should be doing, other than throwing up his hands and furrowing his brow.
“Part of [the meeting] was to get their input,” Piniella said. “I told them if they wanted to criticize me as a manager, so be it and that’s the truth. I want what’s best for the organization.”
The only suggestion Piniella revealed was that the players would like to have the lineups posted a little earlier.
“It’s just to see who’s playing the next day,” Piniella said. “That’s basically the crux of it and I told them we could work on that and do that. The whole thing here is to stick together and play hard and be aggressive and take it to the other team.” cubs.com.
I’m all for seeking input and not assuming that you know it all. But on the other hand, this is a guy who’s been a professional manager for decades (maybe too many decades, but that’s another issue). Doesn’t it seem weird that he’d be having team meetings to ask for thoughts on what he could be doing differently?
The truth is, there’s plenty Lou could be doing differently – more consistent use of Tyler Colvin, less reliance on Ryan Theriot, burying Aramis Ramirez in the batting order, etc. – but with this crew, none of it likely to make an appreciable difference.
