Chicago Cubs Interview Eric Wedge for Managerial Opening
The Chicago Cubs have interviewed former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge for their managerial vacancy. Wedge was not among the names rumored to be on the Cubs’ short list as recently as a week ago, so this is at least a moderate surprise.
Wedge managed the Indians from 2003-09, winning the American League Manager of the Year Award in 2007, when he guided the Indians to the ALCS, only to lose to the Boston Red Sox after going up 3-1.
Wedge, 42, won over 500 games with the Indians, including a first-place finish in 2007 and finishing second in 2005 behind the world champion Chicago White Sox.
Wedge, who resides in Richfield, Ohio, was fired by Cleveland after the 2009 season. The Indians are paying Wedge through this season.
The former major league catcher, originally from Ft. Wayne, Ind., was an All-American at Wichita State and was on the 1989 Shockers team that won the College World Series.
At that time, Hendry was the head coach of league rival Creighton University. That’s when Wedge first caught Hendry’s attention….
Wedge would have to be considered a top candidate for the Cubs job. Others to get interviewed will include Ryne Sandberg; former Florida Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez and Washington Nationals coach and former Cubs minor league manager Pat Listach.
Mike Quade, the Cubs interim manager, also will get strong consideration. Friends of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi have stated he would have strong interest in the Cubs job if he left the Yankees after the season. ESPN Chicago.
It remains a simple fact that, if Girardi does not re-sign with the Yankees, and his demands are reasonable, he will be the next manager of the Chicago Cubs. Here’s hoping that, by interviewing other available candidates long before Girardi is available, the Cubs do not box themselves into a corner – i.e., they’ve got a candidate like Wedge that they like, but he’s got another team like the Mariners breathing down his neck to make a decision. And yet, the Cubs are waiting to hear from Girardi. In that instance, interviewing Wedge so early could put them in an awkward position – and possibly even a position to be left out in the cold with respect to their preferred candidates.
Wedge was fired in 2009 after the Indians were incredibly disappointing for the second consecutive season. The team had a strong core built going into the 2007 season (in which they were very good), but that same core disintegrated over the next two years, leading to Wedge’s undoing.
Chicago Cubs are “Getting More Serious” About Making Trades
Assuming that the recent three-game sweep of the woeful Diamondbacks does not convince the Chicago Cubs’ brass that the team is magically delicious again, the Cubs will be looking to make some seller-type deals over the next few weeks.
At least one source - Ken Davidoff of Newsday – is reporting that the Cubs are “getting more serious about trades.” He adds that the Mets are taking a long, hard look at Ted Lilly.
I think we’ll see over the next couple of weeks that teams view Lilly as the consolation prize in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, and indeed, many will want to wait to see how that shakes out before making a move for Lilly. On the plus side, the Mariners are now actively shopping Lee – that is to say, they are reaching out to teams with trade proposals, so the shoes could start dropping soon.
God’s Wrath Watch: John Grabow’s Knee is Jacked Up Again
It turns out that the mystery (convenient) knee problems that reliever John Grabow developed earlier this year when he was stinking were real problems. And they’re back. Grabow is expected to go on the disabled list today.
Grabow entered Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh inning and retired the first batter, then gave up an infield single to Ronny Cedeno. Paul Maholm squared to bunt on a 1-1 pitch, and Grabow finished the pitch awkwardly. Athletic trainer Mark O’Neal went to the mound and Grabow immediately headed to the clubhouse.
“It’s pretty bad,” Grabow said. “It’s something I thought I could pitch through and it got worse. I’ll go get it checked out [Tuesday].”
Grabow has received a cortisone shot already this season in the knee and was on the disabled list from May 31 to June 15 because of it. In his previous outing Thursday, he gave up one hit over two innings against the Mariners.
“I tried to pitch through it and today it felt a little different, and it kept getting worse and worse to the point where I couldn’t take it any more,” Grabow said. cubs.com.
The injury is unfortunate given that Grabow had actually started to pitch well since returning from his last stint on the disabled list (I know, bite my tongue).
The Cubs are expected to call James Russell back up to the big club, assuming they want to replace Grabow with another lefty.
God’s Wrath Watch: Carlos Silva’s Strained Hammy Will Keep Him Out a Few Days
Minor injury news in the rotation – Carlos Silva is going to miss his scheduled start this week against his former team, the Seattle Mariners, while he rests a mildly strained hamstring. He hurt it this weekend against the Angels, resulting in an early removal from the game. The hope was the early exit and rest would get him back on track, but it’s going to take a couple extra days.
“He tweaked it pretty good the other day, and we had to get him out of the game after 69 pitches,” Piniella said. “He had a throw-day today with the pitching coach [Larry Rothschild]. It was decided that we should hold him back and give him a little more time, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Silva is now slated for Saturday’s start against the White Sox, and lefty Ted Lilly will get the ball Thursday against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. Carlos Zambrano will now start Friday and Tuesday’s starter, Ryan Dempster, is scheduled to toe the slab on Sunday. cubs.com.
Better safe than sorry, of course, but it’s unfortunate for the Cubs to lose their best starting pitcher (wow, did I really say that?) for any stretch of time.
Aramis Ramirez Won’t Be Back Until Friday
Aramis Ramirez is eligible to come off the disabled list today, but the Chicago Cubs are going to wait a couple of days before actually activating him. He won’t play in the Mariners series.
The Cubs’ third baseman, who is coming back from a left thumb contusion that’s had him on the disabled list since June 9, went 1-for-6 in two games with Class A Peoria and took batting practice with the team at Safeco Field before Tuesday’s game against the Mariners.
Manager Lou Piniella said the team will wait two days to activate Ramirez and put him back in the lineup Friday against the White Sox.
As for Ramirez, he said the problem — a persistent bone bruise across the base of his left thumb that is aggravated by swinging — will undoubtedly linger throughout the season.
“It’s not going to be 100 percent, I don’t think, for the rest of the year,” Ramirez said. “It’s good enough to play, though. It’s going to be there. It’s not going to go away in two weeks. But I guarantee there’s 24 guys in here that aren’t 100 percent, and they’re going out there and playing the games. So if they can do it, I can do it.”
Ramirez has already changed his hitting grip with the help of coach Rudy Jaramillo. He’ll have a few more days of hitting on the field and in the cage, getting more familiar with the grip, before testing it out in a big league game. cubs.com.
It’s hard to imagine Ramirez coming back with the same effectiveness – particularly power – with his hands shifted to an awkward grip. Still, if Ramirez manages to turn things on, he could propel the Cubs back into contention.
And if I had large breasts, I could be the next Jennifer Love Hewitt.
Carlos Silva in 2010: Lucky or Good?
When the Chicago Cubs dumped Milton Bradley on the Seattle Mariners, the trade was assuredly about saving some cash. The fact that the Mariners required the Cubs to take back some pitcher in the deal generally didn’t merit comment (except the requisite “Carlos Silva? But that guy sucks!”).
Now, it merits comment.
Together with Tom Gorzelanny, the back-end of the rotation fill-ins have, for the duration of this yet short season, been a bright spot on the club. So much so that, when Ted Lilly returned from injury, manager Lou Piniella preferred to do the unthinkable – bump Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen – than move either Gorzelanny or Silva. To date, Silva has started three games, all of them quality, and he’s put up a 0.95 ERA and a paper thin 0.632 WHIP.
But for all of Silva’s 2010 success thus far, aren’t we simply being fooled? It’s just three starts, after all, and this is a guy who was the worst starting pitcher in all of baseball from 2008 to 2009. If only there were some simple, back-of-the hand calculation that an admitted non-statistician could perform to give us a rough sense of whether Silva’s success this year has been the product of a Larry Rothschild-induced set of mechanical adjustments or merely a statistical fluke.
If only. (Here’s where the triumphant music kicks up – I’m thinking a trendy remix of We Are the Champions and Umbrella. Don’t judge.) For your consideration:
Carlos Silva had 6 starts in 2009, 1 of which was a “quality start” (three or fewer earned runs in six or more innings). In 2008, he had 28 starts, 10 of which were quality. Together, that’s a 32.35% chance in the last two years that when Silva took the mound, he’d throw a quality start. So what does that say about his 3 for 3 start to the 2010 season?
Well, if he were the same pitcher today that he was in 2008-2009, the odds that he would string together 3 consecutive quality starts are not good. Simple math here: .3235 times .3235 times .3235 yields a mere 3.38% chance that the Carlos Silva of 2008-2009 could put together three consecutive quality starts.
That suggests that his start to the 2010 season has not been luck. It suggests, instead, that this is not the same Carlos Silva. The calculation is conservative, too: Silva’s starts this year haven’t been merely “quality,” they’ve been above and beyond. Thus, the odds are long that Silva is simply a luckier pitcher than he was in 2008-09. The odds are long that his back-to-back-to-back excellent starts do not say anything about actual improvement in Silva this year.
Then again, when it comes to the Chicago Cubs, no odds of suck are too long.
Just a Little More Milton Bradley
Each time I post a story on Milton Bradley, I sincerely believe that it will be the last one – at least for a long while.
But then newsworthy tidbits keep popping up.
Milton Bradley wasn’t in the Mariners’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Cubs and when approached by Chicago reporters, the outfielder declined to talk.
“No chance,” Bradley said. “You guys ran me out of town.”
Bradley and Marlon Byrd were teammates in Texas, and when Byrd signed with the Cubs, Bradley called to tell him to “do what I couldn’t do there.” …
What drives Bradley?
“Being great,” Byrd said. “He’s a perfectionist. Sometimes when he doesn’t reach that, he’s very tough on himself. I think a lot of guys in baseball are like that.”
And Bradley has a different personality with his teammates.
“He’s a great teammate,” Byrd said. “I had one year with him. Everybody knows how he was in Texas. We had a great time and no run-ins, no nothing. It can happen with him. With [Ken] Griffey and Chone Figgins and those guys over there in Seattle, he’ll be fine.”
Obviously, there aren’t many media people on Bradley’s holiday card list.
“You have to approach Milton,” Byrd said. “You have to make sure every single day you talk to him and ask him how he’s doing. My locker was right next to him. Every game on the road, we were eating lunch. My relationship was a little different than everybody else’s. As a teammate, as a guy, you have to go up to him every day, ‘Hey, Milton, how are you doing?’” Muskat Ramblings.
Nothing quite like having to coddle a guy that probably wants to tear your face off (and eat/wear it). On the plus side, Marlon Byrd sounds like a hell of a nice guy and teammate.
On a related note, the Mariners recently announced that Bradley would be their cleanup hitter this year. That’s right. Bradley will be expected to be a run-producing, power hitter in the Mariner lineup – the very thing that he recently railed against the Chicago Cubs for doing to him. I sure hope he can survive under the weight of such unreasonable expectations – lest the good people of Seattle run him out of town.
Seattle Mariners Fans Are Convinced Milton Bradley Will Be Different This Time
I know, I know – another Milton Bradley story. Get over it already, and all that. But this was too good not to post.
Some Seattle Mariners bloggers were recently asked about Milton Bradley, and about his upcoming season in Seattle. The results were predictable – things will be better, Bradley wasn’t really the problem in Chicago, there’s an excuse for being on his sixth team in six years, etc.
Aaron: No way Bradley’s a distraction. From everything I’ve read, the M’s will have what amounts to a “zero tolerance” policy with Bradley. Take that for what it’s worth, but the Mariners’ front office and field management is a hard-ass regime that won’t put up with distractions.
That said, I agree with Daniels. Bradley makes for a easy – and sometimes deserved – target, but Bradley’s most productive (and relatively incident-free) stretches were in locales away from the media glare. (Yes, I know it wasn’t smooth sailing in Oakland, San Diego and Texas, but at least Bradley wasn’t being blamed for an entire flawed team’s failings like last year with the Cubs.) …
Matt: I expect Bradley to come to camp with something to prove. I don’t think he’ll be “distraction” in the way he was in Chicago. It’s becoming more and more clear that he was only partially culpable for that shit storm. …
Griffin: I think whether or not Bradley is a distraction is going to depend on strongly on two things; what kind of an offensive start he gets off to, and how the media handles him. Seattle is a much more laid back city media-wise than Chicago, and he’s going to be under significantly less pressure to succeed here. He’s a good hitter with a chance to be a huge piece of this team, so hopefully he’s able to stay relaxed in this environment and produce.
I could go through these comments, one by one, and take them apart Desipio/HJE-style, but I’m not going to do that. These are just hardcore Mariners fans who really want to believe in their team this season. Why would I begrudge them that?
Maybe Bradley will be as moderately well-behaved as he was in Texas. Maybe he’ll be as moderately healthy as he was in Texas. And maybe he’ll produce almost as well as he did in Texas. If so, good for the Mariners.
But all I can think when I read those responses is… those poor, deluded fans. How many times does a guy have to burn a city before the rest of them learn? I promise you guys, “Chicago” was not the problem with Bradley. In the deep recesses of your brain, you must know this. Nothing that happened last year was not presaged by Bradley’s entire Major League career. Nothing was new.
The only reason it was surprising is because we drank ourselves into believing that this time, it would be different. He had a long-term contract this time. He was ready to prove everyone wrong. He was just misunderstood.
But I must offer my warning: Don’t drink it up, Mariners fans. For your own health, remain skeptical. That way, if you end the season surprised, it will be because Bradley was a positive force on the team – not a self-made disaster that you should have seen coming, but didn’t.
