Mike Quade is Not Going Through to Hollywood and Other Bullets

If Casey Coleman hits his spots – and I mean, hits them on the nose – he can be an effective ML starter. If he misses his spots, he can barely succeed at AAA. It’s a shame, because he’s a good kid who works very hard.

  • Mike Quade says he’s looking forward to meeting with his players in the offseason to discuss what they can work on in order to improve for next season. Aw. He sounds like a tone deaf little kid trying out for ‘American Idol,’ and saying, “I’m going to be a star!” Everyone seems to know there’s no chance what he’s saying will actually happen, but no one has the heart to say it to his face. Where is Simon Cowell when you need him? (“Mike, that was the worst managing performance I’ve ever seen. Truly dreadful.”)
  • Quade on rejiggering his rotation and lineup so that players can get to certain milestones, like Starlin Castro getting 200 hits or Ryan Dempster getting to 200 innings: “I don’t pay attention to numbers a lot, but I do the last couple of weeks. Whether it’s hitters, whether it’s pitchers — and good or bad — trying to get guys an opportunity to get to certain landmarks if at all possible.’’ So, he recognizes that it’s OK to risk losing games right now so that guys can get to certain landmarks, but he doesn’t recognize it’s OK to risk losing games right now so that the young players can get more starts? Color me perfectly unsurprised.
  • Tom Ricketts is scheduled to meet with Cubs’ Scouting Director Tim Wilken this weekend. The suspicion is he’ll be in line for an extension a la Oneri Fleita, who received his own extension a couple weeks ago.
  • Fellow players voted AJ Pierzynski the “meanest” player in baseball (he received an astonishing-but-n0t-really-when-you-think-about-it 29% of the vote). Carlos Zambrano came in fourth with 5% of the vote, behind Chase Utley (13% – really?), and Milton Bradley (11% – pretty damn high consider he’s not, you know, playing baseball anymore).
  • Instructional ball is about to get underway for a number of Cubs’ prospects, including 12 of the Cubs’ top 16 2011 draft picks. Among the participants: Javier Baez (1st Round), Dan Vogelbach (2nd Round), Zeke DeVoss (3rd Round), Tony Zych (4th Round), Tayler Scott (5th Round), Neftali Rosario (6th Round), Shawon Dunston, Jr. (big-time overslot), and Dillon Maples (big-time overslot).
  • Bryan LaHair plans to play in the Venezuelan Winter League.
  • MLB Trade Rumors runs down the list of prospective suitors for Aramis Ramirez, including his current team, the Cubs. If all he cared about was getting paid after the season, he could find himself a solid contract. Something for all sides to think about.
  • Prince Fielder has conceded that this season will “probably [be his] last year” with the Brewers.
  • Keith Law reviews ‘Moneyball,’ but, based on his hostile response, you’d think he was reviewing a Chicago Cubs prospect.
  • The Pirates just locked in their 19th straight losing season. Remember that when you bemoan how miserable it’s been lately to be a Cubs fan.
  • written by

    Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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