Tony LaRussa Isn’t Done Voodooing Quite Yet and Other Bullets

I remembered the thing I was going to say up here yesterday, but forgot after I fell asleep. It actually wasn’t that good. It was something about how Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavalarri better hope that baby gets her looks. Sometimes, maybe, your brain allows you to forget things for a good reason.

  • Tony LaRussa, who has retired, but whose Cardinals won the World Series last year (rabble, rabble), will manage the NL squad in this Summer’s All-Star Game. Being out of the game, you have to wonder how familiar he’ll be with the propensities of all the players, especially the relievers, who often come out of nowhere. Good thing the Cubs are probably going to be lousy in 2012, otherwise I’d be nervous about their prospect for home-field advantage in the World Series.
  • So, what do you make of this? The Miami Sun Sentinel says, totally off-hand, that the Marlins are paying $3.135 million of Carlos Zambrano’s 2012 salary. Given that the Cubs settled arbitration with Chris Volstad for $2.655 million, if the Sun Sentinel is correct, the Cubs actually did save a little money in dealing Zambrano (about $500k). Previously, it had been widely reported that the Cubs would be sending to the Marlins the difference between Volstad’s and Zambrano’s salary (which, together with paying Volstad’s salary, meant the Cubs would save no money in the deal – it was just a straight swap of players). So is it just bad math by the Sun Sentinel, or did the Cubs save $500k in the deal? Doesn’t sound like much, but, hey, it’s something.
  • If you’re planning to head to Cooperstown this Summer to see Ron Santo’s induction into the Hall of Fame, Carrie Muskat has some tips for planning ahead.
  • Speaking of Carrie, she takes on a question we’ve had trouble answering around here: with the current roster, who bats cleanup? Carrie doesn’t have much of an answer either (because there isn’t a good one), instead mentioning the usual suspects – LaHair, Soriano, Soto, Stewart. (Interestingly, she then guesses Stewart bats 8th (I don’t think he’ll be that low). How many teams out there have a guy who could bat anywhere from cleanup to the very bottom of the order?) I’d say, as things stand right now LaHair is the best guess.
  • You missed your chance to buy one of the Wrigley rooftop buildings. One of them (the Lakeview Baseball Club (which, to help you identify it, has the Eamus Catuli sign) just sold in bankruptcy for $4.8 million.
  • You know how you know Cubs fans are insane about their team? The Cubs currently have the fifth best odds to win the 2012 World Series (which means fans keep betting on the Cubs, so Vegas has to keep lowering the odds) at an amazing six to one. We’re nothing if nothing hopeful … and frivolous with our cash.
  • Fluff on Ryne Sandberg’s return to the Phillies’ organization.
  • New Astros owner Jim Crane is considering changing the name of the team when it heads to the American League in 2013. Any suggestions? How about the Colt .346’s?
  • 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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