Chicago Baseball 2017

March 27, 2017

Can the Cubs do it again? Unlike the Bears this team has been built for sustainable success. They should be playing in the post season for many more consecutive years. The core group and Theo will make this happen.

The Cubs should run away from a weak Central Division. The top two teams in The East (Mets and Nats) the West (Dodgers and Giants) will duke it out for division winners and wild card teams. You never know what can happen in a short series. In the past even wild card teams have won the World Series.

However, the Cubs top three starters are better than any other team. I also think they have many more offensive weapons than all the other contenders giving them a better chance to reach the World Series. Will they win 103 games? Aside from the aforementioned teams the National League is made up of bad teams and really bad teams to beat up on.  Last year the Cubs also proved they can beat the good teams more often than not. Therefore, if they don’t win 103 it will be close. Some questions do remain:

1)      Will Schwarber leading off work?

2)      Will Heyward hit better?

3)      Will Hendricks be as good as last year?

4)      Can Wade Davis stay health?

The Chicago “loyalty trumps winning“ White Sox will open up their season at Guaranteed Rate Field.  The fact that their logo is an arrow pointing down is apropos for the Sox. Attendance will be down, their ranking will be down and the future is down in the minors.

Speaking of the future what happened to all the trades? I have the feeling the Sox are overvaluing the players they would like to get rid of. Guys like Todd Frazier who was quoted saying if I could just get my average up to .250 that would be good. Well don’t set the bar so high. You may reach it if you come to bat with no runners in scoring position. A young Matt Davidson should get his chance.

David Robertson is a one inning closer with an E.R.A. close to four and Nate Jones usually precedes him. You will never win with a bullpen that blows twenty games a year. I know bullpens are volatile. Good relievers can be good one year and bad the next year. The problem here is I don’t recall bad becoming good.

The starters are a big question mark as well. Quintana is real good but he is the only tradeable player you can get a good return on. Rodon is on the disabled list. Shields and Holland could be this year’s version of Latos and Danks.

In the East, Boston, especially if Price is healthy along with Sale and Porcello rival the Cub starters.  In the West, Texas will have Hamels for a whole year or maybe Houston can bounce back from the horrible start of last year. In the Central there are not many good teams. If the Indians pitchers are healthy they are my choice. The White Sox, last place 73-89 or worse.

Chicago Baseball Managers

March 18, 2017

Joe Maddon is a good manager. What makes him a great manager is the team Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer assembled. I’ve said this to people many times. Managers don’t win or lose games. It’s the players that pitch, hit and field.  Maddon created a good vibe that surrounds the team making it easier for his players to perform. He also makes moves that put his team in a better position to win games. However, it is the players that win the games. Maddon does make moves that make him look smarter than other managers. Pitchers batting eighth, the quick hook after three or four innings, pitchers in the outfield etc. You can try a lot of things when you have a juggernaut team racking up 103 wins. However, his managerial strategy backfired in the World Series. Maddon would have looked like a genius if his plan had worked. He took out Hendricks for Lester who was working on short rest. Next he put in an overworked Chapman, (he had pitched the night before getting 4 outs in a non-save situation), for Lester. 

The inspired speech during the rain delay was not from Maddon, but from a player. It wasn’t Maddon who tagged up from first on a long fly to right in the tenth inning. So therefore, it’s ultimately the players that won the game and championship despite the bad managerial moves. This year’s genius idea is Schwarber leading off. After the first inning he may not lead off again.  When he comes up, are the eighth and ninth hitters going to be on base so he can drive in runs? Do you want him leading off against left handed pitchers where his average dips below.150?

The Chicago “loyalty trumps winning” White Sox have their own managerial mess. Robin Ventura was the polar opposite of Joe Maddon. He would make bad moves that negatively impacted games. Bad players and poor managerial decisions is a recipe for disaster.  As for the loyalty, if Ventura doesn’t resign on his own he is still the manager. In the past, they have fired and replaced many managers. However, they never fix the real problem which is the people who work in the front office. They have their jobs until they decide to call it quits, Ron Schueler and Kenny Williams. With the exception of Jeff Torborg every manager they’ve had has had no managerial experience. So it was sort of surprising that after the extensive 24 hour search they hired a manager who has experience albeit for only one year. Hahn will tell us he knew what else was available and Renteria was the best choice. I guess the most important qualification is that he speaks Spanish. Just hope that he didn’t learn anything about managing as Ventura’s bench coach or they are in big trouble.  These same problems exist with Reinsdorf’s other team. 

March Madness

March 10, 2017

By this time next week if you’re like me you will be watching the NCAA “March Madness” tournament. Without knowing the teams here are some tips before filling out your brackets.

People love this tournament, especially the upsets. Most of these take place in the first round. In the past few years I can only remember one #2 seed losing in round one and no #1 seed ever losing in first round. Take these eight times, put them in the sweet 16 and work backwards.The final four is usually made from this group.

Back to the first round. When making picks the #3 and #4 are tough to pick against. However, each year one or more #5 teams lose to a #12. The winner will most likely lose in round 2. The #6 vs. #11, #7 vs. #10 and # 8vs.#9  games are fairly matched and you can pick either team .My advice is go with mostly favorites who will also probably lose in round 2.

When you finally reach 16 you may want to pick an upset. For the most part not all #1 seeds make the final four or final game. Teams that with good pedigrees Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse probably won’t make much noise this year. The fun team to watch will be Northwestern. Right now my pick is Villanova beating Kansas.

Now just a few words about the Bears:

The Bears finally say goodbye to the most despised man in Chicago sports, Jay Cutler.

They have signed an unproven replacement in Mike Glennon. While he may not be as talented you can rest assured he won’t be as dumb as Cutler. Throwing the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack. Not throwing into triple coverage or an area where this in no Bear receiver in the vicinity. Getting stripped sacked for a turnover. 

Glennon may be a upgrade but only as a stopgap. This year’s draft does not have any good quarterbacks to choose from.  With that said take the best athlete available with the number three pick. I’m assuming this team will be bad enough to be in a good position next year to draft a franchise quarterback.

Blackhawks

March 7, 2017

The Blackhawks are en fuego!

When you win games with Tootoo and Campbell scoring goals and one when you only play 20 minutes you know the stars are aligned for this team..

Speaking of stars, Patrick Kane is proving that he is in the top three of offensive players in hockey. He is scoring goals in bunches and adding assists throughout this hot streak. Last I checked he was in second place among point leaders, sandwiched between Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby.

 Even when not scoring, Jonathan Toews may be their most valuable player. He plays both ends of the ice, wins face-offs, scores overtime winners and provides the leadership a team needs.  After an injury and a revolving door of line mates, the number one line is clicking. With a sniper in Panik and a play maker like Schmaltz, Toews has ramped up his goals and assists to add to his overall game.

Duncan Keith could be the top defenseman in the league.  An annual contender for the Norris Trophy (Defenseman of the Year) he seems to do everything right. He defends his zone and goalie, makes up-ice passes, carries the puck up and has a blazing slap shot from the point. The perfect combination of defense and offense.

Corey Crawford has been outstanding. Some nights he makes over 30 saves, of which some are spectacular. He is especially good on breakaways and in shootouts.  There are many games they might not have won without him.  It doesn’t matter that his job is easier with all the goals the offense is scoring. He makes key saves when needed. I must mention that Scott Darling has played well. However, he is a free agent and wants to be a starter getting starter’s money. This will be his last year as a Blackhawk.

Can this team avoid the bad endings they have had in past seasons? March and April have not been too kind. Can they stay this consistent through March, April, May and June?

 

NBA Purgatory

March 3, 2017

Paraphrasing a Who song, Meet the new Bulls, same as the old Bulls. Things won’t change much as long as GarPax is in charge, and with Reinsdorf’s loyalty thing, that's not happening.

Let’s take a look at the puzzling trade before the deadline. GarPax made many moves to acquire lottery pick, Doug McDermott.   He never developed into the player they envisioned, leading to his departure. It looks like they are giving his minutes to Denzel Valentine. His inconsistent three point shooting and lousy defense makes it seems like McDermott never left.

At the start of the season their aim was to make the playoffs. I don’t how trading Taj Gibson will help accomplish this goal. Granted, Gibson is going to be a free agent and the Bulls would get nothing when he left. Hence, they traded him and still got nothing.  You know how bad the players they received are when two can’t get in the rotation, which sometimes goes eleven deep. The key player, Payne, needs to be developed, which is not something this organization does. In the mean time in the last two games, in limited minutes he is 4 for 15, so he fits right in. The only positive from this is Bobby Portis got a chance. He has played well and should improve.  The fact that this took so long is a result of GarPax’s "puppet coach" [Fred Hoiberg].

However, since the last time I wrote about the Bulls they are 4-1 with impressive victories over the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, and a Lebron-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The only loss was to an under .500 Denver Nuggets. They have moved into sixth place in the lousy Eastern Conference. This puts them in a position for a first round knockout and a lower draft selection a.k.a. NBA purgatory.