Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Baseball leaders as predicted

July 24, 2017

Things are settling into the norms fort the current baseball season. The leaders in all divisions were considered the favorites to start the season. The Cubs, who inexplicably lost to the White Sox are ½ game out. Don’t worry Cub fans they will run away with the division. Therefore, strike out the words "I think" from my last post.

Chicago Cubs – With a strong start after the all- star break, the Cubs are in position to take hold of their division. As of this writing they have 3 more games against the hapless White Sox. Then they play a three game series against the slumping Milwaukee Brewers. After a surprising start, the Brewers are just not as good as they were playing. So what's next? The addition of Quintana, along with Lester, a rejuvenated Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks they are poised to make a playoff run. Hendricks in particular should get better as the season progresses. Rizzo, Bryant, Contreras should anchor an improving offense. Aside from the first White Sox game, the hitting with runners in scoring position has greatly improved. The only thing that can derail the Cubs are injuries. They also need their middle relief to be better. 

Chicago White Sox – Bases loaded, no outs, ground ball, force out at home. Bases loaded, no outs, ground ball double play.  Thanks for the memories Todd Frazier. As constituted now, this team will lose at least 100 games. There can’t be a worse starting staff in all of baseball. They have four starters that can’t make it to the fifth inning. The bullpen is in shambles. Clippard, obtained from the Yankees, has been brought into two games and has not recorded an out except for a game winning sacrifice fly, so he fits right in. This team won’t be much better next year. Hopefully they can be competitive in 2019. This will happen if their young pitching prospects are ready. You will also need put together a good bull pen.

If you are a Sox and Chicago sports fan, Bears training camp starts August second. However, it won’t take long to get frustrated and dejected about football. For me I’m a University of Illinois grad so I’ll see a lot of bad football this season.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

White Sox trade Quintana to Cubs for prospects Win win for both teams

July 14, 2017

There is an old adage in baseball that says good pitching beats good hitting.  I tuned into the all-star game to see some of the great young hitting talent. However, the veteran starters dominated, making this game a snooze fest.  After watching Garcia line out, I had seen enough and switched the channel. Now about that trade…

Chicago Cubs – Theo Epstein pulled off a great deal acquiring Jose Quintana from the White Sox. He is a great fit for a team with a long window for World Series championships. Lester maybe your number 1 starter with Quintana not far behind. In fact, Quintana may be much more effective facing lesser line ups in the National League. As for this year, there are more things the Cubs need to do to win this division. Hendricks returning to 2016 form will help.  You hope the hitters return to form as well. They have 10 games left with the first place Brewers. They have to go b winetter than .500 in these games. Another encouraging thing is a majority of games are against opponents with records under .500.The Cubs are also under .500 but maybe they are the best of these lousy teams. I still think the Cubs will win this division. This is the first time I have made this statement using the word think.

Chicago “loyalty trumps winning” White Sox – Rick Hahn pulled off a great deal acquiring great young players in this rebuilding era. They now have 10 of the top 100 prospects in baseball, including no. 5, Eloy Jimenez, obtained in the trade. The other main piece is Dylan Cease (no. 83) who could be a top of the line starter. Looking to the future with Robert and Jimenez coming up in a year or two (hopefully), is Avi Garcia available at the right price? When will they call up Moncada?  These questions and others may be answered as the trading deadline nears.  Can Rick Hahn find new homes for Robertson and Cabrera? Will any team be stupid enough to trade for Frasier? Are there any relief pitchers that other teams would want? You might not get much in return however, these players are not a part of the future.  So get whatever you can and consider it addition by subtraction.  Finally that loyalty thing may be fading and I’ll be happy to let it go.

Monday, July 3, 2017

Baseball at the Midway Point

July 3, 2017

With the first half of the baseball season being over, it is a good time to assess the season. With the exception of the Cubs, the favorites are leading the other divisions. The teams at the top now will probably be there at the end of the year. With the Red Sox, Indians, Astros the American League pennant is up for grabs. The Dodgers seem to be the best in the National League.

What used to be fun is the upcoming all-star game. Still the best of its kind in sports, with inter-league play it has lost a lot of its luster. However, unlike other sports, the essence of baseball remains. Pitcher vs. Batter. Now let’s turn to our local boys of summer.


Chicago Cubs – Still waiting for that hot streak, the Cubs reach the halfway point as a mediocre .500 team. One of the things that can derail a good team are injuries. Bryant, Rizzo Zobrist and Heyward have all missed games, the latter two, several. The most devastating has been the loss of pitcher Kyle Hendricks.  With Arrieta having an off year, the Cubs are down to one reliable starter. Although he did look real good in his last outing against Cincinnati. However, a good team does not lose 2 out of 3 to the Reds. They still have trouble with good teams. If not for a terrible bullpen, they get swept by the Nationals. Meanwhile I’m not hearing about how many wins the great Joe Maddon is responsible for. Leading off Kyle Schwarber didn’t seem to work. To give this responsibility to a guy who hadn’t had a full season of experience was not a good move. He’s not as good as Maddon or Cub fans thought. Despite these problems, a modest win streak will allow them to catch Milwaukee and win this lousy division.

Chicago “loyalty trumps winning” White Sox – This team is as lousy as expected. After spending a majority of the season on the road, they opened a 10 game home stand losing three straight to the just as bad Oakland A’s.  What’s maddening is they then split with the Yankees and won a series against Texas. Renteria has them hustling and installed a never quit attitude. Yet they are still 9 games under .500 and what’s going on in the minor leagues is more interesting. Top prospect, Yoan Moncada should be up after the break. Nicky Delmonico looks good as the third baseman of the future. Frazier should be gone and Davidson strikes out too often. I’m all in for the rebuild. However, obtaining young pitchers is a crap shoot. To this point the ones they traded for are getting pounded in the minors. I’m looking forward to the trade deadline to see if Hahn can acquire position players for the future. Meanwhile relax, laugh, cry and pray. 2019 can’t come too soon.