Numbers matter and nice guys finish last
Baseball is a game of numbers.
Here are some numbers:
Since
I simply fail to see how a guy who batting .266 with an on-base percentage of .336 and a slugging percentage of .379 and exactly 1 home run is preferable to a guy who has 16 homers in limited playing time and a slugging percentage of .449.
And let’s address the “
And no one seemed to give a rat’s ass about Sammy’s club house attitude when he was helping the club get into the playoffs in 2003. And Sammy is winding up his career and is looking for a ring. That tends to make players glad to be on a team that’s in contention.
I do not want to hear one single critic of the idea of bringing Sosa back to the team complain later about how the Cubs couldn’t score enough runs in the home stretch. Not one. It’s been 52 years since the Cubs were even in a World Series. And for much of it, Cubs fans have been putting up with lovable losers who were nice guys who got along in the club house. I do not give a rat’s ass whether or not these people love each other, or even like each other.
I just want to be watching them play in late October.
I don’t really even know what I am bothering to make the case for hiring Sosa or Mike Piazza. I doubt general manager Jim Hendry is even psychologically capable of making a decision that would create such short-term controversy.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Billy, would you stop?
Two points:
1. Pods is NOT being brought in to “replace” the numbers lost by Soriano’s absence. He’s there to permanently take over for Pierre. Compare Podsednik to Pierre, NOT to Soriano. Sheesh.
2. Did the 2003 team win the World Series? Did they even make it there? Sammy Sosa is a LOSER. He has no rings. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word “win”. There’s not a SINGLE GM in baseball who, if they were in charge of the Cubs, would make that move. There’s not an owner, GM, manager, or clubhouse attendant who would make that move given the chance. There’s not an owner, GM, manager, clubhouse attendant, batboy, beat writer, peanut vendor, or elderly grandpa wearing Depends that would make that move.
The only people I can think of that would make that move would be a few obnoxious drunks in the right field bleachers at that overrated rat infested shithole of a “stadium”, guys who aren’t really true Cub fans anyways…and you.
Now, how does that make you feel?
Gosh, wouldn’t it be fun to back on the radio together having this discussion?
btw, since I’ve sworn off watching baseball, is Pods now a Cub, or was that just a rumor?
Beej: I concede your point. Pods might make a decent replacement for Pierre. But who is going to provide the lumber with Soriano out for the next three weeks, maybe more, and Ramirez nursing his sore wrist. I repeat, we are in the home stretch. Now is NOT the time to lose that much power and do NOTHING to replace it.
As to who in their mind would make such a move: OK, smart guy. Name a power hitter or two who IS available.
And I agree. You need to get back on the air and make me your on-air sidekick/news guy. I’ll even read the ads.
And isn’t one of the complaints Cubs detractors like yourself makes is that over the years, is that management fills the team with “fan favorites.” If the Cubs do sign Podsednik (as rumored in the pages of the Chicago Tribune) this reeks of that sort of decision.
No valuable power hitter is available at this time because the trade deadline (for non-waiver claims) has passed. If you try to pick up a valuable slugger now (key word: valuable, in other words not Sosa), it has to be someone who clears waivers. If a deal is made now, all players affected have to clear before it is completed. If the Cards or Brewers see a deal that they don’t want the Cubs to make, they simply stake a waiver claim. The team making the deal then either lets the guy go to the claiming team and gets nothing in return, or rescinds the trade, from my understanding this happens pretty much daily after the trade deadline.
Let me step back…the ONLY way the Cubs get a decent power hitter is if someone is wililng to trade a highly-overpaid guy and no one wants to claim him and thus take on the salary. Again, I remind you, Sosa is not even a “decent” power hitter by today’s standards, and when you throw in his loser attitude, well, again, he’s a waste of time. Now, if the Yanks decided to dump an Abreu or Matsui (which they won’t), then the salaries of those guys may be cost-prohibitive to most teams. But sadly for you, the Cubs must beat the Cardinals, and the Cardinals are one of those teams who can spend whatever it takes to keep a deal from happening.
So you’re left with these option: call up somebody and hope they can hit, or hope someone else steps up that should already be hitting (if I’m not mistaken, Jacque Jones was a much more productive hitter for a time in Minnesota…maybe the Cubs should hire a new hitting coach, say, one who developed all those hitters for Minnesota…say, Tony Oliva).
Do the Cubs have anyone at Iowa who can hit? I dunno. I don’t pay attention.
Regarding the “fan favorite” thing…when I think about the drunken fans at Wrigley (okay, that’s redundant), these morons would probably rather see Steroid Sam than Scotty Podsednik, so signing him would not necessarily constitute a “fan favorite” kind of deal. Besides, one thing I will say about Piniella (who I think is wielding considerable power in the organization right now) is that he doesn’t care about fan favorites. He cares about clubhouse chemistry and about winning. The Barrett move shows that.
BJ: Sosa has SIXTEEN homers and and is slugging .449. The number of homers is more than ANYONE who’s been in the lineup for the Cubs this past week.
And I seriously think your antipathy toward Sosa is leading you to vastly overstate how much of a distraction he was. Yes, toward the end of the stay, he was a huge distraction. But I have better faith in Piniella to better manage his players than Dusty exhibited.
Again, this is most probably moot because I don’t think Hendry would risk criticism by signing him.
What’s the possible downside of hiring Sammy? That he might be a distraction and the Cubs wouldn’t make it into the playoffs. That will happen anyway without Soriano in the lineup until September. We’ve been outscored 23 to 34 without him.
The Cubs have been lucky in that the Brewers have struggled this week. Otherwise, we’d be at risk of being back where the Cardinals are now.
And you agree with my point, there’s aren’t ANY power hitters available without having to give up too much.
I’m not saying to marry Sosa and build a team around him. I’m saying we sign him up to fill a temporary need.
1. The Posednik deal is dead – it won’t happen.
2. Bill sez: “I do not want to hear one single critic of the idea of bringing Sosa back to the team complain later about how the Cubs couldn’t score enough runs in the home stretch.”
I sez: That has got to be some of the worst logic…EVAR! I sure Eyebrows has some fancy-schmancy argumentation term that describe such n idiotic argument, but I will settle for “That’s stupid.”
3. Lou wouldn’t put up with the Sosa problem. An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, you can easily cure the potential Sosa problem by preventing it to begin with.
4. Moving Zambrano and Marquis up to 7th in the order would be something to try first.
5. Seems the slide started with Bill and his “Magic-Number-O-Meter.” I squarely put the blame on this slide on Bill’s shoulders.
Sammy’s OPS (on base + slugging) is lower for him than it was even in his pre-steroid days, and not even close to what it was last time he played in Chicago and not even REMOTELY close to his steroid-geeked, syringe-induced heyday. As a matter of fact, of the top 30 homerun hitters in the AL right now (I just looked), only Seattle’s Richie Sexson has a lower OPS than Sosa. (Sosa is 24th in homers, btw). OPS, according to stat-freaky baseball buddies, is a true measure of how important a slugger is.
Further, look closer at Sammy’s season. In July, he was 12-for-67 (.179) with 2 homers, and “slugged” .343. He’s done. He’s toast.
You worry about my antipathy towards him clouding my vision…maybe you’re suffering from visions of him as if it’s still 2000-2003, and think he can come in and be that player again.
He can’t. He can’t even be 1/2 of that player again. And he “might” be a distraction? Um, yeah. Lou would finally have that heart attack on the field that we’ve all been expecting if he had to stick Sammy in rigth field every day. The benefits of getting a homer or two every week are far outweighed by what he would cost the team in defense, clubhouse presence, and even run production. As we’ve seen with him before, the homers come when it doesn’t matter and when no one’s on base. It’s the Sammy way.
BTW, if you look at what teams are spending the most money and getting nothing in return, you’d go right to the White Sox. Only team over 100 mil in payroll who are out of the race. So the Cubs would be better off going after a Jermaine Dye, and his salary (7 mil) MIGHT be enough to scare off waiver claimants, but I doubt it, as the Cards would still probably block the deal. Konerko (12 mil) or Thome (15.7 mil) would be the other ones, but then you’d have to move Lee (gasp) to the outfield or Konerko/Thome (gasp) to third base.
Also btw, either Konerko or Thome would be a step up from Derrek Lee this season. Sorry to say, but true. Truth really be known, Paulie has been the best first baseman in Chicago for a long time, not Derrek Lee. Even if you take Lee’s monster 2005, it pales in comparison to Paulie’s because Paulie has the ring from that year.
I think Juan Encarnacion is available now.
Please stop trying to make a case to bring Sosa back; the 10 homeruns he will hit will be offset by his liability in the field. And he is in Texas for a reason.
You can’t possibly be watchng these games and believe that if Soriano were back, the team would be exploding offensively; the offense has been anemic up and down the lineup.
Lee may be hitting over 300, but how many clutch hits or RBI has he had lately? Should we get Sosa to play 1st since he has a scant 16 HR?
Every team has injury problems; the hope is that they remain in contention until the studs return. This panic response won’t help anyone, least of all Bill; whose unrealistic ideas will never come to pass. Maybe you should take a look at the lineup surrounding Pods; noone is exactly lighting up the scoreboard on the South Side…..
Besides, the Brewers are not going to take off with the division, and Ankiel’s heroic return won’t propel the Cards to more than .500 baseball.
It isn’t so much that I have a love of Sammy Sosa. I just think the Cubs need more power in the coming weeks.