Roberts Trade R.I.P.

It seemed like only yesterday, that I was grilling Jim Hendry at the Cubs Convention about the Brian Roberts trade rumors.  Now, on all sides, the deal is officially dead.  Andy MacPhail, president of baseball operations in Baltimore said,

"We worked at it this long and we don’t have deal.  There’s other sides characterizing it as an impasse. You make the judgment."

MacPhail is another of a long line of front office people who have to deal with moranic owner Peter Angelos.  Many GM’s have quit due to Angelos’ meddling in baseball operations.  Roberts is said to be a favorite of Angelos, and the Cubs bent over backwards to get him, but GM Jim Hendry is not stupid, nor is he a ******.  Roberts would be a great fit for this team, but he isn’t A-Rod. The Cubs offered Matt Murton, Ronnie Cedeno, Eric Patterson, Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher, etc.  The Orioles could have gotten four good young players for Roberts, who has expressed that he doesn’t want to be part of the Orioles rebuilding plan.  Do you know who is going to pitch second for the Orioles?  Steve Trachsel!! That team needs help, big time. 

Bye Bye Thunder Matt

Sad to say, but the Cubs made some more cuts today, and as expected, Thunder Matt Murton and his neon red hair was pretty much told that he was not making the team.  Murton, a career .296 hitter, but who couldn’t play a lick of defense.  With the Reed Johnson signing, Murton was the odd man out.  Lou sadly bid him farewell

"I hope we can find a Major League job for him, because he’s a good player, and he deserves that," Piniella said. "I’m sure that, if he’s not going to be here, that Jim will try to accomodate him as much as possible."

Also cut was Alex Citron, which surprised me.  The Cubs picked him up after the White Sox let him go, and he had a decent camp, but with Ronnie Cedeno out of options, Cintron was let go.  Cintron’s arm hasn’t been the same since he had surgery on it, and he seems to have health problems.  Ronnie Cedeno and Mike Fontenot are both headed to Chicago.

Rule 5 pick Tim Lahey is also expected to be put on waivers, meaning he will probably be picked up by some other team. 

"You know, coming in, you may be in this situation," said Lahey, who has appeared in 10 games this spring. "I know the rules. I can look around and do the math. They have a great staff put together and I know where I’m at. It really is a kind of wait and see thing."

That means that the Cubs bench looks like this; Reed Johnson, Daryle Ward, Henry Blanco, Ronny Cedeno, and Mike Fontenot. 

Not bad

There is still the question of the left handed pitcher to take Eyre’s spot.  The two candidates to fill that role are Sean Marshall and Carmen Pignatiello.  Marshall has proved he can handle big league hitters, doing a good job starting for the last two years.  He is especially strong against lefties.  Left-handers hit just .203 against Marshall last year, while righties hit .280.  The other candidate is Carmen Pignatiello.  Carmen has looked great all spring, and should have a 0.00 ERA, but Johnson lost the ball in the sun and wasn’t charged with an error.  I am partial to Piggy, but either one will do.  The question is, how long is Eyre out?    Cubs medical staff identified the bone spur before the start of last season.  Lou wasn’t happy that Eyre didn’t tell him his elbow was acting up.

”I probably should have said something a couple weeks ago,” he said, referring to when the discomfort began. ”But you just kind of pitch through it and deal with a little bit of pain. It’s not being a tough guy. It’s just kind of how I was taught to play the game.”

No big loss here

Oh Yeah, Wednesday’s Game

Got to say it was a little disappointing.  I wonder if it will ever click with Carlos.  All the stomping around the mound, snatching the ball out of the air from the catcher, etc.  Carlos had a good spring, but he struggled for one inning in his start today.  Zambrano, who’d given up only one earned run in 15 previous Cactus League innings, was torched for four earned runs on four hits in four innings, striking out five while walking one batter and hitting another.  The big blow came in the bottom of the second, when Carlos hit Kendry Morales, the first batter of the second, then gave up a single to Robb Quinlan (no my b key didn’t get stuck, but his mother must be a drunk or just can’t spell),   who was thrown out by Fukudome, but Morales moved to third.  With one out and a runner at third, Z walks the catcher, Jeff Mathis.  He was ahead of him 1-2, and then walked him.  Z strikes out Brandon Wood, leaving runners at the corners for Dee Brown, who had one RBI all spring.  What does Carlos do?  Leaves a fast ball upstairs on a 1-2 count for a three run homer. 

”I just made one mistake,” Zambrano said. ”Otherwise, I threw the ball good. I think the most important thing is my command. My command is good.”

I wasn’t as impressed as Carlos.  Granted, Theriot screwed up a double play ball that lead to another run off of Zambrano, but he still is throwing too many pitches to no-name chumps. 
I looked up an article about Brandon Webb last season.  The interviewer asks Webb about 2004, his second season in the league, when he led the NL in losses (16) and walks (119) as Arizona lost 111 games.  Webb said

" Painful. I started trying to be too fine, to pitch around contact and strike everybody out. I finally learned you’ve got to let them hit the ball. Be aggressive."

Webb is a very similar pitcher to Zambrano.  Webb finally figured it out.  You don’t need 27 strikeouts.  If you are facing A-Rod or Pujols, nibble around the corners. But walking Jeff Mathis?  Giving up a homer to Dee Brown?  Z has got to learn to use his defense, stop walking people, keep his pitch count down, and he’ll stay in games longer.

The Cubs bullpen looked great for the most part.  Howry and Pignatiello each pitched a scoreless inning, and Wood pitched 1.2 innings with 2 strikeouts.  The only problem was Marmol.  Anyone else concerned about his lack of control this spring?  Marmol gave up only one hit and one run, but walked two and hit another guy with a pitch.  Marmol has 10 strikeouts in 10 innings, but he also has 8 walks.  Last season, in 69 innings, Marmol struck out an amazing 96 batters and only walked 35. Let’s hope Rothchild gets him back on track.

Offensively, the Cubs were terrible against the Angels starter Jared Weaver. Weaver mowed down the Cubs, giving up one earned run on six hits and no walks while striking out five.  Luckily for the Cubs, Weaver was pulled after six innings.  The Cubs were able to tag Angel’s closer Francisco Rodriguez for five runs in the seventh to give the Cubs a 6-5 lead. Felix Pie continued his monster spring, going 3-5 with two stolen bases and an RBI. Cedeno was 2-5 with two RBI’s and Fontenot was 2-4. 

On Deck

The Cubs have now won four games in a row!!  The Cubs face the Brewers tomorrow at 2:05, but don’t expect to see much.  Neither the Brewers nor the Cubs want to show each other anything since they face each other in four days when their seasons start.  Look to see a bunch of minor leaguers for both teams.  Look for the regulars to get tuned up this weekend, Friday and Saturday, against the Mariners in Las Vegas.

Go Cubs!!