Results tagged ‘ Chicago Cubs Rumors ’
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October Baseball Cartoons
Well with the playoffs in full swing and the busy hot stove season just around the corner, I’ll be once again cranking this blog up. For now though, I’m enjoying this year’s post season as much as possible without my Cardinals being in it. But hey, at least the Cards won as many post season games as the Cubs this year right? How’s that 100 years of losing coming? LoL
Anyway, there are a couple of great playoff related cartoons published over at ToonRefugee.com. One is for all you Dback and Cubs fans:
and the other is for the Yankee and Indians fans out there:
I’m not sure if there will be more with each series or not but the two that are up now are definitely worth a look.
Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the playoffs as much as I am, I’ll see you all after the World Series!
RIP Wrigley?
Guest Blogged by James Cook
With the Cubs up for sale and a final price that may go north of a billion dollars, it’s time to start talking about an aspect of this deal that has been largely ignored: What does the future hold for Wrigley Field? After all, isn’t it likely that a new owner who plops down a cool billion for the Cubs might expect to house his team in more expansive (and expensive) digs than the current 91-year-old park? At the very least, it’s reasonable to assume the new owner will be looking for some sort of upgrade. What form that will take will ultimately depend on how much change Cubs fans will accept and how much the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois are willing to shell out.
Here are the four options I see and my take on the chances of them playing out:
A New Wrigley Field
It’s hard to imagine Cubs baseball without Wrigley Field and it’s hard to imagine the powers that be will let it happen. But, if they can tear down the House that Ruth Built, who’s to say it won’t happen in Chicago? And, if that’s the price Cub fans have to pay for ending a century old World Series drought, I’m thinking most of them will be willing to say good-bye to the ivy-covered walls. Before you totally discount the idea, consider that the hundredth anniversary of Wrigley Field and the hoped-for Chicago Olympics are both scheduled for 2016. Might the Wrigley Centennial end up being a giant good-bye party with the Cubs moving to a (taxpayer-financed) Olympic field in 2017?
One more thing, if there is a new Wrigley Field, don’t count on it being named Wrigley. But I’ll get to naming rights later.
Chances for a new Wrigley: Remote
Rebuild Wrigley
A second option is to gut Wrigley and build a brand new ballpark within the carcass of the old one. It’s a tactic Chicagoans are familiar with from the recent “renovation” of Soldier Field and one also used at Yankee Stadium in the seventies.
Would a “new” stadium that kept only the facade and ivy-covered walls of the old Wrigley Field still be Wrigley? Of course not! But, by offering a wink and a nod to the traditionalists, it just might fly.
On the negative side, it would probably require the Cubs and White Sox to share Comiskey – err, U.S. Cellular Field – for a year or two; surely one of the signs of the Apocalypse.
Chances for a rebuilt Wrigley: Even
Naming Rights
If they can rename Comiskey, there’s little reason to believe it won’t happen at Wrigley. Illinois has over 30 companies in the Fortune 500, most of them near Chicago. I’m sure one of them would love to put their name on the facade. Boeing, which moved to Chicago in 2001 and is enjoying success with its new Dreamliner, seems a natural fit. With the wind blowing out, I can almost hear the announcers now, “It’s Boeing, Boeing, gone!” as the sound of Peter, Paul and Mary singing Leaving on a Jet Plane plays over the PA.
Chances for a renamed Wrigley: Almost certain
No Changes
Of course it’s possible that the new owner will be a hard-core traditionalist who, after waving good-bye to his billion, will be content to sit in the bleachers and bask in the glow of Wrigley’s historic ambiance. It’s possible, but I don’t think Bob Costas has that kind of money.
Chances for no change: None, nada, zip!
Trade Report: Cubs Send Izturis to Pirates
Guest Blogger J.P. Maxwell just sent me a note that the Cubs had made a move, and indeed, they have. The AP is reporting that "the Cubs traded backup shortstop Cesar Izturis and cash to Pittsburgh on Thursday in a deal that could free the Pirates to trade former All-Star Jack Wilson." It was presumed that the move was made so the Cubs could then call up Ronny Cedeno, however, the report states the Cubs have instead "purchased the contract of catcher Jake Fox from Double-A Tennessee". With D. Lee serving his 5 game suspension, Fox is probably just a temporary call up but we’ll see.
Catching Up
Wow, I guess I picked the wrong time to work on turning this blog into it’s own site. The minute I neglect this place trades start happening and rumors begin to heat up. Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed I’ve been less than up to date recently and the reason is I’m working on YourSportsFix.com. Once it’s finished I’ll be moving this blog over there, however, apparently Joomla is much tougher than I thought. If any of you reading this happen to be web-designers or Joomla experts, please let me know. Seriously…
Anyway, speaking of catching up, the Cubs have been doing a bit of that themselves lately. Not only did they acquire catcher Jason Kendel but they (unlike my beloved Cardinals) have actually made a run in the NL Central standings. I’ve not jumped over to the Cubbie blogs nor have I visited the Brewers blogs on MLBlogs but I’d imagine Cubs fans are already trying to buy playoff tickets and Brewers fans are probably trying to figure out whether they can turn Ben Sheets’ trips to the DL into a drinking game.
Staying in the Windy City, the White Sox seem destined to trade at least one of their starters before the end of July if not more. Personally I’ve always been a fan of Garland but it sounds like it’s much more likely either Contreras or Vazquez or both will be packing their bags. Then of course there’s the suddenly unhappy Jermaine Dye as well as 2nd baseman Tadahito Iguchi that they’d like to unload.
I’ll try to keep up to date with things much more regularly as I think I’ve come to the end of my knowledge on getting YSF set up and the trade deadline is quickly approaching. If I missed this time of year, what would be the point of even HAVING this blog right? I love this game!
Trade Report: Cubs Deal with Padres
Buster Olney is reporting on ESPN.com that the Cubs have traded catcher Michael Barrett to the San Diego Padres.
"In return the Cubs will receive Padres backup catcher Rob Bowen and minor league outfielder Kyler Burke, who was San Diego’s first-round compensation pick in last year’s first-year player draft, Olney reports. The Padres will get cash considerations from the Cubs."
It’s tough to see this as anything other than the Cubs dumping a disturbance in the clubhouse. Rumor Mill Guest Blogger Derek Wonderland sent in his take on the trade:
"Barrett should help the woeful Padres offense by providing a little more punch (pun definitely intended) than current starting catcher Josh Bard who is hitting .253 with 2 HRs and 19 RBIs. That is, of course, assuming he can concentrate on playing and try to avoid getting into Pay Per View slugfests with his pitchers in the dugout."
Rumor Mill Guest Blogger, J.P. Maxwell also weighs in about an interesting twist to the trade:
On a bit of a side note, I find it interesting that the Cubs and Padres hooked up for a trade this early after Cubs 1B Derrek Lee and Padres P Chris Young started a benches clearing brawl Saturday at Wrigley Field, which also resulted in 5-game suspensions for both Lee and Young. I guess time heals all wounds.
It would certainly be interesting to see what if any role Barrett had in the fight over the weekend. Someone’s gotta have some tape on this right?
Rumor: Cardinals Getting Zambrano?
Wow… just wow. It’s not often I get shocked by anything in the world of baseball. Not these days anyway. However, the thought "Maybe I shouldn’t say that" has clearly never entered Carlos Zambrano’s mind and thus, I’m writing this post in a state of shock. Matter of fact, I’m just gonna quote the Chicago Tribune on this one…
"Mark Buehrle still gets heat for wearing a St. Louis Cardinals cap at a World Series game last October, but Carlos Zambrano one-upped Buehrle before Thursday’s Cubs game.
Zambrano motioned to reporters standing around the clubhouse and pointed to a box that contained a pair of red shinguards.
"It’s a gift from my next catcher, Yadier," Zambrano said.
Zambrano was referring to St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina, although he didn’t specify whether he was going to St. Louis or Molina was coming to the Cubs."
See what I mean? I’ll try to weigh in on this later with my opinion but just so you know, Yadi’s not going anywhere…
National League Rumor Roundup
AtlantaBraves – Lack of production at 1st Base
continues to haunt the Braves. Scott Thorman (.216 / 6 HRs / 25
RBIs) is not contributing like the team had hoped, which has led to
Bobby Cox giving heralded catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia
some reps at 1st Base. Salty is widely regarded as the
best catching prospect in baseball, but with Brian McCann firmly
entrenched behind the plate it appears that his only chance to play
everyday for Atlanta will be at first base.
As
a Braves fan, I can’t get enough of Salty at 1st
Base. As Thorman continues to battle Andruw Jones for the title of
Strikeout King, Salty has adjusted quickly to big league pitching and
seems to get clutch hits whenever he gets a chance to play.
Chicago
Cubs – Earlier
this week the Chicago Tribune reported
that the Cubs may be willing to deal “ace” Carlos
Zambrano before the trading deadline, rather than lose him at the end
of the season for nothing. Zambrano, a free agent at the end of the
year, has struggled this season, going 5-5 with a 5.62 ERA in 12
starts. In an interview with the Chicago Sun
Times on June 6th, Cubs GM Jim Hendry would not
comment on any potential trades, and instead stated that he hoped
Zambrano would be better in the second half of the season, as he has
been previously in his career.
The New York
Mets, with their abundant resources, are a possible trade partner,
should the Cubs decide to move Zambrano.
Los
Angeles Dodgers – According to the San
Diego Union-Tribune, the agent for CF Ichiro Suzuki met with
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti to discuss the impending free agent’s
future.
The San Diego
Padres are also said to have some interest in Ichiro.
New York
Mets – Already enjoying great production from their
starting rotation, the Mets figure to get a boost in roughly 6-8
weeks when Pedro Martinez rejoins the team. Newsday
reported on Tuesday that Martinez threw 2 mound sessions, consisting
of approximately 15 pitches each. When asked how he felt afterward,
Martinez glowingly reported, “I could
have thrown more, but we don’t want to get me hurt.”
This
is not good news for fans of other NL East teams. The Mets are
already enjoying a fairy tale season that seems destined to end up at
the World Series, the last thing I want to see is them add another
front line starter.
~ GUEST BLOGGED BY DEREK WONDERLAND
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