John Hill on the State of the Cubs
Submitted by cubsnet on Tue, 2006-01-17 13:02.
John Hill at The Cub Reporter is always worth reading, and today's installment on the state of the Cubs is no exception. I think this section will make some Cubs fans stand and object and others to sit back and wonder what all the criticism directed toward Corey Patteron has wrought:
But, from the start of 2003 through May 30th 2005, Corey hit .277/.321/.470 in 1236 plate appearances, all the while with consistently excellent defence and plus speed, all the while earning next to nothing. He'd finally figured it out, and still aged just 25, there was real reason to expect that the only way was still up. Instead, Patterson embarked on one of the worst slumps imaginable, hitting .169/.213/.264 in the Majors on the rest of the year in a whole 279 plate appearances.
. . . .
Who knows what the future holds in store for Corey, but a big rebound is not even close to being out of the question - he's only 279 plate appearances removed from two full season's worth of considerable major league success, and he's still young. Hendry's decision to foresake all chance of seeing that rebound for the sake of Nate Spears, Carlos Perez and $2.5m or so is frankly stupid if he's going to splurge draft picks, prospects and millions too much on far less talented players to fill out the rest of the roster. . . . One of the best Cub players ever, an elite setup man, now the best position player to come through the system since Mark Grace, all have gone, but where are you going with this?
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What a rant, here at January 16th!
Alright let us start with Jacque Jones. I know this:
1) He had emotional problems last year because of the death of his father.
2) He listened to well to the all knowing sports agent saying that HR's equates to $$$$.
3) He is a very good platoon OF if bookended with a good RH bat that the Cubs still need (and I believe will acquire by March 15th) Don't overlook the thoughts regarding Mench of TX or Kennedy of Washington. There are others but the Cubs need a good 4th OF and that does not include Grissom who is at best a 5th OF.
4) As for Jones defense, it is not what he has the potential, but playing the majority in a small ball park will minimize his errant arm. Will his speed cut off the doubles in the gap?
Wood: I think the Cubs will be deft at first DL'ing Wood until May 1-15th and then bringing him in as a reliever and then sporting the best bullpen in the NL. Someone might trade for him in July if he remains healthy and appears to dominate in the bullpen, which the Cubs would insist on a top arm prospect in return. If not the Cubs will see if he has recovered and maintained his mechanics to pick up his option and return him as a starter in '07. Of course he might return to starting by August. Either way starting him for the entire year is stupid.
Now as I mentioned above I think the Cubs will seek to acquire a 4th/platoon OF'er like Mench (remember the Rangers desire for Walker) I think the Cubs will acquire another top starter like Zito before March 1st. Oakland continues to dangle for Zito offers but they know that his value will diminish in June or July. Will the they take Jerome Williams (Cubs worst WHIP) plus Rich Hill (a natural replacement for Zito) and the O's SS/2B prospect acquired by the Cubs. (Cubs have the other Patterson at AA and Cedeno at SS and will not need another middle infielder.) Zito solves the Cubs rotation problem and then allows the Cubs to keep Wood shelved for a year. Then in '07 when there are two open rotation spots they return Wood to a starter and have the 5th spot open for one of their prospects.
But of course this is speculation.
The other rants are just emotional discharge. Corey Patterson is like the thousand or more promising MLB players who fell on the face of poor mental growth and approach. Choi was a great con game where he too possesses a big hole in his swing. It appears that Cedeno and Murton are the real deal, how far they go is up to them and their mental approach.