Thoughts on the Chicago Cubs and other topics in baseball. E-mail Tom at: tomsmithcubs@ hotmail.com

 
BARTMAN BALL SOLD: The Steve Bartman ball from Game 6 of the NLCS was sold on Friday to Grant DePorter and Harry Caray's Restaurant who plan to destroy the baseball. DePorter and Harry Caray's Restaurant can spend money any way they choose, but this is an unbelievable waste of money topped off with a stupid act. Sure the restaurant is doing this to get publicity but are they really going to get $113,824.16 out of this? I doubt it. It is just my guess that the restaurant would get a better return on their investment (with more publicity and customers) if they kept the baseball and put it on display for years to come than they will by destroying the ball. To destroy the baseball is really stupid. Once the ball is gone it is gone; and so will most of the restaurant's publicity for destroying it. And please do not talk to me about hexes. The baseball did not cause the Cubs to lose Game 6. The Cubs lost Game 6. The talk of goat curses and Bartman ball curses might be cute to some but it is really a waste of time because the reason the Cubs have struggled over the years has nothing to do with phony hexes, it has to do with the Cubs themselves.

CUBS TRADE WITH EXPOS FOR MACIAS: The Chicago Cubs have made a trade with the Montreal Expos. The Cubs traded minor-league pitcher Wilton Chavez to Montreal for reserve infielder Jose Macias. Yawn.

I HOPE WE GET MADDUX: The Chicago Tribune reports today, Greg Maddux wants to return to the Cubs. The Cubs have two great starters (Prior and Wood), two dependable starters (Zambrano and Clement), and a huge hole in the pitching rotation's number five slot. I am not convinced Juan Cruz is ready to be a Number 5 starter in the big leagues. If we can get Maddux, our rotation would really be set to dominate. I wrote on Wednesday I thought the Michael Barrett deal with Oakland is the front end of some other deal. I hope I am correct and something will get done.
posted by Thomas at 11:30 AM

 
CUBS SIGN MERCKER AND HOLLANDSWORTH: The Chicago Cubs have signed relief pitcher Kent Mercker and outfielder Todd Hollandsworth to one-year contracts. Neither move is a major move, but I like both additions to the Cubs. Mercker adds an another good left-handed pitcher to the bullpen. Hollandsworth is a good reserve outfielder who adds some depth to the bench.
posted by Thomas at 10:03 AM

 
CUBS TRADE FOR BARRETT: The Chicago Cubs have traded a player to be named later to the Oakland Athletics for catcher Michael Barrett who was traded by Montreal to Oakland on Monday for a player to be named later. The Cubs could non-tender him and make him a free agent, in which case the player to be named will be a low-level minor leaguer. According to Chicago Sun-Times however, Barrett will sign with the Cubs and the player to be named going to Oakland will be catcher Damian Miller. Baseball wise this deal makes no sense. Miller is better than Barrett defensively and offensively. The only way this makes sense is if this is the front part of a move to come, with the Cubs dumping salary in this trade to add salary with another move.


MARIOTTI RE-RUN TIME: As soon as one sees the headline of Jay Mariotti's column in today's Chicago Sun-Times, "Red Sox on fire while Cubs just fiddling", one knows Jay has reached into his box of old columns and recycled an old column. Again. Classic Mariotti as usual. The Tribsters are cheap. The Tribsters are cheap. The Tribsters are cheap. Some player wanted to come here, why didn't the Cubs throw millions of dollars at him? The Tribsters are cheap. Etc. Mariotti writes, "What the Tribsters are doing, once again, is pocketing many of the millions they could be reinvesting into the baseball product." And what Mariotti is doing, once again, is re-running an old column dressed up like a new one.


NIGHT GAMES DEAL HITS SNAG: The Cubs plan to add more night games has hit a snag. As usual the city of Chicago is jerking the Cubs around.
posted by Thomas at 9:44 AM