Peavy’s Pissed!

So, it’s been forever since any of us has posted anything here at 3 Men and a Blind Guy.  With the recent Jake Peavy to the Cubs debacle, I figured now was as good a time as any.  Jon Heyman at CNNSI.com posted this today.

LAS VEGAS — Padres star pitcher Jake Peavy is “frustrated” by the team’s inability to trade him after threatening to do so for months and “shaken” over the Padres’ latest failure to deal him to the Cubs after weeks of talks, Peavy’s agent Barry Axelrod said.

“We tried to cooperate as best we could,” Axelrod told SI.com in a phone interview. “Frankly, Jake is frustrated now more than ever. And I’m more frustrated than ever.”

Trade talks between the Padres and Cubs broke down with Cubs people complaining about the way San Diego was doing business. But if the Cubs are annoyed (and they are, as several Cubs officials expressed annoyance over the Padres continuing push for more players and the media leaks coming from somewhere that were revelatory about which Cubs were being included in potential deals), Peavy is almost as annoyed.

He goes on to write:

After weeks of waiting, Axelrod indicated that Peavy was becoming adjusted to the idea of moving to Chicago to become a Cub, only to have that possibility pulled out from under him in the latest Padre failure.

“It’s tough. Jake was pretty shaken by it,” Axelrod said. “He was starting to think about what life was like to be a Chicago Cub, and now that was taken from him.”

Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems to me like Towers really screwed this one up.  It sounded like it was a done deal several times, only to have something else come up.  It’s almost as if Towers got greedier and greedier each time a proposal was made and Jim Hendry finally told him to forget about it.

Personally, I think if Jake really is as upset as this article suggests, there is no way he can go back to the Padres.  There have been too many bridges burned.  In my opinion, if you are Towers, you have to go back to Hendry with your tail between your legs and revisit the talks.  If you don’t, you risk further alienating Peavy and, more importantly, Axelrod.  And if Towers ever wants any of Axelrod’s clients to ever sign with San Diego, he better do something to placate the two of them.

Cubs with an All-World Rotation in 2009?

I know, I know.  It’s football season.  Why are you still talking about baseball?  Well, it’s because of this little tidbit from Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal that was just posted the Fox website about an hour ago:

Imagine a Cubs rotation that featured Jake Peavy, Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Rich Harden.

The team is trying to make it happen.

The Cubs have emerged as a front-runner in the Peavy sweepstakes, perhaps even ahead of the Braves, according to major-league sources.

The club also is willing to give Dempster a four-year contract, sources say, a decision that should put them in good position to retain the free-agent right-hander.

HO-LEE-SHIT!

That would be one Hell of a rotation.  If the Cubs were somehow able to pull that off, and make the trade for Brian Roberts?  Well, as we all know from the last 2 years, a talented regular season team doesn’t mean squat, but I sure would like their chances.

Good for the Brewers

Unless you’ve been without power and haven’t read a newspaper in the last 24 hours, you probably know that the Brewers traded their stud 1B prospect, Matt LaPorta to the Indians for CC Sabathia.  While, I fully admit that this makes them a threat for the NL Central (or the Wild Card at the very least), they better hope it works out for them this season, because they completely screwed themselves over for the future.

Because I can’t say it any better myself…..

From Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post:

Just so you know, I’m typing these words beneath a framed set of tickets to the 1984 World Series That Wasn’t, the one the Cubs were in until Leon Durham kicked it all away.

Not that I’m still bitter about it all these years later. Not that I’m, you know, hoping Durham is living under a bridge somewhere.

Having been raised at Wrigley Field, they tell me I’m supposed to be excited about this 2008 season. They tell me next year, the one we’ve been waiting for for your basic century, has arrived.

Pun says…..RELAX!

Cubs starting pitcher, Carlos Zambrano left the game in the 7th inning last night due to “shoulder discomfort”, and is heading back to Chicago today for an MRI.  Naturally, this has lead many people to declare the Cubs season as “over”, and their chances at the Division as “slim to none” now.  I have just one word for these people – RELAX! These are obviously people who do not follow the Cubs and simply want to hate on them because the Cubs haven’t won in a century.

Rounding the Bases – The End of the World Edition

You know, until today, I hadn’t given much thought to the Cubs/Rays series starting tonight. But then someone on the Cubs.com message board pointed out a thread calling the Cubs an illusion. Really? A Rays fan calling the Cubs an illusion? The Rays? A team that had not had a winning season in its entire existence until this season? The Rays? The Tampa Bay Rays? You’ve got to be kidding me!

OH WOE IS ME!

In case you haven’t heard by now, the Cubs lost Alfonso Soriano for up to six weeks last night when he was hit by a pitch from Jeff Bennett of the Braves in the 2nd inning. To hear some Cub fans talk about it, you’d think the season was over.

It’s a Good Time to be a Cub Fan

Being that Mike is a Braves fan, we were talking via AIM last night during the Cubs/Braves game. I was telling him that I absolutely love this Cubs team right now. (I am the “anti-Solly” at the moment.) I have not been this excited about Cubs baseball in a long time.

A sports columnist (and I wish I could remember who) said that almost all World Series teams have a guy, who is not normally a superstar, have a “career year” so to speak. The rest of the team feeds off that player’s energy and enjoyment of the game. The Cardinals had David Eckstein, the Red Sox had Kevin Millar, and the White Sox had Tadahito Iguchi. This year, the Cubs have two – Ryan Theriot and Reed “fucking” Johnson (© Solly).

Why not?

While it’s not a glaring need at the moment, most baseball analysts agree that the Cubs need, and will go after, another top of the line starter to compliment Zambrano, Lilly, and Dempster. Most of them are saying that they will pursue Gil Meche, CC Sabathia, or AJ Burnett. But I say, if you are going to go after Burnett, why not just go balls to the wall and try to get Roy Halladay?

Rounding the Bases – The Cubs Haters Edition

One of the things I do often is scour other MLB teams’ message boards. I don’t troll. I just like to see what other fans’ opinions are of their team as well as other teams. Some of the things I come across are so funny, pathetic, or sometimes brilliant that they need to be shared with everyone. I’m hoping to make “Rounding the Bases” a semi-regular feature here at 3 Men and a Blind Guy.

It’s really amazing how many people hate the Cubs. I mean really hate the Cubs. But it’s really funny how that blind hatred can lead to so many dumb and uninformed statements, especially when they are doing well.

A poster at the Cardinals board wanted to help the Cubs come up with a nickname for for the 2008 squad (how nice of them). A poster by the name of “cubsrjoke” came up with this gem:

Biggest waste of money

That’s funny. That “waste of money” is currently sitting atop the Major Leagues with the best record in baseball.

The same poster decided to spout some of his infinite wisdom in a thread about the All-Star voting and how many of the Cubs were near the top.

Oh my God what a joke. De Rosa is a bench player, Theiot is a nobody, Aramiss is a fat, lazy slob, Soriano can’t even catch the ball, Fukudome is as overrated as they come, Soto is a flash in the pan who has put up good numbers for barely 2 months. Wow what deserving players they have. LOL

Now, I’ve already said my peace about the All-Star voting. I don’t agree with a lot of it, but the things this guy is saying are just flat out false. DeRosa may have been a bench player, but he has been one of the better signings by Jim Hendry and has come through for the Cubs on many occasions. Theriot is a nobody, but that nobody has above average numbers in almost all categories except power numbers. Aramis “is a fat, lazy slob”? Where do I even begin with that one? That may have been true in the past, but the last few years, he has been solid both with the glove and at the plate. He has matured as a player and is even running out ground balls now. He’s even on pace to take 100 walks this season – double his career best. Soriano – I’ll give you that he’s a horrible defender. But he has won more games with his bat than he has lost with the glove. I’ll take that anyday. Fukudome could be considered overrated with all the hype he received, but he still has above average numbers. Soto has only put up good numbers the past 2 months? I guess “cubsrjoke” wasn’t watching the last 2 months of last season. He put up spectacular numbers then, and is continuing it now. That’s the furthest thing from “flash in the pan”.

It seems to me that “cubsrjoke” is a little jealous, because he continues on in another post:

It takes more than 2 months of a season to be considered a starting all star. Russell Martin, Yadier Molina and Brian McCann are all better choices. Offense is not everything at catcher. This kid needs to pay his dues for a few years before he is on an all star team. That way everyone will know if he is a flash in the pan or legit. My bet is flash in the pan

Get this guy a MENSA application stat! Yadier frickin’ Molina? And they say Cardinal fans are the smartest in baseball? Soto has better offensive and defensive stats than Molina. WTF?

Soto seems to be getting a lot of press on the Cardinals board. This is from a poster named “fkuchi”

Soto is a fluke. By August he’ll be barely above .200

No. He’ll be running away with the Rookie of the Year Award.

The Cubs hate is rampant at the Cards board. This is from “bottlenect”:

I agree that is a joke that the Cubs might have so many going to the all star game. If history is any indicator, they will find a way to choke at that game too. They might have some good talent this year and be the favorite to win the division and actually look better than us at most positions, but they are still a joke. Even if they do win the season series again. We’ll still come out on top.

I love it! “They have some good talent. And they look better than us at most positions. But they’re still a joke, and we’ll still beat them.” Hell, with logic like that, how can I argue? Once again, smartest fans in baseball?

Looking back, all the entries are from Cardinal fans. The irrational hatred is amazing. Look, I hate the Cardinals, too, but I respect the talent on that team enough that I’m not going to call them a joke, and I know they are going to be a thorn in the Cubs’ side all season long.

Like I said at the top, I want to make these a semi-regular part of the blog. If anyone has any suggestions for themes/ideas for “Rounding the Bases”, please pass them along.