Five Reasons Not to Panic Cubs Fans

Seven game losing streak is unfortunate, but I think there is some hope for the Cubs. Here are 5 reasons why.

1. Starting Pitching

Carlos Zambrano is back, and while he isn't the great pitcher he used to be, he is still pretty good. Ted Lilly has been a victim of bad offense, and I see no reason why he can't win 17 games again this season. Ryan Dempster has started to be good at pitching again, and hopefully that will be more the norm. Sean Marshall has been impressive as the fifth starter, hopefully some offense will come his way. I've been real impressed with Randy Wells and I think he can be a valuable contributor to this team. Rich Harden has been real hit or miss so far, and I think this DL stint will do him a world of good.

2. Carlos Marmol and Angel Guzman

These two have looked really really good so far this season, Marmol will always have some control issues, but his stuff is awesome and he almost always gets out of the tough jams. Guzman has turned into a strike throwing machine that is setting himself up to be the regular seventh inning guy. 

3. The hitting cannot get worse

Sure it can stay the same, but it can't be worse. Fontenot got some hits the last few days, Bradley was driving the ball into the depths of hell in San Diego. Soto was hitting some balls hard, though he is still a fatass one-year wonder in my book. Odds are Soriano and Theriot aren't going to get any worse, somebody just needs to tell Theriot he isn't a power hitter.

4. Aramis will be back

Not any time soon, but he will come back. If this team can somehow play a bit above .500 while he is out, they can make a huge push at the end.

5. Oh What the Hell

PANIC. Seriously this team is a disaster right now. Odds are they are about a .500 team the rest of the way unless the hitting picks up. Its been pathetic at best recently, and that comes with some nice starting pitching. With Heilman and Gregg in the bullpen who knows what could happen if Marmol and Guzman need a day off. 

The Cubs are in for a rude awakening tomorrow night when they get booed like crazy. 

A Preemptive Strike Against the Cubs

I will do my best to not be too harsh in this post, but it will be hard. Coming into this season I, along with every other person in baseball outside of St. Louis figured the Cubs would win the NL Central without much issue. I went as far as to point out a number of things that would have to happen for the Cubs to not win the division, and they all are happening. Injuries have ravaged the Cubs, and even with Big Z coming back there is no hope. 

Aramis Ramirez is the key to the middle of the order, and it is starting to show. He won't be back for a long time. Even when he does come back it will take another two weeks for him to adjust to major league pitching and odds are his power won't be what it was for a while. This injury is really making the trade of Mark DeRosa look that much stupider. I can't wait to watch more of Ryan Freel and Mike Fontenot playing third base, while Aaron Miles and his .566 OPS man second. What a joke. 

First base is occupied by Derrek Lee, former all star who has become a shell of himself. Meanwhile Micah Hoffpauir has proved to me that he needs to play as much as possible. Lee can't hit, and Hoffpauir can.

The outfield is set, but still concerning. I don't care about Soriano, nothing about him will ever change, and I don't want it to. I still love Milton Bradley the person and the quote machine, but again his play is leaving something to be desired. Luckily he knows it and odds are he goes on a tear soon and settles around .280 for the season. I'm getting real concerned with Fukudome, it's about that time of year, and the Fuku-copter is out again. As I write that sentence he drives in the first Cubs run of the game. The fact remains, you have to be worried about him falling off the cliff again. 

This offense is pathetic, notice I didn't talk about the fat one year powerless wonder, that's because I can't write my thoughts about him without swearing up a storm. There might not be a way to fix it either, I would expect a race to the wild card post sometime this weekend while I watch the Padres beat up the worthless piece of crap that is the Cubs offense.

Peavy Officially Turns Down the Sox

Jake Peavy is an absolute joke. How can a pitcher of his caliber be afraid to switch leagues. It's pretty pathetic that this guy is not even confident enough in his stuff to step up to a challenge. He's happy with sitting back in his cushy ball park, in the inferior hitting league in baseball, pitching to 7.5 hitters per day as opposed to 9 in the AL.

I was not thrilled at the way the process worked out. The pressure that was put on Peavy himself (which he crumbled under) and the pressure put on the Sox to try and lure him to Chicago. I don't understand how a deal like this can be fully agreed upon only hinging on a primma donna's no-trade clause. I'm sure this is not the way Kenny Williams intended it to go down, and I'm even more sure he's not thrilled with the final outcome.

I could go on for years about how much of a pansy Jake Peavy is. I don't understand how an athlete has the power to dictate exactly what league he wants to play in, what team he wants to play in, and what ballpark he prefers. What's next, is he going to ask the opposing team to only use players that he can get out. What a woos, I'm starting to wonder if the Sox would even want a guy who has Cy Young ability but doesn't trust himself.

So what does this mean for the Sox. Well first of all I think Peavy just took a direct shot at the organization. He claims he didn't want to leave the NL, he didn't want to go to a home run park, but I there is no way you can't look at this as a slap in the Sox face. Maybe it will light a fire under the White Sox. Peavy says he wants to go to a team that's going to contend, and by turning down this deal he's telling the Sox he doesn't think they are good enough to win.

As far as organizationally for the Sox. I really respect what they tried to do here today. Kenny Williams isn't one for waiting around. He went out and tried to do something that would positively impact the team tomorrow. Too bad the guy he targeted is too afraid to pitch in Chicago. Too afraid to leave Petco Park where his ERA is well under 3. Too afriad to have to face desginated hitters. Too afraid to embarrass himself and prove how much of a product of the ballpark that he thinks he is.

I'll end with this. Jake Peavy has immeadiatley risen to one of my least favorite players in baseball. It's sad that a guy with as much talent as he has can't even trust himself. A normal (non-childish) athlete would step up and take the challenge. Show the league how good he is. Prove to the world that he's not only good because of the park he pitches in. But that's not who Jake Peavy is. Jake Peavy is a man who does not trust himself, and is too scared to get out of his comfort zone. Good work Jake, you are the new public enemy number one on the South Side. I cannot wait until the Padres make their next trip to the Cell, you think Disco Demolition night was bad, that was nothing.

Peavy Probably Rejecting

I'm going to hold off on the rant until I see it officially reported from both the White Sox and Padres. The latest news is coming from this whirlwind is this... http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/1585320,jake-peavy-white-sox-trade-chicago-052109.article.

Looks like it's not going to happen today. What a shame.

When Will We Know on Peavy

This whole deal is starting to get really confusing. Every moment that ticks away is another step towards baseball in San Diego. I would have to think he would have a decision made by the time he heads off to the game tonight.

What's confusing me is whether the wait is making this deal more likely or less likely? It's really hard to tell. I have a hard time believing he is just sitting around with his agent and family thinking abut whether he wants to go or not. I think Kenny Williams is still working really hard to get this thing done.

Usually the way Kenny works, the more it looks like something is not going to happen the more likely it is to happen. He's a surprise artist, and I really hope we are all surprised some time tonight. But my odds are now up to 95% that he turns down the trade.

Do Sox Make Playoffs If They Do Get Peavy?

My inclination is to probably say no. It will surely make them a better team than they are right now, but I don't know that this would neccessarily get them over the hump. The Tigers are a really good team and I'm not sure the Royals are going to go away as quick as I once thought.

However I really don't know that the Sox making it this year is that important in this trade. Do realize that Jake Peavy has a deal signed through 2013. So this deal would legitamize the Sox staff for at least the next 4 years. Buehrle, Peavy, Danks, and Floyd give you a solid 4 for at least the next few years. So honesly I think this is a win for the Sox whether they make it this year or not. But I still hold on saying that it wont get done.

Peavy Odds

Everything I read says it's about 50/50 right now that Peavy decides to join the Sox. I put it at 85/15 leaning towards no. The reason I say this is because if he actually wanted to join the Sox it would be done already. He wouldn't have needed 8 hours or so to decide.

Peavy has made it clear that he wants to stay in the National League, and I don't think you can blame him. It's not bad to get one basically automatic out every 9 and then I'd say more than half the NL teams have a patsy 8 hitter as well. He also says he likes to hit. I don't know how true that is. He's a career .178 hitter and doesn't have a hit this year.

But I think this is a great situation for him. The Sox are not a great team, but they are surely better than the Padres. And with Peavy on the Sox roster the pitching staffs effectiveness increases tenfold. He has never pitched in the Cell, so he can't say he's historically bad there. I know it's a hitters ballpark, but if that's truly the case how is Mark Buehrle one of the best pitchers in the AL and why are the Sox the 2nd worst hitting team in the league?

Also the rumors of him not wanting to leave Petco are bogus. It's definitely true that Petco is a great place to pitch, but it's also true that if Peavy wants to win Petco is not the place.

If I had my chance to talk to him right now I'd tell him this, "It's time for you to step up and truely validate your career. You have your money and no one is going to take that away, no matter how you perform. This is your chance to come to a great baseball city on and off the field. Stand up, be a man, and drop this need to be in the NL thing. Take the deal, get yourself out of San Diego, and take a shot to learn what a real baseball town is like. Come to Chicago Jake, we need you. And remember, if you turn this down, the entire South Side is going to be out for your head."

UPDATE - ESPN has just reported that the hold up for Peavy is the length of the contract. This is actually good news for the Sox. If Peavy was just sitting there weighing why he doesn't want to come to Chicago, eventually I think he comes up with enough reasons why not to. But if he's worrying about contract, I think he may actually have come around to the idea of moving and now it just hinges on how sweet the Sox can make the deal. Come on Jake, make the right choice.

Peavy to White Sox?

I asked for change, and maybe this is actually happening. Are you serious right now? I would probably lose my mind with jubilation if they indeed does happen. This would be exactly the change I was asking for.

I'm a little concerned because when rumors get out involving the Sox before the deal is done, it's a good sign it's not happening. See Soriano in 06, Griffey a few years before. There have been more I just need to get to work.

Here's the link. Hopefully I'm writing something tonight to talk about how excited I am about this.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/20/n70258234820-peavy-trade-chicago-white-sox-may-be-/?padres

Soriano Gets His WWE On

Alfonso was hanging around a WWE event Sunday Night, he took part in a skit with "The Miz" (whoever that is) and then celebrated John Cena's victory with Cena himself. Here are some low quality pics of Soriano and Cena, I'm hoping to get some higher quality screencaps later this week.

Now I'm not a wrestling fan, but this is still cool stuff. 

Sox Win, Must Be Buehrle's Day

What other way is there to explain why the Sox won today. No but seriously, it was actually a fun game to watch tonight. They got some hits early in the game made some nice defensive plays, and scored in more than one inning. All that coupled with Buehrle on the bump makes for a nice way to snap that losing streak.

Still there were some issues including the continued failures at bunting and continued struggles with 2 out clutch hitting. But today is not a day to complain. The Sox did well tonight and I am thrilled to see that they are actually still capable of playing good solid ball.

The Sox "Look Forward" tour continues tomorrow as Danks will go for the Sox against Liriano and the Twinks. Both young lefties have struggled so far early this season, but I got a sneaking suspicion tomorrow will be a low scoring game. We will see if the Sox can win their first series in 2 weeks tomorrow.