The first choice of Reds fans would be the popular and powerful Gomes. A fun-loving type, Gomes won over Cincinnati baseball fans much as he had in Tampa Bay, and is regarded as a strong, positive force in the clubhouse. Gomes hit .267 and belted 20 HR in 291 AB during the 2009 season, posting the team’s second highest OPS+ behind only Joey Votto. The knocks on Gomes are a sluggish glove in the corner outfield spots, and a bat that performs better against lefty pitching than right-handers. Most of Gomes’ work in 2009 was against lefties. There is also the matter of cost. Gomes would be the most expensive of the LF options, requiring either a multi-year agreement, arbitration, or exposure to the free agent pool. After his solid season, Gomes figures to get a seven- figure deal. He has indicated he would accept arbitration if the Reds offer it, but wants to go where he can play full-time.

Balentien is a choice similar to Gomes, though he is four years younger and has a less impressive track record. Unfortunately, Reds manager Dusty Baker did not see fit to use Balentien regularly down the stretch to test his readiness, instead favoring lesser choices like Darnell McDonald and Laynce Nix. Balentien is a better fielder than Gomes, but has had struggles at bat even though he has shown excellent power potential. He has the highest ceiling of any candidate, but also carries the most risk.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The other two candidates and their availability also depends on how the center field job is awarded. If youngster Drew Stubbs is awarded CF on the basis of his solid audition at the end of 2009, then both are available for LF duty. If that is the case, Dickerson would be a strong candidate for LF, and to lead off. Dickerson kept pushing himself into more playing time last year, doing good things every time he was in the lineup. He also has good speed and excellent on-base skills, plays strong defense, and hits for some power. If Gomes is not retained, the most likely situation is a Dickerson/Balentien platoon, as Dickerson is the only left-handed hitting candidate for the job. In any case, Dickerson will get plenty of playing time in center and/or left, if he can stay healthy enough to remain in the lineup. This was his biggest problem last year.

The wild card in this situation is veteran Willy Taveras, signed for $4 million for 2010. Taveras was signed to fill the center field and leadoff roles, but played badly in 2009 and was also sidelined for a great deal of time, which allowed first Dickerson and then Stubbs openings to impress. Now, given
manager Dusty Baker’s love of veterans, Taveras might get a lot of center field play anyway, but a Juan Pierre-like move to left field with Stubbs in center is not out of the realm of possibility. This is the true unknown for 2010, what will be done with Taveras. Many Reds fans would just as soon he be tarred and feathered, but if the club cannot move him, he is likely to be on the roster, and if he is Baker will find ways to play him.

The first marker to look for is whether Gomes is offered arbitration. If he is, the other dominoes will fall. If he is not, then things will only have begun to get interesting.

Related posts:

1. Do the Reds Have a Plan?
2. Ryan Hanigan: From Rollins College to the Cincinnati Reds
3. Reds at 50 (well, 48)

September General Overview:

September Record 13-15

Season Record 77-81 (with 4 games to go)

The Brewers came into September clearly outside of playoff contention. However, they did have a couple opportunities to impact the Wild Card chase as they had a couple of the front-runners on the schedule in September. In their first chance, they lost 2 of 3 to a Giants team that had legitimate playoff hopes at the time. In their second chance to play spoiler, they fared even worse. They got swept by a Rockies team that finds new ways to win on a daily basis. It was a disappointing but not surprising way to finish off what has been a disappointing season. A season which started very promising and even included about a solid month of being in first place turned into a disappointing season where the Brewers were battling (unsuccessfully) to at least get back to .500. With that in mind it’s time to hand out some bests and worsts for the month of September.

Bests And Worsts of September:

Best Hitter — Casey McGehee .337./394/.565

Casey McGehee ended his rookie year with a bang. He has strengthened his case for both the Rookie of the Year and to hold down third base for the Brewers for 2010 and beyond.

Best Pitcher – Trevor Hoffman 1-1 1.80 era 7/8 saves

Since Hoffman was handed this award last month, I tried the best I could to justify handing it to another pitcher. I almost gave this to Chris Narveson but considering he couldn’t make it out of the 6th the other night against the Rockies, I had to look elsewhere. Sure, Hoffman did have a blown save in September but he has been so dominant and so much better than the rest of the pitching staff that he gets the pitcher of the month award.

Worst Hitter — Craig Counsell .205/.279/.282

As recently as Tuesday, Jason Kendall was penciled in for this “award”. Overall, Kendall wasn’t great this month but he did just enough in the Colorado series to avoid this dubious distinction. That led me to look elsewhere, eventually leading to Craig Counsell. Counsell obviously isn’t known for his bat but he still needs to produce more offensively to justify the playing time he has gotten this year.

Worst Pitcher – Dave Bush 2-4  7.85 era

This was a disappointing end to a less than ideal season for David Bush. He just hasn’t been the same pitcher since being struck by a line drive in May and his struggles in September has been a microcosm for the 2009 season.

Best Game — September 6 (2-1 win over the Giants)

For this award, it was a toss up between this game and the win on the 26th over the Phillies. This game got the nod due to a better pitching performance. While the Brewers were out of contention this year, this game had a playoff feel to it. A strong pitching duel (between Braden Looper and Jonathan Sanchez), key defensive plays (Pablo Sandoval robbing the Brewers of a game winning hit in the 10th) and Most importantly, this game also involved the Brewers getting the last word. Prince Fielder capped this game by hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th. To top it off, the Brewers followed up on the walk-off homer with the rest of the team greeting him at home plate and falling down like bowling pins when he stepped onto home plate.

Worst Game — September 7 (3-0 loss to the Cardinals)

How did the Brewers follow up this epic game? Well, they pretty much got steamrolled by Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals. Granted Carpenter was on his game but when the only thing separating your team from a no-hitter is a Jody Gerut double, it’s pretty hard to play any worse.

Since the baseball season is winding to a close I will add another set of awards to the normal monthlies: pleasant surprise/biggest disappointment.

Pleasant Surprise – Casey McGehee .304/.365/.507 128 OPS+

This call isn’t even close. McGehee was picked up off of waivers from the Cubs in the off-season. When the Brewers signed him it was more or less an afterthought. For the first couple months of the season, he was “that guy” that they let come off the bench for an at bat or two a week. However, with Rickie Weeks being lost for the season in May, McGehee got more opportunities to play and he made the most of it.

Watching Casey McGehee play has been one of the few bright spots in what has been a disappointing year. He’s had to deal with playing on a bad knee and having to split playing time with Craig Counsell and Mat Gamel. Still he gave it his all, hasn’t missed a beat and proven to be more than capable of hitting Major-League pitching.

Biggest Disappointment — Manny Parra 11-10 6.16 era 68 ERA+

I could have gone in many directions here since there were many others “worthy” of this distinction (Hall, Hardy, Looper, Suppan, Kendall, Bush, etc.), but Manny Parra trumped them all. After losing Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia after the 2008 season, the Brewers were counting on Yovani Gallardo and Parra to be the 1-2 pitchers in the rotation if the Brewers were to have any hopes of contention this year.

Gallardo did his part but Manny Parra was inconsistent for most of the season and downright terrible in the other parts (even by Brewers rotation standards). Instead of building on a decent 2008 season, Parra seemed to regress backwards. He fell off so deep that he ended up being sent back to Nashville for a while. While he showed some signs of life after coming back, the damage had already been done to his season.

What’s Next for Current Brewers Players?

With the 2009 season winding down and a return trip to the playoffs not happening, it is time to look ahead to what’s next heading into the 2010 season. The first step towards that is what’s going to happen to the players with expiring contracts. While it is too early to speculate who the Brewers will try to sign from other teams, we can look ahead to which Brewers players may or may not be moving on between now and April.

Mike Cameron .249/.343/.454 108 OPS+

Mike Cameron has held down center for the last couple seasons. He’s done what he has always done, hit around .250 with some power and defense mixed in. While he has his flaws, he still is one of the better center fielders in the league and is a better option than the reserve outfielders that the Brewers have (Jody Gerut, Frank Catalanotto). With Cameron I wouldn’t be too surprised regardless of whether he’s brought back or let go.

Braden Looper 13-7 5.10 82 ERA+

Looper does have a club option for 2010 that would pay him $6.5 million. Based on his performance this year, I’m not too crazy about Braden Looper coming back AND being paid more to do so. He’s managed to stay healthy and attain a good win-loss record (due primarily to strong run support). Still, his performance this year led a lot to be desired and he was still one of the poster children for the Brewers pitching struggles.

Jason Kendall .244/.333/.308 71 OPS+

Jason Kendall seems to be a good person, team mate and the pitchers seem to like him. However, on a team that usually needs to out-slug the other team to win, letting someone like Kendall start 130+ games a season isn’t the best idea. To put it another way, there are 86 National League players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. When you sort those 86 player by OPS+ Kendall ranks 84th. In other words, the Brewers are better off looking elsewhere for next year’s starting catcher job.

Granted, his backup Mike Rivera hasn’t hit much better (.227/.328/.345 79 OPS+), but with Rivera hitting there’s at least an outside chance that he can do something productively offensively. While Rivera isn’t starting material, Rivera is still an upgrade over Jason Kendall in case the Brewers can’t find another catcher through Free Agency.

Trevor Hoffman 2-2 1.76 era 238 ERA+

The Brewers NEED to bring back Hoffman. When the Brewers signed him for a reasonable price last winter, I knew it was a good move. I just didn’t realize it was a brilliant move. Hoffman has been a rock at the back of the Brewers bullpen. This is something that definitely hasn’t been taken for granted (this happens when the predecessors in this job include Dan Kolb, Derrick Turnbow, Eric Gagne and Solomon Torres). While it’s tough to say if he’ll be this dominant in 2010, Hoffman is still one of the elite closers in this league.

Craig Counsell .279/.350/.404 99 OPS+

Counsell has historically been known more for his defense and grittiness than his bat. Armed with an adjusted batting stance, he turned in one of his better years at the plate. It’s likely the Brewers will bring him back. Personally, I’m not too crazy about Counsell coming back as he’s unlikely to replicate these numbers. I don’t mind him coming off the bench occasionally but when he’s in a platoon with Casey McGehee, he’s probably getting too many at-bats. I would prefer to see the Brewers go in a different direction here (i.e. re-sign Felipe Lopez instead).

Felipe Lopez .318/.406/.449 126 OPS+

Lopez was acquired from the D-Backs in July and has held down the second base/lead-off spot ever since. He had a nice 4-hit game in his first Brewers appearance and he hasn’t stopped hitting since. There’s been nothing dominant about his hitting, but he has a knack for finding his way on base.

It’s tough to see where the Brewers would have room for him on the 2010 team (assuming Weeks is healthy) but I would rather see Lopez fill-in the starter/platoon infielder role that’s likely to go to Craig Counsell. He’s just as versatile defensively, younger, a better hitter and even has a little bit of pop in his bat.

Related posts:

1. The 2010 Brewers & The Groundhog Day Principle:
2. Brewers Fading Away: An August Recap
3. Reflections on the Brewers at the Trade Deadline

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

For the most part, you won’t hear much complaining about the pitching staff in September.  Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright helped cement their Cy Young candidacies, though both of them had at least one game that was uncharacteristically bad for them.  They were also occasionally undone by an offensive attack that took the night off.  Wainwright especially lost two chances to advance his win total to 19 before attaining that mark in the clinching game on September 26.  Notably, it took 130 pitches and eight innings before he turned things over to the bullpen.

Related posts:

1. The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
2. The Cardinals, On The Run and the Number 6
3. The Cardinals Flip Flop in May

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

And then Boston again handed St. Louis a piece of their puzzle.  After trading Lugo to the Birds for Chris Duncan, now released, the Red Sox designated John Smoltz for assignment.  After he cleared (and, more importantly, left Boston on the hook for his salary), the Cards swooped in and signed him to cover both roles.  Smoltz will pick up a couple of starts, then eventually slide into the bullpen for the end of the season and the postseason.  Yet another hole had been filled.

Related posts:

1. Cardinals Are Not Dormant During Winter
2. For The Cardinals, It Was A Stuttering September
3. A Starry July in St. Louis

I recently had the privilege of asking Dodger great, Steve Garvey (1B) a few questions. I was put in contact with Mr. Garvey by Athlete Promotions.  
AthletePromotions manages the website, corporate appearances, speaking engagements and endorsement deals for 10 time All-Star, Steve Garvey. To see who else Athlete Promotions represents please visit their website: www.AthletePromotions.com.

Steve Garvey: Raising three children (Ryan16, Olivia 15 and Sean 10). Also continuing to help others through charity and foundation work.

SG: Albert Pujols in the NL and Mark Teixeira in the AL

SG: My favorite pitchers were all lefties and least favorite was knuckleballer Phil Niekro

SG: Without a doubt, my family

I would like to thank Steve Garvey for his time and answers as well as Ryan at AthletePromotions for making this interview possible.

Look for more player interviews thanks to AthletePromotions periodically here at Baseball Reflections.

Related posts:

1. The Complete Interview with Pitching Legend Tommy John
2. Interview With Buddy Biancalana of PMPM Sports
3. INTERVIEW: Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball

With seven weeks left in the baseball season, the young Florida Marlins seem to be poised to stay in the hunt down to the wire in the National League East. However, the question is whether the Marlins have the experience needed to catapult pass the Phillies and claim the title.

At the start of the season, it was clear that the Marlins had enough talent to be competitive in the National League East. However, with a roster that included only four players in their 30s (none of whom were regulars) the question was whether the Marlins had the leadership needed to make it through a tough 162 game season.

The recent acquisition of 30-year old first baseman Nick Johnson gives the team another solid offensive player while also providing some veteran clubhouse presence. Johnson has postseason experience having helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series in 2003.

He also is a solid left-handed bat and among the best in the game at getting on base. In his 13 games since joining the Marlins, he is hitting .308 with a home run, 6 RBIs and a .500 on base percentage.

Johnson joins a Marlins team that seems to have withstood their up-and-down early season to now emerge as a playoff contender.

After starting the season 11-1, the Marlins found themselves below .500 by mid-May. The team spent the next two months flirting with .500 before finally breaking the mark for good on July 21.

At that point they trailed the Phillies by 7 games in the NL East, but since them have shaved the advantage in half.

If there was any doubt about who the offensive leader is for the Marlins, those questions have been erased this season by Hanley Ramirez. The 25-year old shortstop has clearly established himself as one of the best players in the National League and will certainly be on the short list for the National League MVP Award.

Ramirez is hitting .356 with 18 home runs, 82 RBI, 36 doubles and 76 runs scored. He leads the national league in batting average and doubles and ranks among the top 10 in RBI, slugging percentage, runs scored and stolen bases.

Josh Johnson (12-2, 2.85 ERA) has been the leader of the pitching staff, but Chris Volstad, Ricky Nolasco and Andrew Miller have all been solid starters.

The strength of the pitching staff has been in the middle relievers as Kiko Calero, Brian Sanches, Dan Meyer and Renyel Pinto have been lights out. Overall, the bullpen has an ERA of 3.82.

Given the experience the Phillies gained a year ago during their run to the World Series, it would be easy to assume that they will be able to withstand the charging Marlins and repeat as NL East Champions.

So far this season, Philadelphia holds a slight 7-5 advantage in head-to-head match ups, but the Marlins swept three straight in Philadelphia August 7-9 and punctuated the sweep with a 12-3 win in the final game.

The two teams don’t meet again until September 22 for a 3-game series in Miami. They also meet for the final 3 games of the season in Philadelphia.

The Marlins also have 10 games remaining against the Atlanta Braves, who lurk just 2 games behind the Marlins in the standings. Florida is 5-3 against the Braves so far this season.

Florida was in a similar position last season as they trailed the division leading New York Mets by 3 and a half games on August 15th. They went 21-17 over the remainder of the season, but ended up 7 and a half games out of first as the Phillies caught fire and passed the Mets on their way to the championship.

The expectation is that this time around with a year of experience as well as the addition of Johnson and others with a postseason resume, the Marlins will be able to stay in contention and perhaps this season be the team that gets hot down the stretch.

Editor’s reminder:

To buy a virtual raffle ticket and enter for a chance to win one of the 9 MLB keychains please send a $1 donation by cllicking the button below.

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at peter@baseballreflections.com.

Related posts:

1. Marlins Starting Pitching Is A Sleeping Giant In The N.L. East
2. Marlins Must Prove That Talent Trumps Experience
3. Florida Marlins Off Season Report

Amidst the ups and downs of playing for a small-medium market club for your

On July 22, Todd Helton became the fastest MLB player to reach 500 doubles in a career.  There have only been 49 players to previously reach the mark and 46 of them are in the Hall of Fame.  Craig Biggio, Edgar Martinez and Pete Rose are the only players from the 500 Double club to not currently be in the Hall.  Both Biggio and Martinez are not eligible yet and Rose of course is ineligible at this time.  To me this makes this club one of the most prestigious in baseball history and to be the fastest player to reach it in history is a remarkable feat. All the numbers prove that Helton should be the first Colorado Rockies player to be enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In the era we are in today with all the acquisitions of performance enhancing drugs being used, Helton has managed to by pass all of them.  Although some remarks were made of Helton in 2007, nothing was proven.  Sure his power numbers dipped a little bit throughout the years but he also was sidelined with a pretty serious back injury which could have contributed to the decline of those stats.

The Rockies made a remarkable run in 2007 and are in the hunt for the wild card this year.  Todd has provided this team and franchise with much needed leadership and has proved to be the greatest Colorado Rockies player to date.

Throughout the years in town Helton has battled many trade rumors and skeptics.  And although the owners have managed to rid themselves of high priced players throughout the years Helton has never bad mouthed the organization.  The team has been known to lose more than win throughout Helton’s playing career and he has still played hard throughout.

Helton has been a staple for the team since 1997 at the plate and at first base.  Tallying three gold gloves and providing leadership to the organization on and off the field, Helton has helped Colorado gain notoriety as a MLB franchise.  We can only hope the baseball writers out there see it the same way. So I can only say as a fan, we hope for many more years with Helton at first, and we thank him for his contributions to date.

Editor’s reminder:

To buy a virtual raffle ticket and enter for a chance to win one of the 9 MLB keychains please send a $1 donation by cllicking the button below.

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at peter@baseballreflections.com.

Related posts:

1. Hall Of Very Good HOF Chat/Discussion Tonight!
2. Can the Rockies stay hot after the break?
3. Reflections on the Rockies Past, Present & Future

Do we ever hear enough “Meet the Mess,” jokes? The line does become overplayed like the latest

Yes, it has been THAT type of season for those Metropolitans as they have now fallen 10 full games behind the Phillies in the NL East. Mets fans have to wonder if their team will even have a chance at reaching the postseason this year. And who could blame them for their mindset? When your perennial all-star at third base hits less than ten home runs by mid-August after putting up four consecutive years of 25-plus homers and over 100 RBIs, it must make one think that their team is jinxed. Wright is the one Met that has been without ailment this season and has played all but one of the team’s games this season. Much has been made of Wright’s lack of power this season but there have not been many answers to the surrounding questions. However, it would be entirely unfair to place the struggles if the Mets this season entirely on his shoulders.

July was not exactly the most encouraging month for the Mets as they finished up with a record of 11-13, but they did end the month on an encouraging note with 6 wins in their final 8 games. In that stretch, they completed a 4-game sweep of the resurgent Colorado Rockies and held them to just 5 runs during the series. As the old mantra goes, “Good pitching beats good pitching,” the Mets were able to string together some good starts from their otherwise disappointing starting staff. Not having lefty Oliver Perez for much of the first half certainly did not help matters but nevertheless, aside from ace Johan Santana, (13-8, 3.00 ERA), the Metropolitans could never muster up enough quality starts to keep them in contention.

John Maine, the other projected big arm of the Mets staff, has been out since June 12 with shoulder weakness in his right shoulder. Being as how Maine was not scheduled to return until September at the earliest, Mets officials are pondering keeping Maine out for the rest of the season as the team looks more than likely to miss the postseason for the third consecutive year. On top of that, the Mets also lost young prospect Jonathan Niese to a torn hamstring for the rest of the year. Livan Hernandez, (7-6, 5.08 ERA), has continually displayed a most frustrating inconsistency all season. Coming off a 3-game streak of quality starts, and after a 4-game losing streak which stretch back from late-June, Hernandez gave up 7 earned runs and 8 hits in his last outing which took place in Petco Park.

Image by paul.hadsall via Flickr

Gary Sheffield, who at one point was considered to be the saving grace of the Mets’ season, missed the entire second half of July with right hamstring issues and now can not even be expected to start on a regular basis. Manager Jerry Manuel has said that he would like to get Sheffield into at least 5 games a week, but with Sheffield’s right hamstring ready to act up at any instant, it is more than likely to appreciate even single appearances per week from Sheff. The former Florida Marlin does lead the team in slugging percentage (.478) and home runs (10) so taking his bat out of the lineup certainly takes the bite out of a lineup which currently sits at 12th in the National League in runs per game (4.31). Compare that to division leaders Philadelphia (5.22) and you have almost a full run difference per game.

This year’s race for the NL East was supposed to be hotter than ever between the Mets and the Phillies as the Mets boasted a bolstered bullpen, a lineup only improved with the addition of Sheffield, the Mets were poised to finally take back the division crown. Six months later and many Mets faithful might have to come to the realization that the all-desired NL East crown will have to wait until at least next year. Blame whatever you would like, the lack of team chemistry, the injuries, any of it. It all still equates to a disappointing season for the boys from Queens.

Editor’s reminder:

To buy a virtual raffle ticket and enter for a chance to win one of the 9 MLB keychains please send a $1 donation by cllicking the button below.

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at peter@baseballreflections.com.

Related posts:

1. Can the Florida Marlins Win the NL East
2. Despite Ailments, Streaking Mets Keep NL East Tight
3. Phillies Fans It Is Not Time To Panic

Of the 25 Pittsburgh Pirates who took the field on Opening Day 2008, 7 remain with the organization today. General manager Neal Huntington has turned over his depth chart methodically and added a number of talented prospects to his farm system. Doing so was not easy. Huntington sent away All-Stars in Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson in the past year, undoubtedly frustrating the average fan in the process.

Considering a streak of 16 consecutive losing seasons is likely to be extended once again come October, no one would blame yinzers for questioning the team’s intentions. Five-year rebuilding plans have come and gone with no results. The current roster features 1 player over the age of 30 — utility infielder Ramon Vazquez — and millions of dollars have been slashed from the payroll.

Huntington’s late July fire sale included deals for Sanchez, Wilson, Ian Snell, John Grabow, Tom Gorzelanny and Adam LaRoche. Sean Burnett, traded with popular outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Washington Nationals in June, recently called the Pirates the laughingstock of the league. And maybe there was truth in Burnett’s outburst — despite being considered winners at the trade deadline by national baseball writers, the team had turned into a punchline. Huntington listened to offers on everyone and anything, including the kitchen sink, in the nearly unprecedented sell off.

But what choice did he have?

The GM entered an impossible situation when he inherited Dave Littlefield’s job. The major league roster was weak and aging, but the minors were undeveloped, too. Huntington did what was necessary: He kept what little talent could be controlled long-term and dealt remaining assets at as high a price as the market would bear. For the first time in years, the franchise would develop from within. Littlefield’s goal of reaching a single .500 season would no longer be considered acceptable. The cycle of overpaying role players and ignoring premium talent pools would end.

Huntington deserves the benefit of the doubt, and as soon as this winter he could prove his plan has the team headed in the right direction. After shedding veterans past their primes, targeting players with over-slot bonus demands in the draft and entering the Latin American free agent market aggressively, Huntington can take one more action to assure me that he’s the man who will turn the organization around.

Sign Andrew McCutchen to a long-term deal.

Fans lacking savvy would be quick to point out that Huntington extended McLouth, Sanchez and Snell, only to trade them away. There’s a difference between buying out arbitration years and cheaply controlling a premium player through three seasons of free agency, though. That’s exactly what the Tampa Bay Rays were able to do with Evan Longoria in April of 2008, just days into the franchise third baseman’s career in the show. There was no doubt that Longoria would emerge as a star, and so the team offered the 22-year-old a guaranteed $17.5 million. The Rays bought out his arbitration seasons and acquired club options for three free agency years.

Longoria could have hit the open market before 2014, and if history is any indicator, the Yankees or Red Sox or Mets or Cubs would have signed him then to a huge, multi-year contract. Instead, should Longoria progress as expected, the Rays can choose to control him from 2014-2016 for a combined $28 million. According to FanGraphs’ value statistics, Longoria was worth $24.1 million in 2008 alone.

It’s now that Huntington needs to sign a player of McCutchen’s star power; he can’t afford to wait until his center fielder can see free agency coming. Give McCutchen a life-changing amount — which $18-20 million certainly is — and ensure that he’ll be a key contributor to sustained winning in Pittsburgh through his physical peak. By all accounts McCutchen is a hard-working, explosive, two-way standout. His debut has quieted even the harshest critics. Prove to him, to his peers and to the Steel City that the Pirates are serious about winning and keeping the best players in Pittsburgh. Piecing together a top farm system is meaningless if All-Stars can’t be retained when they’re needed most.

Related posts:

1. Boston Adds a Bat
2. Another One Bites The Dust
3. Pirates will remain sellers as deadline approaches

In a month in which Roy Halladay’s name occupied the airwaves 24/7, and in which Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, and Jarrod Washburn were all traded to contenders, the Cubs came away from the trading deadline with . . . Tom Gorzelanny? A guy who was solid but not great for the Pirates in 2007, and split time in 2008 and 2009 with the Pirates’ Triple-A club. Are we supposed to believe that the Cubs hope to win the NL Central with a guy who wasn’t good enough to break the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation?

The funny part is that the Cubs actually gave up a guy in Kevin Hart who has had some success at the major league level in 2009.

Who knows – perhaps Gorzelanny is a good pitcher from a bad team who will improve mightily on a winning team like the Cubs. I don’t think that will be the case, but who knows? On the bright side, Gorzelanny has dominated Triple-A since 2006, and he is a lefty where Hart was a righty.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The other big move made by the Cubs was the acquisition of Toronto Blue Jays cast-off B.J. Ryan, who despite being owed more than $15 million on his contract was released in June. But who knows, this could work out great as well. Thirty-three year old relievers with bad mechanics two-and-a-half years removed from Tommy John surgery often work out great, right?

Chicago Cubs apologists will be quick to point out that the Cubs have been hamstrung by the fact that their parent, the Tribune Company, is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. This may be. Nevertheless, it is questionable not only whether the moves the Cubs are making will improve the team, but whether the moves may actually be making the team worse. It remains to be seen.

The good news for the Cubs is that July was their hottest month of the season so far. During the past month the Cubs won 18 of 27 games, including 6 out of 8 on the road. The bad news is that the Cubs played 19 of their 27 games at home in July, where they are a better team that they are on the road. In August, the Cubs play 16 out of 29 games on the road, and will have only 2 days off. Plus, while the Cubs benefited from a weak schedule in July, in August they face off against Florida, Colorado, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and the Mets. It will be a grueling month.

On the other hand, if a month from now the Cubs are still within 2 games of first place in the NL Central, then they may be primed to make another move or two before the August 31st deadline, whereas should they slip in the standings they’ll know that such a move would be futile. That is probably a good position to be in.

Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir Update

Wanna hear something weird? Jake Fox currently has a 141 OPS+ and a .955 OPS, but he has performed significantly better on the road than he has at Wrigley Field, to the tune of .275/.328/.529/.857 at home and .339/.365/.679/1.044 on the road. Anyone who can put up those numbers on the road playing for any team is likely the real deal. Though it is a relatively small sample size, this is very good news for what has been one of the few bright spots in the Cubs’ lineup in 2009.

Humorously (or should I say, humorlessly), Fox has seen his playing time limited of late for the preposterous reason that, with Geovanny Soto on the DL, Fox is the team’s emergency catcher and must be kept available in case Koyie Hill gets injured. Any chance we can make Milton Bradley the emergency catcher?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

While Jake Fox has been bringing it for the Cubs on the road, Hoffpauir has not. He is solid at home, with an .887 OPS and a .278 batting average, but on the road he is awful, to the tune of .575 and .204. Ouch. Plus, he has 3 walks and 29 strikeouts on the road. Ooof.

I am beginning to wonder about the Cubs farm system and its ability to produce major league hitters. Seriously, when was the last time a Cubs prospect became a bona fide major league hitter? Let’s count backwards the number of Cubs major league prospects who failed to pan out – Micah Hoffpauir (at least for now), Geovanny Soto (one year does not out a pan), Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, Corey Patterson, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson, Jason DuBois, Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, Augue Ojeda, Roosevelt Brown, Kevin Orie, Gary Matthews, Jr., Julio Zuleta, Jason Smith, Brant Brown, Chad Meyers, Robin Jennings, Jose Nieves, Brooks Kieschnick, Doug Glanville, Kevin Roberson, Mike Hubbard, Rey Sanchez, Derrick May, Rick Wilkins, Doug Dascenzo, Hector Villaneuva, Gary Scott, Alex Arias, Dwight Smith, Jerome Walton, Damon Berryhill, Greg Smith, Rick Wrona, Joe Girardi, Earl Cunningham, Ty Griffin, Mark Grace.

Okay, I wasn’t expecting that – I figured that the list would be long, but I did not expect to have to go all the way back to Mark Grace. Is that it? Has it been 20 years since the Cubs developed a star major league hitter? Amazingly, the Cubs drafted Mark Grace in 1985, the same year they drafted Rafael Palmeiro. So it has been almost 25 years since the Cubs drafted and developed a star major league hitter. How is that possible? Something is seriously wrong!

I guess, theoretically, the Cubs could take credit for developing Sammy Sosa. But Sosa was signed by the Rangers and traded to the White Sox before he was traded to the Cubs as a 23 year old, so it would be hard for them to claim credit for his development when he was in baseball for six years before joining the Cubs.

Just to complete the exercise, let’s go through Major League Baseball and take a look at a random sampling of homegrown star hitters from each franchise:

Philadelphia Phillies: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins

New York Mets: David Wright, Jose Reyes

Florida Marlins: Miguel Cabrera

Washington Nationals: Vlad Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, Jose Vidro

Atlanta Braves: Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Rafael Furcal, Brian McCann

St. Louis Cardinals: Albert Pujols,

Houston Astros: Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio

Pittsburgh Pirates: Aramis Ramirez

Cincinnati Reds: Adam Dunn

Milwaukee Brewers: Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, J.J. Hardy

Los Angeles Dodgers: Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney

Arizona Diamondbacks: Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton

Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitski, Matt Holliday

San Diego Padres: Jason Bay

San Francisco Giants: Pedro Feliz, Pablo Sandoval

New York Yankees: Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, Nick Johnson, Jorge Posada

Boston Red Sox: Jeff Bagwell, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury

Tampa Bay Rays: Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Aubrey Huff, Evan Longoria

Toronto Blue Jays: Aaron Hill, Vernon Wells

Baltimore Orioles: Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis

Chicago White Sox: Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko

Detroit Tigers: Curtis Granderson,

Minnesota Twins: Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer,

Cleveland Indians: Victor Martinez, Grady Sizemore, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Brian Giles, Richie Sexson

Kansas City Royals: Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, Joe Randa

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Darin Erstad, Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon, Garrett Anderson

Texas Rangers: Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, Travis Hafner

Seattle Mariners: Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, Raul Ibanez

Gee whiz. It is one thing to say it has been a long time since the Cubs developed a good major league hitter, but taking even a cursory glance at what all the other teams have done in recent years reveals just what a feat this has been. Do the Cubs simply have the worst farm system in baseball over the last 20 years? It looks like only the Giants and Pirates systems have done even close to as bad of a job.

This is a shocking development.

Indeed, when one looks at recent Chicago Cubs stars, it is a list of hitters acquired from other teams almost exclusively. Consider: Derrek Lee (acquired from the Marlins), Aramis Ramirez (Pirates), Sammy Sosa (White Sox), Juan Pierre (Marlins), Alex Gonzalez (Blue Jays), Andre Dawson (Expos), and Ryne Sandberg (Phillies).
I’ll tell you what this tells me – if the Cubs have star offensive prospects in their minor league system and they think they can use them to acquire established hitters or pitching help, they should do so. And whether or not they win the division in 2009 may depend on whether or not they heed history’s advice.

Related posts:

1. Cubs Reflections on Being in First Place
2. The Cubs Are Slumping and on the DL
3. What to Expect From The Cubs in 2009