Loose Thoughts

Peter Gammons can do it.  Will Carroll can do it.  I’ve even seen Joe Sheehan do it.  For the lack of a unifying theme, I’m going to bullet-point random thoughts that, in themselves, are not enough for a full-blown essay:

* In the press conference yesterday, Jim Hendry commented that “‘We are going to be in the market to add starting pitching, whether through trade or free agency.  We are going to need another outstanding hitter to go with Aramis [Ramirez] and [Derrek] Lee. Things change if you sign [Juan] Pierre; then you don’t necessarily need a [leadoff guy]. If you don’t, then you have to look in two or three spots. So there is a lot of work to be done.” I’m not sure what plan Hendry has in mind—actually having a plan would be a good first step—but considering that starting pitching is a huge need for the team, one wonders who the Cubs would be able to acquire.  Andy MacPhail himself was one to frequently say that starting pitching is the hardest, most expensive thing to come by . . . and the fact that the Cubs may be in the market for 2-3 new starters is itself a huge indictment of the MacPhail/Hendry regime.

Looking forward, though, assuming that the Cubs won’t deal Derrek Lee or Aramis Ramirez, it doesn’t seem that the Cubs have viable candidates to offer in trade for front-line starters.  The free agency market has Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt to be the best candidates, with Jeff Suppan leading the second-tier group.  Both Zito and Schmidt will probably be subject to a bidding war, and although I haven’t read anything about Zito, I have heard that the Cubs are interested in Schmidt.  The fact they are interested in another right-handed big name power pitcher with a history of injuries is not a good sign to me, but that’s another issue.

What has attracted my attention, though, are comments that the Cubs are going to increase their scouting and examination of Asian players.  Does this mean the Cubs would consider looking into gyroball-specialist Daisuke Matsuzaka?  Paul Sullivan (RR) hints this might be the case, even if it might cost the Cubs as much as $20 million to jump into that bidding war.  (I’m skeptical of this guess, however.) I’ve read good things about Matsuzaka, as well as things that portray him as overrated.  I do hope that the Cubs are willing to think outside the box, however—something Hendry hasn’t done in years.

* To my surprise, Hendry revealed that in addition to the known managerial candidates (Piniella, Girardi, Brenly, Listach, Quade), Hendry also interviewed Ryne Sandberg for the job.  This isn’t the first time that Sandberg threw his hat in the ring; when Hendry was looking to hire Dusty Baker after the 2002 season, Sandberg let it be known that he was interested in the job as well.  As much as I idolized Sandberg as a player, I’ve been largely disappointed with his re-emergence over the last few years, and the fact that he thinks he can just be handed the Cub managerial job annoys the heck out of me.  Nonetheless, it does seem that this time he is at least willing to break into the managerial ranks with a minor league team, perhaps even the Iowa job, so who knows what may happen to him down the road.

* Just as we suspected, the Sox overtook the Cubs in viewership this year (RR).  As much as anything else, this is likely a catalyst for the changes we are seeing, including the hiring of Piniella.  While I’m skeptical that Hendry is up to the task, I do appreciate the fact that the Tribune’s cage has been rattled.

* While it has been well-reported that Larry Rothschild is returning as Piniella’s pitching coach, what has largely slipped under the radar has been that trainer Mark O’Neal was also extended two years.  I’m not encouraged by this news.  Rothschild has drawn criticism among fans, largely because of the injuries to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, but at least as much blame for this should fall on the shoulders of O’Neal.  Not only has O’Neal presided over a litany of injuries over the past few years, but he has also been one of the more notorious about making . . . let’s just say “optimistic” prognoses and estimates of recovery time.  There is little doubt in my mind that the decision to allow an injured Kerry Wood to pitch into August of 2005 would not have happened without O’Neal’s input, and that decision led to Wood’s inability to pitch Opening Day last year and quite possibly his current ill-health.  Of course, the reason the job was available for O’Neal in the first place was because his predecessors appear to have been dismissed for purely political reasons.

* Speaking of Prior, yesterday the Cubs revealed that he has visited two orthopedic specialists, Lewis Yocum and James Andrews, to have his shoulder examined.  Bruce Miles reports:

“We were looking to get a consensus opinion on what we felt was best for Mark,” team trainer Mark O’Neal said. “What they found was Mark’s got the typical changes that you would see in any pitcher who’s thrown.

O’Neal said surgery is always an option, but its outcome is “very unpredictable and that would be your last resort.”

At this point, I am more than tired of hearing that Rothschild is working with Prior (or especially Wood) to improve their mechanics.  First, what new revelations can he show them . . . and why hadn’t he done it sooner?  Also, while not a guarantee of perfect health by any means, what happened to all the reports that Prior already had picture-perfect mechanics in the first place?

In any event, O’Neal also reports that Kerry Wood is throwing from 45 to 50 feet in Arizona and that Jacque Jones is strengthening his labrum three to five days a week with Prior’s trainer in San Diego, but the Cubs will handle it “conservatively” without surgery.  I’m skeptical of a lot more Pollyannaism here.