Character Matters
Every team wants to win in sports. And every fan wants his or her team to win a championship. Some of them are even willing to sacrifice character and teamwork for talent that will bring instant success. Earlier this year the Chicago Cubs traded Mark DeRosa to the Cleveland Indians. DeRosa was not a star, but he was a well-respected clubhouse leader who was nicknamed “The Pulse” for overcoming a heart procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat and because of his heart as a player. And he was very productive with the Cubs in 2008 with 21 home runs and 87 RBIs in addition to playing as many as six positions, but that wasn’t good enough for the Cubs. Because Jim Hendry wanted “left-handed power” and that is why he selected the switch-hitting Milton Bradley.
This is the same Milton Bradley who changes teams with about the same frequency as George Clooney changes girlfriends. The same Milton Bradley who got into an altercation with Eric Wedge of the Indians when he played for Cleveland and was traded days later to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The same Milton Bradley who got into an altercation with an umpire in 2007. The same Milton Bradley who in 2008 attempted to confront Royals tv announcer Ryan Lefebvre in the press box after a game because Bradley took offense to something Lefebvre said about him. The same Milton Bradley who as a Cub threw a fly ball back into the stands because he thought there were three outs when there were actually two. The same Milton Bradley who got into an altercation with manager Lou Piniella and attacked his teammates, the Cubs front office and their fans in the press. And what about that left-handed power he was supposed to have provided? Bradley’s final stats for 2009: .257 average, 12 home runs and 40 RBIs. DeRosa’s final stats for 2009: .250 average, 23 home runs and 78 RBIs.
Some guys in Major League Baseball are known for not being “team players.” Bradley is one of them. So is Manny Ramirez. But so long as guys like Bradley and Ramirez put up huge numbers and continue to produce, fans and management will overlook their indiscretions and unsportsmanlike conduct so long as they help them win a championship. And it goes beyond baseball. Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings has flip-flopped more than Mitt Romney and John Kerry combined over the past couple of years. Favre has had almost as many “farewell tours” as Cher, Elton John and KISS combined. Here’s a guy who is excused for his selfish behavior because he’s a “future Hall of Famer.” Well, call me crazy, but that makes about as much sense as saying that O.J. should have been found “not guilty” because he’s got a bronze statue in Canton, Ohio.
Sports is a competitive business. Probably more so now than at any previous time in history. Players get paid a lot more money today than they ever have and they are much bigger and stronger than in the past even without performance-enhancement drugs. But it sets a bad example for future generations of athletes when society not only looks away at bad behavior, but rewards it when the athlete happens to have talent and helps a team win a championship ring. Conduct detrimental to the team whether on or off the field should be dealt with swift and fair disciplinary action. The sports media has an obligation and a responsibility to be fair, accurate and objective. “Cherry picking” sports heroes when they attack one athlete for posing when he hits a home run and then dismissing another athlete for doing the same thing with a shrug of the shoulders and a chuckle sends an inconsistent and wrong message to people. If they’re going to criticize Alfonso Soriano for “hot dogging” as he rounds the bases, then do the same thing with Manny Ramirez and enough of this “Manny being Manny” crap. How about Manny being a Dodger?
No question it is very tempting to pursue potential free agents or players who are on the trading block who have lots of talent. However, teams should also take into consideration any emotional baggage and unsportsmanlike conduct as past behavior prior to signing someone. I look at Milton Bradley and you know who I see? Todd Hundley. Like Bradley, Hundley was a switch-hitter who could hit for power, but he also had a history of injuries and not getting along with teammates, management or fans. Hundley once gave fans the middle finger in a 2002 game as he was rounding the bases after hitting a home run. He claimed to be acknowledging Reds fans who were heckling him behind the Reds dugout, but most people didn’t believe Hundley. Oh yeah, in 2007 Hundley’s name was mentioned in “The Mitchelll Report” for allegedly taking performance-enhancement drugs.
All athletes make mistakes and some of them make ones that are more revealing of their character or lack thereof than others. However, it’s one thing to mess up and learn from your mistakes than it is to be a repeat offender. Milton Bradley falls into the latter category.
The Need For Speed
If there is one thing the Cubs have lacked in the last 3 years it is speed. We have not had a genuine leadoff hitter on this team since Juan Pierre in 2006. The Cubs as a team stole 56 bases in 2009, or 2 less than Pierre had in 2006. Now, does Chicago play in a ballpark conducive to home runs? You betcha. Especially when the wind is blowing out in the summer at 20+ mph. However, even an offensive powerhouse like the Boston Red Sox has 126 stolen bases this year, 70 more than the Cubs. And Boston plays in the American League!
It looks very unlikely that Milton Bradley will be back in a Cubs uniform next spring. So, that means Fukudome likely moves back to right field and creates an opening in center field. Figgins could play center field or he could play second base. He’s very versatile and would give the Cubs a lot of flexibility in the lineup. Oh, by the way, Figgins stole 42 bases in 2009 and was only caught 17 times.
Going Forward…
The Chicago Cubs have had 3 winning seasons in a row and the previous 2 seasons they were the NL Central Division Champion. There are some teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals who would love to have that success yet the Cubs are considered a “failure.” It doesn’t help when most in the sports media look down on the Cubs and frequently ridicule them and their fans for what they perceive to be loyalty albeit blind loyalty.
It is true that the 2009 season was a disappointment and I suppose you could call it a “failure”. Yet I don’t think the Cubs need a complete overhaul of the roster in 2010 to get back to being a championship-caliber team again. To me, it starts with the top and Jim Hendry made the worst moves he’s ever made as a GM. The Cubs let Kerry Wood go because I think they thought Carlos Marmol was ready to succeed him as the closer. So what do the Cubs do? They go out and acquire Kevin Gregg from the Marlins then Lou Piniella announces Gregg as the closer during spring training. Well, that one didn’t work out too well, did it? Then they dangle Mark DeRosa in a reported trade with the Padres and Phillies in an attempt to get Jake Peavy, but when that deal falls through they then trade DeRosa to the Indians for two minor-league pitchers who don’t contribute anything to the Cubs in 2009. But the capper is signing well-known attitude problem Milton Bradley as a free agent to give the Cubs “left-handed power.” Now, we all know that Bradley has more baggage than O’Hare International Aiport. So what prompted Jim Hendry to sign this guy over Bobby Abreu and Raul Ibanez? Yeah, that one didn’t work out too well either, did it?
So here we are, Cubs fans, in a place that hasn’t been familiar to us since 2006: no Cubs in the playoffs. And if 2008 was a disappointment, then 2009 was a catastrophe. However, new ownership is on the way in the form of Tom Ricketts and many Cubs fans are wondering what he is going to do this offseason. It is not uncommon to see new ownership replace current management when they arrive. However, that normally happens with bad teams. The Cubs have a good team and they’ve had three winning seasons in a row, but no championships. Also, Jim Hendry and Lou Piniella are still under contract for 2010 so it’s unrealistic to believe that ownership and management will fire them with one season left to go.
If I was in charge of the Cubs, I would hire a new team executive and the man I’d tab for the job is former Oakland Athletics GM Sandy Alderson. Alderson recently was with the San Diego Padres and prior to that he worked in the commissioner’s office. He’s very knowledgeable and has a proven track record as a winner, mostly with Oakland. He is also regarded as one of Billy Beane’s mentors in Oakland. We need a new voice in the executive position and Alderson could fit the bill. After hiring Alderson I would personally fire Jim Hendry as GM and bring in a new GM to replace him. Of course, I would discuss this with Alderson and I’d let him pick Hendry’s replacement, but one person I’d take a serious look at is Jed Hoyer of the Boston Red Sox. He’s next in line to Theo Epstein in Boston and when Epstein briefly resigned after the 2005 season, Hoyer was one of a “Gang of Four” including Ben Cherington, Bill Lajoie and Craig Shipley who engineered trades for Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Mark Loretta, and Andy Marte. He also accompanied Theo Epstein to Arizona in November 2003 to persuade Curt Schilling to accept a trade to Boston which he did.
As for the manager position, I’ve been disappointed with Lou Piniella this year. At times he has looked tired and lethargic, almost as if he’d rather be anywhere than in the dugout managing the Chicago Cubs. I could be wrong, but that’s just my perception. Piniella reportedly will be meeting with Jim Hendry after the season to discuss the coaching staff. A shakeup could happen, but I would bring back Lou for one more year as I believe most of this season’s disappointment can be pinned on Hendry, not Piniella. What I would do is bring back Ryne Sandberg as bench coach and move Alan Trammell to third base. I’d fire Mike Quade, but offer him a position in the organization. As for hitting coach, I’d probably bring back Von Joshua, but I’d also take a look at former Oakland Athletics hitting coach and former Cub Thad Bosley.
When it comes to the roster and trades and free-agent signings, I would not bring back Kevin Gregg, Milton Bradley or Alfonso Soriano. Gregg is a free-agent and I wouldn’t re-sign him for next year. Bradley and Soriano will be harder to move since they aren’t free agents and have expensive, multi-year contracts. Soriano has a “no-trade clause” which would make him difficult to move, but it’s not impossible. Because both players have big contracts I would swap them to other teams in exchange for big contracts they don’t want. I’d move Milton Bradley to the Giants in exchange for Aaron Rowand. Rowand could play center field and allow Fukudome to move back to right field where he’s best. I like Rowand even if he’s not the biggest star because he plays hard and he’s not afraid to run into a wall as he did in Philadelphia. I’d move Alfonso Soriano to the Dodgers in exchange for Juan Pierre. Soriano would reunite with Joe Torre and the Dodgers could move him to second base since Manny Ramirez is in left field. Pierre would return to the Cubs as a left fielder and he’d give them a leadoff man with some speed which they desperately need. The next move I’d make is signing free agent Roy Halladay. Halladay would give the Cubs a rotation of Halladay, Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly and possibly Samardzija for 2010. Not a bad starting five. Signing Halladay would also send a message to the rest of the league and the fans that Chicago is committed to winning a championship and the new ownership will do anything and everything to make that possible.
mlblogscubfanbudman
Recent Comments