I’ve been reading a lot of things from fans the last few days about how silly it is that the organization may not call up Brett Jackson when rosters expand. I know we all want to see him play and it’s not like this team has anything to lose by playing him in terms of production, but they do have …
Want to know when a statistic is useless?
Aramis Ramirez leads the Major Leagues with a .427 batting average in August while teammate Reed Johnson is fifth at .400. Ramirez is tied for tops among any Cubs player in the month of August, dating to 1946. Shawon Dunston batted .427 in August 1991; Bill Madlock hit .425 in August 1975; and Manny Trillo hit .409 in august 1986. – …
Brett Jackson and strikeouts
I had planned to put something more thorough together for today, but was too lazy to do so. Instead, I’m just going to list the guys who the highest strikeout percentage since 2006 (minimum 1000 PA) followed by their minor league strikeout rate. Sometime when I’m not lazy, I’ll add to it. For MLB numbers, I’m using Fangraphs. For MiLB …
Jeff Samardzija and James Russell
Non-closers don’t have a whole lot of value and that will remain true for both Jeff Samardzija and James Russell, but both of them have quietly put together strong seasons in relief for the Cubs. Russell was a starter early in the season and was banged up before moving back to the pen. Since then, he’s thrown 41 innings through …
Some more thoughts on the Matt Garza trade
Even though the Cubs are more known for their failures, mistakes and screw-ups, every once in awhile you have to give them credit. We probably should do so more than we have, but the acquisition of Matt Garza is one we definitely have to view differently than we did at the time. That doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good …
The End of An Era in Aisle 424 is Officially Official
Last night, the Cubs lost and didn’t look particularly impressive in doing so, but I had a good time at the game anyway. It was the first time all season that the three longest tenured members of the Aisle 424 Summer Family were together for a game. Life’s twists and turns, combined with the general crappiness of the Cubs had …
Ricketts interested in Yankees GM Brian Cashman
Dave Van Dyck has an interesting article up this morning. In fact, according to reliable sources, the Cubs‘ chairman privately was feeling out the postseason availability of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman sometime around the All-Star break, which is when Hendry originally was “fired.” As I mentioned the other day, any current GM is going to have interest in taking the Cubs job. …
Other Secrets the Cubs Beat Writers Are on the Verge of Uncovering
Today the Cubs announced the firing of Jim Hendry. Four weeks ago. Hendry himself called it one of the best-kept secrets in Cubs history (the others: the formula for a championship, why we keep watching, and how to remove the smell of urine from concrete). Shortly after learning that the biggest story of the season had eluded the beat writers’ …
GM Candidates
It would be easy, and even lazy to put together a post with names most of you have never heard about and talk about why they may be a candidate to replace Jim Hendry. I seem to remember MLBTR even having a list and Baseball America used to put together similar lists. I’m sure many others have. So there’d be …
Jim Hendry fired
Bruce Levine is reporting the Cubs have fired Jim Hendry. The Chicago Cubs relieved Jim Hendry of his duties as vice president and general manager on Friday, according to a source familiar with the situation. Another positive step in the right direction. Mike Quade just lost his job, too, but he hasn’t been informed yet. No way a new GM keeps …