Curt Schilling Interested in 13 Teams, Including Cubs

3-time World Series champion Curt Schilling has become a free agent and posted on his blog yesterday the 13 teams he's considering. One of them includes the Cubs.

The list of teams that our family has talked over, that we think would be a fit for next year, should we not come back, are pretty much teams in cities we agree would be ok for our last year, and teams I think have a legitimate shot at being in the post season and/or World Series. Teams we didn’t include aren’t for any one reason. There are a million little things that go into this from stadiums to school districts to travel to spring training to etc. etc. etc. but the list represents the teams after Boston that have some of the off the field things that are big to us, plus the potential to go into October next year.

Cleveland, Detroit, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia, Atlanta, L.A., S.D., Arizona, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis, Milwaukee

Curt Schilling turns 41 in a couple weeks, but he showed in the playoffs that he can still be a big game pitcher when it counts. Schilling is a smart pitcher and I don't see any reason why the Cubs shouldn't at least make a run at him this offseason. The rotation has 4 starters locked in (Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis) and will be looking to fill the last spot either from the organization (Marshall, Prior, Dempster, Guzman, etc.) or free agency/trade.

You may not like his arrogance, you may not like the fact he's 41 years old, but the guy can still pitch. I wouldn't rule it out as an option.

Schilling Has Cubs on 13 Team List [38Pitches]

Let the Frenzy Begin

Jason Kendall and Kerry Wood were the first two Cubs to file for free agency when Boston officially started the off season with Sunday's World Series win. Both would like to stay, though it is more likely Wood could stay and Kendall may be shown the door.

Kendall's chances of returning are likely to be based on how ready Lou Pinella and Jim Hendry feel Geovany Soto is, as well as Henry Blanco's health. Chances are the Cubs would probably invite Kendall back in the role of the back up catcher if Blanco is unable to play next year, but also if Kendall would be willing to take a pay cut well below the $13 million he made last year.

Wood on the other hand is in a unique position of strength heading to free agency. Wood made 22 relief appearances after signing a one year, incentive laden deal last off season because he felt that he "owed it to the fans and organization." Wood may have many opportunities to close, or even start if he feels healthy, in addition to returning to the pen in Chicago. Another intriguing option would be to close for the Cubs with the possibility of Ryan Dempster being moved to the rotation. Either way, Wood looks to have more choices heading to 2008.

Jason Kendall (cubs.com)
Kerry Wood (cubs.com)

Dusty Baker Looking At Wood, Prior?

New Cincinnati Reds Manager and former Cubs manager Dusty Baker is rumored to be conducting some recruiting right now. Baker has always been known as a player’s manager and he’s using that reputation to hopefully attract some free agents to consider playing for Cincinnati next season. To Cubs fans, Baker is known as a gutless manager who had a strange obsession with Neifi Perez. Baker always had an excuse and almost always blamed the media for his problems.

With the World Series almost over, Baker is getting ready to assemble something out of that shit heap in Cincinnati known as the Reds. Some of the players he might be considering could be Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Baker has been in contact with them, although it could have nothing to do with playing with the Reds. Personally, I hope he goes after Neifi Perez, that is after he finishes serving his suspension for a banned substance.

Whether he makes a run at some of the Cubs players or not, it’ll be fun to see how the crowd reacts at Wrigley when Dusty goes out to argue a call with an umpire.

Oh wait, he doesn’t do that. Nevermind.

Baker Talking to Wood, Prior? [Chicago SunTimes]

Cubs Top '05 Draft Pick Hurt By Playstation

In the first round of the 2005 draft, the Cubs selected Matt Pawelek out of a Utah high school. You're probably saying: "Who?" Pawelek hasn't done much in the Cubs organization, going 4-10 in 41 appearances so far in his young minor league career.

As he is, afterall, a Cubs drafted pitcher, Pawelek has dealt with injuries. What kind of injuries?

Just as he was getting ready to join Class A Boise in June, he fractured a bone in his elbow. Not his left elbow, but his right, non-throwing elbow.

"I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom," he said during a break in his workouts in Mesa earlier this month. "I'm not exactly the cleanest person, and my PlayStation was in the way with the cord hung over the chairs and stuff, and I tripped over it hit my arm on the wall and landed on it wrong."

He suffered a fractured radial head in his right elbow, and was on the disabled list for 69 days. He knows the exact time because the medical staff kept count.

Get rid of him. Get rid of him now because you know how his story is already going to shape up. He'll pitch well enough to make to the Bigs, he'll dazzle a few outings to get our hopes up, and then he'll injure himself by getting hit by a car or something.

Pawelek Is Clumsy, Tries To Start Over With Cubs [Cubs.com]

99 Years

In case you're finally starting to recover from the Cubs 0-fer playoffs, here's a video to depress you.

Hey, I got it emailed to me and I watched for some stupid reason. Now everybody else has to suffer.



99 Years and counting [Home Run Derby]

Roberto Novoa We Hardly Knew You

According to the Baltimore Sun, the Orioles have claimed Roberto Novoa off of waivers from the Cubs. Novoa spent all of 2007 on the disabled list with a right humeral head fracture (whatever that is). Novoa appeared in 66 games for the Cubs in 2006, but got a late start after suffering from what I believe was Desert Fever, or some weird ailment like that. I can't really remember, it's been awhile, sorry.

A small twist to this is that the Orioles also have infielder Scott Moore,whom they acquired in the trade for Steve Trachsel in August. Moore and Novoa were two of the three players the Cubs received from the Tigers for Kyle "My Pants are Painted On" Farnsworth in 2005. Still a steal for the Cubs.

Novoa heads East, AL style (baltimoresun.com)

NL Central News

The Cubs were glad to rid themselves of Dusty Baker at the end of the 2006 season, but it now looks like they will have to deal with him quite a bit. There are reports out of Cincinnati that Baker will be hired on Monday as the Reds new skipper. Hopefully the Reds front office knows about Baker's inability to manage a pitching staff or use young players (See Ryan Theriot's at bat total in 2006), but then again it is the Reds.

There is good news out of this though for some players. Despite still serving a 100 game suspension for drug use and not actually being on a team anymore, one can only assume Nefi Perez will have a shot at making Reds roster since he obviously has incriminating photos of Baker. That would have to explain why he played so much as a Cub before Jim Hendry traded him for a case of Ice House.

Baker back to NL Central [foxsports.com]

Bats Never Wake Up, Cubs Swept

Six was a number the Cubs could not avoid against the Diamondbacks, and it cost them. Six runs was all they could muster in a three game series, as well as only six hits from the Big Three of Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez. Four of those were Derek Lee singles.

As much as the media and people just reporting on the series want to make it about Lou Pinella's decision to take out Zambrano in Game #1, there really is only one reason the Cubs lost. Their bats. They went a dismal 2-23 and left 27 runners on base. Also, they tied a Division Series record by grounding into 4 double plays in game #3 alone.

Rich Hill managed only three innings on Saturday, allowing three runs, including a first pitch home run to Chris Young to lead off the game (maybe no fastballs to him next year?). Pinella used a quick hook with Hill, as he should have with the season on the line, and the bullpen pitched efficiently. They did allow two runs in five innings, but with the Cubs unable to score at all it didn't matter.

The Cubs half of the fifth inning summed up the series completely. Livan Hernandez walked three batters to load the bases with one out and Mark DeRosa up. DeRosa patiently waited for a strike, but on 2-1 ripped a groundball to Stephen Drew for an easy, season killing 6-4-3 double play. From that point on you could only think wait til next year.

(Photo from Chris McGrath/Getty)

NLDS Game #3 (DBacks Lead 2-0)

TV: TBS - 5PM
RADIO: WGN 720

Rich Hill (1st career postseason start) vs.
Livan Hernandez (1997 NLCS & World Series MVP)

It's now or next year for the Cubs. One advantage goes to the Diamondbacks for both their dominance of the pitching so far and the fact that they have a tested veteran going tonight. The Cubs have the advantage of home field and a raucous crowd. The Cubs desperately need to score early and Rich Hill needs to throw the game of his life.

Go Cubs!

Funny Ryan Dempster Story

The Cubs class-clown Ryan Dempster had a funny story revealed on Deadspin yesterday. Maybe a reason Lou keeps him as closer is because of his humor value?

What was really funny was what came next, when Christine (the lady in the picture) asked Dempster for the ball he was long tossing with. After she first asked, his response was something along the lines of "what am I going to long toss with if I give you this ball?" After Christine pleaded for the ball again (in that semi-annoying way only girls can pull off), Dempster responded back "I'll give you the ball if you take your top off." By now the entire bleacher section was rolling over itself, a few beers deep and chanting "Take it off" in support of Dempster's response. Christine, now embarrassed said that her boyfriend was her and that he wouldn't like that, or something to that effect. Dempster, in an act of kindness and to stop the crowd from chanting at this poor girl to take off her clothes, then gave Christine the ball and went about his warming up business.

A bit later on, a bunch of bullpen players are walking by the bleachers and people are throwing down items to them to get their autographs. Christine, now relishing her role as "that girl" in the stands, goes and gets Dempster to sign the ball he gave her. He throws it back up, and this is when the magical picture was taken.

The ball says:

Christine,
Take your damn top off!
Ryan Dempster

The humor right now is the way the Cubs have been playing. Hopefully this will lighten up your mood on the Cubs hitting right now against the Diamondbacks.

Ryan Dempster Likes You Topless [Deadspin]

The Augie Series of 2007

If the Cubs end up losing this series, will these playoffs be forever known to Cubs fans as “The Augie Series?” I mean, what the fuck Augie? During the last Cubs playoff run in 2003, you were 3 for 25 with the Cubs. You couldn’t hit your way out of a wet paper bag. When you would walk up to the plate, people in the crowd would say, “Oh that’s cute, they’re letting the bat boy play.”

Despite the fact you sucked, you still became a cult hero with the Wrigley Field faithful. Everytime you stepped your miniature body on the field, the crowd would chant, “Au-gie! Au-gie! Au-gie! Au-gie!” Then you would ground out weakly to second, but to a standing ovation! How many people in this league’s vast history ground out and get a standing ovation? It didn’t make any sense, but how could you not cheer for the little boy that was pretending to be a Major League baseball player. And this is how you repay us? 4 for 7 with a run and 1RBI?!?!?

Augie is dead to me. Fuck you Augie Ojeda. Fuck.you.

Cubs Decide to go Unconventional Way of Winning Series

Wow, what an embarrassment last night. For the second straight game, the Cubs had runners on base in almost every single inning and were unable to push them across. If the Cubs can break out of this hitting slump, they could score some serious runs in a hurry against the Diamondbacks. The problem is they don’t look anywhere near breaking out of this slump. Can we start this series over?

While we all appreciate the intensity Ted Lilly brings to the mound, it’s probably best to avoid acting like a little leaguer out there, throwing your mitt when you give up a homer. Lilly didn’t have his command last night & a playoff team is going to jump all over that. And they did. “The Stopper” was anything but last night. Now the Cubs need a miracle if they’re going to advance to the next round.

Least Valuable Player so far:
Aramis Ramirez: 0 for 9 (4 Ks)
Alfonso Soriano: 2 for 10 (4 Ks)
Derrek Lee: 2 for 8 (4 Ks)

The entire Cubs offense: .174 Batting average

The Cubs pitching: 6.19 ERA

The Series moves to Wrigley, where I’m sure not too many people envisioned the Cubs being down 2-0 by the time they got to play their first playoff home game. Well, this is how it is. The Cubs players will have to show us what they’re made of, as they can roll over and quit or finally play with some heart. Don’t be surprised to hear the boo birds if the Cubs get behind early.
Rich Hill: We need the game of your life. No pressure

NLDS Game #2 (DBacks Lead 1-0)

TV: TBS - 9:00PM

RADIO: WGN 720

Ted Lilly (o-1; 4.15 ERA in 4 postseason appearances, only 1 start) vs.
Doug Davis (1st postseason appearance)

Ted Lilly looks to keep a trend going, as he will start for the 19th time after a Cubs loss. The Cubs are 13-5 in those games (Lilly 9-1) and are facing the familiar Doug Davis. Davis, the former Brewer, will be making his first career post season start.

Starting Lineup:

1. Soriano - LF
2. Theriot - SS
   
3. Lee - 1B
4. Ramirez - 3B
5. Murton - CF
6. Soto - C
7. DeRosa - 2B
8. Jones - CF
9. Lilly - P
   

Relax Everybody, It’s Just Game 1

The newspapers and sports radio are already buzzing about last night’s game. All of them are asking the same question: How could Lou take out Zambrano after only 85 pitches?

How dare you question Lou!

One would think after completely turning around the mess that was the ’06 Cubs, Lou would command some sort of respect from everybody. Instead, Lou has to answer dumb questions from all of you doubters out there.

First off, Lou brought in Carlos Marmol to replace Carlos Zambrano. Marmol had the lowest ERA of any reliever in baseball. This wasn’t like Lou was bringing in Will Ohman or Rocky Cherry or Michael Wuertz. It wasn’t like Lou was throwing just anybody in the game and praying. Lou was bringing in the best reliever in all of baseball. Last night, the best reliever in the game couldn’t get his sick slider over. End of story. If Lou has to make a move tonight, where he needs a reliever with guys on to either hold the lead or hold the deficit right where it’s at, Lou will be going to Marmol. Why? Because he’s the best reliever in the league. It just wasn’t Marmol’s night last night.

Secondly, the Cubs need more than 4 hits. The Cubs left 9 guys on base. The Cubs also only scored one run. Nobody is winning anything when you score 1 run. And why did the Cubs score one run? Because they were facing the best pitcher in the NL. Brandon Webb is a stud and the ’06 Cy Young Award winner. The Cubs got some good swings and made solid contact on several balls, but unfortunately they went right at players. It just wasn’t meant to be last night. Now, take a step back off the ledge. It was only one game.

Lastly, Lou now has Zambrano all ready for Game 4 on Sunday. You don’t think the Cubs will make it to Sunday? You’re crazy. The Cubs have their true ace on the mound tonight, an ace that had 9 wins in starts after a Cubs loss the previous night. “The Stopper” is in a perfect position to even this series up, which is exactly what the Cubs initial plan was going into the series. The plan for the team without homefield advantage is always to at least get a split in the first 2 games. The Cubs have a great opportunity to do that tonight.

NLDS Game 1

TV: TBS - 9:00PM
RADIO: WGN 720

Carlos Zambrano (o-1; 5.40 ERA in 3 career postseason starts) vs.
Brandon Webb (1st postseason appearance)

NLDS Roster

The roster is out and I don't see any surprises. Will Ohman, Craig Monroe, and Steve Trachsel didn't make the cut. Nor should they. Little Sam Fuld didn't make the squad either. Sean Marshall is throwing in an Instructional League, to get ready for the NLCS perhaps as the teams 4th starter.

Paul Sullivan writes that Kevin Hart was a surprise on the roster. I don't see how. Hart has pitched great in long relief duty.

Here's the roster:

• Starters (3): Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill

• Relievers (8): Ryan Dempster, Howry, Marmol, Wuertz, Hart, Eyre, Kerry Wood, Marquis.

• Infielders (6): Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa, Ryan Theriot, Fontenot, Cedeno.

• Outfielders (6): Jones, Pie, Murton, Alfonso Soriano, Cliff Floyd, Daryle Ward.

• Catchers (2): Soto, Jason Kendall.

It's very encouraging to see Daryle Ward on the roster, as his thumb must not be as bad as it looked. A big guy using it to balance his body while sliding is asking for thumb problems. The Cubs will need Ward's great bat off the bench.

Cubs Roster vs. DBacks [Hardball]

DeRosa Says The Cubs Have That Swagger

Mark DeRosa has his own blog on MLB.com and he's started it for the playoffs. Because we're obsessed with blogs, we're glad to see he's writing one.

In '03, I was with the Braves and we ran into Kerry and Zambrano and Prior. The '03 Braves had one of the best lineups ever assembled and we got beat. Every year, we were running into something.

This is different. I feel we bring that as a team. In the playoffs, with our starting pitching, you run into Zambrano, a monster who can shut you down. You need to have that.

With our bullpen, and Lilly, we're solid. Plus, our offense is capable of scoring runs in a hurry with the home run ball. I know we didn't hit a ton during the season but it doesn't matter. You have Soriano and Ramirez and Lee in the lineup, and the ball is capable of leaving the yard in a hurry. I just feel we bring everything to the table. That's what you need in the postseason.

I was hoping Mark would talk trash or something like that. Cliche & lame, Mark. Cliche & lame. Give us something to work with.

DeRosa's Blog [Mark DeRosa's Playoff Blog]

East Valley's Open Letter to Bartman

With the playoffs starting in just one day, the normal talk surrounding the Cubs are the infamous curses & figures from the Cubs last playoff defeats. Whether it's the Goat, the black cat, Steve Garvey, etc., there's always one name that tops them all: Steve Bartman.

The East Valley Tribune, a newspaper in Phoenix, has written an open letter to Steve Bartman asking him for his help. The East Valley Tribune likes their chances for DBacks in Arizona, especially against "Goofball" (Carlos Zambrano). When it comes to Wrigley, however, they would like Bartman's help.

They found you at home (that will teach you to live with your parents at 26, huh?). They found you at work. They turned that baseball you tried to catch into dental floss — and probably would have done the same to you if they had had the access and a bigger box.

So here is your chance to fight back Steve. The D-Backs like their chances against the Cubs — especially with that goofball Carlos Zambrano on the mound in Game 1. But when the scene switches to “The Friendly Confines,” every possible advantage helps.

And that’s where you come in. The Marlins swear by you, and we have a lot in common with them (stifling heat, sparse crowds and recently whipping the Yankees in the World Series).

We’ll provide you with anything you need. Steve. Here’s a working list.

• Left-field foul line tickets at Wrigley. (We’ll probably need to steer clear of your old haunt at Aisle 4, Row 8, Seat 113 because it’s been kicked and spat upon so many times it’s been declared structurally unsafe. But we’ll get you something comparable, if not strategically better.)

• Anything else you might require — state-of-the-art disguise, Walkman, foam finger, Giganto-Glove, Brock-a-Brella, beer-repellent clothes, air horn, whatever gets the job done — is on us.

• You’ll need an escape plan, Arizona is loaded with charter members of the Federal Witness Protection Program, so we know what we’re doing.

But just in case you don’t think that’s far enough — what with all the Cubs fans in the Valley — we will have updated passports and a team of plastic surgeons on call.

It’s been four long years, Steve. It’s time for you to strike once more. And this time, it’s personal.

Don't listen to them, Steve. Just do us all a favor and watch the game from your basement. Or cave.

DBacks Look to Bartman for Help [East Valley Tribune]

Here's to hoping there are more zeros to come...

picture courtesy of Bleed Cubbie Blue

NLCS Tickets On Sale Thursday

They haven't played a single NLDS game yet, but the Cubs announced that on thursday, Oct. 4th, NLCS tickets will go on sale. The tickets will be for games 3, 4, & 5 of the NLCS, as the Cubs have the worst record of the potential 4 teams remaining in the NL.

• Tickets go on sale at 10AM this Thursday
• Tickets will NOT be on sale at the Wrigley Field box office
• Telephone # for Illinois callers: 800.THE.CUBS
• Telephone # for out of staters: 866.652.2827
• They will also be available online through Cubs.com
• Virtual waiting room will open at 9:30AM
• Buyers will be randomly selected at 10AM

NLCS Tickets on sale Thursday [Cubs.com]

Cubs Rookie Hazing

I'm a little late, but here's a video of the Cubs Rookie Hazing in case you missed it.



Thanks to Home Run Derby