This quote perfectly summarizes the upcoming winter for the Chicago Cubs. They need to prepare and figure out the clubs strengths and weaknesses. They need to work hard and make sure the sign some top-of-the-line free agents. And they need to learn from the mistakes they’ve made for the last sigh 98 years. They need to win sometime, and the time is now (now as in next April).
But since Cubs management tends not to follow these keys, I will give them six moves they should make to turn the team around.
1- Fire Dusty
Yeah, I know, this isn’t too original. But it’s the most important factor in turning around the team. I blame Jim Hendry equal to Dusty, but since he was just given a two-year extension, I doubt he will be replaced. Now I’m not saying Dusty Baker is a bad manager, since he obviously had some talent or he never would have gotten the Cubs job in the first place. But there were three reasons he failed in Wrigleyville. One, he was too easily offended. The whole Chip Carrey/Steve Stone fiasco in 2004 proved that Dusty was way too sensitive about negative comments. Two, he stuck up for his guys too much. Usually pride is a good thing, but like with cookie dough, too much of a good thing can make you sick. Refusing to drop Sammy Sosa in the batting order, keeping Latroy Hawkins as a closer after continuous blown saves (You could say he did the same thing this year with Dempster) and continuing to play Tom Goodwin in ‘04, Todd Hollandsworth in ’05 and Neifi Perez this season prove how loyal Dusty is, and also how loyalty can hurt a ball club. And the third and maybe most important reason Dusty failed was just that he wasn’t a good in-game skipper. Other then the double-switch, you never saw him make a move that just out-smarted the opposing team. I say the difference between a good manager and a bad one over the course of the season can lead to as many as 20 wins. And I’d say that Baker got about five of those. Too many times he leaves pitchers in too long, doesn’t call for sacrifices or steels, and seeing him going out to argue a call happens about as often as President Bush corrects somebody else’s English. He’ll work again in the league, because he is a good player manager and has led his teams to playoff success. But his time has run out on the North Side.
2- Get a smart guy in the dugout
A lot of people are saying the Cubs need an in your face, aggressive, take-no-crap manager to replace Baker, someone like Lou Piniella or Larry Bowa. This may be because they feel that if the Cubs get a bizzaro-Dusty, (The bizzaro-world is where everything is the opposite, such as saying hello when you leave and goodbye when you enter) then maybe the scores may move around also and the losses will change into wins. Another theory may be that since it worked for the cross-town Sox by hiring Ozzie Guillen after canning Jerry Manuel, a guy who makes Baker look like Bill Parcells, then it will work for the Cubbies. I don’t buy it though. The best manager’s in baseball are guys like Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Mike Scioscia and Bobby Cox, thinking skippers who can handle any situation without having a mental breakdown. I think Joe Girrardi would have been the perfect guy, but I doubt he’ll be leaving South Florida anytime soon. Mark Grace would be a great hire, but both he and the Cubs are too stubborn to make that happen. So my choice would be former A’s and Mets skipper Art Howe, who always seemed to get the most out of his guys but was still able to let them know when he wasn’t happy with their performance.
3- Another power hitter
For some crazy reason, Jim Hendry gave Jacque Jones a three-year deal when no other team had offered more then one.
So were stuck with him in right field. Juan Pierre was slower then Richard Kimble right after the train crash in ‘The Fugitive’ to start off the season, (sorry, it’s on my top five movies of all time list) but has picked it up, and if he gives us a hometown discount, I say sign him up to play center and bat first again in 2007. Now I’ve heard a lot about Felix Pie, and how he is a five-tool player and the next Andrew Jones. But he has been playing in our AAA system, meaning he’s destined to be a Major League bust. (See Corey Patterson and Bobby Hill) Matt Murton and Angel Pagan are nice players, but can we really rely on them in left for another 162 games? And though I’m a big fan of his, I think the Todd Walker era at second base is nearing it’s ending. So here’s what the Cubs need to do: Sign either Carlos Lee to play LF or Alfonso Soriano to play LF or 2B. The Cubs need a power hitter to take the pressure off of DLee and Aramis Ramirez and to strike fear into opposing teams’ hearts. They need a guy who will drive in a runner from second with two outs. Pretty much, they need the opposite of what they have right now. Another season with Jones or Michael Barrett batting fifth will not be acceptable.4- Burn the Wood
Every time the May 6, 1998 20-strikeout game versus Houston comes on ESPN Classic, I’m frozen like Austin Powers from 1967-97. High heat, low breaking balls, filthy changeups, Kid K had it all that day. Rookie of the Year from that year. The next in line of the Texas fireballers; Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood. Pair him with Mark Prior and you’ll have the best pair of aces this side of Las Vegas. But then about 400 surgeries, a sudden loss of accuracy and a playoff choke job in game seven of the 2003 NLCS, and Wood was done. They tried him in the bullpen last season, but that didn’t work. They tried limiting to a tiny pitch count, but that didn’t work. So it’s time to give up on him. Let Kerry Wood, and the dream of having the next Schilling and Johnson, go. Let him succeed (or get hurt) with another team. Like Corey Patterson last winter, this is a case of if the player is going to have any success at the Major League level, it’s going to be with a different team. It will be tough to see him go, but I’ll still have those Classic re-runs.
5- ZZ Top
No, this has nothing to do with the rock band filled with guys who look like Orthodox Jews. It’s about signing free agent pitcher Barry Zito from the Oakland A's. I know I’m spending a lot of the Tribune Company’s hard earned money, but hey, winning ‘aint cheap. Signing Zito makes a lot of sense for three reasons. One, it will take pressure off of Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano, because Zito is another top of the line starter who will be able to pitch big games. Two, it takes pressure off of the bullpen. A starting pitchers innings pitched is a vital stat to consider when comparing two players, because it shows how much less the teams bullpen has to be used. Zito has thrown over 200 innings each full season he has been in the Majors (Since 2001), proving he is both consistent and durable. And three is because Zito’s best pitch, the nasty 12-to-6 curveball, is perfectly fit for summers at Wrigley. When the wind is blowing out, you want a pitcher who will force batters to hit ground balls. Zito’s stuff does that. Signing Barry won’t be cheap, but getting rid of Wood, Greg Maddux, and Todd Walker should free up some dollars. (By the way, wouldn’t you feel good going into St. Louis for three games next September knowing that the Cards would need to beat both of our Big Z’s to win the series?)5- Beef up the bench
Our recent history with injuries is well known. No one is to blame for these, but there is something the team can do about it, and that is acquire some depth. A bench has three basic needs. One is versatility. A player who is not on the lineup card should be able to play multiple positions. I’m not saying you need a Craig Bigio (who won Gold Glove’s at two positions), but no more Freddie Bynum’s, who looked like he was a cast member of ‘Lost’ if he wasn’t in left field. Two is patience. Nothing kills me more then seeing Phil Nevin come in for the pitcher, swing at the first pitch and pop it up to third base and head back to the bench. You’d think that these guys realize that this is there one chance in the game to make a difference, and then they come up and hack away. Take some pitches, see what the guy on the mound is working with, and make him work to get you out. Even if your job is only to move a runner to third with a groundball on the right side, work the count and make sure you get the job done. And the third key to a solid bench is having all the guys know their roles. This means not starting Neifi Perez five times a week, even though he theoretically is a bench guy. This means leaving Hank White in the bullpen except for when Maddux is pitching. Starting backups too often can lead to confusion from both the bench guy and the starter about what their roles on the team are, and who really is a starter. Dusty is horrible at managing a bench, so hopefully the new manager understands what he’s doing. And since were on the subject of horrible, no more John Mabry.
6- Close the door
The last good closer that the Chicago Cubs had was Rod Beck in 1998. Since then we’ve had Rick Aguilera, Flash Gordon, Antonio Alfonseca, Joe Barowski, Latroy Hawkins and Ryan Dempster. Some nice players (we never should have gotten rid of Gordon), but nobody who really made the game feel absolutely over when they entered. This is something that needs to change, because a good closer changes the whole mindset of a team. You can see it on the faces of the Yankees, knowing they just have to have a lead for eight innings because they know Mariano will come in and shut the door in the ninth. Now I don’t think that the Cubs will go get Riviera, but they could do some things to shore up their ninth inning. My first idea would be putting Carlos Marmol back there. Marmol just seemed to be more comfortable his first few games when he was coming out of the bullpen. His stuff is electric, yes he walks too many people, but that can be fixed. A second idea would be signing a free agent, but if were already signing Alfonso Soriano and Barry Zito, I don’t know how much we’ll have to go get another reliever. Third we could try to make a deal for a closer, but good closers are look like good field goal kickers. Teams know how valuable they are and don’t give up on them easily. So I say go with Marmol, surround him with a good ‘pen including Howry, Eyre, Novoa and Rich Hill, and pray that it works. It can’t be worse then what we’ve seen the past few years.
Will these six moves lead to more wins? No doubt about it. Will it lead to a World Series title? Only time will tell. But after losing for so long, the team should be willing to do anything to bring a winner to Wrigleyville.
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