IBL: Cougars Update week 18

A lot has happened to my team in IBL since I last wrote about them on May 13. After 18 weeks I am 68-39 and have a commanding lead in my division. This is a lot better than I expected in the beginning of the year, when I thought would be competing for a wild-card spot. My team has been winning all season, while CAP and TRI (my 2 main competitors in my division) have been very inconsistent.

I am know for making a lot of trades and this season is no different. I traded a 3rd round pick and 5th round pick to CAJ for Joe Kennedy and a 6th round pick. I acquired Joe only for this season as he has a nice card and I thought it would be wise to have one dependable lefty starter for post-season play. I then traded FLA Gonzalez for PIT Redman and a 5th round. Later I had to trade PIT Redman to WMS for FLA Redmond when I lost both my catchers for 2 weeks due to injuries. HAG had been pestering me all season about acquiring Ryan Freel who was an on-base/stealing machine and when he offered me a 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick for him and a 5th round pick I couldn't turn it down. To replace Freel mobility, bat, and speed off the bench I then traded Chris Gomez to MIL for Jamey Carroll. Needing some defense, I acquired SEA Jolbert Cabrera and a conditional pick for SD Tankersley and a 7th rounder from DTR.

The biggest need my team has now is another bat off the bench, either a switch hitter or a lefty would be preferred, but anybody that can hit is fine by me. I have a lot of good picks to offer and some future talent also, so I am positive that I will find someone.

Below are my stats.

(*) denotes player no longer on team


Batting Stats
IBL AB R H BI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
COU 3566 592 1027 577 185 38 113 324 638 58 11 .288 .347 .456

PITCHING STATISTICS
IBL G W L PCT SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
COU 101 64 37 .634 37 889.0 957 497 444 83 368 765 4.49

COU Chicago Cougars
MLB NAME G AB R H BI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG
BAL LopezJ. 75 272 47 83 58 13 2 13 17 58 1 0 .305 .346 .511
*BAL Machado 2 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 .200 .333 .200
CHA Ordonez 41 127 17 42 31 3 7 4 8 22 0 0 .331 .370 .559
CHN Barrett 68 229 44 73 34 14 2 9 17 27 0 0 .319 .366 .515
CHN Grudzielanek 3 10 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 .100 .100 .100
CHN Patterson 85 295 50 72 40 11 8 8 19 88 18 1 .244 .290 .417
*CIN Freel 46 172 50 62 21 15 5 4 32 30 26 5 .360 .461 .576
CLE Belliard 86 289 43 76 41 20 1 10 33 59 0 0 .263 .339 .443
COL Pellow 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
FLA Conine 69 221 27 60 32 15 0 5 17 41 0 0 .271 .324 .407
*FLA Gonzalez 19 48 7 11 6 2 0 3 3 13 0 1 .229 .275 .458
FLA Redmond 5 18 0 6 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .444
MON Carroll 20 50 3 15 7 2 0 0 10 4 0 0 .300 .417 .340
MON Sledge 71 216 36 57 40 4 3 11 19 51 0 0 .264 .323 .463
NYN Valent 17 41 8 9 5 1 0 3 7 11 0 0 .220 .333 .463
*PIT Redman 35 149 25 43 6 4 1 2 4 12 7 2 .289 .307 .369
PIT Ward 61 204 36 59 37 12 1 10 19 31 0 0 .289 .350 .505
SD Giles 96 356 69 96 55 10 4 11 52 59 1 0 .270 .363 .413
SEA Cabrera 18 20 3 5 2 0 1 0 0 7 0 0 .250 .250 .350
SF Alfonzo 85 311 39 92 55 15 0 6 33 27 0 0 .296 .363 .402
TB Lugo 86 308 51 102 57 25 3 4 22 55 4 2 .331 .376 .471
TEX Mench 57 202 31 56 43 17 0 10 7 34 1 0 .277 .301 .510
*TOR Gomez 12 23 2 6 3 0 0 0 4 3 0 0 .261 .370 .261


COU Chicago Cougars
MLB NAME W L PCT SV G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
ATL Cruz 2 2 .500 2 25 0 34.1 37 26 20 3 25 33 5.24
ATL Reitsma 0 0 .000 0 28 0 46.1 54 21 19 5 11 39 3.69
BAL Bedard 6 3 .667 0 13 11 76.0 88 40 39 4 40 67 4.62
CHN Wuertz 0 0 .000 0 9 0 14.2 17 12 12 6 11 13 7.36
CHN Zambrano 14 4 .778 0 24 24 142.2 124 63 56 10 68 140 3.53
COL Francis 2 0 1.00 0 2 2 12.1 10 6 6 3 3 11 4.38
COL Kennedy 4 3 .571 0 10 10 59.1 67 39 33 4 27 48 5.01
FLA Benitez 5 1 .833 25 38 0 39.0 24 16 12 2 17 45 2.77
HOU Oswalt 9 11 .450 0 27 27 154.0 198 109 96 16 43 137 5.61
PIT Gonzalez 1 2 .333 3 29 0 22.0 15 7 7 1 9 33 2.86
*SD Tankersley 0 0 .000 0 6 0 8.1 5 1 1 0 1 12 1.08
SEA Mateo 1 0 1.00 1 13 0 23.2 26 17 15 7 6 20 5.70
STL Haren 2 4 .333 0 6 6 36.0 43 23 21 5 15 32 5.25
TB Colome 2 1 .667 0 20 0 21.2 19 15 14 5 16 23 5.82
TEX Cordero 0 3 .000 5 30 0 40.0 37 14 13 0 29 37 2.92
TEX Drese 15 3 .833 0 21 21 133.2 160 71 64 9 35 57 4.31
TOR Chulk 1 0 1.00 1 12 0 25.0 33 17 16 3 12 18 5.76

Cedeno back up

The Cubs have brought back up Cedeno and he actually got a start in his first game up. I am hoping they give him more of a shot, but Dusty is hell-bent on giving playing time to Nefi Perez. If Hendry starts dumping players though, I think that Baker won't have much choice, but to start playing the young guys. I also think this is the route they need to go. I say bring up Pie (when he is unhurt), Murton, Greenberg, Cedeno( now up), Aardsma, Hill, and Van Buren and let me show what they have. Hendry and the Cubs need to see what these young prospects can do and hopefully they can do something.
Also coming this off-season the Cubs lose a lot of salary that is on the books (Sosa, Remlinger, Burnitz, Hawkins, Garciaparra) and hopefully they will spend some of their savings wisely and build a team that plays fundamentally sound and hopefully competitive baseball. There have been rumors that the Cubs are interested in Furcal, but I think with Cedeno they have the same player, but much cheaper. I do think signing Brian Giles to a 2 year deal would be a wise investment as long as it wasn't much more than what Burnitz makes a season. Everyone knows I like Patterson and hope he comes around, but if he does not start showing signs of improvement in September, it might be time to part ways. The Cubs pen needs a complete overhaul. I like Ohman and Wuertz, but Wuertz has been brutal as of late, but I also think Baker overused him early and now he is just exhausted. I don't think Dempster is the answer at closer and Williamson still needs time to get in form, though I might try to sign Williamson to another 1 year deal.

Matt Lawton - We hardly knew you

Well if the rumors are true, Matt Lawton is being sent to the Yankees for a player to be named later. I didn't like trading Gerut for Lawton (though Gerut has been hurt for Pirates), but now in essence we have traded Jason Dubois for a ptbnl. Not that Jason is burning it up in Cleveland either, but I think that we could have gotten a better return on Gerut at least.

Cubs - Update

I have been busy working for my buddy doing some computer work and have just been dismayed at the Cubs play. Sorry for not writing.

The Cubs have brought Patterson back up and I am glad to see that he is swinging the bat a little better. I still think he is trying to hard and need to relax a little more.

I hear that Ramirez might be playing injured and that is great, but it looks like he is not even trying out there. He just has looked in a daze for the last 10 days, maybe he is remembering his days as a Pirate. Doesn't Baker see this? Bench him for a couple games, yell at him, do something because something needs to change and fast.
Also I am all for Derek Lee and his great season, but don't you think a day off would be nice for the man? If there is any chance of the Cubs making the playoffs, Derek is going to be in top form the last 2 weeks of the year. So why not give him a couple games off in August to keep him fresher as it has been a very hot and humid summer in Chicago.
I am glad Cedeno was sent back to the minors so he will be able to get more pa's as Baker was insistent on leaving him on the bench. I think he will be a decent SS in his major league career and hopefully Baker won't be around to block him from batting.
Matt Murton is a guy who I think should be sent back to the minors and replaced with Ben Grieve because he needs to get more at-bats as he has not been in professional baseball long and Baker might even use Grieve to PH.
So when are the Cubs going to fire Baker? I hope soon, but probably not until the end of the season. It looks like the Cubs have thrown in the book for the season and look kind of shell shocked. Baker says he was thinking about starting Wood again (I know since rescinded), hello anyone in there Dusty?
When is Larry Rothschild going to be held accountable for the pitching? No one throws strikes and looks like they always are trying to strike out everyone. It doesn't look like he has done a thing during the season to work with them and improve their mechanics or approach to hitters. He might have a great reputation, but he isn't doing much with the Cubs pitchers.

Ryne's Speech

Congrats to Ryne Sandberg for officially being inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. I have to say his speech was one of the best speeches I have heard for the HOF. He was always a professional on the field and off and his speech reflected that. Ryne told of how the game was and should be played, he spoke of how it was his job (he loved) and didn't try to hit homers all the time and didn't do things for the camera. Ryne said that the HOF Committe electing him said it showed he played the game a certain way and he wasn't so sure of that, but he did play the game with "Respect". He later spoke of respect for the sport and how it is gone today and hopefully will return in the future. Also he spoke of how his greatest thing ever to happen to him, which was his wife Margret and to me that shows just the type of outstanding person he is.

So Ryne thanks for all the years of joy you gave me watching you as a child growing up. I even remember where I was when the trade to the Cubs was announced. I was in my parent's kitchen with my father and I remember being upset because Ivan Dejesus at the time was one of my favorite players (not sure why). How wrong was I. Thank you Ryne and may you continue to live a happy life.

Cubs Trade

Just when I was getting real happy for the Cubs acquiring Jody Gerut (future reasons), the Cubs go and trade him for Matt Lawton. I don't think Matt Lawton is going to really help the Cubs at this point of the season, but I am very happy this was the deal that was made and that Soriano is not a Cub. I know that was a rumor, but it was an awful one. For a team with a low OBP, Soriano was not a good choice for them. Also his defense is bad and though he is batting .280 he is in a batters park so that surely would decline if he came to Chicago.

Matt Lawton will probably start in LF, but I think that is where the Cubs are very wrong. I think the Cubs would be better off with Matt Murton out in LF, but for some odd reason the Cubs won't start him everyday (hmm... Dusty maybe?).

Happy Anniversary

Sunday was my wife and my anniversary. I just want to say thanks to my gorgeous and loving wife Kelly for all the happiness she gives me and the ability to stick up with my grouchiness. Honey if you read this (which you won't), thanks for everything and I hope we can have as many years of happiness as both our parents have had.

Congrats Kevin-Eileen

On Saturday I went to my brother in-laws wedding and had a great time. I just want to say congrats to both Kevin and Eileen and hope they have many many happy years together.