November 30, 2007

Glee

You gotta love it when your division rivals make moves that make their teams crummier. Let's look at the offseason so far

1. Dusty Baker signs with the Reds

The Reds are actually a very dangerous team, on paper. Luckily, the shakiest part of their team is their pitching staff, and Cubs fans have first-hand experience with how Dusty handles pitchers (especially young ones). Homer Bailey had better make a precautionary appointment with Dr. James Andrews. I did like the Cordero signing, sort of, for the Reds....but the rest of their bullpen still stinks and Cordero can be pretty streaky.

2. Brewers trade Estrada and sign Kendall.

This makes no sense to me at all. They got rid of Estrada because his bat is declining and he can't throw anyone out. Then they signed Kendall (for more money!), who can't hit the ball out of the infield and also can't throw anyone out. Great job guys. Also, please make Turnbow your closer...the rest of the division will thank you for it (the sad part is, he *is* the best reliever that they have...unless they swap in one of their mediocre starters to give some room for Parra and Villanueva. That would be too smart though)

3. Cardinals sign Cesar Izturis.

He's still okay defensively...but he's just David Eckstein with a little more glove and a less bat (and that's not saying a lot).

4. Astros sign Kaz Matsui

Thank God....for awhile there it looked like the Cubs would get him. Moving to Coors inflated his numbers from lousy to merely mediocre (and that's mainly from when he played at home - he's even worse on the road). This will be even better if it gets Chris Burke out of their lineup, since he actually has some upside.

5. The Pirates are the Pirates
The best move that the Pirates have made (so far) is NOT trading Jason Bay. He's still their best player, and if Littlefield were still there you know he would have traded him while he had the lowest value of his career. Good luck, successor guy. You've got a lot to work with