Rating Piniella

Let me just say this right off the top: I think Piniella is the best manager this franchise has seen in many many years. Why is that? Because when things aren't working out, he finds a solution, in-house, if necessary. I could make a long list of such moves just from 2007, moves that a different manager either never would have thought of or not dared to make.

Here's a list of such moves:

1) Move Carlos Marmol to the bullpen. He was awful as a starter in 2006, but Piniella knows a good bullpen arm when he sees it. That's why he has a great pen more often than not. (See Nasty Boys, 2001 Mariners)

2) Move Jacque Jones into CF. This one never occured to me... Jones had trouble throwing from right field, but center requires less arm. Replacing Pie, who was not hitting, with Jones required vision.

3) Get rid of Michael Barrett. His defense was dragging the Cubs down; he did not even understand the idea of framing pitches. This is basic catching. You'd expect even a high school catcher to know this.

4) Made Fontenot and Theriot the double-play combination. In the beginning, it was Izturis and DeRosa. Piniella also made use of DeRosa's willingness to do what's best for the team (not every player will!) and turn him in to a supersub to ride out some injuries, and then put him back at second when the league caught up to Fontenot.

5) There was also the umpire-bumping tirade, right around the beginning of the Cubs' revival, which was also shortly after the Barrett-Zambrano fight. Piniella was suspended for four games, but the team really responded. And when the spotlight left Soriano, which it did at that time, Soriano relaxed and started hitting. Speaking of Soriano,

6) Moved Soriano from center to left, because it didn't look good in center. I think that with Soriano's great arm, they should consider right field next year.

So Now We've Got Omar Infante...

With no news today, this is a good chance for me to weigh in on a trade recently made by the Cubs... trading Jacque Jones to the Detroit Tigers for shortstop Omar Infante. Infante provides some power, a real asset as a shortstop. He is also versatile, with experience at second and third base too. Infante will be great when the wind blows out; extra power hitting is needed on those days! If the Cubs are really lucky, he may have a career year like he did in 2004, when he hit 16 homers and batted .264. One thing about Infante; he is younger than you think. Even this year, he will only be 26. So there is still time for him to improve. With the switch from spacious Comerica to Wrigley and the 368-foot left field power alley, Infante just might hit 20 if he wins the starting job.

He has good range in the field, playing a good shortstop. He was blocked in Detroit at that position by Carlos Guillen; and now the Tigers wanted to go a different direction this season, with Guillen moving to first base and Edgar Renteria acquired to take over at shortstop. This made Infante expendable. It is tough to hit for power in Comerica, but that is pretty much all Infante brings to the table offensively. With a spacious pitchers' park like Detroit has, it definitely made sense to go get Renteria.

I will miss Jacque Jones; in 2006, his first of two seasons here, he hit for power well, hitting 27 homers. This past year, he had a very unlikely second half; after a miserable first half in right field, offensively and with throwing defensively, he moved to an unfamiliar position in center, played it well, and also came back offensively. Jones brought his average to .285, same as the previous year, and with a nearly identical OBP, .335 in 2007, after .334 in 2006. He handled himself with class, dealing with the boo birds of Wrigley, who honestly pick on the Cubs' black players predictably if they start slowly. (One example- LaTroy Hawkins). I remain impressed by his attitude, and handling of the situation. He never quit on himself or his team.

Kosuke Fukudome

The Cubs are reportedly pursuing Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. He does look like a great fit on paper; to find a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who walked 69 times in 81 games is a dream for this team, which is so short on left handed hitting and patient hitters. At $30 million over 3 years, it is well worth it if Fukudome can hit for power and walk 100 times with a .300 average on top of those.

There's only one problem I can see; it's those 81 games! Why only 81? In late July, according to Japanesebaseball.com, he had "right elbow pain." He is a left handed hitter but that is his throwing arm. If it is not healhty, that could also affect his hitting too. I'm not trying to be a naysayer; I'm also not trying to be negative just to be negative (Jay Mariotti needs to feed his family. I will find my own niche.) but this is the sort of thing that has potential to go very very wrong. If he can't throw we can't use him at first. Nothing would be a good reason for benching Derrek Lee.

Decision Due on Mark Prior

Let me weigh in on the Mark Prior situation. We all know that Prior is injury-prone, and a torn labrum is seriously bad news. But the fact is that Chris Carpenter did come back from this injury, and so potentially can Prior. This is a low-risk, high-upside situation.

Prior, if healthy, can be a key part of a great Cubs team in 2008. Prior, if sort of healthy, and a mediocre version of his former dominating self, can be a great steal at $3 million a year. Think of it this way: if someone will pay Juan Pierre $44 million, can't you justify spending $3 million on Prior just in case it works? There is no such thing as too much quality starting pitching!

The Cub rotation in 2008 looks like this:
1. Zambrano
2. Rich Hill
3. Ted Lilly
4. Ryan Dempster
5. Sean Marshall? Kevin Hart? Jason Marquis? Prior?

It is always a good sign in my experience when there are a lot of candidates, because inevitably with pitching someone gets hurt, and very often someone else goes horribly wrong (see Glendon Rusch!).
If the Cubs really want to trade, they should find a team desperate for starting pitching, and sell them on Jason Marquis. Don't expect a lot in return, because he has a big contract. It's not huge though; the main reason to move Marquis is because he is not needed in the rotation.

Kerry Wood signs, will he close this year?

Kerry Wood may be the Cubs' closer in 2008. He has agreed to take a smaller salary than he could have been paid elsewhere, in order to come back here. I love this move; it is the perfect situation for the team and for Kerry too.

I am looking forward to Wood as closer next year; in this role, he can potentially play a big role in a possible playoff run in 2008. This is a great chance for Wood to take care of unfinished business. From the Cubs' point of view, now they have shown their fans they will spend to win, and also bring back a fan favorite. Wood is respected among all Cubs fans. He has worked hard to get back in the game, even turned his back on starting just to get back to the mound any way he could.

If Wood does not work out - I could only see that happening if his arm does not hold up, or there is a different injury - Marmol has dominating stuff and would get a shot. Option number 3 would be Howry, once a Sox closer. If the sky falls, and all three of those options for closing don't work out, Dempster will be on hand to move back to the bullpen. The Cubs are set at closer now for 2008.