Cubs trade Gorzelanny to Nats for three prospects

Using their newfound pitching surplus to help replenish their farm system, the Cubs traded Tom Gorzelanny to Washington on Monday for three minor leaguers: lefty Graham Hicks, righty A.J. Morris, and outfielder Michael Burgess. None of the three are among the Nationals' top ten prospects. Gorzelanny gave the Cubs great bang for their buck last year, going 7-9 with a 4.09 ERA while making just $800,000. He was acquired along with John Grabow at the 2009 trade deadline.

The trade leaves the Cubs with a right-handed rotation of Dempster, Zambrano, Garza, Wells and Silva, along with potential starters Marshall, Samardzija, James Russell and Andrew Cashner.

While Gorzelanny will not be sorely missed, the fact that he was a lefty and provided solid innings at a cheap price could cost the Cubs from a depth standpoint. On the other hand, the trade adds a bit of depth back into the farm system after the Garza trade.

By the way, the Cubs avoided arbitration with all of their arb-eligible players except Carlos Marmol, though they were said to be working on a long-term deal. Last year Ryan Theriot became the first Cub to go to arbitration since Mark Grace in 1993.

Tom Gorzelanny wondering what a guy's gotta do to get some runs over here

The Cubs have yet to win a game started by Tom Gorzelanny, but he deserves very little of the blame for this unfortunate trend--the Cubs have scored two, three, one and one run(s), respectively, in those games while Gorzelanny has posted a 2.45 ERA.

Though Gorzo allowed two runs last night almost before the pregame show was complete, he settled down after the first and notched a (everybody together now) quality start. He came just one out away from a QS his last time out (and would have had one were it not for an error by Mike Fontenot), and was knocked out, literally, of his previous start after three innings. Those two starts represent the only games in the last 12 in which the Cubs starter did not post a quality start. In fact, don't look now, but the Cubs have the sixth-best ERA in the National League. And yes, that includes the bullpen!

But Livan Hernandez, whose season has started as inexplicably well as Carlos Silva's, shut down the Cubs with his 85 mph fastballs and grab bag of random pitches that have no business working in the major leagues. The end result was one measly unearned run for the Cubs, giving Gorzelanny another loss and bringing the Cubs' record to 0-4 when he has taken the mound.

Hernandez lulled the Cubs offense to sleep even though they should have been energized by the opportunity to climb over .500. It was the fourth time this season the Cubs have had a chance to get their heads above water, but now they'll look to Ryan Dempster on Wednesday as they attempt to even their record at 11-11.

Though Aramis Ramirez was just 1-for-4 with a single, I think he's about to break out of it. He had a line drive single on Sunday as well as a hard line out to center. On Monday, he smoked a double in the first inning and later hit what would have been a home run on most days. And along with his single last night, he drove a ball to the warning track in center. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I think Ramirez is almost there.

Gorzelanny and Silva to begin season in starting rotation

This according to Carrie Muskat over at cubs.com. Gorzelanny stole the fifth starter spot from Sean Marshall--Marshall had a strong outing on Wednesday to lower his spring ERA to 1.64, but Gorzelanny followed with six strong innings yesterday to lower his ERA to 3.07. I think Marshall's career splits played a role as well (4.86 career ERA as a starter, 3.15 as a reliever). It's likely that my prediction from February 5 that Gorzelanny would start the season in the rotation played a role as well. Right? Yeah, it's likely that my prediction played a role.

Silva has had a solid spring while Jeff Samardzija (who will go to the bullpen) did not. I still don't think the Cubs will need a fifth starter until April 19 (though they may prefer one), so it will be interesting to see which back-end starter will get the bulk of the starts before Lilly returns.

Piniella also said that lefty James Russell (0.00 ERA in nine innings) is very likely to make the team as a reliever.

The good, bad and ugly of the Cubs' offseason thus far

The good:

It's good to know they can share a mic, since they'll now be sharing a professional sports franchise. And it's interesting to note that even when viewed in a still, photographic format, Todd looks like a douche.

The transition of team ownership into the hands of its eighth owner, the Ricketts family. There's something soothing about real, live human beings sitting there and talking about the team. Something comforting about the fact that the owners don't have an opening and a closing price.

The new owners pretty much said all the things you'd expect at their opening press conference (save one super awkward moment when Tom's brother Todd said Jim Hendry "knows way better than" to eat part of Milton Bradley's contract. He then winked (seriously), cementing his status as The Really Creepy Brother Who Will Keep Trying to Share His Ideas with the Other Siblings but They'll Just Nod and Not Really Pay Any Attention to Him, Which They've Probably Been Doing for Twenty Years Because, as Was Just Explained, He's Creepy. And Weird.).

And while growing up watching and rooting for a team does not by any means guarantee that you will be successful as an owner of that team, it is really nice that Tom used to live just beyond the Wrigley walls and spent many a summer day in the bleachers. I have no doubt that he'll treat the Cubs as a business, because he has to. But I also have no doubt that part of him will treat the Cubs as his favorite team, a team that he desperately wants to win the World Series. And that's a very good thing.

Also a good thing is that according to the Windy City Times, Tom's sister Laura Ricketts is the first openly gay owner in all of American professional sports. I think that's a pretty neat "first" for the Cubs to be a part of.

The bad:

The decisions by Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan to return to their perches at Busch Stadium for 2010. These guys continually enable the Cardinals to get way more bang than should be humanly possible for that much buck (2009: 17th highest payroll, 92 wins), and unfortunately there was never much more than a fleeting glimmer of hope that the two wouldn't return for next year.

Question now is, will the Cards pony up the BIG bucks for Matt Holliday? His agent, Scott Boras, has made a point of comparing him to Mark Teixeira, whom the Yankees gave eight years and $180 million last year.

The ugly:

Since when did Ted Lilly need shoulder surgery? That came as a bit of a surprise. Back by April, they say.

Most pitchers get a month of spring training to work their way up to regular action. So Lilly may not be at full strength until mid- or late May. Not a great development to begin the offseason, especially since Lilly was clearly the ace of the staff in 2009. If the season started tomorrow (and, of course, it doesn't, and things will likely change), the Cubs would come out of the gates with Zambrano, Dempster, Wells, Marshall and Gorzelanny. Does this mean Hendry will need to seriously consider trying to re-sign Harden? Hurry back, Ted ...

Getting closer to being the closer

Wednesday: Cubs 8, Pirates 5


I say this very, very tentatively (please read slowly for effect): perhaps the Cubs have found their closer for 2010. I sort of twitched when I typed that, knowing the stomach-churning, hair-graying things that Carlos Marmol is capable of. But he's now 7-for-7 in save opportunities since being anointed the closer, and even more importantly, he's been throwing strikes. Eight of his 11 pitches were in the zone in his perfect ninth yesterday, and 11 of his 13 pitches found the zone in his perfect inning of work on Monday.

If Marmol can keep up the good work next year, Hendry (or whoever is GM) can get to work solidifying the rest of the bullpen instead of having to spend a bunch of money on a hit-or-miss closer (e.g., even the infallible Brad Lidge of '08 has an ERA upwards of seven this year).

While it obviously isn't going to result in a playoff appearance this year, the deadline trade the Cubs made is looking pretty good right about now. The Cubs hit Kevin Hart around pretty good yesterday (and he doled out six free passes), and he has struggled mightily with the Pirates to the tune of a 1-5 record and a 6.46 ERA.

Additionally, John Grabow has expressed an interest in remaining with the Cubs beyond '09, and Tom Gorzelanny may do the same (if the Cubs believe he can contribute).

Could the Pirates be any nicer to the Cubs? We've built up a 9-2 record against them this year after a 14-4 record last year, plus the aforementioned trade that's looking like a win for the Cubs. And I won't even mention the time Hendry fleeced them at the deadline in '03.

And lastly: way to go, Micah Hoffpauir. After going deep in back-to-back games, Hoffpauir has reached double digits in home runs and has also driven in 28 runs. Those stats, when fleshed out over a full season's worth of at-bats, translate to 24 HR and 62 RBI.

Are we sure Zambrano's not still hurt?

Sunday: Mets 4, Cubs 1


I don't ask that just to be cantankerous. I ask it for two reasons:

1) Zambrano hasn't just struggled in his two starts since coming off the DL, he's been lit up. Seven hits and eight runs in just 4.1 innings against the Nationals on Tuesday, and then 11 hits--including five straight at one point--in just 3.1 innings Sunday against the Mets. In total, he's allowed 18 hits and 12 runs in his last two starts. It looked like batting practice despite it being a cold day (57 degrees at game time) with the wind blowing in.

2) Big Z has an ego and a serious competitive streak. He, more than some players, is the type to fight through pain when perhaps he shouldn't.

If he is in fact feeling any lingering effects from his recent DL stint, the Cubs would be better served with Tom Gorzelanny taking the ball every fifth day. Zambrano isn't fooling anybody on the mound right now.

The Cubs offense, however, was fooled all day by Nelson Figueroa. They managed seven hits, all singles, and scarcely threatened to score after taking a 1-0 lead in the first.

And may I ask, what is with Cubs players swinging on 3-0 counts this year? It's a freakin' epidemic. Milton Bradley must have a clause in his contract requiring him to do so, and Derrek Lee has done so quite a bit this year, including once on Saturday and once on Sunday.

First of all, I'm not a big fan of swinging 3-0 no matter what. As a batter, you've worked hard to get the pitcher into a terrible count, and then you bail him out by swinging at the next pitch? But hey, I realize the pitcher often grooves one right down Broadway on 3-0, and if you can tee one up and drive it hard somewhere, that's understandable. But Bradley is 1-for-14 this year when he swings at a 3-0 pitch, and Derrek Lee flied out on 3-0 each of the last two days. And, yesterday, he did so with two men on and the Cubs' most clutch hitter, Aramis Ramirez, on deck. A potential bases loaded situation vanished when a normally patient hitter took a weak swing at a pitcher's pitch. I can understand Lou giving these guys the green light, but someone needs to tell them the green light doesn't work like a stoplight--you don't have to swing!

The Cubs fell to 3-3 on the homestand and to two games over .500 overall with just one more game to play until September.

News from the South Side


The White Sox appear poised to join the Cubs at the back end of Sportscenter. They're 1-6 on their current 10-game road trip. Ozzie Guillen berated his team with a barrage of expletive-filled Ozzieness after Saturday's performance in which they tallied one hit against Sergio Mitre and the Yankees. Jose Contreras got lit up again and has been demoted to the 'pen. And their supposed savior, Jake Peavy, left his most recent rehab start and will have his elbow examined.

The Sox remain in the hunt in the AL Central, sitting six games back of a mediocre Tigers team and 1.5 games back of the how-do-they-stay-in-the-race-every-single-year Twins. But the reality is, the Sox are two games under .500, and the butt-whooping they've received from the playoff caliber Red Sox and Yankees this week has shown their true colors--a home run-dependent, defensively challenged, pitching poor team in a piss poor division.

News from the East Side


Cutler silenced the boo birds--well, actually, I think the boo birds were pretty resilient. But Cutler did all he could, completing 16 of 21 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown in his return to Denver. Cutler vs. Orton was obviously the main event, but there were some great undercards as well.

Devin Hester brought back visions of 2008 when he backpedaled to the five yard line and fair caught a punt, but then reminded us of 2007 on another punt return with a great cutback move and a 54-yard return to the Denver four, leading to the go-ahead touchdown.

Adrian Peterson opened some eyes by averaging 5.7 yards per carry on 12 attempts, scoring a touchdown along the way. And that chemistry we've been hearing about between Cutler and Greg Olsen was evident as Cutler lasered a couple balls into Olsen's breadbasket (three catches, 47 yards total for Olsen).

Denver helped out the Bears defense quite a bit with some penalties (10 for 86 yards), but all in all it was a good night for Lovie Smith's squad. The Bears were facing the first of four consecutive 3-4 defensive schemes (including Cleveland in the final preseason game this week, then Green Bay and Pittsburgh in the first two regular season games), so they'll be seeing some familiar sights by the time the real games roll around.

Did you know ...

With a 4-1 loss on Sunday, the Pirates have now lost 21 straight games in Milwaukee. Twenty-one straight! That's the longest streak by one team over another at home since 1954 (Indians over the Orioles). I hope the Pirates players at least found some watering holes while in the beer haven known as Milwaukee.

Grand slammed

Thursday: Dodgers 7, Cubs 2


The play that broke the back of the Cubs' 2008 season was a grand slam by the Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLDS. It might be another Dodgers grand slam that broke the back of the 2009 season.

I hope Russell Martin's slam off Guzman wasn't the death knell for the Cubs, but with the Cubs now seven games out in the division and six games out of the Wild Card race (and trailing four teams), things ain't lookin' so good.

Gorzelanny had a decent outing, allowing two runs in five innings. With Zambrano coming back on Tuesday, Gorzelanny was likely making his last start and may have been auditioning for a spot in the bullpen.

Koyie Hill (who was batting .400 in his previous three starts, but went 0-for-2 last night) started again in place of Geovany Soto, and I would like to suggest that Soriano be forced to share his position as well, with Jake Fox. Things are ugly enough for the Cubs that salaries be damned, it's time to play the guys who are producing, and Jake Fox deserves a chance to show what he's got given that Soriano is now batting .162 this month.

I've made fun of Lou before for having guys on his roster whom he doesn't use (like David Patton early in the season), but on the other side of the coin, why does he insist on using Aaron Miles? Miles was the first option off the bench last night, and every now and then he gets a spot start despite having done absolutely nothing at all to warrant one iota of playing time. Leave him on the bench so Hendry will consider sending him down and bringing up Andres Blanco. Come to think of it: Hey Hendry, consider it!

If you don't have anything nice to say ...

Monday: Rockies 11, Cubs 5


A 4-6 road trip.

Gorzelanny goes down in the 2nd inning.

Ramirez might have to go on the DL.

The Phillies are coming to town.

The Cubs are three games back in the division and the Wild Card.

So, yeah, there aren't a whole lot of positives to talk about today.

Let's look forward: The Cubs will have a chance to help Randy Wells' Rookie of the Year chances if they can beat up on J.A. Happ tonight. Tomorrow, Pedro Martinez will make his first start of the year, and it'd be nice to win that one with last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, taking the mound on Thursday.

The Cubs will be trying to build on their stellar 33-19 home record, and things start to look a little brighter after Philadelphia with the Pirates and Padres on the schedule. The Cardinals schedule is very weak in August, but heats up in September. If the Cubs can stay close over the next couple weeks, perhaps they can get healthy in September and really make a run.

Dusty can't be having much fun this year; Gorzelanny and Cubs defeat punchless Reds to reach new high-water mark

Tuesday: Cubs 6, Reds 3

Tom Gorzelanny sneaking a peak at his name being back on a major league scoreboard. Or looking at something else. Yeah, he's probably looking at something else.

The Tom Gorzelanny Experiment is a success!

Well, maybe it's too early to report that. But it's off to a helluva start: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. How sweet is that? It was his first start since September 10, 2008.

And he can hit! Well, not really. He was an almost impossibly bad 7-for-113 in his career entering Tuesday, but he had a nice little bloop RBI single to raise his career average to .069. That's right, .069.

Gorzelanny will likely get three starts before Lilly returns, and almost certainly be replaced at that point even if he pitches well. But he could become a bullpen option if he pitches well enough to warrant it.

Fukudome provided some instant offense for Gorzelanny, doing his best impression of Alfonso Soriano with a home run to begin the game. It was his first since July 8 off the Braves' Kenshin Kawakami. He reached base twice in the game, and has a .440 OBP when batting leadoff.

The Cubs could have a 12 percent roster turnover from Tuesday to Wednesday:

• Andres Blanco was placed on the DL with a left calf strain to make room for Tom Gorzelanny. If Blanco's really injured, then so be it. But if not, I strongly prefer him over ...
• Aaron Miles, who will be activated today (are we sure he's healthy? Maybe he needs a little more time ...). Presumably, a Jeff will be sent to the minors to accommodate Miles--either Stevens or Samardzija. As I said Sunday, I put both hands up to vote for Samardzija.
  
• Geovany Soto could be activated as early as today, requiring yet another roster move. Fox and Baker are almost surely safe, leaving Hoffpauir and Fuld as the options. I opt for Hoffpauir, who is rotting on the bench and is batting just .179 since June 1.

Rich Harden has been hot lately, while Justin Lehr will be making just his second career start. Can anyone say "sweep"?

Triple Crown?

I was going to write here about how Albert Pujols' triple crown chances were slipping away. Mark Reynolds had pulled to within two home runs of the league lead, while Prince Fielder had passed Pujols by one in RBI. But then Pujols hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and recorded five RBI as the Cardinals beat the Mets 12-7 in 10 innings. Pujols is fifth in the league in batting average, however, 19 points behind Hanley Ramirez.

You can't make ...

this up.