Friday, February 04, 2005 |
Just Sosa: Dayn Perry Gets It Right
I'm aware that Sosa is overpaid, but that, of course, is the fault of the team for granting him an imprudent contract extension. I'm also aware that he was a petulant malcontent for much of last season, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he was a productive player in 2004. Sosa figures to be better in 2005 and will be difficult to replace.It's rare to hear that a manager is the one pressing for a trade, and in this circumstance, Hendry should have told Dusty to calm down and deal for just one more year. Perry thinks the Cubs will have to be carried by the rotation, and he's right. However, the Cubs did exactly zero over the offseason to fix their problems in innings six through nine:As for Baker, he was derelict in his duties by not speaking to Sosa since Oct. 4 of last year. By no means is Sosa blameless in this flap, but it's Baker's job to extinguish mini-controversies of this nature, not allow them to fester.
Since last season, the Cub offense has lost 74 home runs (or 31.4 percent of their team total) with the departures of Sosa and Moises Alou. They still have power in the fold — it's not a stretch to imagine Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee and Corey Patterson combining to hit 100 homers — and if Nomar Garciaparra is able to defy recent history and cobble together a full season, that will of course help.
... You've probably heard it parroted in some circles that the Cubs had to, or needed to, get rid of Sosa to be able to position themselves for contention in 2005. Nonsense. What they needed was a manager who would do what he's paid to do — put out fires and maintain some semblance of esprit de corps. Baker has failed miserably on both counts. If the Cubs' efforts in 2005 come to grief, and they probably will, it's Baker who should be the first casualty.
- Joe Borowski is a big question mark to come back effective after he tore his rotator cuff in mid-June. The big right-hander inherited the closer role from the declining Antonio Alfonseca and held it together mainly on the strength of his mid-90's heat.
- Ryan Dempster put together an acceptable return season (3.92 ERA, 7.84 K/9, 1.39 K/BB, 20.2 IP) after an injury season in which he posted a 6.54 ERA in 20 starts, but he's another question mark for a Cubs team whose bullpen is mostly either aging, injured, or freshly recovered.
- Kyle Farnsworth manages to alternately show promise and collapse all at once, and 2004 wasn't any different.
- LaTroy Hawkins, Borowski's heir apparent once he fell in midseason, proved unequal to the challenge of holding the ninth inning together, blowing nine saves in 34 opportunities.
All the best,
Suffering Bruin
: 2/04/2005 02:55:00 PM
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