Was that a window of opportunity we heard sliding down on the Cubs last week when closer Tom Gordon seriously injured his shoulder?
“If you think in the context of finite windows,” Cubs President Andy MacPhail said, “then nobody knows when somebody is going to wind down or a guy will come up and contribute.
“You just accumulate as much talent as you can, don’t overthink it, don’t overanalyze it. Just do the best you can.”
The Cubs seem to have done that with a powerful heart of the lineup of Sammy Sosa, Fred McGriff and Moises Alou, who combined for more than 120 home runs last season.
There’s potentially a strong supporting cast in the batting order with Todd Hundley, Alex Gonzalez and Delino DeShields.
But Gordon’s absence, which will be for at least three months, suddenly raises a serious question about this team and suggests an immediate move may be in order.
With Gordon out, the burden of supporting the pitching staff in the late innings falls to promising closer Kyle Farnsworth and veteran Jeff Fassero.
While Fassero set a club record last April with nine saves, the two combined to save just five games after April last season. And it seemed the bullpen, even with Gordon, tired significantly late last season.
And, as often is said in baseball–you can ask Arizona’s Byung-Hyun Kim–getting those last few outs is different.
“There is definitely a different mentality,” Fassero said. “I’ve seen it. Guys in set-up roles do a great job. They’re put into a closer’s role and can’t do it, for some reason. With seventh- and eighth-inning guys, it’s like they have protection behind them. When you’re the closer [and the failures come], some guys can’t get over it.”
Which is why the Cubs, though saying there is no likely deal for someone to replace Gordon, could consider going after White Sox reliever Bob Howry. The one-time closer lost his job to Keith Foulke, but he says he’s recovering the 96 m.p.h. fastball he had before arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in 2000. The Dodgers reportedly have tried to get him all spring. What would it take for the Cubs to get him?
Probably someone like second-base prospect Bobby Hill. The Sox took Hill in the 1999 draft, but he didn’t sign.
The Cubs took him a year later and he has shown Pete Rose-type skills.
“I had a good relationship with the White Sox,” said Hill, hitting .214 this spring.
“We just didn’t come to terms. I wasn’t mad. It was a business decision. But I like it here. There’s a lot of tradition with the Cubs. I had a pretty good year last year (he batted .301 in Class AA) and I look forward to having a lot more good experiences.”
The question is whether the Cubs can wait with the team they have assembled.
Alou is 36. McGriff is 38. DeShields is 33, Hundley will be 33 in May and backup catcher Joe Girardi is 37. Bill Mueller is 31, and while he doesn’t seem to be slowing, Sosa is 34.
It’s an old team, and old players tend to get hurt.
Gordon, at 34, has gotten hurt. MacPhail acknowledged for Gordon the baseball axiom applies that “elbows blow out, shoulders wear out.”
Mueller is hurting again. He will have more knee surgery and won’t be ready for the opener.
Alou hasn’t played yet, though he said he has recovered from a side injury and should play this week.
There seems to be a wonderful opportunity for the Cubs this season. Kerry Wood and Jon Lieber aren’t quite Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, but they could be close this season.
But for now, the Cubs are convinced the team they have now can last for several years.
“We all have to make an adjustment today about what is old,” MacPhail said. “We used to think 31, 32 was old. We have players today, for whatever reason, playing longer than they ever have. Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson and Schilling …
“We have a ballyhooed farm system, though we’re working on percentages there on guys who will be productive. We feel pretty good about the supply of talent that is going to come up. To me, the best way to have a quality team is a nice meld of real young guys and veteran guys. You don’t want to be all old or young.
“You cannot make the same assumptions you did in the ’70s. Baseball is not a linear progression anymore. Teams don’t get gradually good and then better and then decline.
“Unless you’re one of the premier franchises with a lot of money, your fortunes are up and down. We went to the postseason in ’98, had two horrific years in 1999 and 2000, and a good year for the most part in 2001, not a great year.
“Those teams in the middle of the economic strata, that’s the life you have. It’s going to be a volatile ride.
“The best way to assure yourself of sustaining any success over a period of time is with quality young players.
“We’ve had an injury to our closer and we’re fortunate to have kids like Farnsworth, [Carlos] Zambrano and [Scott] Chiasson in the system who might have the physical prerequisites to do that job in some shape and form.”
But for this season?
SPRING REPORT
Cubs recap
SCORE: Cubs 5, Brewers 3.
SPRING RECORD: 4-7.
AT THE PLATE: Left-handed-batting Roosevelt Brown went 3-for-4, including a double and a long home run to right-center in the eighth.
ON THE MOUND: Expected new closer Kyle Farnsworth worked a scoreless inning.
IN THE FIELD: Center fielder Corey Patterson made three impressive running catches, including two in the second inning to save starter Juan Cruz after a shaky first inning.
CHOI WATCH: First baseman-of-the-future Hee Seop Choi stroked consecutive opposite-field doubles in his first two at-bats. He is hitting. 471 (8-for-17) this spring.
NEXT UP: Vs. Anaheim at 2:05 p.m. in Mesa.
