Just read your interview with Dusty Baker. You asked tough but fair questions and I think you got straightforward answers. I wasn’t sure Dusty should be retained but now I think he should be allowed to finish the season. The guy’s right — he hasn’t had the team they all thought. Some of the better players also haven’t performed (veterans not hitting with runners in scoring position, not executing bunts, not moving the runner, etc.) so maybe some of them should be traded and some fundamentally sound kids should get a chance. Let’s let Dusty work with the kids and see what we get. –Doug Edwards, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The Baker question is one that everyone has an opinion on, and no one is neutral. Baker believes the media downplays the injuries to Derrek Lee, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, while many believe he should be able to at least have the team at .500 without those three stars, which would put them in the thick of the race in a weakened National League. It’s obvious his players have not played up to their abilities, including kids like Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno. But Baker is the manager, and when a team doesn’t perform, it reflects back on him.
So, at the halfway point of the year, are the Cubs really better off with Murton/Nevin, Pierre, and Jones in the outfield, than they were with Hollandsworth, Patterson, and Burnitz? –John Markl, Sherman, Texas
Obviously not, but Patterson is the only one of those three ex-Cubs having a decent year. The big problem was Pierre’s early season struggles and not having a fallback plan in case Murton struggled, which he did in May and June.
Mark Prior’s future with the Cubs is questionable, and Kerry Wood’s is practically nonexistent. Both are untradeable given their medical histories. What options to the Cubs have to deal with Prior and Wood? Outright release? –Michael Fleischhacker, Silver Springs, Md.
One friend suggested they simply saw off the right arms of Prior and Wood and make them bullpen catchers, just to get their money’s worth. I’m not sure that’s a viable option. Wood is probably gone, a victim of some very bad medical advice, while Prior is likely to remain with the Cubs until his trade value is high enough again to get something of value in return. Everyone who complained last winter about sending Prior to Baltimore in a trade for Miguel Tejada should fess up now and admit they were wrong.
Paul, what do you think about the idea of switching Michael Barrett to a corner outfield position or third base? He is a great hitter, with above average speed, but a terrible defensive catcher. I believe he came up as a shortstop. If he could learn third, the Cubs could move Ramirez, who is lazy, too inconsistent, and injury prone. –Adam Godfrey, Tucson, Ariz.
Barrett played third with Montreal but was not good enough defensively or range-wise to handle the position. I’m not sure if outfield would be a good spot for him. He’d be better off at first base or DH. The Cubs have a first baseman, and don’t need a DH.
Paul, sometimes I oversleep and I am afraid it has happened again. Is it really 2004 and the players are still blaming the media for their apathy and poor performance on the field? Scott Eyre suggested recently that the media has fanned the flames in the debate over Dusty Bakers’ job status. He says that you guys should concentrate on the play on the field more. Does he really mean that? Does Mr. Eyre want the writers and fans to focus on the play of a team with a payroll that is higher than all but three other teams yet whose record is better than only two others? Does he want us to concentrate on the called third strikes, the botched bunts, the sorry selection at the plate, the failed fielding, the poor pitching? –Greg Stein, Birmingham, Ala.
Eyre came up to me after his tirade and said the reason he went off is “I love Dusty.” It was nice of him to stick up for his manager, but his anger was misplaced. The reason the focus was on Dusty’s future is because Hendry said he was going to be “evaluated,” which suggests his job was in jeopardy. The media is not to blame for the speculation on Baker. All Hendry has to do is say “Dusty will remain the rest of the season,” and the stories would disappear.
Paul, is it just me or do the Cubs have the worst medical staff in the history of MLB? They’re in the country’s second largest city, which means resources are enormous, yet the Cubs can’t find anyone in Chicago to diagnose a torn rotator cuff on Kerry Wood’s injury-plagued shoulder. I can’t believe the Cubs & Co., had to take Wood to Cincinnati (of all places) to have this diagnosed. What gives? The Cubs’ public relations department needs to stop with the false releases as well. After all, who has ever heard of a “slight muscular imbalance”? –Kyle Heise, Cayce, S.C.
I believe it was Wood’s choice to see the Cincinnati team physician, who previously had done surgeries on Ryan Dempster and Scott Williamson. Why the rotator cuff tear was only discovered now is a question we may never get an answer to, but Wood deserves an answer after spending eight months working hard to return from labrum surgery that may not have been necessary. The “slight muscular imbalance” was the description given by Cubs trainer Mark O’Neal after consulting with Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the Reds doctor. The p.r. department had nothing to do with that.
Why doesn’t everyone start to question the Cubs’ in-season and off-season conditioning program? How can you pull a muscle in batting practice (Prior)? Doesn’t anyone warm up (I mean causing a sweat) the team? –Shawn Dassie, Urbandale, Iowa
Good question. I would imagine it has to be addressed this fall.
Paul, is it possible Jim Hendry can blow up this team like John Holland did in 1966 and Dallas Green did in 1984? There are some core players on this team just as those teams had and it sure looks like he has enough blocks to build around them. –Harvey Schnepper, Las Vegas, Nev.
Hendry has already said he doesn’t plan to blow up this team, so get ready to see most of the very same players in the second half.
Paul, you are around this team day in and day out. What is the plan? Are we a speed team, a three-run homer team or a did-everything-just-go-up-in-smoke team? When will this organization come up with a plan and stick with it? –Jim Selinger, Joliet, Ill.
None of the above. They have some speed, but not nearly enough. They have some players with power, but not nearly enough. They can’t play small ball consistently because they lack players who can bunt or give themselves up to advance a runner, and only Ramirez, Jones and Barrett have shown any power. Lee’s lack of power since his wrist injury is glaring, and he probably came back too soon, whether he admits it or not. I’m not sure what the game plan is, but it’s definitely not working.
Mr. Hendry will spend the All-Star break evaluating Dusty. Who put this sad group of players together? He got his extension, however, the No. 1 man on the hot seat should be Mr. Hendry. –Robert Kluk, Crystal Lake, Ill.
The hot seat is very crowded right now, but Hendry is surely among those on it.
I don’t understand the Cubs’ lack of patience with young players. If the team had even the slightest chance of contention, I’d have no problem keeping Rich Hill and Angel Guzman at AAA and benching Matt Murton, but with this season a sure failure get them as much big-league competition as they can. Failure is going to happen but it’s more likely to lead to success later on. –Mike Proper, Tinley Park, Ill.
I asked Baker in Milwaukee about the possibility of going with a youth movement in the second half, and his response was: “Right now, there’s not room (for Hill or Ryan Theriot). Also, at the same time, if that happens and we lose even more, are you going to hold that against my record, too, when you’re developing?” Baker needs to win to keep his job. The Cubs need to see if the kids can play for ’07. How Baker will juggle these two contrasting goals will be interesting to watch.
What does it say about the Cubs organization, when they are going on 100 years without a championship while the Florida Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks, who only have been in existence for 13 years and already have three championships between them in the last decade? –Vern Lemke, Lockport, Ill.
It says they’d have a better shot to win if they blew up the entire organization and started out from scratch. Thanks for all the relevant questions. It’s time for me to ask for your wacky trade ideas, so please keep them short and to the point so I can print as many as possible next week.
