Zambrano’s woes no surprise
CHICAGO — Thursday’s Tribune quoted Lou Piniella as saying, in effect, that he was surprised by Carlos Zambrano’s recent poor performances. Lou has every reason to be disappointed but virtually none to be surprised.
It is no coincidence that Zambrano’s effectiveness began to wane at about the time the Cubs (and Tribune Co.) awarded him a new and very rich contract. The Cubs and the usually observant Piniella should have known that there is substantial precedent for marked deterioration of an athlete’s performance soon after receipt of a juicy guaranteed contract.
In fact, the economic theory of incentives would suggest such deterioration is to be expected. Moreover, Zambrano’s well-documented history of erratic and volatile behavior should not give anyone, most particularly Piniella, any comfort as to the predictability of his performances.
There should have been no great surprises with Zambrano, but let us hope we will be pleasantly surprised by the final outcome of the Cubs’ year.
— William P. Gottschalk
Soriano a flawed player
NAPLES, Fla. — Jim Hendry’s biggest mistake this year, which no one will acknowledge, was signing Alfonso Soriano. He swings from the heels, at almost anything, and doesn’t hit for average or get a lot of RBIs. Lou Piniella is making a bigger mistake by batting him leadoff. He has a pathetic on-base percentage because he won’t take a walk or, heaven forbid, bunt.
The only thing Soriano does well is hit some home runs, but he can’t drive anyone in leading off, or batting behind the 7, 8 and 9 hitters. He should bat after Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez and hope some pitcher is careless enough to throw him a fastball down the middle.
As a long-suffering Cubs fan, I really dread watching Soriano flail away at outside curve balls for the next several years. Remember Shawon Dunston?
— Robert T. Johnson
Cubs should go young
BURR RIDGE — Although it’s great that the Cubs have signed Carlos Zambrano to an extension, the team must start giving more young players a chance in the near future.
Is there a reason the Cubs never seem to give Matt Murton a chance? Despite being one of the Cubs’ top young players, Murton continually has been overlooked as opportunities go to unproductive journeyman such as Phil Nevin and Craig Monroe. Murton has the potential to be an all-star-caliber player. He has hit at every level of the minor leagues and was above .300 in his brief career with the Cubs going into this season. His defense might never be Gold Glove-caliber, but he has a solid batting eye and a great attitude toward the game.
Murton needs to be given the opportunity to prove his potential. It has grown old watching the Cubs give opportunities to underachieving veterans over the years.
— Sanjay Ahluwalia
Sox GM is to blame …
OAK PARK — I’m glad Phil Rogers had the guts to blame charismatic and well-liked White Sox GM Ken Williams for the abysmal showing of his team (Tribune, Aug. 31).
Williams has violated two of baseball’s maxims. Ignoring you’ve got to be strong up the middle, he got rid of fearless center fielder Aaron Rowand (.310 with 75 RBIs, both better than any Sox player, for the second-place Phillies) and now second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (.311 with the same Phillies), putting a bunch of stiffs in their place. Perhaps worse, he destroyed a major part of the team’s chemistry by dealing Rowand, breaking up the Pierzynski-Rowand-Crede gang. Even hero Geoff Blum was allowed to leave, replaced by another group of minor league .240 hitters.
Jim Thome is a gentleman and a slugger, but everyone knows he’s been prone to injury and is a whiff artist: currently one for every three at-bats. The Sox are getting .270, 22 homers and 69 RBIs for those whiffs. Add the trade of Freddy Garcia and once-hot prospect Brandon McCarthy and you’ve got the disaster that we see continuing in 2008.
The GM called these shots, and he’s the guy Jerry Reinsdorf has to can, charisma or not.
— Les Golden
… or maybe it’s the manager
FRANKFORT — A manager is supposed to be a teacher and a motivator.
How’s this for motivation? Let’s put Josh Fields in left field with almost no practice at the position and give him a chance to look like a Little Leaguer, which he did on the first fly ball hit in his direction. You think that might be a little embarrassing?
Let’s give Andy Gonzalez a chance to fail by rotating him at five different positions during his short stay in the majors. Think his three throwing errors Thursday might be a little embarrassing?
I think Ozzie Guillen’s players are tired of him. When is he going to take a chunk of blame for this sad performance?
— Jerry Strick
Bears coach too forgiving
OAK LAWN — I agree with Rick Morrissey (Tribune, Aug. 29): The extent to which Lovie Smith coddles his aberrant players is perplexing. OK, so Smith believes in the redemptive value of forgiveness. But should he be an aspiring Mother Teresa of football coaches?
That approach didn’t work too well with Tank Johnson. And there must be a last straw even for his gargantuan heart. On the other hand, who at this point can argue with success?
Still, if the road ahead gets fraught with failure, and more episodes of lawlessness add to the grief, Rick Morrissey may yet see something new on Lovie’s face — an honest-to-goodness snarl.
— Jerry Partacz
Howry doesn’t know Beantown
CHICAGO — Bob Howry must not have been awake when he played in Boston if he believes Red Sox fans “wouldn’t show up if they were losing like we were last year” (Tribune, Aug. 28). Fortunately, Red Sox fans don’t have to worry about showing up for a losing team.
Since Howry was born, in August 1973, the Cubs have had 25 losing seasons. The Red Sox have had five, and with the exception of the strike year, 1994, they have drawn more than 2 million fans every season since 1985. They also have the highest road attendance in baseball — just ask the White Sox, who filled their park last weekend … with Red Sox fans.
— David Perry
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