So this season will never end.  I’m just throwing that out there.  So drink up.

We have all been bashing and criticizing the Ryan Dempster trade but I’m over it for now.

Everyone has there opinion on how the trade went down but I have decided to just suck it up and move on.

What is relevant is that the back end of the season is now starting and we will see call ups and still more trade transactions. Alfonso Soriano will probably be put on waivers and clear them due to his large outstanding contract. At that point we will hopefully trade him and receive something decent in return.

This leads to a whole different saga of call ups and we will most likely see the likes of Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. I will leave judgement up to you guys on whether or not those are good calls and who you think would be a proper call up. You are now Theo Epstein, what would you do?

Tonight we try to bang up the stinkin Dodgers and our lineup again looks like this:

1. David DeJesus, CF
2. Starlin Castro, SS
3. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
4. Alfonso Soriano, LF
5. Bryan LaHair, RF
6. Steve Clevenger, C
7. Darwin Barney, 2B
8. Luis Valbuena, 3B
9. Samardzija

Go Cubbies! And chug it down its fuckin’ Friday for chriminays sake!!!

I’d be lying if I said this didn’t make me laugh:

In his Rangers debut, Ryan Dempster gave up a season-high eight runs in 4 2/3 innings, but he got plenty of help from the bullpen and the Texas offense. The Rangers, after collecting 17 hits in Wednesday’s win, overcame three deficits and pounded out 18 hits in a 15-9 win over the Angels at the Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday night. With the win, the Rangers split the four-game series and extended their lead in the American League West to five games.

To his credit, Dempster DID try to smooth things over with the fans, most of whom turned on him like expired yogurt after he managed to block the Cubs from getting one of the best young pitching prospects around, by taking out a full-page Ad in today’s Chicago Tribune Sports Section.

Follow me below the jump for more. . .

» Continue reading “Cubs Friday Headlines: Schadenfreude Friday”

We can all exhale now

After the trade deadline passed yesterday, we all needed a good exhale. Unfortunately for us, Ryan Dempster cursed the Cubs upon leaving town and they were nearly no-hit last night. Unfortunately for Ryan, his power in the black arts isn’t quite what he hoped it would be. What was this curse?

After the news of his move to the AL came out, Dempster briefly meet with Chicago media members. When asked how he would have pitched if he had not been traded, he deadpanned: “I think I would have thrown a no-hitter tonight.”

Thankfully, the return of Adrian Cardenas allowed him to break up the no-hitter with only 4 outs remaining. After the game Cardenas remembered an earlier game he had against Burnett.

“I faced him before; I won’t forget that game,” Cardenas said. “It’s the game I made two errors at third base. A.J. Burnett pitched that game. But I remembered him and I remembered how he was pitching throughout the game.”

And he remembered the kindness of one Ryan Dempster to him that day.

“I wish I was able to say goodbye to Dempster,” Cardenas said. “He was one of the best teammates I ever played with. He actually pitched the game I made two errors in and I remember him encouraging me after I made a good play after the error where anybody could have shown me up, especially somebody like him with his years and he never ever did that. I just respected me from Day 1. He was just a great person.”

While I’m sure all of that is true, we’re just glad he’s gone now and the saga is over.

» Continue reading “Cubs Wednesday Headlines: Trades, Call-Ups and Near No-Hitters”

Well I’m sure that Julie is thrilled that Ryan Dempster has been traded and I must say so am I.

After all the speculation and what not, Jed confirmed that he did not foresee Demp nixing the trade to Atlanta and that it put quite a damper on the front office and their negotiating strategy.

Losing Delgado was a killer and many high-up scouts agree that we did not get a lot back in the trade before the deadline that sent our indecisive over the hill, nap having divorcee to Texas.

Tweet this Demp!!!

Although Jed says that there is no love lost between Demp and the front office, what about the love lost with the fans and the city of Chicago for screwing our team Mr. I’m all about the Cubs and what’s best for the organization?

Good thing we don’t play Texas this year because I don’t think the reception would be quite good to Mr. I want to think about this and that and I have a family and children and I said I would go to ATL but I decided I didn’t really like cat fishing as much as I thought I would.

(Venting over)

The trade is complete so enjoy the heat in Texas Ryan. I hope your ex-wife doesn’t move out there because you know the good ole’ saying….(Singing a country song)

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Bye Bye Dempster…”

The latest news is that Ryan Dempster’s hissy fit seems to have worked. According to Jim Bowden, the Cubs and Dodgers are closing in on a deal, though nothing is official yet.

(peaks around corner of dugout)

Is everyone okay?

(steps over bodies)

I think we’re all okay. For now. But not matter WHAT happens today, DO NOT let anyone hug you!  God only knows what will happen today. As @mproper said on Twitter this morning: “I saw a helmet nachos helmet full of human ears!”

So I was at the game last night, and, I have to tell you, it was pretty hilarious. Players just kept disappearing from the game, and we had no idea why. It wasn’t until a cab back to Union Station in the 9th inning that  I started getting word of what was going down.

So let’s recap:

• The Cubs sent Paul Maholm,  Reed Johnson (SNIFF!!), and cash considerations to Atlanta for Jaye (lame spelling) Chapman and Arodys Vizcaino. (Seriously? Arodys? That looks like a typo. . .).
• Vizcaino, who entered the 2012 season ranked by Baseball America as the 40th-best prospect in MLB, had Tommy John surgery this spring. The 21-year-old posted a 3.06 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 97 innings for three Braves affiliates as he made his way through Atlanta’s minor league system in 2011. The right-hander reached the Major Leagues last year, posting a 4.67 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 17 relief appearances.

  Chapman, a 25-year-old right-hander, has a 3.52 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 53 2/3 innings of relief for Atlanta’s Triple-A team so far in 2012. The Braves selected him in the 16th round of the 2005 draft.

•  Meanwhile, on the manscapey front, the Cubs also sent Geo Soto to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Jacob Brigham. 
• Brigham, a 24-year-old right-hander, had been pitching at Double-A Frisco. He has a 4.28 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 124 innings over the course of 21 starts this year » Continue reading “Cubs Tuesday Headlines: Bloodbath on the North Side”

The Cubs beat the Cards Sunday, and Anthony Rizzo added another chapter to his mythology. He managed to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning.

“I don’t remember much. I don’t remember anything. It was awesome,” Rizzo said. “Teammates have been awesome. Paul (Maholm) pitched a great game today and kept us in it. We put ourselves in a position to win a couple times, and fortunately enough we did.”

He plans on watching the replay tonight as many times as possible just to recall how it all happened.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be watching that a lot,” he said. “I can’t wait to call my parents and talk to them. I’m sure they’re excited and everyone who was following.”

When was the last time he hit a walk off home run?

“This is the best,” he said. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. I’ve never done it before. Not in the minors, not in Little League, not ever. … This is awesome.”

Thanks for being so good, Anthony.

» Continue reading “Cubs Monday Headlines: RizzOMG”

“Fun” in theory, anyway.

Before we get to today’s game thread, here’s the latest on the Ryan-Dempster-Is-A-Big-Fat-Jerk Saga:

The Cubs and Dodgers have four days to complete a possible trade involving Ryan Dempster. The Dodgers turned down a proposal of Allen Webster for Dempster, but seem optimistic that a deal can be completed. The Cubs, on the other hand, have limited options, since Dempster wants to go to Los Angeles and must approve any trade. Here are today’s rumors, with the most recent updates up top…

• The Cubs and Dodgers are discussing a deal of Dempster for Josh Lindblom, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who isn’t sure what other players could be involved in the swap (Twitter links).  Another source tells Crasnick that the Lindblom rumor is “completely unfounded.”
• The Dempster-to-the Dodgers trade isn’t “dead,” tweets ESPN’s Jayson Stark, though the Dodgers are interested in Josh Johnson and are “waiting to see if [the] price drops on” James Shields.
• Dempster will consider trades to a number of teams, including the Braves and Dodgers, if the Cubs approach him with a deal in place, Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.comreports. ”He has not said that he wouldn’t go to Atlanta or anywhere else for that matter,” a person familiar with the situation told Levine.
• There’s no current dialogue between the Cubs and Dodgers about Dempster, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (Twitter links). Each club know what the other is looking for at this point.
• The teams discussed the possibility of expanding the trade to include Alfonso Sorianoor Bryan LaHair, Danny Knobler reported today.

You’ll notice that no where in all of this is name of anyone we’d be as excited about getting as we were about Randall Delgado. So that’s . . .  lots of fun. Thanks again, Ryan!

BTW, we spent most of Wrigley Talk Friday arguing about this yesterday. You can listen here or download the show from iTunes.

» Continue reading “Cubs Live Game Thread: Fun (?) With Non-Olympic Sports”

The Cubs dugout after Dempster’s tantrum

Anthony Rizzo homered and drove in the Cubs’ only two runs yesterday. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to lead the Cubs to victory. It also wasn’t enough to upstage Ryan Dempster, who threw a hissy fit in the dugout.

After learning he wasn’t headed back out for the seventh inning, Dempster channeled his inner Carlos Zambranoby throwing a drink cooler to the ground and throwing his own drink against the wall before heading to the clubhouse.

Oh Ryan.

“I’m allowed to be upset,” Dempster said. “I respect him a lot. That’s (manager Dale Sveum’s) decision. It doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it. At the end of the day he’s just trying to do what’s best for the ballclub and I have nothing but respect for that. It’s just the competitor in me that wants to get out there and keep trying to pitch.”

The competitor in you could have been out there pitching for a contender yesterday. They might have scored more than two runs for you. Even though Dempster pitched pretty well, is the trade talk getting to him? Is that what caused the outburst?

“I had a job to do today and that’s really important to me,” Dempster said. “I had to try and separate the two things, make sure I’m getting my rest and we had a day game today. I wanted to make sure my focus was on going out there pitching and doing my job. Now I will have tonight, obviously, and the off day tomorrow to try and look at a couple of different things and see what the possibilities are and go from there to make the best possible decision for me.”

There aren’t many possibilities left now, if any.

» Continue reading “Cubs Thursday Headlines: Dempster Saga Continues”

Last night I wrote about the Pirates being in contention in the NL Central. Heck, they even pulled off a trade for a starting pitcher (Wandy Rodriguez), trying to boost their rotation for the playoff race. But the Cubs are enjoying their role as spoilers, and did what they can to start the Pirates’ playoff ship sinking. Paul Maholm led the way to a 5-1 Cubs victory.

“He’s been coming out with all four pitches every night,” manager Dale Sveum said. “He’s staying with the game plan, he’s not shaking off, he’s not doing anything that he shouldn’t be doing. He’s making all the pitches and getting ground-ball double plays and strikeouts. He’s really prepared and doing obviously a great job. It’s something you don’t see too often after five or six starts.”

He became the first Cub lefty starter to have five consecutive starts of at least 6 innings pitched and 1 or fewer runs allowed since 1918. Any chance Maholm gets traded this week?

“Paulie is just one of those guys that’s been around for a long time and I think he’s somewhat coming into his own too,” Sveum said. We forget he had a 3.6 ERA last year even if the wins and losses aren’t there. You have a 3.6 ERA and you have a pretty good year. You take his first start away and maybe one other one and he’s been pretty good for most of the year.”

Is that Dale Sveum’s sales pitch?

» Continue reading “Cubs Wednesday Headlines: Take That, Resurgent Pirates!”