This off season, Chicago Cubs General Manager, Jim Hendry, has taken the killer instinct out of the bullpen by allowing Kerry Wood to leave. He has traded away a leader and one of the most clutch bats on the team in Mark DeRosa. And he unloaded a mediocre fifth starter in Jason Marquis with plans of replacing him with Sean Marshall.
In the place of Wood he acquired Kevin Gregg, the spectacled reliever from Florida. In return for DeRosa, he acquired a trio of minor league pitchers to add depth to the Cubs farm system. And into the outfield he added hot-headed, injury prone, Milton Bradley.
The issue the Cubs have been trying to overcome is their colossal failures in consecutive Octobers. So, to remedy these disappointments, they replaced depth and leadership with question marks and potential for fireworks and meltdowns.
There is still time for Hendry to open his checkbook one more time and make things right. There is still the possibility that the October presence they have needed for 100 years can be in the right clubhouse in 2009.
On Tuesday, Andy Pettitte reportedly rejected a one-year, $10 million offer from the New York Yankees. Pettitte was 14-14 last year for the Yankees with a 4.54 ERA.
Pettitte happens to have the pedigree the Cubs need. He has been there and done that. He's pitched in bigger games than Aramis Ramirez has dreamed about. He was a star when Alfonso Soriano was getting his diapers changed by Joe Torre. Pettitte is a winner.
He proved it by leaving the Bronx and taking his influence to Houston in 2004. In three seasons in the National League Central, Pettitte went 37-26, including a 17-9 record in the Astros first season to end in the World Series.
If $10 million isn't good enough, and one year isn't good enough for Pettitte, it's understandable. After spending over $300 million on AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia, one can understand how one of the winningest pitchers in the history of postseason baseball can feel insulted by being asked to become a rental fifth starter.
Hendry has money and options; after trading away DeRosa and Marquis, the Cubs have a bounty of minor league players, including Marshall, who might be needed as trade bait later in the season.
If the Cubs are going to win the division, they might need another deadline trade to fill a hole because of injury...maybe in right field?
As it stands today, Neal Cotts is the only left-handed pitcher in the Cubs bullpen. Sliding Marshall into the long relief spot he was in early in 2008 wouldn't be a foreign transition for him, and Pettitte could be a second lefty in the rotation with Ted Lilly.
Offer Pettitte two years at $12 million per season. See if he bites.
Worst case scenario: He really wants to be a Yankee and uses the Cubs to up the offer from the Spendaholic Steinbrenner Brothers. Best case? It's the middle of October, and Pettitte is looking to add to his 14 career October victories...but instead of black, the pinstripes are blue.
11 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
Robert Walsh 6 months ago
Tab,
This is a nice peice and after reading your thoughts I actually agree that it would probably be a good idea to sign him. The problem I see is that Hendry doesn't have money to mess around with. Especially now after signing Bradley, there is no way the Cubs would be able to afford another pitcher for over 10 mil a year. However, the money might be there if the ownership situation gets settled or by trading somebody. Good idea, but I would rather have had the Cubs sign Randy Johnson personally.
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TAB BAMFORD 6 months ago
Only differences between Johnson and Pettitte are Andy's younger, washed his face occassionally during puberty, and has been in a few more October dances. I think Pettitte's probably good for more innings at this stage of his career, too. Thanks for reading!
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Pat De Marco 6 months ago
I totally agree with you regarding Pettitte. I thought about the same thing this morning. If he hasen't already Hendry will look into this. The question is will Pettitte play anywhere but NY or Houston.
However, I need to call you out on something. Not in anyway was Kerry Wood the killer instinct of the Cubs pen in 2008. The killer instinct of the Cubs pen was and is Carlos Marmol. Nothing against Wood, but the majority of his saves were two and three run leads. Very rarely did Wood come in a game with the tying run at the plate.
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TAB BAMFORD 6 months ago
Woody has shown flashes of the shut down mentality throughout his career; he just doesn't get to show it much because he falls out of hot tubs and threw 200 curveballs a week in high school. I'm not disagreeing w/ you that Marmol has freakishly good stuff and can strikeout anyone at any time; that's why he'll be the closer now and Hendry felt comfortable allowing Wood to leave. But Kid K has the killer instinct as well.
Thanks for reading, and here's hoping Hendry's thinking the same thing we are
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Mike Chernoff 6 months ago
I would still rather see Peavy in a Cub uniform, but if that does not happen Pettite would be a great fit.
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Ricky Butts 6 months ago
Every time I read one of your articles I about want to stick my head in the toilet. Nothing can be positive with you.
Why would Jim Hendry attempt this after he turned down a 10mil offer from NYY? He could swing a trade for Peavy that. This is another signing that would definitely fit right in with Joey Gathright, IMO. You either get Peavy, or let one of the young guys; Marshall, Hill, or Samardzija fill the fifth spot.
Your articles make no sense because you are always complaining about wasting money. Well, signing Pettitte for 10 mill is a huge waste. His stats will not even be much better than Marquis' and you want to give him 2 mill more?
This is crazy...
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TAB BAMFORD 6 months ago
If I'm crazy, and I'm nuts, and you wanna put your head in the toilet, then did you flush twice when you read this morning's Chicago Tribune?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-07-cubs-milton-bradley-chicajan07,0,1285669.story
Apparently Dave van Dyck is on the same page I am, because he wrote a piece for the biggest newspaper in town saying the Cubs should/will target Peavy, Pettitte and perhaps Derek Lowe to fill the rotation.
I always appreciate your dialogue on my pieces. I don't complain about wasting money, I complain about money being thrown at players who don't deserve how much they're making (Marquis, Bradley). Andy Pettitte is as cool as it gets in October, and he's on the market still. If the Cubs wanted someone to impact their team in October, and Randy Johnson isn't available, then maybe Pettitte's worth it. If we're going to piss away $30 million on Bradley, we can certainly scratch a few pennies together for an October stud.
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Ricky Butts 6 months ago
The way I see it, is that his playoffs era (3.96) is higher than his regular season era (3.89)
Also, its not like he hasn't pitched a lot of innings there either, he has pitched 218.1 innings in the playoffs. That is a full season (he has only pitched more than that twice in his career) of statistics to go by. He is 14-9 and gives up more than a hit (235) per playoff inning.
I am not saying that he is bad. My point is why spend the 10mill on him, rather than ship the prospects to the Pads for Peavy?
When I think of a great playoff pitcher, I think about someone like Greg Maddux. While his era is slightly higher, at 3.27 in the playoffs than his career, he isn't pushing 4.00. Maddux also gave up less than a hit per inning.
I am not saying to sign Maddux, just saying that I don't think Pettitte is a "stud" in the playoffs. I also don't think he is bad, but I don't like it, I think they could do better for themselves. His ERA is likely to be above 4.00, has been for three straight seasons, and his era is higher in the playoffs.
To me, it seems he could have a season relative to Jason Marquis. He just has a different name and has won rings.
Seems like the Cubs would be buying the "name brand" in this case.
I enjoy your articles and the banter we have back in forth. I have nothing but mad respect for you. You just depress me sometimes haha.
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Bob Warja 6 months ago
TAB, don't forget that another reason the Cubs need another starting pitcher is that even Hendry admits that Rich Harden is only going to be able to make about 20-25 starts at most, so they will need a long man / starter like Marshall in the pen, not only because otherwise we only have Cotts (ugh), but if we don't, then we'll be shuffling guys up and down at a moments notice all year.
So...having established that we do indeed need a 5th starter, why not Andy Pettitte? Personally, I'd rather have the sinkerballer Derek Lowe, but if they can get Andy cheaper, then I would be fine with that. Does Andy want to pitch here, I don't know, but if his first two choices, NY & Houston don't want him, we might as well go for it. I think he still has something left in the tank. Again, I'd go for Lowe first but you may be on to something here.
I've been writing some Blackhawks & Bears stuff lately, but did have some thoughts on Milton Bradley in my Mark Cuban article the other day, so check it out if you get a chance. Thanks.
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TAB BAMFORD 6 months ago
Thanks for reading, and I'll be sure to check out your stuff!
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Andy Miller 5 months ago
TAB, I personally want Jake Peavy. But as Bob said, we need another starter, and Pettitte is definitely not a bad option.
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