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8/18 Cubs at Padres 9:05 CDT WGN

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UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted (edited)
Wow Dempster with 4 ERs in 4 innings against the hapless Padres.

 

Historically bad offseason. I would love if someone could show me a worse offseason by a team looking to improve immediately (i.e. no firesales).

the 98 or so Orioles might have had one of those

 

Let's see here...its hard to figure out all their offseason moves, so I'm just using baseball reference's transaction lists.

 

-Resigned Lenny Webster (had better year than 97)

-Resigned Scott Kamieniecki 2 year deal (ERA went from 4.01 in 97 to 6.75 in 98 and demoted to pen for 09)

-Resigned Brady Anderson to a 4 year deal (coming off his 'interesting' 50 HR season, was never close to the same player again)

-Signed Doug Drabek (ERA went up 1.50 runs in his final season of career)

-Signed Joe Carter (was retraded in July to SF. Put up a .724 OPS with the O's)

-Signed Norm Charlton (ERA was 6.94 in 36 appearances for O's. Traded midseason)

-Resigned Harold Baines to 2 year deal (numbers were pretty consistent with 97 numbers)

-Signed Doug Johns to a 2 year deal (had a 4.57 ERA in 31 appearances - 10 starts)

 

Rotation went from:

-Mussina (3.20 ERA)

-Erikson (3.69 ERA)

-Key (3.43 ERA)

-Kamieniecki (4.01 ERA)

-Various 5th starters (mostly awful)

 

to:

 

-Mussina (3.49 ERA)

-Erikson (4.01 ERA)

-Ponson (from minors...5.27 ERA)

-Drabek (7.24 ERA)

-Kamieniecki(6.75 ERA)

-Key (moved to pen during season...4.20 ERA)

 

The only major change in the pen was Myers (and his sub-1.50 ERA) not resigning with the Orioles, and SU man Benitez taking over closer duty (ERA ~3.80)

 

Changes in lineup:

 

Catcher: Hoiles (.794 OPS) ---> Webster (.749)/Hoiles (.833) platoon

Right Field: Hammonds (.809 OPS) ---> Eric Davis (.970 OPS)

DH: Berroa (.750 OPS) ---> Baines (.819 OPS)

 

Interestingly, Palmeiro went from a .815 OPS in 97 to .945 OPS in 98, however Alomar lost about 130 points of OPS, and Anderson lost about 100 points of OPS.

 

Basically pitching is what failed them in 98. They scored just about the same amount of runs, but went from giving up 681 runs to 785, and their resuffling of the rotation and pen was a big part of that. They went from 94 wins in 97 to 79 in 98 (although their pythag was 84 wins).

 

The conclusion is, they did have some terrible signings and decisions, but they also had some that worked out. Pretty much every move made last offseason for the Cubs has failed miserably.

 

Wow I wrote way too much.

Edited by UMFan83
Andy GOAT

Andy

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Aaron Miles should really just admit what he's doing and wear Cardinals garb in the dugout. I think we'd all have more respect for him.
UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
That WGN sports commercial that shows highlights from the Bulls playoff series last year and ends with "Bulls win!" seems... somewhat misleading

 

I know I pointed that out awhile back. Funny that they are promoting their team based on a first round series they ultimately lost, with several big moments that were made by a player that bolted for one of our big rivals after the season.

Irrelevant Dude Knoxville Smokies

Irrelevant Dude

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
That WGN sports commercial that shows highlights from the Bulls playoff series last year and ends with "Bulls win!" seems... somewhat misleading

 

I know I pointed that out awhile back. Funny that they are promoting their team based on a first round series they ultimately lost, with several big moments that were made by a player that bolted for one of our big rivals after the season.

I guess their 2009/10 motto can't really be, "We're putting all our eggs in one basket for the 2010 offseason."

UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
That WGN sports commercial that shows highlights from the Bulls playoff series last year and ends with "Bulls win!" seems... somewhat misleading

 

I know I pointed that out awhile back. Funny that they are promoting their team based on a first round series they ultimately lost, with several big moments that were made by a player that bolted for one of our big rivals after the season.

I guess their 2009/10 motto can't really be, "We're putting all our eggs in one basket for the 2010 offseason."

 

I heard they were going to do that, but the Knicks already took it.

E.J. Chicago Cubs

E.J.

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Remember when there were a lot of media people, coaches talking about how good Soriano looked in preseason and that he was going to have a great year? Yeah, not so much.
Irrelevant Dude Knoxville Smokies

Irrelevant Dude

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Remember when there were a lot of media people, coaches talking about how good Soriano looked in preseason and that he was going to have a great year? Yeah, not so much.

For me it's less depressing to think of his contract as a 5 year deal starting next year, rather than an 8 year deal with 5 years remaining.

genbar Draft Eligible

genbar

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Remember when there were a lot of media people, coaches talking about how good Soriano looked in preseason and that he was going to have a great year? Yeah, not so much.

For me it's less depressing to think of his contract as a 5 year deal starting next year, rather than an 8 year deal with 5 years remaining.

 

The thought of that makes me irate.

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