Soul

Given his contract structure, and what Hendry said about him earlier, I don't believe that was the intention. This is not like the Dempster and Williamson contracts, where they paid them a small salary to rehab and then owned an option for the following year. They only control him for this season. So if all he does is rehab and loosen up a bit, the Cubs don't have the option of just bringing him back. He can leave. That was my bad then. I assumed we were doing a Dempster part deux.

Of course. But with the Cards, it's starting to look like an organizational philosophy. That's a tad bit worse than just Sosa. Though I admit: Cubs obviously knew Sosa was juicing; they should be called on the carpet just like anyone else who knew. "You knew, and did nothing?" You should have no place in the game. I don't care if it decimates baseball for a few years. I'm all for rooting out every single juicer and their support people, whoever they are. I'd rather have a clean game, even if it means ripping out many of the big names in baseball. So what? In 5 years, the game would be back and clean. I'll make that sacrifice any day of the week. I'll bet such a cleansing would take out more Cards than Cubs though.

They had him in the bullpen for the majority of his appearances in 2004 and 2005, a greater majority than when Milwaukee used him out of the pen. And I doubt he'd be good in long relief. He had a WHIP of 1.61 out of the pen from 2003-2005. It's 1.40 there this year. I don't think they signed him to be a starter. Considering how they used him in 2004 and 2005, I think they signed him as a swing guy. The problem was signing him at all, because no swing guy is worth what they gave him. The ideal was Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Maddux and Miller. Rusch was in a group with a bunch of kids for the 5th job early. But they did not want him starting all year. This isn't just a case of the Cubs misusing Rusch. The problem is using him at all. I mean, on a good team, you don't sign Rusch. You grab someone who's better. My understanding with Miller was, we were going to rehab him in '06, put him in spot-duty if he was ready either in the bullpen or maybe a few controlled starts, and then see if he could be moved into the rotation in '07. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I know Rusch was in it with a bunch of younguns in spring training, but you know this is Dusty-ism----it was always going to be Glendon... I really don't have an argument for paying Rusch a ton of money and making him a starter. There can be no argument for that. I'm just saying hey, you pay him a mid-range salary and throw him in long relief? Maybe if he knows that's his role and you don't see him very often he works out alright. I do realize he's a crappy pitcher though; I don't want any misunderstanding about that much.

I'd love to just throw down and full-on accuse Pujols, because honestly I've suspected him for years. But I've got to wait for more evidence that this, even if it does come from a Cards-friendly site. On a side note: McGwire, now Pujols. If this did turn out to be true, what does that say about LaRussa and Jocketty? Don't tell me they don't know, because as the good ole boys say "son, that dog won't hunt."

He wasn't made a full-time starter by the Brewers. He's been a starter the vast majority of his career. The Brewers and the Cubs are actually the only teams that have tried him out of the pen (the Brewers did it because they figured out he sucked). The problem is he also sucks out of the bullpen. There is no ideal role for Glendon Rusch. And I don't see how you can possibly justify the claim that the Cubs have been trying to keep him as a starter. They've used him out of the pen more than anybody before. Well, they signed him to start, really. It was going to be as the #5 this year, right? Now they wouldn't do it because if everything was going balls-out with Prior & Wood they'd surely have Marshall starting 5. But my understanding was, at the beginning of the year, Rusch was going to be the 5, and move in to Prior and/or Wood's role if they went down. I'll bet Rusch would be alright in long relief. You'd only see him if someone got sick before their start or got hit with a line drive in the 2nd inning. But the Cubs didn't do that. They signed him as a starter and said "here's our insurance policy for Prior & Wood." That was silly. They've only moved him to the bullpen becuase they now are beginning to realize what a foolish mistake that was. And the Brewers kept him as a starter until he reached 1-13. That's not putting him in the bullpen as a sound baseball decision. That's hanging on to nothing and watching it rot for weeks & weeks in front of thousands of fans. And now they've got new everything: new owner, new GM, new manager & coaches.

The Cubs knew Wood needed shoulder surgery last year. And they knew something was wrong with Prior early in the spring. They signed Rusch for exactly this reason. They had 2 guys likely to miss some time, and their insurance plan was Glendon Rusch. They got what they deserved. Hendry was just stupid enough to believe everything would be OK with Prior & Wood. That's why Rusch was the backup plan. It was a huge, and inadvisable, gamble. The other piece of this puzzle is: just because Rusch was made a full time starter by the Brewers doesn't mean that's what role he's best for. Yet the Cubs have been trying to keep him as a starter ever since. Silly.

In other words, yes.

first of all, rusch has NO upside. none. secondly, you're kidding yourself if you think the cubs can get a "decent" prospect for a guy that would be w/o a team if not for the cubs. he's old and he has a 7.29 era. the cubs aren't getting crap for him. Don't forget a multi million dollar contract through next year. Don't forget a career 4.96 ERA. He'll have a little value because he's a lefty. If he were a righty he'd have no value at all. Remember his absolutely horrid year in Milwaukee? The Cubs took a chance on him, and it really helped them out....for awhile anyway. I agree with the statement that this guy has to be moved to mop-up, but I would not DFA him or trade him just yet. Let's get somebody else to start NOW, please. I doubt Rusch would have 2 starts if it wasn't for the Wood/Prior fiasco. This is what happens when you gamble on highly paid pitchers and they crap out. You wind up starting Rusch, and getting killed. But I really can't be angry at Glendon, because he's a fish out of water starting regularly. He should be long relief.

No, I don't think it will. They'll just roll the info into the Mitchell investigation, and his team will use it if they can to uncover whatever---or nothing.

Glad you had a good time. No way we should have lost the final game. It's a disgrace to waste such a good performance from the kid. Shame on those guys. Shame, I say!

http://rotoworld.com/content/features/column.asp?sport=MLB&column=83&articleid=22309 How much kid gloves do they expect the Cubs to employ then? If they would have treated him with kid gloves he wouldn't have pitched a single inning since 2003. So I'm sort of confused by that article. Are they saying we should have dumped him 3 years ago? Or are they really suggesting we should be paying a player 10 million per year to sit at home and never pitch? I can understand if they're saying we should have given up on him sooner. But it seems like they're suggesting we should just sit him forever while still paying him a fortune. That's insane, IMO.

I think people are just realizing that there's a strong chance that he may not regain the form we all hoped he would. I'd be absolutely thrilled if I'm wrong. Sorry----yeah, I'm referring to original Kerry. The one who threw a hook that broke 2 feet, and could blow a 98 MPH fastball by anyone any time he wanted. I feel pretty safe in saying we won't see that guy again.

I'm with you completely. I really wanted to see the old Kerry come back. He was a huge part of what really got me to my full Cubs obsession level that I'm at today. Kingman and Buckner sucked me in. Sandberg put the final nail in the coffin. Them sons a... Oh I've been a Cubs fan since I was old enought to understand baseball in the early 80's. But I was still a pretty casual fan up until the 97-98 area. The combination of Kerry, Sammy, and the wild card run meant I had no escape. The '84 season is what did it for me. I was a kid, and my Grandma took me to the double-header against the Mets. Fights broke out, the whole stadium was yelling "bull-sh**!!" and somewhere along the line, we took over first place and won the division. I was hooked. I will admit though, that '98 season, with the Kerry Wood masterpiece and the Sammy homerun circus, kicked it up a notch for me too. Now to see the end of Kerry.......it's really tough. But, it happens. This club must find a way to turn the page on players and move on while still maintaining success. The good teams do that.

For me it's hard to let go. Too much wasted potential. It's hard to accept. But there are certain patterns in life. One of those is, when the body starts to break down, there's very little chance that it will suddenly come back to where it was.

Just stuff him in the 8 hole and let him rot. This is a very simple situation.

Indeed, I believe his brother has something to do with pharmaceutics and may have been involved with supplying the "goods" to him. They are both in deep doo-doo His brother will lose whatever license or job he has... aside from that, they may get off light since apparently Jason has been squealing like a mouse. I don't blame him at all for quitting and I can't figure out why anyone would. He's disgraced....not only professionally but also with his colleagues. If the Diamondbacks were the mob, he'd soon be sleeping with the fishes in davy jones locker. I suppose. But I for one am sick of all the overt drug use in this sport and am glad that more cockroaches will see the light of day because he's ratting them out. Don't like it? Too damn bad. Shouldn't have used roids then. Meh.

We're not facing "tough" pitchers. We just suck.

He may be done as a Cub, but given Cub-luck he will go elsewhere, regain his health, and be lights-out for the next 8-10 years. If that did happen it would lay waste to this organization. Who could argue the overall ineptitude of the Cubs from top to bottom if your greatest pitcher since Maddux can't take the field under your banner, but someone else instantly gets All-Star quality pitching from him? It would make Lou Brock look good.

:( I think we've seen the end of the great Kerry Wood. Maybe he pitches a little more and maybe he doesn't. But the monster who struck out 20 in '98 and blew the Braves away in '03? Lost & gone forever.

You really think it's unusual for folks to assume the worst about a player who takes trips to the DL like we take trips to the grocery store? Wow. a player with 2-3 rehab starts in the minors and 4 starts after coming off the DL. i understand his history fully, but all i'm saying is give him some time to get back into the groove, that's all. I think people are giving him his due time. They're just not sure if the other shoe is going to drop, that's all. It's like being hit with a stick over & over. You start to cringe even before you get hit :)

You really think it's unusual for folks to assume the worst about a player who takes trips to the DL like we take trips to the grocery store? Wow.

Who has brought up getting rid of Lee or trading him for A-Rod? Everyone's brought up Aramis in that trade...in my case, packaged with Wood, Jones and a reliever. Aramis benefist NY because he's showing he needs to be behind or surrounded by big hitters to pound the ball. Bam, easily done in NY. He also replaces A-Rod at 3rd. They need a starter, they need the OF help, and they need the bullpen help, badly. I think A-Rod would thrive on a team like the Cubs, where there are very few superstar players compared to the Yankees. He's much more consistent than Aramis, would be able to carry on offensively if Lee gets hurt, and misses little time himself. I think you overestimate their needs. They are in first place. I didn't mention ARam because I don't think he rises to the kind of value that the Yanks would want for ARod. We're a team with many holes. Packing up several players to acquire one doesn't strike me as a terribly productive approach for a club that is missing quite a few pieces. This season and team are a wash. Aramis, IMO, is always going to be a bust unless he's paired or surrounded by big hitters he can draw the pitches he can hit off of. Wood is Wood...either he picks it up as a starter or they start showing him as a bullpen guy. Wood is the past, and the past stinks. He's not a solution to the starting rotation. Jones is Jones...trading him while he's hot for a proven player would be the greatest thing he's accomplishd baseball-wise. Is it really a big deal if grabbing a stud as a step in the right direction opens up or leaves a couple of holes unfixed? Last place instead of second to last? I'm sick of these stopgap "solutions" that accomplish diddly squat. Go for broke and get things done. I agree with everything except packing up a whole bunch of guys to pick up one player. ARod was a step in right direction for Texas too, right? He took up a ton of their payroll and they sat at the bottom of the division unable to put pieces around him. Look. ARod's not God. He's just one position player. He didn't save Texas. And frankly, he hasn't saved NY either. If you could find a way to acquire him with less of an impact, then I'd say go. But the players you mentioned-----I think we'd be better off selling them off for more than 1 piece of our ever-growing puzzle.

Cute. That's the first I've heard of this one.

This is the Cubs. We've caught lightning in a bottle exactly ONE time that I can remember. Glendon McFatty in 2004. Randall Simon, 2003. Oh yes. Big boy was slappin' homers from all angles! Then he returned to the Pirates and quietly disappeared.

Who has brought up getting rid of Lee or trading him for A-Rod? Everyone's brought up Aramis in that trade...in my case, packaged with Wood, Jones and a reliever. Aramis benefist NY because he's showing he needs to be behind or surrounded by big hitters to pound the ball. Bam, easily done in NY. He also replaces A-Rod at 3rd. They need a starter, they need the OF help, and they need the bullpen help, badly. I think A-Rod would thrive on a team like the Cubs, where there are very few superstar players compared to the Yankees. He's much more consistent than Aramis, would be able to carry on offensively if Lee gets hurt, and misses little time himself. I think you overestimate their needs. They are in first place. I didn't mention ARam because I don't think he rises to the kind of value that the Yanks would want for ARod. We're a team with many holes. Packing up several players to acquire one doesn't strike me as a terribly productive approach for a club that is missing quite a few pieces.