The Hoyer-Epstein era began by signing David DeJesus to play right field.  DeJesus is an average ball player who has a tendency to get hurt.  Not exactly the type of signing you want to make to kick off the new regime.  Next, the Cubs traded a couple of decent prospects (Tyler Colvin and DJ LaMahieu) to Colorado for third baseman Ian Stewart, a decent, but faltering young player.  The front office has also spent the off-season losing Ryan Flaherty and Marwin Gonzalez in the Rule-5 draft simply because they failed to add the two young prospects to the 40-man roster, signed such difference makers as Manny Corpas and Reed Johnson, and added a couple of young Cuban defectors who are not particularly well respected.  All-in-all, Hoyer and Epstein have had a less than spectacular introduction for their new employer.  All a Cub fan is left to do is scratch their head and ask “why?”

I am at a loss to explain what sort of plan the Cubs brain trust is following.  So far, it doesn’t make any sense to me.  It’s hard for me to accept that the Cubs are simply going to fill the roster with some cheap, warm bodies and mail-in the 2012 season, but if that was their plan, they would be doing exactly what they have done so far.

The one bright spot for Hoyer-Epstein was the trade of Sean Marshall for LHP Travis Wood and two prospects.  At least at the moment, it appears that the Cubs got the better end of that trade.  However, the trade of Marshall might look like a poorly disguised salary dump to a more skeptical observer.  I don’t happen to be that skeptical (yet), but I do understand how someone could draw that conclusion.

There was talk after Theo Epstein was hired that the Cubs planned on building up their farm system.  It sounded good to me.  The farm has been a weak spot for the Cubs for quite some time and committing to improving it seemed like a step in the right direction.  However, at least so far, it seems that what Epstein was really saying was that the farm system is going to be the primary focus of the club for a while, and the big league team will just have to wallow along until things improve in the minors.  To me, that is unacceptable for a large market team like the Cubs.  Building up the farm while also fielding a respectable, competitive big league team are not mutually exclusive goals.  They can (and should) be done at the same time.

I really have to wonder if Tom Ricketts has the money necessary to properly run the Cubs.  I’ve scoffed at this suggestion in the past when I’ve heard it, but it does seem that Ricketts is trying to run the organization on the cheap.  He’s reduced MLB payroll each of the years he has owned the team, and there presently doesn’t appear to be an appetite to spend on a big name free agent.

It’s difficult for me to believe that either Epstein or Hoyer would have joined the Cubs if they had known that their hands would be tied financially.  However, I have to admit that the moves the pair have made so far are more small market in nature than large market.  Although the off-season is far from over, we are now looking at a payroll south of $100 million  and no apparent interest in signing Prince Fielder or making any other type of big splash.  From a fan standpoint, this is disappointing to say the least.  And from a business standpoint, it is looking like Ricketts either can’t or won’t do what is necessary to properly build the organization.

I know that I have been one of the last holdouts who still believes the Cubs can turn things around.  It’s true, I do feel that way, but I also recognize that it is my heart that is making me believe in the Cubs.  My eyes don’t see anything from the team that would justify this belief and my head knows that the Cubs are a terribly flawed team.

Even the Rule 4 draft this past week was a disappointment for Cubs fans.  Maybe Tim Wilken is smarter than everyone else.  It’s possible, and I think considering his past drafts he deserves the benefit of the doubt.  Even so, it was a bit disheartening when the Cubs, with the 16th pick overall, chose a Division III pitcher that no one had heard of.  Actually, to be fair, some people had heard of him.  Baseball America had him listed as the 191st best player in the draft.  So they had heard of him.  They just didn’t like him that much.

Of course, the player I am referring to is Hayden Simpson.  He was so relatively unknown that the MLB Network spelled his name wrong when he was chosen (Haden instead of Hayden).  Simpson is a 21-year old right handed pitcher out of the University of Southern Arkansas.  He had an impressive year, going 13-1 with a 1.91 ERA.  His fastball is in the 91-93 mph range and he has topped out at 96 mph.  He’s listed as 6’0″, but I’ve heard he is really only 5’8″.

The thing with baseball drafts is that it can be years before a team knows if they had a good draft or not.  So it is possible that the Cubs got a steal when they drafted Simpson.  It is possible that Tim Wilken is the smartest guy in the room.  But it’s also possible that Wilken made a huge mistake with the Cubs first round pick.  We just won’t know it for several years.

The Cubs open a three-game series this afternoon with the crosstown rival White Sox.  This year’s Crosstown Series winner will be awarded with the BP Cup.  It’s a marketing ploy being sponsored by one of the most hated corporations in America and it means virtually nothing to the players and most of the fans.  Even so, it seems almost appropriate that a company like BP should sponsor a trophy to be given to the lesser of two underperforming teams. 

It’s difficult to get excited about the way the Cubs have played this year.  They have played just well enough to be mediocre.  They’re not the worst team in the NL, but they’re far from the best.

The Cubs draft was hard to get too excited about.  Anytime you choose the 191st best anything when you have the 16th pick, it’s going to have a dampening effect on your enthusiasm level. 

And it’s also hard to get excited about two disappointing teams playing for a meaningless trophy.  BP would be better served using the trophy to plug the underwater oil gusher they have off the coast of Louisiana.  At least then it would do some good.

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I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup earlier this week.  I’m not a big hockey fan, but I was cheering for the Hawks in the playoffs.  The Stanley Cup and several of the Blackhawks players will be at Wrigley Field today as part of the circus surrounding the Cubs vs White Sox series.

Reports are that Ryan Dempster and Randy Wells were out on the town last night partying with the Stanley Cup champions.  The report indicated that Wells finally left the party at 3:00 AM.  Dempster was still partying hard at that point.  This wouldn’t exactly be big news except that Wells is scheduled to pitch this afternoon against the White Sox.  Who knows, maybe it will help him.

I am sad to report that now that the Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup, every major sports team in Chicago has won a championship during my lifetime except the one team that I follow most closely; the Cubs.  Oh cruel fate, why must you mock me so?

Enough is enough!  Stop the madness!

The month of May just ended and the Cubs are approximately one-third of the way through the season.  During their two months of play, the Cubs have a record of 24-29, good for third place in the NL Central.  They are currently 6.5 games behind the first place Reds (I still have trouble typing that).

Like so many Cubs fans, I am disappointed in the way the team has played thus far this season.  The fact that the Cubs have lost seven-of-eight games to the lowly Pirates just makes the season seem that much worse.  But the fact is that there is still time to turn things around.  By no means is the season a lost cause (at least not yet).  Enough with the calls to blow up the team.

Let’s be practical for a moment.  The Cubs are trailing a Reds team that is over-performing.  Baseball history is full of teams that played well for two or three months, only to turn back into pumpkins as the season progressed.  A turnaround by the Cubs coupled with a Reds team that comes back to Earth could mean a happy second half of the season for the Cubs.

What about the Cardinals, you ask?  The Cardinals are not the juggernaut a lot of people make them out to be.  They are very vulnerable this year.  Already, we’ve seen two of their starting pitchers go down to injury.  A similar scenario of injuries among the Cards position players – especially if one of them is named Pujols – could spell disaster for St. Louis.  Again, a Cubs turnaround could land them in the catbird’s seat.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not trying to be pollyanaish here.  The Cubs have their problems.  No doubt about that.  But the problems can be overcome.  Already in the first two months of the season we have witnessed some pleasant surprises from the Cubs.  Who could have predicted the re-birth of Carlos Silva?  Starlin Castro has been a pleasant surprise early in the season.  He’s going through some struggles currently, but that’s all part of the rookie adjustment.  Tyler Colvin has continued his good hitting from Spring Training.  Marlon Byrd, Alfonso Soriano, and Kosuke Fukudome are all hitting well.  My favorite whipping boy, Mike Fontenot, has gotten his mojo back from 2008.  All is not lost.

Of course, you can’t talk about the good without talking about the bad.  Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez have both been in a season-long slump.  DLee appears to be pulling out of his.  Ramirez not so much.  But even this is good news if viewed in the proper light.  If the Cubs can stay in contact with the division leaders while their number three and four hitters stink up the joint, that bodes well for the team when Lee and Ramirez get back in the groove.  At least that’s the way I choose to view the situation.

I don’t have any such good vibes about the bullpen.  It stinks.  John Grabow has been horrible, the youngsters have been inconsistent (as should be expected from youngsters), and Carlos Zambrano did not solve the setup man role dilemma.  However, hope may be just over the horizon. 

With both Grabow and Esmailin Caridad on the DL, the Cubs have added Andrew Cashner to the bullpen.  Cashner has had a terrific year in the minor so far as a starting pitcher.  However, Cashner’s background is as a closer in college (one of the best), so in my mind, he is a welcome addition to an otherwise weak bullpen.  For the time being, Sean Marshall (who is having a very nice year) will handle the 8th inning duties, but don’t be surprised to see Cashner take over those duties in the very near future.

So can we please put the “trade everyone” talk away for another month.  Let’s first see what June brings.  If things don’t turn around for the Cubs, then let’s start talking about the future.  But for now, let’s concentrate on the present.

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Ken Griffey, Jr. announced his returement yesterday.  In all honesty, it was probably time.  The 40-year old Griffey really hasn’t been the Ken Griffey, Jr. we have come to know and love for many years.

But I don’t want to bash Griffey.  I’m sure he’d be the first to admit that the last several years have not been his best.  Instead, I want to remember the young Griffey.  The Seattle Mariners Griffey of old, before he was the Cincinnati Reds Griffey.  He was a young-faced kid with a smile a mile wide, a joyful personality, and a bat that could crush the ball.  He also had a Gold Glove-caliber glove.  In fact, my mitt is a Ken Griffey, Jr. model.

When I was a kid, I had the opportunity to go to the old Comiskey Park to see the White Sox play the Orioles.  I was by no means a White Sox fan, but my Dad somehow came up with the tickets, so we went.  We got to the game early and I got to see the two teams take batting practice.  We were sitting in foul territory down the right field line and I remember watching Jim Palmer (yes, it was that long ago) shagging flies in the outfield.

To that point, I was not a Jim Palmer fan.  I didn’t dislike him.  I mostly didn’t think about him.  He played for a team I didn’t care about in a league I didn’t follow.  Even so, that day I became a Jim Palmer fan.  The reason is that while he was shagging flies, I could see the joy with which he approached the game.  He was like a big kid out there.  He’d elbow out a teammate to get to a fly ball or he’d snag one behind his back.  He was just having fun.  The joy he displayed that day is the same joy I feel everytime I put on a glove and play catch with my kids or shag flies with one of the kid’s teams.  Ken Griffey displayed that same kind of joy in the way he approached the game.

Unfortunately for Griffey – and all of us who loved to watch him play – injuries took some of the joy out of the game for him.  His injuries got to be so commonplace that they became a punchline to a bad joke.  He played the outfield with reckless abandon (a trait I love) and he paid the price.  His legs betrayed him.  Then his glove betrayed him.  And finally when his bat betrayed him, he decided it was time to go.

Griffey didn’t end up having the kind of career a lot of people thought he would have.  And yet, he had a Hall of Fame career.  If he could be that good while dealing with one bad break after another, I have to wonder how good he really could have been with a couple of breaks going his way.

Derrek Lee continued his hot hitting going 7-9 in the series with the Dodgers.  In the first game of the series, Lee drove in all threre of the Cubs runs on an RBI single and a two-run homer.  Lee has now pushed his season hitting line up to .246/.352/.391 with 6 homeruns and 23 RBI.

The Cubs pitching was also very good during the three-game set with the Dodgers.  The Cubs staff managed to shut out LA in the two Cubs victories and only gave up 8 hits in the those two games.  Dempster got the victory in game one and Ted Lilly was credited with the win in game two.

However, not everything is peaches and cream for the Cubs.  First, Aramis Ramirez is suffering from an injured thumb and missed the series with LA.  He had a cortisone shot on Thursday and it is hoped that he is ready for the first game of the series with the Cardinals on Friday at Wrigley.  But even getting Ramirez back in the line-up is not such a great thing.  He is hitting just .160/.225/.269 on the year and he has not shown any signs of breaking out of his season-long slump.

Carlos Zambrano was taken to the hospital yesterday after complaining of severe stomach pain.  Doctors feared he was suffering from appendicitis, but tests came back negative.  There was no word on what may have caused his lower intestinal discomfort nor when he might be ready to play again.

Jeff Baker got the start at third base on Thursday, but had to leave the game in the eighth inning when he completely lost sight in his right eye.  That according to Carrie Muskat on MLB.com via Twitter.  I’m no doctor, but that sounds pretty serious.  Let’s hope it is nothing too bad and that Baker regains sight in his right eye very soon.

UPDATE: Jeff Baker saw the Cubs opthamologist following yesterday’s game and was diagnosed with an ocular migraine.  The report I read didn’t say if his vision had returned or if he would be ready to play this weekend.

**********

What a weird year it has been in Major League Baseball.  Just look at the standings.  At the moment, the Reds are in first place in the NL Central with St. Louis trailing by a game.  That’s not a complete shock.  The Reds were picked by some prognosticators before the season to be a pretty good team.  I, on the other hand, said I didn’t think they would be very good and I still expect them to fall off the pace.

In the NL East, although the Phillies are leading the division, only 3.0 games separate the Phils from the last place Nationals.  Atlanta has struggled, but is just 1.5 games back of the Phils, with the Mets pulling into third place, 2.0 games out of first place.

The Padres, who were projected to be the worst (or at least one of the worst) team(s) in the NL currently have the best record in the league.  Heading into the weekend, they have a record of 28-19  and lead the NL West.  The Dodgers are 2.0 games behind the Padres and the Rockies are 3.0 back.

In the AL East, most people thought Tampa Bay would be good, but I’m not sure they thought the Rays would be as good as they have been so far this year.  With a record of 33-15, they are 4.5 games ahead of the Yankees and 6.5 games up on the third place Red Sox.  Even Toronto, who started quick out of the gate, has a record of 27-22.  With that record, the Blue Jays could be leading either the AL Central or West.

In the AL Central, Minnesota leads the division by 1.5 games over Detroit.  The White Sox, who are seven games under .500, are in third place, followed by the Royals and the hapless Indians.

The AL West is all topsy turvy.  Most “experts” thought the AL West would be a race between the Angels and the Mariners.  At the moment, the Angels and Mariners are fighting it out for third place in the division.  LA is 23-26 while Seattle has a record of 18-28.  The class of the division at the moment is the Texas Rangers who sport a 26-21 record.  They are currently 1.5 games up on Oakland.

I’m sticking by the picks I made earlier in the year.  Even so, I have to admit that the way that some teams are playing — both good and bad — has been a surprise.  I guess that why they bother to play the games.

In the article, Rosenthal admits that Piniella is blameless for the Cubs woes.  He admits that it’s not Piniella’s fault that neither Derrek Lee nor Aramis Ramirez are hitting.  He admits that it’s not Piniella’s fault that Jim Hendry provided an “inadequate bullpen,” which has included a season-ending injury to Angel Guzman and a multi-year deal with the underperforming John Grabow.  Finally, he admits that it is not Piniella’s fault that there is an everpresent doom and gloom surrounding the Cubs.  Even so, Rosenthal thinks it makes sense to fire Piniella.

Rosenthal says that Piniella won’t quit on his own, so the Cubs should end his misery and fire him.  Sort of a managerial mercy killing.  That way, Piniella will still get paid and the Cubs can move on without him.  Rosenthal suggests that the appropriate replacement for Piniella would be his bench coach, Alan Trammel.  Perhaps Rosenthal is basing his opinion on the stellar job Trammel did while managing the Tigers.  Oh, wait…

A point that Rosenthal makes in the article is that managers are seldom fired because of one mistake or one incident.  Instead, they are fired when a team needs a new energy and new direction.  I’ll admit, I was amazed when Jack McKeon took over a struggling Marlins team midway through the 2003 season and led them to a World Series Championship.  I was also surprised when Jim Tracy took over a Rockies club that underperformed under Clint Hurdle and then led them to the playoffs.  However, as Rosenthal himself admits, statistically speaking, changing the manager in the middle of the season rarely turns around a struggling team.

So, if Rosenthal knows that Piniella is not to blame for the vast majority of the Cubs problems and he knows that changing managers mid-season rarely produces desired results, why is he suggesting that the Cubs fire Piniella?  My only guess is that Rosenthal had a deadline and couldn’t think of anything else to write.  Other than that possibility, Rosenthal’s article makes absolutely no sense.

**********

The big news last night prior to the Cubs 4-1 victory over the Phillies was that the Cubs had re-signed reliever Bob Howry.  Howry was part of the Cubs clubhouse from 2006-08 before signing with San Francisco in 2009 and then Arizona in 2010.

Howry has had a rough go of it this year.  His 1-0 record belies the fact that he has a 10.67 ERA in 14.0 innings pitched.  In those 14 innings, he has walked six, struckout six, and givien up six homeruns (Ouch!).  As a result of his performance this year, the D-Backs released him earlier this week.  And as CSNChicago.com reported, the Cubs signed him off the scrap heap to bolster their anemic bullpen.  However, it now appears CSN Chicago jumped the gun.

During last night’s game, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly indicated that no deal had been reached with Howry.  Paul Sullivan on ChicagoBreakingsports.com reported that the Cubs had not signed Howry, although the team wasn’t ruling out the possibility.

You would have thought that would be the final word, but the plot thickens.  Following the game last night, Lou Piniella sounded like the manager of a team that had just signed Howry.

“If it happens, it would give us some experience in our bullpen from the right side.  I’m not saying anything’s going to happen.  I’m saying that when we had him before he was a rock in the clubhouse.  He was great with the young pitchers.”

Then, on his WGN Radio show, Dave Kaplan said that a deal was in place for Howry to join the Cubs and that the final paperwork would be completed in the next day or two.  He reiterated his belief on his blog by saying that the Cubs would announce Howry’s signing in the next 48 hours (from 10:30 CT last night).  He bases this belief on the fact that friends of Howry and his wife were told that the Howry’s will be moving back to Chicago.

I guess we will know soon enough, but my question is, why is it that big of a deal?  Is Bob Howry really the guy that is going to cure the Cubs bullpen ills?  It’s great that Howry was a rock in the clubhouse during his last stint with the Cubs, but is that going to help him get any batters out now?

Granted, players sometimes respond to a change of scenery, but is Howry really going to go from a pitcher with a 10.67 ERA to a difference maker in the Cubs bullpen?  I seriously doubt it.  Plus, I don’t see Howry taking on the 8th inning set-up duties.  He is more of a 6th or 7th inning guy, a role the Cubs have not had much trouble with this year.

If the Cubs do sign Howry, I wouldn’t place too much hope on the move or expect too much from him.  He will be a minor cog in the Cubs bullpen and will not suddenly turn the Cubs weak bullpen into a strength for the team.

The first game of the series was won in extra innings when Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run walk off home run off Rockies pitcher Matt Belisle.  The homerun was just Ramirez’ fourth of the year.

In the second game of the series, Ryan Theriot and Starlin Castro each had two RBI to help lead the Cubs to victory.  Tyler Colvin got the start in left field and went 3-4 with an RBI.

Following the second game of the series, Lou Piniella announced that he was going to move Zambrano back to the rotation.  Actually, that’s not exactly what he said.  What he said was that he was going to move Z out of the 8th inning set-up role and stretch him out for longer appearances.  He was rather vague on whether or not this meant that Z would return to the starting rotation.  I think he will, but Piniella would not just come out and say that.

I know there are people who are still critical of trying Z in the set-up role, but I think it was worth a try.  The starting rotation has not suffered (which doesn’t say a lot for Zambrano) and the bullpen kind of stablized with Z out there.  Unfortunately, I don’t think the experiement worked as well as Piniella had hoped.  Z did okay, but he wasn’t the difference maker that the Cubs needed.  He also continued to pitch the same way he had as a starter, meaning he didn’t really let loose of the fast ball.  He paced himself too much and I think that hurt him.

It will be interesting to see who gets knocked out of the starting rotation to accomodate Z’s return.  Carlos Silva should be sent to the pen just because he’s right handed and he is experienced.  However, he’s won five games for the Cubs this year and he doesn’t deserve a demotion.  Tom Gorzelanny, on the other hand, has pitched well, but has a record of 2-4, despite a respectable 3.04 ERA.  If he wasn’t left handed, it would be a lot easier to predict his demotion to the bullpen.  However, the Cubs already have three lefties in the pen, so I’m afraid adding Gorzelanny would be overkill. 

Another option is that the Cubs could trade Gorzelanny away.  It may be too early for that, but Gorzelanny has not hurt himself this year.  He has been solid and would be a good #4 or #5 starter on a lot of teams.

Time will tell.  For now, the Cubs head to Philadelphia for a two game series tonight and tomorrow before heading to Texas to start interleague play with the Rangers over the weekend.  Tom Gorzelanny gets the start tonight against the Phillies 87-year old pitcher Jamie Moyer.  The outcome of Gorzelanny’s performance tonight could determine his fate for the remainder of the year…or at least the near future.

The bad news will take a little longer to explain.  Let’s start by pointing out that the Pittsburgh Pirates have not had a winning season in their last 18 seasons.  They are one of the most poorly run franchises in all of baseball.  And despite the fact that they say they have a plan for the future, the truth is that they don’t have a plan.  Or more accurately, they do have a plan, but it’s not the plan they say they have.  Let me explain.

Pittsburgh claims that they can not compete by spending money on their big league team.  So they spend less on their big league payroll than they receive in revenue sharing money.  They also routinely trade away their most promising players because they claim they can’t afford them after a few years.  The Pirates claim that their plan is to trade their best players for prospects, and they will build their franchise on less expensive prospects.  However, this plan doesn’t make sense.  As prospects develop, they become more expensive.  They get paid more through arbitration the better they play.  And when they get better, the Pirates trade away these players for prospects, and the wheel continues to turn.  That is the real plan the Pirates are following.  Their plan is to keep their payroll low, keep losing, and continue to pocket the money the team receives in revenue sharing.  It wouldn’t be a popular plan if they were honest about it, so they claim they have a completely different plan. 

So, the Pirates are poorly run, perpetual losers, and they routinely are among the teams with the lowest payroll.  In 2010, they have the league’s absolute lowest payroll.  To give you an idea of how low Pittsburgh’s payroll is, let’s compare it to the Cubs payroll.  Both teams are in the NL Central, yet the Cubs out spend the Pirates by more than $100 million.  The Cubs 2010 payroll is $146 million.  The Pirates spend a cool $35 million.

Despite the difference in their payrolls, yesterday’s victory by the Cubs was just the first win the Cubs have earned in six tries this year against the Pirates.  In fact, with a record of 16-22 on the season, the Cubs find themselves in 4th place in the NL Central behind the Reds, Cardinals, and the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates.

I find this fact absolutely amazing.  How is it possible that entering yesterday’s game, the Pirates had beaten the Cubs in five straight games?  How is it possible that midway through May, the Cubs are trailing the hapless Pirates in the standings?  How is it that a team like the Pirates that spend less than 25% as much on payroll as the Cubs do can so thoroughly outplay them?

I don’t have answers to any of these questions.  I am just stunned by the fact that, despite how poorly the Pirates are run and how little they spend on player payroll, they have made the Cubs look sick all season.

Maybe we’re getting to the point where we have to accept that the Cubs are just not a good baseball team.  While the Cubs have five everyday players who are hitting over .300 (plus Starlin Castro who is hitting .323), they still have trouble scoring runs.  This is due in large part to the fact that Derrek Lee just raised his batting average to .238 and Aramis Ramirez is stuck below the Mendoza line at .167.  Despite these anemic numbers, Lee and Ramirez continue to bat third and fourth respectively in the lineup.

Rob G. at The Cubs Reporter did an interesting study in which he found that as of this past Thursday, Ramirez and Lee lead the Cubs in runners left on base this season.  In 141 plate appearances, Ramirez has left 104 runners on base.  Lee has come to the plate 154 times and has left 103 runners on base. 

How long should Lou Piniella allow Lee and Ramirez to continue to bat in the middle of the lineup?  I understand allowing a guy to try to work his way out of a slump, but how long can the Cubs afford to wait?  Perhaps Lee has turned a corner.  He is hitting a bit better as of late.  However, Ramirez has just been horrible.  He claims that he is healthy, but he does not look good at the plate.

We’re only a month-and-a-half into the season, but it’s already been a long year for the Cubs.  Losing five-out-of-six so far to the Pirates this year is just one symptom of the problem, albeit a horribly embarrassing symptom.  Trailing the Pirates in the standings should be enough to light a fire under the Cubs.  Unfortunately, nothing has been able to light that fire so far this year.  And that really is bad news.

The hysteria over Cubs rookie shortstop Starlin Castro got a jump start last night as he hit a three-run home run in his very first major league at-bat.  The opposite field shot came on a looping curving ball from Reds pitcher Homer Bailey. 

Later in the game, Castro came to the plate with the bases loaded and drove in three runs with a triple to left center field.  He ended the game with six RBI, a major league record.  That’s one game, one record set.  My gosh, what can’t this kid do?

Despite his fantastic start, there are still those in the blogosphere who believe that the Cubs are making a mistake by bringing him up to the big leagues too soon.  They feel the move will stunt the 20-year old’s growth.  They point to the fact that Castro jumped over AAA as proof that the Cubs are desperate and are sacrificing Castro in the process.  They also complain that, although the Cubs have waited long enough to promote Castro to postpone his free agency status for another year, he will likely qualify for Super Two status if he remains in the big leagues for the rest of the year.

I don’t know if Castro is ready for big league baseball.  I don’t think anyone knows for sure.  But at some point, the Cubs have to find out.  He’s been tearing up AA pitching, so why not give him a shot at big league pitching?

Sure, he’s only 20-years old, but he has a mature approach to the game and the Cubs believe he is ready for the big stage.  Plus, Ozzie Smith was only 19 when he hit the big leagues.  It would be horrible for Castro to have a similar career (at least with the glove).

Also, jumping over AAA is not unheard of.  The better players often jump from AA to the big leagues.  Triple-A is a good place to sand off the rough edges, but it’s not a necessary step in a baseball player’s career.

The argument concerning Super Two status is by far the weakest argument the naysayers have.  The short counter-argument is, who cares?  It may cost the Cubs a little more a little sooner, but the amount in the whole scheme of things is negligible. 

In case you weren’t aware of this, Mike Fontenot qualified for Super Two status this past year.  If the Cubs can drop a little extra money for the privlege of having Fontenot in the big leagues, certainly they can spend the money to have Castro on the big team sooner rather than later.

To make the Super Two status argument even weaker, there have been rumors that the “Super Two” concept is going to be done away with in the upcoming collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Players Association.  So why worry about something that may not even exist in a couple of years?

Finally, by bringing Castro up to the big leagues early, he was unable to accrue much minor league service time.  That may not seem important at first glance, but it does give Castro four minor league options rather than the more normal three.  So if Castro struggles early in his career, the Cubs can return him to the minors without having to be too concerned about him running out of options.

It will be interesting to see how the Chicago media handles Castro’s ascendency into stardom.  I was in Atlanta earlier this year to see the media there fall all over themselves to illustrate the force of nature that is Jason Heyward.  After just two major league games, Heyward was being compared to Ken Griffey, Jr.  And it was pointed out by the talking heads that Heyward actually was having a better career than Griffey had at a similar point in his career.  I kid you not.

So, all hail Starlin Castro.  He is the greatest rookie to come along for the Cubs since the great Tuffy Rhodes.

The other two first basemen available via free agency simply don’t fit the bill for the Cubs.  They would be better off re-signing Derrek Lee rather than pursue Berkman.  They are similar players, although Lee is the superior fielder.  Dunn could really help the Cubs offense, but I don’t think the team should give up the defense it would take to get that offense.

Then I turned my attention to the trade market.  The two players potentially available via trade that I discussed were San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez and Minnesota’s Justin Morneau.  I honestly don’t know if the Cubs have the players it would take to make either of these trades, but I think it is worth investigating.

What I didn’t mention in the previous post is that the Cubs have some internal candidates they are going to have to  look at to determine who will be playing first base for the team in the future.

First on the list is the incumbent, Derrek Lee.  Lee is currently 35-years old and his slow start to the 2010 season may be an indication that age is starting to catch up with him.  I wouldn’t bet my life on it, but it could be.  Despite Lee’s offensive production during his time with the Cubs and his great defense, it seems to me that the Cubs should move in a different direction.  He may have a couple of good years left in him, but two good years on a four or five year contract is not a good deal.

Another candidate for first base is current left fielder Alfonso Soriano.  I’m fairly certain that moving Soriano to first base would not be the Cubs preferred choice, but it may turn into a necessity.  Soriano has already showed signs of slowing down in the outfield and his defensive ability in left seems to have regressed this year.  And remember, Soriano started his career as a second baseman.  He wasn’t a particularly good second baseman, but first base does not require the same level of foot work and dexterity that is required of a middle infielder.

It’s also important to remember that Soriano has five years left on a virtually untradeable contract.  He’ll be around for another four years beginning in 2011 making $18 million per year, so the Cubs have to figure out what to do with him.  With a possible opening at first base in 2011, Soriano may become the Cubs first baseman of the future.

Aramis Ramirez is another player the Cubs might consider for first base.  Of course, that assumes that Ramirez either doesn’t opt out of his contract at the end of this season, or if he does, that the Cubs can re-sign him.  If he is still with the club in 2011, the Cubs might consider moving him to first base in order to give highly touted prospect Josh Vitters an opening at third.

On the other hand, perhaps Vitters, who has struggled with the glove at third, could be converted into a first baseman.  There has been a lot of talk about moving Vitters to a different position, so maybe he’ll end up at first.  Another option is for Vitters to move to left field, a position that could be open if Soriano is moved to first.

Finally, the only prospect the Cubs currently have in the minors that is considered a first baseman is Micah Hoffpauir.  He’s not a flashy candidate, but he is cheap.  My own opinion is that Hoffpauir does not have a future with the Cubs.  He’s out of minor league options following this season and I don’t see him coming back with the Cubs in 2011.  However, if the Cubs decide to save money on first base next year and spend it elsewhere (or not spend it at all), Hoffpauir is one in-house candidate that is also inexpensive.

The 2011 season is too far away to make any real educated predictions about who might end up at first base for the Cubs.  But it does seem likely that change will be afoot and the Cubs will have a new first baseman next year.  Who that will be is anybody’s guess.

The only hope left for Mesa to keep the Cubs is for: 1) the city to raise the funds, or 2) the Arizona legislature to meet in special session to pass a funding bill.  Both scenarios are unlikely.

In order for Mesa to raise the funds needed to build a new Spring Training facility priced at more than $80 million, they would have to tax their citizens (and the County would have to do the same) at levels that would be confiscatory.  Area residents would simply not stand for it.  In fact, passing such a tax would likely lead to the economic demise of the entire area.  It simply isn’t in the cards.

The Arizona legislature could be called back into session, but House Majority Leader John McComish doesn’t see that happening.  McComish proposed the bill that would have placed a surcharge on all Spring Training tickets, as well as an additional tax on rental cars, in order to raise the needed funds.  MLB foolishly fought the bill tooth and nail until the proposal finally lost steam.  Now, Arizona is facing the loss of the Cubs and MLB is facing a future in Arizona without the Cubs to help fund it.

The new law will also have an impact on Major League Baseball.  About a quarter of all MLB players are of latin decent.  Some are U.S. citizens, many are not, although they are in the U.S. legally.  On the minor league level, the influx of non-citizens is even more pronounced.  For instance, the Arizona Rookie League will begin soon and will consist of nearly 150 ballplayers from Latin American countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic.  Many of these players do not speak English, a sign that could very easily raise suspision of a person’s legal status in the mind of a law enforcement officer.

And that’s just one league.  Fifteen MLB teams have developmental facilities in Arizona and they routinely send young Latin-born players to those facilities.  This new law hits MLB and it’s players especially hard.

While MLB has voiced their concerns, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has done even more.  MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner issued a statement opposing the law and indicating that if it is not repealed or amended, the MLPBA “will consider addditional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of its members.”  What exactly those “additional steps” might be were not spelled out, but I have some ideas.

One step the MLBPA could take is to encourage it’s Latin players to refuse to play games in Arizona.  The quasi-strike could go one step further and involve all MLB  major and minor league players, regardles of their racial or ethnic background.  Such a step would be very expensive for the players, particularly those in the minor leagues who are assigned to a league or camp in Arizona.

A less expensive manuever would be to encourage players not to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks or maybe even with teams that train in Arizona.  It would be difficult to manage this from the MLBPA’s perspective, but could be effective if managed correctly.

A much more likely scenario is for the MLBPA to pressure MLB to pull the 2011 All-Star Game out of Arizona.  The D-Backs are supposed to host the Mid-Summer classic, but MLB and the Players Association could make a very strong statement by pulling the game and refusing to host it in Arizona again until the law is repealed or modified.

The NFL did something similar in Arizona when the state refused to recognize Martin Luther King, Jr, Day as an official holiday.  Arizona was the only state at the time that had not recognized the federal holiday.  The NFL pulled a Super Bowl game from the state and did not return until well after Arizona had finally recognized MLK Day.

Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is the first player to come out publically saying that he will not attend the 2011 All-Star Game in Arizona if the law is still in effect.  Gonzalez, who spent part of his youth in Tijuana, Mexico, said that he would support any decision the MLBPA made concerning the new law and he said that he hoped MLB would move their Spring Training camps out of the state, although he admitted that would be an extremely difficult thing to do.

Losing the All-Star Game would not only be an embarrassment for Arizona, but it would also have a financial impact, albeit a short-lived one.  If pulling the All-Star Game was not enough to get the attention of politicians in Arizona, then more drastic measures would have to be taken.  Neither MLB nor the MLBPA can afford to stand by while a state (any state) enacts measures that target a large number of its members, even if unintentionally.

I am fully aware that illegal immigration is a serious problem in this country.  Even moreso in a border state like Arizona.  However, emotional actions rarely solve emotional issues.  Arizona needs to take a step back and address the issue in a rational way that does not violate the constitution nor entangle Latin ballplayers who are in the country legally. 

Arizona also needs to recognize that baseball is an important part of their economy.  Whether it involves working together to keep the Cubs in Arizona, or dealing with the illegal immigration problem, the state needs to act in a way that nurtures their ties with MLB and improves the business and financial climate for MLB and the many communities and businesses that rely on MLB to remain in Arizona.