The Sunday loss for the Cubs was particularly painful.  Three of the Cubs four rivals in the Wildcard race also lost, so the Cubs had a great opportunity to pickup ground.  Instead, they keep pace with San Francisco, Atlanta, and Florida, but fall another game behind Colorado.  The Cubs are now 8.0 behind the Rockies in the Wildcard race.

Games against sub-.500 teams are games that the Cubs have to win.  As I pointed out previously, the Cubs have the weakest schedule of all of the teams vying for the Wildcard.  Making the playoffs is at best a longshot.  But if the Cubs can’t start winning the games they are supposed to win, it will be an impossibility.

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I have to admit, I felt a little stupid writing that previous paragraph.  I know I’m one of the few die-hards still holding out hope.  I’m probably foolish for doing so, but I’ve got nothing else to do, so I might as well continue to build up unrealistic hopes.  If I’m wrong — and I almost certainly am — I’ll know soon enough.

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Bill Madden of the New York Daily News wrote an article about how the Cubs and Mets are both partners in pain this year.  His premise is that both teams were  legitimate World Series contenders at the beginning of the season, and both teams fell off the face of the Earth for various reasons.  Here’s a paragraph I especially liked:

“You think the Mets have had a miserable season?  Well, if they lead the league in misery, the Cubs are right behind them, and at least the Mets can look to a ray of hope next year on the assumption that so many of the key components — Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, John Maine, et al — will be healthy again.  The Cubs? They can only wish many of their so-called key components aren’t back next year.”

Ouch…

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The Cubs took my advice and shut down Alfonso Soriano for the year.  As it turns out, his knee was worse than first reported and he’s already decided to have surgery on it.  As a bonus, he’s also going to have his eyes examined.  Apparently, several players have asked Soriano if he could see okay.  Maybe there’s something to it.

Soriano has been a bit of a warrior most of this year, playing through pain.  But is that good or bad?  On the one hand, I appreciate the guy’s effort.  He wants to be out there every day and wants to contribute.  On the other hand, his injury prevents him from contrbuting.  In fact, if Soriano’s offensive stats are any indication, his injury may have been one of the biggest factors in why the Cubs offense was so ineffective this year. 

This is a more complicated question than it might seem at first blush.  If Soriano had held himself out of games when his knee wasn’t feeling right, people would have called him soft and would have questioned his commitment.  However, since he played through the pain, people are calling him selfish and a me-first kind of guy.  It really is a no-win situation for Soriano.

It reminds me of Mark Prior’s frequent trips to the DL.  People thought he was just being weak because he couldn’t pitch through his injuries.  In fact, many people questioned his injuries, including some on the Cubs training staff.  Because they couldn’t find anything wrong with him, they assumed he was making more out of the pain than there was.  And the bad thing for Prior was that even when doctors finally found his problem, people still said he was weak and uncommitted.  Once people make up their minds, they don’t like to change them, facts be damned.

Alfonso Soriano played a big role in the Cubs making it to the post-season two years in a row (2007-2008) for the first time since the early 1900′s.  Unfortunately, a lot of fans are quick to forget his effort in those years because he struggled so mightily this year.  Let’s hope that he can get healthy in the off-season, get glasses if he needs them, and come back strong in 2010.

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Cubs SS Andres Blanco made an unbelievable play on a ground ball hit by the Mets’ Jeff Francoeur during Sunday’s game.  The stop he made on the ball was nice, but the throw from his butt was unreal.  How can you get that much juice on a throw when you’re throwing from your backside?  Even more impressively, how can you be that accurate? 

The Cubs have a crop of good shortstops in the pipeline.  Blanco is currently at the head of the class, but he’s more of a “strong defense, weak offense” kind of shortstop.  Some of the guys that are behind him are more of a complete package.  Unfortunately, none of them will be ready to join the big league team for a couple of years.

Aramis Ramirez and Milton Bradley both homered for the Cubs.  Bradley also drew three walks in the game.  For all of his other faults, Bradley can draw a walk.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals won in Los Angeles, so the Cubs remain 6.0 games behind St. Louis.  The Cubs are 5.o games behind Colorado in the Wildcard race.  The Giants, Marlins and Braves are also ahead of the Cubs in the Wildcard.

The Cubs travel up the Pacific Coast to start a four game series with the Dodgers tonight.  Lefty Tom Gorzelanny (5-2) goes up against Jeff Weaver (5-4).

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As you probably know, Bud Selig is a big fan of this blog and he has jumped on the bandwagon I started the other day to institute a worldwide draft.  Dave Shenin writes in the Washington Post that Selig wants to make an “aggressive” push with the players union to implement a worldwide draft and a hard slotting system when the two sides get together to discuss the 2011 collective bargaining agreement. 

At least in theory, I like the idea of a salary cap tied to revenues as well.  I don’t know if this idea will get any traction, but I don’t think you can continue to have one team outspending another team by a factor of five or six and expect the game to remain healthy.  Of course, as I’ve said in the past, any salary cap must also have a salary floor so that teams don’t take undue advantage of the agreement.  I know a salary cap is a long shot, but I thought I’d throw it out there to give Bud something else to think about.

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Is Lou Piniella going to quit after this season?  Scott Miller at CBSSports.com thinks he might.  Although I enjoyed Miller’s article, be warned, it’s just an opinion piece.  Miller is suggesting that Piniella might walk away after this season.  Piniella doesn’t say that.

What I liked best about the article is the way that Miller detailed all of the things that have gone wrong for the Cubs this year.  I tend to forget all of the diasters and near-disasters that have plagued the Cubs this year.  Things really haven’t broken the Cubs way very often this season.

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Bill Hall has left the building.  Yesterday, I suggested that the Cubs look at adding the former Brewer to their roster to be the utility man for 2010.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), the Mariners beat the Cubs to the punch and traded for Hall.   The Mariners traded a low level pitching prospect for Hall and a lot of money.  Milwaukee will be paying Hall’s salary for the rest of 2009 and a good chuck of his $9.5 million contract next year.

Lossing out on Hall isn’t a big deal, but it does bother me that the Cubs seem to constantly rely on weak hitting backup infielders as bench players each year.  The one exception to that rule over the past several years was acquiring Mark DeRosa, but of course we all know how that ended.  Bill Hall wouldn’t have been the team savior, but he would have been an upgrade.

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Some in Collier County, Florida would like to make a push to bring the Cubs there for Spring Training.  However, the residents and officials in the county don’t seem to be very united. 

According to a report on NBC2.com in Naples, Murray Hendel, a member of the county’s Tourist Development Council, is leading the charge to bring the Cubs to southwest Florida.  But before he can convince the Cubs, he first has to convince the county’s tourism director, Jack Wert.  Wert says that bringing the Cubs or any team to Collier County just isn’t a priority.

“We just aren’t really that same kind of destination.  We’re much more of a resort and beach, and golf destination,” Wert said.

In case you don’t know, Naples likes to think of itself as a posh, upscale community.  There are several spa and golf resorts in the area, along with a lot of overpriced homes on the Gulf of Mexico.  Don’t get me wrong.  Naples is very nice.  In fact, I like it.  But how can a man that makes his living attracting tourist dollars to an area not get behind a movement to attract an MLB ball club?  That just doesn’t make sense to me.

Earlier this year, a group in Vero Beach announced that they would like to attract the Cubs to the empty Dodgertown.  Unlike Naples, Vero Beach and Indian River County would bend over backwards to get the Cubs to move there.  And the history of the Cubs coupled with the history of Dodgertown would be a great match.  I haven’t heard anything about this recently, but I like the idea.

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On his blog, former Dodger GM Fred Claire has a nice piece on Mark Prior.  It’s a bit of a puff piece.  No breaking news here.  But it still gives a good insight into Prior’s outlook on life and baseball.  I’ve always liked Prior.  I was never one of those who bashed him for being soft and not playing through his injuries.  It would be great to see him come back next year healthy and back on top of his game.

You see, my relationship with the Cubs evolved over the years.  It started out innocently enough.  I was just a kid and they were my hometown team.  I learned the players names, memorized their numbers, and studied the statistics on the back of their baseball cards.  I was a fan and all I wanted was for the team to win.

As I grew older, my wish for a winning team became a little bit of an embarrassment.  It didn’t matter how many games I watched or how hard I wished for the victories, the Cubs just didn’t win.  They were pathetic and that seemed to reflect negatively on me.  I had become too personally involved and my happiness had become tied in to how well the Cubs were doing.  Unfortunately, they weren’t doing very well.

In college, I fell in with a group of guys, many of whom were Cardinals fans.  They were good guys, just horribly misguided.  Of course, when the Cardinals won the World Series in 1982, I had to ask myself, “who is the one that is really misguided?”  (My girlfriend at the time was also a Cardinals fan, so that didn’t help.) The 80′s were a difficult time for the Cubs (except 1984), just as the 70′s and 60′s had been.

Today, I am a full-fledged adult, complete with a wife, kids, and all of the assorted goodies that come along with growing up and getting older.  Unfortunately, I still have the personality glitch that I developed as a kid.  I’m still a Cubs fan and my personal happiness is still far too dependent on the trials and tribulations of the Cubs.  That’s why I’m an apologist.

You see, the Cubs have been a part of my life for a long time.  They’re almost like a member of the family who you stay in contact with, but who’s lifestyle you don’t like.  You love them, but you really wish they’d change.  And no matter what type of stupid, inappropriate thing they do, you just can’t seem to turn your back on them.  You give them the benefit of the doubt.  You’re sure that the next job or the next relationship is going to turn them around.  But when that doesn’t happen, your first inclination is to defend them, to justify their actions, to make excuses.  Such is the current state of my relationship with the Cubs.

But if I take a hard look, a really hard look, at the 2009 version of the Cubs and I allow myself to be objective, I know deep down that it isn’t injuries that have derailed their season.   Sure, the loss of Aramis Ramirez has hurt the team, but injuries happen to every team.  And the Cubs have the players that should be able to pick up the slack.  Alfonso Soriano, Milton Bradley and Derrek Lee should be able to carry a Ramirez-less team.  But they didn’t.  Instead, they folded at the very time the team needed them to step up.  Derrek Lee eventually came around, but it was too little too late.

You know, as long as I’m being objective, let me turn my attention to Jim Hendry.  Because if I’m going to be honest, I have to admit that this team is not well constructed.  For instance:

• Ryan Theriot is not an every day shortstop for a large market team.  Relying on him to be something other than what he is – a solid, if unspectacular player – was a mistake. 
• Mike Fontenot is not an everyday second baseman.  Thinking that he could replace the production, if not the leadership qualities, of Mark DeRosa was delusional.
• Signing Milton Bradley to a $10 million/year contract based strictly on his 2008 production, and turning a blind eye to his previous performance and behavioral issues was nothing short of wishful thinking.
• Abandoning center field to a platoon consisting of a) a guy who had a horrible 2008, and b) a guy that was released by the Toronto Blue Jays, simply because both guys were already on the team was completely wrongheaded.  You had a bunch of money to spend.  Couldn’t you get two good players for right and center field instead of just handing all of the money over to Milton Bradley?
• Shouldn’t a large market team that spends $140 million a year have some depth?  Of course they should.  Then how do you explain Aaron Miles?  Joey Gathright?  Ryan Freel?  Has there ever been a GM who spent so much money on such a shallow team?

I envy fair weather fans.  They don’t throw tirades about a team’s farm system.  They don’t spend their time going over box scores.  They don’t feel the need to purge their tortured soul because their team, the team that has disappointed them over and over again, just got swept.  They enjoy a normal life.  That must be nice. 

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I normally don’t pay a lot of attention when and for how much teams sign their draft picks.  But I have to admit to being a bit intrigued by the Stephen Strasburg saga.  From publish reports, it sounds like the Nationals have offered him $9.5 million and Strasburg and his agent, Scott Boras, are asking for $50 million.  The two sides have until Monday evening to get this worked out.

Strasburg is said to be the best pitcher to ever come out of college baseball.  By some accounts, he could be the ace of many MLB staffs right now, today.  But $50 million?  The most any team has ever paid a college player is $10.5 million.  The team?  The Cubs.  The player?  Mark Prior.  Ouch!

As Jayson Stark points out, Strasburg’s value will never be higher than it is right now.  Sure, he has the option of going back to college, or play independent ball, or going to Japan.  But what would he have to do at any of those stops to increase his value.  There really is nothing that can happen to make him worth more than he is right now.

Of course, the Nationals really could use someone like Strasborg, not just on the mound, but as a PR gesture to their embattled (or perhaps the better word is “ambivalent”) fans.  They lost out on #1 pick Aaron Crow last year.  a repeat of that scenario would just drive Nationals fans further underground.  The Nationals need Stephen Strasburg.

So will a deal get done?  Yeah, I think so.  Of course, I have nothing but my gut to back that up.  So as long as I’m just guessing, how much will Strasburg sign for?  I’m glad you asked.  It’s got to be for more than Prior signed for, right?  I’m guessing somewhere around $20 million.  To me, that seems like a figure the Nationals can live with, and it seems like a figure that Strasburg can’t turn down.  Of course, with Scott Boras involved, thinking about this logically is probably a waste of time.

 Kosuke Fukudome went 2-for-5 with a homerun and two RBI.  Koyie Hill also had a good night, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.  Derrek Lee added a homerun as well.

The Cubs go for the sweep tonight in Cincincinati.  The suddenly hot Rich Harden (7-6) goes for the good guys against Justin Lehr (0-0). 

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Trans over at The Cub Reporter has posted an interesting article trying to figure out Alfonso Soriano’s early season hitting woes as well as his quasi-recovery.  Bottom line?  Soriano needs a lighter bat.  Trans is always insightful and writes some really funny stuff (although the Soriano article is long on analysis and short on humor).

Now that Trans has figured out Alfonso Soriano, Maybe he can turn his considerable talents to Milton Bradley.

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The Padres made it official yesterday and finally released former Cub Mark Prior.  CBSSports.com is reporting that San Diego GM Kevin Towers had not seen enough progress in Prior’s rehab from shoulder surgery.  Prior had signed a minor league deal with the Padres at the beginning of the year.  He has not pitched in a big league game in three years.  At that time, he was still with the Cubs.

So what now?   Will another team take a chance on the once promising Prior?  Considering how much the Cubs have invested in him already, might Jim Hendry throw a little more in to see if he can get the investments to pay off, or would that just be throwing good money after bad?  When I think about what Prior did in 2003 for the Cubs, I want to see him come back and do well.  And if he does, I’d like it to be for the Cubs.

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Buster Olney has a terrific article up at ESPN.com right now (Insider subscription needed to read the whole article) looking at the recent trades made at the trade deadline from a different perspective.  I liked the article because it played right in to my belief that something needs to be done to establish parity in MLB.

In a previous post, I opined that what the Pittsburgh Pirates have done over the past nearly two decades is a travesty and that MLB needs to do something about it.  I based this belief on the fact that in 2009, the Pirates received $62 million in revenue sharing and national TV rights, but spent only about $25 million on their opening day roster.  The Yankees, the team with the highest payroll, spent nearly six times as much to field a team this year.

The issue isn’t really the Pirates.  The bigger issue is the disparity between what each team spends on players.  As Olney points out, the disparity is growing and recent evidence indicates that the amount a team spends on their players is a good predictor of where they finish in the standings.

The counter argument to this point is that 1) nine different teams have won the World Series in the past decade, and 2) small market teams with lower payrolls have not only done well in the standings (Minnesota, Oakland), but have actually won the World Series (Florida).  While this argument is correct so far as it goes, it fails to address the larger issue of long-term, consistent parity.  Just because a low payroll team can once-in-a-while catch lightning in a bottle, as Bob Costas points out in his book Fair Ball, the exception proves the rule.

According to Olney, if the post season were to begin today, seven of the top eight payroll teams would make the playoffs.  The only exception would be the faltering New York Mets.  Breaking it down further, in every divison in MLB except the NL East, the team with the highest payroll in the division is in first place.  In the NL East, the Phillies are leading in the standings and are second in the division in payroll.  In three of the six divisions, the team with the lowest payroll is in last place in the division. 

In my opinion, there are two changes that need to be made.  First, there needs to be a salary cap.  I can’t tell you exactly how the salary cap should be structured, but it should work to bring the payrolls of the biggest spending teams and the lowest spending teams more in line.  Teams like the Pirates, Royals and Marlins, regardless of their short-term on-field performance, should not be allowed to spend so little on payroll when they receive so much from the league just because they own a franchise.

To turn this argument a bit on its head, the highest payroll teams should not be allowed to “buy” themselves on-field success.  I’m upset with teams that severely skimp on payroll, but it’s equally wrong to allow teams to spend beyond the means of other franchises in order to “guarantee” their team’s success.  “Guarantee” may be too strong of a word, but spending more certainly increases the odds for on-field success.

Second, the MLB draft needs to be changed.  Right now, the worst performing teams get the highest draft picks, but because the worst performing teams are also often the lowest spending teams, they either are not able to sign their draft picks for affordability reasons, or they simply avoid picking the best players because they know they can’t sign them.   I love the free market, but unfortunately it doesn’t work very well in a closed system like MLB.

There are few things in life as exciting as the start of the baseball season (at least for baseball fans), but that excitement is dulled considerably for fans of teams that have no realistic chance of competing.  Changes need to be made to considerably level the playing field and implement parity on a consistent, rather than an occasional, basis.

Aaron Heilman came in to pitch the seventh inning and immediately gave up a homerun to the Marlins Cody Ross.  For his trouble, Dempster ended up with a no decision.

The Cubs took the lead 2-1 with a homerun by Jake Fox in the top of the ninth.  With a one-run lead, Lou Piniella handed the ball to closer Kevin Gregg.  Gregg had blown a save the day before, only to have the Cubs come back to win the game.  Gregg even got the “W”.

Gregg started out the bottom of the ninth in good fashion by getting pinch hitter Hanley Ramirez to pop out for the first out of the inning.  Then things fell apart.  The next batter, second baseman Dan Uggla, hit a solo shot off of Gregg to tie the game.  Cody Ross was next up and hit his second homerun of the day to give the Marlins the victory.  In two successive batters, Gregg earned a blown save and the loss.

The blown save was Gregg’s fifth of the year.  He has 21 saves in 26 chances.  To be honest, that’s not horrible, but I can’t say that I have had faith in Gregg any time he has stepped on the mound.  In 2008 as the Marlins closer, Gregg had 29 saves in 38 chances, or nine blown saves.  He’s on pace to do about the same this year.

The Cubs next head to Cincinnati to take on the Reds in a three game series.  Under-the-radar Rookie of the Year candidate Randy Wells (7-4) takes on Aaron Harang (5-12).  The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

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I don’t know if the following story/rumor is true, but I found it interesting.  It comes from Hot Stove Cubbies, a site I know almost nothing about.  In doing some checking, the unnamed author of the site supposedly has some close contacts with personnel from the Cubs and he has apparently called things right in the past.  You be the judge. 

Here’s what Hot Stove Cubbies had to say about a trade that got away:

I am hearing from a really reliable source that the Cubs were talking to the Orioles on Friday morning about a potential deal where switch-hitting leadoff man Brian Roberts would be sent to the Cubs along with a minor leaguer.

According to my source the O’s were going to pay 20 million of Roberts salary if they could get Jeff Samardzija, highly touted prospect Hak-Ju Lee, power hitter Jake Fox, prospect Alex Maestri and Mike Fontenot.

There was a couple of sticking points for the deal but did not kill that did not kill it [sic]. The Cubs did not know if the Shark would be willing to waive his no trade clause and whether the Cubs could afford to take on Roberts contract at 4 years 20 million dollars. As it neared the afternoon the Cubs brass got the O.K. to add the money and Jeff said he would waive his no-trade clause for a chance to start in Baltimore.

All this work was for nothing because when Andy MacPhail presented the deal to Peter Angelos, he vetoed the trade. There was no reason giving [sic] by my source why Peter would veto such a trade when he is getting 5 good young ball players, 3 with ML experience and two that could be ready in a year or two. Not to mention that the O’s would get our #2 prospect and #10 prospect according to baseballamerica.com.

I honestly think the O’s would have gotten a little better of a deal than the Cubs would because the Cubs are giving up quite a bit of talent for Roberts and a minor leaguer but they are in win now mode so I would have approved the trade.

The Cubs would have gotten a good 2nd baseman for the next 4 year at a cheap price. Not only would he provide the Cubs with stolen bases but he is a true leadoff hitter. It’s a shame this deal did not go through because I feel this would have put this team over the top.

The Orioles would have gotten a guy that could immediately step into the rotation in Shark and at 2nd base in Fontenot. Not only that they would get a really good power bat in Jake Fox. He could play some outfield, 3rd, and 1st but would primarily be their DH. The O’s then would receive a really good defensive shortstop with an good bat but is a couple of years away in Lee and Alex Maestri could step in as a top notch reliever next season. What a young good team the O’s would have for years to come!

It is really crazy how now we hear trades that were purposed but did not happen. In the past we heard Nate McLouth for Felix Pie straight up, the Cubs turned that one down a couple of years ago. Mark Prior, Felix Pie, and prospect for Miguel Tejeda and Erik Bedard, the Cubs also turn down that one years ago as well. But this one is hardly the Cubs fault. I guess we can hope for this to be revisited maybe through waivers? Not likely.

Again, I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is, I hope Jim Hendry can revive it in the off season.  Mike Fontenot is obviously not the answer at second base, and the Cubs have demonstrated time and time again that they need a true lead off hitter. 

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I have a real problem with the way salaries are handled in MLB.  There’s a real problem with the business side of the game when a team like the Yankeees pay one player more than other organizations spend on their entire roster.  The idea of a salary cap has been floated in the past, but in my mind, the only way that makes sense is if it includes a minimum amount a team must spend.  Not only would this be necessary to get the Players Union to approve the plan (they probably would still not approve it), but it would be necessary to promote competitive balance.

Ben Bouma formerly worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates and now works as a producer with ESPN and TBS.  He still lives in Pittsburgh and he remains passionate about Pirates Baseball.  At the moment, he’s none too happy about the way the Pirates organization is run.  Here’s what he had to say in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe:

The Pirates, on pace for an American professional sports record of 17 straight losing seasons, have gutted their team of name players and decided to start anew, but in the process barely have a major league team on the field.

 

Bouma points out that in 1997, the Pirates’ payroll was $9 million, $1 million less than Albert Belle’s salary. The Pirates’ current payroll is $25 million, 25 percent less than what Alex Rodriguez is making this season.

“Four players in MLB make $20 million to $25 million and three of them play in that [Yankees] infield. [The Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez makes $23 million.] With 67 percent of the season gone, the Pirates are only on the hook for less than $9 million for the remainder of 2009,’’ Bouma writes in an e-mail. Bouma points out that the Pirates are the only team in the majors without a player making at least the MLB average salary of $3.26 million (Paul Maholm is highest at $2.5 million).

“Last year, the Pirates are believed to have received a revenue-sharing check of $27 million from MLB, based on figures leaked to the Wall Street Journal,’’ Bouma writes. “They receive close to $35 million from the national TV contracts. That is $62 million before anyone buys a ticket, sets foot in PNC Park on Opening Day and buys a hot dog, or watches or listens to a game on local TV and radio. Not to mention what they will receive from MLB for the MLB Network and MLB.com/MLB.TV and Extra Innings packages. On top of this, they let go many front-office people [some with 20 years of service] earlier this season.

“This is no longer a problem of ‘how baseball is structured’ any longer. This is both fundamentally and ethically wrong . . . It is high time this [ownership] group is held accountable for the complete mismanagement of the franchise as their excuses have run out.’’

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, after making his final deal Friday, said, “We need to break the cycle of losing. We need to break the cycle of being in a situation where we’re making trades every year. We have the pieces in place to build something.’’

The Pirates are a sad case, as are the Royals and Marlins (although the Marlins have been somewhat competitive).  The Padres can be added to that list at the moment, although their situation is different and appears to be temporary.

When you look at the Pirates and realize that not one of their players earns the league average salary, you have to wonder why Commissioner Bud Selig doesn’t step in and do something for the good of the game.  If the ownership group doesn’t have the money to field a competitive team (is that possible considering they received $62 million dollars for doing nothing?), then they should be forced to sell or bring on a deep-pocket partner (Mark Cuban?).  If the city simply can’t or won’t support the team, then the once proud organization should be moved.  Baseball can not allow this travesty to continue.

Carlos Zambrano started the game for the Cubs, but only pitched 3.0 innings when he left the game with a stiff back.  According to Z, he wasn’t injured, but noticed that his arm slot had dropped because of the stiff back.  Rather than risk injury, Lou Piniella opted to pull him from the game.

After Lee hit his homerun in the top of the 10th, Nunez hit Aramis Ramirez on the left bicep with a pitch.  Ramirez, who was 2-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run scored, appeared to be fine.  He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but then came out of the game complaining of dizziness and nausea.  After the game, Pinella said Ramirez was fine.

The annoying thing for me was that the Cubs got out to a 6-0 lead, but the Cubs pitching couldn’t hold the lead.  Zambrano gave up two earned runs before leaving the game, and then Jeff Samardzija and Kevin Gregg gave up three earned runs each to allow Florida to tie the game.  Thankfully, the offense was able to bail out the pitching.  Of course, considering how the first half of the year went, that’s probably a nice change.

The final game of the series will be today against the Marlins.  Ryan Dempster (5-5), who didn’t look good in his last outing, will take on former Cub farmhand Ricky Nolasco (7-7) in a late afternoon affair at Land Shark Stadium (I can never get used to that name).

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In my wrap up of the trade deadline, I criticized JP Ricciardi for not being more realistic about the trade value of Roy Halladay.  In particular, I said that Ricciardi was “deluded” for thinking that Halladay would bring more in the off season than teams were willing to pay at the trade deadline.  A couple of friends challenged my thinking on this, saying that teams would have more payroll flexibility in the off season than they have now, so they’ll be able to afford to pay more for Halladay then than they can now.

Although there may be a team or two that will have the financial flexibilty to add Halladay after the season that couldn’t afford him in July (the Cubs may be one of them), I think the bigger issue is what teams were willing to give up in prospects for Halladay.  If a team had traded for Halladay in July, they could have used him in 2009 as well as 2010.  If they trade for him in the off season, they’ll only be able to use him in 2010.  So which is worth more, a pennant drive and a full season of Roy Halladay, or just a full season?  To me, the answer is obvious. 

Think of it this way.  I’m really thirsty right now and you have a case of water you want to sell.  Is the water more valuable to me now when I am super thirsty or is it more valuable next year when I might be thirsty?  Okay, it’s not a perfect analogy, but I think you get the point.  Teams needed Halladay this year to make the final push to the playoffs.  He would still be nice to acquire in the off season, but the urgency won’t be nearly as strong as it is now.

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Rob McQuown at Baseball Prospectus has some thoughts on the Scott Rolen trade to Cincinnati.  McQuown really likes Rolen and lays out a good case why Rolen is an affordable (at $10 million) and talented option at third for the Reds.  If the trade had been Edwin Encarnacion for Rolen, the Reds would have gotten the better end of that deal.  But by including highly regarded prospects Josh Roenieke and Zach Stewart, McQuown thinks that Walt Jocketty made the worst trade of any GM at the trade deadline.

While I agree with McQuown’s perspective, I think the bigger issue is how Rolen’s contract will hamstring the Reds from improving their team next year.  Let’s face it, the Reds aren’t going to compete this year.  They had a decent first half, but they’ve been fading ever since.  So improving the team this year wasn’t really much of an issue.  The more important issue is improving the team in the future.  And to do that, Jocketty is going to need some payroll flexibility.  Adding Scott Rolen to the roster makes the Reds a better team, but severely ties Jocketty’s hands to address the many other issues the team has.

John Fay at the Cincinnati Enquirer makes this exact point on his blog.  Fay believes that the acquisition of Rolen has forced Jocketty’s hand and the Reds will  now have to move the contracts of Aaron Harang, Francisco Cordereo, and/or Bronson Arroyo.  Without moving one or more of these contracts, the Reds will be unable to address their other needs. 

What Fay doesn’t say is that other teams are going to be loathe to give up much for any of these pitchers.  So the Reds are in the position of having to move these players, but because they have to move them, the Reds don’t have any leverage to insist on getting quality back in return.

By the way, for what it’s worth, Toronto will be paying the remaining $4 million owed to Rolen this year.  The Cardinals will be paying the $4 million bonus that is owed to Rolen in 2010. 

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Here are two good articles regarding the Jake Peavy trade.  David Cameron from Fangraphs posted a column on Cory Brock’s blog detailing why he liked the trade for the Padres.  Scott Miller from CBSSports.com gives his opinion on why the White Sox made a good trade.  While I agree with both writers, I think this trade will be remembered for the White Sox getting Jake Peavy.  The guys going from the Sox to the Padres may turn out to be valuable pieces, but it will be Peavy going to the White Sox that will be remembered.

Also, in Miller’s piece, Peavy says that he will be back this year to pitch.  There was some concern about Peavy not being ready untilm next year.  If Peavy can still pitch this year, Kenny Williams made an even better trade.

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The San Diego Padres are expected to release Mark Prior today.  Prior signed a minor league deal with the club in the off season and could have earned $1 million had he made it to the big team.  MLB Trade Rumors has the details.  It’s just another sad chapter in a career that has had many more ups than downs.

The easy answer is that they need a new owner in place before July 31 who is willing to take on payroll.  That answer’s not much fun since it is highly unlikely that the Cubs new owner will be in place before the trade deadline.  So for the moment, let’s assume that Jim Hendry will be given permission to add Halladay to the roster if he can make a deal.  Otherwise, this will be a very short post.

According to reports, the Phillies, Yankees, and Dodgers are the three most likely landing spots for Halladay if he is traded.  In my opinion, the Yankees are an extreme longshot since they play in the same division as Toronto.  I can’t imagine the J.P. Ricciardi would be willing to trade his ace inside the division. 

Another way to look at this is that the entire purpose of trading Halladay is to acquire prospects that can help the team win in the future (as well as budget relief).  So why would Toronto trade Halladay, arguably the best pitcher in baseball, to one of the teams they will be competing against in the division?  To me, it just doesn’t make sense.

However, Anthony Reber of Newsday.com has an idea that could potentially make sense to Toronto.  What if the Yankees were willing to take on the contracts of Halladay and CF Vernon Wells in exchange for 3-4 prospects?  Wells is owed $110 million over the next 4 1/2 years, a contract that Toronto would certainly like to jettison.  If the Blue Jays could rid themselves of two very big contracts, they would be able to redirect their payroll in ways that could make the team more competitive more quickly.

It’s an interesting argument.  With so much payroll flexibility and 3-4 of the Yankees top prospects, the Blue Jays could build a potential contender.  However, my argument holds.  I just don’t see Toronto trading Halladay in the AL East.

What about the Dodgers?  Any trade for Halladay would likely include Clayton Kershaw going to Toronto and Ned Colletti of the Dodgers has basically made him untouchable.  The Dodgers love their prospects and with one glaring exception, they normally shy away from commiting too much of the payroll to one player.  Halladay will cost them (or anyone else that trades for him) about $7 million for the rest of this season and $15.75 million in 2010.  With the exception of Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers don’t have anyone on their roster commanding that share of the payroll budget.  I consider the Dodgers to be a longshot to land Halladay.

That leaves Philadephia.  They just signed Pedro Martinez for the remainder of this year, but they insist his signing will not prevent them from pursuing other players.

Philadelphia has a definite interest and need for Halladay.  They also have the prospects that would be needed to make the trade; or at least they did until yesterday.  According to Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, Jason Knapp, one of the Phillies top pitching prospects, went on the DL yesterday with shoulder fatigue.  That could throw a monkey wrench into the works.

In recent days, the Angels and Cardinals have emerged as potential trade candidates for Halladay.  Rosenthal dispels the possibility that the Angels could land Halladay.  Sure, they have interest, but they don’t have the trade chips necessary to make the deal.

The Cardinals also have interest and they have top prospect Brett Wallace who the Blue Jays once coveted.  To make the deal even more appealing, Halladay and Cards ace Chris Carpenter are close friends.  The one sticking point for the Cardinals is that they don’t have the MLB-ready starter that the Blue Jays say they want as part of any package.  The Cards already have to send a pitching prospect to Cleveland to complete the Mark DeRosa deal, so they’re currently a bit thin on pitching prospects.

That’s where the Cubs come in.  Not only would it be great to add Halladay to the rotation, but it would also be important to keep him out of St. Louis.

The Cubs have the MLB-ready pitching that Toronto wants.  Any deal could include Sean Marshall or Randy Wells.  A deal would also likely include the Cubs top prospect, 3B Josh Vitters.  I know Cubs fans would hate to see him go, but trading a prospect (someone with the potential to be good someday) for the best pitcher in baseball seems like a good move to me.  Plus, the Cubs don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to developing prospects.  Consider that before Vitters took the title, the Cubs top prospects were Felix Pie (2006-07), Brian Dopriak (2005), Angel Guzman (2004), Hee Seop Choi (2003), Mark Prior (2002), and Corey Patterson (1999-2001).

Adding Halladay will obviously cost the Cubs money and prospects, but he’s the type of pitcher that can instantly turn around or solidify a rotation.  And unlike CC Sabathia was last year for the Brewers, Halladay is just a few month rental.  He’ll be around for at least a year-and-as-half and the Cubs will have first shot at signing him to his next contract.  A rotation in 2010 of Halladay, Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, and either Marshall or Wells would be mighty nice.

As long as we’re dreaming, let’s dream big.  What if the Cubs were to pull the same type of stunt that Anthony Reber suggested the Yankees pull, namel trading for both Halladay and Vernon Wells.  The Cubs could send Marshall or Randy Wells to Toronto along with Vitters and Milton Bradley (one bad contract for another).  Sure, Vernon Wells is overpaid and signed through 2014, but he is a better CF than anyone the Cubs currently have, he’s hitting better than Bradley (even though he isn’t hitting that great), and he isn’t the distraction that Bradley is.  There’s a lot to like about this deal!

Okay, while this has been fun, let’s be honest.  The likelihood that the Cubs will be involved in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, let alone land him, is remote.  My best guess is that if Toronto trades Halladay, he’ll end up in Philadelphia.  Unfortunately, I think the Cardinals are next in line should Philadelphia falter.  That could hurt. 

Hendry has pulled off some impressive trades in the past.  Can he somehow, some way work something out for Halladay?  Doubtful, but you never know.