Silva Leaves Game and Lilly Leaves Town
Monday Carlos Silva left the game in the first inning due to an abnormal heart beat. Reportedly, Lou Piniella noticed Silva’s heart was beating and immediately called the emergency medical team since the Zombie Cubs have a strict no show of life policy.
Ok, so that might be in bad taste (I sincerely hope Silva the best, perhaps a trade to a contender), but the Cubs are once again tormenting us after a promising start to the second half. I at least thought this team would revel in the role of the spoiler, but after kicking pennant-race time off with a 6-3 start the team plummeted back down to Earth. They have gone 1-6 in the last seven games, including dropping a series against the Oswalt-less Houston Astros.
Monday also marked the day the Cubs traded Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Blake DeWitt and pitchers Kyle Smit, and Brett Wallach. While, yes, I am glad to see the front office accepting the team’s fate and start unloading some salary for some prospects, I am not thrilled we made the trade with the Dodgers and that we apparently only got a future setup man in return.
In case you have forgotten, the Los Angeles Dodgers eliminated the Cubs in perhaps the most promising season the Cubs have had in the 21st century. I, like every good Chicago Catholic, still have a little animosity directed toward the Dodgers. I hoped the Cubs front office would have the good sense to let those feelings linger too, especially given what we received in return.
Am I really supposed to be excited to have Chicago Cubs tickets to see any of these three players take the field? Blake DeWitt cannot run, field, or hit. Technically I do not know how he even registers as a baseball player. He is on the cusp of setting a career mark at the plate, but surpassing a .264 batting average is hardly worth bragging about. He is basically a 24-year-old prospect who never lived up to expectations. Some might say he is 24 and could still turn his career around, but he grew up in Florida, so he has had plenty of time to develop. Only players from cold weather states and Canada develop into anything after a disappointing into their mid-20s.
I call this the Canadian Effect. The theory contends that since these players had fewer seasonable months to play baseball, they both had fewer months to reach their potential and have a longer timeline with which to develop and they have had fewer reps to tear their tendons and wear down their joints. Playing in Florida as a kid, DeWitt has had plenty of time to hone his skills and slowly injure his body irreparably.
The other two prospects the Cubs acquired are Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit. Wallach has the baseball lineage (father Tim Wallach played 16 years of major league baseball at third base with five All Star seasons) but does not have the fastball to make it as a starter or even a reliever. Chances are, if Wallach ever sees time in the big leagues, he will post career pitching stats worse than his father’s, who threw two innings and escaped with a 4.50 ERA.
Smit is a player Keith Law believes could actually be a serviceable middle reliever. Apparently he throws strikes and has a good sinker and slider. I know this move is far more financially motivated than talent motivated, but it feels wrong to lose the team leader in ERA (among starters) and stolen bases to find a setup man for Carlos Marmol.
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