Bruce Miles Makes Sense

Bruce Miles on the rumors the Cubs are shopping Carlos Zambrano: Anyway, if the Cubs are indeed “shopping” Carlos Zambrano (and people in the Cubs’ baseball operations department say that information is not coming from them), they better be thinking things through. First off, why would you want to trade Zambrano? Sure, he’s a knucklehead, but he’s been a pretty effective knucklehead over the years, and we’ll look at some of the starts he lost or got a no-decision in this year that he could have or should have won. Second, will he waive his no-trade clause, the one he took millions less from the Cubs to get? Third, what are you going to get for Zambrano, especially if anybody in your organization is running down his value? Fourth, who replaces him? #3 and #4 are the big ones to me. It’s good to hear that Bruce Miles has at least been told the Cubs are not passing this information along. Very good news. Miles also takes a nice shot at Phil Rogers. Perceptions are a funny thing. All year long, we’ve heard people lament how poor old Randy Wells should have a much better record than his 10-8 with a 2.96 ERA. And it’s true, he could well have a better record. Guess what? So could Big Z. We talked about this a few weeks ago, but we’ll run some numbers past you again here. These are the starts this year, all quality starts, in which Big Z could have gotten a victory, but ended up with a loss or a no-decision: April 11: ND, 6 IP, 3 ER April 23: L, 7 IP, 3 ER May 27: ND, 6 IP, 1 ER June 10: ND, 8 IP, 1ER June 18: ND, 7 IP, 3 ER June 23: ND, 7 IP, 3 ER July 3: ND, 7 IP, 1 ER July 7: L 6 IP, 2 ER July 27: ND, 7 IP, 1ER Sept. 4: ND, 6 IP, 1ER That’s 67.1 innings pitched and 19 earned runs over 10 starts for a 2.54 ERA. Yeah, pitchers like that grow on trees. And a writer in this town wanted simply to cut him loose a few weeks ago? Also, On the field, what if it was Z and not Ted Lilly who had bowled over Yadier Molina last year? That’s a play where a pitcher risks big-time injury. When Ted did it, it was a “hard-nosed play.” If Z did it, it’s a major “OMG” moment on the Internet. Teddy Ballgame also has legged out a triple and tried for a stolen base when the “light was red as hell,” according to the manager. If Z lays down a bunt or takes batting practice a little too hard, he’s being “dumb” and “selfish” in a lot of people’s eyes. Teddy is a gamer and Zambrano is a dumbass yet the two are more similar than different. Teddy punched his manager. Teddy has argued with umpires in games he’s not even playing in. It’s adorable that he punched his manager and has the tenacity to argue in a game he’s not playing. He’s also been ejected early in a game for throwing at batters. The only difference between these two pitchers is that Zambrano is better and Lilly is whiter.