Cubs won’t make coaches scapegoats
PITTSBURGH — The Cubs won’t make any decisions about their coaching staff until after the season, but manager Dusty Baker said Sunday it would be unfair to scapegoat any coach for the team’s disappointing season.
“We talked about it,” Baker said, referring to himself and general manager Jim Hendry. “We’re going to address it again. We’ve got three weeks to go in this month yet.”
The Cubs entered Sunday atop the National League in batting average but sixth in runs scored, last in walks and ninth in on-base percentage. Their pitchers were 10th in ERA. They had allowed the most walks in the NL but had struck out the second-most batters.
Baker isn’t calling for any changes, either with pitching coach Larry Rothschild or batting coach Gene Clines.
“I think that’s wrong because that way you’re placing blame on one department,” Baker said. “When you don’t win, you can point to a number of departments. We all feel responsible. Sometimes the players have to take some of the responsibility, too.
“To say that it’s one department … we lead the league in hitting but we’re not up there in runs. We’re near the bottom in defense. You can say, ‘Where does that lie?’ We’re in the second half of the league in pitching, so where does that lie? We’re at the top of the league in (allowing) walks, but we’re also at the top of the league in strikeouts, so there are pluses and minuses on both sides of the ball.”
Hendry said he would not “single out” blame.
“We’ve all had our share of not doing as well as we would have liked,” he said. “Some days you hit. Some days you don’t. We went through a stretch where we hit awfully well without men on base and we didn’t hit very well with men on base. It’s hard to blame that on a coach. I’m confident that our coaches have worked hard and tried to rectify a lot of our deficiencies. Sometimes we just haven’t overcome them.”
As far as Hendry and Baker go, they appear more than safe. Their contracts both expire at the end of the 2006 season, but both are a good bet to get extensions next year, perhaps before spring training.
A good catch: The Cubs signed catcher Henry Blanco to a two-year deal last winter to back up Michael Barrett. Blanco hit .206 with 10 homers for the Twins in 2004. This year, he’s at .250 with 5 homers and 21 RBI.
“We knew he could catch and throw,” Dusty Baker said. “He’s made some adjustments. He played a lot last year and didn’t hit as well as he’s hit this year. You know he has power. He’s basically a pull hitter. When you see him start to hit the ball to right field and up the middle, you know he’s improved his game.”
Barrett played 134 games last year, with Paul Bako as his backup. Sunday was Barrett’s 114th game of this season. After hitting .287 with 16 homers and 65 RBI a year ago, he’s at .228 with 14 homers and 54 RBI.
“It’s been a great complement having him and Michael,” Baker said. “You figure our catching together has 75 ribbies and 20 home runs and is hitting .275. Almost every team would take that as their overall production from their catcher unless you just have a straight offensive catcher.”
No word yet: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been on the disabled list since Aug. 25 with a strained left quadriceps. The Cubs are unsure whether they’ll reactivate him.
“That I don’t know,” Dusty Baker said. “They say he’s getting better. I’d like to see him play again to help us win and also for him to get 100 RBIs. You can’t hurt him in the meantime because he’s working harder now than probably ever.”
Sayonara Sammy: Some baseball people are speculating that former Cub Sammy Sosa won’t find any takers in the big leagues next year and that he’ll wind up in Japan. Despite suffering through a horrendous year at the plate in Baltimore, Sosa still is a revered figure in Japan, and he has a chance of earning big money there.
Hello Sergio: Right-hander Sergio Mitre is up from Class AAA Iowa. He’ll work out of the bullpen.
Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/
“We talked about it,” Baker said, referring to himself and general manager Jim Hendry. “We’re going to address it again. We’ve got three weeks to go in this month yet.”
The Cubs entered Sunday atop the National League in batting average but sixth in runs scored, last in walks and ninth in on-base percentage. Their pitchers were 10th in ERA. They had allowed the most walks in the NL but had struck out the second-most batters.
Baker isn’t calling for any changes, either with pitching coach Larry Rothschild or batting coach Gene Clines.
“I think that’s wrong because that way you’re placing blame on one department,” Baker said. “When you don’t win, you can point to a number of departments. We all feel responsible. Sometimes the players have to take some of the responsibility, too.
“To say that it’s one department … we lead the league in hitting but we’re not up there in runs. We’re near the bottom in defense. You can say, ‘Where does that lie?’ We’re in the second half of the league in pitching, so where does that lie? We’re at the top of the league in (allowing) walks, but we’re also at the top of the league in strikeouts, so there are pluses and minuses on both sides of the ball.”
Hendry said he would not “single out” blame.
“We’ve all had our share of not doing as well as we would have liked,” he said. “Some days you hit. Some days you don’t. We went through a stretch where we hit awfully well without men on base and we didn’t hit very well with men on base. It’s hard to blame that on a coach. I’m confident that our coaches have worked hard and tried to rectify a lot of our deficiencies. Sometimes we just haven’t overcome them.”
As far as Hendry and Baker go, they appear more than safe. Their contracts both expire at the end of the 2006 season, but both are a good bet to get extensions next year, perhaps before spring training.
A good catch: The Cubs signed catcher Henry Blanco to a two-year deal last winter to back up Michael Barrett. Blanco hit .206 with 10 homers for the Twins in 2004. This year, he’s at .250 with 5 homers and 21 RBI.
“We knew he could catch and throw,” Dusty Baker said. “He’s made some adjustments. He played a lot last year and didn’t hit as well as he’s hit this year. You know he has power. He’s basically a pull hitter. When you see him start to hit the ball to right field and up the middle, you know he’s improved his game.”
Barrett played 134 games last year, with Paul Bako as his backup. Sunday was Barrett’s 114th game of this season. After hitting .287 with 16 homers and 65 RBI a year ago, he’s at .228 with 14 homers and 54 RBI.
“It’s been a great complement having him and Michael,” Baker said. “You figure our catching together has 75 ribbies and 20 home runs and is hitting .275. Almost every team would take that as their overall production from their catcher unless you just have a straight offensive catcher.”
No word yet: Third baseman Aramis Ramirez has been on the disabled list since Aug. 25 with a strained left quadriceps. The Cubs are unsure whether they’ll reactivate him.
“That I don’t know,” Dusty Baker said. “They say he’s getting better. I’d like to see him play again to help us win and also for him to get 100 RBIs. You can’t hurt him in the meantime because he’s working harder now than probably ever.”
Sayonara Sammy: Some baseball people are speculating that former Cub Sammy Sosa won’t find any takers in the big leagues next year and that he’ll wind up in Japan. Despite suffering through a horrendous year at the plate in Baltimore, Sosa still is a revered figure in Japan, and he has a chance of earning big money there.
Hello Sergio: Right-hander Sergio Mitre is up from Class AAA Iowa. He’ll work out of the bullpen.
Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/
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