Spooky injuries and ideas (if serious)...

by shawndgoldman on Apr 20, 2006 1:28 AM CDT Comment 18 comments

Beware (5 days past) the ides of April!

On April 20th, 2005, Nomar Garciaparra tore his groin in a hard-fought 3-1 victory by the Cubs. Many thought the 2005 season ended early that night in St. Louis, despite the fact that the victory put us a game over .500 despite having early season injury woes.

At ~12:30 AM on April 20th, 2006, Derrek Lee injured his right wrist in a collision at 1st base and Scott Eyre hurt his knee (on the same play!) in a hard fought, come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. As of this writing, we don't know the seriousness of the injury, but if it puts Lee on the DL i'm going to vow not to watch any more Cubs games on the 4/20 anymore...

Normally i don't believe in jinxes or curses etc. etc. However, the superstitious fan in me fights to the surface when weird things like this happen.

Of course, we should be patient and see what happens when Lee gets X-Rays (and an MRI if its a sprain, i assume) tomorrow... in the meantime i'm going to mark April 20, 2007 as a day to do something other than watch a Cubs game.

The other thing i'm going to try to do is figure out the best options for the Cubs IF Lee is seriously hurt. If he's out for more than a week or two, the Cubs should consider obtaining a full-time 1st baseman. The best option going into the season would have been Craig Wilson, who could have platooned with Jacque Jones in RF after Lee's return. However, the Pirates have their own injury problems as Sean Casey is out as the result of a 1st base collision with our very own John Mabry. Another idea would be to go after one of three former prospect 1st-basemen: Erubiel Durazo, Carlos Pena, or... Hee-Seop Choi. All 3 are guys that were highly touted bats a few years ago but haven't hit as advertised in the bigs. Choi is probably the best option, but is just coming off an injury and has been rumored to be coveted for some time by Theo Epstein. Durazo is next best, and is currently playing for the Oklahoma Red Hawks (Rangers AAA club), and isn't hitting well there. As for Pena... he was cut by the Detroit Tigers in spring training and is currently with the Columbus Clippers.

It looks like the best option would be to go in-house and call up Ryan Theroit, who can be a utility IF-type, and can help play 2nd base as Walker would move to 1st. (My favorite option from a sentimental standpoint would be to make a play for Calvin Pickering, who was a rotund, jovial slugger for the Rochester Red Wings when i lived in Rochester, NY. In 2004, he hit 35 home runs in 299 AB's for Omaha, a rate of a HR every 8.5 ABs!) Also, you should look for Jae-Kuk Ryu (Shoryuken!) to get the call to take Eyre's place on the roster and in the pen. Alternatively, they could call up Rich Hill for to serve as a lefty reliever or as the #5 starter with Rusch moving to the pen to be a lefty-reliever.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Assuming it's a strain, and Lee can be back soon..

Walker at first. Hairston/Neifi at 2nd. Call up someone who can pinch hit, if we have someone like that... (Not Pie.)

by helen on Apr 20, 2006 2:59 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

exactly

no need to overreact, even if this is a 6-8 week fracture (which, i have to say, would not surprise me if he's being send for an mri -- the little bones in there are a tricky thing).

you got mabry for this kind of work. you're carrying hairston to fill in for walker. if cedeno's throwing proves too much for them, you've got neifi.

by gaius marius on Apr 20, 2006 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I rarely...

post in the morning, but I heard the news and ran to my computer to find more information.

I don't believe in curses and I'm not superstitious. D-Lee is a tough guy. I love Eyre, he's probably my second favorite reliever after Dempster. I just hope they are OK, and get well soon. Please be ok.

If D-Lee has to be put on the DL, I will hate Furcal a lot. I don't hate him yet, just dislike him. Even if the injury wasn't Furcal's fault, I will still hate him.

Cubbie Blue always sPaRkLes in my eyes.

by sparkles721 on Apr 20, 2006 7:26 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

John Mabry

has played some first base in his career, I would imagine he would get the call while D. Lee is recovering.

One day, the dream will come true.

by brianp88 on Apr 20, 2006 7:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What about calling up Dopirak?

n/t

Go Cubbies!

by NC Cubs Fan on Apr 20, 2006 8:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

He is hurt himself

He has a broken foot

Kasey

by kaseyi on Apr 20, 2006 8:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

or sing?

by tomas21 on Apr 20, 2006 8:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

This is

Dusty Baker we're talking about. He's got two young, inexperienced players out there already(Murton & Cedeno). Do you think he wants a third? No way. I fully expect John Mabry or Todd Walker to play first - if it's Walker we'll get Hairston and a bit of Neifi @ second base.

One day, the dream will come true.

by brianp88 on Apr 20, 2006 9:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

sing's statline in the majors

would too often look like 0-for-4, 3 k.

you've got mabry and hairston and neifi around for a reason. use 'em!

by gaius marius on Apr 20, 2006 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lee isn't disabled yet....

Lee has to go on the DL or we have to send someone else down before we can call anyone up. Let's hope that doesn't happen, at lease Lee going on the DL. Ohman could be sent down but if that happens I'd like to see Rusch sent to the pen and a starter brought up to replace him. Otherwise, a pinch hitter type (Theriot) could be brought up to fill the roster for a couple weeks if Lee is disabled. Unless it's really serious I don't think Hendry will try to acquire someone from outside the organization. The three mentioned above are all currently employed and were recently cut by other teams. I can't see us giving up anything of value to get any of them, especially if it's short term.

by pageian on Apr 20, 2006 9:17 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

correct!

Of course, we're all hoping Lee will be day-to-day and won't have to be placed on the DL. However, if he's going to miss a seies or 2, and the team wants to be cautious with his return, they'll probably DL him and call up Theroit.

I also wanted to start discussion of options since it beats thinking about the injury itself, at least for me...

The Cubs better shine 'fore twenty-oh-nine!

by shawndgoldman on Apr 20, 2006 9:53 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

In this spirit (hoping it's not serious, what if)

I was looking around at some overpaid veterans that other teams might be willing to deal for cheap, and who might fit on our bench when DLee comes back.

Ryan Klesko? hurt
Dmitri Young? hurt
Aubrey Huff? hurt

The most affordable, available player? Tony Clark. He's only making a million dollars this year, is still effective against righties, and has a large wingspan to track down those Cedeno airmails. He is really tied into the Phoenix community, however, and the Dbacks may have an informal agreement not to trade him.

From an interview with Clark
"Every time I came home during the offseason, I always would look at the D-Backs roster and see if there was an opportunity there for me. ... Being in the same city year-round, I get to have my family settled rather than have them picking up and moving and allowing my kids to stay in school. It also gives me an opportunity to be available for the kids that I'm fortunate enough to coach in basketball at Northwest Christian High School as well having an opportunity year-round to have a positive effect on the community."

Sounds like a great guy, but do we really need another Fred McGriff episode?

This is one of those times that the idea of a "replacement-level player" seems a bit optimistic. My sense is that statistics based on this idea presume that you can find a "free" first baseman who can play adequate defense and still hit better than a middle infielder. Maybe the closest we would come is a platoon of Mabry and Sing. Or, you could pick up a Pena or Choi, and they might put up a .750 OPS with decent defense. But that isn't really much better than Hairston would do at second. Replacement level at first base is apparently almost as bad a hitter as replacement level at other infield positions.

There aren't a bunch of Julio Zuletas just hanging around AAA if you need a banger to call up for a couple of weeks. A lot of AAA clubs have good glove men at first base (a la Royce Huffman at Round Rock, Larry Broadway at New Orleans, or our old buddy Scott McClain at Sacramento). This makes sense if you are trying to protect your prize pitchers from the effects of infield errors: namely, having to throw too many pitches in a single inning.

And some of the veterans on the benches of other clubs are notoriously bad on defense, like Petagine or Durazo.

What's Randall Simon eating...uh, I mean doing these days?

by zambranofan on Apr 20, 2006 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not that I'd want him...

but to answer your question, Randall Simon did play in the World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands. I don't know where he is today. Maybe he's inside of the sausage costume at Miller Park. ;)

One day, the dream will come true.

by brianp88 on Apr 20, 2006 10:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Petagine

can hit, I've always thought that if he got an everyday job he'd do well. I don't know about his defense, if he's really that bad that may explain why he never got an everyday job....

Don't know what to think of Durazo, it almost looks like he's finished but if you needed a replacement and you could get him next to nothing he would be worth the gamble.

No Randall Simon!

by pageian on Apr 20, 2006 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs