Busy Weekend for Cubs: St. Louis, All-Stars, and C.C.
Not a lot going on for the Cubs lately, huh? First and foremost, they won the St. Louis series. They were one strike away from sweeping them, but Kerry Wood's implosion Saturday shot that idea to hell. Still, I'll take the 2 of 3, thank you very much. I can't even get too upset about Wood either, because he's been so dominant lately. So dominant, in fact, that he's earned his second All-Star nod.
Speaking of, seven All-Stars, huh? It's kind of weird. All seven are really good and pretty much deserving to go (except maybe the often injured Soriano), but none were so dominant that I could have complained too much had they been snubbed (except Soto). Still, I'll take it. Soriano, Fukudome, Soto, Zambrano, Dempster, Wood, and Ramirez. What's funny is the Cubs had a few more that deserved some consideration (Lee, Theriot, DeRosa), but I can't dare complain when there's already seven guys going. It's just a really good team, top to bottom, and the All-Star selections support that. This is even better than the legendary 1988 squad that had six representatives. (That's Dawson, Sandberg, Maddux, Dunston, Palmeiro, and Vance Law if you're scoring at home.) You want to talk snubs, how about the South Side? And Varitek made it? Are you kidding me?
Anyways, the real news this weekend came with the Brewers trade for Sabathia. I'm not exactly sure of all the pieces that the Brewers are giving up, but one of the pieces is far better than anything the Cubs could offer. The Cubs simply don't have any young hitting that's worth anything on the open market. They've got a few pitchers, and a few "maybes" among the hitters, but nothing so special to land yourself an ace. (So you're saying you don't want Rich Hill? Really?!) Very disappointing for this Cubs fan. I don't think the Cubs need him to win the division, because even with Sabathia the Brewers are going to have to play extremely well to keep up. I just wanted him for the postseason. Oh well, now I guess we can turn our attention to All-Star Cliff Lee. If the Tribe is giving up the season, they may as go all the way and trade Lee while he's at absolute peak value. At least that's what I'm hoping, anyways.
Go Cubs!