The Cubs Chronicle

In Thursday’s Chicago Tribune, Paul Sullivan names five things the Cubs must do in order to win the National League Central:

1. Get rid of Antonio Alfonseca. Rumors have it that the Marlins are interested in him. You know how rumors go. Unfortunately, Sullivan doesn’t name who the Cubs should replace him with. I vote for Francis Beltran. But I don’t expect Alfonseca to be as bad as he has been. And given that, the difference between him and a young Beltran over 70 games isn’t much difference at all (actually 40 games, because if the Cubs want Beltran in September, they’ll be able to call him up). Additionally, unloading Alfonseca would likely mean still paying the remaining portion of his contract (about $1.8M) and still not getting much in return.

2. Replace Estes with Cruz. Hey! Does Sullivan read The Clark & Addison Chronicle? It would seem so. The question has been asked before, along with whether he reads other Cubs blogs.

3. Get a third baseman. The yearly refrain.

4. Stick with Tom Goodwin in center, unless someone really good is available. In the process of saying this, Sullivan also writes that “Mark Kotsay is serviceable but is not an offensive threat.” But Goodwin is? In 2001 and 2002, Kotsay posted adjusted OPS’s 8% and 10% above the league average, respectively. He’s battled injuries this year, so his production is down. But his disappointing 668 OPS this year is still better than Goodwin’s 632. And Goodwin’s career high in OPS, which he posted five years ago, was 7% below the league average. Now, I think there is a legitimate justification for giving Goodwin a significant amount of the playing time in center through the rest of the season: that being 1) the Cubs not being able to get enough other help to become good enough to win the division and 2) David Kelton not being able to play center. But there’s no way sticking with Goodwin will aid in winning the division.

5. Smash the boom box. Uh-oh. Apparently Sammy Sosa is back to blasting the music on the infamous boom box, leading to all sorts of team chemistry problems. He’s also apparently changed his tune – he’s playing Eminem these days. What happened to the salsa? Sullivan concludes:

If Baker ever did what former manager Don Baylor once threatened and smashed the boom box, the clubhouse would have a better environment and the team concept would be enhanced. But he probably won’t, and the boom box is likely to remain as a metaphor for another lost season. Lots of noise, but no substance.

I don’t know if it has any effect on what goes on between the lines, but you know, if I was on the team, I’d be annoyed with Sosa’s boom box. Yes, I’m a prude. But if I was on the team, and was something more than a rookie, I also wouldn’t have any problems asking Sosa to turn it down. And somehow I think guys like Kerry Wood and Eric Karros aren’t afraid of asking him to do that, either, if they have a problem with it. Which leads me to believe that the Cubs beat reporters enjoy playing up this story to an extent that is disproportionate to how much the players actually care about it. In any case, has anyone ever thought to buy Sosa some headphones?