The Cubs Chronicle

The Arizona Republic reported yesterday (Mark Gonzales, “Changes brewing at BOB,” 6/29/2004) that the Cubs had someone scouting the Diamondbacks’ Steve Finley during Monday’s game. I don’t doubt the reporting that the Cubs had a scout at the Diamondbacks’ game, but I do doubt whether the Cubs have interest in Steve Finley. Finley is having a terrific year, as he’s currently 3rd in the majors among centerfielders in EqA. But centerfield is not the Cubs’ problem. Corey Patterson has been above average, and is “only” 10 runs behind Finley in Equivalent Runs (which amounts to a difference of about one team win). Finley would be an upgrade this year, but not enough of one to make a large difference. The Cubs need a shortstop, and they need Kerry Wood back.

There’s another possibility: The Cubs could be considering Finley for leftfield (a swap of veterans, with a Cubs prospect thrown in, perhaps), with Moises Alou struggling (sub-.200 batting average in June). That seems equally unlikely, and really wouldn’t be much of an upgrade either, assuming Alou begins hitting again.

Baseball Prospectus’s Will Carroll notes in today’s “Under the Knife” column:

The Cubs are excited that Angel Guzman is back at Double-A. While his command is rough, his velocity is already in the low 90s. Coming off labrum surgery, velocity is the biggest concern. If people are looking for patterns, high velocity pitchers seem to have an advantage coming back from arthroscopic labrum surgeries. They can lose some velocity and still have major league stuff.

(Link added.) Guzman has started two games for West Tennessee so far, and has a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings, with a 9/2 K/BB ratio.

The Houston Astros’ acquisition of Carlos Beltran not only gives them a quality centerfielder with a very good bat, but allows them to switch Craig Biggio to leftfield where he’ll be less of a liability defensively. It’s not exactly acquiring Randy Johnson circa 1998, but I’d say it’s close. Last year the Cubs were the big movers. This year, Houston has struck first. With Jeff Bagwell and Biggio running out of time, and Roger Clemens on a one year lease, the Astros are clearly doing everything they can to win the World Series this year.

It will be interesting to see if the Cubs answer the Beltran acquisition like they did the Clemens one with Greg Maddux. Shortstop is the only obvious upgrade position. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options in that regard. Of course, with the way the Cardinals are playing (who saw Chris Carpenter’s comeback?), perhaps neither team will catch St. Louis.