The Cubs have stated an interest in Magglio Ordonez. But they almost certainly won’t be able to sign him to a Nomar-like deal—1 year for a relatively modest amount of money so he can prove he’s fully healthy. The San Jose Mercury News picks up a Fort Worth Star-Telegram report (T.R. Sullivan, “Agent puts high price on Ordonez,” 1/25/2005) stating that the “power hitting outfielder is not willing to accept a one-year contract and a reduced salary well below the $14 million he made with the Chicago White Sox in 2004.”
Whichever team signs him—the article mentions the Rangers, Tigers, Orioles, Mets, and Blue Jays as all interested—is going to have to be awfully certain that Ordonez’s knee is healthy.
The Chicago Tribune reports today (Fred Mitchell, “Cubs plan an unstitch in time”) that the Cubs have “decided to remove the names from the backs of the Cubs’ home jerseys in an effort to revisit early baseball tradition.” Names will remain on the road uniforms.
“I have to be honest with you. I rooted like heck for [the Cubs] to lose, because I have never seen a bunch of players who complained and whined and alibied about everything. You want to blame the broadcasters, that’s pretty weak.”
Sandy Krum’s lawsuit claims that former Cubs athletic trainer Dave Groeschner was not licensed to be an athletic trainer in Illinois until after his firing by the Cubs. Jim Hendry’s statement yesterday, reports the Daily Herald, said that Groeschner “was certified to do his job in the state of Illinois.” However, the web site for the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation allows you to look up licensed professionals. Here is the listing for Groeschner, which shows an “original date” of November 5, 2004, after his firing in October.
Former Cubs assistant athletic trainer Sandy Krum, fired in October, filed a lawsuit against the Cubs on Wednesday for wrongful termination, reports NBC5 in Chicago. Krum alleges that the Cubs fired him in retailation for reporting to Jim Hendry that former head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner was not licensed to be an athletic trainer in Illinois. The Cub Reporter has obtained a copy of the petition Krum’s attorneys filed on his behalf, and has posted excerpts.
The Cub Reporter is correct that, if Krum was an at-will employee, and it appears he was, in general he could be fired for any reason, or no reason at all. However, most states, including Illnois, recognize a claim for wrongful termination where the termination violates a well-established public policy, including the reporting of illegal conduct.
I completed a quick search of Illinois case law and could not find a case where an Illinois appellate court has recognized the licensure of athletic trainers as such a well-recognized public policy. However, section 1 of the Illinois Athletic Trainers Practice Act–the legislative act requiring the licensure of practicing athletic trainers in Illinois–itself states:
The General Assembly finds that athletic training in the State of Illinois affects the public health, welfare, and safety and its regulation and control to be in the public interest. It is further found and declared that, as a matter of public policy in the public interest, athletic trainers, as defined in this Act, merit and receive the understanding and confidence of the public and, to this end, that only qualified persons be permitted to hold themselves out to the public as athletic trainers in the State of Illinois. This Act shall be liberally construed to best carry out these findings and purposes.
Additionally, the Illinois Court of Appeals stated in Leweling v. Schnadig Corp. (1995) that “Illinois courts have consistently held that policies affecting the health and safety of citizens will support a retaliatory discharge claim.” It also appears irrelevant, under Illinois law, that Krum never actually reported the violation to someone other than his employer.
The act goes on to prescribe criminal penalties. Section 31 of the act makes it a misdemeanor to violate the act for the first time. The second conviction is a felony.
Krum’s statement today included this assertion: “Not only did the Chicago Cubs break the law . . . .” Based on my quick review of the act, only purported athletic trainers may violate the act; employers such as the Cubs cannot violate the act.
If Krum’s allegations are true, Groeschner may have committed a crime (the act allows a 3-month grace period during the application process for somone otherwise meeting the licensure requirements, but Groeschner was employed by the Cubs for longer than 3 months). And, if so, the Cubs may have terminated Krum in retaliation for reporting that crime. The Cubs, though, are initially denying that Groeschner was not in compliance with the act. Krum’s case will be difficult to prove, but not impossible, and will depend on the facts that come to light during the discovery process.
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal Newsreports that the New York Mets have decided to forego their pursuit of Sammy Sosa. The recent increase in the steriod scandal apparently played a role in that decision.
A poster at the Inside the Ivy forum states that ESPN Insider is reporting that the Cubs have at least made an offer to Todd Walker. No details on what the offer is. Walker is also reportedly (and unsurprisingly) weighing interest from other teams.
Resigning Walker is important for the simple reasons that the second base free agent crop is pretty bare outside of Placido Polanco and what will be an expensive Jeff Kent, and that the Cubs don’t have any minor league second basemen knocking at the door for next season. (Richard Lewis may be the starter in 2006, but not next year, and the Cubs don’t appear eager to give 32-year Russ Johnson a shot at the job next season, despite his 892 OPS for Iowa in 2004. The existence of Lewis may in fact be holding up the signing of Walker. Walker may be looking for a multi-year deal while the Cubs may not want to block Lewis in 2006.)
The Cubs possibly had their 2005 second baseman in Brendan Harris, but he was shipped to Montreal/Peurto Rico/D.C. as part of the Nomar Garciaparra trade, something certainly worth doing. Harris posted an 884 OPS for Iowa last year before putting up Gary Scott like numbers in limited action in the big leagues for the Expos.
Dave Van Dyck reports in the Chicago Tribune that, at the least, Sosa trade talks with the Mets have been put “on hold":
Does the Mets’ flirtation ($37 million guaranteed, $50 million possible) with pitcher Pedro Martinez mean they won’t have the cash to complete the Sosa deal?
No, because they still need an outfielder and they still need to shed Cliff Floyd’s $13 million, if possible. But the immediacy of stealing Martinez away from the Red Sox and Yankees has put any Sosa talks on a back burner.
Van Dyck also states, though, that if the Mets sign Martinez, they will still have money remaining to acquire Sosa.
But that wasn’t the only good thing that happened today:
Jimy Williams left Roy Oswalt in a bit too long, and Barry Bonds made him pay. The Astros were up 4-1 heading into the 8th inning, but gave up 4 runs to the Giants in the last two frames to lose 5-4.
Finally, the White Sox were up 7-1 at one point, and entered the bottom of the 9th still up 7-3. Cliff Politte, Billy Koch, and Damaso Marte promptly gave up 6 runs in only getting one out in the 9th, and the Royals defeated Chicago 9-7. I don’t dislike the White Sox as much as some Cubs fans, but I admit to smiling at the underdog Royals coming from behind to beat Hawk and DJ’s team.
Again, an all-around wonderful day (except, no doubt, for Scott, after this).
According to the AP, the Cubs have signed Greg Maddux to a 3 year deal for $24M. The third year is voidable if Maddux doesn’t pitch a certain number of innings in 2005. No word on how many innings that has to be.
In other Cubs news, the Chicago Tribune reports today that three minor leaguers have suffered serious leg injuries. Shortstop Nate Frese broke his leg in a farm accident and will be out for the year. Pitcher John Webb broke his leg chasing his dog. And most significantly, projected 2005 second baseman Brendan Harris woke up with a sore knee and is now set to have knee surgery that will keep him out up to 12 weeks.
Al Yellon has a good recap of his attendance at the 2004 Cubs Convention. Among other highlights is Dusty Baker humorously noting how much flak he would have received had he put Antonio Alfonseca in for Kerry Wood in Game 7 of the NLCS instead of Dave Veres.
What the Cubs Blogger Army has been writing about the past few days while I was away:
The Cubs traded for Tony Womack from Colorado in exchange for Double-A pitcher Enmanuel Ramirez. As The Cub Reporter notes, Ramirez was putting up good numbers in relief, but he’s 23 and not considered a top prospect, which means the Cubs didn’t give up much. But did they even have to give up as much as Ramirez? Let’s Play Two links to this Rob Neyer column wondering what the Cubs are doing here (and what they’re doing with the rest of the acquisitions they’ve made). And here’s Lee Sinins in one of his ATM reports today on Womack:
After -23 RCAA/.652 OPS and -23 RCAA/.678 OPS seasons with the Diamondbacks, Womack is every pitchers’ dream, “hitting” .304 SLG, .251 OBA, .555 OPS, -32 RCAA in 83 games (61 with the Diamondbacks, 21 for the Rockies and 1 for the Cubs). He has a .675 career OPS, compared to his league average of .777, and -126 RCAA in 1002 games. Womack’s .158 offensive winning percentage is not only as offensive as they come, but he’d have to go on a big hot streak just to raise himself up to being as bad as an average Tiger. If you took a whole team of Womacks, they’d be an impressive 11 games behind the Tigers–and that’s assuming that they are given an average pitching staff. If they gave up runs at an equivalent rate below the league average as to how many they’d score, their 9-115 record would put them 22 games behind the Tigers.
Womack has the 4th worst OPS vs. the league average, among active players with 1000+ games . . . .
With Womack, Doug Glanville, and Randall Simon all on the same team, the Cubs’ out-making potential is off the charts.
On Saturday, I discussed some comments made by Jim Hendry regarding Mark Grudzielanek that seemed to me that the Cubs would try to upgrade second base next season. Brian Carstens goes a step further and states that he thinks (he’s 80% sure) that Grudzielanek won’t be back. The reason? The effect of arbitration. Read his post for his explanation.
Cubs Pundit looks back at some comments made by Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker before the seaon and compares those to how things have actually turned out. Pretty interesting.
On a final note, here’s Phil Rogers writing in Thursday’s Tribune: “The Astros could be without ace Roy Oswalt for the rest of the season. [ed.: good news for the Cubs] . . . Oswalt won 19 games in 2002, taking a 33-12 career record into the season. But so far he is 6-5 with a 7.62 ERA in 17 starts.” How does one get a 7.62 ERA out of a 3.23 ERA (Oswalt’s actual ERA)? I thought at first Rogers somehow multiplied 3.23 by 2, but nope, that’s not it.
Several interesting items in the Daily Herald’s Bruce Miles’snotes column today. The first is an update on Jim Hendry’s efforts to acquire a second baseman with Mark Grudzielanek injured. Hendry is talking to Colorado about either Ron Belliard or Tony Womack. I’m not sure I’d consider Womack an upgrade over Augie Ojeda, and even if Belliard is the one acquired, Ramon Martinez should stay the regular second baseman.
Second, Hendry is still trying to complete a trade for Rafael Palmeiro, despite Palmeiro’s initial rejection of such a trade, and despite the fact that such a trade is unneeded.
Finally, Hee Seop Choi is supposed to receive his third straight start tonight. While Eric Karros will likely start tomorrow, this could mean that Dusty Baker has finally reinstituted the first base platoon.
On another Choi related note, I agree with Weeghman Park – Choi’s second error last night was a tough one, because despite how slowly the ball was hit, it did take a bad hop when it got to Choi.
After losing to Atlanta 7-2 Wednesday night, the Cubs enter the All-Star Break 47-47, 3 games behind the NL Central leading Astros and 2 games behind 2nd place St. Louis. The Cubs’ Pythagorean won-loss record is also 47-47, with the team having scored 417 runs (12th most in the NL) and allowed 419 runs (6th fewest). They are 6-13 in their last 19 games.
Unfortunately, the All-Star Break interrupts Cubs baseball for 4 full days. The Cubs don’t pick up play again until Friday, against the Marlins. The Marlins series starts a really tough stretch after the Break for the Cubs. Their next six series are against Florida (3 games), Atlanta (2), Philadelphia (2), Houston (3), San Francisco (3), and Arizona (3), all winning teams. The Cubs then get San Diego on the road for three before playing 6 more consecutive series against teams that currently have winning records. Things don’t start looking up again schedule wise until September.
One of the reasons the Cubs got off to a good start this season was a relatively easy schedule the first two months of the season. They’ve already started paying for that this month, and will continue to do so through August. If the past two weeks, at least, is any indication, the Cubs as currently constructed do not have the offense to stay in the race through this tough schedule.
In an unrelated note, Bobby Hill has been hitting well at Iowa lately, as Michael Caldwell at The Cubby Hole has been noting. Hill’s numbers are up to .282/.360/.408. It doesn’t appear, though, that he’ll be the stolen base threat in the majors that it once looked like he would be. Hill is just 7-for-12 in stolen bases this season.
Finally, the AP has a nice write-up on the Cubs’ oldest fan, 113-year-old Mary Crombie. I like to think Ms. Crombie has The Clark & Addison Chronicle on automatic refresh.
UPDATE (11:25pm):Brian Carstens has more on the Cubs record in various splits. In essence, they’re a .500 team anyway you look at it. Scott Lange gives us reasons for hoping. And the Yarbage Cub Review (blogging from Austria no less!) has a 4-part mid-season review.
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News 
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In an unrelated note, Bobby Hill has been hitting well at