The Chicago Cubs traded five players, including a pair of high-profile prospects, to Tampa Bay for pitcher Matt Garza, continuing general manager Jim Hendry's ongoing charade of attempting to steer the team into contention.
Garza has been a good pitcher for the Rays for three seasons, going 34-31 with a sub-4.00 ERA each year and helping Tampa win two divisional titles. He was especially good in the ALCS in 2008, beating Boston twice and holding the Red Sox to two runs in 13 innings.
Still just 27, he's still three years away from free agency, although he is likely to get a little pricey in arbitration if the Cubs don't work out a long-term deal with him.
But — and you knew there would be a "but" here — is this really the kind of deal the Cubs need to be making?
The Cubs gave up Chris Archer, a pitcher that was part of the Mark DeRosa deal and blossomed last season, going 15-3 with a 2.35 ERA in high-A and Double-A. Hu-Jak Lee is a 19-year-old shortstop with a good looking bat and defensive tools and Brandon Guyer looks like a decent fourth outfielder, a right-handed hitter than can play all three spots with speed and a little pop.
Hendry seems to feel the Cubs, who went 75-87 last season and finished 16 games behind division champion Cincinnati, are a legitimate contender. That seems to be the reason behind the signing of former Tampa first baseman Carlos Pena to a one-year, $10 million contract, and the push to trade some high-level prospects for Garza.
Garza should help the Cubs — he's a reliable guy that can make 30-plus starts and work around 200 innings a season. And with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Tom Gorzelanny and possibly a push from rookie Casey Coleman, the Cubs have plenty of rotation depth.
Kerry Wood's amazingly cheap signing helps back Carlos Marmol and lefty Sean Marshall in the bullpen, but more help is needed — perhaps top prospect Andrew Cashner fits in there for the time being.
But are the Cubs really a contender of any stripe? Milwaukee has improved immensely, fortifying a shaky rotation with trades for Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum — the Brewers now have as good a top four as anyone in the division. St. Louis has some questions (we'll deal with those later this weekend) and the Reds' young pitching only figures to get better.
The offense still has plenty of question marks, and Pena probably isn't going to fill the need for a reliable lefty bat. Pena had two good seasons with the Rays, but you have to be scared of a slugger that, at age 32, slumped to .196 and 28 homers after averaging 39 in the previous three seasons. Pena isn't getting any younger, and his bat isn't picking up any speed, either.
St. Louis signed Lance Berkman for $8 million, but the Cubs paid more for Pena. Both need platoon partners to face left-handers, and frankly, I would much rather see the Cubs move Aramia Ramirez across the diamond or Alfonso Soriano to first base and try to put together a representative defense.
Instead, Hendry is acting like he has a team on the verge of contention. All the indicators, trending downward as they are, seem to differ.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
All A Classic girls seedings ...
No surprise that Murray and Ballard Memorial are the top two seeds in the All A Classic girls' First Region basketball tournament, which is Jan. 17-22 at Graves County's Eagles' Nest.
Heath's double-digit win over St. Mary wasn't enough to leapfrog the Lady Pirates into the No. 3 spot, but it might have pushed Heath over Mayfield, Community Christian and Carlisle County into the fourth slot — only 2.5 points separate the three teams in the Louisville Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, which are used to determine the seedings.
One other interesting note: the Litratings have Murray as the state's No. 15 team, with Calloway County at No. 20.
Here are the seedings:
1. Murray
2. Ballard Memorial
3. St. Mary
4. Heath
5. Mayfield
6. Community Christian
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Reidland
10. Fulton County
11. Fulton City
Heath's double-digit win over St. Mary wasn't enough to leapfrog the Lady Pirates into the No. 3 spot, but it might have pushed Heath over Mayfield, Community Christian and Carlisle County into the fourth slot — only 2.5 points separate the three teams in the Louisville Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, which are used to determine the seedings.
One other interesting note: the Litratings have Murray as the state's No. 15 team, with Calloway County at No. 20.
Here are the seedings:
1. Murray
2. Ballard Memorial
3. St. Mary
4. Heath
5. Mayfield
6. Community Christian
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Reidland
10. Fulton County
11. Fulton City
Seeding doesn't matter ...
Ballard Memorial proved the point a year ago, knocking off three higher-seeded teams en route to the school's first All A Classic regional title.
This year, the shoe could be on the other foot.
A little over 24 hours after the Bombers were awarded the top seed in this year's small-school meet, the Bombers were beaten 59-49 at Carlisle County, which had dropped to the No. 7 seed after a disastrous three-game visit to Allen County's Christmas tournament.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped a spot with every loss," said Carlisle coach Brian O'Neill, whose club went into the tournament with a 6-2 record and shot less than 30 percent in losses to the host school, Christian Academy of Louisville and Gallatin County "Going up there, I thought we had a chance at being either three or four, and on the way back, I knew we could be anywhere down to seven."
Ballard, Fulton County and Heath are the top three seeds and considered nearly equals, but Carlisle's win is an indication that one of the middle-tier clubs could rise up and knock off a top-tier team in a couple of weeks.
Mayfield is starting to get healthy, with guard William Higginson and forward Jonathan Jackson recovering from football injuries. St. Mary, which took Heath to the wire on Tuesday night, plays solid defense but has problems putting points on the board.
There will be a few more key matchups to watch in the week leading up to the All A Classic. Mayfield takes on district rivals Ballard and St. Mary next week and Carlisle hosts Fulton County on Thursday.
This year, the shoe could be on the other foot.
A little over 24 hours after the Bombers were awarded the top seed in this year's small-school meet, the Bombers were beaten 59-49 at Carlisle County, which had dropped to the No. 7 seed after a disastrous three-game visit to Allen County's Christmas tournament.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped a spot with every loss," said Carlisle coach Brian O'Neill, whose club went into the tournament with a 6-2 record and shot less than 30 percent in losses to the host school, Christian Academy of Louisville and Gallatin County "Going up there, I thought we had a chance at being either three or four, and on the way back, I knew we could be anywhere down to seven."
Ballard, Fulton County and Heath are the top three seeds and considered nearly equals, but Carlisle's win is an indication that one of the middle-tier clubs could rise up and knock off a top-tier team in a couple of weeks.
Mayfield is starting to get healthy, with guard William Higginson and forward Jonathan Jackson recovering from football injuries. St. Mary, which took Heath to the wire on Tuesday night, plays solid defense but has problems putting points on the board.
There will be a few more key matchups to watch in the week leading up to the All A Classic. Mayfield takes on district rivals Ballard and St. Mary next week and Carlisle hosts Fulton County on Thursday.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Superman Classic pairings ...
Seedings and pairings for the Superman Classic were determined today. The tournament is Jan. 17-22 at Massac County. Madison, which finished third in the Illinois Class A state tournament a year ago, is the defending champion.
There is a slight change in the tournament format, the first since it became an eight-team bracket tournament in 1988. Because certain teams can only play on certain nights for travel reasons and potential scheduling conflicts, one semifinal will be played on Thursday night and another on Friday night instead of both being played in the Friday session.
These are the seedings, with each team's record (as of today) in parentheses:
1. Paducah Tilghman (9-3)
2. Carbondale (8-5)
3. Martin Westview, Tenn. (12-3)
4. Massac County (10-6)
5. Madison (8-4)
6. Calloway County (5-7)
7. St. Louis Sumner (3-7)
8. Vienna (6-6)
This is the schedule:
Jan. 17
Game 1: Carbondale vs. St. Louis Sumner, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Calloway County vs. Martin Westview, 8 p.m.
Jan. 18
Game 3: Paducah Tilghman vs. Vienna, 6:30 p.m.
Game 4: Massac County vs. Madison, 8 p.m.
Jan. 20
Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m.
Jan. 21
Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8 p.m.
Jan. 22
Seventh-place game, 1 p.m.
Fifth-place game, 2:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 6:30 p.m.
Championship, 8 p.m.
There is a slight change in the tournament format, the first since it became an eight-team bracket tournament in 1988. Because certain teams can only play on certain nights for travel reasons and potential scheduling conflicts, one semifinal will be played on Thursday night and another on Friday night instead of both being played in the Friday session.
These are the seedings, with each team's record (as of today) in parentheses:
1. Paducah Tilghman (9-3)
2. Carbondale (8-5)
3. Martin Westview, Tenn. (12-3)
4. Massac County (10-6)
5. Madison (8-4)
6. Calloway County (5-7)
7. St. Louis Sumner (3-7)
8. Vienna (6-6)
This is the schedule:
Jan. 17
Game 1: Carbondale vs. St. Louis Sumner, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: Calloway County vs. Martin Westview, 8 p.m.
Jan. 18
Game 3: Paducah Tilghman vs. Vienna, 6:30 p.m.
Game 4: Massac County vs. Madison, 8 p.m.
Jan. 20
Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m.
Jan. 21
Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 6:30 p.m.
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8 p.m.
Jan. 22
Seventh-place game, 1 p.m.
Fifth-place game, 2:30 p.m.
Third-place game, 6:30 p.m.
Championship, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
BluegrassPreps.com basketball rankings ...
Paducah Tilghman checks in at No. 16 in the BluegrassPreps.com rankings. All three of the Tornado's losses are to ranked teams — No. 3 Louisville Ballard, fifth-ranked Christian County and 12th-ranked Warren Central.
On the girls' side, I believe it's the first time in the nine-year history of BGP's rankings that two First Region schools have cracked the top 20.
Boys
1. Jeffersontown
2. Louisville Eastern
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Clark County
5. Christian County
6. Scott County
7. Lexington Catholic
8. Lexington Tates Creek
9. Bowling Green
10. Louisville Trinity
11. Louisville Moore
12. Warren Central
13. Louisville Western
14. Bullitt East
15. Pleasure Ridge Park
16. Paducah Tilghman
17. Dixie Heights
18. Covington Catholic
19. Louisville Seneca
20. Simon Kenton
Girls
1. Louisville Mercy
2. Rockcastle County
3. Louisville Manual
4. Louisville Sacred Heart
5. Boone County
6. Marion County
7. Scott County
8. Madison Central
9. Bowling Green
10. Perry Central
11. Ryle
12. Elizabethtown
13. Calloway County
14. Anderson County
15. Franklin-Simpson
16. Franklin County
17. Grayson County
18. Monroe County
19. Clay County
20. Murray
On the girls' side, I believe it's the first time in the nine-year history of BGP's rankings that two First Region schools have cracked the top 20.
Boys
1. Jeffersontown
2. Louisville Eastern
3. Louisville Ballard
4. Clark County
5. Christian County
6. Scott County
7. Lexington Catholic
8. Lexington Tates Creek
9. Bowling Green
10. Louisville Trinity
11. Louisville Moore
12. Warren Central
13. Louisville Western
14. Bullitt East
15. Pleasure Ridge Park
16. Paducah Tilghman
17. Dixie Heights
18. Covington Catholic
19. Louisville Seneca
20. Simon Kenton
Girls
1. Louisville Mercy
2. Rockcastle County
3. Louisville Manual
4. Louisville Sacred Heart
5. Boone County
6. Marion County
7. Scott County
8. Madison Central
9. Bowling Green
10. Perry Central
11. Ryle
12. Elizabethtown
13. Calloway County
14. Anderson County
15. Franklin-Simpson
16. Franklin County
17. Grayson County
18. Monroe County
19. Clay County
20. Murray
Monday, January 3, 2011
All A Classic boys seedings ...
Ballard Memorial, which won its first All A Classic regional boys' basketball title after being seeded sixth, is the No. 1 seed for this year's event, which begins Jan. 15 at Graves County's Eagles' Nest.
The seedings are determined by the Litkenhous Ratings, which were released on the Louisville Courier-Journal's website on Monday afternoon.
Fulton County and Heath, as expected, round out the top three seeds. Fulton City is the No. 6 seed, which sets up a potentially very interesting quarterfinal-round game between the Bulldogs, coached by Jimmy Long, and his former Heath squad, coached by longtime assistant Burlin Brower.
Here are the seedings:
1. Ballard Memorial
2. Fulton County
3. Heath
4. Mayfield
5. St. Mary
6. Fulton City
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Murray
10. Community Christian
11. Reidland
The seedings are determined by the Litkenhous Ratings, which were released on the Louisville Courier-Journal's website on Monday afternoon.
Fulton County and Heath, as expected, round out the top three seeds. Fulton City is the No. 6 seed, which sets up a potentially very interesting quarterfinal-round game between the Bulldogs, coached by Jimmy Long, and his former Heath squad, coached by longtime assistant Burlin Brower.
Here are the seedings:
1. Ballard Memorial
2. Fulton County
3. Heath
4. Mayfield
5. St. Mary
6. Fulton City
7. Carlisle County
8. Hickman County
9. Murray
10. Community Christian
11. Reidland
Basketball happenings ...
The first Cantrall ratings of the season were published in Monday's Lexington Herald-Leader, and there were a couple of surprises on the girls' side. Calloway County is ranked ninth and Murray is ranked 17th, the first time in several years — perhaps a decade or longer — that the First Region has had two schools ranked in the top 20.
The Cantralls don't count out-of-state games, so Murray's two early-season hiccups against two Tennesee clubs — nearby Henry County and defending private-school state champion Ensworth — don't figure into the equation. Neither does Calloway's two wins over Martin Westview (a final four team in Tennessee Class 2A a year ago) and the solid 2-1 performance at a tournament in Orlando last week.
Murray and Calloway meet for the first time on Jan. 14, which could be the first of four meetings this season.
Paducah Tilghman was the First Region's top team in the rankings and tied for 32nd overall with Louisville Western.
• Marshall County point guard Margaret Thomas is expected to make her debut on Tuesday night against Lone Oak and potentially see major minutes when the Lady Marshals host Calloway County on Friday night.
Thomas, a Paducah Sun All-Purchase selection a year ago, originally opted not to play this season, reportedly because she was upset that Marshall assistant Aaron Beth didn't get the head coaching job this summer after the retirement of his father, Howard Beth.
She changed her mind after the Lady Marshals played their first two games in Marshall County's Hoop Fest, but Marshall coach Joseph Simmons decreed that Thomas would have to practice with the team for a few weeks before being eligible to play.
• As one All-Purchase player rejoins the regional ranks, another of the area's most dynamic guards is sidelined for the rest of the season. Paducah Tilghman playmaker Chelsey Shumpert, a sophomore who had a chance to become a four-time All-Purchase pick, has a torn ACL in her right knee and is out for the remainder of the season.
Shumpert will do some rehabilitation work and have surgery within a few weeks. She originally tweaked the knee while playing AAU ball this summer, but the injury was diagnosed at the time as a strained ligament. She went down in the second quarter of Tilghman's Dec. 18 game with Lone Oak, but the torn ACL wasn't diagnosed until nearly a week later, after the Lady Tornado returned from playing in the Kenton County Classic in northern Kentucky.
• The All A Classic First Region tournament will be seeded via the first batch of Litkenhous Ratings, which will be released this week in the Louisville Courier-Journal. The boys' ratings will be published on Tuesday with the girls' ratings set for release on Friday.
The Cantralls don't count out-of-state games, so Murray's two early-season hiccups against two Tennesee clubs — nearby Henry County and defending private-school state champion Ensworth — don't figure into the equation. Neither does Calloway's two wins over Martin Westview (a final four team in Tennessee Class 2A a year ago) and the solid 2-1 performance at a tournament in Orlando last week.
Murray and Calloway meet for the first time on Jan. 14, which could be the first of four meetings this season.
Paducah Tilghman was the First Region's top team in the rankings and tied for 32nd overall with Louisville Western.
• Marshall County point guard Margaret Thomas is expected to make her debut on Tuesday night against Lone Oak and potentially see major minutes when the Lady Marshals host Calloway County on Friday night.
Thomas, a Paducah Sun All-Purchase selection a year ago, originally opted not to play this season, reportedly because she was upset that Marshall assistant Aaron Beth didn't get the head coaching job this summer after the retirement of his father, Howard Beth.
She changed her mind after the Lady Marshals played their first two games in Marshall County's Hoop Fest, but Marshall coach Joseph Simmons decreed that Thomas would have to practice with the team for a few weeks before being eligible to play.
• As one All-Purchase player rejoins the regional ranks, another of the area's most dynamic guards is sidelined for the rest of the season. Paducah Tilghman playmaker Chelsey Shumpert, a sophomore who had a chance to become a four-time All-Purchase pick, has a torn ACL in her right knee and is out for the remainder of the season.
Shumpert will do some rehabilitation work and have surgery within a few weeks. She originally tweaked the knee while playing AAU ball this summer, but the injury was diagnosed at the time as a strained ligament. She went down in the second quarter of Tilghman's Dec. 18 game with Lone Oak, but the torn ACL wasn't diagnosed until nearly a week later, after the Lady Tornado returned from playing in the Kenton County Classic in northern Kentucky.
• The All A Classic First Region tournament will be seeded via the first batch of Litkenhous Ratings, which will be released this week in the Louisville Courier-Journal. The boys' ratings will be published on Tuesday with the girls' ratings set for release on Friday.
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