Theo Epstein vowed that he would retool the Cubs, and he has. Aramis Ramirez is gone (to Milwaukee), as is Carlos “Big Z” Zambrano (to Miami) — and while the team doesn’t resemble the ’27 Yanks (let alone the ’69 Black Cats), they’re already better. Former Rockie Ian Stewart now holds down third, Ivan DeJesus is out there in right, and Anthony Rizzo (obtained in a trade with San Diego) is the next big thing.

But the best move that Epstein made was the one no one talks about. New manager Dale Sveum is a former kick-around infielder who will bring stability to a clubhouse that once featured either high octane personalities (like Lou Piniella), or abrasive unknowns, like Mike Quade. Sveum has a reputation for fielding aggressive teams of large personalities — while eschewing the same role for himself.

Bleacher Report gives Epstein and his new brain trust high marks for their off-season acquisitions, and we have to agree. And while the Cubs are several years from contending (and will have to find a way to shed the contract of Alfonso Soriano), they’re better now than last year, and will be better next than this. They’re strong behind the plate (Geovany Soto needs a reprise of his rookie campaign) and up the middle, with Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney solid around second, and they have a strong arm off the mound in Matt Garza.

The good news for the Cubs is that the NL Central is not what it used to be — Prince Fielder has vacated Milwaukee and Albert Pujols has abandoned St. Louis. The division is easily the weakest in the N.L, and maybe the weakest in all of baseball. This might give the Cubbies a fighting chance, if it weren’t for the improvements out in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati’s decision to actually build a pitching staff. Cincinnati is our pick to win the division, with a 1-2 punch of Mat Latos and Johnny Cueto at the top of the rotation and Joey Votto, Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce providing pop in the middle of the order.

The key to this year’s version of the Big Red Machine is Latos, who came over in a trade with San Diego. There were those who thought the Reds got swindled, but we don’t buy it. Latos is one of the best young righthanders in all of baseball (he’s only 23), who — with a little run support — could easily be a twenty game winner. Red Reporter loved the deal, in large part because Latos provides what Reds’ pitchers have been short of recently: he throws strikes.

Losing closer Ryan Madson to surgery came as a blow to the Reds this Spring — deflating analysts who said they’d run away from Milwaukee and St. Louis — but Sean Marshall (acquired from the Cubs) is a more than adequate replacement. Marshall was undervalued on the North Side, and now he’ll have a chance to show his stuff. He did so yesterday, during Cincinnati’s opener, notching his first save for his new ballclub, after Cueto held the Marlins to three hits over seven. The league will be seeing a lot of Marshall this year, and will also wonder (as we do) why in the hell San Diego ever parted with Latos.

business . . . of course. No one ever has any problem filling in the blank on that one, and no one would ever doubt it now — after one of the most expensive off-seasons in baseball history. The Belinski’s ponied up out in Los Angeles, and may well have bought themselves a World Series. The numbers are getting astronomical, undoubtedly because revenues from television contracts are spiking. The answer to whether spending all of this money is actually good for the game seems to be “yes” — at least so far.

Back in the late 60s, fans oohed and ahhed about the pricey St. Louis Cardinals, the first team with bragging rights to a $1 million per year payroll. That was the team of Roger Maris, Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, Ken Boyer and Orlando “Baby Bull” Cepeda, a powerhouse that remains among one of the legendary teams of the past. The money was worth it, but people worried that baseball was getting too expensive — and (even then), that MLBs’ pocketbooks could rui the game. It didn’t happen, but the question is being raised again, perhaps most of all in St. Louis, where offering the game’s best player the kind of money he was looking for was just out of reach.

But in the end, it wasn’t the Pujols contract, or the one given by Detroit to Prince Fielder, that has really shocked people. The real shock came this week, when Cincinnati’s owners put $251.5 million on the table for Joey Votto — a pretty good player to be sure, but certainly not the third best player in the game — which is where the contract puts him. That’s (arguably), one-fifth (or even a quarter) of the worth of the entire Cincinnati franchise.

The Cincinnati “doubles” machine (he had 40 last year, to lead the majors), has now signed onto the Redlegs for another twelve years (plus . . .), which means he’ll be 41 when his “club option” kicks in. That’ll be in 2024. Barring an international disaster (not out of the question, mind you), a lot of us will be here to watch him. The question is, will he still be around — will he be playing first base for the Reds?

Our bet is he won’t be — and we’re also betting that Cincinnati’s front office agrees. But the Reds are due for a new and more lucrative television contract in about three years, and the Votto contract is their way of telling their fans that they intend to be good. So the question is . . . is a team like Cincinnati mortgaging the future to bet on the present? And the answer? . . . we’ll just have to see.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: Your Washington Nationals open in Chicago this afternoon, and it’s just plain fun to read the Chicago papers — and listen to their fans. “This is the year,” they say — and they say it every . . . single . . . year. And two months from now, when the North Side Drama Queens (we might have to change that, with the departure of “Big Z”) are 12-24, they’ll still be saying it. Except the tense will have changed. “Next year is the year, you just wait . . .

The Nationals are picked for third or fourth this year, depending on who you listen to. But Mitch Williams over the MLB Network said just last night that they’d make the Wild Card this season. And we agree. All of this talk about how good the Braves are is, in our opinion, somewhat puzzling. If you put the two rosters side-by-side (as we have, and often over the last week), the Nationals look a lot better . . .”

So we’re back. For yet another season. And for those who stuck with us, thanks . . . and for those who have wondered where we are — well, there’s a four letter involved, and it starts with “w” and ends with “k.” Never mind. The Nationals are on the field in Chicago, and another great year of baseball beckons. The emails can wait. Go ahead. Watch the game.

The Nationals seem to have slipped back — with their performance against the Redlegs in Cincinnati a reminder of just how terrible they were in April and May. Yesterday’s game was a case in point: the Nationals kept pace with the Reds, but only when they needed to, and ended up losing the third game of the three game series in the 14th inning. The loss came when Joey Votto took a Collin Balester offering deep to end the game in another Cincy walk-off.

How did the Nationals get swept in Cincinnati? Poor pitching, sloppy defense and no punch at the plate. That’s a sure combination for mediocrity — or worse. In his last start of the season, Jordan Zimmermann wasn’t able to get out of the fifth (giving up six hits and three earned runs), the defense behind him booted the ball twice, and the Nationals were 4-19 with runners in scoring position.

The same kind of lack of punch dominated the series for the Nats: they were outscored 15-10, though that was an improvement over the simply awful offensive output against the D-Backs the week before, when they were outscored 10-3. The problem is not just hitting (Ryan Zimmerman is hitting the ball well, as is Jayson Werth), it’s hitting when there are runs to be had. Ian Desmond left eight runners on base yesterday, and Danny Espinosa six. So it was that Washington outhit the Reds (which is actually saying something), but without any appreciable results.

The loss was Washington’s sixth in a row, and the team is now sliding well under .500, and in danger of passing Florida for last place honors. A last place finish would be a major disappointment, as it would undermine the noticed improvement in play — and personnel. It’s going to take some doing to return to dead-even: the Nationals take on the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta starting tomorrow.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: The fans of Cincinnati have to be among the most loyal of any in the majors. Nary a boo is heard for their struggling players — it’s almost as if their Redlegs are in first place. And there’s little question that Joey Votto is the fan favorite: consistently and vocally cheered. He’s the Ryan Zimmerman of Cincinnati. Even so (and in spite of their three game sweep against the Nationals), this is a team that needs more than a few pieces . . .

(more…)



They call it “The Great American Ball Park,” but in fact it’s only the “Good American Ballpark.” That became clear last night when two light stands at the ballpark went out in the eighth inning — and the game was delayed.

At first, no one in the park understood the delay, and from where we were sitting (CFG is on the road — and in Cincinnati of all places), it didn’t look as if the field had actually lost any light. But then, from the nose bleed section (Section 524), the little men scurrying around attempting to solve the problem (down below us, and in the far distance), were far more exciting than the game itself, unless you were a Redlegs fan.

The Nationals came to Cincinnati hoping to reverse their fortunes after hardly showing up for the Snakes in D.C., but they faced the same problems in the “Queen City” that they faced at home: poor hitting, indifferent pitching and a heart stopping inability to show of their young talent. The result was too predictable — a Reds’ walkoff engineered by the I’m-old-but-I-can-still-play Miguel Cairo in the bottom of the ninth.

(more…)

Jesus Flores homered and Jonny Gomes drove in two runs with a clutch single to left to lead the Washington Nationals over the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Nationals Park on Thursday. The Flores homer was his first since May of 2009, while the Gomes hit came against his former team. “Against the Reds or not against the Reds, it would bring a smile to my face,” Gomes said.

The Flores-Gomes tandem helped righty starter Jordan Zimmermann to his eighth win of the season. Zimmermann, who will apparently be shut down after his next start (or the one after), did not have his best stuff, but gutted out an impressive 5.2 innings while giving up six hits. Zimmermann’s ERA now stands at 3.11 — and his 2011 campaign has to be considered a success, which sets him up as a major contributor (and likely #2 starter) in 2012.

Gomes two run single in the sixth was the difference in the game, but Zimmermann’s outing was saved by a quartet of Nationals’ relievers. Ryan Mattheus, Henry Rodriguez, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen threw a combined 3.1 innings, while giving up just two hits. Clippard notched his 32nd hold, while Storen added his 33rd save. Storen continued to build on his steady reputation — if he wasn’t before, he must now be considered to be one of the best closers in the game.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: It seems like old news now, but it’s good to note, if just for the record. Former Nats’ veteran righty Jason Marquis was supposed to provide another needed starter to help the Diamondbacks overcome the Giants in the N.L. West, but he’s out for the season with a fractured leg . . . the Marquis injury (as we remember) came against the Mets, after the former Nats’ starter had two rocky outings with his new club . . .

Now it appears, that other semi-big name for the Nationals at the trade deadline, Denard Span, continues to suffer the effects of a concussion that has sidelined him for much of the 2011 campaign. Span had returned to the Twins’ line-up, but yesterday he was put back on the disabled list after suffering from migraines. Which is only to say — sometimes it’s the trades you don’t make that matter. If Mike Rizzo had pulled the trigger on a Span trade, the needed centerfielder would have been spending time on the D.L. in D.C. . . .  and the Nationals would have been without one of their key (Drew Storen or Tyler Clippard) bullpen arms . . .

(more…)

Michael Morse was 2-4 with two RBIs (including a home run), Ryan Zimmerman sent a shot into the left field seats — and Chien-Ming Wang pitched into the seventh inning, to give the Nationals a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at Nationals Park on Tuesday. Morse gained nearly all of the headlines: the Nats’ first baseman is now third in N.L. batting average, and has lofted 21 home runs into the seats.

Starter Wang was not nearly so good as his last outing in Chicago, but the still-rehabbing righty was steady through five, and got out of a jam that could have ended his night in the sixth. Wang gave up a double to Joey Votto to start the 6th, but induced ground outs from Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier to preserve Washington’s lead. The Reds had to settle for a single run.

Wang has now established himself as Washington’s fourth starter — and perhaps its third. “I didn’t think he [Wang] had his really good sinker tonight, but he threw a lot of strong innings,” Davey Johnson said of his starter after the victory. “I had a lot of confidence in him, but I had my All-World setup man out there ready pretty much after two hitters in the seventh.”

The Wisdom of Section 1-2-9: “There sure are a lot of Koreans here,” one of 129′s regulars said before the game. “They’re not from Korea,” a newbie answered, “they’re from Taiwan.” Indeed: while the section wasn’t overflowing with boosters for starter Wang, their cameras were prominent — with the whirring and clicking a subtle backdrop to the righty’s every pitch.

(more…)

The word around the Nationals’ clubhouse is that Jayson Werth, struggling through a season-long slump, is finally starting to hit. The Nationals’ everyday right fielder — and headline off-season free agent acquistion — is hitting .306 in his last thirteen games. Indeed, Werth showed some pop at the plate on Wednesday night, sending a typical short-stroke liner into Wrigley Field’s left field bleachers for his fourteenth dinger. But Werth’s home run wasn’t enough to beat the Cubs, who took advantage of their own long ball to down the Nationals, 4-2.

The game’s non-story was Ross Detwiler, the team’s constant experiment on the mound, who pitched (in skipper Davey Johnson’s phrase), “just okay.” Lefty Detwiler gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings of work, the biggest knocks against him coming on long balls from catcher Geovany Soto and journeyman Reed Johnson. Detwiler running buddy Collin Balester (they’re both familiar with how to get from Syracuse to Washington — and back), was less than mediocre in an inning of relief: Balester gave up a home run to Alfonso Soriano to put the game out of reach.

And so it is that the Nationals’ search for more pitching among a group of yesteryear’s youngsters (Detwiler, Balester, Garrett Mock, Shairon Martis, J.D. Martin and Craig Stammen), continues, but without the kind of premium (“he’s a keeper”) results. With the next round of young arms waiting in the wings (Tom Milone and Brad Peacock — and perhaps one or two others), Nationals’ fans are starting to clamor for some new faces, and wondering how long it will be before Rizzo, Johnson & Company run out of patience.