A Few Random Thoughts

* Have you noticed that New York (and especially the New York press) is getting down on A-Rod? It appears that A-Rod is not a good fit for NY and vice versa. This may just be wishful thinking, but might the Yankees and A-Rod mutually agree to part company in the form of a trade? And might the Yankees turn to the Cubs for some pitching help? If Mark Prior comes back and comes out of the gate strong, Prior (and a couple of others) might be the bait that's needed to reel in A-Rod to be the shortstop of the Cubs.

* I have advocated in previous posts for Mark Cuban to purchase the Cubs from the Tribune Company and turn this bunch of hapless losers into perrenial winners. As proof of what he can do as the owner of a team, his upstart Mavericks beat the Spurs last night in overtime in San Antonio. That was no small feat. I was happy for him. But did it disturb anyone else to watch Cuban give a prolonged, unnecessary "Johnny Cochran hug" to one of the Dallas players? The poor guy couldn't pull away because it was the guy who signs his checks that was giving him the hug. And it was evident that Cuban had no intention of letting him go. As much as I like Mark Cuban, I think I (and the rest of America) would be more comfortable having him sit - and remain - in the stands during the game.

* I'm still reeling from the inane comments made by Andy MacPhail concerning the problems faced by the Cubs. The Cubs are last or next to last in eleven different offensive categories in all of baseball. Not just in the NL, but in all of MLB. Yet MacPhail claims that the real problem is that the Cubs aren't driving in enough runs. Maybe that's because no one is getting on base. And that could be because Jim Hendry built the 2006 Cubs around speed rather than OBP. The fact that MacPhail doesn't recognize this fact after so many years at the helm of the Cubs is just one more reason why he should get his walking papers.

* I read an interesting point on another blog. The post indicated that the current situation with the Cubs is so frustrating because it is so static. No one on the team is showing any signs of improvement, the front office isn't showing any signs of working a trade or otherwise improving the team, and the payroll is too high for the Cubs to blow things up and start over (Read: rebuild). The knuckleheads who built this mess are still firmly entrenched and the guy that they brought in to manage the mess continues to do a poor job of firing up his minions. And to add insult to injury, the Cubs field general is rumored to being on the verge of receiving a contract extension. In other words, things are bad and nothing is changing. Interesting way of looking at things.

* I've read several posts around the net about how the poster felt good about Barrett punching AJP over the weekend because it showed some life on Barrett's part and some competitive fire. BS. Barrett did something stupid that didn't help the Cubs in the short term and will hurt them in the long term. And after watching the replay of Barrett's sucker punch, I'm still trying to figure out why AJP was thrown out of the game. If the target of a punch is going to be thrown out of a game, I would suggest Dusty have Neifi Perez start every game by punching out the best player on the other team. Neifi will get thrown out, which won't be much of a loss, and the other team will lose their best player. MLB needs to figure this one out before teams go to the baseball version of hack-a-Shaq.