Quade In, Spier Gone

What could be more exciting than more news about the Cubs coaching staff? How about the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)? Hey, let’s talk about both.

Today, the Cubs announced that Mike Quade will be joining Lou Piniella’s staff. Quade, who previously managed the Cubs AAA team in Iowa, will take over the 3rd base coaching duties. Quade is a Chicago-area native, having graduated from Prospect Heights High School in 1975.

Chris Spier, who replaced Wavin’ Wendell Kim as the Cubs 3rd base coach under Dusty Baker, will not be returning to the team. There was speculation that he would be returning despite receiving an embarrassing DUI during the 2006 season, but those rumors were put to rest on Tuesday.

I’m not going to say much about the CBA other than to say that it is far too boring to be read in its entirety. One thing I can tell you is that under the new CBA, no teams will be contracted. The Winner of the All-Star game will still get home field advantage in the World Series (It’s still a bad idea!).

Also, in the past, teams received draft pick compensation when they lost a free agent. That is being eliminated. However, the new rule is being phased in over time depending on the type of free agent involved. Trust me, you don’t want to know any more than that.

At the moment, the Cards have a 2-1 lead in the World Series. Personally, I have gotten sick of hearing all of the experts expound on how the AL is vastly superior to the NL and how no matter which team came out of the NL, they were likely going to be four or five game victims to the Tigers. I’m not saying the Cards are going to win the World Series. The Tigers are still a very good team. All I’m saying is that it’s good to see these so-called experts have to eat their words.