Posts tagged ‘Ryan Dempster’

UPDATE: Today’s episode is up! Listen in iTunes or download the mp3.

Leave it to Cubs GM Jim Hendry to do exactly what we asked of him in Monday’s episode and make a big splash this week. In case you hadn’t heard, the cannonball-esque splash happened yesterday and is that Ryan Dempster re-signed with the Cubs for 4 years and $52 million.

We’ll have a special episode that covers the signing, comments by Demp on the Cubs’ preparedness for the playoffs, and another topic or two available at 5:00 PM CT today.

Stay tuned, and Go Cubs!

It was announced this weekend that the Chicago Cubs are going to have 7 players represent the National League in this year’s All-Star Game on July 15th. Seven Cubs! By mid-July it’s normally tough to throw a dart and hit 7 of them healthy enough to take the field, let alone represent something that isn’t a pain relief spray or tablet. And while the health thing is debatable on at least one Cubs All-Star, here they are, in all their glory:

Ryan Dempster - SP
Kosuke Fukudome - OF (starter)
Aramis Ramirez - 3B
Alfonso Soriano - OF (starter)
Geovany Soto - C (starter)
Kerry Wood - RP
Carlos Zambrano - SP

Congrats to each of them, and to Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who was directly involved with bringing at least 5 of these players to the Cubs. We don’t often sing his praises, but Hendry has bolstered the club especially in the last 2 years, and has made the Cubs more competitive with his deals each year since he started. Plus, it’s no secret that the day before the 2002 trade of Todd Hundley was one of the darkest days in Cubs history, or what The Rock would call rock bottom. Whenever the Cubs GM retires or moves on, he should be given a room full of plaques for that move. Not to mention any of the other moves that happened in order to bring many of the above players to the North Side.

However, there’s a few duds in every box, so since I had some time I went back and selected a few players that Hendry helped acquire that will represent no one in any All-Star game this year or likely any year. They play the same positions as the talented Cubs players selected by fans, other players, and Rockies coach Clint Hurdle.

Cliff Bartosh - RP
Freddy Bynum - OF (starter)
Todd Dunwoody - OF
Wade Miller - SP (starter)
Josh Paul - C
Neifi Perez - 3B
Les Walrond - SP

Okay, as sad as that list is, I have to admit that I only gained more confidence in Hendry in spending a few minutes looking at the lists of transactions from 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Jim and the Cubs front office drafted both Tim Lincecum and Micah Owings in the late rounds, but they both refused to sign. If they had (especially Lincecum), maybe the Cubs could have sent 8.

Anyway, best of luck to these players at Yankees Stadium (and at the skating rink, respectively) and thanks to Jim Hendry and his staff for working to better this franchise. They unquestionably have done that.

The Chicago Cubs unveiled their new international ad campaign on Tuesday. The new graphics, designed to highlight players’ diverse backgrounds, feature many current Cubs. Fukudome’s ad reads “I don’t need an interpreter. My bat does the talking,” and features images similar to those seen on the Japanese flag.

Information leaked to Cubscast from a source close to the team includes the rejected ads from this new campaign:

Ronny Cedeno’s ad was to feature the Venezuelan flag with text reading “My fans don’t need an interpreter either. .203 is .203 in every language.”

Felix Pie’s ad read “Felix Pie: Six Tool Player.” The prototype reportedly featured Pie, a native of the Dominican Republic, utilizing his 6th tool, a Corey Patterson mask. Pie is widely known for carrying it with him to lower expectations for his strike zone command. Unfortunately, all this ad accomplished was to lower expectations for the Cubs front office’s ability to do simple math.

Jon Lieber’s ad featured the American Flag and read “Sure I’ve been to foreign countries. We’ve played games in Canada and Miami. That’s two.” Also the white stars representing each state were replaced by tiny illustrations of Ford F-150’s.

Ryan Dempster’s ad proved to be difficult for the Cubs marketing brass with Dempster’s uncertain pitching role. Reportedly, they nearly approved a graphic that displayed the Canadian maple leaf, with the quote “In my country, if you’re bad at hockey you’re bad at baseball. And I can’t skate.”