Well, this week has been relatively quiet so far.
There was the big hoopla over the new boards that were put up in the left field bleachers to block TV cameras from viewing the Horseshoe Casino ad on Waveland Ave.
There was the stupid rumor about the Blue Jays trying to organize a trade of Roy Halladay to the Cubs in a deal that would contain Cubs #1 prospect Starlin Castro. My guess is that this rumor will continue to persist throughout the winter...and in the end will likely just be another Jake Peavy situation where a lot of reporters and bloggers have a big dream, but nothing really would be going on.
A trade for Curtis Granderson still sits out there as a possibility. Assuming the Cubs trade Milton Bradley (anyone? please?) the likelihood is that K-Fuk is moved back to right field and the Cubs get a center fielder. Granderson is on the market from the Tigers...but I think the Cubs will need to dump both Bradley and Miles to get him. On the free agent front for center fielders there is Marlon Byrd (my preferred choice) and old man Mike Cameron.
We'll see.
That's about it right now for news.
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So, I have been asked, "why is the Dumb-ass of the Week award named after Michael Barrett?" and "what do I have against him?".
Most people think he was a nice guy. He was a somewhat decent hitter. So what's the deal?
Michael Barrett was a bad catcher. A really really bad catcher. He was able to mask the fact he was a bad catcher with his bat. But he was a bad catcher.
The high point of Barrett's time with the Cubs.
For some reason, after the 2003 season where the Cubs came to 5 outs of winnining the National League pennant, the Cubs decided one of their number one priorities in that off season was to get more offensive production out the catcher position.
This was possibly one of the worst premises that Jim Hendry has ever had as a GM. Hendry traded for oft injured and part time catcher/part time 3rd baseman, Michael Barrett, that offseason. It seems like a harmless deal at the time.
Now, I feel the catcher position is second least important as an offensive spot on the field next to the pitcher. It is the catcher's job to know his pitchers, to read scouting reports on the other teams and to understand baseball in general by basically having a full awareness of the current situation in the game. On top of that, the catcher must field his position well. Remember, the Cubs were able to get to 5 outs from the World Series with Damien Miller and Paul Bako as their catchers...who handled the pitching staff quite well. You don't need a good hitting catcher to be a good team.
Michael Barrett displayed almost non of these qualities as Cubs catcher. In 2005 he actually worked hard on his defense and had a somewhat decent year defensively, but the other things that a good catcher so desperately needs he was still lacking. And then he reverted in 2006 and 2007.
There was a big reason why most of the Cubs best pitchers during Barrett's stint with the Cubs preferred a different catcher when they pitched...most notably Greg Maddux, Carlos Zambrano and Mark Prior (when he was healthy for those 3 days).
The low point in Barrett's time with the Cubs. (I sense a pattern here.)
Was this all Michael Barrett's fault? No. Honestly, he probably should have been a backup catcher/3rd baseman/1st baseman in the major leagues. It is where his baseball skills would have been better used. In fact, that's what Montreal used him as when he played for them before 2004. He actually played a majority of his games at third base before 2003. He wasn't very good there...but as a backup, I guess that's ok.
Do I think Michael Barrett is dumb? Well, I don't think he's smart. But that's not the reason the award is named after him. The Dumb-ass of the week award is named after him because I believe that it was a dumb-ass move for the Cubs to have traded for him to be the starting catcher, especially for a pitching staff as talented as the Cubs pitching staff was. Why mess with that??? And I believe the trade was one of the reasons the Cubs never made it back to the playoffs again during the Dusty Baker era. (Another reason is Dusty Baker himself....but that's a story for another time.)
But he did fight a lot...(I didn't even put up picture of him starting to get into it with Roy Oswalt)...so that was entertaining.
So, there.
Postlude: Michael Barrett played in the Blue Jays organization last season...he was "injured" most of the year, but at the end of the season, is it believed the Blue Jays thought he was healthy enough to play, they just didn't want to use a roster spot on him.
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