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In an attempt to make their ballclub better, the Cubs just traded for catcher Jason Kendall.
The Cubs will send catcher Rob Bowen and minor league pitcher Jerry Blevins to the A's for Kendall.
I can't say I've ever really like Jason Kendall, but he has to be a step up from the catchers the Cubs were throwing out there. What I know of Kendall is that he's a good leader, he's durable and he's in the final year of a huge contract. Maybe he'll have a strong second half in an effort for a decent free agent contract after the season.
For his career he's thrown out 29% of base stealers and he's thrown out 20% of runners this season. Both numbers are below league average. He's a career .298 hitter (.375 ob %), but this season he's slumped to .226 (.261 ob %) at the plate. At one time he had very good speed for a catcher (26 sb's in 1998), but he is about average now (3 sb's in 2007). He does seem to have good bat control as he rarely strikes out (27 k's this season).
Alright, let me give my own thoughts. The Cubs are trying and Management is trying to show they care. They needed to upgrade at catcher, and while Kendall isn't Pudge Rodriguez, he is an upgrade over what they had. Plus, baseball history is filled with guys who make a push during the second half of their free agent season. This seems like a low risk, high reward move for the Cubs.
More than anything, I'm wondering how he'll handle the Cubs pitching staff. If I remember correctly, Kendall is a very intense player and that may not be a good match with the uber-intense Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly. He might be able to light a fire under Sean Marshall and Rich Hill but.....On top of that, the Cubs pitchers have some filthy stuff, so it will be of the upmost importance for Kendall to get used to that and block balls and call the correct pitches. He comes from a very good pitching staff in Oakland, so he hopefully will become familiar with the Cubs staff quickly. The Oakland staff has had a lot of turnover the past few years, so he has a track record of getting used to new pitchers quickly.
In other news, the Cubs won again as they came back and beat the Giants 3-2. Aramis Ramirez had a key two-run double in the 8th inning and Rich Hill pitched splendidly (8 ip, 2 runs). I watched most of this game as Hill and Giants phenom Tim Lincecum spent the first six innings pitching near flawless baseball. Bobby Howry pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save of the season.
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Forgive me here Jack, but didn't i hear something about Marshall being involved?
Um, I just made a phone call to confirm and no...Marshall is not involved in this trade.
Jack Cobra is really bringin his A-Game of late. I look forward to his Cubs coverage as they begin their run at the NL Central. To all the brew fans, HOLY SHEETS that was a bad break.
Karl Ravich on Baseball Tonight was using Marshall's name with the trade. I about flipped my lid when he said Marshall was the guy traded. But, all the website's and Cobra's phone call confirm that the team mgmt were not absolutely insane.
yes, that would be a bit much to give up. Blevins is a left handed pitcher, but I believe he's a reliever in the low minors.
solid move by the Cubs. He doesn't play good defensively, and he doesn't really give you any pop, but he does get on base enough to have been the leadoff hitter for the A's last postseason.
Plus, all his best years were in the NL, so he should be at best, decent.
The Sean Marshall rumor was ESPN failing to fact-check before breaking the story. The pitcher was a 6'6" lefty, so I imagine someone just assumed "tall lefty Cub, must be Sean Marshall."
On the crawl at the bottom of the screen DURING the game, ESPN had it correct. But, for whatever reason, Ravech kept saying Marshall even 45 minutes into Baseball Tonight. . .do they not have producers on that show?
"I can't say I've ever really like Jason Kendall..."
Never?! I'm not saying he was ever Johnny Bench but he has had seasons of .327, .332, .320, .325 & .319 and has a career .375 OBP.
He had some good years with the Pirates but for some reason I never really cared for him. I thought he was too small, didn't hit for enough power, I thought his speed was overrated. He is very durable though.
Sometimes there are players you just don't like, he was one of them.
Aren't you forgetting a little matter like how frickin' old Jason Kendall is, in catcher-years?
The guy's got nothing left in the tank.