Pitchers And Catchers Report

[Butcher]

Where is the article?

From what I know about DeRosa, it seems like he'd be a hard guy *not* to get along with.

[kbwsb]

Edited for Ace:
<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->DeRosa 'completely surprised'
New Year's Eve trade to Indians caught popular, productive ex-Cub off-guard

February 26, 2009
BY CHRIS DE LUCA cdeluca@suntimes.com
Mark DeRosa was one of the last players lingering in the Cubs' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium after Game 3 of the 2008 National League Division Series. As other Cubs were dressed and heading for the bus, DeRosa got philosophical.

''What will bother me the most,'' DeRosa said while scanning the room that October night, ''is when you see guys go to other teams.''

DeRosa, who truly felt that Cubs team was the special one, realized a club that had suffered its second consecutive sweep in the playoffs was in for some winter retooling. Some of those faces he had grown to love would be shipped away.

''And now I'm one of them,'' DeRosa said recently while standing in the Cleveland Indians' spring-training clubhouse. ''No, I didn't think I would be one of those guys, to be honest.''

None of us did.

Rewind to October, and DeRosa figured to be one of the core Cubs in 2009. He led the team last season with 103 runs, was third with 87 RBI, fourth with 21 home runs and hit a solid .285. <b>With runners in scoring position, he hit .322 -- tops among Cubs regulars</b>.
(for you guys saying we needed to get more "clutch.")

DeRosa played in 149 games in each of his two seasons with the Cubs, spending time at <b>all </b>four infield positions and <b>both</b> corner spots in the outfield.

But he did more than just play. <b>He was a valuable leader</b>. And when it came to dealing with the overbearing media in the most cramped clubhouse in baseball, DeRosa was there every day, taking the heat off his shy teammates.

''After the trade, I got calls from everyone, from the guy who parks the cars in the parking lot to Jim Hendry, players, doctors, trainers and everybody in between,'' DeRosa said. ''So I know that I left some type of impression on them.''

<b>Most teams put a premium on such players.

''He's a strong makeup guy,'' Indians manager Eric Wedge said. ''You can appreciate him on paper, but when you bring in the day-to-day guy he is, it's twofold. You double that.''</b>

This is not news to the Cubs.

From the moment the rumors surfaced during the Jake Peavy talks at the winter meetings, DeRosa being traded seemed far-fetched. Then general manager Jim Hendry pulled the trigger on Dec. 31, sending DeRosa to the Indians for minor-league pitchers Jeff Stevens, John Gaub and Chris Archer.

<b>Turns out Peavy wasn't even part of the equation.</b>

Does it make sense to DeRosa now?

''No,'' he said. ''You walk a fine line, though, because I want Cleveland to know how excited I am to be here. But at the same time, yeah, I was completely surprised. I don't understand why they made that move.''

That same day -- New Year's Eve -- the Cubs signed free-agent, switch-hitting infielder <!--coloro:#FF0000--><!--/coloro-->Aaron Miles to essentially replace DeRosa<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc-->. It was <!--coloro:#008000--><!--/coloro-->a serious<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--> -- and curious -- <!--coloro:#008000--><!--/coloro-->downgrade<!--colorc-->
<!--/colorc--> simply to get more left-handed in the lineup.

<b>DeRosa never seemed to hit it off with manager Lou Piniella, who arrived before the 2007 season along with DeRosa. During the 2008 playoffs, Piniella bristled when DeRosa said the Cubs were in a do-or-die situation after a Game 1 loss to the Dodgers.

Did DeRosa feel Piniella was pushing for his exit?</b>

''I don't know.'' DeRosa said. ''I didn't ask questions once they told me. It was done.

''They could say they are too right-hand dominant, they don't have to justify to me why they did it. I use it as motivation.''

It's clear DeRosa treasures his time in Chicago, but he is being the good soldier in Cleveland. <b>He already has established himself as a leader</b>. And DeRosa will spend most of his time playing third base.

"One half of your mind is disappointed that a team would trade you when you feel like you performed at a high level for them."

And, it's hard to let go of the Cubs' collapse in the playoffs.

After the 2007 first-round sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks, all of the clubhouse seemed to be hit hard. In 2008, many players seemed to accept the defeat and move. But not DeRosa.

''I thought last year was harder than the year before,'' he said. ''Definitely for me personally; I don't know about the team. In '07, we battled just to get into the playoffs. It was such a turnover with a new manager, new coaching staff, five or six new guys coming in. It took us a while to come together as a team. For us to push our way through and win that division, I felt that was the big step.

''I felt last year we had everything in line to really make a run at it. For me, walking away last year was way more difficult.''<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Butcher]

Unreal.

[kbwsb]

Yeah, isn't it awesome?

[jeffy]

<!--quoteo(post=20519:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:43 PM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Feb 26 2009, 02:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Unreal.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Again, all I can say is........damn, that blows [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif[/img]

[bz]

Honesly, this move will linger for a long time in my mind. He was a complete player for this team. He did it all...hit for a good average, good power, good situational hitting, good defense, played 1000 positions, was a leader, was well respected and well liked. The prototypical baseball player. And now we have Aaron fucking Miles and some prospects who won't do shit this season. Hendry will regret this. We will regret this.

[Tailgater]

<!--quoteo(post=20503:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20498:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->.285/.376/.481

DeRo<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


we know the numbers. he's gone, time to move on.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I haven't said much in here about it, but I have been bitching a lot to others. I'm not moving on from it until I see what we got in return. I don't give a fuck if Lou didn't get along with him or not. No one got along with Reggie Jackson on the A's. For all the great moves Hendry has pulled off since becoming GM, this is the one that will be rembered when he gets fired. It makes me even more upset when I hear people trying to figure out what the Cubs are going to do for backups at SS and 3rd. Well that was DeRosa, and what did we get in return? Three guys that have a slim chance of making to the majors, let alone be MVP of the team.

[jeffy]

Just when it seemed like the wound was finally starting to heal for some of us.......

Oh well, it's in the past now for me anyway......I guess.

[ColoradoCub]

Lou says that DeLuca is full of shit...

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->Piniella denies pushing DeRosa out door

By Paul Sullivan

MESA, Ariz.-- Did Lou Piniella push for Mark DeRosa's exit from the Cubs?

"I never had a problem," he said. "I liked the guy on the team. So did Jim (Hendry). So did everybody. Look, sometimes you have to do things you really don't want to do, but you do them."

DeRosa replied "I don't know" when the question was posed to him by a Sun-Times columnist in an article that suggested the two never "hit it off." Piniella was adamant on Thursday when asked if he had anything to do with the trade of DeRosa to Cleveland for three pitching prospects.

"How can they say that? That I didn't 'hit it off' with him?" Piniella asked. "Is that how he felt? I had nothing but respect for Mark. He played exceedingly well. I used him all over. I think he had his best season playing for me.

"I don't call players after they're traded. I don't make a habit of that. I talk to them when I see them in spring and the following summer. When I leave, nobody calls and tells me that 'I feel bad that you're not managing the team,' or whatever. Look, this is a situation where the move had to be made. I saw it on the ticker tape in Colorado while I was skiiing.

"There's so much payroll that you can have on a major league team. And the decision was made. They got three young pitchers for him. The thing about players, whether they're traded or whatever -- a manager is a manager. He manages what he has on the team. Sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to to do. But I never had any problems with him. I told their bullpen coach the other day to tell (Cleveland manager) Eric Wedge, 'No trips to Tucson for (DeRosa).'"

Piniella was puzzled over speculation he never "hit it off" with DeRosa, and about speculation a comment he'd made about DeRosa in the playoffs was relevant to the decision to trade him. After DeRosa called Game 2 a "do-or-die" situation last October, Piniella said it was the wrong things to said, and he reiterated that on Thursday.

"Look, it was not the right comment to make-- 'This is do-or-die,'" he said. "I wasn't talking about (DeRosa) specficially, (but) anybody. Are we going to trade somebody because he makes a comment? If that's the case, heck, we'd be trading half the team, including me."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[jeffy]

I believe Lou....

The trade wasn't a wise move, but I think Lou is being honest here.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=20516:date=Feb 26 2009, 01:27 PM:name=jeffy)-->QUOTE (jeffy @ Feb 26 2009, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20515:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:24 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Feb 26 2009, 02:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20503:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM:name=veryzer)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20498:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->.285/.376/.481

DeRo<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
we know the numbers. he's gone, time to move on.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Sorry tom, you're right. But, there was an article about DeRo today in which it was heavily implied that the only reason he was traded was because Lou didn't jibe with him, personality-wise.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Damn, that blows, if the article was true. I was not aware of that.

But what's done is done.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


the article was in the sun-times and it was entirely speculative.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=20532:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:16 PM:name=Tailgater)-->QUOTE (Tailgater @ Feb 26 2009, 02:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20503:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM:name=veryzer)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 26 2009, 12:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20498:date=Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM:name=KBwsb)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (KBwsb @ Feb 26 2009, 12:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->.285/.376/.481

DeRo<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


we know the numbers. he's gone, time to move on.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I haven't said much in here about it, but I have been bitching a lot to others. I'm not moving on from it until I see what we got in return. I don't give a fuck if Lou didn't get along with him or not. No one got along with Reggie Jackson on the A's. For all the great moves Hendry has pulled off since becoming GM, this is the one that will be rembered when he gets fired. It makes me even more upset when I hear people trying to figure out what the Cubs are going to do for backups at SS and 3rd. Well that was DeRosa, and what did we get in return? Three guys that have a slim chance of making to the majors, let alone be MVP of the team.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

the A's traded reggie jackson.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=20539:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:20 PM:name=jeffy)-->QUOTE (jeffy @ Feb 26 2009, 02:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->I believe Lou....

The trade wasn't a wise move, but I think Lou is being honest here.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


i believe lou too. wittenmeyer is making shit up.

[Tailgater]

<!--quoteo(post=20542:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:22 PM:name=veryzer)-->QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 26 2009, 02:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->the A's traded reggie jackson.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

After 3 World Series' With him winning Al MVP and WS MVP in the last one.

[veryzer]

<!--quoteo(post=20553:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:34 PM:name=Tailgater)-->QUOTE (Tailgater @ Feb 26 2009, 02:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=20542:date=Feb 26 2009, 02:22 PM:name=veryzer)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (veryzer @ Feb 26 2009, 02:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->the A's traded reggie jackson.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

After 3 World Series' With him winning Al MVP and WS MVP in the last one.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


exactly. they traded him in his prime. guess how many world series and ws mvps he won after he was traded.