The Chicago Cubs made an unsurprising move at today's trade deadline shipping starting pitcher Ted Lilly and infielder Ryan Theriot to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Blake DeWitt and minor league pitchers Brett Wallach and Kyle Smit.

In Lilly, the Dodgers add a veteran arm that will fit nicely into the middle of their rotation behind Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.

This has been Lilly's worst year record-wise in his four seasons with the Cubs, posting a 3-8 record but boasts an ERA of 3.69 and 1.14 WHIP.

Lilly's numbers have not been as great as they have been in previous years, but his 3-8 record is quite misleading as he has gotten little run support from the terrible Cubs offense.

The Dodgers also receive Theriot in the deal with the Cubs who has had a solid season at the dish with a .284 batting average, but has been below average fielder especially since moving over to second base, where he would likely play with the Dodgers.

As for the Cubs side of this deal, I believe they did quite well considering Lilly will likely only be a rental for the Dodgers and that Theriot had really fallen out of favor with the Cubs because of his poor defensive play.

In the trade, the Cubs add an immediate replacement for Theriot in DeWitt, who is younger, with a good amount of upside and is under team control until 2014.

DeWitt has similar offensive stats as Theriot with a .270 batting average 30 RBI and only one home run, but DeWitt is slightly better than Theriot in the field, plus is five years younger than Theriot.

Of the two minor league players that the Cubs acquired in the trade, Wallach has the highest upside. 

Wallach is the son of former Major League pitcher Tim Wallach and is rated 20th among Dodger prospects by Baseball America. Wallach figures to be a third spot in the rotation type of guy, but is still far off as he currently resides in Single-A.

The other minor leaguer that the Cubs received from the Dodgers is reliever Kyle Smit, who just recently jumped from Single-A to Double-A. This season in the minors Smit has posted a 5-3 record with an ERA of 2.35 in 53.2 innings pitched.

As for who wins this trade, it is difficult to say right now. If the Dodgers somehow catch the Padres in the West or capture the Wild Card I would give them the edge.

However, as it stands right now, I would have to give the edge to the Cubs as the Dodgers get a rental starting pitcher and an average middle infielder for two solid pitching prospects, and a young middle infielder who is similar to who they acquired.

As a Cubs fan I am very pleased with this trade, although it is tough to see fan favorite Lilly go, it is nice to see that the Cubs were able to get good value out of him. Plus, the Cubs also add DeWitt, who I have had my eye on since his rookie season.

All in all, I believe this is a good trade for the Dodgers in the here and now, but next year and beyond this trade only helps the Cubs and not the Dodgers.

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Haven’t done one of these in a long time, but a glance at my Google alerts shows more than 500 notices, so here goes.

• Bruce Markusen at Hardball Times, conducted this interview with Dan Epstein , author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass . HT also ran this review of The Eastern Stars (upshot: “The Eastern Stars leaves the reader with a much clearer impression of where these players come from, and the lives led by their parents and grandparents. But it doesn’t do much to explain why San Pedro has been responsible for so much baseball greatness, and it leaves the prospects themselves just as opaque as they’ve always been.”
• Howard Bryant, author of The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, will present and sign his new biography of the baseball legend at Book Soup, 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Monday, Aug.  2 at 7 p.m. For info, call 310-659-3110.
• Any link to baseball is better than no link at all: The Wall Street Journal ran this book review of The Man Who Sold America , the biography of major advertising maven Albert Lasker . So what, you may ask? So this: “A major investor in his beloved Chicago Cubs, Lasker persuaded owner William Wrigley to change the name of Cubs Park to Wrigley Field—Lasker wanted to help the chewing-gum magnate sell more product. When the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal threatened the sport, Lasker came up with the plan to restructure major-league baseball and appoint Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as its czar.”


Josh Wilker -- Photo by Scott Strazzante/Chicago Tribune

• Macleans , Canada’s answer to Time and Newsweek , published this review of Sean Manning ’s Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick Their Favorite Baseball Player . Upshot: “When it comes to real, living players, though, the contributors to this book often seem to be working out their own conflicted feelings about the game.”
• The Chicago Tribune ran this nice little piece on local boy Josh Wilker , author of Cardboard Gods .
• On his Baseball Past and Present site, Graham Womack discusses Ted Williams ‘ Hit List , written by Williams and Jim Prime. What’s particularly interesting is the question of methodology  for books written pre- and post-Internet. “Williams compiled his book in an age before high-speed Internet and statistical repositories on the Web made such comparisons instantaneous. For being only 15 years old, the book seems from an entirely different era, when subjective analysis by writers or a legend like Williams was the best baseball fans could get. Now, anyone with a computer can be an expert.” Perhaps not an expert, but players have to be careful from making claims about their careers, because, as Casey Stengel used to say, You can look it up.”
• I feel for this guy: A Seattle baseball fan/book lover is selling his collection of some 800 fiction titles via Craig’s list . Or maybe you’d like The SABR Review of Books , via eBay.
• Baseball-Fever has a discussion on “what books had an impact on you ?”
• In acknowledgment of today’s trade deadline, here’s a review of Traded: Inside the Most Lopsided Trades in Baseball History , from waswatching.com (must be some kind of record for most uses of “trade” in the same sentence).
• The Huffington Post combines its reputation as trend-setter/arbiter-of-taste with baseball with this essay on how to fix the game , according to contributor Prof. Peter Dreier (with a reference to Robert Elias and his “fascinating new book, The Empire Strikes Out.”)
• Finally, congratulations to Bill Madden , author of Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball , who was recently inducted into the writers’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. In an article on Northjersey.com , Madden said, “I’ve always considered myself to be more of a historian than a writer. I believe through the books we’re able to pass down from generation to generation the history of baseball, and that’s what I tried to do.”

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A defeat is bad — a blowout loss is even worse.  The Chicago Cubs know exactly how it feels tonight in Coors Field with an inexplicable 17-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

They had no hitting and plenty of bad pitching.  The 17-run loss is their worst this season after a 16-5 defeat by the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day.

Giving up 12 runs and 13 hits in the eighth inning is the last thing any Cubs fan would like to see.  The Cubs seem like a team made up of amateurs facing a major league team for the first time. 

On the other hand, it is a well-deserved victory for the Colorado Rockies to start a mini five game homestand at Coors Field after a terrible road trip (3-11). 

The game was pretty much decided early in the game.  After pitching through a one-hit two innings to start the game, Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster (8-8) was shaky in the third and let the Rockies take a 3-0 lead. 

With one out, he gave up two consecutive hits, a single by pitcher Jeff Francis and a ground-rule double by centerfielder Dexter Fowler.  Both were sent home by right-fielder Seth Smith who hit a double to the right field.  After striking out first baseman Carlos Gonzalez for the second out, he issued three walks; the last one to catcher Chris Iannetta produced the Rockies’ third run in a bases-loaded situation. 

Cubs manager Lou Piniella saw enough in the fifth inning.  He had to pull Dempster out of the game with no out after serving up two more runs that included Gonzalez’s 20th home run of the season.

The Rockies hitting fiesta was in the eighth. A total of 18 Rockies came to bat and a cycle was hit.  Each player scored at least one run and had one hit off the Cubs relievers.  They combined five singles, five doubles, one triple, and two home runs.  The triple belonged to Iannetta and two dingers came from third baseman Ian Stewart, his 15th of the year, and centerfielder Dexter Fowler, his 3rd. 

The Rockies’ 11 consecutive hits in an inning become a new major league record.  They also set the franchise record by generating 13 hits in one inning.

Dexter Fowler continued his hot bat tonight.   Following a  two run, two RBI, 3-for-5 night on Thursday, he went 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, batting clean-up, also enjoyed a 4-for-6, 3-run evening.

The southpaw Jeff Francis (4-3) had an easy night on the mound facing the Cubs by allowing two runs in six innings of work.  He only scattered four hits and one walk.

Note : Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who was placed on the restricted list after the verbal altercation with teammate Derrek Lee, was reinserted to the team roster today. To make room for Zambrano on roster, the Cubs released the right-handed reliever Bob Howry. Howry had a stint of 0-0, 5.66 ERA with the team.

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Sometime prior to tonight's game against the Colorado Rockies, the formerly angry Carlos Zambrano, recently reinstated and recently healed, is expected to address his Cubs teammates to apologize for his June 25 outburst.

Of course, Big Z has already publicly apologized on ESPN. You can expect the next one to be as meaningless as this one.

Most fans and the entire organization, in fact, would rather see Zambrano just go away and not bother leaving a forwarding address.

But since they won't eat his contract, and the MLB Player's Union demands it, Carlos will return to pitch in the bullpen.

Look, the Cubs have nobody but themselves to blame for all this. They allowed Zambrano to destroy Gatorade coolers, act like a baby on the mound, and punch out teammates and did nothing about it. 

Now that he is no longer pitching well, they suddenly get tough on him and send him out for anger management therapy.

Zambrano's friend and current Sox manager Ozzie Guillen knows what's up.

"Carlos has been like that since he started playing baseball," Guillen told reporters a day after the incident. "Now all of a sudden he sucks and everyone points fingers at him. He was like that when he was winning. But you don't produce and don't do what you're supposed to do and make a lot of money, you're a target."

Now, don't get me wrong, Carlos is responsible for his actions. But Ozzie's right in the sense that how come the Cubs let him get away with this behavior in the past?

Well, it's because he's no longer good at pitching a baseball for a living.

When the Cubs wanted to get rid of last year's problem, Milton Bradley, they were fortunate enough to have suspended him toward the end of the season, so they didn't have to bring him back.

So now they're stuck in an awkward situation with the return of the immature right hander.

The players don't like him, the Cubs don't want him, and the fans are sick and tired of his act. Yet he'll be pretending to be sincere when he issues his bogus apology.

But to show Zambrano that we are not vindictive fans, let's help the big goof with the wording of his act of contrition.

"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," Zambrano should begin. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry...

"What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame. I owe it to my family to become a better person, I owe it to those close to me to become a better man. I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it," he should say.

Then, he could dazzle them with this finish: "I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again."

Ah, forget it — a professional athlete would never say something so lame!

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There is no denying the fact that Alex Rodriguez is having a bit of an off-year.

Entering July, his batting average and slugging percentage have dropped and he hasn’t been quite as patient at the plate. In July, he started turning things around, at least power-wise, by cracking five homers in the first 17 games of the month. His average and patience hadn’t totally returned, but it was a start.

Then he hit home run No. 599.

Since that time, just six games, A-Rod has gone cold. In that span, he has a decent batting average of .280. However, with just one walk, his OBP is a lowly .333 and his slugging percentage is almost non-existent (in A-Rod’s terms) at .360.

A-Rod says he’s happy with his approach at the plate , but when he’s not walking and not picking up many extra base hits, you know things are going wrong.

No need to sound any alarms here.

A-Rod will eventually come out of this funk, which has only been six games so far anyways. Hopefully he does it sooner than later though. You do get the feeling that he’s going to need to hit No. 600 to turn it around though.

So here’s hoping that he hits 600 tonight just so we can get this over with already and get back to the same old A-Rod.

Related Stories

• July 25, 2010 -- Yankees Notes: Recap, Aceves, A-Rod, Haren (0)
• July 24, 2010 -- Yankees Notes: Burnett, Milestones, Albaladejo, Swisher, Guillen (2)
• July 23, 2010 -- When and Where will A-Rod Hit No. 600? (1)
• July 23, 2010 -- Yankees Notes: A Mural, an Estate Tax, Arm Bands, Cubs, and a Bat Boy (0)

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Sure, it's Lee's right to decline any trade, something the man has earned through his  "10 & 5" rights, not to mention his no-trade clause.

However, if Lee was thinking about anyone other than himself, he would acquiesce and go to the Dodgers for another chance at the playoffs, while giving the Cubs an opportunity to land a prospect and secure some salary relief.

But no, it seems that D-Lee either doesn't want the pressure of being in a pennant race as the new face on a winning team, or he just wants to stick it to the Cubs.

Either way, it's a selfish move that greatly diminishes his credibility.

Now, if you think this is a sign of loyalty, think again. Being loyal would mean trying to help the team. Plus, just how loyal do you think he will be as a free agent?

Look, Lee is lucky anybody wants him with the kind of season he is having. Meanwhile, this is the second year out of the past three that Lee has stunk up the joint.

I tell you, if I was Jim Hendry, I'd sit him down and tell him to his face that if he wants to stay, fine, but he'll be sitting on the bench while Tyler Colvin learns the position.

I wonder if that would make Lee change his mind?

Either way, it's not just petty resentment that I am proposing; rather, it is a move that makes sense since Lee is not likely to return and the Cubs do need to find out what their options are.

Colvin should be someone they look at to replace Lee as the next Cubs first baseman, barring a trade. They have no one at the minor league level ready to take over, and Colvin has the kind of power you want at that position.

But we don't know if he can play first base, which is why he should get the opportunity now, while the Cubs continue to sink anyway, giving Hendry a more informed opinion as he builds next year's team.

But Hendry doens't have the backbone to stand up to Lee this way, so he'll probably continue to play every day and bat third in the lineup while walking away at the end of the season.

Again, it's his right. But the Cubs should exercise their rights as well.

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Some will view him as having one of the most dominating combinations of power and speed to ever play the game. Others, mostly Cubs fans, will view him as one of the biggest overpaid players in baseball history.

So, I raise the question, is Soriano a Hall of Famer?

Of course, right now, it’s too early to tell. He still has four years left in his contract, and he will be 38 years old at contract's end.

Soriano's  current numbers are not Hall of Fame worthy. He has a career batting average of .278, a total of 308 home runs, and 813 runs scored.

His power numbers are respectable, but nothing great.

Soriano has also stole 261 bags, hit 356 doubles, and has crossed home plate 909 times.

Soriano has about four and a half years to increase his numbers.

I project Soriano to retire with at least 350 home runs, 2,250 hits, 1,200 RBI, 1,200 runs, and 300 steals. While they may not appear to look like Hall of Fame numbers let’s dig a little deeper.

Based on my projections, he will be the seventh member of the 300-300 club. A club that includes Hall of Famers to the likes of Willie Mays, Andre Dawson Bobby Bonds.

Soriano will also be the third member of the 350-300 club and the fifth member of the 2,000-300-300 club. 

Back in 2001, Soriano won the Rookie of the Year Award with the Yankees. Along with being a seven time All-Star and won the gamems MVP honors in 2004.

Soriano's list of accomplishments doesn't end there.

He made the All-Star team three times as a second basemen and four times as an outfielder. He has won the Silver Slugger Award four times and has made the playoffs five times—including two trips to the Fall Classic.

More impressively, Soriano has had four seasons where he has gone 30-30.

Now, the key stay, in my opinion, that could make Soriano Hall of Fame worthy is his membership in the 40-40 club.

In the history of the game, only four players have achieved 40-40 status: Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano.

However, what do the other three members of the 40-40 club have in common?

They all have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs! If you’re linked to performance enhancing drugs, all your records should be tarnished whether or not you where using them at the time, in my opinion.

There are still lots of “ifs” and “buts” on whether or not Soriano is Hall of Fame quality.

But, if he plays four more seasons, stays healthy, and puts up average numbers, he should be able to produce along the lines of my earlier predictions.

In his prime, Soriano had the best combination of speed and power in the history of the game, and because of that, I think he deserves to go to the Hall of Fame.

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And with the Cubs always looking for the big name rather than the right choice, it wouldn't surprise anyone if they were to get him as the skipper for 2011.

There is just one problem.

Girardi is one of the most overrated managers in all of baseball. He will not only cost the Cubs a pretty penny, but wins as well.

But he won manager of the year four years ago

He finished fourth in the division with a 78-84 overall record. Not only that, he left his bruises on a lot of young pitchers.

Scott Olson (Girardi year in italics)

2006 (22-year-old rookie a year after having an elbow injury) -180.2 IP, 4.04 era, 1.30 WHIP

2007 - 176.2 IP, 5.81 ERA, 1.76 WHIP
2008 - 201.2 IP, 4.20 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
2009 (Left shoulder surgery to end the season) - 62.2 IP, 6.03 ERA, 1.72 WHIP
2010 (Out in late May with left shoulder tightness) - 43 IP, 3.77 ERA, 1.37 WHIP

Josh Johnson (Girardi year in italics)

2006 (22-year-old rookie) - 157 IP, 3.10 ERA, 1.30 WHIP

2007 (Tommy John Surgery) - 15.2 IP, 7.47 ERA, 2.43 WHIP
2008 (returns from Tommy John midseason) - 87.1 IP, 3.61 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
2009 - 209 IP, 3.23 ERA, 1.16 WHIP
2010 - 134.1 IP, 1.61 ERA, 0.97 WHIP

Ricky Nolasco (Girardi year in italics)

2006 (23-year-old rookie) - 140 IP, 4.82 ERA, 1.41 WHIP

2007 (out 75 days with right elbow inflammation) - 21.1 IP, 5.48 ERA, 1.64 WHIP
2008 - 212.1 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.10 WHIP
2009 - 185 IP, 5.06 ERA, 1.25 WHIP
2010 - 130.1 IP, 4.35 ERA, 1.24 WHIP

Anibal Sanchez (Girardi year in italics)

2006 (22-year-old rookie) - 114.1 IP, 2.83 ERA, 1.19 WHIP

2007 (shoulder problems during spring training, demoted to AAA on May 4, surgery to repair tear in his labrum June 21) - 30 IP, 4.80 ERA, 2.07 WHIP
2008 - (returns midseason) - 51. 2 IP, 5.57 ERA, 1.57 WHIP
2009 - 86 IP, 3.87 ERA, 1.51 WHIP
2010 - 115.1 IP, 3.59 ERA, 1.44 WHIP

Dontrelle Willis (Girardi year in italics)

2003 (Rookie of the Year) - 160.2 IP, 3.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP
2004 - 197 IP, 4.02 ERA, 1.38 WHIP
2005 - 236.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 1.13 WHIP

2006 (24 years old) -  223.1 IP, 3.87 ERA, 1.42 WHIP

2007 - 205.1 IP, 5.17 ERA, 1.60 WHIP
2008 - 24 IP, 9.38 ERA, 2.21 WHIP
2009 - 33.2 IP, 7.49 ERA, 1.93 WHIP
2010 - 65.2 IP, 5.62 ERA, 1.95 WHIP

As a Rookie of the Year winner on a World Series winner, Dontrelle Willis pitched 160.2 innings. 

If Willis was pitching 160.2 innings, then why were Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, and Ricky Nolasco, as 22 and 23-year-olds, pitching more or around that same level on a team that was clearly not going to win the World Series?

Notice the setbacks and injuries each of these pitchers have had in their careers and in the case of Willis and Olsen, the essential endings of their careers after Girardi wham-bam-thank-you-ma'amed them in a quest to finish fourth in the division.

The Cubs need look no further than Kerry Wood or Mark Prior to know the effects of overworking pitchers under the age of 25.

Do you want to rebuild a team with young pitching via Giradi's managing tactics?

But he won a World Series

Is it hard to put together a lineup featuring Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Nick Swisher? 

Can you close your eyes and point?  You could literally be blind and make a good lineup out of that cast.

The New York Yankees went out and got Girardi not just the best talent in free agency, but in the game in the forms of Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett, while trading for Nick Swisher.

Yes, I'm sure it was hard putting up with the Alex Rodriguez mess, so Girardi put his thinking cap on and played Cody Ransom and Ramiro Pena? 

Really? 

The Yankees went 13-15 during that stint. 

I guess the Yankees forgot to buy Girardi a backup third baseman.

With all the problems that usually come with Alex Rodriguez, Girardi received a gift in the fact in 2009 Rodriguez stayed out of the spotlight and just played baseball. 

Is it really that hard to hand the ball to a healthy Sabathia, Burnett, and Andy Pettitte over and over again?  The only real decision Girardi had during the 2009 season he made a mess of, deciding between the fourth and fifth starter for the Yankees.

Girardi threw around Joba Chamberlain, Chien-Ming Wang, Phillip Hughes, Sergio Mitre, and Chad Gaudin when in reality, for the future of the Yankees, and for the best pitching staff, it clearly should have been Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. 

You do not give up on a 23-year-old like Phillip Hughes and stick him in the bullpen.  Yes, he did a fantastic job in the bullpen, but after starting 13 games three years previous in his rookie season, you give up on him after eight starts?

Seemed as though Girardi finally learned his lesson, starting Hughes in 2010 where he is 12-3 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP and made the All-Star team, but beware of Girardi breaking his arm as he is on pace for 200 innings in his first year as an everyday starter. 

Hughes has never pitched more than 86 innings.

Chamberlain has never recovered with Girardi's managing as he's sporting a 5.95 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP in 42.1 innings out of the bullpen.

What did the Yankees do? Went out and got Girardi Javier Vazquez, since he couldn't handle the fourth and fifth spots.

Don't give Girardi credit for finally giving Brett Gardner playing time either. He was forced into that situation as the Yankees did not re-sign Hideki Matsui and traded Melky Cabrera for Vazquez.

Yankees made it easy for Giradi, however, by signing Curtis Granderson.

Best analyzing one can do when looking at the managing of Girardi is what he did two years ago with the New York Yankees.

What happened when the Yankees were hit with injuries to Jeter, Rodriguez, Posada, and the main horses for Girardi's pitching staff were Mike Mussina and Pettitte?  What happened when Girardi had to do some actual managing? 

The Yankees didn't make the playoffs for the first time since 1993, finishing with 89 wins.

In the last two seasons, he was given the perfect team under perfectly healthy circumstances and he will most likely finish with perfect results.

What managing did he actually have to do?

Girardi is just a finger that can point to the bullpen when Mariano Rivera needs to come to the rescue, and with one of the worst bullpens in baseball this season, he hasn't been pointing to the right guys. 

That finger, however, may have another ring on it soon thanks to the All-Star Team New York Yankees.

The Cubs shouldn't put money in his hand, however, for those purchased rings on his finger.

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