MLB Trade Deadline Passed. Who’d I Get?

Well, today the expected happened.  There were a lot of rumors flying around and it could have ended up one of many, many ways, but the fact remains that Los Cubs traded away Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot to the Dodgers for Blake DeWitt and a couple surprisingly-decent-looking-on-paper prospects.

I’m sad to see them both go for a couple reasons not related to collecting (I’ll get into that part in a bit).  First, I really liked Lilly in our rotation.  His record this year was not indicative of his performance.  He’s been extremely consistent in his time with us, and was known a couple years back as a losing streak killer.  He rarely showed much emotion or fire on the mound, but you knew it was there deep down (see when he threw the glove in anger/disgust after giving up the homerun in the NLDS).  There’s the thought that we may be able to sign Lilly again in the off-season, since he is a free agent and Teddy R. loves the city and playing here as much as we’ve enjoyed having him around.  Here’s hoping that actually happens and we get a couple prospects for a two-month rental.

The bigger reason this trade saddens me is that it officially confirms that the season is lost for us.  I know, I know.  Many of you knew a long time ago that the season was over for the Cubs.  I was one of the few (Andy included) that was optimistic about this team.  I figured we dumped Milton Bradley and replaced his non-offense with Marlon Byrd and that would be the key to turning things around.  Sure the bullpen was shaky, but the offense would get us around it.  Well, early in the season, offense was fine, starting pitching was fine, but bullpen blew every damn game.  Then the bullpen eventually became brand new and was working correctly and the offense stalled out.  I still held out hope, because we hadn’t played the Cardinals all that much yet and despite how it looks, we were holding our own against the good teams.  What really killed us was our drastically bad records against the Pirates and Astros.  Against every other team we faced, we were only 1 game below 500 last time I looked (which was maybe a week ago).  Pretty shocking, isn’t it?  But yes, the bad teams destroyed us to the point of no return, which stings, but here we are.

I’m also sad to see Theriot go.  I wasn’t so low on him as most Cubs fans were/are.  I think that while he may not be worth the salary (even after losing arbitration), he is a decent hitter and can help out the team in more ways than people give him credit for.  I also liked him because I feel like I would be that kind of player if I were to have played baseball.  What killed Theriot for many people is his defense (which got worse this year) and his base running (look up TOOTBLAN, and you’ll find a picture of him – or at least his name in the definition).  I agree with these aspects, but dude normally hits for close to .300 and normally is better at getting on base and moving runners across, and is unfortunately the only guy we really have to run the bases, and has a simple but effective nickname created by merely placing a space in between the “e” and “r” in his last name.

Anyway.  When I started my player collections I said that I was looking for team longevity in the people I collect.  So, since Theriot no longer has any sort of longevity and since I have only been collecting his cards for a couple months, I am officially “trading” my Theriot collection for another Cub.  I mentioned this in passing in the Gint-A-Cuffs break, but the person taking The Riot’s spot in my binder will be….

The Best Young Closer in the Biz

Yes, I apparently am pitcher heavy now with Maddux as my ace, Dempster as my number two (as a Cub only for now), and Marmol finishing things off.

I already have plenty of items on watch for Marmol.  I think he’s going to be cheaper and easier than Theriot, too, which is a plus!  Again, the rules remain the same.  Not actively purchasing or trading for serial #’d cards lower than 50, but if I pull one in a pack, I will squeal like a little girl and mount that shit on my wall.

How do I feel about cutting ties with Theriot like this?  Not too bad, actually.  I still like Theriot, but he ain’t on the team anymore and I wasn’t invested in it long enough for it to be a big blow if I stop.

Also, I’m going to take this opportunity to announce that I am no longer trying to collect the sets I listed in my section of the trade page.  I’m finding little desire to complete them and feel like I really just started collecting sets when I got back into the hobby as a starting point.  It helped bridge the gap until I found my players.  I’m having much more fun going after specific guys than chasing after endless SPs that I don’t have the passion to track down.

So, what does this mean for you?  Well, I’ll have some Theriots to pass along if anyone may be interested (including a couple numbered cards and an auto – which I hadn’t gotten around to posting yet).  I’ll show my collection at a later time to maybe boost trade interest from another Cub or maybe Dodger fan.  Also, it means that if you look at the list of cards I needed to complete the sets on my section of the trade page (be sure to scroll down to “Jon”), you can figure out which cards I have and can offer for trades to you!