Thursday, December 31, 2020
If Only That Were True
Knuckleballer Phil Niekro died last week at the age of 81. If it seems like Niekro pitched forever, that’s because he more or less did, holding down a roster spot in the major leagues for 24 seasons. In fact, I’m a little surprised he retired so young, at the age of 48. Fellow knuckleball artist Hoyt Wilhelm pitched to within two weeks of his 50th birthday.
Anyway, MLB.com posted the speech Niekro gave at his HOF induction in 1997. In it, Niekro contended that no owner or player owns the game of baseball. “This game is owned and belongs to you, the fan. Cherish it and take care of it.” A beautiful sentiment, if only it were true.
The current situation in Chicago proves otherwise. For openers, the Cubs traded starter Yu Darvish to the Padres this week in what amounts to a salary dump. New team president Jed Hoyer would have you believe otherwise, but the four prospects (along with starter Zach Davies) the North Siders received in return for Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini have little going for them outside of their Greg Goossen-like youth; one of them is seventeen, two are eighteen and the fourth is all of twenty. It’s worth noting here that three of the these new Cubs have yet to play a single game in the minor leagues, even.
I keep hearing that the deal was “high risk, high reward.” Sure, if that makes you feel better. But what do you call nontendering outfielder Kyle Schwarber? It’s like Hoyer included Schwarber as a throw-in because the North Siders sure don’t have anything to show for his departure. What did Branch Rickey say about trading a player a year too soon rather than a year too late? That’s Schwarber, who hit 38 homeruns to go with 92 RBIs in 2019 before slumping to 11 and 24, respectively, in 2020, along with a .188 BA. Darvish falls into the “year too soon” category. It’s the return that makes you scratch your head.
It doesn’t really matter to me that Hoyer is said to be shopping catcher Willson Contreras or that the return on possible trades for soon-to-be free agents Javy Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo doesn’t promise to be all that much. My team has its own problems, well, one problem, actually. You know, hiring Tony LaRussa.
And that’s the thing of it. Phil Niekro should be right, only he’s not, never was and in all likelihood never will be. Owners own the game of baseball. The Ricketts family gets to cry poor all the way to the bank while Jerry Reinsdorf gets to indulge in his geriatric fantasies. Fans are left to do what they’ve always been told to, shut up and pay up. They can go on talk radio to complain or listen to the likes of Chris Russo, but that won’t change a thing.
Phil Niekro probably sees that clearly right now.
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