Will Baker stay in Chicago? Only he knows
The Chicago Cubs appeared headed into a season full of melodrama.
What will Dusty Baker do?
Baker, headed into his fourth year as Cubs manager, is unsigned beyond this season. Most managers would be uncomfortable going into a season with all the security of a lame duck.
What makes this odder is Baker has not pushed for an extension. His passive approach has raised suspicions that Baker will leave the Cubs after serving out his contract this season.
Baker said the Cubs first must decide the fate of general manager Jim Hendry, also in the final year of a contract. Baker said he is comfortable going through this season not knowing what’s next.
He did the same thing with San Francisco in 2002. The Giants reached the World Series despite infighting between Baker and the front office, and he left after the season.
“I’ll think about it when the time comes,” Baker said last month.
“My thing is if I can keep it simple, don’t distract my team, and if the team wins, everything else takes care of itself.”
Baker’s time with the Cubs has been tense.
The specter of a blown 3-1 lead over Florida in the 2003 National League Championship Series still hangs over the Cubs. Baker has been criticized for pushing starting pitchers too hard and a lack of attention to detail.
The Cubs unraveled last season. Baker seemed unhappy and disconnected from his team.
“I’ve been perceived in more false ways since I’ve been in Chicago,” Baker said. “Perception doesn’t bother me. I’ve got a job to do.
“Supposedly at this time last year, I was going to five teams. I’m still here to win.”
The Chicago White Sox’s success with a smaller payroll has put pressure on the Cubs. Hendry improved the team by bringing in Juan Pierre to fill the troublesome leadoff spot and adding bullpen depth.
The rest is up to Baker.
Winter-league draft offers insight
Talent evaluators in the Dominican Republic have been high on Rangers left-hander Fabio Castro, the top pick in the December major league draft, for some time.
The six clubs in the Dominican winter league have an annual draft of young native talent.
In 2004, the Gigantes del Cibao club took Castro with the fourth pick overall.
Center fielder Melky Cabrera, a top New York Yankees prospect, was the second pick in that draft. Touted Rangers right-hander Edison Volquez went in the fourth round.
The winter-league draft offers insight into which organizations are doing well in the talent-rich Dominican and which clubs are struggling.
In the last two years, the Chicago Cubs have had the most players selected with 12, one more than Detroit. Houston and Cincinnati have had only one player drafted. The Rangers have had three players drafted.
Bonds doesn’t want to bat second
Barry Bonds has a message for San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou: he doesn’t want to bat second in the lineup.
Bonds made the comment after hearing reports that Alou told Giants fans in San Francisco recently that he was thinking about using the seven-time MVP in the No. 2 hole to get him more at-bats.
Bonds was sidelined for most of the 2005 season with a knee injury and Alou anticipates having to pull him for a defensive replacement late in games.
The outfielder has typically batted third or fourth.
“I am going to speak with Felipe, because at this point in my career it doesn’t work for me to be second bat,” Bonds told the Dominican newspaper, El Caribe, for its Sunday editions.
Bonds, 41, said his knee feels good and he continues rehabilitation.
“I feel positive about next season to be able to contribute to my team’s cause,” he said.
Bonds has 708 career homers, third on the all-time list behind Babe Ruth (714) and Hank Aaron (755).
The outfielder was in the Dominican Republic to play in the Juan Marichal Golf Classic, whose proceeds go to the needy in the Caribbean nation. The event finished Sunday.
Clearing the bases
Promising right-hander Kyle Hancock remains in a limbo of his own making. Hancock, a third-round pick, signed with Colorado last summer for a deal that included a $460,000 bonus. After less than a week with the rookie-league club, Hancock decided he would rather play at Arkansas. Too late, the NCAA said. Hancock had forfeited his eligibility. Colorado put Hancock on the restricted list, which keeps his rights with the Rockies. … Ten-run outbursts are common in the American League, but a team determines its fate by what happens in the other games. The world champion Chicago White Sox were 91-63 last season when scoring fewer than 10 runs. The Los Angeles Angels were second at 82-67. The Rangers were 66-81 in those games.