In Which I Finally Write About American Sports

Cubs Trade
On December 3rd, the Cubs traded Aaron Miles, Jake Fox and cash to Oakland for reliever Jeff Gray and prospects OF Matt Spencer and P Ronny Morla. As a Cubs fan, I have to say I am very pleased with this transaction. Any time you can get rid of Aaron Miles, you have done well as a GM, and while I liked Jake Fox, he simply did not have a future with the Cubs. It will do him well to get a fresh start in the AL where he can be used as solid insurance for breaking-down third baseman Eric Chavez, as well as possibly getting some starts at DH.
As for the additions to the Cubs, they got two solid players in the deal. Jeff Gray is a right-handed reliever who can hit 97 on the gun, and he had an extended stay with the A’s starting in early August last season, which was very impressive. He turned in a 1.71 ERA on the season until his last 6 outings, where he gave up 7 runs in 5.1 IP. He finished with a 3.76 ERA and solid 1.29 WHIP to go with 6.5 K/9. In AAA, he had a 1.54 ERA in 41 IP, with a miniscule 0.88 WHIP while giving up only 2 HR on the year. He will be given the chance to make the club out of spring training and will surely add valuable bullpen depth with his power arm throughout the season.
Matt Spencer is an intriguing 23-year old outfielder who split time in high-A and AA last season. Most of his time was spent in AA, where he hit .294/.347/.461 with 9 HR and 29 2B, and was rated as the #16 A’s prospect as of mid-season 2009. He has been compared to a young Jake Fox or Micah Hoffpauir. Ronny Morla is a 21-year old pitcher from the Dominican Republic and as spent the past two seasons at short-season A in Vancouver. Last season he put together a 1-7 record with a 4.86 ERA in 12 starts and 5 relief appearances. He did strike out 73 in 63 IP for a 10.4 K/9 ratio, and could be a project for the future.
All in all, the fact that we got more than a bag of peanuts in a trade for Aaron Miles (and we don’t have to even pay half his salary) is a positive, and we were able to turn Jake Fox into a couple promising prospects. Hopefully this eases the criticism of Jim Hendry just a bit.

BCS Bowl Thoughts
Well it is time for the yearly BCS controversy. My biggest beef this time around is the match-up of Boise State vs. TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. Both teams proved their worth against a BCS conference team earlier in the season (Boise State beating Oregon and TCU winning at Clemson, with solid wins against BYU and Utah). There are whimsical rumors swirling around that the BCS paid the Fiesta Bowl to take both to avoid non-BCS teams beating BCS teams, but I think that’s just hogwash. Still, the system is flawed enough and the BCS so stupid that who knows? It might just be true. My main issue is that for yet another year, we will end up with a non-BCS conference team that is undefeated and that never had a chance at winning the national championship. This has happened 3 times in the last six years, with Utah finishing 11-0 in 04-05, Boise State going 12-0 in 06-07 and Utah going 12-0 in 08-09. Not only that, but we will end the season with at least two, possibly three undefeated teams. At least this season there is not too much argument that the two best teams are in the national championship, but it is impossible to accurately determine who the “best two teams” are among 119 division I teams based on a 12-game regular season in where the schedule is as unbalanced as it could possibly be. The only feasible way to determine a good national championship game in this format is for the best teams to all play each other in the non-conference season, which will never happen. This is a broken record, but how will we ever know the true best team in the nation without a playoff? The NCAA needs to wake up and realize that change is needed.