8/18/2003 01:50:00 PM by Rob

Numbers to chew on

I will give you four sets of numbers. It will be pretty clear what the first two sets are.

31 32 29 30 27 38 23 37 37 26 22
31 34 30 36 31 29 25 28 37 33 36 34 35

29 31 31 22 27 28 27 33 26 25 33 25
27 31 26 28 26 34 32 27 27 27 27 32 31

Cubs pitching staff, Cubs hitters, A's staff, A's hitters.

See all of the 26's and 27's on the lower half? What's more, all the "big numbers", like the 32's and 34's are guys like Jim Mecir, who are not counted on as building blocks.

On the hitter's portion, we have the 29 year old Augie Doggie, the 25 year old Ramirez, and the 28 year old Sausage Beater.

Since the peak of a player's performance typically falls in-between 27 and 32 years of age, doesn't it seem like the bargain basement A's are poised to kick into high gear very shortly, while the $80M Cubs have left their best rubber on the track already?

The spread looked the same in 1984, 1989, 1998, and 2001. The Cubs sold short, and took drastic nosedives the very next year, when all of the 36's and 37's started falling dead onto their own swords.

I remember back in 1999, when we started using the phrase "ETA-2001" for the arrival of the saviors Choi, Patterson, Luis Montanez and David Kelton, at the time lighting it up in Lansing. As the guys floundered along the way in Daytona and Jackson, TN, , and as Bobby Hill joined in, it got moved back to ETA-2002. When Prior came along, it became "ETA-2004". But how can it be when we might be the oldest roster in the majors by next year? Most of the guys we stand to lose (Augie, Alfucksucka, Glanville & Estes) represent the low end of the spectrum. Only Karros has a real high number amongst those not expected to return.

This is NOT the way to build a dynasty, I tell ya.

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