Peter Gammons wonders if Carlos Marmol may be headed for trouble with his 2009 schedule.
Marmol currently is pitching in the Dominican before heading to spring training, which precedes the World Baseball Classic. After the WBC he'll head back to spring training and then head into the regular season.
Too much? It very well could be.
Marmol will be the Cubs closer this season, and his arm needs to be as lively in October as it is in April.
The Cubs had enough dead-arm issues last season with Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden, and if they get Jake Peavy, his arm also will be a concern in September.
There's no reason to include Marmol in that group. Jim Hendry should do everything he can to get Marmol to skip the World Baseball Classic. It's a nothing event that can do a lot of damage to a team's World Series hopes.
There are some events you take the risk, like with the Olympics. Kirk Hinrich played in the World Championships in 2006, and he obviously suffered from some level of fatigue in the 2006-07 season. But I think it was worth it to have a young player compete on that level.
With a pitcher like Marmol, arm issues are too risky. There's too much at stake.
I have friends who are ardent baseball fans, and even they couldn't care less about the World Baseball Classic. Players get out of these types of events all the time. The Cubs might want to help Marmol find the way.
I do not know one single person that cares about the World Baseball Classic.
World baseball classic? wtf is that? lol
Face it, Kirk knew his team wasn't going nowhere and he knew he wasn't going to be asked to participate in any all star games or activities. Kirk even knew his time on the court was going to be cut in half after the Bulls made their selection. Kirk stole a once in a lifetime chance to win. Good for him.
Marmol on the other hand - has a lot to lose. A world series championship comes along...once in a lifetime. I don't have to tell Cub fans that.
The guy is a bum for not pitching for his country say his friends, neighbors and local media at home. If he does pitch in the winter leagues and WBC the media in Chicago call him a bum. Please explain how he has a win win situation for anybody? Funny thing is a year ago most people had never heard of him outside of a few die hard Cub fans and baseball insiders.
Kirk had his best season in 06-07, so I'm not sure what fatigue you're talking about. He had an awful season in 07-08, and all he did with the national team that year was the early few days of practice. He spent the rest of the summer skipping the Tournament of the Americas to get married.
Roman responds: His stats were almost identical in 06-07 as they were in 05-06, and they dipped considerably in the playoffs. I know he took time off during the tournament, but I believe he spent more than a couple weeks. And I remember thinking at one point during the season he was fatigued.
Roman - do you know if teams can protect themselves from this sort of risk when they sign these players? Maybe a right to refuse players certain activities outside their professional duties? Sort of like the NBA motor cycle cluses you hear about.
If teams can do this, the Cubs have no one to blame but themselves if their players get injured or overworked. A team should protect itself and its fans if it possibly can.
Roman responds: Major League Baseball strongly encourages participation. Team can't write it into contracts not to participate, but players can say no, like Dempster.
I think it could be a huge problem. How all saw how slow of a start Zambrano had in 2006 after he pitched in the WBC; 0-4 I think it was. That means he is pretty much pitching year round. Is there any time off??
So typical..Cubs have a terrific kid w/ an unbelievable arm and he throws it out playing in some goofy league. For cub fans it just goes on and on like aunt Esters ass.
On the other hand, a great baseball nation should be meddled with because some loser club like the Chicago Cubs like to dream of ever winning a World Series. Look at it this way: this year, when you lose you can blame the WBC for your woes!