After an offseason spent subtracting supposed clubhouse cancers from its roster such as Kent Mercker, Kyle Farnsworth and Sammy Sosa, the Chicago Cubs were hoping for a fresh start in Mesa, Arizona.
Unfortunately, this season is starting off in an eerily similar manner as last one for the Cubs. The spring started out poorly as Kerry Wood exited his start early on Mar. 9 with tightness in his shoulder. The oft-injured pitcher has not thrown in a game since then and has been diagnosed with bursitis in his shoulder and irritation around the rotator cuff.
As if Wood's injury last year weren't scary enough for a team that saw injuries to its rotation, bullpen and starting lineup, prized pitcher Mike Prior expressed discomfort in his elbow after making his only start of the spring on Mar. 10. Prior has been diagnosed with inflammation around the ulnar nerve in his elbow.
While Cubs management has downplayed the injuries, they are not a good omen for a team that could not stay healthy last year. In spring training last season, Prior went down with a strained Achilles early in the camp. While Prior and management insisted that Prior would only miss a start at most, the injury ended up keeping Prior out of two months of the season.
Prior's career has been marred by injuries thus far. After breaking onto the scene in 2002, Prior missed the end of his rookie season with a hamstring injury. The next year, Prior went down just before the All-Star break after colliding with the Atlanta Braves' Marcus Giles and landing on his shoulder.
Prior would return to pitch lights-out in the second half of the season and propel the Cubs to the playoffs, ending the season with 18 wins. It appears that may just be a tease for the Cubs though as Prior struggled through the Achilles injury as well as elbow discomfort last year.
Wood is no stranger to the disabled list himself as he has already undergone one Tommy John surgery and endured many other nagging injuries that have prevented him from winning more than 14 games in a season.
The Cubs hoped this would be the year that Prior and Wood would finally put it all together, but as of now, that's not looking too likely.
The injuries to the two have the ability to change the complexion of the Cubs' entire pitching staff. Right now, the biggest question mark is closer where Latroy Hawkins, Joe Borowski and Ryan Dempster are fighting for the job. If Dempster is needed as a starter, the Cubs would not hesitate to use him in that role. Likewise, if Glendon Rusch is thrust into the rotation, the Cubs may need to find a lefty for their bullpen elsewhere.
Regardless of how they adapt, this is not the fresh start the Cubs were looking for after 2004's headache of a season ...
It seems the Cincinnati Reds have cornered the market on talented young corner outfielders. Unfortunately for the Reds though, Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn cannot play in the same outfield, at least with Ken Griffey Jr. manning centerfield.
That means that one of those outfielders might be packing his bags soon.
The Dayton Daily News reported on Tuesday that the Reds may be trying to move Pena for a starting pitcher. The fact that the Reds would consider trading a 23-year old outfielder who hit 26 home runs last year in only 336 at-bats shows two things about their team. The Reds are loaded with young outfielders and devoid of solid starting pitchers.
The Reds recently announced that Paul Wilson will be their opening day starter. While Wilson had a decent year last year, winning 11 games with a 4.36 era, he is certainly not ace material. Clearly, the Reds need some help in their rotation and they feel that Pena might be expendable.
Pena entered the year in a battle for the job in right field with Austin Kearns. The team considered moving Kearns to third to fill a vacancy there, but the signing of Joe Randa alleviated that problem and set up a battle between Kearns and Pena.
While the two entered spring training relatively even for the job, Kearns has taken a commanding lead by hitting .440 in camp as of Tuesday. Pena, on the other hand, is hitting a meager .138 with 11 strikeouts in 28 at-bats.
Pena's struggle to make contact does not bode well for a player trying to prove he is more than an all-or-nothing hitter, a bad label to bear in an outfield that already has free-swinging Adam Dunn, who whiffed 195 times last season.
If the Reds do find a deal for a starting pitcher, the trade could benefit both the team and Pena. The Reds would get the pitcher they so badly need and Pena would get a fresh start in a place where he wouldn't have the pressure of distinguishing himself in a crowded Reds outfield.
