Carrie Muskat's Bosses Are The Raciest.

"I always knew I was tough," Baker said, "but now I know I'm really tough."

Earlier today, the Chicago Tribune announced that it would not offer a contract extension to Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker, after a season in which his team finished 66-96, last in the National League.

Carrie Muskat, of course, joined in on the chorus of "Blame Anybody But Dusty." Included in the article:

All of the Cubs players agreed it was unfair Baker, 57, took the blame for the disappointing season.

"He was the main reason why I came over here," Cubs outfielder Jacque Jones said of Baker.

"Maybe some of us should be fired or released, but it's sad that the manager, the coaches, the [general managers], the presidents -- it's sad that those guys have to go."

You mean the guys who were responsible for putting together and managing this 66-96 team? Not sad. And don't worry, Jacque, I'm sure some of your teammates will be cleaning out their lockers.

The lengthy injury list included life threatening blood clots to Glendon Rusch and Freddie Bynum, and an intrascrotal hematoma to catcher Michael Barrett because of a foul tip. Those are things no manager could prepare for.

I'd like to state that there has never been a baseball team that wasn't forced to deal with some sort of injury during the season. I would also like to point out that Glendon Rusch and Freddie Bynum were more integral to the Cubs' 96 losses than they were the 66 wins. Rusch: -12.6 VORP. Bynum: 44 K in 136 AB, with 9 BB and a .308 OBP.

And of course:

Baker wasn't consulted on the deals, such as the Aug. 20 trade which sent Neifi Perez to the Detroit Tigers. Baker found out during the national anthem of the Cubs game that day, and was called off the field to give Perez the news.

Why would the Cubs consult Baker before making ANY deals? He played Bynum and Pagan over Murton for 35 games/175 at-bats. He batted Neifi Perez first or second in the order for 684 AB over the last 2 + seasons (.269/.292/.375). He said that he would have Marshall or Hill in the rotation next year, but not both--which means that if Hill underperformed in spring training, he'd be cut to give Sean Marshall a spot in the rotation.

And also I am sure that the Cubs' brass did not break the news to Baker DURING the national anthem, forcing him to pull Neifi aside DURING the national anthem. Way to demonize your bosses, though, Carrie. Because we all know how un-American the Chicago Tribune has been (1919).
"We've been through a lot this year," Cubs outfielder Matt Murton said. "We've had a lot of new faces in this clubhouse, and no matter what happened, we went out there and continued to fight and compete. We didn't have the success we wanted in the win and loss column, but we won our last game, which was nice."

Thank you for seeing the silver lining, Murtron, and for being a robot incapable of feeling sorry for this "dude." Now please have a crazy journey through New York before upgrading your processor so that you can prove PECOTA and the Baseball Prospectus wrong by displaying considerable power next year.

We'll have something a little more substantial about Dusty tomorrow, but until then here is my favorite picture.


















Umpires are the raciest.