The future starts last week

Theo Epstein and his lieutenants were busy last week.

On Thursday, the long-expected departure of Carlos Zambrano finally occurred, as he was dealt to the formerly-Florida-but-now-Miami Marlins for what appears at first to be a pittance. The Cubs received pitcher Chris Volstad. Yep, that’s it.

Furthermore, the Cubs will be paying $15.5 million of Zambrano’s $18 salary for the coming season. Needless to say, Volstad will not be seeing that kind of salary any time soon, or probably any time later.

The Cubs, then, traded a 30-year old with 125 career wins and an ERA+ of 122 for a 24-year old with 32 wins and an ERA+ of 90. Even accounting for the age difference, it doesn’t seem like a particularly good deal.

However, there’s more here. Zambrano, of course, is well-known for having, shall we say, psychological issues. These issues, along with some minor injuries, have caused him to average about 150 innings in each of the past three seasons. More worrying, his WHIP has risen during this time, and his strikeout rate last season was his worst since his rookie year.

All this is a long-winded way of saying that Epstein needed to dump Zambrano, and did just that. Zambrano may well bounce back this season, as he’ll be pitching for Ozzie Guillen, and theoretically will have something to prove, but it’s also likely he’ll have a meltdown and miss half the season.

Thursday’s trade was followed on Friday by another trade that is pure Moneyball. The Cubs sent pitcher Andrew Cashner to the Padres for Anthony Rizzo, a large young first baseman, who pummeled Triple-A to the tune of 331/404/652 in 2011, but in a two-month major league stint, not-pummeled the NL at a 141/281/242 clip. Rizzo is clearly the first baseman of the future, and furthermore, is a former Red Sox prospect, who was traded last winter for Adrian Gonzalez. If any evidence is needed that the Epstein regime will follow the established formula used in Boston, this is it.

A man of many talents

Newt Gingrich has now claimed to have beaten the Soviets, invented supply-side economics, balanced the budget with one hand while diddling Callista with the other, and claimed to be an expert on global warming because he knows how to spell 'Haplocanthosaurus'.

This begs the question - isn't being President a bit below his self-judged pay grade?

Oozing into contention

For anyone thinking that "gee, maybe Rick Santorum isn't so bad," (and yes, I realize that probably does not include anyone reading this humble space), bear in mind that he doesn't believe that a woman should have the right to choose whether or not to use birth control.

Ooh, helmety

Just you wait and see. When it's First Lady Callista, "helmet-hair" will make its long-overdue comeback.

That hair could probably stop a bullet.

The excitement is palpable!

New Year's Day has been so far spent:

- Watching Sunderland beat Manchester City.
- Observing that, aside from their ears, dachshunds are generally wind-resistant.
- Making chili.
- Watching a Three Stooges marathon.

Now, we drink beer.

deep thought

The Cubs now have Wellington Castillo, Darwin Barney, Blake DeWitt, and Thomas Diamond on their roster.

Jane Austen must have done their drafting the last few years.

What I write about when writing about someone who writes about running

I ran about three miles tonight, and my legs are feeling it. Further proof that it’s a lot harder to begin a running program at 49 than it was at 22. The heat has been no help, of course.

Despite the aches (Advil ahoy!), I can tell I’m making progress, albeit much more slowly than I’d like. The key is to be patient and keep in mind that it’ll take that much more time to get to a level near where I was ten years ago. I have lost a few pounds since the first of the year, and my resting pulse is lower, so there have actually been tangible benefits. Not having sore knees after running is an even greater benefit. Amazing how shoes make so much difference.

This brings me to a book review, of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami. I’ve read only one other book of Murakami’s, which I liked, so I know very little of his fiction writing, which is highly acclaimed.

There are moments of insight – his thoughts on why he still runs after unsatisfying results, and how it’s part of his entire persona. At times, though, and perhaps this is a result of being lost in translation, but the prose is pedestrian. Particularly at the end of his description of a run from Athens to Marathon, the writing is not what I’d expect from a novelist of his stature.

Despite the occasional clunker, though, it’s an interesting read, as Murakami subjects himself to fairly rigorous inspection as to just why he runs.