FanHouse Rob Bowen

Lou Piniella is a lot of fun. Sometimes I don't think he can even remotely think about the words that come out of his mouth before he says them. Today, in the Chicago Sun-Times, he's asked about his catchers. He gives this response:

''They've all done a nice job -- all of them who have been here,'' Piniella said of Michael Barrett and Rob Bowen (traded), Koyie Hill, Henry Blanco (disabled list), Geovany Soto (returned to Class AAA Iowa) and Jason Kendall.

Holy cow. Barrett punched their ace in the face and was so irritable that he was traded for Bowen, who was so terrible that he was traded for Kendall, who's caught in a whole three games for the Cubs (and gone 0-for-8). Of course, all of this juggling of starting catchers has been necessary because the backups are Hill (OPS is under .600), Blanco (under .500 before his injury), and Soto (who they've only trusted enough to start in two games this year).

Nice. That's definitely the first word that comes to mind when I think of how the Cubs' catchers have performed this year.

By now you've all seen the news, Jason Kendall is back in the NL Central wearing the blue pinstripes of the Chicago Cubs. That's all well and good, but the real question here is whether or not Jason Kendall will actually help the Cubs towards their goal of overtaking the Brewers and winning the Central.

This is a fair question because Kendall has been awful at the plate this year. His key batting line is .226/.261/.281. That is putrid. He's been on a downslope for several years now, and Baseball Prospectus rates him as the second least valuable player at the plate this year in all of baseball (if you're unfamiliar with VORP, just look at it this way: Kendall has cost the A's 12 runs at the plate when compared to the typical journeyman AAAA-type player).

His defenders say he's great with handling pitchers, a great game caller, and a clubhouse leader. The thing is, being a nerdy blogger (I'm not pale though, I blog from my deck with my wireless internet connection!), those things aren't really tangible enough for me to just crown the Cubs division champs for making this move.

Keep reading after the jump for a more in depth look at things.

There had been talk in Chicago the last few days that the Cubs were interested in acquiring a catcher who could hit. Apparently they couldn't find any, because they just traded for Jason Kendall.

The Chicago Cubs, looking for help at catcher, acquired Oakland's Jason Kendall on Monday.

The Cubs will send catcher Rob Bowen and minor league pitcher Jerry Blevins to the A's for Kendall.

I'm not really sure who comes out ahead in this deal. Kendall has been struggling this season, and that's putting it nicely. He's hitting .226 with an OBP of only .261, not exactly productive offensively.

In fact, I'm pretty sure the Cubs already had an offensive catcher, but they sent him to San Diego for Rob Bowen.

As for what this trade means for Oakland, I think it's the first sign that Billy Beane is planning on being a deadline seller, and wants to bring up some of the young talent he's got in the minors.

The Cubs were looking to rid themselves of a clubhouse problem. The Padres were waiting with open arms. As Dex pointed out on Gaslamp Ball, the consensus from Bleed Cubbie Blue was that the Cubs were dumping Barrett in an addition by subtraction move. They may have improved clubhouse chemistry with the move, but they also improved the best team in the NL at the same time.

Credit Kevin Towers, who has already built a heck of a club, for pulling off a deal without giving up much. Michael Barrett is one of the better hitting catchers in the league. Now he's joining a team that hadn't received much offense from the catcher position between Josh Bard and Rob Bowen. Assuming Barrett can get along with the Padres staff, this is a steal by Towers. Besides, when you break down Barrett's recent run-ins, one was with A.J. Pierzynski who isn't the most popular player in the bigs, and the other was with Carlos Zambrano, who was about to use his belt in a fight. Bottom line: I highly doubt Bowen or Burke ever become productive players for the Cubs. I'm certain that Barrett will outproduce both of them combined. The Padres easily won this trade.

Previously at FanHouse:
Report: Michael Barrett Traded to Padres

Buster Olney just reported the news on Mike and Mike in the Morning that the Cubs have traded disgruntled catcher Michael Barrett to the Padres. He's not sure whom the Cubs received in exchange, but that's sure to come out shortly. This report isn't much of a surprise given all the issues the Cubs have dealt with in regards to Barrett lately.

A few weeks ago, Barrett got into a fight with pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Then last week, he got into it with another teammate, starter Rich Hill. PostmanR later noted that Barrett was being put on timeout by Piniella, raising speculation that all wasn't well with the Cubs and Barrett.

This report proves a few things. One, that Zambrano, Hill, and the other pitchers win, while Barrett loses. Two, that there was something more to the comments and timeouts Piniella made for Barrett, as you might have guessed. And lastly, it looks like Michael Barrett is the real bad guy here. He sucker-punched AJ Pierzynski last year, and then got into it with two of his pitchers. I'll say this much, the Padres sure could use Michael's offense. My guess is San Diego got Barrett on the cheap. Be sure to check back to find out the terms of the trade.

UPDATE: I'm hearing now on the Padres flagship station, Double X Sports Radio, that the Padres are sending Rob Bowen, minor leaguer Kyler Burke, and some cash considerations to Chicago in exchange for Barrett.

Previously at FanHouse:
Michael Barrett Is Feeling the Heat in Chicago
Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett Fight in Dugout
Lou Piniella Is Giving Catcher Michael Barrett a Timeout
Michael Barrett News