Joe, could you tell Jason here that we no longer need or want him?  Great.  Now let's get two!

I still remember the feeling, if not the exact date in 2003.  I was listening to the Cubs-Braves on WGN with the Cubs kind of still in the pennant race, and we’d heard rumors all summer that the Cubs were going to trade for Mike Lowell to fill their gaping void at third base.  Then, Pat Hughes came on and said that the Cubs had traded for Kenny Lofton and E-ramis Ramirez.  The feeling was, “Holy crap!  They’re actually going for it.”

Last night, Dave O’Brien and Rick Sutcliffe broke the news on ESPN that the Cubs had filled their gaping hole behind home plate with Jason Kendall.  The feeling was, “Holy crap!  I just ate half a bag of potato chips.  What was that about a trade?”

Four years ago this trade would have been a huge deal.  Hell, 12 months ago it would have seemed like a keen idea.  Now?  Kendall’s having a terrible year, he’s old, getting older (aren’t we all) and looks like he’s on his last legs…hell, maybe just leg.

Which only makes the realization that he’s a LOT better than any of the catchers on the Cubs’ roster that much more shocking.

Look, I’m sure Geovany Soto is a nice young man.  Probably will be a fine Henry Blanco-esque catcher some day and cash a lot of paychecks and do very well for himself.  But I’d be a lot more excited about a guy who hit .340 in Iowa if Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno weren’t the Ted Williams and Ty Cobb of that league.  I’m sure you can win with a rookie catcher, I’m just not willing to try it this year.  Besides the way Lou tears his catcher’s apart, hiding Geovany in Des Moines for a few more months is probably not a bad thing.

What we know about Kendall is that he’s a scrappy little guy who can grow facial hair even faster than Mark DeRosa.  He’s solid behind the plate, calls a good game and Huston Street and Danny Haren nearly tried to tackle him to keep him from leaving the clubhouse last night.  Those are good signs.

He rarely strikes out (which could just mean a lot of double plays), takes walks (one of the things I am impressed with in Soto is how many pitches he sees per at bat–kid’s got a future, I’m not saying otherwise) and can’t throw.  Hell, Soto threw out two guys on Sunday and our Frenchies couldn’t make either tag, so what the hell do you need an arm for?

The biggest thing that Kendall has going for him is that he isn’t Rob Bowen (got his name wrong yesterday and he got traded, today I’ll try the same for Jack Jones–not the Love Boat theme song guy), he isn’t Koyie Hill and he’s not Michael Barrett.

As Boon said in Animal House “Now, she should be good-looking, but we’re willing to trade looks for a certain… morally casual attitude.”  The Cubs would like their catcher to get a hit once a week or so, but just catch the ball, don’t throw it into left field and don’t get punched in the face by your own teammate.

Jason doesn’t have a real high bar to clear with the Cubs.

It’s tempting with things going so good for the Cubs (16-4 in their last 20, are you fucking kidding me?) to just think this will all work out.

Start Jack Jones (still trying) in center and still win?

Jason Marquis lights himself on fire on the mound and still win?

Gerald Perry gets caught in the Pissburgh bullpen with a tranny hooker and a midget and still win?

Wait, that last thing might not have happened.  Either you’re riding the roll or you’re just asking for it.  We’ll find out with Jason Kendall.

In the end, the Cubs traded a guy they didn’t want (Liev Schrieber lookalike Rob Bowen) and a 24 year old class A (I know he got promoted to AA finally) lefty, for the right to pay a 12th of Kendall’s 2007 salary for 71 games (and playoffs…oh, I slay me) of “action.”

Seems like a sensible enough risk.

Now, about center field…