The "Looking Forward to 2006" Thread

[SteveSarley]

I dont doubt Pierre will be a plus but you scoff at the idea of how effective Wilkerson and Bradley could have been for us.

 

 

I said that I would loved to have seen Wilkerson in right field, playing next to Pierre. I wouldn't have minded seeing him in center if we had a quality lead-off man at another position.

As far as Bradley goes, he is a suspension waiting to happen. Yes, I do scoff at what Bradley could have been for us. No way! I am glad it did ot happen.

[USSoccer]

He's just too tight out there. He's worrying too much about not striking out. He also has flaws in his swing (too long and too much of an uppercut).

 

Coaches can helt open or close your stance (see Derrek Lee). They can adjust your hands (see Sammy Sosa circa 1998). They can help train you to keep your head and your eyes focused straight ahead. No, they cannot get in his head and force him to lay off pitches, but they can certainly do more than just tell him to lay off pitches out of the zone.

 

So, what is a coach suppposed to do? Don't you think that they work with him? Don't you think that between Baker, Clines and Sarge that they have tried everything? He doesn't change his grip. He doesn't change his stance. He doesn't shorten his swing. AND - he still swings at pitches up at his eyes. It is not the fault of the coaches, I think this kid is uncoachable.

Oh yeah! Remember when he said in the minors last year that nobody ever talked to him before about shortening his swing? Do you actually believe that? Why can D. Lee, a successful hitter, alter his stance and improve himself at his age, while a kid like Corey keeps failing time after time with no change in his approach? Oh yes, it's the fault of the coaches!

 

-I do not believe for a second that Baker, Clines or Mathews have the skills needed to encourage plate discipline. Nearly every public statement they make regarding the offense preaches aggresiveness.

 

-I do believe that no one talked to him about shortening his swing in the minors. He was never a top of the order hitter until he got here and the coaches saw that he was short and fast. Throughout his entire baseball career up until 2002 Patterson was developed to be a middle of the order run producer. Thus, there would have been no reason for anyone in the system to encourage him to shorten his swing. It would have been contrary to his supposed eventual role with the ML club.

 

-Derrek Lee had a much more correctable flaw in his swing, and less baggage with which to deal with. He opened his stance to be able to turn on inside pitches. With Corey, at this point it would be like trying to alter the flow of a river.

 

-And FWIW, Corey did make minor adjustmetns to his hand position and his stance. None of them were effective long term, because his role was constantly changing, and because once he began to struggle after making an adjustment, he'd begin to press and fall back into bad habits.

 

Look, I don't think Corey will ever succeed here in Chicago. I think he needs a fresh start elsewhere, but that doesn't mean he's untalented or uncoachable.

[SteveSarley]

He's just too tight out there. He's worrying too much about not striking out. He also has flaws in his swing (too long and too much of an uppercut).

 

Coaches can helt open or close your stance (see Derrek Lee). They can adjust your hands (see Sammy Sosa circa 1998). They can help train you to keep your head and your eyes focused straight ahead. No, they cannot get in his head and force him to lay off pitches, but they can certainly do more than just tell him to lay off pitches out of the zone.

 

So, what is a coach suppposed to do? Don't you think that they work with him? Don't you think that between Baker, Clines and Sarge that they have tried everything? He doesn't change his grip. He doesn't change his stance. He doesn't shorten his swing. AND - he still swings at pitches up at his eyes. It is not the fault of the coaches, I think this kid is uncoachable.

Oh yeah! Remember when he said in the minors last year that nobody ever talked to him before about shortening his swing? Do you actually believe that? Why can D. Lee, a successful hitter, alter his stance and improve himself at his age, while a kid like Corey keeps failing time after time with no change in his approach? Oh yes, it's the fault of the coaches!

 

-I do not believe for a second that Baker, Clines or Mathews have the skills needed to encourage plate discipline. Nearly every public statement they make regarding the offense preaches aggresiveness.

 

-I do believe that no one talked to him about shortening his swing in the minors. He was never a top of the order hitter until he got here and the coaches saw that he was short and fast. Throughout his entire baseball career up until 2002 Patterson was developed to be a middle of the order run producer. Thus, there would have been no reason for anyone in the system to encourage him to shorten his swing. It would have been contrary to his supposed eventual role with the ML club.

 

-Derrek Lee had a much more correctable flaw in his swing, and less baggage with which to deal with. He opened his stance to be able to turn on inside pitches. With Corey, at this point it would be like trying to alter the flow of a river.

 

-And FWIW, Corey did make minor adjustmetns to his hand position and his stance. None of them were effective long term, because his role was constantly changing, and because once he began to struggle after making an adjustment, he'd begin to press and fall back into bad habits.

 

Look, I don't think Corey will ever succeed here in Chicago. I think he needs a fresh start elsewhere, but that doesn't mean he's untalented or uncoachable.

 

I only wish Corey the best. He is a fine young man and my heart bleeds for him when I hear him so mercilessly booed at Wrigley. Patterson, though, said that no one in the major leagues had ever told him to shorten his swing. I would believe that to be a total falsehood.

[CubmanPi]

I agree with the sentiments that things pretty much HAVE to go right in a lot of ways for the Cubs to turn out looking good. All those little breaks, some non-bad breaks (elbow line drive), and a player or three who breaks out and performs above and beyond what anyone would have expected of him.

 

Unfortunately, things like that happen much more with well-managed teams...

[back2backjax]

IMO, too much is left to chance, and I see us at about 84 wins as currently constructed. Which is awful for a $100m team. It's been managed into mediocrity on and off the field.

 

But we'll see.

 

let's see...the bullpen cost us at least 10, and maybe 15, games last year? we had no leadoff hitter and no one to steal bases. prior takes a line drive off the elbow and misses an additional month of action. wood makes all of 10 starts and LF was essentially non-existent most of the year.

 

so hendry goes out and overpays to fix the bullpen - and you simply can't argue with him signing the two best setup men available; signs a true leadoff hitter, something the cubs didn't have in 04 or 05; we're expecting prior to be healty all season and wood to be healthy for most, if not, all of the season; and murton figures to give us at least a .270 avg in LF...AND YOU SEE JUST A 5 GAME IMPROVEMENT?

 

talk about seeing the glass as half empty.

 

i understand that all of us wanted hendry to make an additional deal or two, but some of us are coming on here and acting like we're trotting out the pirates or royals lineup next season. i'm sure hendry has explored every possible trade he thinks would make his team better, but it takes two to dance. he overpaid to get eyre, howry and pierre and it's likely potential trade partners are wanting him to do the same thing in current discussions.

 

given how crappy this offseason's FA market was, i'd much rather hit the field with what we've got now, see how things go and assess who's available at midseason or next offseason when more talent will be available.

[treebird]

IMO, too much is left to chance, and I see us at about 84 wins as currently constructed. Which is awful for a $100m team. It's been managed into mediocrity on and off the field.

 

But we'll see.

 

let's see...the bullpen cost us at least 10, and maybe 15, games last year? we had no leadoff hitter and no one to steal bases. prior takes a line drive off the elbow and misses an additional month of action. wood makes all of 10 starts and LF was essentially non-existent most of the year.

 

so hendry goes out and overpays to fix the bullpen - and you simply can't argue with him signing the two best setup men available; signs a true leadoff hitter, something the cubs didn't have in 04 or 05; we're expecting prior to be healty all season and wood to be healthy for most, if not, all of the season; and murton figures to give us at least a .270 avg in LF...AND YOU SEE JUST A 5 GAME IMPROVEMENT?

 

talk about seeing the glass as half empty.

 

i understand that all of us wanted hendry to make an additional deal or two, but some of us are coming on here and acting like we're trotting out the pirates or royals lineup next season. i'm sure hendry has explored every possible trade he thinks would make his team better, but it takes two to dance. he overpaid to get eyre, howry and pierre and it's likely potential trade partners are wanting him to do the same thing in current discussions.

 

given how crappy this offseason's FA market was, i'd much rather hit the field with what we've got now, see how things go and assess who's available at midseason or next offseason when more talent will be available.

 

the bullpen cost us 15 games last year? our run diff said we were an 86 win team last year. you think that good bullpen plus everything else the same equal 101 wins?

[CubmanPi]

IMO, too much is left to chance, and I see us at about 84 wins as currently constructed. Which is awful for a $100m team. It's been managed into mediocrity on and off the field.

 

But we'll see.

 

let's see...the bullpen cost us at least 10, and maybe 15, games last year? we had no leadoff hitter and no one to steal bases. prior takes a line drive off the elbow and misses an additional month of action. wood makes all of 10 starts and LF was essentially non-existent most of the year.

 

so hendry goes out and overpays to fix the bullpen - and you simply can't argue with him signing the two best setup men available; signs a true leadoff hitter, something the cubs didn't have in 04 or 05; we're expecting prior to be healty all season and wood to be healthy for most, if not, all of the season; and murton figures to give us at least a .270 avg in LF...AND YOU SEE JUST A 5 GAME IMPROVEMENT?

 

talk about seeing the glass as half empty.

 

i understand that all of us wanted hendry to make an additional deal or two, but some of us are coming on here and acting like we're trotting out the pirates or royals lineup next season. i'm sure hendry has explored every possible trade he thinks would make his team better, but it takes two to dance. he overpaid to get eyre, howry and pierre and it's likely potential trade partners are wanting him to do the same thing in current discussions.

 

given how crappy this offseason's FA market was, i'd much rather hit the field with what we've got now, see how things go and assess who's available at midseason or next offseason when more talent will be available.

 

I am not among the "we" in the group that expects Wood to stay healthy this year. Unlike the Prior injury, Wood's injury was yet again due simply to throwing the ball. In 4 of 8 seasons since '98, injury has prevented Wood from reaching 150 IP for the year. Sounds more like a coin flip than an expectation.