Fox Sports grades Cub off-season a D / SI gives them B

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Nomar couldn't help us because he's finished as a SS, and 2B would likely be even harder yet for him because of the sidearm way he throws and the double play pivot. Plus the fact he's never played there before. 1B and 3B are where people were looking at him, and for us, those are the two positions on the field where we are locked down. So, Nomar doesn't make a fit.

 

His future is in the AL as a DH anyways.

[UK1679666180]

D is pretty accurate, not a failure, not what you would call average for a team with the financial freedom that the Cubd had this off-season.

 

Is says something about this team, that they could improve this club and still get a D for the off-season.

[Careless]

Dayn Perry tends to be a bit harsh. I think the majority of clubs got Cs or worse on those ratings, which doesn't really make sense.

there was a time when a B+ wasn't an average grade

[neely crenshaw]

i think it also takes into account each teams needs. the astros were a playoff and have fewer holes to fill than we do. amd they have not lost clemens yet. he can resign may1. and with his penchant for being on his own terms(like no travel) he may just vactaion until may 1 and sign up then. he will be in shape because of playing the wbc's.

we did a lot of treading water. we added bullpen and changed outfield but they aren't a real upgrade just potential. if things go poorly they could be worse than last year,ugh!

we did lose nomar and have either gone with neifi or cedeno. we lost cpatt for nothing. we may lose walker.

[RockTheIvy]

Dayn Perry tends to be a bit harsh. I think the majority of clubs got Cs or worse on those ratings, which doesn't really make sense.

there was a time when a B+ wasn't an average grade

 

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/3227/orlyskywalker0pb.jpg

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

This team lost last year because it couldn't get a runner home from third with less than two outs and the bullpen ws a mess.We need clutch hitting. Did we add it? Hopefully with a better one-two (praying for no Nefi), Lee and Aram will get more RBI opportunties than last year. But speed is useless if you leave that runner stranded at second. Execution is the key (Insert Dusty joke here.) I think we did address the bullpen.

[nick23]

This team lost last year because it couldn't get a runner home from third with less than two outs and the bullpen ws a mess.We need clutch hitting. Did we add it? Hopefully with a better one-two (praying for no Nefi), Lee and Aram will get more RBI opportunties than last year. But speed is useless if you leave that runner stranded at second. Execution is the key (Insert Dusty joke here.) I think we did address the bullpen.

This team lost last year because Wood and Prior missed significant time. Oh, and the manager didn't know how to fill out a lineup card.

[goonys evil twin]

This team lost last year because it couldn't get a runner home from third with less than two outs and the bullpen ws a mess.We need clutch hitting. Did we add it? Hopefully with a better one-two (praying for no Nefi), Lee and Aram will get more RBI opportunties than last year. But speed is useless if you leave that runner stranded at second. Execution is the key (Insert Dusty joke here.) I think we did address the bullpen.

 

How do you suggest a team go out and acquire more clutch hitting?

[E.J.]

This team lost last year because it couldn't get a runner home from third with less than two outs and the bullpen ws a mess.We need clutch hitting. Did we add it? Hopefully with a better one-two (praying for no Nefi), Lee and Aram will get more RBI opportunties than last year. But speed is useless if you leave that runner stranded at second. Execution is the key (Insert Dusty joke here.) I think we did address the bullpen.

 

How do you suggest a team go out and acquire more clutch hitting?

 

Well, first we need to get Alou back because he's the clutchest of all clutch hitters.

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

That's my point, Goony. We were dead last I believe in team average with RISP. You can't acquire cliutch hitting. But you can give your team more chances. Hence my statement that it comes down to execution.

[Magnetic Curses]

That's my point, Goony. We were dead last I believe in team average with RISP. You can't acquire cliutch hitting. But you can give your team more chances. Hence my statement that it comes down to execution.

 

so? then we were dead last in a category that's impossible to plan for.

 

we were also dead last in walks taken, which we CAN plan for. the only way we give our guys more chances is by getting on base more, not by giving away outs by sacrificing.

 

i hate the word "execution" when used as a baseball term. execution, to me, is hitting the ball as hard as you can and getting on base.

[Magnetic Curses]

this team lost because it was DEAD last in the league in walks, period.

 

Actually, this team lost primarily because it pitched poorly, but its deficiency in getting on base was a huge problem.

 

you're partially right. although i believe that we pitched well enough to give the team a chance to win if we could have just gotten on base more often.

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

By execution, I mean getting hits with runners in scoring position, not bunting. I'm also not saying we don't need to take more walks. Clearly we do.

[nick23]

That's my point, Goony. We were dead last I believe in team average with RISP. You can't acquire cliutch hitting. But you can give your team more chances. Hence my statement that it comes down to execution.

 

so? then we were dead last in a category that's impossible to plan for.

 

we were also dead last in walks taken, which we CAN plan for. the only way we give our guys more chances is by getting on base more, not by giving away outs by sacrificing.

 

i hate the word "execution" when used as a baseball term. execution, to me, is hitting the ball as hard as you can and getting on base.

 

I'm not as worried about walks as I am just OBP. I could care less how we get on base, as long as we get on. But the OBP and walks should be up this year with the additions we've made. That's assuming Cedeno starts over Neifi.

[Magnetic Curses]

That's my point, Goony. We were dead last I believe in team average with RISP. You can't acquire cliutch hitting. But you can give your team more chances. Hence my statement that it comes down to execution.

 

so? then we were dead last in a category that's impossible to plan for.

 

we were also dead last in walks taken, which we CAN plan for. the only way we give our guys more chances is by getting on base more, not by giving away outs by sacrificing.

 

i hate the word "execution" when used as a baseball term. execution, to me, is hitting the ball as hard as you can and getting on base.

 

I'm not as worried about walks as I am just OBP. I could care less how we get on base, as long as we get on. But the OBP and walks should be up this year with the additions we've made. That's assuming Cedeno starts over Neifi.

 

you SHOULD be worried about walks. the cubs hit .270 last year, good for second in the NL. It'd be hard to improve on that. our OBP was 11th in the NL. it sure looks like the problem is walks.

[Magnetic Curses]

By execution, I mean getting hits with runners in scoring position, not bunting. I'm also not saying we don't need to take more walks. Clearly we do.

 

execution is even more of a fairy tale word when used to describe hitting with RISP.

 

good hitters are likely to hit better in every situation, all you can do is acquire good hitters. you can't control "execution" as you mean it, but you can control hitters that hit well overall.

[UK1679666180]

To quote Gary Ward...

 

"The walk is the easiest and most productive element of team run production."

[Houston_Cub_Fan]

Sully, in the context of my post I was using execution to mean hitting with RISP. I promise never to do it again. :)

[rawaction]

Good hitters tend to take walks. Good hitters tend to be good with RISP. The Cubs need good hitters.

[Dr. Cub]

this team lost because it was DEAD last in the league in walks, period.

 

Actually, this team lost primarily because it pitched poorly, but its deficiency in getting on base was a huge problem.

 

you're partially right. although i believe that we pitched well enough to give the team a chance to win if we could have just gotten on base more often.

 

Our starting pitchers ERA has gone from 3.69 (2003), to 3.72 (2004), to 4.19 (2005), and in that same period our OBP's were .323 (2003, .328 (2004), and .324 (2005). So our ability to get on base hasn't changed much, while our starting pitching was horrible last year. It just so happens that last year we failed to compete at all.

 

Don't get me wrong, we're in agreement that the plate discipline of this team is atrocious. I just feel that our pitching is the issue which caused us so much grief last year. The fact that Cubs management cannot grasp the concept of OBP, and how it relates to runs, or how to wisely spend money is a whole different issue.

[goonys evil twin]

I'm not as worried about walks as I am just OBP. I could care less how we get on base, as long as we get on. But the OBP and walks should be up this year with the additions we've made. That's assuming Cedeno starts over Neifi.

 

I wouldn't care how they got on base either if the OBP was there. The problem is there just aren't many players, and definitely not many teams that can provide solid OBP without taking walks. More walks isn't the goal, more walks is just the simplest way to get more guys on base (we can't really expect better AVG than what they've given), which is the best way to score more runs, which would lead to the ultimate goal of more wins.

 

I don't want them to walk for the sake of the walk.

[nick23]

That's my point, Goony. We were dead last I believe in team average with RISP. You can't acquire cliutch hitting. But you can give your team more chances. Hence my statement that it comes down to execution.

 

so? then we were dead last in a category that's impossible to plan for.

 

we were also dead last in walks taken, which we CAN plan for. the only way we give our guys more chances is by getting on base more, not by giving away outs by sacrificing.

 

i hate the word "execution" when used as a baseball term. execution, to me, is hitting the ball as hard as you can and getting on base.

 

I'm not as worried about walks as I am just OBP. I could care less how we get on base, as long as we get on. But the OBP and walks should be up this year with the additions we've made. That's assuming Cedeno starts over Neifi.

 

you SHOULD be worried about walks. the cubs hit .270 last year, good for second in the NL. It'd be hard to improve on that. our OBP was 11th in the NL. it sure looks like the problem is walks.

 

You're right. I wasn't saying I'm against walks, just saying I could care less how we get on base as long as we get on base more than last year. And with the improvements in center, left, and short we should be closer to middle of the pack in OBP.

[goonys evil twin]

Our starting pitchers ERA has gone from 3.69 (2003), to 3.72 (2004), to 4.19 (2005), and in that same period our OBP's were .323 (2003, .328 (2004), and .324 (2005). So our ability to get on base hasn't changed much, while our starting pitching was horrible last year. It just so happens that last year we failed to compete at all.

 

Don't get me wrong, we're in agreement that the plate discipline of this team is atrocious. I just feel that our pitching is the issue which caused us so much grief last year. The fact that Cubs management cannot grasp the concept of OBP, and how it relates to runs, or how to wisely spend money is a whole different issue.

 

The difference is the lack of walks, and therefore low OBP, and subsequently lower runs scored has been an ongoing problem that relates directly to a poor organizational strategy. The pitching decline was due largely to injury, and could be fixed with very little change. There's also several arms available from within the organization to help with that problem. There aren't many bats in the system that can help this team, and improved health won't do much either. The only reason pitching caused so much more grief last year was because people expected so much more out of that group, and just came to expect lackluster offense.

 

The Cubs need to have both solid pitching and hitting. The pitching is right there and could be great with the current core, while the hitting is still a long way from being among the best in the NL, let alone all of baseball. It seems to me that the best way to improve the team is to improve the area of the team that his most consistently disappointing.

[rawaction]

this team lost because it was DEAD last in the league in walks, period.

 

Actually, this team lost primarily because it pitched poorly, but its deficiency in getting on base was a huge problem.

 

you're partially right. although i believe that we pitched well enough to give the team a chance to win if we could have just gotten on base more often.

 

Our starting pitchers ERA has gone from 3.69 (2003), to 3.72 (2004), to 4.19 (2005), and in that same period our OBP's were .323 (2003, .328 (2004), and .324 (2005). So our ability to get on base hasn't changed much, while our starting pitching was horrible last year. It just so happens that last year we failed to compete at all.

 

Don't get me wrong, we're in agreement that the plate discipline of this team is atrocious. I just feel that our pitching is the issue which caused us so much grief last year. The fact that Cubs management cannot grasp the concept of OBP, and how it relates to runs, or how to wisely spend money is a whole different issue.

 

No it's very relevant. If you are gonna argue that the team needs better pitching, you have to point out that they walked too many hitters. 5th in the majors is BAA, but walked the 7th most hitters. For a team that again led the planet in K's from their pitchers, walking hitters is just a bad idea. If guys can't make contact, don't help them out by walking them.

[Dr. Cub]

this team lost because it was DEAD last in the league in walks, period.

 

Actually, this team lost primarily because it pitched poorly, but its deficiency in getting on base was a huge problem.

 

you're partially right. although i believe that we pitched well enough to give the team a chance to win if we could have just gotten on base more often.

 

Our starting pitchers ERA has gone from 3.69 (2003), to 3.72 (2004), to 4.19 (2005), and in that same period our OBP's were .323 (2003, .328 (2004), and .324 (2005). So our ability to get on base hasn't changed much, while our starting pitching was horrible last year. It just so happens that last year we failed to compete at all.

 

Don't get me wrong, we're in agreement that the plate discipline of this team is atrocious. I just feel that our pitching is the issue which caused us so much grief last year. The fact that Cubs management cannot grasp the concept of OBP, and how it relates to runs, or how to wisely spend money is a whole different issue.

 

No it's very relevant. If you are gonna argue that the team needs better pitching, you have to point out that they walked too many hitters. 5th in the majors is BAA, but walked the 7th most hitters. For a team that again led the planet in K's from their pitchers, walking hitters is just a bad idea. If guys can't make contact, don't help them out by walking them.

 

I never argued for better pitching. I said that our pitching was what hurt us most last year. It was obviously due to injury. In addition I don't understand how what you said relates to my point. What is relevant? The issue of what hurt us most last year, and the issue of Cubs management failing to see how to improve this teams offense are completely seperate.