Jim Hendry Scheduled to be on Bruce Levine's Show

[YearofDaCubs]

Hendry seems really convinced that Jones is better than his numbers suggest.

 

If he's right, I'm going to give Hendry a lot of credit. If not, I'll be prepared to call for his head.

 

Basically, my opinion of Hendry rests on Jones' performance.

He also thought Burnitz was the answer. I've lost all faith in Hendry, especially after this offseason.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

You cannot rely on timely hitting. You can't get "timely hitters". Everyone would like to come up with the timely hit, but you're just rolling the dice to see if you come up with success. When you build a team that can take a walk, not only do you have more opportunities to come up with that hit, but you aren't as dependent on the luck outside your control.

 

I agree to an extent. But I would never build a team with walks as my centerpiece. I would much rather have a hit than a walk. Like I said, the best case if to build up a player's pitch selection so they don't end up chasing pitches six inches above their head ala Corey Patterson. Corey's problem wasn't that he didn't take enough walks per se, it was that his pitch selection was crap, which lead to less walks and less hits than he should have had.

 

I never said I'd rather hit than walk. When addressing the problems this team has, it's pretty clear what the team needs. Since you can't plan for timely hitting, and considering the Cubs were 2nd in both AVG and SLG but 9th in runs, it's a very logical conclusion to what's missing. Also, food for thought:

 

MLB Walk leaders

 

Boston

Philadelphia

NY Yankees

Cincinnati

Arizona

 

MLB Runs Scored leaders

 

Boston

NY Yankees

Texas

Cincinnati

Philadelphia

[BigbadB]

You cannot rely on timely hitting. You can't get "timely hitters". Everyone would like to come up with the timely hit, but you're just rolling the dice to see if you come up with success. When you build a team that can take a walk, not only do you have more opportunities to come up with that hit, but you aren't as dependent on the luck outside your control.

 

I agree to an extent. But I would never build a team with walks as my centerpiece. I would much rather have a hit than a walk. Like I said, the best case if to build up a player's pitch selection so they don't end up chasing pitches six inches above their head ala Corey Patterson. Corey's problem wasn't that he didn't take enough walks per se, it was that his pitch selection was crap, which lead to less walks and less hits than he should have had.

 

I don't think anyone is suggesting you focus the offense on the walk alone.

 

The Cubs had the 2nd best AVG in the league. The Cubs had the 2nd best SLG in the league. They had by far the worst walk rate. Couple that with very poor judgment on the managers part by putting some of the worst OBP guys on the team in the top spots in the order, and you have a recipe for exactly what happened last year, poor run production.

 

The White Sox didn't have good OBP guys for the most part either, last year. But, they didn't put sub .300 OBP guys in front of their most productive hitters like Dusty.

 

Derrek Lee had 99 XBH's last year. Of all the guys who have ever hit 99+ XBH's in a season, Derrek Lee is clearly in last place on that list for RBI's.

[Warpticon]

You cannot rely on timely hitting. You can't get "timely hitters". Everyone would like to come up with the timely hit, but you're just rolling the dice to see if you come up with success. When you build a team that can take a walk, not only do you have more opportunities to come up with that hit, but you aren't as dependent on the luck outside your control.

 

I agree to an extent. But I would never build a team with walks as my centerpiece. I would much rather have a hit than a walk. Like I said, the best case is to build up a player's pitch selection so they don't end up chasing pitches six inches above their head ala Corey Patterson. Corey's problem wasn't that he didn't take enough walks per se, it was that his pitch selection was crap, which lead to less walks and less hits than he should have had.

 

Who said anything about walks as a centerpiece? At all?

[HoopsCubs]

Hey Meat, did it sound as if Hendry is done making moves for the winter?

 

he didn't say anything about making more moves. i don't know if that implies he's done.

 

my opinion:

we're not done if the right deal came along. it sounds like hendry has been tied up doing the arbitration work with Prior, Z, etc. so the deal-making period may have cooled off for us. we're pretty set other than a starting middle infielder (possibly), but it sounds like Cedeno is getting a starting SS job and we have 3 guys who can play 2B (Perez, Hairston, Walker).

 

M&PM,

 

Thanks for jotting down all the notes. I really appreciate you taking the time to post the specific details of what Hendry discussed on Levine's radio show.

 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it almost sounded like Hendry would influence Dusty to bat Murton or Cedeno in the #2 spot. That would be progress, huh?

 

Hoops

[CubfaninCA]

Hendry - "we had to address some glaring weaknesses"

- 7th and 8th inning pitching

- leadoff hitter (only 5-6 great ones in game)

 

- Howry and Eyre to be outstanding 8th inning pitchers

- big name closer would have been a splash, but we had Dempster

 

is the season going to depend on Wood and Prior?

- we've obviously added depth to the staff

- mentioned Angel Guzman as competing for a spot in ST

- confident Mark Prior is completely healthy

- Wood should be ready open week (or at worst a couple weeks behind according to doctor who did surgery)

- Rusch and Williams are fine

- we took a chance with Miller

- Z is on the road to stardom

- Maddux "can still pitch"

 

on Rusch...

- said Rusch's contract is very, very fair

- pitches well against St. Louis and Cincy

- owns left handed hitters

- Cinci matched up well against our right handers

 

Maddux hired a trainer in offseason (first time in 20 years he's done that)

- Greg has been really getting after it

 

phone line time!

-----------------------

Murton got sent down after performing fantastically. if goes 0-4 opening day, will we see grissom from then on?

 

- we are very committed to playing Murton and Cedeno every day.

- Ronny is unanimous ROY in Venezuela (close to being MVP of league)

 

STATION BREAK

 

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

[BigbadB]

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

 

Ready for what? Soft tossing?

[Diffusion]

Derrek Lee had 99 XBH's last year. Of all the guys who have ever hit 99+ XBH's in a season, Derrek Lee is clearly in last place on that list for RBI's.

 

Bold denotes Lee and the players with less RBI than him

 

Babe Ruth 1921, 119 XBH, 171 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1927, 117 XBH, 175 RBI

Barry Bonds 2001, 107 XBH, 137 RBI

Chuck Klein 1930, 107 XBH, 170 RBI

Todd Helton 2001, 105 XBH, 146 RBI

Albert Belle 1995, 103 XBH, 126 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1937, 103 XBH, 183 RBI

Todd Helton 2000, 103 XBH, 147 RBI

Chuck Klein 1932, 103 XBH, 137 RBI

Stan Musial 1948, 103 XBH, 131 RBI

Sammy Sosa 2001, 103 XBH, 160 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1922, 102 XBH, 152 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1932, 100 XBH, 169 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1930, 100 XBH, 174 RBI

Luis Gonzalez 2001, 100 XBH, 142 RBI

Albert Belle 1998, 99 XBH, 152 RBI

Carlos Delgado 2000, 99 XBH, 137 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1940, 99 XBH, 150 RBI

Derrek Lee 2005, 99 XBH, 107 RBI

Albert Pujols 2004, 99 XBH, 123 RBI

Babe Ruth 1920, 99 XBH, 137 RBI

Babe Ruth 1923, 99 XBH, 131 RBI

Larry Walker 1997, 99 XBH, 130 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1935, 98 XBH, 170 RBI

Juan Gonzalez 1998, 97 XBH, 157 RBI

Joe Medwick 1937, 97 XBH, 154 RBI

Babe Ruth 1927, 97 XBH, 164 RBI

Hack Wilson 1930, 97 XBH, 191 RBI

Joe DiMaggio 1937, 96 XBH, 167 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1934, 96 XBH, 139 RBI

Hal Trosky 1936, 96 XBH, 162 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1934, 95 XBH, 165 RBI

Joe Medwick 1936, 95 XBH, 138 RBI

Albert Pujols 2003, 95 XBH, 124 RBI

Lance Berkman 2001, 94 XBH, 126 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1933, 94 XBH, 163 RBI

Babe Herman 1930, 94 XBH, 130 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1929, 94 XBH, 149 RBI

Chuck Klein 1929, 94 XBH, 145 RBI

Jim Bottomley 1928, 93 XBH, 136 RBI

Ellis Burks 1996, 93 XBH, 128 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1936, 93 XBH, 152 RBI

Ken Griffey 1997, 93 XBH, 147 RBI

Al Simmons 1930, 93 XBH, 165 RBI

Hank Aaron 1959, 92 XBH, 123 RBI

Brady Anderson 1996, 92 XBH, 110 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1938, 92 XBH, 175 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1931, 92 XBH, 184 RBI

Ken Griffey 1998, 92 XBH, 146 RBI

Stan Musial 1953, 92 XBH, 113 RBI

Frank Robinson 1962, 92 XBH, 136 RBI

Babe Ruth 1924, 92 XBH, 121 RBI

Alfonso Soriano 2002, 92 XBH, 102 RBI

Mark McGwire 1998, 91 XBH, 147 RBI

David Ortiz 2004, 91 XBH, 139 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 1996, 91 XBH, 123 RBI

Babe Ruth 1928, 91 XBH, 142 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1925, 90 XBH, 143 RBI

Willie Mays 1962, 90 XBH, 141 RBI

Stan Musial 1949, 90 XBH, 123 RBI

Willie Stargell 1973, 90 XBH, 119 RBI

Albert Belle 1996, 89 XBH, 148 RBI

Andres Galarraga 1996, 89 XBH, 150 RBI

Richard Hidalgo 2000, 89 XBH, 122 RBI

Duke Snider 1954, 89 XBH, 130 RBI

Sammy Sosa 1999, 89 XBH, 141 RBI

Sammy Sosa 2000, 89 XBH, 138 RBI

Hal Trosky 1934, 89 XBH, 142 RBI

Garret Anderson 2002, 88 XBH, 123 RBI

Barry Bonds 1993, 88 XBH, 123 RBI

Barry Bonds 1998, 88 XBH, 122 RBI

Joe DiMaggio 1936, 88 XBH, 125 RBI

David Ortiz 2005, 88 XBH, 148 RBI

Albert Pujols 2001, 88 XBH, 130 RBI

Ripper Collins 1934, 87 XBH, 128 RBI

Kiki Cuyler 1925, 87 XBH, 102 RBI

Charlie Gehringer 1936, 87 XBH, 116 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1928, 87 XBH, 142 RBI

Jason Giambi 2001, 87 XBH, 120 RBI

Shawn Green 1999, 87 XBH, 123 RBI

Todd Helton 2003, 87 XBH, 117 RBI

Chipper Jones 1999, 87 XBH, 110 RBI

Willie Mays 1954, 87 XBH, 110 RBI

Mark McGwire 1999, 87 XBH, 147 RBI

Kevin Mitchell 1989, 87 XBH, 125 RBI

Johnny Mize 1940, 87 XBH, 137 RBI

Manny Ramirez 2004, 87 XBH, 130 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 2001, 87 XBH, 135 RBI

Tris Speaker 1923, 87 XBH, 130 RBI

Mark Teixeira 2005, 87 XBH, 144 RBI

Frank Thomas 2000, 87 XBH, 143 RBI

Vernon Wells 2003, 87 XBH, 117 RBI

Robin Yount 1982, 87 XBH, 114 RBI

Jeff Bagwell 2001, 86 XBH, 130 RBI

Ken Griffey 1993, 86 XBH, 109 RBI

Reggie Jackson 1969, 86 XBH, 118 RBI

Eddie Mathews 1953, 86 XBH, 135 RBI

Don Mattingly 1985, 86 XBH, 145 RBI

Don Mattingly 1986, 86 XBH, 113 RBI

Hal McRae 1977, 86 XBH, 92 RBI

Johnny Mize 1939, 86 XBH, 108 RBI

Wally Moses 1937, 86 XBH, 86 RBI

Stan Musial 1946, 86 XBH, 103 RBI

Magglio Ordonez 2002, 86 XBH, 135 RBI

Jim Rice 1978, 86 XBH, 139 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 2002, 86 XBH, 142 RBI

Babe Ruth 1930, 86 XBH, 153 RBI

George Sisler 1920, 86 XBH, 122 RBI

Sammy Sosa 1998, 86 XBH, 158 RBI

Ted Williams 1939, 86 XBH, 145 RBI

 

So, there have been 74 seasons in the history of the game in which a player has managed 88 or more extra base hits, and in only one of those seasons has a player accrued less RBIs than Derrek Lee did last year. And there's a good reason for that one player failing to do so: not only did Alfonso Soriano manage seven less XBHs than Lee, but he also spent the entire season batting leadoff!

Edited January 28, 2006 by Diffusion

[TrueBlueCubFan]

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

 

Ready for what? Soft tossing?

 

According to reports, he is soft tossing already & will be ready to throw off the mound in February. Supposedly, what will take the most time is to get his velocity & stamina back.

[CubinNY]

Derrek Lee had 99 XBH's last year. Of all the guys who have ever hit 99+ XBH's in a season, Derrek Lee is clearly in last place on that list for RBI's.

 

Bold denotes Lee and the players with less RBI than him

 

Babe Ruth 1921, 119 XBH, 171 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1927, 117 XBH, 175 RBI

Barry Bonds 2001, 107 XBH, 137 RBI

Chuck Klein 1930, 107 XBH, 170 RBI

Todd Helton 2001, 105 XBH, 146 RBI

Albert Belle 1995, 103 XBH, 126 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1937, 103 XBH, 183 RBI

Todd Helton 2000, 103 XBH, 147 RBI

Chuck Klein 1932, 103 XBH, 137 RBI

Stan Musial 1948, 103 XBH, 131 RBI

Sammy Sosa 2001, 103 XBH, 160 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1922, 102 XBH, 152 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1932, 100 XBH, 169 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1930, 100 XBH, 174 RBI

Luis Gonzalez 2001, 100 XBH, 142 RBI

Albert Belle 1998, 99 XBH, 152 RBI

Carlos Delgado 2000, 99 XBH, 137 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1940, 99 XBH, 150 RBI

Derrek Lee 2005, 99 XBH, 107 RBI

Albert Pujols 2004, 99 XBH, 123 RBI

Babe Ruth 1920, 99 XBH, 137 RBI

Babe Ruth 1923, 99 XBH, 131 RBI

Larry Walker 1997, 99 XBH, 130 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1935, 98 XBH, 170 RBI

Juan Gonzalez 1998, 97 XBH, 157 RBI

Joe Medwick 1937, 97 XBH, 154 RBI

Babe Ruth 1927, 97 XBH, 164 RBI

Hack Wilson 1930, 97 XBH, 191 RBI

Joe DiMaggio 1937, 96 XBH, 167 RBI

Hank Greenberg 1934, 96 XBH, 139 RBI

Hal Trosky 1936, 96 XBH, 162 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1934, 95 XBH, 165 RBI

Joe Medwick 1936, 95 XBH, 138 RBI

Albert Pujols 2003, 95 XBH, 124 RBI

Lance Berkman 2001, 94 XBH, 126 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1933, 94 XBH, 163 RBI

Babe Herman 1930, 94 XBH, 130 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1929, 94 XBH, 149 RBI

Chuck Klein 1929, 94 XBH, 145 RBI

Jim Bottomley 1928, 93 XBH, 136 RBI

Ellis Burks 1996, 93 XBH, 128 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1936, 93 XBH, 152 RBI

Ken Griffey 1997, 93 XBH, 147 RBI

Al Simmons 1930, 93 XBH, 165 RBI

Hank Aaron 1959, 92 XBH, 123 RBI

Brady Anderson 1996, 92 XBH, 110 RBI

Jimmie Foxx 1938, 92 XBH, 175 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1931, 92 XBH, 184 RBI

Ken Griffey 1998, 92 XBH, 146 RBI

Stan Musial 1953, 92 XBH, 113 RBI

Frank Robinson 1962, 92 XBH, 136 RBI

Babe Ruth 1924, 92 XBH, 121 RBI

Alfonso Soriano 2002, 92 XBH, 102 RBI

Mark McGwire 1998, 91 XBH, 147 RBI

David Ortiz 2004, 91 XBH, 139 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 1996, 91 XBH, 123 RBI

Babe Ruth 1928, 91 XBH, 142 RBI

Rogers Hornsby 1925, 90 XBH, 143 RBI

Willie Mays 1962, 90 XBH, 141 RBI

Stan Musial 1949, 90 XBH, 123 RBI

Willie Stargell 1973, 90 XBH, 119 RBI

Albert Belle 1996, 89 XBH, 148 RBI

Andres Galarraga 1996, 89 XBH, 150 RBI

Richard Hidalgo 2000, 89 XBH, 122 RBI

Duke Snider 1954, 89 XBH, 130 RBI

Sammy Sosa 1999, 89 XBH, 141 RBI

Sammy Sosa 2000, 89 XBH, 138 RBI

Hal Trosky 1934, 89 XBH, 142 RBI

Garret Anderson 2002, 88 XBH, 123 RBI

Barry Bonds 1993, 88 XBH, 123 RBI

Barry Bonds 1998, 88 XBH, 122 RBI

Joe DiMaggio 1936, 88 XBH, 125 RBI

David Ortiz 2005, 88 XBH, 148 RBI

Albert Pujols 2001, 88 XBH, 130 RBI

Ripper Collins 1934, 87 XBH, 128 RBI

Kiki Cuyler 1925, 87 XBH, 102 RBI

Charlie Gehringer 1936, 87 XBH, 116 RBI

Lou Gehrig 1928, 87 XBH, 142 RBI

Jason Giambi 2001, 87 XBH, 120 RBI

Shawn Green 1999, 87 XBH, 123 RBI

Todd Helton 2003, 87 XBH, 117 RBI

Chipper Jones 1999, 87 XBH, 110 RBI

Willie Mays 1954, 87 XBH, 110 RBI

Mark McGwire 1999, 87 XBH, 147 RBI

Kevin Mitchell 1989, 87 XBH, 125 RBI

Johnny Mize 1940, 87 XBH, 137 RBI

Manny Ramirez 2004, 87 XBH, 130 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 2001, 87 XBH, 135 RBI

Tris Speaker 1923, 87 XBH, 130 RBI

Mark Teixeira 2005, 87 XBH, 144 RBI

Frank Thomas 2000, 87 XBH, 143 RBI

Vernon Wells 2003, 87 XBH, 117 RBI

Robin Yount 1982, 87 XBH, 114 RBI

Jeff Bagwell 2001, 86 XBH, 130 RBI

Ken Griffey 1993, 86 XBH, 109 RBI

Reggie Jackson 1969, 86 XBH, 118 RBI

Eddie Mathews 1953, 86 XBH, 135 RBI

Don Mattingly 1985, 86 XBH, 145 RBI

Don Mattingly 1986, 86 XBH, 113 RBI

Hal McRae 1977, 86 XBH, 92 RBI

Johnny Mize 1939, 86 XBH, 108 RBI

Wally Moses 1937, 86 XBH, 86 RBI

Stan Musial 1946, 86 XBH, 103 RBI

Magglio Ordonez 2002, 86 XBH, 135 RBI

Jim Rice 1978, 86 XBH, 139 RBI

Alex Rodriguez 2002, 86 XBH, 142 RBI

Babe Ruth 1930, 86 XBH, 153 RBI

George Sisler 1920, 86 XBH, 122 RBI

Sammy Sosa 1998, 86 XBH, 158 RBI

Ted Williams 1939, 86 XBH, 145 RBI

 

So, there have been 74 seasons in the history of the game in which a player has managed 88 or more extra base hits, and in only one of those seasons has a player accrued less RBIs than Derrek Lee did last year. And there's a good reason for that one player failing to do so: not only did Alfonso Soriano manage seven less XBHs than Lee, but he also spent the entire season batting leadoff!

 

Good to see you around again.

[BigbadB]

Nice work, Diff.

 

I have a new one for you to work on. :D

 

Average RBI's per season for guys who have had 99 or more XBH's in a season. And just for kicks and giggles, another one with 88 or more XBH's.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

M&PM,

 

Thanks for jotting down all the notes. I really appreciate you taking the time to post the specific details of what Hendry discussed on Levine's radio show.

 

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it almost sounded like Hendry would influence Dusty to bat Murton or Cedeno in the #2 spot. That would be progress, huh?

 

Hoops

 

no problem.

 

i'm just happy murton and cedeno look to be opening day starters (hendry isn't saying they have a chance to compete...it sounds like they are locks). i think ronny really solidified his place with his performance in Venezuela (the Hendry crowd doesn't care about avg. driven obp or no walks). i'll take ronny over neifi any day. at least there is the promise of offensive improvement.

 

hendry did say that murton and cedeno could be 2 hole hitters in the future, kind of implying that they weren't ready quite yet. solid performances at the beginning of the year will help their chances i would imagine. murton would be a solid 2 hole hitter b/c of his plate discipline, but if he develops too much power, he might be better at 5 or 6.

 

i just don't want neifi batting 2nd, lol.

[CuseCubFan69]

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

 

Ready for what? Soft tossing?

 

According to reports, he is soft tossing already & will be ready to throw off the mound in February. Supposedly, what will take the most time is to get his velocity & stamina back.

 

I'd be thrilled to have this be true and to have him last the year without going back on the DL.

[BigbadB]

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

 

Ready for what? Soft tossing?

 

According to reports, he is soft tossing already & will be ready to throw off the mound in February. Supposedly, what will take the most time is to get his velocity & stamina back.

 

Ah, I was just being sarcastic, but hope he will be ready by opening day. Or at least the first time he would be slated to start.

[BigbadB]

hendry did say that murton and cedeno could be 2 hole hitters in the future, kind of implying that they weren't ready quite yet. solid performances at the beginning of the year will help their chances i would imagine. murton would be a solid 2 hole hitter b/c of his plate discipline, but if he develops too much power, he might be better at 5 or 6.

 

i just don't want neifi batting 2nd, lol.

 

I'd like an explanation of how Cedeno or Murton are not ready to be #2 hole hitters, yet Neifi is?

 

Neifi had a .300 OBP as a #2 hitter last year. How many of his GIDP's were from the 2 hole last year?

 

Neifi had a .263 OBP as a lead off hitter last year.

 

I'll take my chances on Cedeno or Murton before I let Neifi anywhere near the top of the order, thank you very much.

[Diffusion]

Nice work, Diff.

 

I have a new one for you to work on. :D

 

Average RBI's per season for guys who have had 99 or more XBH's in a season. And just for kicks and giggles, another one with 88 or more XBH's.

 

For players with 99 or more XBH in a single season, average of 147 RBI that same year; for players with exactly 99 XBH, 133 RBI; for players between 97 and 101 XBH, 149 RBI; for player with 88 or more XBH, 145 RBI.

[MeatampPotatoesMan]

hendry did say that murton and cedeno could be 2 hole hitters in the future, kind of implying that they weren't ready quite yet. solid performances at the beginning of the year will help their chances i would imagine. murton would be a solid 2 hole hitter b/c of his plate discipline, but if he develops too much power, he might be better at 5 or 6.

 

i just don't want neifi batting 2nd, lol.

 

I'd like an explanation of how Cedeno or Murton are not ready to be #2 hole hitters, yet Neifi is?

 

Neifi had a .300 OBP as a #2 hitter last year. How many of his GIDP's were from the 2 hole last year?

 

Neifi had a .263 OBP as a lead off hitter last year.

 

I'll take my chances on Cedeno or Murton before I let Neifi anywhere near the top of the order, thank you very much.

 

i agree.

 

i think Neifi would really impact Pierre's basestealing threat. he spoils so many pitches without making solid contact. he's not good with the hit and run either.

 

all we need in the 2 hole is plate discipline. walker, hairston, or murton would do ok. cedeno just doesn't walk enough. i have a feeling he is going to be really streaky until he develops his eye. i doubt dusty would let him bat 2nd anyway. he just hasn't had the time to break him in like he has Murton. dusty says he likes to bring players along so they'll succeed. ronny in the 2 hole before the ASB isn't too likely, even if he could handle it.

[CubfaninCA]

Wood ready by opening week. Well... Well.... :D

 

Ready for what? Soft tossing?

 

According to reports, he is soft tossing already & will be ready to throw off the mound in February. Supposedly, what will take the most time is to get his velocity & stamina back.

 

Ah, I was just being sarcastic, but hope he will be ready by opening day. Or at least the first time he would be slated to start.

 

Hope so. Then everyone can focus on squabbling over who will be the #5, Williams or Rusch. :)

[Ram1380]

So, our "goal" is to be better than last year Jim???

 

:roll:

[BigbadB]

I'd rather see Williams in there to start. Rusch is more familiar with long relief.

[BigbadB]

Nice work, Diff.

 

I have a new one for you to work on. :D

 

Average RBI's per season for guys who have had 99 or more XBH's in a season. And just for kicks and giggles, another one with 88 or more XBH's.

 

For players with 99 or more XBH in a single season, average of 147 RBI that same year; for players with exactly 99 XBH, 133 RBI; for players between 97 and 101 XBH, 149 RBI; for player with 88 or more XBH, 145 RBI.

 

Now that really puts things into perspective. Nice work again, Diffusion.

 

It's too bad we couldn't somehow figure out how poorly the top two spots had on the clean up hitter as well. I wonder how many of Ramirez' RBI's last year were just Derrek Lee.

 

Lee had 680 (give or take a couple) plate appearances and 107 RBI's.

Aramis had 500 (give or take) plate appearances and 92 RBI's.

 

How many would he have had with a couple of .340+ OBP guys along with Lee's .418 hitting in front of him instead of mostly sub .300 guys?

[Magnetic Curses]

- ability is there to get hits, but we didn't have timely hitting last year

 

The timely hitting was there, Jim. The guys who draw the walks in front of timely hitting were not.

 

I'm not so sure that the timely hitting was there. We left a lot of runners in scoring position including a number of basesloaded situations IIRC.

 

It's difficult to have timely hitting when there are not many guys on base to create timely hitting in the first place.

 

Walks are fine but I'd rather have a team that relied on timely hits. You can't build a team around telling guys to walk. You can just try to stress pitch selection, which should lead to better hitting and more walks.

 

EDIT: I wouldn't be surprised if we were in the top five for runners left in scoring position. That happened all the time last year.

 

you're kidding, right?

 

please tell me that you're being saracstic.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Very good news that Hendry is committing to Murton and Cedeno as everyday players. Puts DFB on the spot, he can't get away with his veteran fetish this time.

 

I wish someone had asked him about the interest in a Hairston/Walker full-time platoon at 2B, and whether he (Hendry) is comfortable with the idea of Neifi strictly as a bench player (where he does have value).

 

I would like to know Hendry's feelings on the 12-man vs. 11-man staff.

 

And, I would like to know his impressions of the logman in the bullpen for that 11th and 12th spots. Novoa, Wellemeyer, Rusch or Williams when Wood comes off the DL, maybe Miller later too. Who does Hendry think will be the odd men out, and will he trade in spring training once the decision has been made?

 

I guess I'd like to know as well what the Rockies were offering for Wellemeyer in early December.

[Warpticon]

Nice work, Diff.

 

I have a new one for you to work on. :D

 

Average RBI's per season for guys who have had 99 or more XBH's in a season. And just for kicks and giggles, another one with 88 or more XBH's.

 

For players with 99 or more XBH in a single season, average of 147 RBI that same year; for players with exactly 99 XBH, 133 RBI; for players between 97 and 101 XBH, 149 RBI; for player with 88 or more XBH, 145 RBI.

 

Now that really puts things into perspective. Nice work again, Diffusion.

 

It's too bad we couldn't somehow figure out how poorly the top two spots had on the clean up hitter as well. I wonder how many of Ramirez' RBI's last year were just Derrek Lee.

 

Lee had 680 (give or take a couple) plate appearances and 107 RBI's.

Aramis had 500 (give or take) plate appearances and 92 RBI's.

 

How many would he have had with a couple of .340+ OBP guys along with Lee's .418 hitting in front of him instead of mostly sub .300 guys?

 

Ask Andruw Jones.

[Soul]

Jim Hendry: how could such a promising GM go down the tubes so quickly?

 

 

Truly sad. I want the 2003 Hendry back. This other guy is a joke. :evil: