What Dusty has done

[Backtobanks]

By the time the Cubs fire Dusty, Dusty will have lowered the trade value of half the team. Dempster is the latest example, preceded by Murton and Walker. Of course, there's the overuse of Wood and Prior. Knowing Dusty, he will continue to use Jones against lefties until his batting average plummets along with his trade value. I'm not defending Hendry, but he will be lambasted for the low-potential prospects he ends up getting for the likes of Jones, Walker, Maddux, and Dempster. If Murton is ever traded, I look for him to become a solid .300 hitter.

[Buford T Justice]

I had to watch the Brewers feed last night. They announcers made some good points regarding Dusty. It wasn't Dusty fault that Dempster made a bad throw to Aram. Dusty wasn't playing shortstop when the ball went through Cedeno's legs. Dusty is at fault for only pitching Dempster once a week. Dusty didn't swing at ball 4 in the 9th inning off a pitcher who wasn't throwing strikes.

 

Dusty makes dumb moves and mistakes, but at some point the players have to take respondsibility for the loss not him. Truthfully in the situation 1 run lead thats where Neifi needs to be put in and sit Cedeno. Walker should have been left in to play 2nd and Neifi at short.

[CuseCubFan69]

I had to watch the Brewers feed last night. They announcers made some good points regarding Dusty. It wasn't Dusty fault that Dempster made a bad throw to Aram. Dusty wasn't playing shortstop when the ball went through Cedeno's legs. Dusty is at fault for only pitching Dempster once a week. Dusty didn't swing at ball 4 in the 9th inning off a pitcher who wasn't throwing strikes.

Dusty makes dumb moves and mistakes, but at some point the players have to take respondsibility for the loss not him. Truthfully in the situation 1 run lead thats where Neifi needs to be put in and sit Cedeno. Walker should have been left in to play 2nd and Neifi at short.

 

Dusty preaches aggresive hitting and with that comes swinging at ball 4. Also, since he doesn't hold the players responsible (that we know of) the errors and mental errors continue to pile up.

[CubsBullsBears]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

[srbin84]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

[CubsBullsBears]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

I think some of it has to do with screwing the Cubs over, not all of it.

[CuseCubFan69]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

It's too bad the Cubs can't sub for Dusty during the game as well.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

I think some of it has to do with screwing the Cubs over, not all of it.

 

Don't confuse his poor managerial efforts with a poor character.

[Lefty]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

 

Hendry has given him way too much ammunition. As bad as Baker is, look at the garbage team Hendry has given him. Pierre, Perez, Rusch, Bynum, Jones; forget the emergency guys-these are players Hendry pursued.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

 

Hendry has given him way too much ammunition. As bad as Baker is, look at the garbage team Hendry has given him. Pierre, Perez, Rusch, Bynum, Jones; forget the emergency guys-these are players Hendry pursued.

 

Regardless, Dusty is trying to make milk with his lemons and then blaming the milk for being sour.

[Lefty]

He knows he's gone at the end of the season and he just wants to do as much damage as he can.

 

He's not consciously making these decisions, he really is that bad of a manager.

 

Hendry has given him way too much ammunition. As bad as Baker is, look at the garbage team Hendry has given him. Pierre, Perez, Rusch, Bynum, Jones; forget the emergency guys-these are players Hendry pursued.

 

Regardless, Dusty is trying to make milk with his lemons and then blaming the milk for being sour.

 

The Cubs are one of the worst teams in the majors. Given the payroll, their performance is historically bad. There is plenty of blame to go around.

[BigbadB]

By the time the Cubs fire Dusty, Dusty will have lowered the trade value of half the team. Dempster is the latest example, preceded by Murton and Walker. Of course, there's the overuse of Wood and Prior. Knowing Dusty, he will continue to use Jones against lefties until his batting average plummets along with his trade value. I'm not defending Hendry, but he will be lambasted for the low-potential prospects he ends up getting for the likes of Jones, Walker, Maddux, and Dempster. If Murton is ever traded, I look for him to become a solid .300 hitter.

 

I think it would be hard to get motivated when the guy in charge of motivating you and making sound, practical decisions can't seem to motivate you or make sound, practical decisions.

 

Last night late in the game, Nevin got to 1b. Dusty replaces Nevin with Murton. Not a bad plan. Actually a pretty good one.

 

Cedeno first pitch bunts Murton to 2nd. Stupid, idiotic plan. It ended up working out because Murton ended up scoring in the inning, but what is the point of first pitch bunting after replacing the guy on 1b with a pinch runner? Couldn't Nevin have made it to 2nd on the bunt?

 

Couldn't Murton have attempted to steal 2nd so that Cedeno could bunt him to 3rd if you're going to sacrifice?

 

It's stupid decisions like this that, IMO, spread like a highly contagious disease throughout the rest of the team.

[badger1679666666]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

[srbin84]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

 

Are those 6 errors all at SS?

[SCCubbieFAN]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

 

Are those 6 errors all at SS?

 

Also, isn't the concensus on this board that the season is lost anyway so we should be playing the kids as much as possible so they get better?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

 

Are those 6 errors all at SS?

 

Using errors is an awful way to judge defense. That said, Cedeno(.959 fielding pct) and Perez(.955) have been equal in that manner at SS.

[srbin84]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

 

Are those 6 errors all at SS?

 

Also, isn't the concensus on this board that the season is lost anyway so we should be playing the kids as much as possible so they get better?

 

Yeah, but they aren't doing that. They think they are still in it. Therefore, if you were in it, it would make sense to put Neifi at SS for the 9th.

[dalgreen]

I agree. Basing defensive liability solely on the number of errors is not an accurate assessment. ARam has the second highest fielding pct. either in the NL or MLB and I think he's one of the worst defensive third basemen in the game. Plus, all it takes is for two official scorings to screw you.

 

Baker should have plenty of blame placed on him for this season and last season, but I'm sick of hearing about how good Matt Murton will be if he's away from Baker. Didn't we hear the same thing about Bobby Hill and Hee Seop Choi? I like Murton's ability, but I also at one point liked the above mentioned guys, too and I simply overvalued them. Ask yourself this about Murton, if we hadn't have made the trade for Garciaparra, would Murton have made an appearance at Fenway Park yet?

 

Last night's game was lost due to poor execution. Yeah, you can blame Dempster's ineffectiveness on not pitching a lot, but who else in the bullpen would you feel comfortable with protecting a one-run lead?

 

Regarding trade values, I have to give it up to Jacque Jones because I was riding him hard for the first six weeks of the season and now he's playing well (but learn how to throw the stupid baseball), Walker's trade value, in my opinion, was never that high or he would've been dealt in the off-season. Nevin will probably net you the same for what we had to give up.

[dalgreen]

He should be pitching Dempster more and putting in Neifi for Cedeno for defense in any game we have a late lead in. If he had just done one of those things, we would have won. Yesterday was an example of where I will blame Dusty for the loss because Dempster is rusty and Cedeno (right now, anyway), is a very inconsistent defender at SS. We have an excellent one in Neifi who could have easily replaced Cedeno as someone mentioned.

 

Wait didn't Cedeno go 20+ games in a row until that error last night?

 

Oh and in 47 games Neifi has 6 errors, while in 72 games Cedeno has 12.

 

Neifi is not that much better than Cedeno.

 

Are those 6 errors all at SS?

 

Also, isn't the concensus on this board that the season is lost anyway so we should be playing the kids as much as possible so they get better?

 

Yeah, but they aren't doing that. They think they are still in it. Therefore, if you were in it, it would make sense to put Neifi at SS for the 9th.

 

And you would bring in who to play second base? Cedeno is better defensively at SS than Walker is at 2nd base.

[dalgreen]

Dusty preaches aggresive hitting and with that comes swinging at ball 4. Also, since he doesn't hold the players responsible (that we know of) the errors and mental errors continue to pile up.

 

It really irks me to have to defend Baker, but he doesn't preach swinging at ball four. His aggressive philosophy is swing at any pitch in the strike zone -- that's a big difference than just swinging at everything. Having said that, I still disagree with that philosophy. I'm all for players swinging at balls in their "hot" zone whether it's first pitch or a 3-0 pitch, but it's stupid to swing at any pitch in the strike zone, unless, of course, it's with two strikes. The thing I can't stand is the number of our players who love swinging at breaking pitches, especially when that isn't their pitch.

[goonys evil twin]

 

It really irks me to have to defend Baker, but he doesn't preach swinging at ball four. His aggressive philosophy is swing at any pitch in the strike zone -- that's a big difference than just swinging at everything.

 

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies.

[dalgreen]

 

It really irks me to have to defend Baker, but he doesn't preach swinging at ball four. His aggressive philosophy is swing at any pitch in the strike zone -- that's a big difference than just swinging at everything.

 

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies.

 

I don't get how what you stated is much different that what I stated. He doesn't say swing at ball four and by being overly aggressive means our hitters rarely get to ball three counts, anyway. But in the rare instances our guys do get to ball three, Baker's philosophy and our hitters' lack of pitch recognition makes it difficult for ball four.

 

Hey, when is someone going to ask him why he downplays walks on the offensive side, but hates them when we give them up?

[goonys evil twin]

 

It really irks me to have to defend Baker, but he doesn't preach swinging at ball four. His aggressive philosophy is swing at any pitch in the strike zone -- that's a big difference than just swinging at everything.

 

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies.

 

I don't get how what you stated is much different that what I stated. He doesn't say swing at ball four and by being overly aggressive means our hitters rarely get to ball three counts, anyway. But in the rare instances our guys do get to ball three, Baker's philosophy and our hitters' lack of pitch recognition makes it difficult for ball four.

 

Hey, when is someone going to ask him why he downplays walks on the offensive side, but hates them when we give them up?

 

Cuse said, "Dusty preaches aggresive hitting and with that comes swinging at ball 4" and you tried to defend Baker by saying he doesn't preach swinging at ball 4. It doesn't matter if he doesn't preach that, he preaches something that leads to ball 4. There is no defense for Baker on that charge, and there's no reason for you to try and defend him.

[dalgreen]

 

It really irks me to have to defend Baker, but he doesn't preach swinging at ball four. His aggressive philosophy is swing at any pitch in the strike zone -- that's a big difference than just swinging at everything.

 

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies.

 

I don't get how what you stated is much different that what I stated. He doesn't say swing at ball four and by being overly aggressive means our hitters rarely get to ball three counts, anyway. But in the rare instances our guys do get to ball three, Baker's philosophy and our hitters' lack of pitch recognition makes it difficult for ball four.

 

Hey, when is someone going to ask him why he downplays walks on the offensive side, but hates them when we give them up?

 

Cuse said, "Dusty preaches aggresive hitting and with that comes swinging at ball 4" and you tried to defend Baker by saying he doesn't preach swinging at ball 4. It doesn't matter if he doesn't preach that, he preaches something that leads to ball 4. There is no defense for Baker on that charge, and there's no reason for you to try and defend him.

 

So, swinging at a helmet high pitch or a breaking pitch eight inches outside comes from preaching "be aggressive" yet they were able to take three other pitches during the at-bat? As I said, I hate Baker's philosophy, but to give players a free pass on consistently swinging at obvious balls is ridiculous.