Where do the Cubs rank?

[Sweet Swinging Billy]

Article on MLB.com on which teams have the best lineups in Major League baseball. Maybe I'm biased but I would like to think the Cubs are at least in the top five. We certainly would have a more formible lineup if we were to add Roberts to the mix...or K.Greene. What do you a'll think?

 

 

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080310&content_id=2416404&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[bcl412]

We pretty much have 3 proven sluggers. The rest of the guys either haven't started a whole season in the majors, (Soto, Fukudome, whoever plays center) and other guys who aren't that good (Theriot, Cedeno). So I don't see any way the Cubs are in the Top 5 in the majors.

[UMFan83]

There's no way the Cubs have a top 5 lineup. The Cubs will be trotting out 2 rookies with upside and a black hole at SS. Top 5 in the NL possibly. I think the Mets and Phillies are clearly the cream of the crop, while the Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, Rockies and Braves fill in spots 3-7

[Sammy Sofa]

High end of the middle of the pack. If we were letter grading them, personaly, I'd put them in the C+ to solid B range depending on how a few things pan out.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I also don't see them as being in the top 5

[imb]

not even top 5 in the nl central

[bcl412]

Wouldn't the Cubs be considered contenders in the first place because they have slightly above average hitting and little bit more above average pitching and most of the NL isn't that balanced (aka sucks)?

[sneakypower]

oh golly if we added khalil greene we'd have the best lineup in the history of the game!

[rocket]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

[Butterscup1679666578]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

You think? I figure Soto will produce more than Barrett/Kendall did last year.

 

You gotta figure Pie/Fukudome will be more productive than Jones/Floyd were for us last year as well. This is definitely a better lineup than last year, IMO.

[Sweet Swinging Billy]

not even top 5 in the nl central

 

I agree with everything that has been said thus far but IMB, the Cubs clearly have the best line-up in the NL Central. Milwaukee is a close second.

[UMFan83]

not even top 5 in the nl central

 

I agree with everything that has been said thus far but IMB, the Cubs clearly have the best line-up in the NL Central. Milwaukee is a close second.

 

I'm almost positive he was kidding. There is just no way the Cubs are worse off than the Pirates.

 

I don't agree the Cubs clearly have the best lineup in the Central. The Brewers up and down have more sure things in their lineup than the Cubs, and their 2 biggest thumpers (Fielder and Braun) are probably better than the Cubs biggest thumpers (some combo of Soriano, Ramirez, Lee).

 

I think it goes

 

1. Cubs/Brewers (tie)

3. Reds

4. Astros

5. Cardinals

6. Pirates

 

Sorry Jake

[UMFan83]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

You think? I figure Soto will produce more than Barrett/Kendall did last year.

 

You gotta figure Pie/Fukudome will be more productive than Jones/Floyd were for us last year as well. This is definitely a better lineup than last year, IMO.

 

In addition, you really would think at least 1, if not 2 or all 3 of Lee, Ramirez, Soriano will have better years than last year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If your talking about lineup, in a purely offensive sense, you have to give theAstros some serious consideration. Pence, Tejada, C. Lee, and Berkman pack some serious punch. While the tail end of the line up is lacking, that may be the best heart of the lineup in the NL.

[Clem Fandango]

Considering last year the Cubs underachieved big time at the beginning of the year, if they don't go through a similar slump, they could have one of the best lineups in the NL, IMO. They sucked in April. Big time. But not much changed lineup wise between April when they sucked and June when they caught fire. If they don't slump, they're one of the best.

[VanceJergins]

I put the Cubs in the top 5 in the NL. I think the Phillies and maybe the Brewers will be better.

 

I'm not all that impressed with the Mets offense. They have Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, but Delgado is regressing, Alou is old and won't stay healthy, Church isn't impressive for a RF, and then Castillo and Schneider are pretty weak.

 

I'd rank the top 5 as:

 

Phillies

Brewers

Cubs

Rockies

Mets

[erik316wttn]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

Will we be historically bad against lefties again, too?

[BigbadB]

I put the Cubs in the top 5 in the NL. I think the Phillies and maybe the Brewers will be better.

 

I'm not all that impressed with the Mets offense. They have Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, but Delgado is regressing, Alou is old and won't stay healthy, Church isn't impressive for a RF, and then Castillo and Schneider are pretty weak.

 

I'd rank the top 5 as:

 

Phillies

Brewers

Cubs

Rockies

Mets

 

That seems pretty close to me, also. I might put Cincinnati in the top 5 if they had a different manager who would play the guys who should play.

 

I think the Brewers have to get the edge offensively over the Cubs. Depending on who wins the 2b job in Colorado, I might have to bump Colorado ahead of Milwaukee and the Cubs, and maybe even Phily.

 

Back to Milwaukee: This should be Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks' busting out party season. Bill Hall moving back to the infield where he likes to be will probably be a huge boost to his numbers. Once Mike Cameron gets off of his suspension, he will have a ball hitting balls out of the yard in the NL Central. Oh, and then there's Fielder and Braun. With all of those potential 20+ HR guys, to get 57 XBH's from your SS as well is just icing on the cake. Kendall is the only offensive player on the field who doesn't have 20+ HR potential.

 

The Cubs will have to beat Milwaukee on the mound. And the Cubs definitely have a better pitching staff at this point.

[nilodnayr]

Last year we were 100 runs away from the top 5, 50 away from the Brewers, and 30 away from cinci. Just for reference.

[rocket]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

You think? I figure Soto will produce more than Barrett/Kendall did last year.

 

You gotta figure Pie/Fukudome will be more productive than Jones/Floyd were for us last year as well. This is definitely a better lineup than last year, IMO.

 

In addition, you really would think at least 1, if not 2 or all 3 of Lee, Ramirez, Soriano will have better years than last year.

 

last year at rf, we got a line of .298/.375/.419, which is about what we'd expect from fukudome, except a little higher SLG.

last year at cf, we got a line of .254/.305/.404, and while i'd like to think felix pie could outproduce that, there's a very good chance he'll also match that or do worse.

soto should put up better numbers offensively as the catcher this season, i'll grant you that.

 

i don't expect lee or soriano to improve on last years numbers, i expect them to decline a little bit or stay the same. ramirez should improve, but he's also a big injury risk.

 

so yeah, i don't think we've improved all that much on offense, and i'd expect us to be league average again.

[CubColtPacer]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

You think? I figure Soto will produce more than Barrett/Kendall did last year.

 

You gotta figure Pie/Fukudome will be more productive than Jones/Floyd were for us last year as well. This is definitely a better lineup than last year, IMO.

 

In addition, you really would think at least 1, if not 2 or all 3 of Lee, Ramirez, Soriano will have better years than last year.

 

last year at rf, we got a line of .298/.375/.419, which is about what we'd expect from fukudome, except a little higher SLG.

last year at cf, we got a line of .254/.305/.404, and while i'd like to think felix pie could outproduce that, there's a very good chance he'll also match that or do worse.

soto should put up better numbers offensively as the catcher this season, i'll grant you that.

 

i don't expect lee or soriano to improve on last years numbers, i expect them to decline a little bit or stay the same. ramirez should improve, but he's also a big injury risk.

 

so yeah, i don't think we've improved all that much on offense, and i'd expect us to be league average again.

 

I'd expect us to be a little improved and a little above league average.

 

Our two biggest spots for improvement are C and SS.

 

C- .239/.304/.369. My expectation is that the catching tandem this year can do about 50 points better than that (Soto with a 750 catching 3/4 of the days, Blanco with a 650 catching 1/4)

 

SS-.254/.309/.331. As bad as the position is for the Cubs, they likely will put up better combined numbers than that. Say a 30-40 point improvement over last year (which would put it right about what Theriot put up over a full season last year).

 

There aren't really any positions you can see the numbers from last year and really say that it's going to go down.

 

Of course, the biggest thing is going to be the play of Fukudome, Soto, and Pie. If 1 or 2 of them bust out (Fukudome with an 850+ OPS, Pie with a 750+, Soto with a 800+), or if Cedeno gets the job and he busts out (725+) there could be more improvement then that.

[nilodnayr]

Itd be awesome if our starters played 162 games. Well, except at SS.

[VanceJergins]

this is practically the same lineup that netted 85 wins last season. the lineup will probably be league average, just like it was last year.

 

You think? I figure Soto will produce more than Barrett/Kendall did last year.

 

You gotta figure Pie/Fukudome will be more productive than Jones/Floyd were for us last year as well. This is definitely a better lineup than last year, IMO.

 

In addition, you really would think at least 1, if not 2 or all 3 of Lee, Ramirez, Soriano will have better years than last year.

 

last year at rf, we got a line of .298/.375/.419, which is about what we'd expect from fukudome, except a little higher SLG.

last year at cf, we got a line of .254/.305/.404, and while i'd like to think felix pie could outproduce that, there's a very good chance he'll also match that or do worse.

soto should put up better numbers offensively as the catcher this season, i'll grant you that.

 

i don't expect lee or soriano to improve on last years numbers, i expect them to decline a little bit or stay the same. ramirez should improve, but he's also a big injury risk.

 

so yeah, i don't think we've improved all that much on offense, and i'd expect us to be league average again.

 

I think Pie has a very good chance of doing better than that. Maybe not a whole lot better, but I doubt he does worse. I'd also expect Lee to hit for a little more power than last year. So I think we'll have improvements at CF, RF, 3B, SS (marginal), 1B, and C.

[17 Seconds]

not even top 5 in the nl central

 

the Cubs clearly have the best line-up in the NL Central. Milwaukee is a close second.

 

Are you joking? I think it's pretty obvious that the Brewers still have a better lineup. We ere a medicore offense last year and we've marginally upgraded. I think people are severly overestimating the upgrade that Fukudome brings. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the signing, but better thaan the Brewers? Get outta here. Even if Soto performs to his potential the Brewers likely still have the better offense.

 

As has been said, I don't know where this "top 5 offense" stuff is coming from. We're not even a top 5 offense in the NL, let alone all of baseball.

[SABR Gamer]

not even top 5 in the nl central

 

the Cubs clearly have the best line-up in the NL Central. Milwaukee is a close second.

 

Are you joking? I think it's pretty obvious that the Brewers still have a better lineup. We ere a medicore offense last year and we've marginally upgraded. I think people are severly overestimating the upgrade that Fukudome brings. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the signing, but better thaan the Brewers? Get outta here. Even if Soto performs to his potential the Brewers likely still have the better offense.

 

As has been said, I don't know where this "top 5 offense" stuff is coming from. We're not even a top 5 offense in the NL, let alone all of baseball.

 

Eh, most of that is probably true, but we do have a top 5 in the NL. All of baseball? No. NL? Most definitely(-Devin Hester).