2013

[USSoccer]

hey b2b, now tell us how smart Matt Millen is

 

Turns out Dave Littlefield does not in fact have manure for brains, but actually is one of the 100 smartest baseball minds of all time.

 

It's a travesty we hired the BOY GENIUSES instead of giving Littlefield a shot in an organization he knew well.

[SouthSideRyan]

I just wish we had a President/GM combo that had experience coaching and scouting rather than being stuck the BOY GENIUSES

 

BOYS GENIUS?

[USSoccer]

I just wish we had a President/GM combo that had experience coaching and scouting rather than being stuck the BOY GENIUSES

 

BOYS GENIUS?

 

That's too grammatically correct; you've one of THEM

[sneakypower]

hey b2b, now tell us how smart Matt Millen is

 

Apparently smarter than the owner that hired him. The owner fell for a guy that talked about sports (like posters) as opposed to someone who actually had experience in coaching, scouting, managing, and player development.

wow, this is actually an argument that you are making.

[C.C.]

And Bill James never played baseball dammit!!!!!

[CubInOK]

I wish we had Steve Phillips as our GM because he played MLB baseball. I would also like to see Curt Schilling replace Crane Kenney because Schilling knows a thing or two about baseball and business.

[Guest]

I wish we had Steve Phillips as our GM because he played MLB baseball. I would also like to see Curt Schilling replace Crane Kenney because Schilling knows a thing or two about baseball and business.

 

Screw that. Lenny Dykstra please. He knows baseball and business even better.

[Cubswin11]

And God Damn't bring Ryno in to be the coach. Why isn't Ryno the coach? He continues to get screwed by the organization, why isn't Ryno the coach?

[Clem Fandango]

HE PAID HIS DUES AND ALL HE DID IN THE MINORS WAS WIN!!!

[davell]

Hendry has been involved in baseball for well over 30 years. Isn't it telling that Theo, in less than half the time, has more than twice the accomplishments?

[Backtobanks]

Hendry has been involved in baseball for well over 30 years. Isn't it telling that Theo, in less than half the time, has more than twice the accomplishments?

 

30 years? I guess you're counting his college days.

[SouthSideRyan]

Hendry has been involved in baseball for well over 30 years. Isn't it telling that Theo, in less than half the time, has more than twice the accomplishments?

 

30 years? I guess you're counting his college days.

 

Oh, so it's his managing 1 year of rookie ball and 1 year of low-A ball that you keep referring to when celebrating his illustrious coaching career.

[Backtobanks]

Hendry has been involved in baseball for well over 30 years. Isn't it telling that Theo, in less than half the time, has more than twice the accomplishments?

 

30 years? I guess you're counting his college days.

 

Oh, so it's his managing 1 year of rookie ball and 1 year of low-A ball that you keep referring to when celebrating his illustrious coaching career.

 

No he coached college ball, but I assumed Davell was talking about their accomplishments in the ML.

[davell]

No, I just meant he's had a 30 year career in the game to help build contacts, network, and move towards the higher positions you can obtain.

[Little Slide Rooter]

He made some awful decisions, and a lot went wrong for him, but the fact is that there are 30 MLB GM jobs, and a ton of guys that would love to take them, and I'm not just talking about message board posters and radio callers here. Anyone who managed to hold down one of the the most sought after jobs in sports for as long as Hendry did suggests that he was clearly doing a lot of things right, though we might not know just what.

 

 

The fact is there are a limited number of MLB television play-by-play jobs, and a ton of guys that would love to take them, and I'm not just talking about message board posters and radio callers here. Anyone who managed to hold down one of the most sought after jobs in sports for as long as Hawk Harrelson has suggests that he has clearly been doing a lot of things right, though none of those things has actually ever been witnessed.

 

I'm sure that a lot of people would like to take his place, but the White Sox fans seem to like him, mostly anyway, and more importantly, ownership does. In Hawk's job, you can get by on that alone. A GM's responsibilities tend to be a bit more involved.

[Sammy Sofa]

Reality states otherwise.

 

Yeah the reality is that we're posting on message boards and he's had a long-time career on many levels of baseball, but in you go ahead and keep believing that you're smarter than he is and he's just been lucky all of his life.

 

 

LULZ at the master of the multi-team trade planting himself in the corner by lecturing people for daring to think they can think on the level of MLB GM's.

 

At least I understand that this message board is for entertainment purposes. It's a shame that you really believe that the fact that you post every 30 seconds somehow makes you smarter than the rest of the world.

 

"My God," he thought, "it's dumb as [expletive] in here."

[fromthestretch]

He made some awful decisions, and a lot went wrong for him, but the fact is that there are 30 MLB GM jobs, and a ton of guys that would love to take them, and I'm not just talking about message board posters and radio callers here. Anyone who managed to hold down one of the the most sought after jobs in sports for as long as Hendry did suggests that he was clearly doing a lot of things right, though we might not know just what.

 

 

The fact is there are a limited number of MLB television play-by-play jobs, and a ton of guys that would love to take them, and I'm not just talking about message board posters and radio callers here. Anyone who managed to hold down one of the most sought after jobs in sports for as long as Hawk Harrelson has suggests that he has clearly been doing a lot of things right, though none of those things has actually ever been witnessed.

 

I'm sure that a lot of people would like to take his place, but the White Sox fans seem to like him, mostly anyway, and more importantly, ownership does. In Hawk's job, you can get by on that alone. A GM's responsibilities tend to be a bit more involved.

 

You used Hendry's longevity as a GM as evidence that he was doing something right. Hawk has been the White Sox announcer for longer than anyone cares to remember, and pretty much everyone (except for the very biased of White Sox fans) will agree that he's horrible at it. Your ability to keep a job for a number of years doesn't necessarily make you good at it. It could simply mean your boss was too blind/incompetent/ignorant to remove you from that position sooner.

[cubbyvirus00]

Reality states otherwise.

 

Yeah the reality is that we're posting on message boards and he's had a long-time career on many levels of baseball, but in you go ahead and keep believing that you're smarter than he is and he's just been lucky all of his life.

 

 

LULZ at the master of the multi-team trade planting himself in the corner by lecturing people for daring to think they can think on the level of MLB GM's.

 

At least I understand that this message board is for entertainment purposes. It's a shame that you really believe that the fact that you post every 30 seconds somehow makes you smarter than the rest of the world.

 

Don't forget that he's also quite the comedian.

[Sammy Sofa]

Damn right.

[davell]

I'm putting this here because I guess it's where it ultimately pertains to the most. The Cubs are going to give Valbuena the bulk of the playing time at 3B over the last month. I guess it's apparent that they know Vitters isn't close to being ready and my guess is unless he's dealt, he's a lock to start out at Iowa next year.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm putting this here because I guess it's where it ultimately pertains to the most. The Cubs are going to give Valbuena the bulk of the playing time at 3B over the last month. I guess it's apparent that they know Vitters isn't close to being ready and my guess is unless he's dealt, he's a lock to start out at Iowa next year.

 

It was brought up in the Vitters/Jackson callup thread.

[davell]

I'm putting this here because I guess it's where it ultimately pertains to the most. The Cubs are going to give Valbuena the bulk of the playing time at 3B over the last month. I guess it's apparent that they know Vitters isn't close to being ready and my guess is unless he's dealt, he's a lock to start out at Iowa next year.

 

It was brought up in the Vitters/Jackson callup thread.

Well I'm a dumbass.

[CubColtPacer]

The question becomes does Valbuena become the likely starter for 2013? His main peripherals look solid. He has the best BB/K ratio on the team. His ISOP of .150 is fine. His defense is good.

 

The only thing holding him back from being an above average 3B starter is a .248 BABIP with a 20.1 LD percentage. What makes that BABIP harder to waive away is that his career BABIP in the majors is .267 in just over 1000 PA's, and his minor league BABIP is decently low for a future major league player (.317).

 

So does he have something in his swing that causes that low difference between LD and BABIP, or is it mostly statistical variation? I think the front office would like to find that out over the last month.

[XZero771679666304]

The question becomes does Valbuena become the likely starter for 2013?

 

Possibly, at least at the start. But unless Theo/Jed go outside the organization again, I'm thinking Stewart is still a distinct possibility. And if we're looking at another "lost" season, I'm fine with seeing how much of a problem his wrist really was. If Valbuena is the alternative, at least.

[sneakypower]

he's hit a lot of IF flies, which always obviously suppresses babip; fwiw, his xBABIP is .284 for the year

 

his .286/.420/.464 (.333 babip) line for August is quite a sight to behold, namely that 13-to-10 BB:K rate

 

i'm also a big, big fan of his defense at 3rd