Walker's Nonstop Mouth

[JGalt73]

I don't think Walker's a major problem per say, but the Cubs' infield defense and range was terrible this year. Especially watching the Mets and Yankees all year (living just outside NY) then the Cubs, its brutal how many balls that Wright-Reyes-Cairo OR AROD-Jeter-Cano would get to trickle through the infield on Aramis-Nomar-Walker.

 

Getting rid of Walker wouldn't fix that; getting rid of any one of them wouldn't fix that, but I do think something needs to be done in this area. Unless you can get Nomar cheaply, I think he's the one that should go.

 

I was not expecting such bad production in such little time, but using Davenport's park adjusted fielding runs above average so far this year:

 

Nomar(3B&SS)/Walker/Aram : 270 games -29 runs

Wright/Reyes/Cairo(2B): 379 games -2 runs

Rodriguez/Jeter/Cano: 428 games -8 runs

 

Nomar 28G @ 3B -5

Nomar 26G @ SS -1

Walker 97G @ 2B -9

Ramirez 119G @ 3B -14

 

 

The only above average players in the list Wright +2, Cairo +3, Jeter +5.

[TruffleShuffle]

I'll check in with all the Walker lovers next year when he's on another team that doesn't win anything.

 

Wow, all that time I didn't know that it was Walker's fault that Wakefield gave up that HR to Aaron Boone in 2003, and then him not being on the Red Sox last year enabled them to overcome a 3-0 deficit in their series against the Yankees!

[rocket]

I'll check in with all the Walker lovers next year when he's on another team that doesn't win anything.

 

Wow, all that time I didn't know that it was Walker's fault that Wakefield gave up that HR to Aaron Boone in 2003, and then him not being on the Red Sox last year enabled them to overcome a 3-0 deficit in their series against the Yankees!

 

i always blamed todd walker and his 2003 alcs line of .370/.414/.704 for the red sox losing.

 

that's because i watched every one of those playoff games

[imb]

I'll check in with all the Walker lovers next year when he's on another team that doesn't win anything.

 

Wow, all that time I didn't know that it was Walker's fault that Wakefield gave up that HR to Aaron Boone in 2003, and then him not being on the Red Sox last year enabled them to overcome a 3-0 deficit in their series against the Yankees!

 

i always blamed todd walker and his 2003 alcs line of .370/.414/.704 for the red sox losing.

 

that's because i watched every one of those playoff games

 

everyone knows you cant watch the games AND read stats, dummy.

[wekse]

stats are crazy, most of the time they lie.

[Satch80]

If Cedeno works out ok at 2nd during winter ball, he'll play 2nd and Walker will be gone. Dusty/Hendry aren't happy that we're so poor on the defensive stats. We have almost no range in the infield with Aramis, Nomar and Walker. Plus a terrible DP combo.

Aramis isn't going anywhere. But Nomar ( and his injuries) and Walker are expendable.

 

I think Hendry will try to sign Furcal and if he gets him, play Cedeno at 2nd. This takes care of leadoff and improving defense up the middle. If he doesn't get Furcal it's possible he'll take one more shot at Nomar and play Cedeno at 2nd.

 

I just don't see Walker starting at 2nd next year unless Cedeno bombs during winter ball. Not because of his mouth but because of his slow feet and poor hands.

[goonys evil twin]

If Cedeno works out ok at 2nd during winter ball, he'll play 2nd and Walker will be gone. Dusty/Hendry aren't happy that we're so poor on the defensive stats. We have almost no range in the infield with Aramis, Nomar and Walker. Plus a terrible DP combo.

Aramis isn't going anywhere. But Nomar ( and his injuries) and Walker are expendable.

 

I think Hendry will try to sign Furcal and if he gets him, play Cedeno at 2nd. This takes care of leadoff and improving defense up the middle. If he doesn't get Furcal it's possible he'll take one more shot at Nomar and play Cedeno at 2nd.

 

I just don't see Walker starting at 2nd next year unless Cedeno bombs during winter ball. Not because of his mouth but because of his slow feet and poor hands.

 

Furcal and Cedeno would not be a good offensive combo up the middle. This lineup is bad enough, it doesn't need to be saddled with an $8+ million mediocre bat like Furcal's.

[JC]

Just re-sign Nomar. Every post I see mentioning Furcal makes me queasy. I'd much rather have Nomar at SS with Cedeno backing him up. If leadoff is such a concern (though it shouldn't be with Walker around) then bring in someone like Lofton for a year since there is such an intent to get rid of Patterson. He is really the only CF that makes sense, considering Pie's march to Wrigley. Of course, you could get a proven winner like Bernie Williams. :roll:

 

It all comes down to spending money the right way. 4/$32M for Furcal is frightening to me. While I think Giles is unattainable, this wouldn't be a bad lineup if is could be had (and Lofton doesn't play like a 39 year old speedster with age catching up):

 

Lofton

Walker

Lee

Giles

ARam

Nomar

CPatt/Murton

Barrett

 

Your bench would include Murton/CPatt, Cedeno, Hairston, Blanco, OF and IF. There is no reason to use every red cent the Trib has if it means attaching this team to mediocre players for the long term.

[Satch80]

"Furcal and Cedeno would not be a good offensive combo up the middle."

 

 

True, but it would be a very good defensive combo. Preventing runs works also.

[Backtobanks]

Let's assume for a second that the Cubs have limited opportunities to improve the team this coming offseason; that they will not be able to address every possible shortcoming on this team; that they will not be able to sign/trade for All-Star players at every position (far-fetched, I know, but bear with me).

Working off of these assumptions, what do you think our priorities should be?

 

Addressing the team's horrible OBP;

Finding a leadoff hitter (and hitting him in the leadoff spot);

Filling all THREE holes in our outfield;

Getting some much-needed bullpen help;

Finding a reliable 5th (and possibly 4th) starter;

or replacing the third best hitter on our team (who also happens to be extremely cheap) because he has somewhat below-average defense and talks too much for some people's tastes?

 

You tell me.

 

I don't know why everyone is looking for a way to save the Tribune some money. If one or both of Murton/Cedeno starts, the Cubs have a ton of money to buy free agents or pay players acquired in a trade. Add to that, a player like Lofton is not very expensive. Resign Walker and Rusch to add to the depth needed to make trades this winter. Using Patterson, Walker, Rusch/Williams, Hill, Mitre, Welly, and minor league players as trade bait, Hendry should be able to acquire an OF and a pitcher (#4 or #5 starter or veteran reliever). That still leaves a lot of money for a big name free agent (Furcal, Giles, etc.). Depending on the other deals, sign Nomar to a low-base, high incentive contract. If Nomar makes all of his incentives, the money might start getting tight, but that wouldn't be a problem because if Nomar reaches his incentives, the Cubs will be in the playoffs.

[MPrior]

I didn't say the Cubs have limited money to acquire what they need to; I said they have limited opportunities. The free agent class is extremely weak: any class of free agents in which Rafael Furcal is considered "big-name" is pretty lame. Who knows what's available for trade, and the Cubs don't have any real big trading chips (Walker being the only one to speak of, and I'm fairly adamant about keeping him unless something very helpful can be had for him). And even if Hendry does make several big moves, he still won't have covered ALL the holes on the team. So what I meant was, if we can't fill ALL the holes on the team, why are we worried about addressing the least significant detriment this team has?

[neely crenshaw]

we beg for obp and he provides it. but because it's walker it's not good enough.

if you want to talk problems why not aram? is he above it. great offensive player but he hurts us much more tham walker. what would his d be like without lee at first. he'd be back to his 30 errors. he doesn't run hard because of his legs, he is hurt a lot. the thing is you like aram and for some reason you don't like walker.

i love the fact that he(tood) will say what he feels. he rips management for not getting help at the break. guess what? so did most of us

he rips dusty for the way he sets his lineup. guess what? so do we!

to me, he says what i think every player on this team should say. the mangement has screwed up and needs to do something different. sometimes the truth hurts but hopefully it will help fix this team. the time for everyone to be quiet and pretend we are headed in the right direction is over!

it will probably cost todd his spot with us, as i'm sure it has other places. i know that he wants to win and is pissed when people screw that up!