TruffleShuffle

Starting Hollandsworth over Dubois is worse than World War II. No, you've got it all wrong, pinch hitting for Dubois with the guy who pops out of the toilet was worse than WWII. Except I'm only semi-kidding there, that decision was horrendous.

It's not how many innings but when. Fox pitched in 3 consecutive days. The culmination was yesterday's blow out. There was absolutly no reason for him to be in there, none. I don't blame Dusty for injurying Fox, but I do question his baseball acumen. How do you pitch a guy comming off of a serious arm injury in 3 straight games? Espeically when he has been anointed as the closer de jour. If a tree falls in the forest...can we blame Dusty? Fox closed one game, he's not our closer. Yes... apparently he can also be blamed for the Titanic, Hindenburg, UN Food for Oil scandal, the faulty intelligence that caused the asinine war in Iraq, urban plight, global warming, deforestation and overpopulation as well. World War II and Vietnam may well have been his fault, too.

Don't worry... I did this on another board one time, asking people whose careers Dusty ruined. I got Billy Swift, which may very well have been a legitimate answer. I got Ryan Vogelsong, who pitched 12 innings under Dusty. I got Jason Schmidt, who had elbow issues long before he met Dusty, and who had pitched a grand total of 66 innings under Dusty before the elbow flared up again. And I got Robb Nen, whose innings pitched were generally less than the number of innings pitched by other top closers during the time Dusty managed him. Most people in baseball would tell you that Nen's shoulder problems were a result of him hardly using his legs at all to drive, and relying purely on arm strength to throw 98 mph. People assume when a guy gets hurt, it's the manager's fault. Hence the reaction with Fox.

While I would have used Leicester there (simply so that Fox would be available tomorrow), a major league reliever needs to be able to pitch three one-inning outings on consecutive days. I agree with that, but up 6 is a perfect time to get one of the guys deep in your pen some work. Not a guy you plan to use in your closer by "situation". I think the problem was that they assumed they wouldn't score in the bottom of the 8th. When Grieve got on, they should have started warming up Leicester right away. Once Neifi hit his HR, there was no time to get Leicester ready, especially since the next two guys got out on one pitch. By the time Neifi hit the HR, they really didn't leave themselves any choice but to put in Fox.

While I would have used Leicester there (simply so that Fox would be available tomorrow), a major league reliever needs to be able to pitch three one-inning outings on consecutive days.

I actually don't have that big a problem with Macias getting a start. If you're going to have him on the roster, I don't mind him getting a start one out of every 20 games or so. His presence on the roster is the real problem. I guess I don't mind him starting now and then, but I definately think Macias should be pursuing another proffesion such as McDonalds or Burger King. I wouldn't trust Macias with the Fry-o-Lator.

Using a guy who is hitting .380 to sac bunt, trying to get Hairston to 3rd base in the 4th inning of a 1-0 game. The wind is blowing out at 20 mph. WTF are you doing playing for the game-tying run with the heart of your lineup coming up? Dusty is bad enough, but now he's taking on Don Baylor's worst habit as well.

The Man is back tonight after a couple of snow-outs and a sore hamstring. In the first game of the doubleheader tonight, he went 2-2 with a single, double, 2 runs and 3 RBI. He also walked and was hit by a pitch. Batting average is now up to .489 with a shot at .500 if he can get a hit in his next ball put into play.

Because Hendry's decision wasn't that he needed to protect Koronka instead of Sisco. It was that Sisco didn't need protecting and therefore he had an extra roster spot available. I can't agree with this. At the very least, roster availability had to be part of the equation for Hendry. Despite a roster spot being open at the time, the needs of the team were varied, and I suspect that Hendry didn't want clog his roster which would cause additional decisions in the future. Likewise, I can't agree with Truffle. As I've stated numerous times, I would not have left Sisco unprotected due to various reasons. A component of that reasoning includes the fact that there was roster manueverability in light of people like Koronka and Rohlicek taking up spots. However, while I see that as manueverability, Hendry likely did not because these two were more "major league ready" than Sisco by virtue of their experience. I still don't see why you don't protect Sisco. The Cubs really aren't in that much of a crunch with their 40 man roster, since they have about 4 guys on it who aren't much to speak of. If you end up in a situation where you really need 4 other spots, then fine, take Sisco off and expose him to waivers. But the chances of that happening were always pretty slim.

OK, can those of us who are pissed about the Cubs leaving Sisco unprotected (JC, goony) all agree that our issue is not with leaving him unprotected, but rather with who we protected instead of him? (i.e., Koronka, Rohlicek)? If so, I would like to hear someone defend the fact that Koronka and Rohlicek were protected (as well as a roster spot left open, which turned out to be waste-of-space Randolph) and Sisco was not.

Eric is not in the lineup tonight... I DEMAND A RECOUNT

Update on the man, the myth, the legend... he is now 2-2 today and if he manages a hit in his next ball put in play, he'll be at exactly .500 for the season. His only mistakes today were getting picked off once, and not hitting home runs in either at bat.

Andy won't be back. He has shown enough to be stashed for the remainder of the required 90 days, then DLed if he starts to suck. (I got that right, Tim, 90 days?) Despite the posters who continue to contend he is not technically gone yet, I think its pretty much a given at this point. Yup, this ship has sailed. I pin the blame squarely on Hendry, and while I acknowledge that he probably wouldn't be doing this well if he hadn't gotten new life with a different organization, it's also asinine to give up on a 21 year old with a lot of potential, just because he has a bad attitude. Take a chance that other organizations won't want a mediocre guy like Koronka, rather than taking a chance that a very high ceiling pitcher won't stick with a crappy team.

That's OK, Eric knows who his #1 fan is at NSBB. He's glad to have you aboard the bandwagon nice and early, though, and will remember your support when he becomes a star revered by all Cub fans and feared by all Cardinal fans.

This thread is reserved for talk about future All-Star, leadoff hitter extraordinaire and second baseman Eric Patterson. In today's Eric news, he won the first Player of the Week honors in the Midwest League after hitting over 1.000 for the week with 55 SB. He then went out and got on base 4 times, scoring 3 runs and starting a campaign for another player of the week award. He will have tough competition from his teammate Ryan Harvey, who flipped out and hit 3 HR, driving in 7 runs. Updates to follow as events warrant.

Thanks for the heads up, my friend, but I've got all his comedy central appearances on tape. The one with the potato bacon bombs I've probably watched 30-40 times.

So what does the book say when Hill is up, first base is open, but the guy behind him had gone 3 for 3 with 2 home runs off your current ace thus far? Your argument is just as vaild as the argument for not letting that guy beat you, again! So how can you really fault Dusty when you're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. When you are thus dammed, you can only rely on your players, and Dusty's BP totally blew it for him tonight. They let in 4 runs in a one run game! Macias and Perez's success I find funny. I say keep Perez, but what is Macias? Our new defensive replacement? He played a very solid 3rd the other day, a great outfield assist...too bad he's 1 for 12. It really is Hendry's fault he's on the team. And if those relievers had pitched well we'd get to hear you tell us about Dusty "pulling the right strings". Of course when they play poorly it's always "hey, what could Dusty do? The players blew it." It's so predictable. I didn't blame Dusty for using Wuertz against Ross, but someone - be it the bench coach, manager, etc - screwed up by not having Ramirez in on the grass. Despite his 2 HRs tonight, Ross is not that good of a hitter and in that spot there should at least be a suspicion that the guy is going to be bunting. To get caught off guard like they did is inexcusable.

Yes, this brings up a good point. These are Wuertz's minor league stats. Note the 4.31 ERA, the 1.39 WHIP and the 7 K/9 IP. Those aren't exactly stellar numbers. Why do people have this infatuation with the guy like he's the best reliever we have? Yes, he pitched very well last year for Iowa as the closer, in his third full year in that league. His stuff isn't anything special, and he doesn't look like much more than an average bullpen arm. So in the bullpen we have Hawkins, who is very good as a setup man but mediocre as a closer. Wuertz, already I've talked about him. Fox can be pretty good when he's healthy, but who knows what he's got left after a few arm surgeries. Remlinger is only slightly above average at this point in his career. Bartosh is just a mediocre lefty specialist. Rusch is OK as well. That's not a good bullpen at all, it's a bunch of guys who are decent. A team with one of the top payrolls in the league should expect better than a bunch of OK guys.

Wilbon grew up on the southside. Ok. But he just said he is a huge Cubs fan. I figured this thread would be getting a lot of activity tonight. :lol: I grew up in New Jersey, but I'm a huge Cubs fan. Wilbon is definitely a Cub fan, he says it often on TV.

The Cubs acquired Randolph after the rosters were set and the Rule 5 draft took place. Yes, but didn't they leave a spot open on the 40 man roster for a lefty to be acquired? (which turned out to be Randolph)

Dave Crouthers Russ Rohlicek John Koronka Carlos Vasquez Stephen Randolph (since realeased) All are or were on the 40 man roster. None of them have the potential that Sisco had, and none of them should have been on the 40 man roster ahead of Sisco. The Cubs already have Ohman at AAA, and Bartosh, Remmy and Rusch with the big club. What do they need 3 mediocre lefties (all but Crouthers) for in AAA or AA?

I would bet somebody that E-Patt will be in the top 10 in 2006.

I wouldn't say that at all. While he didn't have a great year at Daytona, he would have started this year in AA. If he had an adequate season at AA, he'd have been in Iowa in 2006, and then possibly with the big club in 2007. There are a whole lot of guys who were in High-A ball last year who will be major leaguers by the end of the 2007 season. It's hardly rushing a guy to have him go one level per year. The real worthwhile gamble was leaving Hagerty unprotected, since he was coming back from a major injury and had hardly even pitched above rookie ball... plus he didn't look good last season. The likelihood of him being able to stick on a major league team was significantly less than the likelihood of Sisco being able to stick. OK, well please enlighten me on how he hurt his hand. The bottom line is, he was a bigger loss than some of the other bums on the 40 man roster, who would not have been selected and who have next to no chance to be solid contributors to the Cubs in the future. When he was left unprotected, it was widely believed that he would be one of the first picks in the Rule V draft, meaning that if the Hendry planned on him not being drafted or on getting him back at some point during the season, he was sorely mistaken.

He looked very good. Considering he was brought into a game with the Royals already trailing 7-1, it appears they are going to ease him in with mop up duty. I'm pretty sure at this point he's as good as gone. I wouldn't be so sure. There's 157 games to go and he has to stay on the roster for all of them. While he looked good tonight, he may not the next time he's used. Yeah, but they don't give a crap if he pitches effectively for them because their team sucks. Derrick Turnbow sucked as a Rule V pick. Miguel Asencio was bad for the Royals in '02 but they didn't care because they thought he had potential. Johan Santana winning the Cy Young gives even more incentive for crappy teams to hang onto high-ceiling players for their Rule V year. I said it when the draft went down, Sisco would be gone. Thank God we have Rohlicek and Randolph, though. For crying out loud, that's not why he was left unprotected. IT WAS NOT TO KEEP OTHER PLAYERS ON THE 40- MAN ROSTER, HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ON IT. I apologize for the shouting, but it seems many people have ignored this being the chief reason for Sisco's exposure, despite repeated attempts to explain so. OK, well can you explain again? I understand that there were questions about his maturity (wall punching) and work ethic (getting fat), but seriously, most 20-21 year olds are immature, and as for the work ethic - it's worth keeping a talented kid to try and hoping that he can be taught a better work ethic or can figure it out himself. It's not worth basically releasing a guy who is three years out of high school and still has a good deal of talent. He's not some guy like Josh Hamilton who is in and out of rehab... his problems weren't so severe that they couldn't be dealt with. Uh, give me a break. I never said anything close to "he is as good as Johan Santana." What I said was that Santana's ascent from Rule V pick to Cy Young will make teams realize that it's worth keeping high ceiling guys around for a whole year, because sometimes they will pan out and be productive major leaguers. People keep saying that if he gets shelled, the Royals will send him back, and I'm giving examples of teams that have held onto guys who were bad their first year in the majors. The Royals are going nowhere this year, and as long as Sisco keeps showing a fastball in the low to mid 90s, there's no reason for them to give up on him.

This coming from a man who thinks Dusty is a good manager and Hendry a competent GM. Right brah. Right. Look for 18-20 w's. 200+ K's and an ERA around 3.00. Place your bets now. I'm betting big against that, especially after today's shelling.