Amazing_Grace

Are they really moving Guzman to the bullpen or is this just speculation. I can't figure out where in this 10 page thread we have Lou ever saying he was putting Guzman in the bullpen.

Pagan is OK as a fifth outfielder. He's shown in the majors that he can play acceptable defense, has good speed, and has at least some power. He can play all the outfield positions and as long as he's used against LHP (his OPS is .753 vs. LHP not great but respectable), he can be a valuable player. Dusty played him too much last season. Let's hope Lou will use him in the way that maximizes his value, as a late inning defensive replacement and a PH vs. LHP. It's not ideal, but for now, the team is better off starting Angel in CF vs. LHP. Jones should never start against LHP as long as there's someone, anyone right handed that can play his position on the bench.

I don't think this year qualifies as a feast or famine type team. We're not seeing the Cubs get shutout and scoring only 1 run that often like we have in some seasons. There are a lot of games the Cubs score 4, 5, 6 runs here. It's hard to point to a specific weakness on this year's team other than lack of plate discipline/patience from much of the team and the inability to hit LHP. The bullpen has been inconsistent, but to a large extent, all bullpens are. The White Sox pen has been very good this year but they've gotten clobbered the last two days. The starting pitching has been great outside of Zambrano and Miller. It's hard to complain too much about the numbers the team has put up overall, but the results haven't really matched what you expect the numbers to produce. A lot of that is luck.

Dusty Baker was the worst thing to ever happen to Corey's career. He had good power for a CF, his patience was rising, and then Baker tried to turn him into Lou Brock. If he had just been left alone in the 6 or 7 spot, he'd probably still be hitting .265-.270/.325-.330 OBP with 25-30 HR's and a good amount of steals. Not superstar numbers, but he'd be a valuable player. Maybe so, but I have a hard time putting all the blame for Patterson on Dusty. He came up under Baylor (not a horribly different hitting perspective from Dusty), and he had a lot of other coaches in the minor leagues that never taught him the importance of being a disciplined hitter. Even if they tried to teach him that, he was promoted before the lessons could sink in. Baker certainly didn't help Patterson's career, but it isn't just about him either. Incidentally, Corey has never hit over 25 HR in a season and the only season his OBP was above .320 was 2003, when he only played 83 games. He might have developed into a player with the numbers you suggest, but I think by the time Baker got there, it was probably already too late.

A lot of people on this board, including myself, suggested this past offseason that Soriano's numbers last year might be an aberration and he could very possibly regress towards his career numbers, which puts him at an OPS in the low to mid .800s and very much not worth approx. 15M a year for a guy that plays the easiest position in baseball to fill. Hendry didn't need any more offenses to be fired. On a depressing note, if we're disappointed now, imagine when he's making 17M at age 38.

Patterson wouldn't help this team. This team needs more patient hitters that see a lot of pitches, get on base often, and know how to hit situationally. Corey is none of these. He's a free-swinging, low OBP slugger, who doesn't hit for nearly enough power to justify playing him. I think the Cubs really messed up Patterson's career by yo-yoing him from AAA to the bigs, and teaching him a lot of bad hitting habits. He never learned plate discipline at any level of the minors, but was rushed to the big leagues anyway, and then when he predictably struggled, he was sent back, but never for long enough to do any good. Patterson had the talent to be a very good player, but he never learned the skills that could make him into that. Part of that is on him, but a bigger part of that is, IMHO, on the Cubs. Patterson's career is a case study in what's wrong with the Cubs organizational philosophy from top to bottom, and one of the biggest indictments of the MacPhail, Lynch, Hendry era.

Defensive shifts are almost always called from the dugout in this day and age. If anyone gets the blame for Theriot playing in the wrong area, it should be Piniella. I agree the smart play in that case would have been to have the SS shade to the middle anticipating that he would cover 2b when the hitter pulls the ball, and have Theriot play in the hole, which is exactly where the ball ended up being hit.

Hendry should be fired two years ago, or last season at the very least. Having him around this past offseason to hand out his hideous backloaded contracts virtually guarantees that the Cubs won't be signing any more big free agents the next few years. If the new owners want to pennypinch, who knows how bad it could get.

So um, there was this story in the paper today about Bigfoot (the animal not the monster truck) being sighted in Kentucky. Reading this thread made me think of that for some reason. Perhaps it's because of the enormous debate over this fictitious concept of clutch players and clutch hitting.... I'd say you'd have better odds of proving the existence of Bigfoot than proving that there's such a thing as clutch hitting. Good players hit better than bad players all the time... That's why they're good.

If those outfielders are really all available, dealing Jones may be difficult if we wait till the deadline.

dictionary.com Why might the Angels do it? One of their strengths is the depth of their system. If they need a guy like Jacques to help them this year, I don't think giving up their #7 prospect is a terrible idea - especially when that #7 has Aybar and Wood in line ahead of him. Ah, so he's blocked. Still gotta wonder if they couldn't do better than Jones for a good SS prospect.

what do the Arizona Cardinals have to do with anything? I thought he was talking about the Clippers. I don't know about other sports, but to me the Cubs are the clear favorite for worst run organizations in baseball. They're efficency is mind bogglingly bad. And they keep having the same problems over and over and over. The one constant is Hendry. He needs to be gone as soon as the ink is dry on the new owners mortage note. It just goes to show us that working hard is much less important than working smart and having a good strategy. I would say the Mariners are worse run then the Cubs. They have about the same payroll as the Cubs. Their 5 million or more players are Sexon with 14 million, Beltre 11.5 million, Ichiro 11.5 million, Washburn 9.85 million, Weaver 8.9 million, Vidro 7.5 million, Guillen 7.25 million, Johjima 5.65 million, Batista 5.5 million. Who among those players is a true impact player? To me, they are in worse shape and have been run worse than the Cubs have-they haven't even had that much of a problem with injuries the past couple years, and yet they still are mediocre at best (Felix is hurt, but that could be partially their fault). http://www.onestopbaseball.com/TeamPayroll.asp Cubs win. 94 million (66-96) Last place 1.4 million/win 87 million (78-84) Last place 1.15 million/win I'd venture to guess that the Cubs are worst on 3year averages too. Either way it's not good company in which to do business. It will be interesting to see if it gets any better this year. We are almost certain to win more games than in 2006, but how many more would we have to win to improve the ratio given how much we've spent. The payroll figures only have the Cubs at 6 million more than last year. By the way, I don't know why CubinNY had the Cubs as last in money per win in 2005. The Yankees spent 2.192 million per win that year. Boston spent 1.30 million per win. The Mets spent 1.22 million per win. The Dodgers spent 1.16 million per win. The Mariners spent 1.27 million per win. The Giants spent 1.20 million per win. Out of all the big market teams, the Cubs were about middle of the pack in efficiency that season, so I don't know how they can be seen as last for 2005. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/a-look-inside-the-2006-open-day-payrolls/ You're right about the Yankees, so I guess the Cubs were next to last in wins per dollar. As for 2007 payroll. I'm just going by what's been posted in the transactions thread.

Dealing for Baldelli would make sense at the deadline only if the Cubs are still in contention, the Cubs can get someone to take Jones, and they trade Pie. Why trade for Baldelli when we have Pie for next year. The only way something like this makes sense is if the Cubs are a few games out and the outfield situation still looks bad. In which case, you might trade for a true CF like Baldelli, deal Jones to ,well, anyone, and then trade Pie for someone else to help you win this year. Cabrera will probably be available, though the Cubs very likely wouldn't be able to resign him.

what do the Arizona Cardinals have to do with anything? I thought he was talking about the Clippers. I don't know about other sports, but to me the Cubs are the clear favorite for worst run organizations in baseball. They're efficency is mind bogglingly bad. And they keep having the same problems over and over and over. The one constant is Hendry. He needs to be gone as soon as the ink is dry on the new owners mortage note. It just goes to show us that working hard is much less important than working smart and having a good strategy. I would say the Mariners are worse run then the Cubs. They have about the same payroll as the Cubs. Their 5 million or more players are Sexon with 14 million, Beltre 11.5 million, Ichiro 11.5 million, Washburn 9.85 million, Weaver 8.9 million, Vidro 7.5 million, Guillen 7.25 million, Johjima 5.65 million, Batista 5.5 million. Who among those players is a true impact player? To me, they are in worse shape and have been run worse than the Cubs have-they haven't even had that much of a problem with injuries the past couple years, and yet they still are mediocre at best (Felix is hurt, but that could be partially their fault). http://www.onestopbaseball.com/TeamPayroll.asp Cubs win. 94 million (66-96) Last place 1.4 million/win 87 million (78-84) Last place 1.15 million/win I'd venture to guess that the Cubs are worst on 3year averages too. Either way it's not good company in which to do business. It will be interesting to see if it gets any better this year. We are almost certain to win more games than in 2006, but how many more would we have to win to improve the ratio given how much we've spent. EDIT: Nevermind I just calculated it based on the payroll thread in transactions. With a 109.3M payroll, to do better than 1.4M per win, the Cubs will have to win 79 games. 78 wins would make it a virtual tie with last year. This is assuming, of course, that the Cubs don't salary dump at the deadline or bring in another big contract.

I don't know the stats, but I can tell you there's no magic intangible that's going to make up for the fact that over half our lineup may well have an OBP below .350 before the season is over. If we won the games Pie started, it's virtually certain to be a coincidence.

Seconded. Looks like Rodriguez has plate discipline, good IsoD, something the Cubs have lacked for many years. Pretty neat that the trade would involve two players with ethnically incongruous first and last names. Ethnically incongruous. Is that a real word? This would be a great deal for the Cubs, but I can't fathom why the Angels would do it.

Anyone specific in mind? Sure. Cabrera. Miguel? So are we discussing guys that we actually have a chance to acquire or are we just playing pie in the sky, here? It's hardly pie in the sky. He's not signed past this year, and there's next to no chance Florida keeps him as his salary soars past the $10m mark. His next contract will eclipse what Pujols got. And there's no reason the Cubs can't be the team that gives it to him. Cabrera would be a great fit and I'd love to have him in Chicago. I'd trade Floyd, Murton, Jones plus one of Veal/Gallagher if IF IF IF I knew I could resign him. The problem is that we don't know what will happen with the ownership change this offseason. Any other year, that would be a great deal, but will the new owner resign Cabrera? Most offseasons where there's an ownership change end up being basically forfeited, and I doubt the Cubs are an exception. Even without the ownership issue, there's still the possibility of just plain getting outbid by the Yanks or Red Sox.

what do the Arizona Cardinals have to do with anything? I thought he was talking about the Clippers.

Floyd should really shut up unless he wants the wrath of the fans to come pouring down on him the way it did Jones, Patterson, Hundley, etc. I can understand being upset about it, but complaining to the media is never a good thing. Signing Floyd was stupid. It was a bad move. They already had a lefty pinch hitter and crappy defensive OF in Daryle Ward. They already had DeRosa, Jones, Soriano, Pagan, Murton, and Pie in the mix for OF playing time. Why was Floyd signed? Hendry is an idiot. He signs guys because he likes them instead of looking at the needs of his team and addressing areas of need. He still thinks and acts like a talent scout, going out and getting the guys he thinks are most talented rather than getting the best players. He should go back to being a minor league guy. He did a respectable job of that. I can't blame Piniella for trying to balance the playing time to avoid having a lot of rancor in the clubhouse. Hendry put him in this position, and he has to deal with it. It's very easy to say that a guy should sit, it's another to actually do it. How pissed would you be if some guy the company hired 6 months ago straight out of college was promoted over you? Some people would take it fine, and others would whine and moan to the boss and any coworker who would listen, making the office very unpleasant. I suspect Cliff wouldn't take it well and Lou is trying to keep him from becoming a problem. Other than managing the bullpen like he's still in the AL, I don't see anything really glaring Lou is doing wrong. He's gone out of his way to get Theriot playing time. He's sat DeRosa some and Izturis some based on who's hot. That's hardly favoring veterans.

Atleast 2 out of those 3 guys are bafoons. Pretty much every TV announcer and analyst for ESPN is a bafoon with regards to baseball except for Peter Gammons .

Seconded.

Theriot had started 6 in a row before this one-the only other Cubs to do that during that stretch have been Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez. This is probably a good day to give him one off. Yeah, I think it's a good idea to sit just about every player once every seven days to keep them healthy and fresh for the later parts of the season. You don't want everyone exhausted in September and God willing, beyond.

Theriot hasn't had a day off in a while has he?

Fixed

Why didn't they just fire him and let one of the minor league guys like Quade manage the team? He would have listened to everything the GM or president told him. The way the 2nd half of last season was handled was terrible. If we would have just given up and played young guys, we would have known that Theriot was good and wouldn't have wasted money on DeRosa. Also, could have gotten Murton a few more at bats. Brutal job, MacPhail and Hendry. I disagree that money was wasted on Derosa. He just needs to be used like he was in Texas. He makes a great supersub. We just need to be in position to use him that way. I agree. DeRosa is still a good signing even with Theriot. He's not horribly expensive and can fill in with a good bat at several positions, most notably a right hander to platoon with Jones in RF. Knowing Theriot would start at 2b would have made Floyd more unneccessary than he already was.