jjgman21

Yeah, because he's worth Boras LT money at what, 34? Nevermind, I'm an idiot, he's only 31... A little more palatable. I didn't know Boras was his agent. of course I am not suggesting over extending Damon. personally I would love to keep the cheap option of Hairston at leadoff. I just don't see Dusty (assuming he still has a job) ever viewing Hairston as a full time player, especially in the outfield, and I want to keep Walker at second if both sides agree to the option, which is a relative discount. as for Furcal, he makes me extremely nervous. I'll use an argument that is very much in vogue lately around here. he's shown alot of consistency throughout his career. plus, at 26 and making 5.6 M already, he's going to demand a huge contract, probably in the realm of Renterria's. on the other hand, since almost every team in baseball that has any money to spend already has a shortstop they are keeping, he may be subject to a buyers market. I can't think of any competing team that might go after him except maybe the Marlins and perhaps the White Sox (maybe AZ?).

Damon

quick question about a player mentioned a few times in this thread. isn't Edwin Jackson the Dodgers version of Angel Guzman? what makes everyone think this oft injured pitcher blows anything the Cubs have away?

Agreed. I'll laugh myself to tears if nobody hits one. For the first time in years, I won't be watching. Baseball is religion at my house - it's a big deal when I turn my back on MLB, but this ridiculous format has forced my hand. what an absurd stance on a non-issue. congratulations for missing one of the greatest spectacles in all-star history. Abreu literally shredded his bat, and you missed it to make some ridiculous statement.

Sure, because you weren't looking for them. Did you watch a lot of Rockies games, by the way? possibly. but guys that argue balls and strikes generally don't get the 'one of the best guys in baseball' tag put on them. guys that intentionally try to interfere with throws don't have reputations for sportsmanship and fair play like Walker. so maybe its not just a matter of observation.

Two Cubbies in the top ten. Good to see both guys getting respect as a power hitter across baseball. http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar05/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2105528 that must be based on this year only. not sure how any list of the best power hitting sluggers can be put together and not include Manny Ramirez, but have Jones #3, unless its based on this year only.

I had luck a couple of times just going by the day of game sales window. there's usually at least a couple of guys hanging around just looking to dump tickets and not make any kind of a profit.

I'm not sure what you are suggesting with the part bolded above. if you are asking what the Cubs could have done with the money they are paying Sosa to play in Baltimore, not a darn thing. there's nothing Hendry could have done with that money because MacPhail signed Sosa to that deal years ago, contractually obligating the Cubs , or the team he is traded to (or a combination thereof as it turns out) to pay Sosa that sum of money. if you are referring to Burnitz's money, do you seriously suggest the Cubs should have started the year with an outfield of Dubois, CPatt and Hollandsworth?

and exactly which substantiated injury does Arod have to be allowed to wear that armor? why did they even come up with that rule? it might as well not even exist. as for Walker, another unnoticed cheap play, or at least attempt at a cheap play did take place on a much bigger stage. I'm not sure which game or play, it might have been when Suppan got caught off third, but Walker ran about six feet inside the baseline to try to get in the way of the throw to the plate and angled even farther inside to get infront of the throw to third once he saw the play going that way. he also p's and moans about every called strike, ala Edmonds. I'm being perfectly honest when I say that I never saw these kinds of actions from him before he became a Cardinal.

Burnitz was bought with the money saved in the Sosa deal. Paying the money earmarked Sosa for Burnitz, Hairston, and Fontenot has been far more valuable statistically than paying the money earmarked for Sosa to Sosa. And that's without getting into any sticky arguments over team chemistry or clutchness. People seem so hung up on this idea of paying Sosa to play for another team. Do you honestly think there was a trade out there that shedded Sosa's entire salary? If there wasn't, would you rather be paying him to suck here rather than paying Burnitz, Hairston, and Fontenot the money to be contributors? 3/4 of his salary still being paid by us? Yes, I think there was a deal out there that would have shed more of his salary than that. there you go. the deal was bad because some theoretical trade that exists only in your mind was available to shed more of his salary. before it was bad because we are paying a guy to play for another team. now the deal was bad because we could have paid him less to play for another team? let go of it.

you are paying $18M for Burnitz's production instead of $20M for Sosa's production. who cares where the money goes? I don't care if the Baltimore hotdog vendors got a bonus out that the Cubs had to pay, bottom line is you are getting more bang for the buck out of rightfield because of this trade. and on the 'Hendry could have done so much better if the Cubs didn't trash him' theory, nonsense. trashing Sosa made him willing to drop the automatic vesting option if traded clause of his contract. fact is, nothing would have happened if the Cubs didn't trash him because the only thing that made any deal whatsoever even feasible was Sosa dropping that clause. in retrospect, if that was their intent, trashing Sosa was a piece of PR genius

so let's see on the first pitch of the game, the ump established that he is going to give this rookie the low strike on the 0-1 to Lee, the ump established that he is going to give him the inside corner to righties on the 0-1 to Aram, the ump established that he is going to give him the high strike and on the third strike to Aram, the ump established that he is going to give him the outside strike to righties.

He got too big of a secondary lead. The pitch was outside and it was an easy throw to third. And yeah, that ball was clearly a HR. I don't know how you can miss that... same way they always miss every bordeline call agaisnt us. because we are the loveable losers. I think this makes 8 or 9 games this year where the umps blown calls have cost us a chance to tie or win the game. but it all balances out you know. :roll: (rare use of an emoticon there for me) was the blown HR call on the double or on a foul ball? if on the double, how do you blow that call at Wrigley? that's what the basket is for. did Baker even argue that? nevermind.

He got too big of a secondary lead. The pitch was outside and it was an easy throw to third. And yeah, that ball was clearly a HR. I don't know how you can miss that... same way they always miss every bordeline call agaisnt us. because we are the loveable losers. I think this makes 8 or 9 games this year where the umps blown calls have cost us a chance to tie or win the game. but it all balances out you know. :roll: (rare use of an emoticon there for me) was the blown HR call on the double or on a foul ball? if on the double, how do you blow that call at Wrigley? that's what the basket is for. did Baker even argue that?

I keep having to emphasize that giving Neifi's splits for June does a disservice to his suckitude. check the stats since the return from California.

Baseball malpractice is what it is. With all due respect to people that say Dusty is even an average manager, his continued lineups of this nature say otherwise. It may be one small aspect of the game, but it is a hugely significant one. He has wasted three months of the most potent bat in the league. Does that sound like something an average manager would do? Baker has served his purpose thus far this year. he kept morale up and the team playing hard through the tough times suffered due to injury. the horses are now back. his terrible onfield managing will definitely hurt the Cubs more than his clubhouse management will help them from here on out. to hell with the OF Hendry. your primary search right now should be for a new manager.

does anybody remember the last time one of our relievers did not allow any inherited runners to score? the guy couldn't manage the bullpen if his life depended on it. which by the way can be said for Farnsworth as well. If Farns were still a Cub, he'd be ready to hit his usual second half freefall due to overuse in April and May.

this lineup + this strikezone + terrible 0-2 pitches = game over.

I know what you are saying, but Corey also has to establish that he will look at the close ones. I'm not watching the game, but that's not the first time that Corey has had strike three called on a pitch that was a ball. sort of like a pitcher who doesn't get a borderline strike call will often go back to the same spot to prove he can put it there and get the strike called the second time around. (and I can't help but wonder if the ump would have called that same strike three times had the batter been Edmonds, who inevitably would have turned around and argued after the first two). Corey's really in a Catch 22 right now. we want him to lay off pitches out of the zone, but the umps call anything that is close to borderline a strike when he's standing at the plate.

like most of you, I have been thinking alot lately about who we should and should not get. there's a couple ways you can go. you can go get a guy you hope will be around long term, or you can get a guy to plug a hole you have. if Hendry chooses to do the former, Dunn. no doubt about it. if Hendry chooses to do the latter, I still look to the Reds. the Cubs need is a leadoff hitter, and the only realistic place to plug in that leadoff hitter is left field. so we need good OBP, good speed, and the ability to play the least important defensive position on the field. some say, and I agree, that Hairston should be put out there. but that's not going to happen, as may be the case with the guy I have in mind. but to carry on, it would be ideal that such a guy would come fairly cheaply in terms of prospects, is cheap in terms of salary, and can do something else for the Cubs should left field be filled with a more permanent solution. so without further ado, I present a guy that should definitely be considered, a guy who many of us have discussed acquiring in the past... Mr. Ryan Freel ladies and gentleman he just went on the DL. any idea the extent of his injury? edit: I just saw his name being floated in the other thread as part of a package, but I see no reason why he shouldn't be considered a potential trade target all on his own.

The difference being that one is employed by the organization whose quotes are put in the media. The other is a typical fan. What is different about that? Also, I for one would not want LaRussa managing the Cubs. No thanks. Any manager that allows someone to flip them off and not do anything about it is a manager that has no respect from his own players. Now you are going to say it was competition and stuff, but I don't agree. It has also been stated that TLR complains about Cox, when he is worse then Cox. Makes no sense. Dusty might say some stupid stuff, but he doesn't complain. TLR complains about stupid stuff. to me the difference goes a little further. Cub fans complain about scheduling because the scheduling makes it more difficult for the Cubs to win baseball games that count. LaRussa whines about the schedule because his all-stars won't be fresh for the homerun derby. there are other differences as well. for example, LaRussa preaches whining to his players. see Larry Walker, who NEVER complained to umpires before becoming a Cardinal, and now complains after every called strike, just like eye-liner boy. and perhaps the most significant difference is this...LaRussa's whining actually makes a difference. he'll unnecesarily argue close plays where the ump clearly got it right, then get a 'make up' call sometime later in the game or series. let's compare a couple scenerios of whining last year Maddux starts in StL and gets a fairly generous outside corner. LaRussa comes out to argue balls and strikes. not only is he not ejected, as is the rule, but the ump actually changes his strikezone to appease Larussa. now let's look at Moises Alou last year. the guy has a bs strikezone all year. he complains about it, and the umps put him and the Cubs on a 'secret watch list' or how about the hypocrisy. the Cards employe someone to sit in the scoreboard and signal pitches to Cards hitters. they pride themselves on stealing signs and are well known for it. of course the Cards are also the the biggest complainers when they suspect another team of stealing signs. you beginning to see the difference there Cowboy?

Brock turned 25 right about when the Cubs traded him. my numbers were guestimates based on the time he was with the Cubs only. after being traded, he instantly started hitting to raise his career numbers up to Vance's guestimates.

No, he's too busy saying that white guys can't play in the heat and comparing Corey Patterson to Lou Brock. Yeah I know that's crazy. Corey (despite his performance this year) still has the potential to be far better than the HORRIBLY OVERRATED Brock. Brock may be a tad overrated, but Corey has almost no chance of equaling Brock's numbers. Brock had over 3,000 hits, 938 stolen bases (118 in 1974) and was a career .293 hitter. Corey has 522 hits, about 83 stolen bases, and a batting average somewhere around .250. Only 5 years in the league, but it just ain't gonna happen. nothing about Brock up until he was Corey's age indicated those numbers. Brock had about 300 hits and fewer than 25 stolen bases when he was Corey's age. their careers up until the age Corey is right now, incidentally the same age the Cubs gave up on Brock, are amazingly similar. if one were to use how both started their carrer to predict how the one will do the rest of his career, you very well may predict a duplication. at 25 Brock, right when Brock was traded, he didn't walk enough, struck out too much, got to everything in the field but often looked dumb when he got there, didn't steal enough for how much speed he had, wasn't as successful at stealing than he should have been and was around 260/305/385/685 not only are their average numbers through that age almost similar, so is the cub fans pressure to give up on the guy, right when he shouldn't be given up on.

and there's the difference between Cub fans and LaRussa/certain types of Card fans Cub fans' complaints are legitimate

are you serious? I can't believe you make this out to be a legitimate complaint. how about this. the Cubs first west coast trip went like this 10 home games - seven day west coast trip - three more at home...without an off day the Cubs next west coast trip three in Pitt - three in StL - four in SanFran - seven at home...without an offday when is the last time you ever heard of a team having a west coast trip without an offday either immediately before or after the trip? when was the last time you saw a trip to the west coast wedged into a road trip to other cities? did we hear Baker complaining about it? complaining because your players won't be fresh for the off day before the all-star game is about as petty as it gets, and then to wish ill upon a spectacle that has been a very good thing for baseball as his measure of revenge? that's pretty darned Homer of you, dude.