scs_paradise

OMG

Are there any rumblings in the Cubs front office due to the Len Kasper interview done the other day on a milwaukee radio station? I heard he really stressed the importance of OBP and downplayed the role of small ball, which is completely opposite of Hendy and Baker's sermon isn't it?

Baker started Theriot Thursday at Milwaukee. The kid went 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored and sat the next day. Bruce, when the writers pin Baker down on why he makes moves like this, does he have a coherent response? It just seems to me that alot of the moves Baker makes are easily called out in the media, does he just refuse to respond? We ask all the time. We usually get a long response about how this guy hits against a certain type of pitcher and how it was like when Dusty faced Cy Young and thus and such. LOL classic. I heard Cy owned Baker.

Baker started Theriot Thursday at Milwaukee. The kid went 3-for-3 with 2 runs scored and sat the next day. Bruce, when the writers pin Baker down on why he makes moves like this, does he have a coherent response? It just seems to me that alot of the moves Baker makes are easily called out in the media, does he just refuse to respond?

? and what is calling people out without having the guts to call them out by name? It's called obeying the rules. "attack the arguement, not the poster". . Oldcubsfan is staying within the rules. BTW Prior is a wuss. :wink: I didn't realize the way to get around that rule was to generally attack the board....hmmmm I should use that. :o

? and what is calling people out without having the guts to call them out by name?

If that's the case why bother? Why bring him back for the last month of the season? We already know what he can do, I would rather them play the kids and let Miller waste the rest of his year rehabbing.

I haven't been following him much lately, what's the reason he's so overblown his expected return? I am thinking right that he was supposed to be back in June? Do they have a thought now on him pitching in the bigs this season?

Wasn't he supposed to be back in June? Any updates on him?

I miss sosa and patterson. we used to have an outfield. How the hell do we give up patterson? stupid, just stupid.

that doesn't mean it shouldn't be fixed.

yes.. he missed time after the collision ? that's your evidence that he is a wuss? Dude try again dude.

Video doesn't look like there's a strength coach down there maybe it is a coach down there, still I hate that guy.

Yea, he got a break alright . . . http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2524132 Why is Sammy a "tool" for wanting to come back? If someone wants to pay him to play baseball, and he wants to do it whats the problem? Sammy is one of the greatest Cubs of all time even if he left a game early. He carried us for a decade. He deserves more respect from Cubs fans. I think they were trying to say he's a tool for implying he's taking a break cause he needed a break instead of what it was, that no one would give him any money.

I agree, Bruce. The groupthink on this board is that the Trib spends enough money but doesn't spend it wisely, creating a false dilemma (spending wisely vs spending generously). Cut with the groupthink crap. A lot of people have very different ideas about the payroll situation. I don't think anyone has created a false dilemma. Most people just deal with the fact that the trib or the cubs are only spending the money they are and say if you are only gonna spend that, you could spend it more wisely than rusch and neifi. But most if not all want the trib to spend more....so I'm not sure I see the "dilemma". But its cute how you labeled THE WHOLE BOARD!

Agreed. I'm sure they know which games are being televised where around the US. They also know which area code I put in for MLB.TV when I registered which is why they know to black out the Giants and A's. Why can't they allow me to watch the game since it isn't being televised here? Is it that hard to do? they look at the location of the IP address not your zip code. I go to publicproxyservers.com and pick one that is out of the country and then I get whatever game is blacked out. Not all the servers are available all the time so sometimes you have to try four or five. Most of the time the servers aren't available during business hours in that country, so keep that in mind when trying servers.

now, on this part of your post...that means that Wade Boggs and Tony Gwynn weren't franchise players, right? Wait...has Matt Murton now entered the "Wade Boggs/Tony Gwynn" echelon in just under one full season of major league time? don't be ridiculous. He was merely pointing out two players not known for power that were indeed franchise players, which does back up his point that power isn't the end all be all as a franchise player. He wasn't saying murton is like boggs/gwynn just that he doesn't need power to be a franchise player...

he won't be a reliever I've heard because it takes him a LONG time to warm up. Baker said he could have him start warming up an inning early and he still might not be ready. its sounds to me like Wood is starter or nothing material.

Can he pitch in the minors on a "rehab" while on the 60 day? If so, we should just put him on the 60 day, send him down to AA for the rest of the season to build arm strength and confidence. Hope for next year, signing him at a low base plus incentives. what do you think?

I come in from WI and I usually park at the cumberland rd exit near O'Hare. There is a ramp there which is pretty cheap or if I'm feeling lucky I park at the Marriott for free.

:shock: Really? How about faulting them for being incompetent as owners? Again, aside from not removing any or all of the MacPhail/Hendry/Baker trio, you can't fault the Trib. They put up a good payroll and don't threaten to slash it if the team falters. They financed the addition to Wrigley. Getting mad at them for being the greedy corporation is misguided. i don't care about their greed(well i do, but that's a whole nother discussion), but if not removing MacPhail/Hendry/Baker is on their shoulders, then what is not? Only removing MacPhail is on their shoulders. It would be rare for a corporate owner to remove anyone except the guy they've chosen to run the team. And there are many very good possible reasons they haven't removed him including the one mentioned above about devalueing the asset by making it look like the management struture is in chaos. that's the whole point though. baker is hendry's fault, hendry is MacPhail's fault and MacPhail is the tribs fault, so following the logical line of passing the buck, the buck stops with the tribune. if MacPhail is not there, neither are hendry and baker. I've only noticed the call for MacPhail's head in the last year and a half, when the failure starts its not uncommon for it to take six months to a year to realize this is a real failure and not just a bump in the road. After that its not uncommon to give the guy who is managing the failure six months to a year to turn the failure around. Now if any rumors are true that the trib is even considering selling the club you won't see anyone removed because if Hendry or MacPhail are fired it devalues the asset, in addition its likely the incoming owner will want to choose its own management team, so I wouldn't expect any change during the season to the Mgr spot and I wouldn't expect any removal of Hendry or MacPhail until the Trib has stopped selling off assests.

:shock: Really? How about faulting them for being incompetent as owners? Again, aside from not removing any or all of the MacPhail/Hendry/Baker trio, you can't fault the Trib. They put up a good payroll and don't threaten to slash it if the team falters. They financed the addition to Wrigley. Getting mad at them for being the greedy corporation is misguided. i don't care about their greed(well i do, but that's a whole nother discussion), but if not removing MacPhail/Hendry/Baker is on their shoulders, then what is not? Only removing MacPhail is on their shoulders. It would be rare for a corporate owner to remove anyone except the guy they've chosen to run the team. And there are many very good possible reasons they haven't removed him including the one mentioned above about devalueing the asset by making it look like the management struture is in chaos.

First: I've never heard them publicly say anything about the Cubs one way or the other, perhaps others have, but elitists jerks? Come on. They told you that? Cause their payroll seems to indicate otherwise. After the sales I've seen online the last three years I don't think they need the "briefcase crowd", there may be a deal, but they don't NEED that to maintain attendance. Second: You contradict yourself. First you say they only want to make money and don't care about winning and then you acknowledge how much money they would make if the won??????? Hmmmm...... They have a 90 to 100 million dollar payroll and you are telling me its the TRIB's fault they aren't winning???????? And even though attendance hadn't dropped, in fact it was at an all time high in 04, they still felt the need to spend MORE money to keep "fleecing" the fans? You don't make any sense. Finally: I don't think the Trib has been great in the past, and you can make a case for being mad at them now for not removing MacPhail, BUT you can't POSSIBLY blame them for not spending the money! You can't tell me they don't have an interest in winning: 1. YOU pointed out the profits to be made with winning. 2. 90 to 100 million wisely or even semi-wisely spent should easily field a very competitive team. 3. They have raised payroll EVERY time I know Hendry has asked for it. Your beef is with MacPhail, Hendry, and Dusty. Your ONLY beef with the Trib is that they haven't removed MacPhail, and I'm not surprised they haven't because corporations are slow to remove very high up execs, partly due to "good ole boy" stuff, but largely because it signals corporate unrest that devalues the asset, especially if rumors are true that they might be selling.

I don't know who should replace Baker but everytime I hear Leyland's quote on ESPN radio promos I wish we had gone that route: (paraphrased) that is a horrible paraphrase but I love the sentiment that we get back into games with baserunners not with solo homeruns and that we look to team goals not personal goals. It hurts even more when we are down 5 and Ramirez pops up to shallow left for the Cubs 7th consecutive fly ball out.

I don't believe that for a second. No reputable accountant would do that. Even a disreputable accountant would not do something so obviously fraudulent. You mean a reputable big five accounting firm like Andersen errrrrr um I mean Accenture now??? No wait, they DID do that and then they changed their name.... besides I'm not sure its illegal to misreport your earnings to MLB in the hopes of reducing your shared revenue burden. Its a matter of write offs you want to risk taking with the IRS vs. the write offs you will risk taking with MLB. MLB is privately held, as long as the Cubs report correctly to the IRS, the government couldn't care less what they report internally to MLB.