Cubfanintheknow

From a defensive standpoint, I think Burnitz has done a pretty good job. He's managed to track down balls I didn't think he'd get to. And he has this strange habit of actually hitting the cut-off man just about every time.

Greg Maddux has a lot of knowledge to pass along. Unfortunately, I see him retiring to Las Vegas with his millions of dollars, his X-Box and his golf clubs. I don't think he really wants to have anything to do with professional baseball when he retires.

I don't think Neifi is that bad. If the guy would learn to walk a little more, I think he'd get a little more love around here. When Garciaparra first came back, I wouldn't have minded the Cubs signing him to a one-year, incentive-laden contract for 2006. Now, no. If Garciaparra does play for the Cubs in 2006, I wouldn't re-sign Perez. But I would sign him if the Cubs went out and got Rafael Furcal. Sounds like twisted logic. But Perez would likely play a lot less with Furcal around than Garciaparra.

I think Matt Murton will get a lot of playing time, but Ronny Cedeno won't. I think the organization is going to use Nomar Garciaparra's remaining time to evaluate him for next season. I think Rich Hill also has a pretty decent shot to return to the rotation. If the Cubs can't cut the lead to four games by September 1 (a very tall order considering the way this team is playing), they'll throw in the towel. I wish they would cut bait sooner, but seeing how this organization has been holding out hope for going on 97 years, what's another week and a half?

--Moat just beyond the infield dirt --Buffalo roaming the outfield --Beer taps at every seat (catheters, too? hmm...)

R.I.P. 2005 Cubs

I think it would probably be different if Corey had failed to miss one sign or had just one bad at-bat or made just one running mistake. But combine them all and it's easy to see why posters are upset with Corey's play of late.

So basically, the Glass family knows they can't make a bundle by selling. But they can continue making money through the league's revenue sharing plan while their team sucks it up on the field. Nice. One owner who would be in favor of a minimum payroll is George Steinbrenner. He obviously doesn't mind paying the luxury tax. But he hates it that small market owners don't take that money and pump it back into their teams, as was the whole premise behind the luxury tax.

Ryne Sandberg shy? Maybe in the past. But his Hall of Fame induction speech changed perceptions of the man. You could say he may have been lobbying for a coaching job with the 30 major league teams the way he talked.

The fact that Kerry Wood can go for two innings if needed is probably the best excuse to keep him in that role. Also, Wood has not had to pitch in back to back games. Baker really isn't sure he can. We'll probably find out soon enough. But that fact is probably stopping Baker from abusing Wood. Keep Dempster right where he's at.

That's the problem. When teams ahead of the Cubs play eachother, we're guaranteed of gaining on one team. But the Cubs are also guaranteed of staying the same distance behind the other. Makes it harder to catch. Just have to hope those teams play .500 against eachother for the Cubs to have a realistic chance. Of course, the Cubs have to keep winning, which has proved problematic over the first 120 games of the season.

I apologize if this info has already been posted (because I, too, didn't want to wade through all the posts), but I heard this yesterday on teh Dan Patrick show. Roger Clemens era: 1.32 Chris Carpenter's era: 2.25 Now, when Bob Gibson set the season era record of 1.12 in 1968, the league era for that year was 2.99. The current NL era is 4.45. While the era of both pitcher's is outstanding, Clemens' era really stands out because of what the current league mark. As SouthsideRyan pointed out in the post above, if Clemens could get just a little help, he'd easily match the win total of Carpenter and then some.

He only threw nine pitches in the seventh. Another inning won't hurt. (fingers are crossed)

Only nine pitches by Wood. I say send him in for another inning.

Time for a confession during the pitching change. Jose Macias doesn't bug me that much. Really. It bugs me the way Dusty Baker uses him. And I wish he'd take a pitch every now and then. But he's been all right.

Look at it positively. "Morris will not walk hitters." So Patterson knew he was going to get something in the strike zone and jerked it out. Not much love for Morgan, and rightfully so. But the man's not completely stupid.

Yep, sure can. But not when he's coaching the team with the highest payroll in the league (including Sosa's money). And you're kidding yourself if you think this is the 1 bad year. Last Sept was absolutely dispicable. Dusty clearly lost control of his team. The Cubs have been in the top 3 in payroll in the NL for all his 3 years, and they got 1 playoff berth, with a mediocre 88 wins. Regardless of the wins/losses, Dusty has lost complete control. The team was fighting with their own broadcasters, leaving early, quit on him. This year, the team has had several spans of horrible baseball. Point is, he hasn't done what he was brought in here to do. He wasn't a good fit then, he's not a good fit now. Using this line of thinking, I suppose Joe Torre should have been fired already. A payroll far and above every other team in baseball, a roster full of All-Stars, the ability to land just about any player in the offseason and during the regular season, the "Choke of All Ages" last year against their chief rival and amazingly inconsistent play for the better part of this season. Joe Torre has a handful of World Series rings. He gets a mulligan. Right...2001. What about 2002, 2003 and 2004? It's a shame players don't get blamed enough for losing games You got it! Torre definitely put his players in a position to succeed each of the last three seasons. The players just didn't get it done. And nowhere was that more evident than last year's ALCS.

Not to diminish the accomplishments of the Atlanta Braves, but it helps when you have an expansion team in your division (granted one that has won two World Series recently during the same time frame where the Braves haven't won any), the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals and the generally inept New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. Only four times in the 13 straight years the Braves have one the NL East has the wild card also come from that division (ironically, all four of those teams went on to the World Series).

Yep, sure can. But not when he's coaching the team with the highest payroll in the league (including Sosa's money). And you're kidding yourself if you think this is the 1 bad year. Last Sept was absolutely dispicable. Dusty clearly lost control of his team. The Cubs have been in the top 3 in payroll in the NL for all his 3 years, and they got 1 playoff berth, with a mediocre 88 wins. Regardless of the wins/losses, Dusty has lost complete control. The team was fighting with their own broadcasters, leaving early, quit on him. This year, the team has had several spans of horrible baseball. Point is, he hasn't done what he was brought in here to do. He wasn't a good fit then, he's not a good fit now. Using this line of thinking, I suppose Joe Torre should have been fired already. A payroll far and above every other team in baseball, a roster full of All-Stars, the ability to land just about any player in the offseason and during the regular season, the "Choke of All Ages" last year against their chief rival and amazingly inconsistent play for the better part of this season. Joe Torre has a handful of World Series rings. He gets a mulligan.

Seems like it to me, too, and I like it! Wish there was some way ballclubs could relieve themselves of at least part of the burden of that player's salary should he be DFA'ed, like the NFL. Having to pay all minus the league minimum can be quite a pain at times. Not sure to go about it, though.

I haven't chimed in too often in the debates regarding the competence of Baker and Hendry. But I think it's a natural reaction for folks to look at the people in charge when they look at the problems this ballclub has.

McClendon has always been a victim of his team's lack of financial support. Could you honestly say that he's ever had a squad with enough quality players to succeed? A manager only works with the tools he's given, and when your GM dumps quality guys yearly in exchange for salary relief, your managerial skills will be tested regardless of ability. Personally, I think McClendon's a talented manager who gets a lot out of some lesser players. And your mentioning of TLR and Bobby Cox really just illustrates the advantage of having stability in the manager's office; they're the 2 most successful current NL managers by far. I'll admit it--lousy example! But I'll still stick by my main premise, which is that the manager needs to be a good fit for the organization and the way it attempts to meet its goals. Put it this way; if you need to choose between keeping a manager who's not a good fit for the sake of stability or making a change to find that manager who'll fit into the organization's theory on managing a ballclub, I'd put more emphasis on the latter. Much more emphasis.

Kirk Wessler is a wad. I've had the great displeasure of reading some of his drivel in the past. He is a wad. That said, you dont keep someone around for the sake of stability. Look at Lloyd McClendon. Only TLR and Bobby Cox have managed longer in the NL. And what has that gotten the Pirates? Managers are usually fired because the teams they lead are unsuccessful. How that manager fits with the team and it's philosophy is a byproduct of that success.

There was a report this morning on Chicago Newsradio 780 that Ken Griffey Jr. has cleared waivers and that the White Sox are interested. Can anyone confirm this? Is there any place on the web that shows players who have cleared waivers, or is that a highly secretive thing?

He isn't that terrible. Most of the throws to the plate he's gotten recently have been pretty bad or just too late. Base stealers have a 74% success against him, which isn't good, but I don't think that matters that much. As far as the pitching goes, there's no way to prove that any of that is Barrett's fault, and I'm pretty sure the pitchers have been doing better with him catching. I'd like to see the stats on that. That said, his bat is solid, excellent for a catcher. That alone is enough for me to feel his being here is justified. If you got rid of him, who could you realistically bring in to play the position? I think that success rate would go down a bit if a certain Hall of Fame-bound pitcher could do a little better job holding runners on. MInd-boggling, really.