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Illini Iceman

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Everything posted by Illini Iceman

  1. Illini Iceman
    I'm not sure what that really means. They look like baseball players to me, at least when they wear baseball uniforms. Murton is slugging under .400 against AAA pitching. He can't play defense. He runs the bases like he's drunk. I understand that he can get on base at a decent clip, but he's nothing more than 4th OF material at this point in his career. I don't know why people are so upset he didn't get called up. Because we already had Eric Patterson on the roster, his name is Mike Fontenot. Someone who can hit LHP with power off the bench is something we don't have, and Murton could have provided it. Again, I'm trying to figure out how a guy that can't slug over 400 in the PCL can provide consistent power at the MLB level. TT said "someone who can hit LHP with power." It should be no secret to anyone who has followed the Cubs the past few years that Murton hits lefties well. It's also no secret that he doesn't hit well off the bench.
  2. Illini Iceman
    Whether you agree with the decision making or not, the Cubs aren't making much of a mystery about why they brought up Patterson. Lou has been talking for a while about how he would like them to have more lefties in the lineup. Patterson accomplishes this because he can play him in LF and DH Hoffpauir in the interleague road games giving the Cubs 3 LH hitters in the lineup. Secondly, both Lou and Hendry talk a lot about having a prototypical lead off hitter so with Soriano out they are taking advantage to put that type of player at the top of the lineup. With the success Theriot is having batting second I am sure Lou doesn't want to mess with him too much. Maybe at some point Fukudome is tried at leadoff but I think first Lou needs to be convinced that Hoffpauir or Edmonds can slide into the 5th hold and produce on par with what Fukudome is giving them in that spot currently.
  3. Illini Iceman
    Lou has been saying nothing but good things about Hoffpauir since spring training and never mentions Murton. Based on that I have to think that the Cubs are leaning toward giving Hoffpauir most of the starts in LF against RH pitching with most likely DeRosa in LF and Cedeno at 2B against LH starters. I think that a Fontenot / Cedeno platoon at 2B with DeRosa in LF every day would be Plan B in case Hoffpauir is not producing. Murton might get called up for the interleague stretch when they need another hitter for a DH on the road, but unless Hoffpauir really struggles or Murton completely catches fire in the 6 games against Toronto and Tampa Bay I just don't see Murton being a big part of their plans.
  4. Illini Iceman
    With Lou's rotation adjustments to keep Z on 4 days rest between starts it looks to me like Dempster won't pitch again until next Wednesday against Tampa Bay. Extending him to 119 pitches tonight shouldn't cause any problems since he will have those 6 days off until the next start.
  5. Illini Iceman
    You could also look at it as the Cards keep winning and they are losing ground. Wellemeyer should come back to earth any start now.
  6. Illini Iceman
    This will be the 6th straight game that the Cubs starter has failed to get through the sixth inning. They need to start going deeper into games to keep from having bullpen issues.
  7. Illini Iceman
    How are they an annoyance? They're not very good and they are 8 games back. They aren't a team to even think about in this race. Because everyone wants to not mention the 900lb elephant in the room. The Cardinals are the main comp. We are on fire right now and they are sitll within striking distance. Or you could say that the Cards have been playing way over their head and they are still 2.5 games back. Probably their only hope was to do like the Brewers did last year and get way out ahead and hope they could play well enough in the second half to hold on. Unfortunately for Cardinals the Cubs did not take 6 weeks to get it going like they did last season.
  8. Illini Iceman
  9. Illini Iceman
    Would someone please remind the Reds that they suck.
  10. Illini Iceman
    Wait, John Lester got a no hitter? Sorry, I have been watching ESPN all night and must have missed that news. Geez, that last pitch is burned into my brain forever I have seen it so many times. Yeah, no hitter, he had cancer, good stuff the first 42 times you showed it now move on already.
  11. Illini Iceman
    You're a real class act. I'll buy you a Funk & Wagnall's--you're such a witty guy! i don't know what that is, but i'll assume it's from the 1950's and politely decline. or should i "smartly" decline...? Does someone seriously not know what a Funk & Wagnall's is? I find it ironic that people have a problem with a negative post about a Cubs player because his father might be posting the thread but have no problem with direct lack of civility to other posters.
  12. Illini Iceman
    Looks like they will be fielding a winner come time to open that new stadium. Great job by the front office again on this one. '' Next up probably is BJ Upton. Crawford has team options through 2010. He signed a similar long term deal to Shields and Kazmir before he was arbitration eligible and the Rays have to know that the next one is going to cost them a lot since he would be giving up his free agent status in 2011 and beyond. They still have a very tight payroll and depending on how some other young guys develop I could see them trading him within the next couple years for high level prospects like the Marlins did with Miggy.
  13. Illini Iceman
    The Cubs went down 5-4 in the top of the 5th and you left because you figured the game was over? You had no idea that they would come back from an 1 run deficit? You must not make it through many games if the Cubs being down by 1 run is enough for you to quit watching.
  14. Illini Iceman
    You just don't get it...this is not a very good analogy as it relates to the current scenario. Yeah, I don't get it. Bitter distaste for a guy that had the nerve to play on another team and beat the Cubs. And stopped to watch a homerun. OMG! No Cubs have ever done that (or, for example, shown up opponents by doing a "hop" after every homerun)! I hate him for life and want to boo him and (insert gay joke here)! All this vitriole has very little to do with him possibly no longer being an effective player.
  15. Illini Iceman
    Do they have a spot on the 40 man roster available to add Hoffpauir?
  16. Illini Iceman
    I boo every time Lee comes up to bat because he hit that double against us in game 6 of the NLCS. I don't care what he does for the Cubs, it will be a cold day in Hell before I say anything about that traitor. Wait a minute, that sounds like kind of a dumb thing to do. It's just a game. Opposing players aren't terrorists. Geez. BTW - nice homestand so far.
  17. Illini Iceman
    Would you prefer Marmol?
  18. Illini Iceman
    What did I miss? Why is that the best we can hope for?
  19. Illini Iceman
    also would've been nice if sean could've thrown more. I don't know how well he felt since he's been in the pen for a while. I thought he pitched fairly well. The final numbers don't look great, thus the comments that it was a bad outing, but after a wind-blown RBI double (it's a lazy fly to Pie without the wind) he settled down and allowed next to nothing in the second, third and fourth. Finally, he did wear down in the fifth, but that was no shocker to me. Overall, I doubt he won himself a rotation spot with the outing, but it was good experience for him and likely didn't hurt his standing with Lou. It was a triple and I don't know about wind blown. It was a line shot. Without the wind knocking it down it definitely wasn't a lazy fly and it may have even gotten out. He looked OK considering the short notice, but not overpowering. Kind of reminded me of a Marquis outing. Of course, considering that Marquis makes $7M a year and this is about the best he will get and Gallagher makes the minimum with more upside I still think I would take my chances with Gallagher in the rotation instead of Marquis if the Cubs could find a sap to take him and his salary off their hands.
  20. Illini Iceman
    but, but, but... he has 9k's! you're doing that not-at-all tired, completely hilarious green font thing like the k's don't, in part, cancel out some of the harm from the walks, but they do. bring him back up. I don't see how anyone can expect him to be successful if he keeps walking this many guys. At the big league level more guys can hit breaking balls so I don't think that the K's are necessarilly reflective of what he would do here. If he can't go right after AAA hitters with confidence and not walk guys I don't know what his problem is.
  21. Illini Iceman
    What the heck is wrong with Billy Petrick? He looked pretty good in his time with the Cubs last season and now is in Daytona getting shelled? I know he was working through some issues in ST but is he hurt again?
  22. Illini Iceman
    That's not a fact. Its as much as a fact as the Felix Pie would be great given the chance to play full time arguement. More of a speculation. It's much less of a fact than the fact that Pie has been better than Reed Johnson offensively for the last four weeks, and is light-years ahead defensively. Felix has shown potential, e.g. the Mets HR. I don't think sending him down is going to do him any better than staying in the majors. Also, there really is no one for them to bring up that would be much more use to the team right now than Pie is. A 13th reliever? No thanks. Murton? Not very effective as a pinch hitter. Fuld? Worse numbers in AAA than Pie has in the majors.
  23. Illini Iceman
    It's just a ritual here. Every time Marmol pitches, everybody screams ZOMG HE IS BEING OVERUSED HIS ARM WILL FALL OFF ZOMG ZOMG. It's pretty amusing. (a) 95% of the complaining comes when lou needlessly uses marmol, as was the case in saturday's game (b) he's on pace to throw more innings than any reliever in baseball last season, so to laugh it off is awfully foolish. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-080510-carlos-marmol-chicago-cubs,1,4562380.story Does anyone know how he ranks among relievers in IP? I don't know how to look that up and sort just by relievers.
  24. Illini Iceman
    Yeah, why give some new guy a shot when you can rehash a coach that has failed somewhere else. I mean, if someone has had a head coaching job and been fired he automatically must be better than a guy that has put in the time as an assistant and hasn't gotten an opportunity yet to prove himself. I never said he would automatically be better. But hey, why miss an opportunity to prove how witty and sarcastic you can be? Sorry, but I thought that someone saying it was "disturbing" and "terrible" that the Bulls might hire an assistant instead of someone without a so called proven track record deserved some sarcasm.
  25. Illini Iceman
    It seems pretty obvious and I don't see why people that would rip a coach or manager for starting veterans over rookies because they have a "track record" would fall into the same trap when wanting an experienced hire over a guy that has done well as an assistant. Fresh ideas are a good thing. D'Antoni would naturally do the things that have worked for him in the past and not as likely to adjust his style to personnel as a coach who is getting his first shot. It is pretty funny that people were talking about the Suns trying to "lure" Doug Collins to take the job. C'mon, there have to be a dozen top assistants that can do as good or better job. People get too hung up on the name guys that get hyped in the media because it will "energize" the fan base.
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