badgercub

Do you mean Bobby Cox, or are you referring to a regular season series. The regular season. The Cards Vs. Cubs 5 games series. Even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while. Most managers have very little affect on a ballgame if they manage with common sense. Dusty, on the other hand tends to lean the other way and probably accounts for a net loss on games where a managers decisions have an affect on the game.

1) Quit trying stupid stuff like Sac bunting all game long 2) Quit playing crappy players like Bynum for Murton 3) No, nothing is going good. 4) There isn't anything you can do about it, because you're a crappy manager and this is a crappy team 5) If it's so simple, then do something. I wonder what it's like to not even have to take Acid or Mushrooms and get the delusions and hallucinations that Baker experiences daily? I love how you quote Baker and list out 5 points, and yet only two of the five points (3,5) actually addresses any material from the quotes, and those two don't have any substance. That doesn't make any sense. If you want bash Dusty, go right ahead. But don't wrap it comments that don't have anything to do with your particular criticism. Most of what Dusty said is true and the rest is fluff typical of all managers that give 350 questions and answer media talks every year. Other than "his location was off tonight" and "we are going to San Francisco" I didn't find much of what he said to be true. It was hopeful, but in my mind it wasn't true.

Are you riding the same bus as me? Cause there is no way everyone here will be happy at the same time, other than a WS and even then someone will find fault in it. OK, I'll rephrase. If he wins five of every seven decisions with an ERA of around 3.60, all REASONABLE people will be happy. Better? :D so far this year Maddux has had a decision in all 7 starts and has 5 wins. So calculating that out, yes if he ends up with 25 wins and a 3.6 ERA we would all be very happy. But that aint gonna happen if the offense doesn't start scoring some runs. Like I said earlier 15-16 wins and an ERA around 4 is what we should expect.

But holding players accountable for missing cutoff men and continuously making baserunning mistakes would probably help. I don't care if Jacque Jones is starting to hit the ball, you need to send a message that those kind of mistakes will not be tolerated, and sit him on the bench.

I didn't mind Mueller, if he hadn't gotten hurt the Cubs probably would have resigned him. Instead he went to Boston and won a batting title.

says who? The only reason he got manager of the year was because of the players on the team. Dusty won those in spite of himself. And I always hear these quotes that "Players want to play for Dusty" and he is "well respected" Well if your manager just let you do whatever you wanted without being accountable wouldn't you want to play for him too? And who says he is well respected? Other managers? of course they would say that, because they know if he is in the other dugout it makes their job so much easier. I am not saying Dusty is a bad guy, just a bad manager.

This is sort of how I feel. Firing Baker would be great, but I don't have great confidence that the Cubs will hire the right guy. Oh what could've been. If Hendry had just seen the error of his ways and fired Baker at the end of last season, Joe Girardi might have ended up in Chicago instead of Florida. Or Jim Leyland, or Grady Little, or anyone for that matter. It really doesn't matter who they would bring in to finish the season as it will be on an interim basis and the search for a new manager would begin when the season ends.

This is sort of how I feel. Firing Baker would be great, but I don't have great confidence that the Cubs will hire the right guy. Oh what could've been. If Hendry had just seen the error of his ways and fired Baker at the end of last season, Joe Girardi might have ended up in Chicago instead of Florida.

Maddux is 40 years old, I don't think we could realistically expect him to continue the dominance he had in his first 5 starts, which were amazing and a joy to watch. I think he will probably win 15-16 games and have an ERA near 4 when the season ends.

He has already started to pick it up (900 OPS past 7 days) and is highly likely to keep it picked up for a while. Even if he finishes 2006 with numbers below 2005, he could easily get more money than he's guaranteed right now. Salaries are on the rise again. Ramirez will get paid. I agree, past history would indicate Ramirez will finish with a similar line as last year, and if he does, I think the Cubs will make an offer to extend him. I was just hypothetically saying if he didn't finish with good numbers and spends some time on the DL, which isn't out of the question, I don't know if he would get a huge offer.

I agree but i highly doubt Hendry would do that If Aram did stay, maybe he would go to 2nd base because Walker wont be back i dont think after what happened in the spring :? I think it would be much more likely for Miggy to move to a corner outfield spot. id keep murton and hendry wont get rid of jock 1 year into a 3 year deal it would be a scary lineup if the baseball gods shined on us Pie Cedeno Lee Cabera Aram Murton Barrett jones 2nd base pitcher Pie is probably not going to be a leadoff hitter and more likely would bat sixth or seventh, at least to start out. I would say whoever you bring in to play second would be your logical choice to leadoff, maybe EPatt? I think Cedeno could possibly handle batting leadoff, but it isn't his ideal spot in the lineup.

I agree but i highly doubt Hendry would do that If Aram did stay, maybe he would go to 2nd base because Walker wont be back i dont think after what happened in the spring You're joking right? Aram at second base would be a disaster.

Thats why he has added 25 points to his AVG since this weekend?, only idiots thought he would stay cold all season Aram would get good money wherever he went, a decent 3rd baseman that hits for power and average for 10 million, or whatever he is going to make next year, I am not so sure that other teams will shell out that kind of money for a guy that can't play a full season and doesn't always show the desire you like to see in a guy you are paying that much money to, well maybe the Red Sox, but they already have Manny, and Aramis is no Manny. You dont think other teams outside of the red soxs would give more money for a guy who hits 300, 30+ home run, OBP at or above 350 and around 100Rbis in a year that would be typical though, go get rid of someone who has been consistent and get someone who was good 3 years ago and hope he turns out to be that player again ( Jock and Pierre, no we didnt get rid of CF or RF) I never said anything about getting rid of him. I simply made the point that UNLESS he picks it up he will have a difficult time getting a contract that guarantees him more than what he will already make next year.

Yup, Theriot was there standing on the top stair of the dugout watching the game.

Thats why he has added 25 points to his AVG since this weekend?, only idiots thought he would stay cold all season Aram would get good money wherever he went, a decent 3rd baseman that hits for power and average for 10 million, or whatever he is going to make next year, I am not so sure that other teams will shell out that kind of money for a guy that can't play a full season and doesn't always show the desire you like to see in a guy you are paying that much money to, well maybe the Red Sox, but they already have Manny, and Aramis is no Manny.

agreed. He would have to really turn it on to get the kind of money to better his contract.

We can only hope for small miracles. Dusty should have been fired in the offseason. This guy is a joke. Injuries aside you should still be able to play fundamental baseball and this team defiinitely is not. I mean come on, do you think these guys high school coaches would allow them to get away with consistently missing the cut off man, stealing bases when you are down by 6, getting doubled off on line drives instead of making sure the ball is not caught (on multiple occassions) This is sickening to watch and inexcusable and it all starts with the manager and the coaching staff. To add another point which Bruce Miles makes in his column today, Dusty uses the old double switch and puts in Neifi instead of The Riot, only a day after he says The Riot can add some energy to the lineup. Go with the proven unproducing vet instead. Dusty is now officially, if he wasn't before, the village idiot.

You don't have to give a name. Is it someone affiliated with the Cubs?

Source?

Would they last year? How about 2004? Would they have pulled Prior in Game 6 in '03? The Baker "hate" is not from 30 games this season. I think Baker hate is too strong of a word and paints the wrong picture. I don't hate Dusty. He seems like a nice guy. I had the chance to talk to him for like two minutes and he was very friendly. Nevertheless, it is a poor plumber who blames his tools when he can't fix a leak. Saying that no manger could do a better job is at best inaccurate and at worst appologetic of Dusty's performance as a manager of the Cubs. It's one thing to have a player commit a physical error, but quite another to see the same types of mental errors occur again and again. At some point you have to stop blaming the tools, and fix the leak or whomever you work for will find another plumber. Well put. Dusty has said in the past that he doesn't understand why these mistakes are being made, as they practice this stuff in spring training. Well Dusty, apparently you aren't practicing/stressing the importance enough, because each year the team seems to be a little less fundamentally sound than the year before.

It was said precisely because management is NOT pushing pitchers back. Which sort of contradicts what Clanton is saying now doesn't it? Not really. The Cubs have turned on the caution sign only recently. This laissez-faire attitude toward recovery time is somewhat of a new thing for the organization, and it might only be in relation to the major leaguers. Yeah, that's true. Probably. Does Hendry sound like he uses that kind of language though? I've never heard of him doing that----doesn't sound like the guy (and I've been very critical of Hendry). Maybe it's all true. I don't know. I don't know Hendry personally, but I do know a scout in the Cubs system who says Hendry is an arrogant (you can fill in the appropriate word here). He said he was great when he was in charge of the minor leagues, but once he got the GM position he has changed considerably. Like I said, I don't know Hendry, but I would tend to believe what this guy told me. Take it for what it's worth.

of course they would. and the cubs are also going to have a hard time contending w/o lee. but they're also going to have a hard time contending with a black hole in rf, rusch in the rotation, wood on the shelf, and having a complete lack of plate discipline. but the focus will be on lee's injury. just like st. louis would put the focus on pujols being hurt. so you don't like the way they're addressing the starting pitching? if not, what do you prefer? I don't totally buy that they would put the focus on Pujols being out. Last year the were without Rolen, and Larry Walker wasn't 100% either but you didn't see the Cards start making excuses, they just plugged someone in and kept on going. I know that Pujols is much better than Rolen and that they didn't have to make excuses because they won. But that is the whole thing, they have good management who seems to find the right pieces to plug into their lineup and get the job done. We have Dusty "Dude" Baker, and a GM who constructed a roster that had no contigency plan in place should someone go down. pujols >>> rolen. also, take away carpenter and whoever their #3 pitcher is. suppan?? marquis?? i guess the cubs could have built up the rotation by signing millwood, byrd or weaver, but then the complaints would be about wasting money. Hendry went into the season knowing that Wood was going to be out for a while. And with the history of injuries over the last few years, he had no contingency plan, I know Lee isn't a guy you plan on being hurt, but what about Ramirez? What about Prior? Hendry had plenty of money in his budget this offseason and wasted it by overpaying guys with little or no talent, ie. Neifi Perez, Jacque Jones, and Glendon Rusch. Hendry has got to shoulder a big part of the blame and I would imagine Dusty had some input as to the players on the roster.

of course they would. and the cubs are also going to have a hard time contending w/o lee. but they're also going to have a hard time contending with a black hole in rf, rusch in the rotation, wood on the shelf, and having a complete lack of plate discipline. but the focus will be on lee's injury. just like st. louis would put the focus on pujols being hurt. so you don't like the way they're addressing the starting pitching? if not, what do you prefer? I don't totally buy that they would put the focus on Pujols being out. Last year the were without Rolen, and Larry Walker wasn't 100% either but you didn't see the Cards start making excuses, they just plugged someone in and kept on going. I know that Pujols is much better than Rolen and that they didn't have to make excuses because they won. But that is the whole thing, they have good management who seems to find the right pieces to plug into their lineup and get the job done. We have Dusty "Dude" Baker, and a GM who constructed a roster that had no contigency plan in place should someone go down.

Not sure how many pitches "[expletive] Mcgee" Rusch threw on Sat, but I thought one of the articles in todays papers intimated that Rusch would be used in the bullpen as early as today. Which would mean Hill would be starting on Thur and that he is not being called up as a bullpen option.

run support and the bullpen blowing leads are the two reasons a pitcher with a 3.20 ERA doesn't have more than 14 wins. Yeah, actually, I've always blamed Wood in part for his low win totals. No question about it, this guy has gotten screwed more than his fair share by the bullpen, but he's pretty inconsistent. Wood will have a great game, a good game and crappy game and pretty much alternate the whole season. He's so dominating when he is on that his total ERA remains good, but the inconsistentcy doesn't give him or the team as many opportunites to win the game. When he is off, you can pretty much mark down as a loss. Wins are a team stat and a worthless stat when determining if a pitcher is good or not. How many times does this argument have to come up.