biittner77

I thought his nickname was "Dirk" not dirt.

I think he means as long as he doesn't pull a Bobby Hill and come in expecting to be handed the job and then proceed to stink it up.

The Cards still have Carpenter whose been the best pitcher in the NL this year. If they were facing anyone but the Pads they probably lose Cards in 5 Braves find a way to win against Pettite in game one and light up Oswalt Braves in 4 Red Sox pound out 10 runs per game to simply outscore the other sox Red Sox in 4 Angels embarass the Yankees. Fox executives are left to whine about missing another Sox-Yankees match up and wish that MLB was fixed like the NBA. Angels in 3 Angels and Braves adavnace to WS and the Angels beat the Braves in the WS in 6.

He knows that neither were September callups, right? Murton had 135 AB's! It's not like some rookie callup who had 50 AB's and the league didn't really see him. Murton played with the club for about 2 months... Seems to me this quote is 98% positive regarding Cedeno and Murton. The part about Lidge suggests that Murton's success is not just Sept. call up success but is genuine. The Sept. call up grain of salt is from when these guys hit the same guys they faced in AAA. That Murton getting to Lidge-the best closer in the NL Central, at least top 10 in MLB if not top 5- sticks in his mind says a lot.

Hendry prides himself on being a straight shooter. I can't imagine Dempster signing this deal to be a set up man so it would seem like Hendry promised him that job and rightfully so. What's most significant about this move is that it pretty says that they aren't considering moving Wood to the closer role any time soon. The Cubs had left that possibility open when Wood had his surgery. That puts the ball in Wood's court. If he wants to get his option picked up he has to stay healthy. He's not going to be able to justify his salary as the world's highest paid set up man. I like this move. Instead of paying Wagner or Ryan $9 million they should be able to get a pretty good set up man and have closer solved.

Great, now you tell me, -Jeff Gordon

At the risk of extending this discussion, I will add that I wouldn't be surprised if Patterson started next season with the Cubs. This buys some much needed time for Pie and gives him one last chance to at least improve his value. Trading this winter would be tantamount to giving him away. If they're resigned to giving him away than why not bring him back for ST and see what happens? They can always release him. They'd get nothing but that's not much different than what they'd get for him this winter.

For the 2005 Cubs, finishing 4th is really the same thing as finishing last

Depending on what happens in the OF, taking a shot at Wilson isn't the worst thing that could happen providing he costs next to nothing.

Here we have Baker discussing his lineups again. Can anyone tell me when Baker has said we don't need to play the veterans now? Can anyone show me where he's said it's a good idea to see what we have with some rookies? Right. To be fair though, Theriot might maybe someday be a bench player. Soto also projects as a back up. If Cedeno was healthy and benched in favor of Macias I could see being upset. I would like to see Theriot and Soto too but I'm more upset that Baker is batting Macias & Perez 1-2 than I am that Soto and Theriot aren't playing. I'm honestly more upset about Macias being on the field. Although Baker is putting the lineup in the least effective order possible (other than hitting Lee eighth), I believe that the quality of hitters in the lineup makes a more significant impact than the order in which they bat. Theriot provides zero power, but I think he could put up a better OBP than Macias in his sleep. I also think he's a better infield defender than Jose, too. And he's faster on the bases. Give me a few more minutes and I'm sure I'll think of more reasons to put him in place of Jose. I defy you to name 5 current players that are worse than Macias. It goes without saying that practically anyone would be a better option. I'd like to see what the young guys can do but it's too small of a sample size to really get any idea of we can expect in the future. After all, Roosevelt Brown looked good in a Sept. call-up. There's an added benefit to playing Macias. Every 0-4 brings him one step closer to the door.

Unsettled Closer Situation first 6 weeks 15% This had a domino effect on the rest of the pen. Hawkins & Dempster could have been a deadly BP combo had Hawkins not shattered his confidence in the closer role. Poor Bullpen (other than closer, i.e., setup men and specialists) 5% They pitched well at times but were hopelessly misused. The Catch 22 of the Cubs pen under Baker: if you pitch well he'll send you back out there until you can't pitch well. Low OBP 20% Needs no further explanation Bad Defense 5% This aspect was overblown. The Cubs' pitchers should be able to overcome the defensive woes. Lack of Situational Hitting 5% Have to have good hitters/ get on base to start with. I saw a lot more sac flies and better execution in the games that I saw this year as opposed to last Poor Managing/Strategy 15% Nevermind the absurd lineups and the veteran bias. Baker's BP usage is horrible. Too Many Key Injuries 10% Every team has injuries but the Cubs created a ripple effect and exposed their lack of depth especially in terms of pitching. GM not properly filling obvious holes/needs 25% Hendry needed to start the season with a better option in LF. When the in house options failed he should have overpaid to fix the problem. Hendry also needed to add a better BP arm than Bartosh. Signing Burnitz was a mistake though not a terrible one. I think I counted right. If not, players talk about giving 110% so that should apply to blame too! :D

If he wasn't already on Baltimore, I'd say that the Orioles would sign him this off season. That seems to be their MO (anyone remember that albatross contract they signed David Segui to?) That was under different managership. The new guys have been a lot better with their FA signings (Tejada & Lopez). Of course they also brought back Ponson.

Here we have Baker discussing his lineups again. Can anyone tell me when Baker has said we don't need to play the veterans now? Can anyone show me where he's said it's a good idea to see what we have with some rookies? Right. To be fair though, Theriot might maybe someday be a bench player. Soto also projects as a back up. If Cedeno was healthy and benched in favor of Macias I could see being upset. I would like to see Theriot and Soto too but I'm more upset that Baker is batting Macias & Perez 1-2 than I am that Soto and Theriot aren't playing.

My source is telling a much different story. My source is a magical pumpkin patch that appeared in front of my garage. The pumpkins seem to think that Larry Biittner will come out of retirement to replace Macias. But that's crazy. Surely Biittner would replace Murton in LF.

Once Sosa retires and is away from the game for a few years Cubs fans will have nothing but love for him. That's the way it goes for any great player that stays a little too long. There were people trying to run Walter Payton out of town his last few seasons for Neil Anderson of all people! The fans will remember the HRs, the '98 and 2001 seasons and forget the rest.

It might not even take that much. 2 productive OF bats and 1 great arm could make this team great. But it'll take a lot of work to get those guys. The Cubs do have some important factors going for them in that regard. They don't really have any bad contracts as far as position players goes. There not stuck with someone like Alou or a fading Sosa. They also have the payroll flexibility to take on someone that another team can't/ doesn't want to pay. Those advantages, unfortunately, could lead to disaster if not used properly. What the Cubs really lack is a really attractive trading chip. Presumably they can't/ won't trade any of the big 3, Maddux, Lee, Barrett or Ramirez. The closest thing they have is Walker but he's not exactly a household name.

Things looked pretty bleak during the 2002 season too. Look what happened in 2003. Sometimes it takes a disappointing season to call attention to bigger problems. Despite all the bad things that happened this season, some questions were answered: 1. Clearly Patterson is not a lead off hitter. 2. Ryan Dempster is much more effective as a closer than as a starter. 3. Wuertz, Novoa and Ohman showed that they could make up a good part of the back end of the BP. 4. Derrek Lee is the player Hendry thought he'd be. To a lesser degree so is Barrett. The Cubs still have a lot of question marks (2nd, SS, LF, CF, RF) but they also have viable options at those at 3 of those 5 positions in house. Four if you consider Pie or Patterson in CF a viable option. I don't believe it's hopelessly optimistic to say that the Cubs are 2 productive OF and 2 pitchers away from being pretty good.

I'll go even further, I don't know why he was ever re-signed. Oh definitely. There was a slimmest bit of purpose for Macias in not having a backup at 3rd, and that disappeared the day Fontenot played there at AAA, and Neifi filled in for a couple innings at the big league level. Not to mention Mclain.

Any pitcher has to hit his spots to be successful. Look at Farnsworth. Couldn't throw much hareder than he does but if it's down the middle he's going to get hit.

What happens if he loses Tuesday? Does he still start the last game?

"I guess AL hitter must have a book on Borowski"- Dusty Baker

if we're manipulating things to get maddux some wins, let's just get a big lead early in a game, and sub maddux in for the starter in the 4th inning. I think it would be a sham if they use Maddux that way just to get a record he already has. but I wouldn't put it past Baker.

I'm torn. I don't really like any of the remaining WC teams. I guess I hate the Phillies the least but there are more Phillies fans here than Astros fans.

So, you're stealing my bits now? na na na na na na na na na na na na Bruce Miles Bruce Miles Bruce Miles Pow!

Nathan, Our little league uses replica minor league uniforms for the teamls below "major leagues". I'm hoping to have my team be the Peoria Chiefs this season. Is there any way I can get decals for the helmets? I think it would be pretty cool.