biittner77

THis reminds me of 2001 when everyone thought Juan Cruz was the next Pedro Martinez and Carlos Zambrano should be selling used cars. The point is that when you have a starting pitcher that you think could be great its better to hold on to him even if he struggles early on. How many of the fans that were screaming for Zambrano to be traded "while he still had value" (in other words before he had much value) wisj the Cubs had traded Zambrano? I'm sure someone will bring up Guzman as someone the Cubs held onto for too long but we'll forget about holding on to Guzman too long a lot earlier than we'll stop regretting the Dontrelle Willis trade.

Koronka gets recalled. Perhaps this is a make or break opportutnity to see what he has.

I'm pretty sure Bartosh isn't on the 40 any more. I think he was out of options coming into this year (which is why the Indians traded him, because they couldn't fit him in their 'pen), so for the Cubs to get him to Iowa they'd have needed to outright him. Drop Rohlicek and you lose him. Besides poor control, is he really that bad? I'd rather lose Richard Lewis from the 40. I'd rather lose Koronka over both of them though. Cubs.com has Bartosh listed as still on the 40 man roster though they've been wrong before. While there is some of what we perceive as dead weight on the 40 man roster, Hendry probably doesn't want to just give Koronka or Rohlicek away. After all, he thought highly enough of them to protect them over Sisco. He must see something that we haven't. Rather than try to pass someone like Lewis through waivers, it would be easier to wait until after the season to try to trade him and at least get something. Another possibility is that they'll add him to the 40 man when they hopefully shut down Wood and put him on the 60 day DL. That move buys some time and would allow them to bring VB up sooner.

There's no correlation between how much someone gets paid and how hard they will work. Money has nothing to do with it. Baseball is a job. It's a good job most of the time and it pays well but make no mistake; it's a job from the moment someone pays you to do it. That means you have to do it even when you don't want to. No matter who you are or what you do, no matter how much you love your job there are going to be days when you'd rather stay home.

One reason would be that he's not on the 40 man roster and it would be difficult to make room at this point in the season. Furthermore, the Cubs are going to have to add Pie to the 40 man this offseason due to rule 5 restrictions (see the rule 5 eligibles thread) I'd expect Van Buren to be a non roster invitee to ST. BY then the Cubs likely will have traded a few players which might open up a spot. There are also people that feel that even though he's posted good numbers in Iowa he doesn't have the stuff to succeed in MLB. I've never seen him pitch so I don't know.

Signing Giles would be in the fine Cubs tradition of getting a guy 3 years after he stopped being special.

THe song was ok but it seems like there are more apt tunes to describe the last week They're a good team lot's of homers Derek Lee is MVP too There a good team they have Aramis Mark Prior young talent too but now they're free they're free falling It's been a rough year watching Dusty mismanage the youngsters Murton and Dubois but now they're free they're free falling

No team in MLB has stolen fewer bases than the Oakland A's. The Cubs have stolen twice as many bases as the A's. The A's have 14 sacrifice bunts on the year. The Cubs have 48. The Cubs have more than three times as many sac bunts as the A's. The A's do not play small ball. They do walk. Oakland ranks 7th in bases on balls. The Cubs rank 27th. I agree that the Cubs should play like Oakland. We should not be bunting in the third inning (which we have done this season). We should not be attempting steals unless we have a 75% chance of success. We should sign players with better plate discipline. I was at a Cubs-Reds game in 2002 and Don Baylor called for a bunt on the SECOND BATTER OF THE GAME!! MY favorite was the time that Baylor had his #6 hitter- who was in the lineup because he was swinging a hot bat- bunt so that the 7th and 8th hitters -Agon and Girardi- could attempt to drive in a run; something they hadn't done very often.

Really, that's not much better than being taught that they were violent savages. War was an important part of aboriginal american culture just like it was in every other agrarian society, and many of them eagerly participated in war for fun, honor, and profit. They were (and are) human, members of a species that is frequently violent I can't say I know for sure but I'd guess the Boy Scouts figured that the portrayal of Native Americans as bloodthirsty savages was handled pretty well by Hollywood and TV and that they were emphasizing the peaceful, naturalistic elements of Indian Culture to give the other side of the story. Keep in mind that this was a long time before political correctness was ever an issue. As for the part about war, of course they fought wars and that was an important part of life. The difference is that among agrarian societies wars are generally not fought for the purpose of annihilating the enemy. This was a matter of practicality as they needed everyone to help raise crops, gather food, etc. and having all the men get killed in a war was counterproductive.

It does need updating: Have Roberto Novoa balk in the winning run. Have Jose Macias drop a routine pop fly Have 6 injured starting pitchers be my pall bearers. But whatever you do don't let a non Cub fan B-list celebrity sing the 7th inning stretch.

I know we're only playing "what ifs", but it sure would be nice if the Cubs can field a lineup without the usual "ifs" to it. Man, our "ifs" sure didn't pan out this season. It would be nice, however, every team has it's share of "IF"s. There's also the question of value: Should the Cubs throw a lot of money at a guy like Wagner or Burnett or should they go with youth? Is it worth seeing if Lawton has 2 good years left or do you spend 5 yrs/70 million on Damon? Is Giles' decline in recent years due to the park he plays in or eroding of his skills? The only things that can be said with absolute certainty when it comes to baseball is that every team will win at least 50 games and that I will continue to hate the Cardinals.

"The NCAA plans to ban schools using Indian nicknames from hosting postseason events" Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1, said Harrison, the University of Hartford's president These are both from the ESPN article. It seems to clearly state nickname, as well as mascot. EDIT: JC yours must have posted while I was writting. Sorry to repeat the same quote Isn't this a huge loophole? FSU doesn't host the Fiesta Bowl. Illinois doesn't host NCAA tournament games. They get invited. So this policy is essentially meaningless except for the NIT or AA or AAA playoffs.

Baker has the perfect excuse to start playing Murton with the losing streak. He could say "I'm making a change to shake things up" and would look like a genius if it worked and suffer little criticism if it didn't. Unfortunately, teams don't think the way we do. Baker doesn't believe they're out of it or more accurately he can't publicly admit that they're out of it. Baker knows that he will be judged first and foremost by the number of games he wins. There's no asterisk for "yeah, they lost the game but at least they gave the young guys a chance". After the Sept. callups arrive we might see some of the younger players get the occasional start but don't look for it anytime soon. This is not even a criticism of Baker necessarily. Just about every manager on a team that was expected to win would do the same thing.

Take away Burnitz and Nomar and the Cubs team is already pretty young in that they aren't crowding with aging vets( I don't know off the top of my head, how old is Lawton?) I'd like to see the Cubs start Cedeno at SS and Murton in RF making the lineup: LF Lawton RF Murton 1st Lee 3rd Ramirez 2nd Walker C Barrett CF Patterson SS Cedeno Not as much thunder in that lineup but better OBP. If Patterson returns to form swap him with Walker. If Patterson continues to struggle promote Pie and slide him into a low pressure spot in the lineup to ease the transition. If Murton struggles, move Walker to #2. If Murton flops completely there should be more OF help available through trade next season. Replace Macias with Fontenot add Greenburg or Bacon as the 4th OF The utility INF, PH bat and backup catcher can and should be veterans.

The first question that must be addressed is the manager. If Baker is back- and there's little reason to think at this point that he won't no matter how much we want him gone- then forget about Pie, Murton or Cedeno being in the starting lineup. The current plan is probably the following: Keep Lawton- he provides the leadoff hitter that they wish Patterson had become Hope for better luck- Healthy seasons from Wood and Prior make this team much more formidible. To save time, I'm fully aware of their track record. Bring back Burnitz -as a bridge to Murton or one of the 2007 FA OF Have the young BP get better from their experience. Novoa, Wuertz and Ohman have good stuff. They may be getting lit up lately but they have the talent to benefit from the experience in the long run. This may seem like wishful thinking, perhaps it is. On the other hand the Cards should be coming back down to Earth. Aside from Carpenter who is good and Morris who is likely gone the rest of their rotation is pretty medicocre. They still have Pujols who's very good and Edmonds who's getting older all the time but they can't keep getting lucky with retreads like Grudz forever. The Astros hopefully lose Clemens and are stuck with Pettite. The Brewers, Reds and Pirates will continue to be medicore at best.

How in the heck could Mench clear waivers to be traded? GMs try to avoid making enemies by blocking waiver trades. That and his expected big payday in arbitration or extension might make small market teams think twice. That being said I still think it's unlikely that they trade him before the offseason.

You forgot to mention that Chief Illiniwek's costume more closely resembles something that would be worn by the Sioux- hated enemies of the Illini. I understand the argument that people are offended and all that. On the other hand, it seems to me that there should be a way to honor the memory of the now extinct Illini tribe in a way that celebrates their good qualities without having to abandon tradition. Some ideas: Get an authentic costume. Dressing Chief Illiniwek as a Sioux is too generic and therefore not much better than the Cleveland Wahoo. Perform a dance that might actually have been performed by a Native American rather than by a gymnast. Require undergrads to take a course to learn about who the Illini were. I believe it's possible to honor the Native people of Illinois for who they were without altering 140 years of tradition. The Boy Scouts, for example, use a lot of Native American symbolism/ imagery/ legends in a very respectful way. Because I was once a Boy Scout I've always thought of Native Americans as reluctant warriors that fought because they had to. Don't we risk forgeting that if we eliminate all these names that are deemed offensive? Sure we could pay tribute by building statues or museums but more people go to sports events. How many people had ever heard of the Choctaws before reading this thread?

Craig Wilson. Can't he not come off the DL until after the deadline? Hes untradeable until the offseason (assuming he isnt put on waivers and clears them). There's no rule against trading a player that is on the DL, it just doesn't happen very often as why would you want a guy that's hurt. Rondell White was on the DL when the Cubs acquired him. Is Craig Wilson the one that looks like Kerry Wood?

I was hoping that this was a precautionary move in case they needed to call him up if the BP was overtaxed and they needed a fresh arm. Maybe no news is good news. If he was hurt and they knew what it was they'd have said something by now.

Baker doesn't seem to like Hairston very much and he certainly isn't a natural CF. Unfortunately, he'd probably play Hollandsworth in LF if he had Kearns for CF. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful that Baker will put the best team on the field.

I though he came up as a CF but since they had Griffey he got bumped over. That was before some leg injuries though. It seems to me that Hendry wouldn't be as enamored of him as strictly a corner OF.

MY biggest concern with Wood the reliever is that since he knows he doesn't have to pace himself he might try to throw it through the backstop on every pitch. This usually leads to wildness and lots of walks. That being said, he could be valuable on a regular basis used for 2-3 innings as someone suggested earlier.

Couldn't Kearns play CF? With Murton in LF batting 2nd it would give the Cubs this lineup Walker Murton- good place for a singles hitter that draws walks Lee Burnitz Ramirez Kearns SS- be it Nomar, Cedeno or Perez (in that order) Barrett Not too shabby That still would mean that Dusty was starting Murton, which he has shown he doesnt want to do. Unless for some reason Hollandsworth is magically traded, do you really there is a chance Murton gets the majority of the starts versus RH pitching? It's probably wishful thinking on my part but addign Kearns' production to CF would soften the blow for Dusty to play Murton more often. I'm not sure if this is a case of Baker not liking Murton (or any rookie for that matter) so much as not wanting to dump on a veteran. He did eventually bench Hollandsworth so I guess there's still a chance it could happen again.

That's a good line. Patterson being moved around in the lineup has been overblown as an excuse for his struggles. But there was more to it than just moving him to a different spot in the order every day. How much of a disaster would it have been if Perez was asked to bat cleanup? Trying to turn Patterson into a leadoff hitter was just as dumb an idea as asking Perez to drive in runs with his power. Can you imagine how bad Perez would look trying to hit HRs? Sadly, we can easily conjure up images of Patterson trying to transform into slappy McGee. Ultimately Patterson is as much to blame as anyone regarding his struggles. But you can't ignore that having 3 different hitting coaches preeching 3 different approaches didn't help either.

The neifi Angst will end soon enough when Nomar comes back. Then Macias will rightfully regain his position as Cubs whipping boy. I don't like Perez and would rather play Cedeno to see what he can do. That being said I don't have that much of a problem with Perez batting 7th. In this debate both sides are right, Perez has been very good and also terrible. He's been one or the other all season. Though he may be going well lately (last 2 games) that's no reason to rub that in anyone's face. Conversely, once he starts tanking again there's no need to point out that he's not very good.