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biittner77

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Everything posted by biittner77

  1. biittner77
    Angel Pagan Jim Edmonds Is Augie still in their system? I think he is, but I'm not sure. Didn't Pagan make his debut with the Mets? Edmonds never played in the Cubs farm system. I'm not sure if Ojeda is still around but good one.
  2. biittner77
    Yes, this. Someone as bad as Koyie Hill offensively had better be absurdly awesome defensively and Hill just isn't. I'm not convinced he's any better defensively than Soto who always had a good defensive rep. while in the minors.
  3. biittner77
    There's a former Cub on more than half of the teams in the league. Again off the top of my head AL East Yankees- Wood, Farnsworth O's= pie, Patterson etal Red Sox- e patterson Jays- Downs Rays - none AL Central Detroit Willis Twins- Harris Royals- do they still have that LH that they took in the rule 5? AL West Rangers- Blanco A's- Wuertz Mariners- Aardsma (made his debut with the Cubs) Angels- none NL East Braves- Hinske Phillies- Moyer Marlins- Nolasco Mets-? Nationals- none NL Central Pirates- Cedeno, Gallagher Cards- Lohse Reds- none Astros- none Brewers- McGahee NL West Padres- Garland Giants- Fontenot Rockies? D Bags- ?
  4. biittner77
    You said the Cubs don't develop position players. While they haven't until recently, Soto, Castro and to a lesser extent Colvin prove that they can develop some talent. Just for fun, here's a roster of MLB players that came up through the Cubs system or made their MLB debut with the Cubs: -this is off the top of my head 1st Hinske 2nd Theriot SS Cedeno 3rd Mcgahee LF Patterson CF Pie RF Fox C- none that I can think of SP Nolasco Moyer Willis Garland Lohse RP Farnsworth Wuertz Ohman Gallagher Aardsma
  5. biittner77
    I'm not sure which is worse: the myth that Soto can't play defense or that Hill can.
  6. biittner77
    The lack of position player development is an approach that I don't agree with but at least I see the logic in focusing on high-ceiling pitching. I guess it just seems so incredibly standard for a team out of the race to give players like Chirinos (or Castillo) and Smith PAs, if only because a hot month might turn them into an auxiliary piece in a trade. Yet here are the Cubs, passing them over for the likes of Bobby Scales. Of course this isn't the most detrimental oversight the organization has made, it's just so basic in my mind. Dear Muntjack, Why don't you love us? Sincerely Geo Soto and Starlin Castro
  7. biittner77
    I still don't believe so many posters think the Cubs are going into some kind of rebuilding mode. Byrd is cheap, productive, and certainly won't be traded unless they get an overwhelming haul from some team. I think Ricketts and Hendry are going to see all of the empty seats at Wrigley this month and reload with a team that can contend. As other threads have discussed, mix one part Dunn (or Pena) with a rebound season from Zambrano and Ramirez and possibly another starter, along with some maturity from Castro and Cashner and you're pretty close. It has nothing to do with rebuilding. A lot of people here I think are wondering if we've already seen Byrd's best season as a Cub. Another part of the equation is how far they're willing to go to get Colvin regular PT. That has nothing to do with rebuilding. What I was trying to say was they would need to have some sort of back up plan if Colvin turns out to be not so great next year. If they think Jackson might be ready to replace a struggling Colvin they would be more tempted to sell high on Byrd. You're right though, there's no way they trade Byrd who's said and done all the right things this year. That doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
  8. biittner77
    It would depend I guess on how far away they think Jackson is, I suppose. They could probably live with Colvin in CF to start the season if they thought Jackson might be ready at some point next year. I doubt Hendry would pin the hopes of his "save my job" season on a rookie and a suspect 2nd year player.
  9. biittner77
    Most managers wouldn't want to use him in a dual role like that, though. He'd either pitch or hit, and not do both. The Brewers had a guy like this that was actually a former Cubs first round pick but he switched from hitter to pitcher. I seem to remember he lasted about 2 years.
  10. biittner77
    Nah, the best case scenario is he repeats his 2009 ERA of 3.36 and we're able to sell him off to a contender at next year's deadline. Wouldn't the best case scenario be that he pitches well enough for the Cubs to want to keep him at the deadline but let him walk after the season?
  11. biittner77
    Two years ago people were saying that Colvin's ceiling was Jacques Jones (perhaps) minus the ability to play a passable CF. That was before the elbow surgery. Somehow, having the elbow surgery and hitting for more power in the majors than he ever had in the minors has reduced his ceiling to 4th OF. Colvin isn't as good as the bulk of the fan base make him out to be or as bad as people here think he is. Hopefully he can be Jacques Jones- not a star but a decent contributor. That doesn't seem like such a stretch of the imagination to think that he reach that ceiling. If they upgrade 1st base they ought to be able to live with that level of production from RF.
  12. biittner77
    I don't see where next year's situation is so bleak that "rebuilding" is necessary. Consider these factors: I'm too lazy to look it up but the Cubs are about 500 against teams that aren't the Astros and Pirates and about 15 under against 2 of the worst teams in the league. Had they at least played those bad teams at .500 they'd still be in the race. Neither of those teams nor the Brewers look to be getting much better next year. The Reds pitching this year has been pretty good. Anybody think that they can stay healthy after Dusty gets through with them this year? Teams that gain a bunch of games in the standings tend to give them back the next year. That leaves the Cards who will have Pujols, Wainright and Carpenter and really little else. That may be enough but they aren't exactly the 27 Yankees. The Cubs pen should be better now that a lot of the young arms they broke in this year have more experience. The rotation has been pretty good for the most part. Assuming the new manager isn't dumb enough to bench Soto for Koyie fricking Hill the Cubs will get above avaerage production from Catcher and SS. Dewitt ought to be able to outperform what Theriot did at 2nd.
  13. biittner77
    So would Lee accept a trade to the White Sox? As far as in house AAAA 1st baseman, isn't that why they signed LaHair? There's also Spencer in AA though he hasn't been as good lately. A better idea is Soriano to first and Colvin or whomever in LF. That gives them the option of keeping Fukudome in RF. Is this the first time that Hendry has tried to trade Lee and he blocked it? I seem to remember that that was part of the "get more lefthanded" campaign.
  14. biittner77
    Trading Byrd has the unintended consequence of rushing Jackson. Keeping Byrd gives the Cubs of giving him a full year at AAA if necessary. Or maybe Hendry thinks Jackson will be ready since things worked out with aggressively promoting Castro.
  15. biittner77
    It looks like he really mashes LHP.
  16. biittner77
    No, but I figure we'd pay quite a bit of it in that situation, and I don't feel it's necessary for a guy who's not an upgrade, in my opinion Isn't Ellsbury at least a decent CFer though? That would make it close to a lateral move which would be worth doing if it saved a couple million.
  17. biittner77
    Also sportswriters.The difference being that they never look at walks.
  18. biittner77
    Sopel too, maybe even more so than Campbell. Plus anyone with a superfluous "J" in there name is OK by me, especially now that Byfuglien, the Larry Biittner of hockey, is gone.
  19. biittner77
    I'm going to go with my heart and say 2-1 victory for the orange. I'm a little disappointed that Laurens didn't comment on the 80 Years War reference. William the Silent would be outraged.
  20. biittner77
    ESPN is saying that the Yankees are close to acquiring Cliff Lee from Seattle. Once that trade happens it should open things up for trading Lilly and Silva. Something that's been on my mind lately, what would you have to get to make it worth trading Dempster? A lot of people here like him - and rightfully so, but it seems like he'd be someone that could bring in a better package of players moving forward.
  21. biittner77
    My sister taught him in 7th grade and said that he "had serious problems". Not entirely sure what that means but it supports the "he's a giant DB" hypothesis.
  22. biittner77
    Holland vs Spain. It's the 80 Years War all over again.
  23. biittner77
    Of course the US has to win. The question is will Slovenia hunker down and try to grind out a tie. I don't believe they can afford to do that.
  24. biittner77
    As far as US- Slovenia goes, Slovenia has to play to win. If they tie the US and the US beats Algeria, the US would have 5 points. Assuming they can't beat England, Slovenia would finish with 4 points and won't advance. If they were to somehow tie both the US and England they still probably lose on total goals scored tie breaker. So at some point they have to try to win the game. They didn't look very good against Algeria and this is a game the US really should win.
  25. biittner77
    I don't believe it's lack of scoring that makes soccer unapeealing to the US audience. I can remember when there used to be a professional indoor soccer league and there was plenty of scoring but it was still a fringe sport. I think the real problem for Americans is that, until recently, the US team has never been very good. In America, we can get excited about team handball every 4 years if the US is winning or at least has a chance to win. With winning comes people paying attention. Once people start paying attention they'll better understand the subtle things that make the game exciting. Baseball is a pretty boring game a lot of the time in terms of lack of scoring. But a low scoring game can still be exciting because of great defensive plays or dominating pitching performances. People that have seen a lot of baseball get that. There are lots of paralells in soccer, ie exciting moments that don't necessarily lead to scoring plays.
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