RynoRules

How about working a three-way with the Nats and Yanks where we deal Jacque and and one of our best pitching prospects and we get back Church. OK, I know that won't happen, but a guy can dream, right?

Seconded. How about a three way deal where the Yanks get Jones and we get Church from the Nats? O:)

Obviously Walt Jocketty and the rest of the front office thought they would perform well. Query: Is it possible that the Cards have developed a system like the one the 90's Bulls had or the recent Pats did where you take unremarkable players (like Miles, Rodriguez, and Nunez of last year) and plug them into a methodology that allows them to be significant contributors?

For fun, here are theobscure gents I referred to earlier. Veryzer: http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/veryzto01.shtml Wilkerson: http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/wilkecu01.shtml

I was with you regarding Jones last night, but this is just ridiculous. Bynum sucks, and it is late in a blowout. No one cares either way. Bynum is bad on a level only approached by the likes of Tom Veryzer and Curtis Wilkerson. And of course Neifi.

He also doesn't know what it's like to not manage deep into October and has never had a team with poor fundamentals. I don't think he'll quit and I don't think Hendry will fire him. But that's just another sign of what a bad job he's done as GM, because he clearly should. What kind of insurrection will have to take place for Hendry to fire Baker, I wonder? Lets all meet at the Trib Tower with pitch forks and torches and find out: :protest:

Release the hounds!

This thread just entered bizzaro world.

I'm guessing the final score of this one will look something like the wind-blown San Fran-Chicago game at Soldier Field this past Fall.

Yes, I'm pretty sure that I read that batting order is essentially meaningless. That's overstating it just a bit. If you run today's lineup through a simulator, you'll see there's about a one-run difference between the best possible order and the worst possible order. However, no manager, not even one as inept as Dusty, will ever pencil in the worst possible batting order (ie, pitcher hitting first, etc). Are you sure it's that much? It can be as much as a 2 run differential (if I understand you right)? I really don't recall the particulars of what I read and couldn't find anything doing a quick google search. Do you have a link? If you always bat in the first three spots in the order, won't you see a lot more ABs over the course of a season? Thus, don't you want your best (or one of your best) hitter(s) in those first three slots?

Well said. I couldn't care less if we get a "name" manager. Just get me someone who can do what I stated above.

I beg to differ. Lou is as much of a loon as Bowa. Yes but he would be our loon! Baker walks out of the dugout to argue and you don't think anything of it. Lou P comes out and you get interested really fast. The players see this and see the fire. With Dusty they see someone just awaken from a nap! Aramis: Well gee, I wasn't gonna try and hit a homer. But now that I see Lou is angry and the crowd is pointing and laughing at him, I shall now hit a monstrous homerun to show my appreciation for Lou! *CRACK* I hate that ridiculous and condescending reaction to this argument. It oversimplifies a complex issue and says a lot about theperson posting it, IMO. No one is arguing that the Cubs don't need better players and a manager -who in addition to holding his players accountable and demanding concentration - understands how to fill in a lineup card and manage pitching staff. In spite of this fact, many members continue to generalize and twist statements. In deference to people who just don't get it, let me spell it out plain and simple: 1) The Cubs need better players; 2) The Cubs need a manager who understands in-game strategy, how best to lineup his position players, and how to manage a staff; and 3) The Cubs need a manager who, unlike Baker, demands accountability and concentration, and doesn't make every excuse in the world for his players (i.e., the weather is cold; we travel too much; we play day games; black guys react better to the heat or whatever).

The only reason I like the Piniella idea is b/c I believe that one of this team's problems is that they make a lot of b.s. excuses for themselves (enabled by Baker). For certain, Lou would not put up with that. And in terms of comparing Lou to Davey Johnson, let's be fair: Johnson's WS title was 20 years ago, and he had several chances with very talented Baltimore teams in the 90's. EDIT: Apologies. He had two chances with talented Balt teams in the 90's: 1997 AL East 98-64 (.605) DIV 1 Davey Johnson 1996 AL East 88-74 (.543) WC 2 Davey Johnson And two more with two Dodgers teams that were less talented: 2000 NL West 86-76 (.531) 2 Davey Johnson 1999 NL West 77-85 (.475) 3 Davey Johnson He still had tons more talent than Lou did in TB. Neither guy is a perfect fit, IMO.

Lets face it - our draft record in the last 30 years smells. Until Scott Downs made it to the majors a few years ago, we hadn't produced a lefty starter since Moyer (IIRC). The position player issue speaks for itself, though we are forgetting some guys who are or were contributors (though not stars), such as Miguel Cairo, Alex Arias, Eric Hinske, Damon Berryhill, Jose Vizcaino, Rey Sanchez, and Doug Glanville, to name a few. BTW, did you know we drafted pitcher Eric Montross (yes, the flat-head center from UNC who later played with Celts and several other NBA teams) in 1994?

That's exactly what I was thinking. Bring back Holly and Chad Fox too.

More dumbness. Z threw his best pitch of the year on the inner half of the plate to K Bonds in his 3rd AB last night.

Prior for Cano, eh? We "need that 2B", eh? That might be the dumbest idea I have heard in months, and that is saying something.

No it doesn't. Trying to hit a ground ball to the right side (his specialty) makes sense. At least that way there is a chance it'll turn into a hit. Pulling the ball requires bat speed. Pierre ain't got it.

I don't. There must be thousands of Dusty-bashers out there, maybe more. There's bound to be a couple of idiots out of those thousands. He gets more of that kind of stuff than you may think. Sad. I am not surprised. There's far more morons in this world than we care to admit.

What is Bobby Cox's record this year btw? Hint: 14-18, look familiar? Are you seriously arguing that the fact that Braves are 14-18 is indicative of Cox's managing abilities or style? If you are, please excuse me while I ignore your argument. And if you check, I believe you will find that the Braves had similar record at this time last year...the year when they won their 14th straight division title. Picking nits, but the Expos disagree. Fair enough - their 14th div title in 15 years - still as impressive as any feat in recent history. I agree the 'Spos got hosed in 94'.

What is Bobby Cox's record this year btw? Hint: 14-18, look familiar? Are you seriously arguing that the fact that Braves are 14-18 is indicative of Cox's managing abilities or style? If you are, please excuse me while I ignore your argument. And if you check, I believe you will find that the Braves had similar record at this time last year...the year when they won their 14th straight division title.

How about last year's WS champs? Guillen called those guys out about once a week (and still does). It doesn't mean that it works in every situation. However, I think it would be a good thing for this Cubs team in light of their problems, which include bonehead baserunning mistakes and the like. How about the previous 7 years WS champs? Francona, McKeon, Scioscia, Brenly, and Torre are all much closer to Baker as they are to the blithering idiot on the south side. Maybe Francona and Brenly, but I disagree with your assessment of Scioscia, Torre and McKeon. They hold their guys accountable and demand concentration. They don't make excuses for their guys in the press based on weather or travel, as Baker often does. My point is not that this is an absolute rule, but stressing accountability and hustle makes a difference in most situations. Bobby Cox is another example of this.

I did not know that. Well, he'd help with platoons I guess. But the Cubs also suck against RH pitchers. And is there any likelihood of facing a string of lefties like they did before (really, I don't know, I've blocked that time out and don't remember who it was). He'd be the equivalent of a LOOGY, Ohman but much older and with no upside and 5-6 times the cost. The only good thing might be that Dusty would bench Jones in his favor against lefties. I assume that make would most of the Cub-loving world happy, including yours truly.

How about this: Murton (this reminds me so much of when Boggs led off in the Sox lineup in the 80's) Cedeno Walker ARam Barrett Jones Hairston Pierre This lineup still stinks, BTW.

I cannot believe that attacking an authority figure (ump) is being compared to attacking a peer (another player). That's a huge logical leap in the context of this situation.