BigbadB

My apologies for bringing up Pierre again, but in his defense, he can't walk. Pitchers aren't afraid of him. They can groove one in on him all day long and 7 times out of 10, he's going to hit it to the 2nd baseman. On those 3 in 10 times where it gets past the 2b, Pierre has another 25% chance of running into an out attempting to steal a base. Because he is not a threat with the bat and therefore will not ever be a walk machine, he is of little to no value.

I won't be complaining about 18-1, with the 1 loss coming during the regular season.

How long has Piggy been in the minors. He's not a 6 year free agent yet?

The Bears 3rd string is better than the Packers, so I would most definitely sit the starters if home field was not an issue. I don't think the Bears will go 16-0, however. Someone is going to get a game on them. That's my bold prediction. I think I'd actually prefer a loss during the regular season rather than during playoffs. Gotta remember what it's like to lose a game so you can focus on NOT losing when it matters most.

Roberts played for the Padres in 2006. He made LESS than Neifi Perez. In 129 games, Roberts got on base via hit or walk 197 times. Pierre got on base 234 times in 162 games. Roberts would have passed Pierre easily given the same plate appearances and 162 games played. Why pay 6m or more for something that you can get for 3m or less? And if Roberts wasn't available, there's still a ton of other options that would be cheaper and better than Pierre at leading off. I'll be happy to take the compensation when Pierre signs a long term deal with a team willing to give him one.

I don't know. Something tells me Josh Barfield will be a better player in the long term than Cedeno.

Buying the whole set of Topps each year is the direction I've gone. While it costs quite a bit for a whole set, each year there are rookies that come up who will more than cover the cost of the original set. Buying the whole set assures you that you get one of everyone. Buying them by the pack like I did when I was a kid only assures you to get multiple duplicates of the scrub players whose card will never have value. As a kid, I did enjoy the surprise element of individual packs, but walked away disappointed more often than not.

I'd say depends. With A-Rod: 2 (getting beat in playoffs after both years) Without A-Rod: 1.5 (sub-.500) Theres no way the Yankees will be under .500 even without ARod. I wouldn't say there's no way. The AL East gets tougher each year. If Tejada is successful in luring Soriano and Baltimore could land Jason Schmidt, they could be a pretty good team in '07. Toronto isn't a slouch. Boston is always a threat and Tampa just needs to find some arms to go with their continually improving offense. Meanwhile, NY continues to get older. Bernie Williams, Gary Sheffield, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson could all be gone. Zito and Schmidt both seem to prefer the west coast. Not really sure what FA's the Yankees might pursue and land this offseason. It's all about pitching for them, and there isn't much out there.

Nowhere in my post did I say that the Cubs should have had a winning season. Before the season ever started, I penciled in the Cubs as one of the worst teams in the division. That was before the Derrek Lee injury. With that said, Dusty did not make the Cubs a better team. He made them even worse, IMO. He continued to support his aggressive approach even though it hasn't worked. The 2003 team made the playoffs, but it was the pitching that did it for them. The offense was average to below average, and it never really got much better during his tenure. While I'm sure it's not just Baker's issue, Baker only festered the OBP problems with this team by batting horrible options at the top of the order. 2003: 13th in the NL in OBP 14th in the NL in BB 9th in the NL in runs scored 2004: 11th in the NL in OBP 14th in the NL in BB 7th in the NL in runs scored 2005: 11th in the NL in OBP 16th in the NL in BB 9th in the NL in runs scored 2006: 16th in the NL in OBP 16th in the NL in BB 15th in the NL in runs scored The Cubs have not finished higher in OBP than 14th during Dusty's tenure. The Cubs will also show one of the worst OBP's in the two lead off spots over the last 3 years. This organization needs to place more value on getting guys on base. This organization needs to place more value on putting guys that are good at getting on base at the top of the order. I don't blame Baker entirely. I wanted everyone gone all the way up to and including MacPhail.

I'm cool with that. I'm just glad you didn't lay all of the blame on me for Dusty. I endorsed him, not really knowing all that much about him. At the same time, I felt Dusty did do some good things in San Francisco. His teams drew walks at a very respectable clip. His Giant teams didn't seem all that "aggressive" at the plate. His top of the order guys were good to decent OBP guys. Why he didn't do that here is beyond me. I didn't totally buy into the pitcher abuse theory when Dusty was being considered for the Cubs managerial position, so I was definitely wrong there. As far as the youth coming into Chicago at that time, I didn't think Dusty had much choice but to play them. Hendry really seemed like a guy who would force the youngsters to play since he was promoted from the minor league system he built.

It didn't really happen that way. Deivi Cruz was playing SS and D'Angelo Jimenez was playing 2nd. Jimenez was traded in July to make room for Vazquez to play everyday at 2nd. The next year, Vazquez took over at SS. They liked Vazquez, but Greene was coming along and the Padres didn't feel that Vazquez provided the necessary power to have an everyday job in the new, huge dimensional stadium they were in.

Pardon me for quoting myself, but I wanted to expound on this comment from my first post in this thread. Not only because I don't believe I explained why he's worn out his welcome clearly enough, but because I've spoken to a few Padres season ticket holders since I made that post. San Diego is a pretty big market, but emulates a small market in regard to MLB. San Diego plays the "whoa is me" card way too much, but they get away with it, somehow. After building a brand new stadium, the owner cried poor and didn't spend nearly as much money as he originally stated he would to put a competitive team on the field. The Padres have back to back division championships. But, are they really that good? In 2005, San Diego was battling against the Dodgers (in the middle of ownership, management and player changes), San Fran (in the middle of management and half ass player personnel changes), Colorado (no sense of direction) and Arizona (total reconstruction after a total self destruction). The Padres finished 1 game over .500. The team wasn't good. The fans here don't really look at the win/loss record in the standings. They don't compare the team to other division winners. They only seek results in the playoffs. When the team fails in the playoffs, the fans place all the blame on the manager. I spoke with a few Padres season ticket holders yesterday. I asked if they had heard the Bochy to Chicago rumors. They both said "good". It couldn't happen soon enough. They can no longer stand him. Moores has cheated Towers and Bochy in regards to giving them the necessary tools to go out and win. No manager can perform miracles with a horrible roster. The fans here don't see it that way.

Jim Essian won 4 less games than he lost. Baker was 66-96 with a 95m payroll. The Joey Amalfitano managed team of 1981 is arguably one of the worst Chicago Cubs teams ever assembled. Dusty's 2006 team was most certainly not one of the worst teams ever assembled. Joey wasn't winning many ball games. But, it was pretty much to be expected. Dusty wasn't winning many ball games. With Dusty and the team he was given, he WAS expected to win. Lee Elia took over a team in 1982 that featured a pitching staff that most wouldn't have even heard of outside of a 39 year old Fergie Jenkins. Dusty had Wood, Prior, Zambrano and Maddux. I was not a fan of Elia, but he most certainly did more with less when you compare him and how Dusty did less with more.

If I moved A-Rod for one of those guys, it wouldn't have been any lower than 6th. Period.

I think the baseball team that employs him will be able to name their price rather than the other way around. He's a broken down player who is only continuing for his own personal goals. Anaheim seems like a decent fit. Oakland would to if it weren't for Thomas.

I agree. This situation is similar to the Sosa one. Baker waited to long to move him in the order and along with putting latroy hawkins as closer it doomed us in 04, among otherthings. But like A-Rod he couldn't handle the fans pressure on him. Under those circumstances you'd have to move him in the order, whether his name is Arod, Mantle or Ruth. Yes, Baker did wait too long to move Sosa. But, A-Rod is not where Sosa was. Would I drop Lee down to 6th or 7th in favor of Jacque Jones with the season on the line because Lee slumped for a few games? Not a chance.

Absolutely no thanks on Torre. Anyone could win 100 games a season with that roster.

You rang? :D I think Bochy would be a solid choice. Bochy has sort of worn out his welcome in San Diego in regards to the fans, but one has to remember that San Diego plays as a small market team, and he's done fairly well with what he's had to work with. World Series in '98. Back to back division championships. I honestly felt San Diego had no shot at a playoff run this year, but they made it. I disagree with the premise that Bochy doesn't like the rookies. Josh Barfield was handed the everyday job at the beginning of the season and Bochy didn't look back. He did the same thing with Kahlil Greene when he came up. He also didn't hesitate to go to Adrian Gonzalez at 1b. I believe San Diego is Adrian's third organization, and the one that actually gave him a chance. Ben Johnson got some significant playing time. Mike Darr was given a big opportunity, though he died tragically in a car accident. I think the guys he doesn't give much of a chance to are guys that were pretty much a longshot to make it in the first place. Adam Eaton and Jake Peavy were promoted through the organization. Tim Stauffer didn't make the best of his opportunity last year. I mentioned Ben Johnson earlier. I think they'd like to play Ben Johnson everyday, or at least get a regular platoon going with him, but Dave Roberts is their best lead off option, and I can't disagree with Boch's decision to go with Roberts. Boch does like OBP. I heard the rumor about Giles batting lead off as well, and with Giles' SLG sliding as much as it has, I think it would be a brilliant move. I haven't heard much regarding the pitcher abuse. My impression is that he doesn't abuse his starters. He may have overworked Linebrink in the bullpen a bit, however. Boch has been here a long time. The Padres don't have any World Series rings, therefore the fans are not satisfied with the results. Personally, I don't think Padres ownership has given Bochy enough to work with to really win a World Series. He definitely doesn't go for shenanigans. He really lets a guy have it for loafing. He also doesn't beat around the bush or shift blame. I'd prefer Bochy over all others mentioned.

With the Yankees out, the World Series just gained another viewer. Now we just have to put up with all those "What's wrong with the Yankees?" and "How to fix the Yankees" stories. Actually, I'm quite looking forward to the rants Steinbrenner will be tossing out left and right.

Can you list the Cubs managers that you feel were worse than Dusty? Dusty has been given much more to work with than any other Cub manager (outside of the late '60's early '70's teams) and his presence, IMO, only made the team worse. He's had Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Nomar, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux just to work with, and Dusty finished his managerial career with a losing record. Juan Pierre is at the point in his career that he shouldn't bat any higher than 7th or 8th in a line up, if you have to play him at all. I make this comparison quite often, mainly because I think it's very fitting: Alex Sanchez- career OBP .330 Juan Pierre- OBP last two years .326 and .330 I did use Sanchez's career OBP, which some may say isn't fair. The last two years Sanchez has played, he had an even better OBP than .330. The fascination of both guys is that their OBP is completely AVG driven. If they aren't getting on base via a single, they aren't getting on base at all. Alex Sanchez can't land a major league job. Juan Pierre made 6m last year playing for the Cubs. If you want a speedy lead off guy, Dave Roberts would likely cost less and would produce better offense. Pierre makes way too many outs to get paid what he does. There are tons of players more worthy of batting lead off for the Cubs next year.

As the standings so clearly indicate.....

Who plays 3rd if Aramis leaves? I'd take Nomar at SS over Izturis and Cedeno, also.

So what? I never said you had to agree with me. It is my opinion that having a guy like Nomar only helps or benefits your team.

Boston went to a World Series in a year that "injury prone" Nomar played for them. The Dodgers went to the playoffs in a year that "injury prone" Nomar played for them. Depending who you have to back up that injury prone player, I'd take a guy like Nomar on my team. That goes for JD Drew as well.

If Boston made a play for Andruw Jones or Mike Cameron, I wonder if Coco Crisp might be available? He's coming off a down year, but the injuries probably played a big part in that. I'm not aware if he will have lingering issues with the injury he had, but I'm still pretty interested in him if he can reproduce his 04-05 numbers.