BigbadB

I will happily accept Hendry's resignation. MacPhail's too, for that matter.

Didn't they just have some problems with Cabrera the other day? I want to say he got pulled from a game for his actions. But, the last week has just been a blur, so maybe I'm making stuff up.

HAHA! Bowden is still haunting the Reds.

Yeah. He changed his underwear last week. . . . . I think. Nope. You are incorrect. Turning them inside out is not "changing" your underwear. :wink:

If the Cubs had 120m, I'm not so sure you wouldn't see the same line up out there with everyone getting raises. Having the ability to evaluate talent will take this team much farther. Just look to the south for a prime example. The Cardinals payrolls usually closely resemble the Cubs payrolls. The Cardinals are winning division championships and the Cubs aren't.

I was so far down when I left town, I was writing in a loss for last week. Just got home to see that I made a very strong comeback. Cool!

I'm not saying that. And I don't think Emmitt should be off the radar. However, you do have to take the strength of the team each guy played for into consideration. Emmitt's line blew open tremendous holes play after play. Barry and Walter had to create their own holes and then get creative to get downfield.

If you are asking me, he's probably top 10, but not among the elite. I might even have Gale Sayers ahead of Faulk. I'm not a fan of either guy, but O.J. "Bloody Glove" Simpson and Eric "I'm so full of myself" Dickerson are somewhere in the lower 10 as well. Heck, Shaun Alexander will be mentioned with this group in time. Walter and Barry are the two best ever, but Walter wasn't a quitter.

Umm. No. A good SS should be brought in if Cedeno isn't any better than what he has shown so far. :wink:

And it sounds like he stole that material directly from the Milwaukee announcers, who basically said the same thing.

Barry Sanders had a chance to surpass Walter as the greatest, but he quit. Sorry Barry. Greatest back of all time is Walter. And that is absolutely not a homer pick even though I'm a Bears fan. Comparing Emmitt to Walter is quite comical. Emmitt played on teams that went to the playoffs year after year. How many players on teams that Emmitt played on are going to be in the Hall of Fame? Better QB, better receivers, better offensive line. Emmitt had it all. Emmitt wasn't even the best of his generation. Barry did circles around Emmitt. Walter created most of his yardage despite playing on poor offenses year after year. Same argument can be made for Barry, but he's a quitter. Defenses keyed on Walter because he was the offense. Especially in the days prior to McMahon and Gault. But, he still managed to get downfield. Teams couldn't key on Emmitt because of the threats to Irvin and whatever stud receiver was on the other side of the field from Irvin. Emmitt just had to follow Nate Newton and Co. to get all the yardage he got.

Weather? :sunny:

And once the end of spring training comes and you realize he can't play anywhere but first base anymore, what do you do until June 15 when you're allowed to trade him? He hadn't played more than half a season since 2003, and if he was healthy he probably would only be able to play where we had an MVP caliber player. There was plenty good reason not to pursue him after last season, and it's still valid considering the Cubs' injury troubles last year and considering Nomar hasn't shown an ability to play anywhere other than first(despite LA going to multiple options at 3B and LF). He couldn't be traded before June 15th without his approval. What, Nomar would veto a trade that would likely mean more playing time at a position that he can play better? I doubt it. Nomar has been doing very good at 1b in LA. Why move him? LA does have multiple options at 3b and LF. Mueller, Izturis, Saenz, Guzman and Aybar can all play 3b. Kemp, Ethier, Lofton, Ledee, Repko, Cruz Jr., etc.. can all play LF. Because he hasn't played other positions is not a good enough excuse to say he can't. His transition to 1b has been quite good. SS or at least former SS can play just about anywhere. Heck, Barrett was a former SS. Other than the fact his knees are probably too screwed up now, I think he'd be fine just about anywhere in the field. Going into 2006 with Cedeno as the everyday SS was a tremendous gamble. Especially with Murton penciled in as the everyday LF. Especially with Dusty as the manager. It's not my mess. It can't be undone. But, the results speak for themselves.

I'm sort of hoping for a domino effect, all the way to MacPhail.

It only flashes up on the tv screen every time someone comes to the plate. It would be quite difficult to NOT be aware of it.

I thought this thread would be entirely about the Cubs. Not enough Cub players on the list, and they completely forgot a management team, who should be coached by none other than Dusty Baker. Cliff Floyd is not a RF. Garrett Anderson is not a CF. How can Juan Pierre and his 12 RBI not make the list? Think about that for a second. A guy who has not missed a game all year has 12 RBI. Wait. You did not think about that for a second. Think about it. That's just ridiculous.

The Milwaukee announcers were driving me nuts defending Dusty last night. It was non-stop. Each time a player did something wrong, they would say something like "so how exactly is a play like that Dusty's fault". Well, Dusty allows such plays to go unpunished, that's how, you idiots. If they saw more than just the games they play against their own team, maybe they wouldn't be so critical of the thought of Dusty being removed. When the next manager comes in and does more than Dusty does, it will be proof alone that Dusty wasn't worthy of a 4m paycheck or to wear the Cub logo on his uniform.

What's Anthony Gwynn up to? Is he doing any good? Does he have a chance to be anywhere near as good as his father was?

And would Nomar really throw any worse than Pierre or Jones? I mean, really? Or would Nomar's arm be worse than watching Phil Nevin attempt to catch a routine fly ball? You're talking about a shortstop with a gun. Is he incapable of shifting his arm slot to over the top when roaming the outfield? I don't know. But, if 5m would have brought him back, it's a reasonable amount of money for an incredible talent with a bat.

I can respect your opinion, I just can't agree with it. The Cubs could have had Nomar locked up immediately. He didn't sign with the Dodgers until after the arby deadline. Nomar wanted to come back. He felt like he owed it to the fans to come back and play a healthy season. Maybe it's all talk. But, there's no reason for me to believe he was just telling tales. The Cubs showed no interest in him at all and he went the way of the market. Maybe it would have been 5m plus incentives. I don't know. But, a guaranteed amount of games before he gets a boost from 5m wouldn't have been bad for either party. Better yet, you lock up Nomar and give him the shortstop job until it's obvious he really can't play the position anymore. Try him out in the outfield. If that doesn't work, I'm sure Cubs management and Nomar could have reached some sort of agreement to move him to a team that could use him. And if they took that approach, they might have been able to actually get something for him. Letting him just walk was a poor decision no matter how you slice it, whether you blame Hendry or not, IMHO.

How can you knock a guys throwing error when he's committed a total of 4 errors all year? The argument about attempting to go to 3rd is reasonable, but it should also quiet the argument that he's lazy.

91 pitches? Now that is the stat of the day.

Number of innings he's been needed at another position? 0

This argument always gets twisted. Granted, Neifi does make too much money, but he isn't the one who made the offer, Hendry did. That Neifi bats second isn't Neifi's fault, it's Baker's. Do I have this personal vendetta against Neifi? Absolutely not. Do I wish he was off the team altogether? Absolutely not. Should Neifi ever bat before Derrek Lee bats? Absolutely not. If Neifi played everyday, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Good teams have won with a player of Neifi's talents playing everyday. The dislike for Neifi is directed at Dusty more than it is directed at Neifi. That Dusty will use Neifi incorrectly is why there always seems to be this tremendous hatred for Neifi. That Dusty and Neifi have this gentleman's agreement that Neifi will play often and bat at the top of the batting order is where most of the anger generates. That Neifi's OBP is barely better than his AVG is why he should never bat at the top of the order is why Neifi gets the attention that he does. Other than not having a clue how to take a pitch, he's really just a hair below mediocre as a utility infielder. Typically, a utility infielder should never draw this much ire from the fans. If they are, the anger is directed at the wrong persons.

Who said he would be a utility guy? You did in your previous post when you said they could have signed him and "played him all over the place." He gave him a one year deal in '05 to prove that he could stay healthy. What happened? He got injured three weeks into the season and was out til what, August? What was he supposed to do, give him another one year deal to see if he could stay healthy again, and run the risk of flushing another 6-10 million down the drain? Yep. You take that chance with anyone you sign. Did you see Nomar after his return from injury last year? He looked pretty good. What's he doing now? Playing great. He's even stealing bases like he never had an injury. 6-10m? Try 5m. That was the quoted price to stay in Chicago. He's getting 6m from the Dodgers. The Dodgers felt he was worth the gamble. Hendry didn't. Hendry is the one with egg on his face. And I can't make excuses for it. As far as playing all over the place, the point I was trying to make was he could play wherever you put him. He'd likely have his own position somewhere, just have to figure out what works best for him and the team. Cleveland was going to stick him in the outfield, and Nomar sure would have looked better in LF for Cleveland than Hollandsworth is turning out. All these other teams had Nomar's injury history. Someone was going to take a chance on him. Who better than the team that he felt he betrayed by being injured during much of his tenure here? It was clearly quoted in nearly all the local papers that he wanted the opportunity to come back and give the fans what they expected of him. Heck, the Dodgers took a chance on Nomar AND stole away Hendry's one true love.......Furcal. The Dodgers also nabbed another guy I wanted to see the Cubs grab......Kenny Lofton. Depth. Bench help. The Dodgers have built up a solid core and they have a great opportunity to be very good for a long while. A nice blend of veteran leadership and solid young up and coming prospects along with good role players mixed in between. The Cubs? Not so much. The organizational philosophy and poor decisions are going to haunt this team for years.