BigbadB

Yep, I'm one of those people. However, I also was not a fan of going mediocre in RF and starting Murton AND Cedeno everyday. And I was against bringing Pierre. My thought process was something along the lines of Giles in RF, Lofton/Patterson/Bradley in CF, Aubrey Huff platooning with Murton. With that kind of depth and production in the outfield, Cedeno would probably have been alright at SS.

I'm not fond of the idea of having him on just to boo him either. I'd much rather hear that they were having him on to ask him the critical questions that always seem to get ignored. If that embarrasses him, so be it.

Since I don't think Jones will be in any trade plans, I'm a huge advocate to move him to CF. I think I'd even respect the contract he signed a bit more if he played CF.

I agree with letting Cedeno have the chance. But, if an opportunity arises that would net Tejada or A-Rod, I'd part with Cedeno faster than you can say his name. The Cubs don't have the time to sit there and wait for someone to develop. They could if (as Goony stated in his last post) if they had studs at all other positions on the field. However, that's not likely to happen. The Cubs need to be willing to add whatever impact bats are available (outside of 1b and possibly C).

I have to agree with Goony here. The trades he made were with teams in sell mode (Florida/Pittsburgh) or looking for an improvement for their own stretch drive (Boston). It's ridiculous what we gave up to get Aramis. It's hindsight now, but it's now ridiculous what was given up for Lee. It would take what seems like a ridiculous amount of talent to net the kind of guy the Cubs could use (A-Rod, Miggy Cabrera, Tejada, Abreu, etc...), but I'm not sure Hendry is willing to go down that road. Pittsburgh got rid of a lot of talent the year they traded Aramis. And they didn't ask a whole lot in return. I think their main thing was reducing payroll. Florida wanted to be out from under Derrek Lee the year prior to the Choi/Lee trade, but no one wanted to take on his whole salary and Florida didn't want to pay any part of it. A lot of teams (especially Baltimore) must be kicking themselves after watching Lee break out last year. Nomar's welcome was worn out in Boston. Aramis has been better than advertised (though he has been slumping this year) and Lee was way better than anyone could imagine. The Cubs got lucky with those two trades. They wouldn't be "lucky" to land an impact player listed above. It's going to cost them. Does Hendry have the cajones to make one happen? In regards to prospects, I'd love to see him deal a Phil Nevin for a Franklin Gutierrez or a Maddux for a Joel Guzman or Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier, or a Todd Walker for a Nelson Cruz, or a Cedeno/Murton/Hill package for a Tampa outfielder like Baldelli or Crawford. I worry that he's already waiting too long to move them. I think he would like Dusty to have every opportunity to improve this teams record, something that won't happen by trading vets for prospects (at least in the eyes of Dusty and Hendry). This team needs a major overhaul. With a long list of players to trade in Rusch, Neifi, Walker, Nevin, Maddux, Pierre, Williamson, Dempster, Ohman, Jones and possibly Aramis, and youth in Cedeno, Murton, Hill, Marshall, Marmol, Guzman, Pie, etc... Hendry has the resources to drastically improve this team from now through this winter through trade and free agency. But, I'm very, very skeptical that he'll make the right moves.

Agreed. That would be an awesome start. Both are just turning 22 years old and putting up studly numbers.

Well, I doubt the runner on second would score on a bobble, but I see what you're saying there. One run would score which is better than a walk scoring no one. I've seen Cedeno airmail a routine grounder into the 1st base side box seats. I'm sure other SS's could do it too.

I'll be in Vegas for 12 days next month, but unfortunately, my work schedule won't allow it. Oh, and Cashman would need to be indoor in late August for me to go to a game.

Damn Torii Hunter; he would have to choose a time where I'm without access and unable to replace him for several days to go on the DL. :x Time warp or wrong thread?

The Dodgers are just loaded in prospects right now. Loney is killing the ball in AAA at 1b. He has 23 K's in 288 AB's. Delwyn Young is a top rated 2b, though he has falled off a bit so far this year. Joel Guzman and Andy LaRoche will be battling for 3b. Kemp and Ethier in the OF, and Martin behind the plate.

Can the Dodgers afford to take on Maddux, Aramis and Dempster? They already have some hefty payrolls in Kent, Drew, Perez, Furcal, Gagne and the possible return of Nomar. Penny won't be cheap. Maddux is a free agent at the end of this year and the Dodgers will need to fill holes in their rotation. That's a lot of money spent. I think they're better off grooming their youth and mixing solid veterans like they have done this year. A couple more arms in the rotation and they are a good team. Is Aybar someone the Cubs would target ahead of Guzman or LaRoche? LaRoche is a risk at this point. I don't think Kemp is going anywhere. While it would be cool to see a lot of young stud prospects maturing with Prior and Zambrano, I can't imagine it actually happening. I've yet to see Hendry do this, so I'm a bit skeptical that he would.

I've noticed it a bit, myself. The question to be asked then is "have the players decided to take it upon themselves to be more patient, going against the wishes of a management team that is on it's way out anyway?" Or has management decided to quietly take a completely different approach than they have for the last 3 1/2 years?

I feel your coming down hard on me here but I will drop if because truely, I don't care. Did you miss this last sentence in my post? "And this wouldn't be directed only at you. We all should attempt to be a little more respectful of opposing views."

I have to agree with the sentiment of the responses, though I'm sure we can come up with a more diplomatic word than "[expletive]". In fact, using that word is very offensive to many of the members of this community and I would ask that the originator change it to something else.

In this instance, a walk is much greater than a routine grounder to SS. One less out, bases still loaded, 1 more run on the score board and someone else with an opportunity to keep the inning alive.

I'm dropping the subject myself since I'm no expert on who attends games at Wrigley Field. I do want to point out that your "This is a stupid angle...." comment was disrespectful of another posters opinion, which is probably what I should have just stuck with rather than entering a debate that I'm not so educated on. I found your comment a bit offensive. Debate it all you wish, but please try to be a bit more respectful of an opposing view. And this wouldn't be directed only at you. We all should attempt to be a little more respectful of opposing views.

I only entered this argument because I really didn't appreciate your tone towards another NSBB poster. I personally don't care who sits in the seats. One poster has the view that more visiting team fans are getting tickets to games. Another one has the view that more cell phone talkin' fans are getting into games. Your opinion is that there is nothing different. What is different is the product on the field this year sucks. Plain and simple. When a team sucks as bad as this team currently does, it's hard to run around wearing the teams colors with pride. I just spent a week during the all star break in St. Louis and there is no escaping the pride they are currently showing for their team. I wasn't actually "in" St. Louis, but rather 45 minutes west in O'Fallon. The people wearing Cardinal jerseys is ridiculous down there. But, I can see why it's happening. They have a good team and they are competitive every year. Imagine if you will a run that the Cubs make where they run off 4 or 5 pennants in a row. How chaotic would Chicago be? How hard would it be to get tickets then? Whether one has a differing opinion of what kind of fan is stepping through the turnstyles at Wrigley is not worth arguing.

I don't think anyone is arguing that this doesn't happen at other parks. It does happen in every park. It's just happening more in Wrigley these days due to the poor product on the field. I honestly can't believe that you can tell the difference in a hard core fan and a casual fan. A casual fan has their Wood/Prior jersey that they break out of the closet once or twice a year just like the hard core fan does. I'm not here to label the fans, and I am 2300 miles away from Wrigley. I'm not one that can argue either way, but I didn't see anything wrong with what Impaler said here. And I can find it very reasonable to believe that many hard core fans have sold their tickets to casual fans due to the lack of anything worth watching on the field. We have many hard core fans on this message board, and many of them have stated that they aren't going to games. Who is buying up those seats? Most, if not all, are resold tickets since the season was basically a sell out before the season ever started.

I happen to agree with impaler. There are more casual fans out there than hard core fans. The casual fan isn't just there for the Cubs. He (she) is there to enjoy the atmosphere, the view, baseball, the crowd, etc.... There are probably more of those this year than ever before, as I believe many of the hard core fans are staying home. Corporate box seats are becoming more and more popular each and every year. This is an avenue that ballparks have catered to of late. Most of your corporate seats will be filled with the cell phone talking, spun around in their seats and not aware that a game is going on fan.

While it would be grand to see an empty stadium game after game, it's just not going to happen. If I bought season tickets, I certainly wouldn't just eat them if I decided to boycott games. I doubt any season ticket holder is going to just toss their tickets in the toilet. Selling those seats to anyone and everyone that will buy them is a way to recover some of the lost money while not giving up your good seats. If you just put season ticket holders in the seats on a given day, the place would look quite full, so there's likely a lot of them moving their tickets rather than painfully sitting in agony day after day. Many fans got shut out on ticket sales day (or was it ticket hour?). There are a lot of people who want to get to Wrigley at least once a year that would buy tickets regardless of price. If you are waiting for the time people quit going, you'll be waiting a long time.

I agree with most of this. He looks really frustrated out there. I agree as well. Wouldn't it be nice, if just once one of our rookie hitters improved as they got more playing time, rather than regress. It's very hard not to point fingers at the coaching staff when the youngsters come up and look more lost than when they first arrived. Isn't it the coaching staff's job to do something to remove that lost look on a rookies face?

The Walker thing was poorly handled by just about everyone involved. The same can be said about Sosa, Patterson, Farnsworth, Bellhorn, Wood pitching in relief, etc... I don't want to harp on past history. We know why Dusty wants Maddux around. He thinks Maddux can be part of some resurgence that will make Dusty's season look a lot less bad than it currently is. This is important to Dusty for future revenue and contract considerations. I don't have a problem that Dusty is saying these things. I have a problem with the fact Dusty is still here to say these things. But, then again, I also have a problem with the fact the guys with the power to remove Dusty are also still here. Hendry seems to be spending a considerable amount of time evaluating Dusty's status as manager. Which is a crying shame, since this is the time Hendry should be evaluating trade opportunities to improve the team in the future. No one is calling on the Cubs. Is Hendry not answering phones? Teams are working trades as we speak, and Pierre is still leading off, team scapegoat Todd Walker is still splitting time with others at 2nd base, Williamson is still in the bullpen, Nevin is still patrolling the outfield, etc.... Nevin's value is dropping by the day. He'll be a Type C free agent, along with Scott Williamson at season's end. Maddux is potentially the only Type A free agent leaving this team at season's end, and there's no guarantee he'll play again. And the Cubs definitely won't offer arby. Hendry should have removed Baker prior to this trading period to remove anything from interfering with improving this team beyond this season. If any of the players listed above are still here as of August 1st, Hendry will have failed once again in his most important duty as GM. That is unacceptable. Wow, I got all that from a Dusty quote.

I think you're asking this question to the wrong group. There probably aren't a lot of Cub fans who believe Santo does not belong in the HOF, excluding everything he has done since he retired.

Are K's registering for pitchers? It doesn't appear as though they are. Randy Johnson doesn't have very many points for a guy who struck out 11 today. Jeremy Bonderman has this line so far today: 1 inning, 3 K's. He has 3 points. That doesn't add up.

I've very upset with Chris Speier. To give Hendry an easy out such as this infuriates me.