BigbadB

Interesting thread. I'm sure there's a lot of truth in this.

That may be true, but the point is that the wins have to go somewhere, so if one team is well below .500 that means their opponents are picking up extra wins. It doesn't really help us for a team to completely tank the 2nd half of the season. I meant that the Cardinals and Astros (or whoever is atop the NL Central standings down the stretch) may have easier opponents than they may have now. My point was that while the Cubs aren't mathematically eliminated at this time, they might as well be. The team isn't good enough to get back in this race.

There's no way to calculate what teams will fall out of the race and trade off their veteran players to contending teams, either. Some teams down the stretch won't be much better than the Royals.

The big question. Can Kerry Wood catch Pierre in the RBI race?

Sure seemed to me that Baker was very supportive Hendry and his focus for players who can catch the ball, guys with speed and guys who are aggressive at the plate. He doesn't get a free pass with me.

Thanks for the congrats. I stated in another thread that my team isn't nearly as bad as the standings reflect. Dustyism as it may sound. It's not a good team. But, I think it's an average team. In the first 5 weeks, Quakers, Harry's Budcrew, Danger Bees and the Leon Trotsky's all had weeks against my team that they have yet to match in any other week in the season. The 5th week out of 5 weeks was against NSBB, which was only a typical week for his team. The lowest point total in those first 5 weeks that any team scored against my team was 299. Wow! No, I don't expect to be there at the end of the season, but I am willing to shop players for prospects.

What do you think JC stands for? :wink:

Just about every grocery store in the immediate vicinity of where I live will deliver groceries. I don't do it because I'm not lazy or a millionaire baseball player, but the option is there if wanted to.

Agreed. Look up Joe Torre's managerial record before he came to the Yankees. It was all about timing with Joe. Managing a good team that stays healthy makes managing pretty easy.

I'd say that would be a pretty good start.

Par for the course, my friend. Par for the course. More like an expected triple bogie. Well played. =D>

What's Jim Bowden doing these days? Yeah, he's horrible too, but how many games has Neifi batted #2 on a Bowden assembled roster? :D

Obvious sarcasm, so you admit that acquiring and playing Bynum is a horrible decision. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me repeatedly in agony, shame on Hendry and Dusty. Actually, no. I don't read that as sarcasm. I read that as a subtle little slam on anyone who likes how Billy Beane does business. It's not sarcasm, it's trolling. We've tried to tell CubfaninCA over and over again that the walk was invented long before Billy Beane was ever born and that Billy Beane did not invent OBP. But, it doesn't seem to sink in. That's okay. I only wish it would sink in with Hendry and Dusty. Today was a perfect example of what a walk can do. Atlanta got 9 of them. The Cubs got one. The Cubs only walk was an intentional walk to get to the pitcher. Atlanta scored 3 runs off of walks. The walks didn't drive in the runs, but they were on base when someone else drove them in. The more runners you get on base, the chances increase of driving in a runner. The Cubs are dead last in OBP, and their dead last in runs scored. It's actually pretty elementary. The Royals have scored more runs than the Cubs, and they've played 2 less games than the Cubs. Hudson threw 70 pitches in 6 innings. Zambrano threw 120 in 6.2 innings. This particular line in the box score pretty much looks the same everyday.

Had you ever heard of Angel Pagan prior to this year? Neifi Bynum Theriot Womack Hairston Pagan Blanco Pierre Let's build a huge wet paper sack and put 'em all in there and give each of them a bat. The first one to hit their way out of the sack is spared their job.

I don't know how anyone can say Dusty can't be blamed for today's loss. Who filled out the line up card with Juan Pierre and Neifi Perez batting 1/2 in the order? If Dusty didn't do it, then I take back the negative things I'm about to say. Pierre= 1/5 Perez= 1/5 OBP in the top spots in this game= .200 Hits by the middle of the order? 8 hits At bats in the game? Pierre (5), Perez (5), Ramirez (4) If you're going to let Perez have more at bats than Ramirez, you might as well let the pitcher bat ahead of Ramirez as well. Because it's about the most stupid strategy that I could ever imagine to put Neifi Perez ahead of GOOD hitters in ANY line up. Is Dusty totally to blame? No. But, he certainly didn't do everything he could to win. You know what makes me curious? Why didn't the Braves bat Todd Pratt at the top of the order? If batting your crappiest hitter in the 2 slot makes sense, why isn't Bobby Cox doing it? The Braves magically scored 6 runs on 5 hits. Of those 5 hits, only one was for extra bases. 1 double and 4 single's created 6 runs. Ya see, Dusty, walks are real. And they don't always just "clog" bases.

3 of those walks scored.

I applaud Dusty for this line up. "Dude, Murton would get sunburnt if I put him out there."

From the Media Dept: How dare he steal Augie's number.

1. He can catch the ball. 2. He's fast 3. He's toolsy 4. He hits left handed for power, something the team has a shortage of. 5. They gave him a 3 year deal 6. He's aggressive 7. He can handle grueling day games in the heat of Summer 8. He can play CF if needed 9. His 6m contract is not viewed as a liability by the guys who signed him 10. If they were to consider trading him, they don't have anyone in the minor leagues to take his place. I've only got 10 reasons. But, that's probably enough. You can disagree if you want. But, you can no longer ask for reasons he won't be traded. :D

Bruce, Why don't the Cubs consider a Murton / Jones platoon in LF in 2007? The splits indicate that Murton looks like a stud against LHP, and Jones is a stud against RHP. Cost can't be an issue, given Murton is earning minimum. If Murton does get it together against RHP in 2007, then Hendry would have some attractive trade bait in either Jones or Murton. I would imagine the thought process is one that would include Murton in a deal to improve the LF position, like Dunn or Cabrera. If the Cubs could get one of those guys without moving Murton, more power to the Cubs. But, if I'm trading a stud outfielder, I'd probably want Murton as part of the deal.

I'm not making this up. Von Joshua career stats: .273/.306/.380 (.380 is SLG, not OBP) Neifi Perez career stats: .270/.301/.380 Gene Clines: .277/.329/.341 Since the organizational philosophy is all about aggressiveness, it makes sense that their hitting coaches are masters of the art of never seeing a pitch they didn't like.

You're partially right. Walks aren't important if your whole baseball team hits .330+ AVG.

Milwaukee has been negotiating an extension with Carlos. Seems they want him back and he isn't opposed to coming back. If that deal gets done, that's one less FA outfielder on the market this coming offseason. I'm really not all that excited about the prospects of Carlos Lee. Miguel Cabrera? You bet. I'd be on the phone asking what they want for him. Pie, Hill, Guzman, Marshall, Gallagher, Moore, Murton, Cedeno, Patterson, etc... Whatever they want, they can have. Miguel is one of those players you can trade the farm for. Assuming you can sign him beyond his free agent years. Miguel is a year and a half younger than Murton. I would agree with Vance that moving Jones to CF makes his production adequate. I've also said all along that Jones isn't going anywhere. That would be admitting that they made a mistake in signing him, and I don't see this management team doing that. But, I also don't expect them to attempt to go after Cabrera. That it would make sense to go after Cabrera doesn't seem to register with this management team. Hendry will play hardball with the Marlins for Cabrera, without any realization that you can't play hardball with a team that doesn't have to trade Cabrera to anyone.

Yes, he has only played 21 games this year. But, that's why you have Lofton, Murton and Patterson. DEPTH! If we're going to speak in hindsight, however, in only 21 games Bradley has 3 more home runs than Pierre, an OBP that's 100 points higher than Pierre, 4x as many RBI and he costs half the price Pierre does. And, he plays in a pitchers park compared to Pierre playing regularly in what is supposed to be a hitters park. The Dodgers also had Drew, Lofton, Cruz, Repko, Ledee in the OF. Why would they need Ethier? Because the Dodgers are smart. They understand the importance of depth.

The Cubs are on pace to barely walk more than they did last year. Last year, the Cubs were one of the worst teams in the league at drawing walks. The opponents have drawn almost twice as many walks at this point in the season. Cubs 115 walks. Opponents 211 walks. Big deal right? Cubs batting averages to date: .244 Opponents: .243. Granted, the SLG is definitely better for the opposing teams, but who do you think those doubles and HR's are driving in? GUYS WHO WALK! "Hendry won't fire Dusty?" Good, fire Hendry too, because he's a bigger problem. And while your at it, fire yourself!