BigbadB

Not that it matters much, but that was Neifi's OBP coming into the season. It's actually .299 now. Yeah, I was referencing baseball-reference, which doesn't have this year's stuff on there. But, at least I was showing Neifi's OBP favorably. :?

The issue with Womack is no different than the issue that the Cubs management crew seems to ignore as if the issue doesn't exist. That issue is the lack of OBP at the top of the order. Womack has been wonderful in his brief stint with the Cubs this year. Neifi has been wonderful at times as well. The problem becomes that these brief wonderful stints gives management a false sense of security. I've graphed how freakishly low Derrek Lee's RBI output in 2005 had EVERYTHING to do with the poor OBP at the top of the order. At this juncture, the Cubs have 25 RBI from the #3 spot in the order so far this season, which includes Derrek Lee's at bat totals from the beginning of the year. Tony Womack has a lifetime OBP of .316. Neifi Perez has a lifetime OBP of .301. Pierre is off to the worst start of his career in terms of OBP. This explains why the Cubs have produced a measily 25 runs from the #3 spot. I'd venture to guess that 25 runs is good for dead last in the entire MLB. The answer, according to Hendry and Dusty, was that they needed speed at the top of the order. They completely ignored that getting on base is the real problem. Right now, Pierre, Neifi and Womack should all be batting 8th in the order. The top of the order should be reserved for good OBP guys. If you don't have any good OBP guys, go get some. David Ortiz has twice as many RBI as our #3 hitters. Kevin Youkilis runs about as fast as Prince Fielder, yet scored at will in his brief stint in the lead off spot this year because he got on base. Mark Loretta isn't a stolen base threat in the slightest. The more often you get guys on base, the increased opportunities arise to drive runs in from your most productive hitters.

What's it going to take for you to quit attacking posters? If you can't debate an argument without getting personal, don't get into the debate. Period! And this is not a suggestion. IT'S A WARNING!

That's not good enough. YOU are the one calling people idiots. Instead of generalizing that we are all idiots, please feel free to call us out by name. If you can't, then quit generalizing. It doesn't become you AT ALL.

Also, this post is unacceptable as it is written. PLEASE RESPECT THE NSBB MEMBER GUIDELINES!

Let me get this straight. You have no issues with calling people on this message board idiots, but you still feel comfortable making the "please don't insult anyones intelligence" speech? I don't get it. Isn't that a bit hypocritical?

Wow! One pick in the first umpteen rounds, and they pick a guy they could probably land with their next pick? Unbelievable. The strength with this scouting team has always seemed to be on the pitching side. Why screw that up now too?

Agreed. When you sign on the dotted line to earn millions of dollars to play a game, you are expected to have your head in the game. Baserunning blunders like the ones that Jones displayed made it clearly obvious his head was not in the game. And, yes, he totally deserves to be booed when his head isn't in the game.

Eh. This thread sucks. In before the lock! :D

It's a little-known fact that Todd Walker actually shaves every 3 innings. How often would he have to shave if he played for the Yankees?

I've been pretty consistent. I blame MacPhail, Hendry and Baker. And the standings don't exactly disagree with me. The Pittsburgh Pirates (yes, THE pittsburgh pirates) have won 1 less game than the Cubs. If Jacque Jones hit 52 homers and drove in 400 RBI this week, it wouldn't change the fact that past performance did not dictate giving a mediocre OFer a 3 year deal to play in what should be one of the most offensively productive spots in the field. Period! Do I have a personal grudge against Jacque Jones? Absolutely not. Do others on this site have a personal grudge against Jacque Jones? Who cares? I hope Jacque Jones becomes the greatest baseball player that ever lived. It's NOT Jacque Jones that people have an issue with (unless he continues running bases like Moises Alou and goes back to hitting like Neifi Perez). It's the guy who gave him a 3 year deal that people have issues with. And the Cubs establishment of their 95m payroll in 5th place in the standings really doesn't make people want to get excited about Jacque Jones. Though I do wish him continued success.

Jacque is playing so well, I'm sure the Yankees would consider moving A-Rod straight up for Mr. Jones. But, the Cubs should hold out for more. :D

I like it the way it is, excluding interleague play. Keep the DH in the AL. That's where old, non fielding players can go to make their last hurrah. Keep the NL the way it is. Quit scheduling them to play each other. That's what the All Star game and World Series is for.

Womack could have scored on the Barrett double if he didn't get picked off attempting to steal. Speed may not slump, but it sure can kill an inning.

Sort of related. The Dodgers had, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Willy Aybar and Joel Guzman all in their line up at the same time yesterday. Here come the kids!

Not so fast. The NL Central is a dreamy place to be a power hitter. Ask Albert Pujols and Morgan Ensberg. Nevin's numbers will probably rise playing in this division. I'm not saying he'll be any savior, but I could see an .800 OPS.

I'll not even bother with all of my roster moves. Way too many to make any sense of it.

I'm not complaining. :D

Isn't Cabrera's first arbitration year next year? He should get a significant boost next year.

Yanks will surely be in the toilet soon. No team can lose players like Sheffield, Matsui, Rivera and all their starting pitcher issues and still be competitive. Right?

Yep, typo. Oh, and I see I had a typo in my last post also. My great grandfather remembers Enzo Hernandez, who played way back in 1971. :D

Enzo Anderson? Is that a typo? I remember Enzo Hernandez, and he was pretty pathetic with a bat.

There were a lot of people saying Lofton was done. We only needed a placeholder until Pie was ready, and Lofton with some combination of Hairston and Patterson would have been just fine. I was down on moving Patterson because he wasn't worth anything. I wouldn't have expected what he is doing in Baltimore right now, but I have to admit it's a bit frustrating that we gave him away so he could play this well somewhere else. If Hendry and Baker and their posse was gone at the end of 2005, could the new management team have done something decent with Patterson so that he would have been worth something at the trade deadline, or better yet, win his everyday job back? I'm having a tough time not blaming the coaching staff for everything that went wrong with Patterson.

#1. I doubt Maddux would go to an AL team. #2. I doubt Maddux would allow a trade anywhere outside of SoCal. #3. Detroit is loaded with young pitching.

The teams that have real good records right now aren't doing it by "speed and defense". Mostly they're hittiing it out of the park. It's a combination of hitting it out of the park and drawing walks. I know there are people who don't buy much into walks being all that valuable, and they are welcome to their opinion. But, look at this amazing stat: Cubs pitchers so far in 2006 have held the opponent to a BAA of .243 Cubs opponents have a BAA against the Cubs of .252 The Cubs have amassed 22 more hits than the opponents at this point in the season. The Cubs have been outscored by 61 runs. Cub opponents have drawn 100 more walks than the Cubs. The combination of OBP and SLG is why the Cubs are near the bottom in nearly every offensive category. Cubs pitching has been quite dominant if the walk was excluded from the overall picture. Unfortunately, you can't just discount walks, because they are part of the game. I wish they had an easy way to figure out what percentage of players who draw a base on balls end up scoring per walk. Yes, AVG with RISP is an important stat as well, but is that stat any more important than team OBP? Would or could the AVG with RISP be better if there were more guys getting on base?