BigbadB

Why is this true? Nomar has a very strong arm. And I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised to see him in the LA outfield at some point.

With the 8m cheaper, I'd upgrade CF with a trade for Milton Bradley with Corey as a bench player. No way he starts after last year's fiasco. But, he makes a nice bat off the bench after playing winterball. His speed is good and is a great defensive replacement. The rest of the money could have beefed up the bench.

I think someone should dress up as a syringe and call himself Barry Bonds' official mascot. Since he believes he is bigger than the game itself, he definitely deserves to have his own mascot.

I see at least one other person here understands the concept of opportunity cost. BBB's excellent post! Fantastic. I love you. Also, well stated, Bruce. LOL! Thank you, twice. Once for the kudos and once for not quoting my novel. :D

I see at least one other person here understands the concept of opportunity cost. The Furcal non-signing was a blessing. I was never in favor of signing him. I wasn't in favor of trading for Pierre. I always felt they had a quality lead off hitter in Todd Walker. Todd Walker and his 2.5m contract, plus his .350+ OBP is exactly what the doctor ordered. Not only does he get on base at a decent clip, but he provides some power to replace the speed he doesn't have. In a perfect world, Walker would have blazing speed to go with his other quality skills. Murton was a viable #2 option last year, and he was a viable option in that spot this year. The kid has great plate presence. He can use the whole field, and he too has a bit of pop in his bat. There was no need to go out and spend ridiculous amounts of money and minor league talent to improve the top of the order. The top two spots in the order could have been secured for less than 3m in salary. .350/.350 OBP in the top two spots and you still have Nolasco, Pinto and Mitre to use to beef up the rest of the line up, preferably with guys who show the same kind of patience as Murton and Walker, yet have a bit more pop in their bats. Would the Dodgers have traded Milton Bradley to the Cubs for one, two or three of the aforementioned guys (Nolasco, Pinto and Mitre)? Would Hill and one of those guys get the job done? Williams? Would taking Derrek Lowe and his big salary have gotten the job done? Lowe could have then been used in the rotation or in trade to acquire a difference maker. Bradley is cheap and productive. He's good defensively, on the base paths, and offensively. There were many other guys available that the Cubs could have traded or signed that would have provided more depth and strength to the offense. Not resigning Nomar was a huge mistake. Even if he missed a portion of the season, the offense he provides when he is healthy is definitely worth the 5m it would have costed to retain his services for one more year. He also provided protection in the event Cedeno wasn't ready to be an everyday SS yet, instead of having Neifi as the only option if Cedeno bombs. Nomar's willingness to switch positions made his value even more golden. As much as I have always liked Aramis, he's no guarantee to play everyday, either. Nomar provided protection in case Aramis had to miss significant playing time. That was a known fact prior to the offseason. So, to say that it's hindsight to know Lee would get hurt and miss time providing the golden opportunity to stick Nomar at 1st is not accurate. We needed Nomar as protection at SS if Cedeno sucked, in RF if we couldn't find anyone better than Jacque Jones to sign, 3b in case Aramis' groin or hamstring flared up again, etc.... Defense was an issue last year. No doubt. The Cubs defense this year has actually been pretty good (if you only look at errors), yet the team sucks. Signing guys who can catch the ball is a horrible organizational philosophy. Signing guys who are aggressive at the plate is a horrible organizational philosophy. Since the institution of this managerial group, they've made the playoffs one time, which was in 2003. That team made it to the playoffs behind a very healthy and successful pitching staff. The offense was mediocre that year. A better offense might have pushed that team even further. A better offense in 2004 might have helped overcome the injuries and ineffectiveness of the bullpen in 2004 and 2005. They have regressed so far offensively, there is no way they can count on this offense to win any games for them. The pitching staff now has to be perfect, or they will lose. It's painfully obvious to just about everyone watching this team that it takes strengths in offense, pitching, bullpen, bench and defense to win games. Sosa was horrible in RF in 2003 when the Cubs made the playoffs. HORRIBLE defensively. You don't need a gold glove at every position. Just look for places to improve where you can, but don't sacrifice offense to improve defense. The 2006 team had a golden opportunity to change the hitting philosophy and go with a .350+ OBP at just about every position in the line up. If you had Milton Bradley playing CF, Abreu or someone of his skills playing RF, Nomar sharing time in LF with Murton, then the loss of Derrek Lee at 1b for a quarter of the season isn't nearly as catastrophic as it turned out to be with John Mabry or Neifi Perez filling in in his abscence. Nomar moves to 1b and all is not lost. Instead of having Freddy Bynum, Neifi Perez, Jerry Hairston and any other 2b I'm not thinking of, they could have gone with someone decent offensively on the bench. A Kevin Millar type. A guy you can stick out in the field somewhere and not lose a whole lot offensively. Hendry put himself in this position, and for that he needs to go. I cannot sit here and root and cheer blindly for a horrible organizational philosophy. Signing toolsy players with speed that can catch the ball ignores what really scores a lot of runs over the course of a long season. BASERUNNERS!

<----laughed uncontrollably when Jones got picked off 3rd. I'm not getting mad anymore. I knew they would be bad when the season started. I hated the offseason and I don't like many of the players and coaches on this team. Why should I get mad? I didn't make this mess.

5 pitch inning. Some things never change.

I never said he was a "AAAA" player, I just question why...as he is about to turn 27, he's never had an opportunity to play everyday. Simple: Todd Helton He failed to impress in the outfield and Helton was blocking him at 1b. Colorado can't afford a poor fielding outfielder. Thome was blocking Ryan Howard during his entire stay in Phily.

Gene Clines. The only thing he ever appeared on a major league leader board during his entire tenure was GIDP. He never drew more than 30 walks in a season, and in the one season he had the most at bats with 446, he walked a grand total of 16 times. He finished with a .304 OBP that year. His career OBP was .329. This really explains a lot. Meanwhile, San Diego employs Dave Magadan as their hitting coach. What's Magadan's career OBP? .390 Who would you rather have?

Rechoose sides. Somehow, the Cubs got ALL the leftovers nobody else wanted. :D

He totally brought all of this upon himself when he gave a mediocre outfielder a high priced 3 year contract. He also brought it upon himself by trading 3 young farm hands for a guy in the last year of his contract. A guy who was coming off a horrible season. He brought this upon himself by giving a mop up man a 2 year deal. He brought this upon himself for giving a no hit, all field utility player a 2 year deal. This team needed a significant upgrade and he spent the necessary money to make a significant upgrade on guys who wouldn't start on most of the other major league teams (Rusch/Perez) and guys who aren't difference makers, one of which may not be here after this year (Pierre/Jones). There were deals to be made. Plenty of good deals. Because the free agent market was fairly barren, teams were willing to discuss deals. Hendry set his sights on Rafael Furcal. He put all of his eggs in that basket. And he wasn't the guy they should have been targeting in the first place. He attempted to trade one of the better players on the team (Walker). He kicked Nomar to the curb when he was offering to return at a discounted price. He traded Patterson (impatient hitter) for next to nothing, and basically replaced him with an identical player (Jones). Not only does Jones cost a lot more, but I believe it cost the team a draft pick as well. The list goes on and on. And that's just from this offseason. Fans were screaming to get rid of Wavin' Wendell Kim. They did nothing. Fans are screaming for Baker and his coaching staff to go. I expect them to do nothing. And it's frustrating. And because of that, if they continue playing as bad as they are right now, they are getting what they deserve. I hope the fans boo louder tomorrow. I hope they litter the field with trash. I hope it gets so bad that someone steps up does what needs to be done right now. Fire MacPhail, Hendry, Baker, Clines, Sarge, Pole and Rothschild. None of them have done an acceptable job. If they were operating on a 30m budget, that's one thing. This team is top 10 in baseball in annual salary. Act like it.

This one ranks right up there among the worst decisions he's ever made. Pierre is arguably one of the fastest players in the game. Piazza is arguably the worst throwing catcher in the game. Actually, that last one isn't even an worth arguing. He is the worst throwing catcher in the game. To lay down a sac bunt and surrender a precious out when it is totally unnecessary is stupidity in the highest degree. I mean Greg Maddux stole 2nd on this guy without a throw for cryin' out loud. GREG MADDUX. The old man. What good is a guys speed if you aren't going to use it? That same sac bunt could have moved Refrigerator Perry to 2nd base. DUMB! A guy who calls plays like these gets 4m year to manage a major league baseball team? Where do I sign up?

I find it interesting that he referenced Florida in 2003. Yeah, I guess 37 games is too soon. I mean Florida waited a whole 38 games before they replaced Torborg. :roll: I might agree that it's too early to do something if the Cubs were in every game. But, they aren't. They are embarrassingly bad. They can't hit, they can't pitch, they can't put runs on the board. It's probably not going to be "this" bad all season, but there really isn't a whole lot to get excited about. He also mentioned Houston the last two years, when two years ago Jimy was canned and they turned things around very quickly with a new manager. A sign of things to come? Unfortunately, I think the only way a sign will help is you beat Hendry and Baker with that sign until they are rendered brain dead and incapable of performing their jobs successfully. Oh wait. They are already brain dead and incapable of performing their jobs successfully. Ah right, who hit these guys over the head with a sign?

Neifi has all the reason in the world to be dancing in the dugout. He's getting paid a ridiculous amount of money no matter how bad this team plays.

I find it interesting that he referenced Florida in 2003. Yeah, I guess 37 games is too soon. I mean Florida waited a whole 38 games before they replaced Torborg. :roll: I might agree that it's too early to do something if the Cubs were in every game. But, they aren't. They are embarrassingly bad. They can't hit, they can't pitch, they can't put runs on the board. It's probably not going to be "this" bad all season, but there really isn't a whole lot to get excited about.

Except for the fact Carlos Lee is currently in negotiations with the Brewers on a contract extension. And if I was Carlos Lee, I'd want to stay in Milwaukee. That team is going to be good.

Agreed. That was a pretty good post. The only thing I might argue is that it might take one of Murton or Cedeno included in a deal with pitching in order to lock down that stud RF. If that's the case, then they need a replacement player that can provide more offense than either is capable of. I really like Murton, but because he's an outfielder, he's much more sacrificial than Cedeno. Can't say "The Dude" and I have agreed on much, but I do agree with his post.

A player? Not at all. Every player? Yes.

Wow! Longest offseason in baseball history if we are starting now. I guess another way to look at this past horrible offseason is that if the Cubs brass noticed there wasn't a whole lot available in the corner outfield spots in future offseasons, then it might have been a good idea to land a big player in previous offseasons. Instead, they stand there with excuses like "there was no one available" and "he wasn't in our price range", etc... for why they don't have a decent player in the outfield.

[insert something about manager getting the most out of players here] then dusty deserves credit for making lee an mvp candidate. sure you want to go there? ;) It's because Dusty batted Corey Patterson, Neifi Perez and Jose Macias in the top two spots in the order instead of decent OBP guys that Lee DIDN'T win the MVP. Not only would Lee's RBI totals have been higher, but the Cubs probably would have won a lot more games.

Check to see when Arizona will next be in Colorado for a series. If it's coming up soon, go with Jackson. Otherwise, I'd probably go with Johnson.

Probably because Cedeno and Choi look like twins. Look at that, their last names even start with a "C". :D

good question. at least he's doing better than furcal. True, but he's not doing nearly as good as Nomar. :wink:

Is part of his struggles due in large part to the organizational philosophy of aggressiveness at the plate?

I just looked at his minor league numbers. He's a base clogger. Dusty and Clines will have a lot of work to do to turn him into an aggressive hitter.