BigbadB

Are you freaking kidding me? They lost that series, so obviously he didn't clutch up enough. You want to talk about random stuff like that, how about throwing in Leyritz. The only reason Jeter has lots of big hits in the playoffs is because he's a good hitter who has played lots of playoff games. He's also had a lots of times he's made big outs (offensively, not defensively) in playoff games because he's played lots of playoff games. I'd rather have the better hitter, which in any given game is usually somebody other than Jeter. They didn't lose that series because of Jeter. They would have lost in 5 (I think, it might have been 4) without those two homeruns. But if Jeter is "that" clutch, why did the Yankees lose?

Hmm. You haven't studied how Odalis does in even years, I see. :wink: He very well could be worth every penny of his 9m if he pitches this year like he has in all of his previous "even" years. Odalis has only had 1 bad outing out of 3 so far. In his last 12+ innings, he's given up 2 runs. .071 WHIP in his last outing. *cough cough* Reggie Sanders *cough cough* What, are you going to chase me around in every thread with Reggie Sanders? :D As I repeated in the other thread, I didn't want Reggie Sanders, Jose Cruz, Jacque Jones, Juan Encarnacion or any other guy in RF. But, if it came down to Jacque Jones for 3 years or Reggie Sanders for 1 year, I'd take Reggie Sanders everyday and twice on Sunday. One other point as to why Reggie might have settled on a 1 year deal over the 2 year deal you claim he signed in KC. What if the Cubs 1 year offer was for the same amount that KC gave him for 2 years? Would he turn that down, also? What if the Cubs offer was for 1 year guaranteed and an option for a 2nd year? Bottom line, I wanted the Cubs to make a strong play for Giles. If not Giles, then Milton Bradley, Austin Kearns, Brad Wilkerson, Aubrey Huff, etc...

Can't bag on Cubs.com too much. This place pretty much started when several of the more respected posters broke off and formed this joint. Can't stop thanking Tim enough for building this cozy atmosphere. You can put your feet up on the desk and just take it all in. Oh, by the way, ROOKIE (nola cub), bring me a beer. :D

Why were you upset that he went with Bynum as the pinch runner? Jones is coming off a leg injury. Bynum also ended up scoring. I thought it was a good call, and not just because it worked out. I'm not going to crucify Dusty for sticking with Ohman there. I agree it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. I really haven't had much to be upset with Dusty about so far this season. I think he's been managing this team pretty good, so far.

Fernando is at Ottawa. Is that Baltimore's AAA team?

He's currently on someone's AAA team.

That was actually a good call on Dusty's part. It also led to the 1 run that scored. Jones has been missing games due to an injury that affects his ability to run. Putting him in a position to have to attempt to go 1st to 3rd or even score on a double was not in the best interests of the team. I can't blame Dusty for that move. In fact, I applaud it.

Add Peralta to that list, and Felipe Lopez was very close. Peralta, Young, Lopez and Tejada combined don't make what Jeter makes. You can disagree if you wish, but Jeter is my choice for most overpaid player in baseball.

But he still produces, though. Produces what in comparison to what he makes? Derek Jeter= .309 .389 .450 Carlos Guillen= .320 .368 .434 Derek Jeter last year= $19.6m Carlos Guillen last year= $4m And Carlos had a bad year in 2005 in comparison to his 2004 campaign. What would be the typical exchange monetarily for a guy who provides numbers like .309/.389/.450? Brian Giles provided better numbers than that and his NEW contract only pays him 10m. Jeter makes almost double that.

Hmm. You haven't studied how Odalis does in even years, I see. :wink: He very well could be worth every penny of his 9m if he pitches this year like he has in all of his previous "even" years. Odalis has only had 1 bad outing out of 3 so far. In his last 12+ innings, he's given up 2 runs. .071 WHIP in his last outing.

Winner!

I agree and disagree. Derek Lowe lives and dies by his sinker. When it's on, he's very tough to hit. When it's on, most of the contact will be ground balls, just like we all saw last night. Even if Ramirez made contact, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't have grounded into a double play. That's how good Lowe's sinker was working last night. It was working so well, he basically relied on it most of the night. When his sinker is not working as well as it was last night, he has to rely more heavily on his other pitches, which in turn get crushed. The same argument can be made for just about any other pitcher in the league. The better pitchers just have their good stuff working better more often. Maddux is no stranger to this. Of course, some of his blow ups come at the expense of the umpire not giving him the close ones, but when he doesn't have his "good" stuff, he can get hit pretty hard. Now, with that said..... When a pitcher clearly has their good stuff working, you have to make adjustments. One of those adjustments is showing more patience at the plate. Watching Neifi hit in his last at bat of the game, I felt he actually did make an adjustment. He ended up grounding out, but he took some pitches to work the count in hopes of drawing a walk. The one thing about Lowe when his good stuff is working, most of those pitches aren't going to be strikes by the time they hit the catcher's mitt. Cub hitters could not lay off his sinker, which allowed Lowe to continue using it. If they laid off, Lowe likely would have been behind in counts and forced to throw something other than his sinker. But, as Goony says, the Cubs do preach an aggressive approach at the plate. And those sinkers do look like they are coming down broadway at the exact moment you have to make the decision of whether to swing at the pitch or not. I don't know. It was a tough game to watch offensively. But, I can't single out any particular hitter. Aramis typically doesn't strike out all that much. Murton looked more foolish in his at bat against Saito than any other Cub hitter on this particular evening.

You are correct. He has hit some balls hard, just right at people. Wow, I just defended Jones. :shock:

Those sinking pitches aren't so easy to recognize. Derek Lowe has made a career out of those sinking pitches. Is it possible that Aramis was guessing one of those pitches would be a 4 seem fastball that wouldn't sink? Is it possible he was making such bad swings because he was trying to get some lift on his swing on those sinkers, nnowing that if he couldn't get the ball in the air he was looking at a double play grounder? I don't know. I'm just asking. He did look bad, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Lowe had his good sinker working last night.

If his business decision would mean she gets half of his estate in a divorce settlement, he may just want to think about that a little harder. :D

Is this one of those "I told you so threads"? Thanks, but no thanks!

I'm not going to get into another Giles argument. It's really not worth it and I don't think there is anything that hasn't been covered already. I think Giles will end up really regretting staying in San Diego. In order to keep him, they traded the guts of the team, which is going to end up biting them badly.

At what point did it become 17-18m to convince Giles to leave San Diego? We don't know how much it would have taken. I just wanted Hendry to act like he was interested in knowing what it would take Giles to leave San Diego. If it was too much for Hendry at that point, so be it.

Gotta sweet talk Cuban's wife. He said in an earlier interview that if he bought a baseball team, his wife would divorce him.

I heard him mention Pittsburgh once before, but never the Cubs. Cool!

Tomorrow's an off day? :-k

Neifi's way behind on his GIDP quota. Hitting behind Murton against a sinkerballer will help him keep up with the torrid pace he set last season. WHAT, Walker cant hit sinkerballers? Seriously what does Walker have to do to be the full time starter. My god. LQEOHGOQENGO(QHEG(EW*YT QWERT^Y&U*(@W%^&*() Walker is starting. Neifi is at short. Oh, then i retact my statement... and submit this one.... What has Cedeno done to justify this? He's batting .364 so far. LQEOHGOQENGO(QHEG(EW*YT QWERT^Y&U*(@W%^&*() The way I see it, Neifi can be starting once a week or everyday. I like the once a week choice much better. :wink:

Oh, and thank you Dusty for batting Neifi at the bottom of the order. I know he needs a game here and there to stay sharp defensively. Just keep him down there and you and I will be cool!

It should be tough for Neifi to lift one tonight. Lowe induces a lot of grounders.

Is this ESPN then? I recognize Jon Miller, but who is the other voice? I'm waiting for the WGN feed now. For unknown reasons, the MLB EI package shares its channels with NHL. If I liked hockey, it would be a pretty good deal, because they are basically just starting playoffs when the baseball season kicks into gear. But, I don't. That might be the reason that the Cubs aren't on MLB EI tonight.