BigbadB

Maybe I'm only basing my opinion on Santos based on how he's pitched like Cy Young against the Cubs, but I don't think he's all that bad.

I was only joking about the fire sale. I am willing to do trades, however. I'd like to leave Madson where he is until he has starting pitcher status, actually. Is that illegal?

It's going to take me several years to turn this team around. I'm just going to tell the boys to relax, have fun and we'll try again next year.

With the way the Cubs set up this team, I agree. Pena would not be a good fit. Now, put .370+ OBP in the top 5 spots in the order, and I'll take a guy like Pena hitting 6th. I think the Cubs could afford to do it then. We don't really know what kind of an effect steroids had on Sosa, so it's not really fair to assume he couldn't have improved on his own as he aged. A lot of players improve their OBP. Sammy K'd a lot when he was young, and he K'd a lot as he was older. What did improve was his walk rate, which was probably a combination of pitchers pitching around him and a little more selectivity on his part.

Santos is a guy (along with Kip Wells) that the Pirates will hope to land more prospects for at the deadline. It also gives the young pitchers a little more time to get ready for the majors. The Pirates are a few more years away yet, IMO.

I might be way off on my impression of Pena, but I see a young Sammy Sosa without the speed. He just turned 24. He's never had more than a half season of at bats, yet he's had as many as 26 HR's in a season. A guy with that kind of power can K all he wants if he can hit 40+ HR's a year. Sammy had a horrible OBP when he was that age also. I disagree with that last statement. 200 k's and 40 walks would be pretty awful. I don't care how many HR's you hit. Especially if he's only going to hit around .250 for average. When you have the OBP guys that Boston has, you can afford to have a guy like Pena in your line up. Once again, I must point out his age. He was 23 when he put up those numbers. Sammy Sosa had numbers just as bad minus the power when he was 23.

I phrased my response incorrectly. Nomar would have been my starter somewhere in the Cubs line up, whether it be SS or an outfield spot. Nomar wanted to come back and play for the Cubs in '06. He commented that he was willing to play different positions and wanted to do Chicago right for being hurt the last few years. He loved it here and wanted to return. If the Cubs showed any interest in him, LA never would have been an option. But, the Cubs held hands with Furcal until he signed in LA. LA ended up with Furcal AND Nomar. How do you like them apples. I've been very upset with this offseason. I hope Cedeno works out. I'm excited that he's getting his chance. But, I want Dusty and Hendry gone if Neifi is playing SS everyday too prematurely.

I would to. Maybe I didn't phrase it properly. My offense would have probably kept Nomar at SS unless Cedeno was the real deal and Murton faltered.

I might be way off on my impression of Pena, but I see a young Sammy Sosa without the speed. He just turned 24. He's never had more than a half season of at bats, yet he's had as many as 26 HR's in a season. A guy with that kind of power can K all he wants if he can hit 40+ HR's a year. Sammy had a horrible OBP when he was that age also.

Lugo, Renteria, Tejada are 3 off the top of my head. Lugo is one that was on the trade block and a deal never got done. Of course, I wanted the Cubs to bring back Nomar. Nomar backing up Cedeno and sticking Nomar in RF if Cedeno worked out would have worked for me. Putting Nomar at 3b if Ramirez had any lengthy downtime would have worked for me. Lofton in CF at 1m instead of Pierre with Hairston platooning with him would probably be close to equal production. Mitre, Nolasco and Pinto might have gotten the job done for Lugo. Hill might have needed to be in the mix, but if they wanted Hill, getting Aubrey Huff while his value was low wouldn't have been completely out of the question, IMO. Hendry blew money this offseason like it was going out of style. He did not spend wisely, and if the Cubs don't do well this year, it should be both he and Dusty's jobs that it costs.

The difference is those teams can afford to take on such a bad bat. The Cubs can't afford a black hole like Neifi in their already weak lineup. Boston has major holes in their lineup also. They're awful at SS,3B, and RF. And they're not overly strong at first. A platoon of Trot Nixon and Wily Mo Pena in RF will crush the production of any and all of the Cubs outfielders. I think Lowell will be just fine at 3b in Boston. Do you really want to compare the Cubs offense to Boston's? Boston's top of the line up of Crisp, Loretta, Manny, Ortiz, Varitek and Pena/Nixon will be one of the best in baseball. Sea Bass can go 0 for the year and Boston will still score more than 900 runs. The Cubs can only wish for 700 runs at this juncture, especially if Neifi is starting everday.

The fact that at age 30, and after 6 seasons, he hasn't come close to that in any other season. And how many of those 6 seasons were FULL seasons? Not many. Given a chance to play everyday, looks like Lugo is a pretty decent SS, IMO. I'd take him over Neifi everyday and twice on Sunday. I'd take Lugo's worst season of production over Neifi.

I can't disagree with this. I'm still hoping Cedeno does well, but Hendry could have traded minor leaguers for Lugo instead of Pierre, and left Patterson in CF with Lofton or some other veteran as a placeholder for Pie. Patterson was traded at his lowest trade value. Might as well keep him if you are going to just dump a guy.

What don't you like about Lugo? 48 XBH's, 57 RBI's out of the top of the order, 89 runs scored, 39 SB's, .295 AVG, .362 OBP. If we get that from Cedeno, I'll be quite pleased.

That didn't work with Corey Patterson. Giving someone playing time does not insure progress. You are correct. It won't guarantee a thing. But sitting him on the bench won't do a thing for him either. Stick him out there and see what what happens. But, just because sticking Corey Patterson out there everyday in spite of his struggles didn't do a thing for him doesn't mean it can't work out for Cedeno. Someone brought up Sandberg's struggles in his first major league stint. Should Lee Elia have sent Sandberg packing and replaced him with Keith Moreland or Pat Tabler when he went 1 for his first 30? Because the Cubs don't have "better" options to stick at SS, I think you have to see what you really have in Cedeno by letting him play everyday. Maybe if the Cubs organization didn't send Cedeno to AAA in favor of Enrique Wilson last year, we might have a better idea of what kind of player Cedeno might be in the major leagues. Stupid decisions like this is why they are in this position right now of not knowing what they really have at SS. There were SS's available this offseason. Julio Lugo and Edgar Renteria come to mind. They passed because they felt Cedeno could adequately do the job. They made that bed, now they have to lie in it. It's going to be a long season if they give up on Cedeno prematurely to go with the "known" production of one Neifi Perez.

Hendry made his bed, Dusty needs to lie in it. When they committed to go with Cedeno at SS, they need to stick to that commitment. Rookies struggle. But, sitting on the bench in favor of a guy who is not major league caliber will not do a single thing to help him through his struggles. Sticking with him through the tough times will help him mature and toughen him up. To me, Neifi is a late inning defensive replacement, a last option PH, and a starter if for some reason Cedeno can't play. A short stint in Spring Training should not change that.

What do the Pirates have to sell? Sean Casey, Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Craig Wilson, Kip Wells, Victor Santos, Jody Gerut, Solomon Torres and Damaso Marte.

Michael Tucker and Jacque Jones are pretty comparable, IMO. Tucker gets released and Jones gets a long term contract.

Isn't Scott Moore ready for AAA?

I thought the Cardinals were a better team with Reggie Sanders in the outfield, also. I think they downgraded there.

Well, you know Pittsburgh will be big sellers at the trade deadline once again, so without factoring in fire sales, those numbers may not be that far off.

Can someone share the link about the Nats LEAVING Soriano off the roster of the game in question? It's changed my stance on this whole topic. Apparently, Soriano didn't know he was scheduled to play as he was not one of the 9 players listed on the line up card in the game that left field was vacant.

Funny that you quoted Bruce's lineup, but left out Bruce's comments later in the thread saying don't read too much into Neifi batting second because it was just one/two games and Dusty did not see Neifi as a 2 hitter. I think you are right, the Chicken Little theory may have some credence. #1) I was being facetious about the Chicken Little Syndrome. Note the smiley face. #2) I didn't quote the game thread, someone else did. I never saw the whole thread, so I have no idea what Bruce wrote. What Bruce wrote does not change the fact that Neifi Perez hit 2nd in this game. Period. #3) Even if I saw the whole thread, that is still one of the worst line ups I have ever seen put together. Did you miss where I said I hope that he doesn't use it during the regular season and that I hope he's just getting it out of his system? I don't think my final comments should give people the impression that I think that's the way Dusty will run this team in 2006. Read my post again and show me how I made a sky is falling post.

By who's admission is Soriano a 2b? Because some team was dumb enough to put him there? Worst 2b defensively in the last 50 years. Think about how many 2b's have played the game. Wasn't he actually a SS at one time? I know he's horrible defensively, but Christian Guzman is even worse when it comes to hitting. Anything to get Guzman out of the line up would be a plus, IMO.

I guess I spoke too soon on this subject. Wow.