BigbadB

I didn't say you asked him to do it. Dusty is the manager. I don't want Dusty taxing the few starters we have in April because he's afraid to use his bullpen. If you don't have to use the long man, great. But, he should be there for blow out games just the same.

We'll just have to disagree on this one, Goony. Starters aren't in full season form at the beginning of the year. Letting Zambrano throw 120 pitches in the first few weeks is just asking for trouble.

Besides the high scoring games from high winds, you also have extra inning games, rain delays. One of your few starters could take a come backer that could knock them out of the game. It's just poor planning, IMO, to not have a guy in the bullpen that you can send out there for 4 or 5 innings. Not to mention the fact you have Dusty Baker managing this club. Do you want to see him sending Williamson out there for more than an inning at a time? Did you see how Baker used Chad Fox last year?

Because you need someone to be able to go long innings on short notice. In April, the winds blow out a lot. Do you want Maddux giving up 12 runs in 5 innings or do you want Jon Koronka giving up 12 runs in 5 innings? Do you want to tax the entire bullpen by making them all pitch extended innings in back to back games? If the wind is blowing out, everyone outside of Zambrano can get torched. I'd rather see a scrub gobble up those innings rather than a much needed starter or bullpen arm.

Wow, 9? Unless his career goes through an unexpected nose dive, you may want to reconsider your rankings. 9th is probably pretty fair. Another strike against him is that he is playing on a bad offensive team and half of his games in a bad park to hit. I'd take Edwin Encarnacion over Zimmerman just for park effects alone. With the way Tony Clark played last year, Conor Jackson will not be a regular everyday player.

I'm just a seasoned veteran in this league at 42.

It's also not out of the realm of possibility that one of: Miller,Wood or Prior could be ready. I'm guessing Blueheart is right on what the rotation will look like in early April. And I believe Prior might still be back shortly after that, if not, Hill will get a start unless Guzman or some other kid is absolutely dominating at the time. Even if Blueheart's rotation is accurate, they will need a long man in the bullpen.

It's not that they didn't have Sammy's money to spend, it's how they spent it. A lot of players got raises this year, and a lot of other players were paid much more than they deserve.

Let's get Hill and Menechino and keep Walker. We could start a different 2b every day of the week.

Wow! I guess it's down to Geoff Blum, Mark Bellhorn and Josh Barfield in San Diego for that 2b job.

I'm in the same boat as you, Raw. I didn't think I'd find what I was hoping to in that thread, so I didn't read it. I'm going to assume Prior is okay, and all these injury rumors are just to better the Cubs odds in Vegas.

Have there been any Nic Jackson sightings this Spring, or is he completely done?

Nice post CIE! We have a very similar history with this organization. The strike is what made me walk away from the game for awhile. The steroid induced home run barrage is what brought me back, sadly enough. I've been cheering the Cubs since Milt Pappas threw his no hitter. That is still a top 5 moment in all of my years of watching Cub baseball. Fantasy baseball is probably what most likely lifted my interest in the game to an all new level. I read your stuff at Cubs.com, and I still enjoy reading your stuff here at NSBB. But, more interest in the minor league organization has also helped my interest level. My interest in the game has taken a hit. I'm not excited for the start of this season. I have made no effort at all to land tickets to Cub games in Arizona, San Diego or Los Angeles. To look at where we were in 2003 and to where we are now in 2006 is depressing to me. The farm system is weakened by trades for players in the last year of their current contracts. Big money has been spent on guys who have probably already had their best year somewhere else. Injuries, injuries, injuries. Someone's going to break their nail today and need to go on the DL for the next month and a half. It's saddening. I've watched the current manager reward poor play by getting another start tomorrow. I've watched him put the worst possible choice to lead off in the lead off spot. Not just once, but consistently. I've watched him leave starting pitchers in the game well after the outcome has been determined. The direction of this team this offseason was one that I do not agree with at all. The focus to improve speed and defense was the wrong choice. If it was 1930 or maybe even 1975, that might be the right way to go. However, it is 2006. Baseball stadiums are built like phone booths nowadays and the power teams who put runs on the board and the pitching staff that keeps the ball from leaving the yard will be the teams that stand the best chances to win. During my return to the game, players contacts have reached a whole new level. A-Rod has won what so far with his 250m contract? That's what I thought. It's a team game. Always has been. Ticket prices soar year after year making it nearly impossible for a middle income family of 4 or 5 to afford to attend a game. All the controversy surrounding the game these days has certainly stripped the game of it's "national pastime" status. Foreign born players who have the gift to play baseball better than most come to this country and have handed to them the "american dream", yet they are so selfish of anyone around them to even remotely consider switching positions for the benefit of the team. No, it's not all foreign born players. But, the selfish behavior of Alfonso Soriano, who wouldn't be making 100K playing professional baseball in the Dominican Republic can come to our country and dictate where and when he plays, and that turns me off even further. Sammy not wanting to hit 6th in the order was another instance that angered me to no end. I'm still hanging in there, but the future of this organization is looking a bit grim to me. I'm not a fan of several players on this team. I'm not even close to being as excited as I was in 2003. It wasn't just coming oh so close in 2003 either. I felt this organization was in a position to win year after year for the next umpteen years because of the depth of the minor leagues and the available cash to spend. Facinatingly enough, I can't place any blame at all on the Tribune. They have opened up the purse strings more and more each year of the 2000's. The ineptitude of the current regime is where I place all the blame. Juan Pierre is probably going to be a pretty good lead off hitter for us this year. However, he will likely only be the 2nd best lead off hitter this team has had during this decade. I doubt many can even name the best lead off hitter the Cubs have had this century. Many people scoff at me whenever I mention his name. I'll go ahead and mention his name. Mark Bellhorn. Table setter du jour. He scored 78 runs in less than a half season of at bats in 2002. What would Dusty do? Attempt to turn him into a bottom of the order RBI man. :roll: People aren't going to agree with a lot of this post, and it would go on forever if I attempted to list all the things I feel are wrong with this organization. Bottom line, my interest is waning badly. I need Cedeno and Murton and Lee and Prior and Zambrano to breathe some air into the fire. The problem is that if they end up winning with this team, a team I'm not real fond of in general will have accomplished something I didn't really think they had a chance of doing, which only disproves my theories on how a team should be put together and how an organization should be run. I'm not attempting to say that I could run an organization better than the current regime. I just don't like their philosophies as much as I like other teams philosophies. If Neifi Perez is playing everyday and hitting at the top of the order, I'll find myself turning off the tv and finding something else to do with my spare time. I've dedicated too much time to this game already to believe that anything good can come from it. I love the Cubs and I love the game. But, I haven't been this frustrated since I walked away from the game during the last strike. Another one of those strikes is probably not all that far off. If they can't use steroids to bring the fans back to the stadiums next time, what will they use?

Unfortunately, this organization hasn't given me any reason to believe they value OBP in the 2 hole, so I don't think the word "paranoia" is appropriate. See how many at bats Neifi got at the top of the order last year and then defend that number of at bats.

You may be right, but trading Walker for basically nothing in return (considering how no teams have shown much interest) is probably the worst idea of all of them. I'd rather have Walker coming off the bench to pinch hit or spot start than have Neifi pinch hitting or spot starting ahead of someone like Luis Matos (rumor only). I just don't think you trade a relatively cheap bat if you aren't going to get equal return.

Horrible trade. Why on Earth would the Cubs need Matos? If that trade happens, this teams bench will not be any sort of a threat to any opposing teams relievers. Hairston and Jones can occupy CF if for some weird reason Pierre doesn't play in 156 or more games. I think I'd actually rather go with Grissom than Matos, and that's not saying much.

I can still see the disgusted look on Wood's face when he left a 3rd straight game with a loss in games that should have been wins, but became losses because he got zero run support. I'm sure it goes both ways. Maybe the pitching staff is tired of losing games because of defense. However, I think you will see them tire of losing games because of poor run support if they are trotting Neifi Perez out there day in and day out. I like Hairston about as much as I like Walker. Between Neifi, Hairston and Walker, I think you have one all star 2nd baseman. Unfortunately, they can't all be at 2nd base at the same time using each of their skills independently. I'm fine with a platoon of Hairston and Walker. I'm fine with a late inning Neifi Perez sighting as a defensive replacement in a close game. I'm probably even fine with a very rare Perez start at 2nd when Zambrano is on the hill against a pesky infield single hitting team. But, Perez would need to hit at the bottom of the order and he would need to be replaced by Hairston or Walker when a bat was needed to get the offense going late in the game.

Who was more lights out than Mike Remlinger in 2001 (2.76 ERA) and 2002 (1.99 ERA)? Cubs gave him a 3 year deal for top dollar reliever money and he wasn't anymore effective than Jeff Fassero was as a reliever with the Cubs. Eyre and Howry haven't "always" been awesome relievers. They have their moments where they are Remlinger bad. I hope they are good for the next 3 years, but I wouldn't bank on it. There really aren't that many relievers that are good year in and year out. I hope they are lights out and they prove me wrong, but that was a bad gamble, IMO. I agree the Cubs needed to get a couple of arms for the pen. However, 3 year deals was not my idea of how to go about getting those bullpen arms.

Link Hendry on Walker and competition Which takes me back to my original comment. Walker just needs to shut up and let his bat do the talking.

Aren't the relievers about the last guys to get in game shape?

Yeah, I think Hill, Williams, Guzman, Brownlie and Rusch (taking out Maddux, Wood, Prior, Zambrano and Miller) is still a better rotation than the one the Reds are sending out there. I do like the Reds offense a bit better than ours, but our pitching is clearly better.

On a related note, Chad Cordero was 2-4 last year. What a useless pitcher. :wink: Yeah they should trade that Cordero guy for Shawn Estes he usually has a nice W-L record, and everyone knows what a great pitcher he is. Is Shawn even still around? lol I think I saw him on a west coast roster. Padres or Dodgers.

I wouldn't have minded seeing Theriot earn the middle infield utility role. However, Neifi is blocking him for the next 2 years. If Walker is assumed to be gone, then I would imagine Theriot could earn the last spot on the roster if what we got in return for Walker wasn't another middle infielder.

And if I might add another $.02, you will notice that this forum has an extensive forum for minor leaguers only. The main NSBB web site has thorough examinations of the minor league teams. Every single player at the major league level on down through the minors gets "evaluated" extensively. No, not every minor league player is going to make it. However, there really is nothing wrong with hoping that all of these players become impact players. Yes, I'm one of those who had Choi penciled in to be the everyday 1b for the Cubs for the next 10 or so years. I was wrong. I'm glad we have Derrek Lee. Do I or anyone else that hoped Hee Seop Choi would be as successful at the major league level as he was in the minors need our noses rubbed in it at each conceivable moment because he didn't gain that success? No.

I'm not suggesting anything. I'm pointing out that you like to take every opportunity to belittle anyone who hoped Hee Seop Choi, Brendon Harris, Juan Cruz, Jason Dubois, etc... would become good major league baseball players. You've pointed out to us how wrong we were that it has grown tiring to read it again and again. You sound like a broken record. What kind of Cub fan comes to a Cub fan message board and belittles other fans for hoping that our minor league system produces many a major league player? And if it has nothing to do with the minor league players, is it really that coincidental that every player you listed outside of Walker (who this thread is about) just happens to be a failure from our system? From where I sit, it gives the appearance you want Cub fan favorites to fail just so you can come here to gloat. I'm sorry if that's an inaccurate picture, but every time I see Choi on the field now, I think to myself "oh, maybe if he strikes out on national tv, oldcubsfan will have another moment of glory on NSBB." It's really pretty sad.