BigbadB

Giles is the key player. If you get Giles and basically hand Murton the other corner spot, resign Nomar and extend Walker's option, I think they have the best offense in baseball. I'd actually be fine with Lofton in center with this combination. Keeping Hairston and Patterson around as the 4th and 5th outfielders would work for me as well. If you can get Wilkerson, great. If not, Lofton is probably cheap and would probably be happy to come back to Chicago. If Lofton struggles at lead off, you still have Walker and Hairston. Lofton/Hairston Murton Lee Giles Ramirez Nomar Walker Barrett On days Patterson gets a start in center, slide Walker up to the lead off spot. Bench: Patterson Hairston Cedeno Fontenot Blanco At the deadline, you look to beef up the bench with any guys who aren't cutting it. This line up could produce an AVG OBP near .360. Every single guy except the lead off guy (unless you get Wilkerson) is capable of 20+ HR's. They would score runs at will. The beauty of the bench is that it is Dusty proofed. If Patterson can correct his problems in the offseason, maybe he could take his old job back midseason, sliding Walker up to lead off with Patterson hitting behind Nomar. Trade the Rule V guys for pitching help.

A winner? Really? How many World Series has he won? The only real winners right now are guys like LaRussa, Torre, Francona, and Scioscia. I don't see a lot of parallels between them and Rusty. We've got to expect more than "back to back" winning seasons. That's the same old trait I hate in many Cub fans: diminishing expectations. In 2003, Baker's team was 5 outs away from the WS In 2004, Baker's team collapsed in the last week of the season, losing crucial games to the fifth-place Reds. In 2005, Baker's team will finish with a losing record. Am I the only person that sees a regression here? I never have understood why Joe Torre constantly gets listed as a great manager. He's been handed all star team after all star team since he became manager of the Yankees. Isn't an all star team supposed to win the whole thing? Better yet, we're getting ready to see the Yankees NOT win a World Series for 5 straight years now, and Steinbrenner has gone out and gotten him a better team each year Torre fails to win it all for him. Torre pre-Yankee manager record: 894 wins 1003 losses He managed St. Louis, New York Mets and Atlanta during that time in his career, and managed only 1 first place finish and 2 second place finishes in 14 years.

Here's an even better question, who was the last Cub manager with the payroll to work with that Dusty has had?

Yep, that 1/2 half inning and the line up defined the whole season today.

Don't look now, but rumor has it that Dusty might get an extension this offseason. :roll:

He hit a home run?????? I take back all the evil things I said about him. Macias for SS in 2006! Whoops. I guess I shouldn't have missed my last Sarcasm Anonymous class. :D

Gremlin stew? :D

And Neifi will hit into a bases clearing double play right after that walk. Book it!

Check the spelling of his name.... The Riot

And wouldn't Neifi's 20 doubles since the all star break have looked real nice in the 7th or 8th spot in the order where his bad OBP is a better fit?

That was a good article about the best manager in the business.

If Hendry agrees with Dusty's managing philosophies, Hendry should be gone too. You have to believe that he has some sort of respect for Baker and the way he manages a club since he did hire him. How much background work is done to determine whether the person you are hiring meets your requirements? Considering the decisions "you" make as General Manager and that the manager makes as the person who works directly under you can have a direct impact on your future job title, I would think you would find someone who meshes with what you are trying to do, rather than get someone who goes against the grain. So, did Hendry hire someone who goes against the grain? Did he hire someone who's coaching philosophies agree with his? Or did he just hire a guy who he knew nothing about, with the assumption that his track record is enough to justify a 4 year/16m deal (or whatever it was)? I have tried to leave Hendry out of all of this. But, I'm finding it harder and harder to ignore that the most important and glaring weaknesses of this team are ignored day after day after day. This offseason will be very telling. He has the financial resources. He has the talent to trade. He has holes to fill. What he does this offseason will determine whether I want him gone along with Baker.

I may be wrong, but I could have sworn that after yesterday's game, Len said something about the Cubs' record in 1-run games, and it was positive, something like 24-19? I guess I didn't word this properly..... Every team will win games they should have lost and every team will lose games they should have won. It's what happens in the rest of those games that make the difference. I recently showed a prime example of what can happen when you have poor OBP guys at the top of the order in front of your most productive hitters. (See the Lee/100 EXBH thread in baseball discussions). To further break down this glaring problem. Each of those outs in front of Lee reduced the chances of a high scoring inning. Non outs set up for big innings. Because of the decreased chances, it's hard to really only measure 1 or 2 run games. A game that the Cubs lose by 5 might have been a game they could have won if they had quality OBP guys in front of Lee's 3-4, 4-4, 4-5 day. 30 of Lee's 45 HR's have been solo shots. Couple in the other productive bats in the line up along with Lee's automatic increase in production with better OBP guys in front of him, and you end up with a fairly explosive offense, capable of putting up big numbers on the scoreboard. The frustrating part is the team has had the OBP guys on the team all year long. They've just been ignored when it came time to set the top of the line up. Even Todd Walker has 100 at bats in the 6 hole this year. Dusty can ignore this problem if he wants, but the results can't be ignored.

The only way Wilkerson is better suited to hit 6th is if you have better OBP guys hitting 1st or 2nd. Nomar is my ideal #6 hitter. High AVG and good OPS. The high average hitting 6th will drive in more runs than the high OBP from base on balls.

coughsteroidscough What was the farm system like from 1921-1948? Were there 3-5 levels to master before getting the call? Wouldn't players have made quicker calls to the bigs back then? How many players went to college back then? How many baseball scholarships were awarded back then compared to nowadays? What was the average age of guys getting called up from 1921-1948 in respect to the average age of players getting called up from 1995-present?

The top 10 qualified in P/PA in the majors is: Bobby Abreu Casey Blake Pat Burrell Brad Wilkerson Adam Dunn Gregg Zaun David Delucci Jason Giambi Jimmy Maybelline Bill Hall

If I understand what you are looking for, go to ESPN, click on stats, hitting and then thumb through the expanded list of stats and you should find P/PA.

Hey Dusty, are you reading this? Lee is currently at 105. The average RBI's for this exclusive group is 154 RBI's. That's the AVERAGE. The absolute worst anybody prior to Lee, if he makes it, is Albert Belle at 126. Need I go on?

I'm curious if Lee makes it whether he will have made it with the fewest RBI's. I believe I'll go look that up.

I'd rather have Lofton than Torrii Hunter, Jacque Jones and a few other suggested names that have no clue about plate discipline.

I can't believe we are having this conversation. We are sending in Macias and Perez everyday and batting them first. Who's throwing in the towel? We are. Not only are we throwing in the towel, but we are being laughed at. If it really looked like we were trying, we'd have open tryouts in the left field bleachers for Macias' replacement.

I'd be pretty fired up about anyone's .900 OBP. Dusty would surely bat him 8th. :roll:

ok so all the cubs have to do is find a future hall of fame 2nd baseman while adressing all their other needs. Where's Roberto Alomar when you need him...... :cyclopsani:

They were killed in separate accidents (Baxter in 2001, Darr in 2002). An A's prospect was killed in the same accident as Baxter. The other person killed with Darr was not a player (although a Padres minor leaguer, Ben Howard, was injured). Ahh. That's right. Thanks for the correction. What a relief that I at least got the names right. :-k

If Baker is "open to a lot of stuff", I suppose requiring a decent OBP to hit at the top of the order is asking for a bit too much. :roll: