Laura

I think Murton would be great #2 hitting in front of Lee (presumably) if Walker is no longer on the team (I hope he is, but whatever.). I'm going to try to avoid criticizing Dusty, but it does seem that Dusty prefers matching hitters with positions and positions with batting order. If Walker is still with the team, there's a good chance he bats 2nd, at least vs. RHers. Yay. If not, I don't think we'll see Murton batting there anytime soon. LFers don't bat 2nd. We'll see Neifi! or Cedeno, hopefully Cedeno because that would indicate Cedeno is doing extremely well. He'll have to, to beat out Neifi. If the Cubs have Cedeno at SS and Neifi! at 2B, I'm guessing Neifi is batting #2 and Cedeno is batting #8 (and Murton around 6-7) regardless of performance.

This may be one rare occasion wherein watching Prior pitch (ok, too simplistic) or at least looking past his DL stints is valuable. As far as I'm concerned, his pitching-related injuries grew out of him being overpitched in '03 (he pitched over 200 innings despite missing nearly a month after colliding with Giles). I respect the opposing opinion that Cubs fans overvalue Prior. Given the Cubs recent transaction history, I'd rather err on the side of overvaluing him. I'm still coping with overvaluing Pinto. The fact that Tejada was a free agent and could have been signed 2 years ago makes me wonder why the Cubs are valuing him so highly now when the barrier to signing him before was supposedly ALEX GONZALEZ. I know there's been talk about Prior being a sissy or something because he left games early and didn't pitch through injuries in '04. He pitched through injuries in '03 when it mattered. Unfortunately, despite being the best pitcher in baseball in August and September of '03, it wasn't enough. When he started a game a month after taking the line drive off his pitching elbow this past season, it laid the whole "mental weakness" thing to rest. The wailing I heard on ESPN and local radio had his career being shot to hell that day. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't fond of the Cubs organization. I hope he still likes Cubs fans, though. :sunny:

He's hit well for the past year. ZiPS has him at .287/ .332/ .412 in 345 ABs which not-so-oddly resembles his '04 West Tenn line of .279/ .328/ .401 in 384 ABs (when he started turning it on) I wish the Cubs had more certainty at other positions to withstand Cedeno going through a slump, if he does. I'm a Cedeno believer, but expecting power production out of him is unrealistic. If some sort of trade scenario results in the Cubs getting another shortstop and Ronny not being traded, I think there's zero chance he starts at 2B. UBlink is the authority here, but I don't think he's played 2B this winter ... when's the last time he's played it in the minors? Dusty isn't going to start playing him at 2B in spring training; Dusty doesn't think that's what spring training is for. I think any talk of him starting at 2B is pure B.S. because I do not believe Dusty would play him there.

Just to clarify, I think the Cubs Caravan stops are still often set up and arranged by the locals, including local charities. I'm guessing the Cubs organization had to set up some minimum standards for participation (including the overall auto rate, which is probably just passed along as the "rules"). I know the last Caravan stop I went to in '03, Mark Prior was cross-eyed from signing autos for about 3 hours straight. Too much demand. It was a little creepy. The convention itself could definitely be better organized, but as long as they pack 'em in, I don't know where the incentive to improve it is.

I'd hate to see Prior traded, even for Tejada. Part of it is no doubt me being a fangirl, which I admit. I've watched him pitch some incredible games. I've also watched some not-so-incredible games. But you don't trade Prior unless you get an A-Rod + back. You don't trade Prior + unless someone holds a gun to your head. We all know that 2005 wasn't the best year for Prior. He still led all starters (>10 GS) in K/9 ratio with 10.15. In the Tribune Sullivan write: In '05 overall, Prior went 11-7 with a 3.67 ERA in all of his *27* games started (the most GS was 35; Big Z started 33) with opposing batters hitting .227 and giving up 3.19 BB/9. There were only 3 pitchers who started more than 25 games in '05 with >9 Ks/9 -- Santana, Peavy and Prior. Prior does rank lousy #3 in that top 3 of '05 in K/BB, OppAvg and HR/9. He's also the only one of the top 3 who had his pitching elbow fractured during the season. Prior has only had one other season when opposing batters hit worse than .227. That was 2002, his rookie season. He has a career K/9 of 10.6. Among active starting pitchers, that puts him behind Randy Johnson. I've read that he has the second best K/9 ratio through the age of 24 of anyone in baseball history, but I don't know where to confirm (or disprove) that. He doesn't have 1000 IPs yet. I'd hate to see him get that somewhere else. 02 11.34 03 10.43 04 10.54 05 10.15 (and remember, he sucked in '04 and '05) It's not all about the Ks, though they come in handy. He has a career WHIP of 1.21, and that's with two "bad" years, one good year and his rookie year. 02 1.17 03 1.10 04 1.35 05 1.21 I'd love to see more offense and I'd love to see a stud position player at Wrigley. I just wish that Hendry would have obtained one at a position that the Cubs had virtually no one to fill (ie, RIGHT FIELD). Trading Prior would be a disaster. ETA: Santana is probably not showing up on the career leaderlist for K/9 yet, either, (and would have less than 1000 IPs) but I'm too tired right now to figure out where he is. Probably ahead of Prior, though.

They're really cracking down on the Cubs Caravan stops. Maybe they need to these days ... I'm glad it was a bit more informal when I was a kid.

He didn't stink up the joint as a pitcher, either.

#51 is taken. Gallagher wore #51 in the one Daytona game he pitched. =;

And just because I have doubts about the viability of Corey being the starting RFer doesn't make me a "Corey hater." I'd like nothing more than to see him kick some butt in a Cubs uni. He is coming off a disappointing year. A big complaint I hear from his supporters who have been following his career for longer than I have is the way he's been stuck willy-nilly into different slots on an ad-hoc basis ... depending on whatever the most desperate need at the time was. Lead-off guy? Stick Corey there, he's fast. Power hitter, especially while Sosa is hurt? Bat Corey 3-4-5-6. Can't get on base? Have Corey learn to bunt-single even when he's struggling to make contact. Sticking him in RF because he's the least onerous of available options seems to be more of the same. Doesn't seem to me that he's being put in a position to succeed. If anything, it's really upping the ante and the pressure. It's one thing to struggle at the plate in CF ... in RF, you're expected to hit. I'm not sure how many RFers are hidden in the 8-9 (AL) slot when they struggle. I'm assuming that despite any recent statements to the contrary, he's still not the first or second or third choice for RF. If he ends up starting opening day, I'll root for him. But it's going to be forced optimism, because I really do think it could get ugly fast (as in Boo City) if he struggles ... and that's not something I care to watch. Again.

Right -- if they all match or exceed their career best years in SBs, HRs and average (full season), it'll be awesome. Maybe Wood, Prior, Z and Maddux will do the same! Yee-haw!

The level of hyperbole in this thread is ridiculous. On the contrary, I don't think there's been enough hyperbole about the sheer dank awfulness of the bleacher bathrooms. :newugh: Although the priceless look that newcomers (especially opposing fans) get on their faces when told that the bathrooms are down on the first level near the entrance almost makes it worthwhile. :insane:

If we guesstimated 25 HRs over a full season from Murton -- and that's projecting that his production from last season carried over to next season -- the Cubs will have succeeded in going from projected OF HR production of Murton - 25 HRs Patterson - let's go with the happy-happy "he'll repeat those '03 numbers next year" prediction and give him 25 HRs for the season & Burnitz -- probably still good for 25ish HRs and he did catch the ball rather well last season (75) to Murton - 25 HRs Pierre - let's be optimistic and count him for a career-high 5 Patterson - 25 HRs (55) Cubs will need a lot of stolen bases to make that up. I think Option 2 is more expensive as well. If hopes were to be pinned on a Patterson resurgence, he should have stayed the CFer. I do not see a rosy outcome with Corey as a starting RFer and I'm just hoping that Hendry is blowing smoke with that thought. No problems with him being tendered; I have doubts as to whether being a true 4th/5th OFer would give him the reps and opportunity to rebound. If you do believe that booing has a negative impact on his performance ... well, let's just hope he gets off to a good start.

IIRC, that was a cold day as well and the RF for the Cards ended up hurting himself pretty badly...his name escapes me... maybe Eli Marrero ? That's the one. Ended up getting shipped to Atlanta that offseason in the deal that brought Ray King to STL, IIRC. Alou had two homers in that aborted game and I think Edmonds did as well. It was 11-9 Cardinals in the 4th when the game was called. Mothers Day 2003 was the postponed game vs. the Cardinals. That game was made up in the September series at Wrigley when the Cubs took 4/5. Mothers Day 2004 was vs. the Rockies. Cubs won in 13 innings in a game with 3 rain delays. Rusch picked up his first win as a Cub pitching in relief.

Yeah, I'd rather see them do a Florida and blow up the team. Trade Prior, Pie and the rest of the so-called "top ten" for someone else's top ten. Goes without saying that the managment needs to change. Z might be young enough to be the graybeard by the time it pays off (besides, he's too amusing to trade). It would be a lot more interestng than watching another $100M dud team, especially a $100M dud team with an outfield that Pujols can single-handedly out-produce.

We'll let Z pitch Game 6. :mrgreen:

The Keeping Corey Boat left the dock when they traded for Pierre.

The reason I have grave doubts about that is the same reason keeping Neifi! around disturbs me: Dusty. Dusty and Corey may not see eye-to-eye, but Dusty has convinced himself that Corey should be able to hit at the top of the order (because he's fast. or whatever). And once Dusty has convinced himself of something, he sticks with it, consequences and results be damned. If by chance Cedeno and Corey are both still on the team in '06, I'd hope that Cedeno would get the free pass to be hidden someplace in the lineup if he struggles. Murton might actually go through a cold spell himself -- I hope not, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. Additionally ... Corey's defense post-amazing-catch-in-Cincy suffered somewhat last year, and I don't recall him being very successful on the basepaths despite his speed. If the Cubs trade away Cedeno, I'd be more comfortable with Corey sticking around. I can't see having Cedeno / Murton / Corey in the same lineup, and if I have to choose two out of the three, Corey doesn't make the cut.

Archiving would be the first choice. The problem as I understand it is that there isn't an obvious useful archiving system ready to go right now. If we need to start clearing out and/or "pruning" old threads to keep the site operational, then old game threads are one area that makes sense to consider for that. If nothing else, I'd try to get them backed up in hard data format. We'd have to come up with a collective process for choosing which game threads to preserve on site. It's not something that would be done unilaterally -- they'll be discussion about it first. I'd rather run the risk of losing online access to old game threads than continue to go on indefinitely without having any search function. Without a search, we have a TON of resources ... we just don't have ready access to them.

I don't know that we're disagreeing. I'm concerned that the dank innards won't be addressed at all; instead the focus will be on packing more people in expanded bleachers. I really doubt I'm going to like the results -- if that makes me stone-age and luddite, so be it. In terms of rebuilding it: don't underestimate the profitability of the Wrigley image. It's a tourist attraction. The team hasn't done much to justify the attendance figures. One reason people love to visit Wrigley is the closeness to the field -- especially in the bleachers. One reason I really don't like what's happening with the expansion is that it will take away from that experience. It's also one short step from there to having assigned seating ... the day that happens is the last time I'll be there. For all the talk about how much more money a new ballpark -- in a new location (I know you were talking more about building a new ballpark, Soul) -- would make, my guess is that if they thought they could pack people in a 60,000 seat arena for 81 night games a year at $40 a head plus charge for parking in enormous lots surrounding a surburban stadium, that would have already happened by now.

I'd be more than happy if they upgraded the bathrooms and food situation (will that restaurant be ready to go this spring?) in the bleachers. That's only needed to be done for about 20 years. If they expand the bleachers without fixing the bathroom situation, sitting out there will be like visiting a 5th-world country.

We're going to prune down (= DELETE) a lot of the old game threads, but there's going to be a process for doing so and people will have a chance to defend any threads they want to keep around. We'll set up some standards for preserving threads (playoff games; historical games; player debuts, etc.). Between my schedule and NSBB's schedule, I haven't had the chance to get the ball rolling on that ...but we will soon. Keep in mind that deleting threads = deleting the posts in the threads = individual posts counts taking a hit. I may see 11,000 posts again soon. :)

I'm interested in it. Can anyone recommend a good site for it? I *can* actually :google: , but with so many knowledgable folks here ... If Big Z is pitching, I'm interested. The Venezualan team should have some SICK pitching.

Guess that means the bleachers will be largely non-smoking. The "Champs Elysees of Wrigley Field" is a stretch, but I really don't like that they're doing away with the view of the field from the back walkway. It has nothing to do with smoking (I don't). I think it will really change the atmosphere there when you emerge into a walkway without a view of the field (or much of a view below, depending on how the overhang works in LF) and the foot traffic is really going to bottleneck when you do actually get to the bleachers and get to choose between climbing up to your seat or walking down. I have very low expectations of the bleacher expansion project and doubt it will even meet those minimal standards.

We received cash considerations in lieu of a replacement player. Thanks! I figured it had been settled by this point, but I wasn't sure how.

I thought we were supposed to get a replacement player from Baltimore for David Crouthers (who retired), but I don't know what ever happened with that.