rawaction

The manager's job is to put the best players on the field in the best position to succeed. Lou hasn't even done that. Theriot and his .315 OBP is in the lineup nearly everyday, and at the top of the lineup at that. This includes his .626 OPS starting over Jeff Baker's .961 OPS vs LHPs and Mike Fontenot's .785 vs. RHPs. Hill apparently is the starting C over Soto, when Soto has a 200 point OPS advantage. When Soto is in the lineup he hits 8th the majority of the time w/ a .404 OBP wasted in front of the P and Theriot. The Cubs are 8-1 with Castro in the 2-hole, yet Lou keeps him 8th because he doesn't want to put pressure on the kid. He hits Soriano 6th because that's where he decided he was going to hit in January. Zambrano to the pen. Gorzellany to the pen. Grabow in any type of close situation. And it's not just this year. It's been every year he's been here. The Cubs have previously been good enough to overcome his poor choices as a manager. Not saying that it would make much of a difference but Lou's only job as a manager is to put his team in position to win games. He hasn't done that by being stubborn and old school. Jaramillo has done a poor job also, but ultimately, these are the hitters he was given. He's done well with guys he's worked with before (Byrd, Soriano). He's done well with guys that are still influenced by teaching (Castro, Soto, Fontenot, Colvin). He hasn't done well with players that are veterans and stuck in the way they do things (Lee, Ramirez, Theriot). I don't know that any other HC would have had any more success with this group.

They tried to kill him via Primanti, but it didn't work. If he can't handle Primanti's, he shouldn't be in the major leagues. This is true. And from the looks of Mr. Silva, the problem was probably he couldn't handle Primanti's x 4.

UGH, Good God, y'all. What is it good for? Why did that make me laugh out loud? :oops:

What about Hossa for Conn-Smythe? He doesn't have the numbers, but he's been the best and most consistent Blackhawk this entire series.

I noticed that too. He looked like he wanted to punch someone in the face all night.

I don't want to see ice in the United Center again until a banner is being hoisted up.

27?

NBA trades are made to get what a player is worth.

Yeah, what's that about?

It really is. It wouldn't surprise me that Chris Paul is traded within the next two years. With the way Collison played this year, there are rumors that Chris Paul will be traded within the next 2 months (heard the Knicks as a destination). As a starter, Collison put up 18.8 ppg and 9.1 apg this year.

I'm a #1. I knew how the Hawks were generally doing, and had caught a couple games during the year, but it wasn't until about game 3 of the Preds series that I really started watching with any dedication. Wishing I'd been more of a fan all year now. Me too for the most part. When I was young, I rooted pretty hard for the Blackhawks but did not understand anything about the game. Then the mid-to-late 90s I stopped caring about them for the most part (when they were pretty bad) and really got into the Avalanche for some odd reason. I watched a lot of the playoffs only when they were near the top of the league. The last 4-5 years I've rooted for the Hawks but didn't see more than a handful of games before the Wrigley winter classic. I have seen a lot of Penguins games though being in Pittsburgh. This year, I have watched the Hawks most chances I've gotten. I felt from the beginning that this could be a special year. I honestly picked the Blackkhawks in the Cup before this season, but had them losing in 4 or 5 to the East winner, which I was torn on the Caps, Pens, and Boston.

The approach this team has at all times is comical. Whether it's cutting down on their swings with 2 strikes, hitting the ball where it is pitched, swinging at the first pitch after a 4-pitch walk, it's all just bad. And has been bad for the majority of my life as a Cubs fan, except for 2008, when they reverted back to form in the postseason.

Somebody earned an everyday spot in the lineup for Lou who can only remember like 2 days.

Lou said he wanted to get guys in the lineup who are swinging the bats well....so he starts Hill (.352 May OPS) over Soto (.662 May OPS) Nady (.649 May OPS) over Lee (.733 May OPS)

Wait what?

They won't beat Philly twice in a row in their building. This series is definitely coming back to Chicago. The Blackhawks haven't lost a road playoff game since Game 3 vs. Nashville. I would say at least 5 of their top 6 or 7 games these playoffs have been on the road. As for last night, I didn't think the Flyers outplayed the Hawks as much as they played with more urgency. They pretty much had to. I know a physical game doesn't seem like it favors the Hawks, but it seemed to me that they were dishing out more than they were taking from the Flyers last night.

Hey Cubs. Grabow isn't hurt. He just sucks.

But there was no Crosby or Ovechkin, how could this be?

If so many people are having problems with the trade....why don't we go back to needing trades approved? We can do commissioner approval or manager approval by say 3-5 managers. Take longer for trades to go thru, but I don't think it would be too big of a deal.

They'll never come back only getting 2 outs per innings.

Do you think somebody would pay him 3/39? Probably not. My guess is between 3/27 and 3/35 if someone really got desperate.

You listed Johnny Damon and he's not exactly a power hitter. Your words were "older player" and that's what I responded to. Do you think an aging power hitter is less likely to get a big deal than an aging basestealer? Bad signings are always regretted by the team signing the player. That doesn't mean other bad deals won't be signed. I'm not saying that giving Soriano 4/40 right now would be a good move, just that it's completely realistic that somebody would do it. I think those bad signings are more evidence that you don't give a deal like 4/40 to somebody like Soriano, Wolf, Lackey, etc who have had injury issues as they've aged. Those bad signings serve as another exhibit of why nobody wants to be tied that long to Soriano. Damon averaged nearly 20 HRs and a .175 ISOP as a Yankee. Not huge power, but at this point that's his main asset.

Still the point remains. Even if Soriano is better, those guys didn't get close to 4/40 so it's hard to imagine Soriano would at 34. And it's not like he is that far removed from his struggling. And it's not like he doesn't have a ton of red flags suggesting he will struggle again and probably for the better part of the next 4 years. But those guys aren't particularly good comparisons, so the point is flawed, at least. Jermaine Dye not getting a deal is meaningless when talking about what Soriano could conceivably get now or in the near future. Those guys didn't get it because A) most of them were worse, B) the economy was in doubt, and C) they were coming off bad years. Had Soriano been on the market then he wouldn't have gotten much. But it's 2010 now, the economy is better, Soriano has reestablished himself as a pretty good player (better than those guys). 4/40 is hardly a stretch. I wouldn't give it to him, but unless he takes a dramatic turn for the worse this season, somebody would. Again, my hangup is more on that 4th year. I think it's more of a stretch than you think that someone (else) pays him double digit million at 38.

I think the point is. Usually when you see a 20-year old at AA, it's because he's absolutely lit up every league he's played in up to that point. Vitters numbers have been OK in the past, but when I think of lighting up the league, I think a hitter has to show either a strong display of power, the ability to hit the ball at an elite level (high BA, great LD%), or a great grasp of the strikezone. Vitters showed that in a 1/2 season at Peoria, which warranted the promotion to Daytona, but hadn't shown enough in Daytona to warrant the promotion to AA.

It's hard to justify him starting over Fontenot vs. a RHP at this point, let alone hitting 2nd. Here's an interesting lineup I'd like to see. Fukudome Soto Soriano Lee Byrd Ramirez Fontenot Castro