rawaction

What do you think about the situation in South Bend? That is my hometown, and I'm saddened to see them go.

It's a good question. My estimate is that there is probably finances to do 5 of the 7 moves. All 7 would probably require a payroll in the $115M range. As for Penny, he signed a 3 year extension with LA in June, so he's not available. Similar to what Kenny Williams did this year, Hendry needs to give the Cubs a new look and go in a different direction. Hoops The Cubs are not in a situation where a new look will help improve them that much. There is still plenty of relatively young ML talent here. Wood, Ramirez, Zambrano, Prior, Ohman, Novoa, Patterson, Barrett, Murton, Cedeno.....and that's just at the ML level. Add the guys who will/should be fair bargains next year, Walker, Dempster, Williamson, Lee, Nomar, and you have over 1/2 a team there. Lawton's .370 career OBP for a full season would be a different direction. Giles .400 OBP would be a huge addition. Keep the current IF and Patterson. Adding the 2 corner OFs would make for a huge jump in production over Burnitz/Holla/Dubois. Giving ABs to Cedeno, Fontenot, Murton over Macias and Perez would help too.

In order of preference on that list. Wilkerson Lawton Mench Huff Kearns Church Mackowiak Catalanotto Payton Wilson

With the 5th overall pick, Raw DAwgs select, RB Willis McGahee, Buffalo Bills

I can't see it! I can't see it!

I can't see it! I can't see it!

What all the love for Kearns on this board is based on I'll never know. Take away Kearns' first season, where his astronomical BABIP has already been noted ad nauseum, and you have a line of: .247/.330/.432 That's positively... Pattersonian! Murton is already much better, and his salary is less than a third of Kearns'. Actually, that's pretty good patience. If you assume a 27-yo hasn't peaked with a .247 BA, then it's a pretty good pickup, provided you don't give up much.

That would be really nice. He has more of a future than Rusch. Welly should start.

If Houston was gonna continue to play sub .500 baseball, then Carpenter would have won it. But Houston will likely win the WC, thus Clemens will get it.

Yeah. I stand corrected.

Yep, sure can. But not when he's coaching the team with the highest payroll in the league (including Sosa's money). And you're kidding yourself if you think this is the 1 bad year. Last Sept was absolutely dispicable. Dusty clearly lost control of his team. The Cubs have been in the top 3 in payroll in the NL for all his 3 years, and they got 1 playoff berth, with a mediocre 88 wins. Regardless of the wins/losses, Dusty has lost complete control. The team was fighting with their own broadcasters, leaving early, quit on him. This year, the team has had several spans of horrible baseball. Point is, he hasn't done what he was brought in here to do. He wasn't a good fit then, he's not a good fit now. What you just talked about was the players not the manager, sure Baker should be able to control them, but if the players have bad attitudes they aren't going to listen to the manager. JMO. And Hendry got rid of Mercker, Alou, Sosa, Farnsworth, and Hawkins....the main culprits. Granted, this team hasn't had the same blowups in the media....but the team has still not shown up to play on numerous occassions this year. And BTW, what is a manager's job to you? What seriously can a manager in baseball do besides put his team in position to win and control the clubhouse?

Yep, sure can. But not when he's coaching the team with the highest payroll in the league (including Sosa's money). And you're kidding yourself if you think this is the 1 bad year. Last Sept was absolutely dispicable. Dusty clearly lost control of his team. The Cubs have been in the top 3 in payroll in the NL for all his 3 years, and they got 1 playoff berth, with a mediocre 88 wins. Regardless of the wins/losses, Dusty has lost complete control. The team was fighting with their own broadcasters, leaving early, quit on him. This year, the team has had several spans of horrible baseball. Point is, he hasn't done what he was brought in here to do. He wasn't a good fit then, he's not a good fit now.

I never understood the idea of "best all-around". What does that mean? Is that the person who can do the most things near the best in the league? Wouldn't that mean Jose Macias (who has decent speed, can play 5 positions about average, switch hits, can bunt, has occassional power) is better all-around than Jim Thome, who can only hit for power and walk.

Here's my issue with that. A hitter's mentality has gone from "try to get a hit/get on base", to "hit it to this side of the field/hit it with this elevation, so if I make an out something good will happen". The hitter is no longer focused on success, he's trying to make sure his failure isn't as bad. Does that make sense? This is the best post here. And yes, it makes sense. I don't want players changing their approaches at the plate just because a runner is on 2nd with none out. Everyone used to bag on Sammy for striking out and not cutting down his swing to go to the right side on these situations. But to me, that's much more of a waste than a strikeout. If you try to hit the ball to the right side, that's exactly what you are gonna do. Best case scenario, runner moves up 1 base....1 more out is on the board. If the hitter keeps his same approach, best case scenario is a HR. Worst case scenario is a strikeout or doubleplay. In it's simplest form, more good can come out of a normal approach than a limiting approach. More bad can come also. But the difference between having a run or 2 on the board already (after runner on 2B, with none out) and having a runner at 3B with 1 out, is MUCH GREATER than the difference of having that runner on 3B with 1 out and having him at 2nd with 1 out.

Well, many of us didn't think Dusty was the right fit in the first place. To be honest, I think the Cubs have done as well as could be expected considering all the injuries. I don't fault Baker for "only" winning 88 and 89 games the last 2 years. I don't think a manager should get credit for wins anyway. He can affect the loss column easier, but I don't think Dusty has managed the Cubs to a less than normal amount of losses. However, there are plenty of things under a manager's control that I fault him for. I fault him the 2004 Chicago Crybabies, who whined away the end of their season. I fault him partly for the Sosa fiasco (not as much as I fault Sammy himself and Hendry). I fault him for the numerous 6+ game losing streaks where his team plays with little effort and professionalism. I fault him for the general unprofessionalism in the clubhouse and the overall sloppiness on the field. Face it, Dusty was brought in as a player's manager, a disciplinarian, and a motivator. He has failed in all those areas, regardless of what he's done with the team on the field.

What about Barry Bonds? Bonds is the best player, followed by Arod and Pujols in whatever order you choose. I think Derrek Lee has to put up more than 1 great season to be considered one of the best. This year, he's a good leap above Pujols though.

I was honored to be able to ask the first questions. I was honored to be able to ask the most questions. I had many more too.

Except that there's no way Baker would come here for anything less than four years. And Jim Hendry wanted him badly enough to give it to him. Right. So again: how is Hendry escaping the axe? I never hear any media on his case, nobody ever examines the endless train of bad moves he has made to get us in this position, the incredible ignorance of players who were obviously not capable of staying injury free, the blind seeking of Dusty Baker without knowing anything about his lack of actual managerial skills. In my view this whole debacle rests right at the feet of one Mr. Jim Hendry. Every season has been worse than the last. Every year a deeper nightmare. Sure he made a couple good moves in 2003. Good for him. GM's with TALENT make great moves every single season. Witness Jocketty and Beane. Hendry couldn't touch their jock straps. It's time for Hendry to go back to running the minor leagues and bring in an actual talented GM. That's a completely unfair assessment. What "endless train of bad moves"? Alfonseca, Estes, Maddux, and not getting full value for Sosa (he was obviously put in a bad spot) is all I count. There are plenty more good than bad moves. You can't honestly complain about the trades he's made. You can't complain about the FA signings too much, especially in light of the money and years the non-Cubs have received.

Thanks for answering our questions, Mr. Dopirak. I saw you play quite a bit in your time at Lansing, and you seem to be a popular guy with your teammates. Are you the popular guy in the clubhouse, and who is your best friend on the team? Many prospects have had down years in Daytona. How tough of a hitters' park is Jackie Robinson? In connection with that question, what do you attribute your struggles to this season? Ballpark? Great pitching in the league? Fatigue from playing in the Arizona Fall League? Last question, how's the defense coming along? What do you feel you need to work on most to improve in that area? Keep up the good work. You are one of the most talented and powerful hitters I have ever seen. Keep your head up. There's more accolades to come in your bright future.

Yeah, 1 arm could go a long way in the pen. Ohman, Williamson and Dempster is a nice start. Even nicer, if their roles are lessened due to another arm brought into the equation. I wouldn't spend the money to get Wagner. I would pay anything Ryan wants, but again, I don't see him going anywhere. So, I could settle for a Mesa/Wickman type closer brought in and a trade for a decent lefty.

Look toward Tampa for that hilarious scenario. As for Dusty, I mentioned Seattle in my last post. They aren't doing too well, and I could see that being a decent fit in some ways. Doesn't Dusty's kid still live in the SF area? Seattle would be the closest to home position he could possibly get. There are some players in place to at least make an interesting team the next few years. He would have veterans Beltre, Sexson, Ichiro, Ibanez, and whoever's catching to throw out there everday. Of course he would also be forced to play guys like Reed, Snelling, and Morse. They have spent money in the past and may do so again. And there's always Felix Hernandez for him to run into the ground.

That sounds like the most feasible plan, minus #2. I don't think Ryan is going anywhere. And I'd like the bench to be much different. I'd replace Hollandsworth with an OBP machine like Mark Sweeney or Branyan. I'd let Neifi go, so there's no temptation to play him if Lugo or Walker goes down. I'd try to replace him with a guy that can play several positions WELL and take a walk, like Frank Menechino, Chris Gomez, or Marco Scutaro.

Corey is a run producer, but I think a 6th hitter is his peak now. Even if he hits .320, I don't want him hitting 3rd if his walk rate is unchanged. Sure he would knock in runs, but the #3 hitter sets the tone. I'd rather have a guy in there who's gonna get on base 40% of the time and hit for average and power (see Lee, Derrek).

It is gonna be interesting. What positions are gonna be opening up that may attract Dusty? I do think he is tiring of this team and the city. I do think that Hendry would like a lower profile manager at the helm. So much was expected of Dusty's Cubs. I think it would be in everyone's best interest to part ways. Dusty can go manage under less scrutiny in Seattle or somewhere. Hendry can get his first firing out of the way and possibly buy himself some more time (if Dusty is back and the Cubs finish under .500 this and next year, Hendry has to go too) by starting in a new direction. And most importantly, the Cubs will be a better team for it all.

I didn't mean that the offense has helped his ERA, just that the offense has given him wins (moreso in the past than this year), and his ERA is based a lot on luck. .284 Batting average against 1.38 WHIP Less than 5 Ks/9 This is the worst season of his career statistically, but the best in ERA. BAA, WHIP, K/9 and walks are at a career worst for him. He's not good.