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The GM gets 2 managers. So Hendry will not go until another manager has also failed. I will say though the longer he holds on to Dusty the shorter the string for the next manager is going to be.

Wojos two main points on why Dusty shouldnt be fired is the players and upper management. Did Dusty write this article for him? This reminds me of the Dave Wandstatt years with the Bears. All the National media talked about how great of a job he was doing and how good of a coach he was. Sitting here in Illinois you wondered what the heck they were basing this on. I agree that the upper management is every bit to blame for this train wreak. I agree that overall the players are not performing up to the levels that they should be. I just have KNOWN since April of 2003 that Dusty is a bad manager. I wondered why the Giants fans werent more upset about him getting booted out after taking his team to the WS. Its because they made the WS in spite of him. The 2003 Cubs Horses got them to where they went not Dusty. If this Wojo guy or Steve Phillips watched the Cubs everyday and were FANS they would understand how bad Dusty is. Lastly what I wanted to comment on in the article is the players hustle and team stats. I understand that players play and managers manage. What exactly has Dusty done to improve this situation. We are last in the league in obp and dont hustle, Yet he benches the one kid that does draw some walks and hustles more than any Cub in recent memory. Wojo you are just plain Stupid to write such an article that you obviously Know so little about. Did you go Fishing with Dusty in the morning?

If we could get Abreu for Mark Prior I would be the first to say "Heck ya" Do they want us to throw in Pierre also

I really like Ryan Freel and I think you guys underestimate what it would take to get him. He has several things that are of great value to anyteam. OBP, Speed, Versatility and Cheap. Some reason I dont think that Dempster and Ohman get this done. Probably more like Howry, Ohman and young starter. Which honestly I would do if I were in charge of the Cubs.

Wow Jim Hendry is here!!!!!

I think the 2 main reasons the Cubs wont let all the kids pitch the rest of the season are 1. Dusty just wouldnt do it. He would have Scott Eyre starting games or something. So Dusty would have to be fired first. 2. They are in some sort of weirdo world where they think the fans will be upset if they do it. Which is just not true and secondly if you are running your team to not make the fans upset you are probably running it wrong.

good point about Carr and Jl Smith. Didnt CArr used to have like a 15-3 record against top ten teams? He would always lose to MSU, ND(when they werent that good) or some other team during the season that they should have beaten but than always play the top teams well. Now they still lose a couple they shouldnt lose and dont play the top teams well. Like I said MSU doesnt have any discipline. Stupid penalties, blown assignments have just killed them the last couple of years. I would put this right on the head coaches shoulders. Talent they have discipline they dont. He also took the running option away from Stanton which was not a good idea. Stanton is a fine passer but what he really is is a good athlete and taking the running away limits his overall ability.

If we were to trade Pierre to the White Sox I actually wouldnt mind getting Brian Anderson in return. I know he has struggled so far this season but can become a very solid CF in the next couple of years. Adding any kind of position prospect would be a plus for the Cubs. Exactly what kind of PR problem would it be to trade Maddux? I dont think the Cubs owe him any kind of loyalty. If we can get any kind of prospect for him I would jump at the chance. Walker for some reason isnt going to garner much. Since Patterson isnt going to be up next season and they probably wont give Fontenot the job and the last thing we want is Perez and Womack doing it I would just as soon keep Walker for at least one more season. Unfortunatly we have probably burnt that bridge and he will not be coming back. I wonder if Murton can be taught how to turn the DP.

I think if Murton was coached properly the power would come. It has obviously has become an issue with the coaching staff becuase he has been trying to "turn" on inside pitches the last couple of months. The problem is he is to slow on them. He is getting them early in his swing and hit grounders instead. The way to correct this would be to open his stance a little and may need to stand closer to the plate. He would probably not be as effective going to other way with outside pitches though. Would probably lose some average but gain some power. If he would keep his patience though with the added power more walks would come making the package better overall.

I dont think Patterson is ever going to be a "stud" However what he was and is going to be is a good defensive CF with some pop and speed. If he was left at the 6 or 7 spot in the order where he belongs he would probably still be there with the Cubs being effective. The Cubs management however wrongly thought speed was a more important tool from a lead-off man and tried to force Patterson into something that he is not nor will never be. Patterson will never have a lead-off mans obp. I do blame Cub coaching for this but also upper management for never finding a real lead-off man and forcing Dusty to wrongly put Patterson into that role. To me this is just another way to show how imcompitant the whole organization is run EDIT: While looking at CPatts stats I noticed that Latroy is also having a solid year while being used correctly. Notice I didnt say great but solid

John L Smith has not been able to get any discipline in Michigan St. They will probably start out hot again and than faulter and he will be fired and we will be on our 3rd coach since Sabin. I am not trying to start a nasty feud with the ND fans but it wouldnt surprise me if MSU beat ND again, than lose to Mich two weeks later and be lucky to go 7-5. About Mich and Carr. At least Carr has finally realized that Herrmann is a lousy Def coordinator. Well I dont know if Carr figured it out or he was forced to figure it out. This is unlike Dusty who still has all of his lousy coaches from last yrs disaster

Personnally I wouldnt mind if he played cf against every LHer. Actually I wouldnt mind if he just played CF the rest of the year while we trade slappy after a couple of good weeks. Maybe we can actually get a prospect for him. I would bet that Pagan would end up with a higher obp than slappy.

Cubweiser I dont think you should be so hard on Michigan. I really think that last year should have been a serious wake up call to this team. They most certainly have top ten talent. They should beat everyone on their schedule with the exception on ND and OSU. As much as it pains me to say this I can see them winning one of those 2 games and going 11-1. Am I mistaken by saying that their road Big Ten games are OSU, PSU, Indiana and MInnesota. With a improved Chad Henne and a healthy Micheal Hart and a growing Manningham to go along with an always solid offensive line and Steve Breaston, Michigan can be pretty good. They also can underachieve and go 7-5 like last year. After MSU beats ND this year they will be lucky to go .500 the rest of they year and not make a bowl game. Oh wait a minute that is what they have done the last 5 yrs. GO SPARTANS

I think since Dusty Dumps is feeling the pressure he is going to fire Rothschild this week. Dusty will hold onto his job until late July.

Really what would the Cubs need to do this season for a Dusty extension to look good to the fans. The only way possible is for the team to actually get into some kind of playoff chase, I dont mean within 10 games, I mean a legitimate shot in Sept. Personnally I take anything that the Cubs do for the rest of the season like I am taking Slappys recent upturn TOO LITTLE TOO LATE If Dusty somehow has a job with the Cubs next year I will not watch at all.

Since Neifi time is coming has anyone noticed Nevins #s since he has been inserted into LF. I think 3 for 18 with no extra base hits and 3 walks coming into today. It is becoming increasingly clear why we needed to get Murton on the bench.

Not to sound like I dont know what is going on but is Rusch really going to come back as a starter? Are you for real?

I wouldnt give Jason Schmidt more than a couple of million for one year.

In the original article it states 6 ideas that would improve the Cubs. IF we would seriously entertain trading Mark Prior I would just suggest that we get Bobby Abreu, which I think could be done if Prior is thrown in the mix. I am not against signing Lee I just think that Abreu would be a better fit(more productive and LH) with the players we already have. Also than Jones and Murton could platoon in LF. Than money not spent on Lee could be used to add pitching. Also CLee does not have more power than Abreu. Abreu has a higher career SLG%. If you go by HRs CLee may be better however the doubles and way higher career obp would easily offset any advantage CLees more hrs would provide. Even if it is a cleanup hitter the Cubs would be better with Abreu. If than by some miracle Walker was resigned and an intelligent manager was added we could have a possible lineup Walker 2b jones/murton lf DLee 1b Abreu rf ARam 3b Barrett c Pie cf Cedeno ss Than if Zito was signed a rotation of Z Zito marshall 1 out of collection of youngsters in system and another solid starter added through trade or free agency. I know this leaves the starting pitching staff a little questionable however probably not as questionable as it has been this year. The lineup would be pretty good though with the opportunity to produce and let young players develop. Keep the Bullpen intact and improve the bench and I think we would have something here.

I didnt think he had 100 but at least I didnt cheat

Phil Nevin

I am for adding a corner outfielder with some power. However I would rather we get a LH one. I would sell big to get Abreu, who also has been great and Wrigley. Having Lee, ARam and Lee in the middle of the order scares me. I like Lee, Abreu and ARam alot better. If we were to trade Prior I certainly think he could be packaged to obtain Abreu. I would defineatly want to add at least 2 starters in the off season then assuming we are not going to resign Maddux

Hey stop that I am eating lunch

Pierres obp might reach .300 today.

I think it is obvious that Dusty is panicking. His recent interviews,his benching of Murton (still the only position player to be benched this season), the fact that he is going with his guys. It really only shows how bad of a manager he is. I am actually beyond caring how bad Dusty is and how stupid his moves are. What is really getting to me now is Hendry not only asssembling a bad team, he is not doing much to correct it and blindly still defending a stupid hiring in Dusty Baker. Dusty has done nothing here that has warranted this kind of loyalty. I would contend that Dusty underachieved with the 03 team and absolutely got out managed in the post season. He also got out managed in the 2002 WS. So basically all of my Cub wrath from now on is going to be directed at Hendry.