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I said this somewhere else and I will bring it up again. Hendry and Dusty are a bad mix. Hendry wants to build thru the system Dusty doesnt want to play young players. Also I do believe that Hendry wanted Dempster to close from the get go. I dont have an exact quote but something he said during spring training on the Score made me believe this. I am not giving Hendry a complete pass (he hasnt fired Dusty, resigned Macias, Perez and Hollandsworth, shouldnt have acquired Lawton, signed Maddux for about twice as much as anyone else was going to pay) I just kind of believe in the direction that Hendry seems to want to take us. I just dont think that he has the right manager to do it. Iowacubfan The first time I heard Harry Carey say that he was a White Sox announcer talking about Jorge Orta

I was hoping that the Cubs would acquire Renteria. Good defense, not a stiff at the plate, still kinda young. I would still take him over nomar and without question Neifi. Whats really funny is for the money that the Cardinals are paying Eckstien they definiatly got the best of the off-season SS shuffling

I really think that this is a case of a bad mix between GM and manager. Hendry seems to believe that the young players in our system have a future or he would have traded several of them to bring in some veterans to help the team. Not only at the deadline but before the season even started. Dusty is probably the worst manager in the last 10 years at player development. He doesnt trust young players nor does he believe he can win with them. He also seems to support the win this season cause. I am not trying to say which one is better. I just dont think that it is a good match. In some NL towns the GM and the Managers seem to be on the same page (Atlanta,St Loius) I also think this is why Dusty was more successful in SF. Brian Sabeon doesnt seem to believe in young players either. I also think that if Dusty managed the Yankees they would probably be about same. I personnally would love to see us go real young next season. At least there would be some more enthusiasm. It just really scares me that Dusty might be back next year with the talent that we might have coming up. At the end of the day I think that it is important for Hendry and his future to realize that if he is going to put his stock in the farm system that Dusty is definiatly not the right guy for the job.

The Yahoo box score of the game said that Zambrano left the game with stiffness in his back

You dont worry about advancing the runner WHEN YOU ARE DOWN BE FIVE RUNS IN THE EIGTH you try to get on base. Hollandsworth didnt do it when they were down by two runs in the 2nd

I kind of hope that we win because I think Carlos deserves it. I also think that staying in any kind of Wild Card contention will only do more damage than good to this team. The sooner we are out the better in my opinion. Actually we are out only the team cant concead yet.

Is it wrong to hope we lose?

Davey Johnson was a favorite of Bill James. Believes in high OBP and didnt have a problem playing rookies. Its been a few years since he managed though. He was so successful that you would think that he might not be interested. If we are going to take on a out of the game for a while type manager I think Jim Leyland would also be a good choice.

I do believe that a little of what Murton does is luck. He does however push outside pitches to right. He does hustle out of the box and he works counts to his favor. These are traits that are lacking in the present Cub lineup. I just find it incredible that a kid comes up, hits 4something and can only get 2 ABs in a week. I guess what I am saying is we must have one heck of a lineup or one STUPID manager. I dont think this is to hard to figure out. Also listening to some of Dustys defenders they point to Choi and Hill as why we shouldnt play young kids. 1st of all Choi was easily the best option at 1st in 03. He was hitting alot better than Karros but Dusty was still getting Karros half the ABs. Then the 1st sign of Choi struggling he was benched. Hill just never got a chance. He has it worse in Pittsburgh where he is sat so Rob Mackowiacs can stink up the lineup. This isnt even close to as bad as he did to Bellhorn. Playing Lenny Harris who wasnt even hitting 200 in front of Bellhorn was just horrible. I am not trying to say we shouldnt have traded choi and hill for lee and ramirez but I hate to hear people say that they failed when they didnt even get a fair chance. If we end up trading Murton for Adam Dunn then oh well, but to sit him while we are playing sub 500 ball and playing three guys in their 30s none of whom is an all-star or probably going to ever help the Cubs win a World Series is just plain stupid. Saying that Murton and Cedeno will be helped by watching losing ballplayers should get him fired immediatly. Except for Patterson who was the last Cub rookie to be given a whole month of starts. Jerome Walton? This may explain why the Cubs dont have players from their own organization in the starting lineup because they are never given a chance. This has been going on long before Dusty got here. Its not even like we have really been contending. We have at best played mediocre ball the last 10 years with mostly veteran guys. I am sorry to carry on but this subject really gets under my skin. This is probably the main reason the Cubs are a losing organization. One last kind of off topic thing. Francoer is playing way over his head also. Not saying he will suck but he hasnt drown a walk yet and his k to walk ratio in the minor leagues was something like 100 to 10

Jose Macias gives us the best chance of winning? I am in search of a new team until Dusty is fired. What was so bad about Jim Riggleman anyway?

Gonzo was on the hot seat for some time before the trade deadline. He was going to be out at the deadline no matter what. The thing with Neifi is Why are we sending out a 30 something who is not going to improve when we could be sending Cedeno out there. He would probably give us at least what Neifi has and will probably improve. I understand that he was signed as a back-up. Just the day he was signed I predicted he would get at least 400 ABs this year. Not because of injuries but because he is obviously a player that Dusty likes. So basically Dusty has taken a player of some value (Neifi as a BACK UP) and used him in a situation he would never be successful at (as a starter) so the fans can only dislike him

Neifi Perez isnt as good as Alex Gonzalez and the Cubs ran him out of town last year. Heck he hit 3 game winning HRS. I am not sure what Kool-Aid anyone who thinks Neifi has been "Good" for us has been drinking. I think its the same darn Kool-Aid the Bill Buckner fans were drinking all those years

Team that i would like to see next year, lined up by position. Lee 1b Fontenot 2b Cedeno ss Ramirez 3b Murton LF Pie CF Burnitz RF Young, Heck yes but alot more exciting to watch than this years team. Now for the team that I am almost willing to be money will be starting Lee 1b Walker 2b Cant have too many rookies will be the reason Perez ss Will be brought in as an insurance policy Dusty will name him the starter the day he is signed and get arrested for insurance fraud midway through the season Ramirez 3b Lofton LF Also brought in as an insurance policy. Hendry wanted to give job to Murton. After not playing at all in April, Murton will finally be named the starter in Mid-May and hit 320 but will make a critical error. He will be sent back to the bench only to start every 10th day. His average will dip to 290 and he will be traded for a more well rounded player in early July Patterson CF Pie was clearly the better player in Spring but Dusty wanted a "proven player" out there. Pie will be sent to AAA After Patterson struggles most of the season the Cubs will land Todd Hollandsworth in a trade and will move Lofton to center Burnitz RF

Whoa, this is InDustyweTrusty, The outfeild is going to be Holla, Burnitz and Lawton. Hairston and Murton just havent proven anything yet. All kidding aside I would bet that Hollandsworth gets more ABs then Murton the rest of the season. This may sound strange but with Nomar coming back I wouldnt be opposed to bringing Corey back up and starting him in center. Especially if we can trade off Hollandsworth. The only stipulation is that he has to bat 8th or Dusty is immediatly fired and has to forfeit any salary that he is due.

Do you think that players preform better under Larussa because of proper useage than under Baker. A couple of quick examples are would Larussa kept Hawkins as a closer after last years failures. Would Larussa kept starting Hollandsworth. These are 2 players that had value except they were/are used in roles they have never and will never be good at. There are other ones also Perez(not an everyday player or bat at the top of the lineup) Weurtz(should never pitch 3 straight days) Remlinger(not a loogy) Macias(not a pinchhitter) Corey(not a lead-off man) Rusch(should be a starter, though in lie of Hill and Williams pitching well should be traded or even better Maddux should be traded) Dubois(Not much value on the bench) Murton(same as Dubois). One other thing about playing young players that I didnt mention in my last post is the enthusiasm they bring to the game. I think it should be the teams goal to start one rookie position player everyyear. I know this is not always feasable but you would only have one rookie everyyear learning while the others helped them and helped win games. Their enthusiasm might rub off on the veterans while the veterans are helping them learn the game.

This may get kind of long so forgive me. I'll start with the subject at had Corey Patterson. If he was handled properly he may at least be a productive player. Ever calling him a future star was a serious miscalculation by anyone who made such claims. When a player has no plate discipline in the minor leagues HE WILL NOT FIND IT IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES. That being said if he was made a 7th or 8th hitter where plate discipline isnt as important, he would probably be a ok hitter now. Trying to make him something he is not is only going to have negitive effects. So hitting him lead-off or in the middle of the order and then trying to change what he is only make matters worse. Basically like several other players, Dusty has missused him to the point he is worthless. About bringing players up through your own system. It has to be the most successful way to build a team. Now I am not saying dont make trades or pick up free agents. I am just saying that ALL of the world champions of the last 10 years(except the 97 marlins) have had a core group of players that were developed in their own system. Last years Red Sox are almost another exception but they do have several key players who they did develop. The Cubs have only developed 2 position players who started more than 3 years for the Cubs in my lifetime. Dunston and Grace. Almost Patterson. They have traded away 3 Hall of Famers who are position players in my lifetime (Brock, Carter, Palmero). Also the Cardinals have two position players in their starting lineup from their system (Molina) Also how many players have they, the Braves, the Astros brought up and used in the last 20 years. These 3 teams are probably the 3 best teams in the NL over the last 20 years and are not afraid to use their minor league systems. For as long as I have been alive the Cubs seem to try to figure out what young players cant do instead of sending them out to play in a role they can be successful at. This isnt just Dusty either this has been happening since I can remember. Heck Tony LaRussa played Molina when he was hitting below >100 in April. He just said go out and play good defense and I will bat you 8th. Whats he hitting now 270. To sum up I have always thought this is why the Cubs are a Losing organization. Playing guys like Hollandsworth and Perez and barely being a 500 team is sad. I would rather be 5 games below with Cedeno, Murton or Dubois(yes i know he is gone, just referring to earlier in the season or last year) then go 500 with Proven Veterans. The young players have room to grow, we pretty much already know what we are getting from the veterans. 500 baseball

didnt Murton actually hit a fly ball with a runner on third and less than 2 outs in a close game on Wednesday. Since no other Cub has done this lately are you sure you dont want him in during the "playoff run" I predict that nothing happens at the deadline.

Iceman I have put some thought into what you said and decided you are absolutely correct. I just dont know how to change it.

Like alot of players Macias has value. Dusty just doesnt know what it is. You can put him in line of several players over the last couple of years that fans started to dislike because Dusty missused them.

That is a funny quote about Neifi. A limited range, low obp, good glove with a little power, who has had a couple of clutch hits. Didnt the Cubs push one of those guys out last year at the deadline to make room for Nomar.