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What do you consider leadership and how does it help a team win ball games? I don't care if Aramis uses his teammates' toothbrushes, dresses like a woman, and speaks using only farting noises in the clubhouse. All I care about is his regaining his usual form on the field, and we have no reason to believe he won't. How would taking on a leadership role change the club's production on the field? Is he going to teach Jacque how to hit lefties or give him baserunning advice (don't run to third base on fly balls would be a nice start)? Is he going to help Z with his control or help Rusch quit giving up gopher balls? Maybe he can show Pierre how to get the ball out of the infield or work with Ronny on throws to first? Leadership takes on many different forms.....it doesn't have to be a vocal "rah-rah" guy but leadership by example is something Ramirez could do....like running the basepaths hard, more quality at bats, etc. Leadership does not imply holding Juan Pierre's hand....these are well-compensated professional ballplayers and when an All-Star like Lee is hurt everyone else has to pick up the slack. I'm all for good baserunning and quality at-bats. But the idea that everyone has to "pick up the slack" with Lee out implies that they could have been playing better than they were when he got hurt or that they weren't properly motivated beforehand. The real problem is that the offense would be average at best if Lee hadn't gotten hurt. No amount of leadership is going to turn Jacque Jones into Ted Williams.

Right. That's why many here complain about Jones, Pierre, and Perez. They're mediocre players. They'll probably do better than they're doing right now, but they'll still be mediocre players who are getting paid a lot of money. Jones, Pierre, Perez, and Rusch make more than $15 million combined. That's more than the entire Florida roster. It's enough to pick up a top tier free agent. Okay, so we blame Ramirez for his slow start. So what? Do you think he's playing poorly on purpose? He started slow last year and ended up with a great season. It's fair to blame Ramirez for his struggles, but it's not fair to blame him for the team's struggles. Cubs management, ownership, and coaching gets credit for that.

What do you consider leadership and how does it help a team win ball games? I don't care if Aramis uses his teammates' toothbrushes, dresses like a woman, and speaks using only farting noises in the clubhouse. All I care about is his regaining his usual form on the field, and we have no reason to believe he won't. How would taking on a leadership role change the club's production on the field? Is he going to teach Jacque how to hit lefties or give him baserunning advice (don't run to third base on fly balls would be a nice start)? Is he going to help Z with his control or help Rusch quit giving up gopher balls? Maybe he can show Pierre how to get the ball out of the infield or work with Ronny on throws to first?

Watch how the home plate umpire calls Hill's curve tonight. Sometimes Hill doesn't get a strike called when he should because the curve starts high and breaks so drastically.

Thom and Gracie lament the fact that the DBacks bullpen is being overused.

And the Cincinnati Reds are in 1st place by a mile. They're not as good as their current record, but some forecast systems had them as a slightly better than .500 team this year. That's better than the Cubs were last year despite DLee's unbelieveable season. At least Krivsky had the guts to get rid of Womack (a guy the previous GM traded for) after just a couple of weeks.

Right now Z is a really mediocre pitcher And right now Brad Ausmus is hitting .364.

If Grace were the Cubs manager, he'd tell Z to go score a fat chick.

Now Thom Brenneman is asking if Zambrano is really a good pitcher since he hasn't won 20 games yet. Because wins are the best way to judge how good a pitcher is.

Thom Brenneman just said the Cubs were just on the fringes of the playoff race in 2004. Perhaps he didn't hear about the collapse? :x

too bad whenever jones gets on base, he gets doubled off Well, he came up through the Twins system, and they teach guys how to play the game the right way. :roll:

Didn't we use to have the problem of TOO much power reliance? Now we just suck balls. I love how Kruk was talking about the Reds on BBT. He said the reason they're winning now is because they now have more ways to score instead of relying on power. The Reds, of course, are tied for 3rd in MLB in homeruns.

Jacque Jones swings a red bat.

Because Scott Moore needs a chance.

Perez (backup infielder), Rusch (long man in the bullpen), Jones (baserunner extraordinaire) and Pierre (who will play better once the thermostat hits 90 degrees) make a combined $15 million plus this year - and that doesn't fully account for Jacque's signing bonus, I don't think. So what could we have done with that $15 million - not to mention having Mitre, Nolasco, and Pinto at our disposal (for a trade or otherwise).

Do you think Ohman wears a half-shirt under his uniform? Just wondering...

You know who is getting paid as much as Todd Walker this year? Neifi Perez. And he'll be back next year. Walker won't be.

Unfortunately, our 7-man bullpen is spent. And we just grounded into another DP. Whoo!

But Bynum ran fast on his way back to the dugout.

I think it was actually taken just before he went scrounging for food. Nice guess, though.

Cedeno's batting 315 w/ OBP of 340ish I'll take .300/.400 over .315/.340. That being said I'm very happy with Cedeno. I'm sure we could have worked out a configuration that would have allowed Nomar to stay. Say for a platoon with Jockstrap or somewhere else on the field. Who would you prefer as your utility guy - Hairston, Neifi, or Nomar?

I'm laughing out loud. Really. That's what Neifi does.

DP! It was Inneifitable.

The A's were going to release Bynum anyway, so it wasn't a great move. I really don't think we'll look back at Koronka like we do Dontrelle or Jon Garland, but why give up anyone for a guy we could have probably gotten for free?

Koronka, as part of a package, might have had more value than we'd think. There are several teams that would love to have a cheap league average starting pitcher or even a replacement level starting pitcher. The Cubs farm system doesn't produce hitters, so we stockpile pitching to trade for: Pierre and Bynum?!?