cheapseats

I will always take the word of a guy named "cheapseats" when it comes to value dates. As well you should. :) I went to about 25 games last year, and paid as little as 99 cents for tickets. Scalpers don't always make money on Cubs tickets. :twisted: For what it's worth, I prefer the upper deck (518, 523, and 527) to most 200 level seats.

It won't happen, but Sosa would be a great platoon option with Jones in RF. Sammy wasn't good at all in 2005 overall, but his splits against lefties were good: .370 OBP and .471 SLG. That's better than Jacque does against righties. If Sammy does go to Pittsburgh, bleacher seats for the first Pirates/Cubs game at Wrigley instantly become tough tickets.

There were indeed 6 value dates last season. I went to four of those games. The entire Padres series were value dates, and there was a Reds value game, a Mets value game, and a Rockies value game.

1. Bradley is younger 2. Bradley is faster 3. Bradley is a better defender 4. Bradley is a switch-hitter 5. Bradley has (a bit) more power Other than that, they're identical.....I'd rather have Bradley as my 2 hitter than Walker, by a comfortable margin. Position-specific production be damned. But we can't just ignore position-specific production. If we trade Walker for Bradley, who plays second? Neifi Perez? Neifi would be a better defender at second, but the team would suffer because of Neifi's nonexistent offense. As for the Bradley arguments: 1. Bradley is younger, but it doesn't really matter since he'll be a free agent in 2007 as will Walker. 2. Bradley's stolen base % is .66 and Walker's is .64. Neither are anything to write home about. 3. Bradley's defense is certainly better than Walker's, but he'd be playing RF, where he has been very average thus far in his career. 4. Neifi Perez and Jose Macias are also switch hitters. 5. Bradley's IsoP is slightly better than Walker's, but Walker's is significantly better than Neifi's. All that said, I would have much rather had Bradley than Pierre. Bradley's career OBP is mighty nice.

I really don't understand why there isn't more demand for Walker. Soriano was traded for Wilkerson AND Sledge. Walker's OPS was higher than Soriano's last year, and his defense is better than Soriano's. I'm not sure why we'd want to trade Walker for Milton Bradley, who would give us Walker-like production from a corner OF spot.

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story.asp?ID=145970 It looks like Casey to the Pirates is a done deal.

Barry Bonds. 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

Are you referring to the supposed big trade at the end of May? The Cubs did indeed talk with the Mets and the Marlins about a big trade that would have involved Latroy and other Cubs for an outfielder and a reliever. The Cubs ended up just dealing Latroy to the Giants in a smaller deal. If you're referring to something else, I'd like to know about it. Levine is more trustworthy than anyone else in Chicago sports radio.

Nope, I don't believe Walker will be a Cub this year, and I think that's a shame. His VORPr was exactly the same as Alfonso Soriano's last year, and he's a better defender (still below average, but better than Soriano). I'll hate to see him go. Would you bat them 1-2? Not necessarily a good idea. Furcal and Pierre both came to bat 81 times last season with a man on first and less than 2 outs. Both players hit into 13 double plays. The double play percentage works out to 16%, roughly one in every six opportunities. Neifi's DP% was 22%, so either Furcal or Pierre would be an improvement, but we already have Todd Walker, whose DP rate was just 9%. I'd actually rather hit Murton and Walker 1-2 than pick up Furcal and Pierre. Does anyone honestly believe Walker is going to be a Cub this season? IMO the only reason the Cubs picked up his option is because at that salary it makes him an extremely valuable trade commodity. Along with some young pitching he is probalby going to be the centerpiece to any deal that brings in a major upgrade to the outfield.

Would you bat them 1-2? Not necessarily a good idea. Furcal and Pierre both came to bat 81 times last season with a man on first and less than 2 outs. Both players hit into 13 double plays. The double play percentage works out to 16%, roughly one in every six opportunities. Neifi's DP% was 22%, so either Furcal or Pierre would be an improvement, but we already have Todd Walker, whose DP rate was just 9%. I'd actually rather hit Murton and Walker 1-2 than pick up Furcal and Pierre.

:?: Levine was first to report the Sosa/Hairston trade. Levine was first to report the Nomar deal. Levine was first to report the Enrique Wilson signing. Levine was first to report on the Corey Patterson demotion. Levine was first with the Dubois for Gerut trade. Levine was first with the Ozzie Guillen contract extension. etc The only reason I've ever heard anyone complain about Levine is the deal that was supposed to happen in late May that would have involved a reliever and an outfielder. When the deal didn't happen, lots of people assumed Levine made it up, but it later came out that the Cubs had talked with the Mets and Marlins about such a deal, but decided to go with a smaller deal instead, sending Latroy to the Giants for Aardsma and Williams. I think Levine would make a lousy GM, but he's a very reliable reporter.

I'm a big fan of Cabrera, but how is he "better than Pujols at a younger age?" Cabrera's highest season OPS (this year) is a few points lower than Pujols' worst season (2002). Cabrera is 22 now, and Pujols was 22 in 2002. I'd call Pujols the better fielder, too. He was better at third than Cabrera, and he actually played short in a game in 2002. There's no question that Cabrera is a better value than Pujols. Pujols is the second-best 1B in baseball this year and makes $11 million. Cabrera is the second-best LF in baseball this year (behind Jason Bay) and makes $370,000. I'd be glad to have them both, of course. :wink:

Maddux will be back. Wood, if the planets are aligned, will be back. As for the fifth starter, who knows? Williams needs some work, but he was an excellent pitcher in 2003 - he was better than Matt Clement that year. If the Cubs bring Dempster back, he might start, but I'd prefer to see him in the bullpen again. If the Cubs bring Rusch back, he might start. Don't give up on Hill yet. He'll be very good. Mitre is a possibility. When he's good, he's very good, but when he's bad, he's very bad. I think Hendry's plan for this season was to call up Guzman after the All-Star break, but who knows if Guzman will ever be healthy. The Cubs will have money to spend, so they could always go after Burnett or pick up a guy like Millwood or Jeff Weaver (if the Dodgers haven't resigned him - I'm not sure if they've done so yet or not). Really the bottom line is that our starters just need to pitch better than they have pitched this year, particularly Wood and Maddux. I can't see there being much change in our rotation next year besides the fifth starter, and I think it's likely that the fifth starter will come from within the organization.

I can't recall Dusty calling for a bunt in the first inning, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's done it this season. Perhaps when Corey was leading off and Neifi was hitting 2nd? Earl Weaver said, "If you play for one run, that's what you'll get." And he was right. It's appropriate in some situations to use the sac bunt, but Dusty uses it far too frequently. The Cubs have the 2nd highest slugging percentage in the NL, but we often play for one run. If our pitching was fantastic, I'd feel better about Dusty's strategy, but he often tries to plate one run when we'll need five or six to win the game.

No team in MLB has stolen fewer bases than the Oakland A's. The Cubs have stolen twice as many bases as the A's. The A's have 14 sacrifice bunts on the year. The Cubs have 48. The Cubs have more than three times as many sac bunts as the A's. The A's do not play small ball. They do walk. Oakland ranks 7th in bases on balls. The Cubs rank 27th. I agree that the Cubs should play like Oakland. We should not be bunting in the third inning (which we have done this season). We should not be attempting steals unless we have a 75% chance of success. We should sign players with better plate discipline.

I think there's a pretty good chance that Seattle would part with Randy Winn. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/234674_mtrade30ww.html

Apples to oranges. Although Tony Clark only has a little over 200 atbats, when he does play, he is the third-best offensive 1B in MLB right now. He ranks behind only Lee and Pujols. If I were a Dbacks fan, I'd be happy with the platoon. On the other hand, there's no excuse for Todd Hollandsworth getting playing time over any young player with promise. Todd ranks near the bottom of the barrel of LF's offensively, and he's below average defensively.

What does Joe Morgan have to do with this? :lol: On a serious note, how will this affect Franklin's hall of fame chances?

It's not that I think Levine is perfect - I disagree with his ideas about in-game strategy, for example, and he constantly defends Dusty Baker - but it seems like a lot of people on this board consider him unreliable when he is in fact one of the most reliable of the Cubs reporters. Who would you trust: Bruce Levine or Doug Padilla? As far as Corey being brought back up, once Nomar returns, center will be our weakest position. Corey's defense is better than Hairston's - though Corey's defense is not as good as some believe. Corey has great range, but he often gets late breaks, he takes bad paths to balls, and he overthrows the cutoff man all the time. Those are problems that he should be able to correct. Corey has much better power than Hairston, and it would be nice to have his speed near the bottom of the order. There is an argument that, especially in a NL lineup, speed in the 7 or 8 spot is just as valuable or more valuable than speed in the 1 spot. It's often more beneficial to attempt steals when a weak hitter is at the plate than it is to attempt steals when your sluggers are due up. I really hope that Corey can turn things around and help the team this year. I'm not sure if he will, but the opportunity is there.

Has Bruce Levine ever got anything right? Yes. Corey's demotion, for example, was first reported by Levine. Bruce was also first on the Sosa trade, the Ozzie Guillen contract extension, the trade for Gerut, the acquisition of Enrique Wilson, and the Nomar trade just off the top of my head. A better question is has he ever gotten anything wrong? A lot of people got worked up over his report that a major trade was brewing in late May. That trade didn't happen, but it wasn't because Levine made it up. The Cubs talked to the Mets and Marlins, but decided on making a smaller deal with the Giants - the Hawkins for Williams and Aardsma trade.

So when a manager makes out a lineup card, he should be informed by a player's career numbers rather than his current numbers? That's absurd. Current numbers are the only numbers that matter. Sammy Sosa is exhibit A. Everyone in Chicago thought he should move down in the order last year. He saw himself as a 3 or 4 hitter based on what he had done over his career. The fact of the matter is that Walker is hitting with more power than Helton, Sosa, or Beltran this year, whatever the reason. Walker's IsoP for his career is .150...it's only been over .200 twice...both when he was with the Rockies...*gasp* And it was .194 last year with the Cubs. Let's not be ridiculous. Sosa, Helton, and Beltran could care less if I were being "unfair to them." And I'm not being misleading. This thread is about the Cubs' batting order, and I was responding to a poster who stated Walker has now power. The fact of the matter is that Beltran has been the Mets 3 hitter all season long, but Walker has had better power this year. Todd Helton has been the Rockies 3 hitter all season long. The Orioles have hit Sosa in the 4 and 5 slots for most of the year. Among MLB players with at least 175 atbats, Walker ranks in the top 41% as far as ISOP goes. 3 out of 5 everyday players hit with less power than Walker. However you want to quantify it, Walker has above-average power. The question is whether power should dictate a slot in the lineup. Research shows that batting order makes very little difference as to the number of runs a team scores. Batting order does make a difference as far as individual stats go - Derrek Lee would have more RBIs if he hadn't been hitting behind Patterson and Perez so often - but it doesn't affect team stats much at all. If anything, a team wants its best hitters to get as many atbats as possible. That is why Dusty's 1-2 punch of Patterson and Perez was such a travesty. Also, the batting order may not matter much, but the players in the lineup do matter. Every time Dusty plays Neifi over Nomar or Holly over anybody, he hurts the team's chance to win.

Walker's ISOP is .174. Sammy Sosa's is .175. Todd Helton's is .174. Carlos Beltran? .168. Walker does have decent power. He's had better power numbers this season than Corey Patterson, for example, and most of us feel that if Corey ever straightens out his swing, he should be hitting in the middle of the order.

His "average to below average" speed was good enough for 18 SB in AA and a 78% success rate in stealing bases. As others have pointed out, players his age normally develop power as they continue to play. Doubles become home runs. But he should be playing everyday right now anyway. His runs created per 27 outs is higher than anyone else in MLB. Of course he won't keep up his current numbers, but there is such a thing as playing a hot player. If Murton were a 10-year veteran, there's no way Dusty would have him on the bench. Compare how Bobby Cox uses Jeff Francoeur to how Dusty uses Murton. There's a reason the Braves have been in the playoffs so often over the past decade.

In the longterm, Kazmir for Zambrano will probably be a bad trade for the Mets, but right now, Zambrano is pitching better than Kazmir. He has a higher VORP, a lower ERA, fewer walks, much better runs prevented, etc. Kazmir is ten years younger than Zambrano, and we assume he will get better than he is now, but in the present, Zambrano is the better pitcher.

Walker hits into fewer double plays than the average major leaguer. There are only four guys who have played for the Cubs this year that are better at avoiding double plays.