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Actually, I don't think you have any idea why I don't like him. And I hate lots of people I don't know and I'm guessing you do too, so I'd be careful casting that particular stone. There are many Cardinals I didn't like b/c they were Cardinals, were good against the Cubs, yet terrible at baseball, generally (I'm looking at you Mr. Vina). There were and are some Cardinals that I actually like watching (Wainwright comes to mind). There are some that I loathe - and Edmonds is at the front of that group. (btw - there are a lot of athletes that I hate that have never been affiliated with a rival of one of my favorite teams, the fact that he was a Cardinal just added to it) Part of it is his HR stare, part of it is the completely unnecessary diving (and the media's and fan's hype of his defense that comes with it). Whatever it is, I didn't like him before he went to the Cards and I really don't like him now. The fact that my favorite team in all of sport signed him when he's a washed up has been and that resulted in what I believe was a stupid move (sending Pie down) makes it worse. It may not be rational to hate or extremely dislike a baseball player (or anyone you don't know), but not everything people do is 100% rational. I'd guess that this even applies to you at times. obviously you can hate who you want to hate. My problem is this takes away from the rational and logical argument against the trade. Most of what I've read has focused on his relationship with the fans rather than the completely ridiculous usage of Johnson/Pie early, and now the indefensible acquisition of a bad baseball player. Oh, I agree. And the gay jokes have made it that much more stupid. But the suggestion that people shouldn't allow their dislike of him as a player to influence their opinion of the move is a little extreme to me.

Actually, I don't think you have any idea why I don't like him. And I hate lots of people I don't know and I'm guessing you do too, so I'd be careful casting that particular stone. There are many Cardinals I didn't like b/c they were Cardinals, were good against the Cubs, yet terrible at baseball, generally (I'm looking at you Mr. Vina). There were and are some Cardinals that I actually like watching (Wainwright comes to mind). There are some that I loathe - and Edmonds is at the front of that group. (btw - there are a lot of athletes that I hate that have never been affiliated with a rival of one of my favorite teams, the fact that he was a Cardinal just added to it) Part of it is his HR stare, part of it is the completely unnecessary diving (and the media's and fan's hype of his defense that comes with it). Whatever it is, I didn't like him before he went to the Cards and I really don't like him now. The fact that my favorite team in all of sport signed him when he's a washed up has been and that resulted in what I believe was a stupid move (sending Pie down) makes it worse. It may not be rational to hate or extremely dislike a baseball player (or anyone you don't know), but not everything people do is 100% rational. I'd guess that this even applies to you at times.

amen Why can't you complain about it for both reasons? The gay jokes are stupid. But the Cubs signed a guy hated by many of their fans (and their #1 pitcher) maybe more so than any player over the last 5-10 years. I don't see why I can't be pissed that the Cubs not only signed a crappy player, but one that I've grown to hate. The Cubs could have signed a bunch of other crappy players that I would have been pissed about, but the fact that I hate this guy and he sucks makes it worse. If the Cubs signed Lenny Dykstra at the end of his career, would you not expect their fans to be pissed, even though he wasn't a bad player?

Your post belongs in that photo, as it is the very definition of short-sighted. You cannot accurately make a definitive evaluation before the guy has played one game. You're vision doesn't even extend into game one of a sample size. It may be likely and trend-supported that Edmonds turns out to be a terrible signing, but it's not a fact and can't be judged at this point with the worst Hendry moves. There is a chance that now playing for a winning team in a ballpark he has raked his whole career (.918 OPS career at Wrigley) results in an .800+ OPS and a dozen HR for a part time player. Edmonds has a .904 career OPS. His OPS at Wrigley is almost exactly his career OPS. So he doesn't rake at Wrigley any more than he raked everywhere when he was good.

Being wrong on purpose doesn't foster intelligent debate. right but everyone has different ideas about what is wrong. i was ridiculed for supporting theriot over cedeno in the starting lineup, including people saying "you're better than that" and accusing me of supporting theriot just to rile other people up. As well you should have been. Cedeno should be starting over Theriot this year. The fact that Theriot is playing well offensively is great, but it doesn't change the fact that it made more send on April 1 for Cedeno to be the starter heading into the season. clearly our definition of this word is very different you're blowing me away with your semantic nit picking. Couldn't you find a grammatical error to bolster your argument?

I get so tired of people calling everyone that criticizes Lou or Hendry arrogant. Yeah I have trouble figuring out what being critical of hapless Cubs management has to do with arrogance. Because it seems petty when the Cubs have a .600 winning percentage, 2nd best in baseball. It's arrogant to think Joe Fan can build and lead the Cubs to better than a .600 winning percentage. People always state that the bottom line win record is what you use to judge a team's management. If you're inclined to dis Hendry as a GM, all you have to do is list Hendry's overall win/loss record as a GM as the thesis to emphasize the point, then throw out individual moves to support your case. But now that the team is winning, with a strong likelihood to maintain that success given the way its built, somehow the record is no longer the bottom line or central factor, and that is the disconnect. If this team gets to WS, that is how the management will be judged. Pie and Cedeno are young. They aren't going anywhere soon and their careers are not in jeopardy. As long as the team continues to win, the petty and overblown complaints will remain petty and overblown; particularly since Lou has proven to be a manager that will play anyone that delivers for him. The role players with the playing time right now likely play themselves back into role players, at which time Lou probably gives a kid a shot again. This is one gigantic pile of BS. The bottom line (W/L record) is not always the best way to judge a GM. It depends on the circumstances and what they had when they arrived (I'm thinking DD in Detroit) and some luck. The criticism of Hendry is he's in a weak division where he's had tons of cash and a great farm system and he's yet to produce consistently good/great teams. Part of that is his inability to hire managers that give young prospects a chance to produce or develop. The other part is his fascination with signing bad players (Marquis, Floyd, Johnson, Eyre) and giving them major roles. Why is there a strong likelihood that this team will have years of success? Is it because we've developed a lot of young cheap talent that is producing for us? No, the one cheap source of average or better production we had was replaced (at times by Cliff Floyd). We have Soto now and that's great, but that's 1 (and, before last year, he didn't have a lot to suggest he was going to be good in the majors). We have refused to let young players that have raked in the minors, preferring to play Reed Johnson or Jim Edmonds or Theriot/Fontenot. Our SP is a mess. We have a very solid top starter locked up, but the 2nd best pitcher on our team last year struggled this year when they messed with his mechanics and is now at Iowa. The rest of our rotation is Lilly (fine) and some combination of Marquis, Dempster, and Lieber. There's some promise with the Seans and other young guys, but Lou's consistently given first dibs to crappy veterans (see a theme?). The offensive guys locked up long term (Lee, ARam, Soriano, Fukudome) are on the wrong side of 30 (ARam will be in a month). Some will produce near prime level for multiple seasons yet, but not likely all of them. And we don't really have any shining stars in the minors looking to take their place in 2-3 years. If this team gets to the WS in the next year or two, that's great. But it's built to win now, not sustained 3 years from now. What gives you any reason to think Pie or Cedeno will get a look in the future? As has been stated on this board several times, this was the perfect year to give both of these guys a prolonged look. But Pie was yanked around after just a few ABs and has now been demoted so we can get more Reed Johnson & Edmonds. Theriot sucked last year and Cedeno tore up AAA. So coming into this season, you would think Cedeno (who is also younger and has a higher upside) would have the advantage. But Lou stuck with the scrappy guy, even after Cedeno came up huge in big situations, Lou still didn't give him more starts - preferring Fontenot. Now Fontenot is the "hot hand" and Cedeno is barely getting any ABs. Not to mention, with the offense clicking as it is, now is the time you can have a "hole" in the lineup and let Pie learn to hit ML pitching (or fail, but at least give him a very long look w/ several weeks of starting 6 games a week). Again - pile of bs.

I really enjoy reading DePo's blog. Holy crap do I wish he were our GM.

You don't say...... :-k Did you just quote yourself to pat yourself on the back?

Being wrong on purpose doesn't foster intelligent debate. right but everyone has different ideas about what is wrong. i was ridiculed for supporting theriot over cedeno in the starting lineup, including people saying "you're better than that" and accusing me of supporting theriot just to rile other people up. As well you should have been. Cedeno should be starting over Theriot this year. The fact that Theriot is playing well offensively is great, but it doesn't change the fact that it made more send on April 1 for Cedeno to be the starter heading into the season. And, at least for me, it had a lot less to do with your position than your rationale.

I get so tired of people calling everyone that criticizes Lou or Hendry arrogant.

quick, someone shoot Edmonds in the leg. Or anywhere, really.

because there is seemingly nothing left for Pie to prove or accomplish in Iowa. he dominated there for two years and still struggled when given (sporadic) time with the Cubs. he needs to be given time to adjust to MLB pitching. going back down and demolishing the PCL pitchers won't accomplish anything except unnecessarily delaying his development even further. they are winning and scoring runs with almost no production in CF against RHP. there is literally no better time for them to stick with Felix and let him take his lumps and adjust. they can afford it right now. who knows if they can in September or in 2009? it is absolutely the perfect time for him to be out there. if they aren't willing to do that now, then i have to wonder if they ever will be. It'll be interesting to see how opinions change if Pie doesn't light up AAA pitching again. Everyone seems to assume that's what will happen, but it's far from certain. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. Nothing is certain. Suggesting that Pie has had a chance or that he's not likely to get better when he faces more ML pitching, as he has at every other level, b/c he hasn't done it in 200+ sporadic ABs is just terrible logic.

I don't see what this has to do with anything. Then you're being incredibly dense.

I'd like to formally retract this post. Thank you. I'd like to take this moment and retract any posts I made similar to that one. Poor Felix. Poor Felix and his .596 OPS over 240 career at bats. If he looked at all like he knew how to hit a baseball right now, I'd be more sympathetic. We really should be getting Reed Johnson more ABs against RHP. Great idea.

The 1/4 with a HR isn't good to miss, but the 2-HR games in the last couple weeks sitting on my bench just killed me.

I have McLouth in 2 leagues. I get frustrated with the 0/4s recently and started benching him more frequently. Every time I bench him, he homers (sometimes twice a game). I've literally missed his last 7 HRs. Point is - if you trade McLouth, let me know and I'll play him every night. Then he'll be guaranteed to suck for the other guy.

I don't saturate him with drills, but work with him maybe once a week. He is still distracted a little. My daughter (almost 5) can absolutely rip - and she does it from the left side naturally. I give him soft toss, but I think he's just not real ready to hit a moving ball. The tee is working pretty good for now - and I'm making him swing lefty because if Ted Williams can do it.... nevermind. I'm not really working wit him, but when I get home from work or on the weekends, all he wants to do is play baseball. We've gone to a couple of minor league games up here this year and he'll watch at least 75-80% of the game. He seems to be really into it so I'll go out and toss the ball to him all he wants.

I'll be thrilled if Theriot keeps this up, but nothing in his history suggests that he will. So let's not go too far. that he will keep hitting .330? no, i don't think you'll get an argument there. can he get on base at a .350 or (outside chance) .360 clip? i can buy that. If his OBP is .350-.360 with a SLG similar to where it was last year and mediocre defense, I think you have to question whether it makes sense to continue starting him over Cedeno. Well, you don't have to question it b/c we know where you stand on that, but Lou should (he also won't, but whatever).

Thanks OMC, I have him swinging lefty off a tee now, and he's three. He'll be swinging like bosshogg's kid before long. My 3-year-old is hitting soft toss already. He throws with either hand equally well (though a little more frequently with his right). Is it too early to start teaching him to swing left-handed too?

What! You can't commend that type of behavior. Bad boy. No dinner for you. Exactly. Don't set precedent for the rest of us. You know what Abe's wife has? A man for a husband. this You know what Jehrico and I have? A sense of humor. All evidence to the contrary...

I'll be thrilled if Theriot keeps this up, but nothing in his history suggests that he will. So let's not go too far.

Nate McLouth waves heartily.

What! You can't commend that type of behavior. Bad boy. No dinner for you. Exactly. Don't set precedent for the rest of us. You know what Abe's wife has? A man for a husband. this

Criticize Lou all you want, but this wouldn't be happening under Dusty Baker. Being better at Dusty in teaching patience at the plate isn't all that impressive. Oh, and I credit Perry more than Lou for this particular change. You're missing the point. It's not just that he's better than Dusty, it's that this team has been extremely patient and productive at the plate. So you credit Perry more than Lou, okay. Who hired Perry to be his hitting coach? It seems like he lets his coaches coach, but ultimately they're carrying out his vision. I often dislike his in-game moves and some playing time decisions, but I appreciate a lot of his philosophies and strategies and overall I can't think of many ML managers I would rather have. No, I'm not missing any point. The original post cited some stats to indicate the team is more patient. The 2nd poster (that I quoted) implied that Lou should get credit for that apparent change by referencing Dusty Baker. I merely pointed out that if you're looking at stats about swinging at bad pitches and the measure is Dusty, you've set the bar too low. I don't think Perry is carrying out Lou's vision. It's not like Lou has been Perry's coaching mentor (a la Torre to Girardi). He hired Perry and he clearly doesn't share Dusty's "it's called hitting" philosophy, and that's great. But Perry brought his philosophy about hitting with him when he joined the Cubs. Hendry gets credit for bringing in some more patient hitters (Fukudome, DeRosa) Lou gets credit for hiring Perry. Perry (and to a lesser degree, Lou) gets credit for working with younger hitters on improving patience. Though some of it may have come from the minors as well. Nowhere in my post did I criticize Lou though some people have been pretty defensive about it. Maybe the "pro-Lou" crowd needs to relax a bit.

Criticize Lou all you want, but this wouldn't be happening under Dusty Baker. Being better at Dusty in teaching patience at the plate isn't all that impressive. Oh, and I credit Perry more than Lou for this particular change. Agreed. Never, ever, ever give credit to Lou. For anything. Glad we agree that the hitting coach, who mentioned patience in an interview when he was hired, would get more credit for increased patience by some of the hitters. But I think you're crazy to never give Lou credit for anything (yes, I realize that was hyperbole - this is sarcasm). He's does some things well and I like some of his philosophies, but he does some things poorly.