Tracer Bullet

My 11-year old nephew is with me. He wants to see Z pitch. No one said your nephew can't go to the game...

Only chance Murton would get to play everyday. ...is if every OF and 2B in Chicago, Iowa, and maybe Tennessee was injured.

Agree. If anything, Fontenot takes over to 2B when DeRosa moves to the outfield due to Jones piss poor bat. Also, I think Lou will try Pagan against LHP to try to ease Pie back in as a regular. Lastly, Theriot looks like the more consistent out there out of all players that have been shuffled around, so he's not going to sit for Cedeno. Jacque has been better than DeRosa lately. DeRosa has been pretty bad here for more than a month. He could use some rest. As bad as the offense has been, is there any reason we can't just go (not in this lineup order): Murton LF Pie CF DeRosa/Jones RF Lee 1B Theriot 2B Cedeno SS ARam 3B Soto C That group can't really be any worse than what we're getting right now, can it?

17 abs at this level over a period of several weeks isn't really giving him a chance to show much is it? No, it's not. I'd pick Pagan (don't need 6 OFs) or Fontenot (don't need 4 second-basemen), but that's just me. It's rather sad that there are so many viable candidates for demotion/DFA.

Our lineup included 4 second-basemen last night. I can't see why it would struggle to score runs...

Bye Bye, Cedeno. Good riddance. not a CedenoFan? Do I have a reason to be? 24-year-old SS for what is apparently your favorite team that sported a .921 OPS and .967 OPS in 2 stints at AAA when he was 22 and 24. Those 2 partial seasons total about 500 ABs. That's pretty good.

Our strategy appears to be: fill the lineup with as many left fielders and second basemen as humanly possible. But we're contending in the division, so it must be a good strategy...

Hendry's idiocy knows no bounds.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Murton put up a better than league average OPS last season at 24. This year he's been yanked all over the lineup so that Cliff Frickin Floyd could get more ABs. He's proven that he can get the job done already - look at his numbers over his 700+ career ABs. If the Cubs determine Murton's value based solely on his performance in the next few weeks...actually, that would be about as dumb as I would expect Hendry and Lou to be. When did Murton get kid gloves? This is such a BS statement. Kid gloves would mean allowing your 25 year old player that's had some success in the minors and the majors play through a slump early and not jerk him around. But they forced him to learn a new position at the major league level and never gave him consistent starts. Meanwhile, our huge FA acquisition can only hit in 1 spot in the order, even when we could really use his SLG lower in the order, and can play only the easiest defensive position, even though we really could use him in RF, or else he (or at least, everyone thinks he) will totally suck. Kid gloves? Soriano's getting infant glove treatment over here. We're in a pennant race, it's time to start taking one for the team...that is...as soon as you get off the DL.

That was extremely disapointing to me as well. I think that told me all I need to know about Lou's feelings on Murton at this point. It was essentially the perfect storm for Murton to play. LHP on the mound (no excuse that he can't his RHP); LF open (no excuse that he can't play RF). Still, Lou essentially chose Fontenot over Murton. Not a good omen. Especially coming off Fontenot's July. There's absolutely no excuse for Lou to use at this point. Anything short of playing Murton in LF when Soriano is out is the equivalent of saying "I think Murton sucks." There's really no other interpretation at this point. It's goofy that Murton wasn't traded before the deadline. He could have been a big part of a package deal to get some immediate help, but instead we keep him, and for what? Lou would rather see Mike Freakin Fontenot on the field. I said this a few weeks ago: the opportunity cost of not trading Murton far outweighs what he will contribute as a Cubs player. He shouldn't still be here. What is the problem with a guy that is hitting .308 with a .360OBP. Fontenot's numbers this year are better than Murton's in almost every aspect, including power. I'm all for getting Murton on the field, but Fontenot has contributed in a meaningful way this year, without using his lack of regular playing time as an excuse. As I'm pretty sure I posted just a page or two ago, Fontenot's July numbers are beyond Neifi-level bad. Sub .500 OPS (.269 OBP/.211 SLG). Yes, it's just over 70 ABs and yes, his overall #s are still good. But 70 ABs is nearly half his career ABs at this level, so he's basically been terrible as long as he was on fire earlier. So who's the real Fontenot? The 1.000 OPS from June? The .480 OPS from July? Or the .820 OPS he's sporting now? I'm guessing he's somewhere below his current production. His June #s were never sustainable. Near .400 AVG, but only .025 ISoD. He hit 7 doubles, 3 triples, and 3 HRs in June, but never had a single XBH in all of July. I'm guessing he'll get on base around .350-.360 and SLG just above that, for an OPS just above .700. Not bad at all for a rookie 2B, but he's not much of a prospect and there's really no reason to give him the bulk of the ABs over DeRosa or Murton (who OPS'd over .800 in his first full season).

Isn't it "LF'er in RF, RF'er in CF" etc etc? Floyd's a LF and Jones is a RF. Or am I missing something? I think Soriano is more of a RF talent than LF, I think of Jones as a LF for some reason. Either way, he's not a CF I got it. I agree on Soriano. I also agree that JJ isn't a CF, though I don't know which corner I'd put him in. Probably neither.

Isn't it "LF'er in RF, RF'er in CF" etc etc? Floyd's a LF and Jones is a RF. Or am I missing something?

That was extremely disapointing to me as well. I think that told me all I need to know about Lou's feelings on Murton at this point. It was essentially the perfect storm for Murton to play. LHP on the mound (no excuse that he can't his RHP); LF open (no excuse that he can't play RF). Still, Lou essentially chose Fontenot over Murton. Not a good omen. Especially coming off Fontenot's July. There's absolutely no excuse for Lou to use at this point. Anything short of playing Murton in LF when Soriano is out is the equivalent of saying "I think Murton sucks." There's really no other interpretation at this point.

I really don't understand Lou's use of Fontenot. I somewhat understand Theriot, since he was the only SS that was putting up acceptable #s in the first half (although, what's the point of having Cedeno up right now? Are we actively trying to stunt the development of Murton & Cedeno?). But Fontenot was beyond horrible in July. Yes, it's 70 or so ABs, but that's almost half of his career ABs - and he was abysmal (sub .500 OPS). Yet, Lou runs him right back out there. Is it because he's a second baseman, so it's more acceptable to be terrible offensively than it is for a corner OF? I wouldn't mind Fontenot, but with DeRosa playing well, he should be at 2B.

2 for 4 with a walk his last start, 3 for 10 with 2 walks since being called up. 2/6 with 2 BBs and a double in 2 starts. After last night, 1/5 in PH chances. It bugs me to no end that Lou didn't replace Soriano with Murton last night and that Murton will, at best, platoon in the OF even now. Didn't get the start against the LHP, didn't get to sub when the starter at his regular position got injured. I've joked before about what Murton must have done to Lou, but I'm partially serious. Matt must have pissed Lou off in some way. Maybe it goes back to the dispute over the change in Murton's stance/swing, maybe Matt said something to Lou or others about his reduced role, maybe Lou got beat up by a redhead when he was a kid and holds it against all redheads. I wish I knew b/c the complete lack of playing time for Murton defies all explanation, given the information I have.

Is Adam Wainwright really hitting 8th for the Cardinals today? TLR's genius at work again?

What part of 17 baserunners allowed in the 6IP since returning from injury indicates this would be a knee-jerk reaction? He's been terrible since coming back. The way Dempster's pitched since coming off the DL, he's lucky he's made it this long without this type of a blowup. I'm not Dempster's biggest fan, but he wasn't terrible before going on the DL. It's been 6 IP since he came off the DL and "I hope someone beats him up after the game" - that's knee jerk.

http://www.pinkmonkey.com/studyguides/subjects/biology-edited/chap23/b13.gif

It's actually not that hard to believe, imo. ARod fell quite a bit in a couple of my leagues (by "fell" I mean to the late 1st round). I could see getting this: ARod - 1st Beltran - 2nd Peavy - 3rd Mauer - 4th Z - 5th Hafner - 6th CC - 7th Gonzo...whenever - he's been dropped in 2 of my leagues, he's not having a great year.

Why does this thread bear a copyright symbol?

Actually, Bill - you're on us.

You should not talk religion in the workplace, ever. Agreed. Potentially divisive subject matter isn't good for the workplace environment. Politics and Religion are big no-no's for me. Politics, religion and money should never be discussed in mixed company. The three things you should not discuss in mixed company are politics, religion, money and sexual conquests... The four...among the things you should not discuss in mixed company...

Unfortunately for Detroit fans, this is not an Onion article. I loved this. It's like a warning. "I know you don't think Dave Dombroski is dumb enough to add a guy with a .673 career OPS that's set to be paid $6.5M next year and $7.25M in 2009, but he did acquire Neifi last season. He's now collecting $2.5M to put up this line: .172/.221/.266/.286."

Whose side is that supposed to support?

Well just as an exercise I'm going to figure out who I'd take from this team if I had to take into account age, contract and production. ARam Zambrano Rich Hill Marshall Marmol I guess Theriot doesn't make the cut, but he'd be in my next group with Murton, Wuertz, Lilly and maybe DeRosa. Now if you're asking who are the five best players on the team, Theriot doesn't even come close. I believe the original exercise took into account age, contract, etc, but I'm not sure if it was limited to guys on a 25-man roster or not. Certainly Theriot would be on some people's top 10 list of Cubs, but top 5 in the league?