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According to the story below, Dusty had Walker penciled in to start at 1B last night (for D Lee) and Macias at 2B. Unless Hairston was slotted for CF, this is crazy. ](*,) http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2101943

I'm not offended, but I don't see how the quote above is relevant. My point was that Grieve consistently hit in the range of a .270 AVG and .370 OBP when he was in the majors. I think looking at his stats over full seasons when he got 500 ABs, rather than the 150 he's had in Iowa this year, provides a more accuate predictor of future performance. If you prefer, here's his 2004 stats over 230 ABs w/ the Brewers: .261/.364/.415

I'm not President of the Ben Grieve fan club. I'm just saying he's a better alternative than Macias. I would like to point out that you haven't claimed that I'm wrong about that. Do you really prefer having Macias and his .260 AVG with a .280 OBP and no power? BTW - I'm not sure the fact that Beane trades a player or lets him walk suggests that the player stinks. If I recall, Beane let Tejada walk a couple years ago. And I think he traded Mulder and Hudson too. I'm not saying Grieve is as good as, or close to as good as, these guys. I'm just saying Beane "dumps" players for reasons other than ability.

Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly. I also would rather have the guy who can "do better" against major league pitching. Here are the ML career stats for 2 players in the Cubs organization. You tell me which one "will do better against major league pitching." Player A - .257/.300/.376 (hasn't had an OBP over .300 since '01) Player B - .269/.368/.442 (hasn't had an OBP under .300...ever). I think you can figure out that Player A is Macias, and B is Grieve. I'd rather have Grieve as a PH/sub because I like guys that make fewer outs. If he gets on base at a .370 clip - I'll take that over Macias and his sub-.300 OBP. In fact, here's Grieve's stats for the 4 seasons in which he played approximately 150 games/year, which gives us a better sample size (OBP/SLG/AVG): 1998 Oakland Athletics .386 .458 .288 1999 Oakland Athletics .358 .481 .265 2000 Oakland Athletics .359 .487 .279 2001 Tampa Bay Devil Rays .372 .387 .264 Guy you want as a starting corner OF - no. Guy you wouldn't mind coming off the bench, at least when Macias is the alternative - yes.

You don't get it. No one is saying Grieve is great, or should start. All he has to do is take a walk to be an improvement over what has been coming off the bench. It's not like anyone on the bench is that much better (aside from Cedeno), particularly Macias. Swapping out Macias for Grieve would be a world of improvement. Grieve is more of a major league player than Macias is or Wilson was, and they were on the team. I saw Grieve play at a game at Round Rock. Poor attitude / body language. Seemed unprofessional to me. While I don't like Macias' role with the Cubs, but I'd prefer his hustle and effort to seeing Grieve at Wrigley. Gee, you think that's what all the other teams see too. But he takes a walk. Nothing worse than experts who never see a guy play. Seriously, thanks for your insight. I was thinking I was alone in not think Big Ben was the salvation. Is that my old high school baseball coach? Thinking walks are a wasted at-bat and guys that take them are "soft hitters." Yes Grieve may strike out a bit - taking pitches leads to more walks and more Ks. But if you're going to strike out, at least make the pitcher throw 5 or 6 pitches first. I don't think Grieve is the salvation (I don't think anyone has said that). But when Player A is on your bench hitting .264/.280/.333 and you have Player B in the minors hitting .248/.367/.530 (with 12 homers in 150 ABs), it makes no sense to keep Player A on the team. At the very least bring Grieve up to improve your bench.

My starting lineup: Walker Cedeno Lee Burnitz ARam Barrett Hollandsworth Patterson PITCHER