Blueheart05

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Pie strikes out looking 1 out

Grissom singles

Finally a DP ends the inning

Rusch is getting hit all over the park.

Hmmm, Rusch is looking great. Crede homers 4-1

BOOO! Lee would have scooped that pitch...

Cintron doubles 1-1

Ozuna doubles

ARam!

Lee isn't playing today. According to Santo, he'll take another couple of days off. Blanco is starting today. According to Dusty too.

You do realize Steve Stone isn't a doctor, never gives any real solid baseball information when interviewed, usually gives vague answeres to specific questions and has a Paul Bunyan sized axe to grind with the Cubs, right? And he is negative about everything so considering he is commenting about the Cubs has a better than average chance of being right even if he has no clue what he is talking about. Does Stoney speak different on the radio than he does for say his ESPN games? I watched an ESPN game last year and he had nothing but positive things to say about the Cubs -- AND they weren't even playing in the game. There is no doubt in my mind that Stoney is one of the biggest Cubs homers around and it is pretty pathetic that both sides can't let it drop. The Cubs do themselves no good by trying running out of town an analyst who was simply frustrated with a bad team and spoke his mind on the air. There also seems to be a pattern of publicly disgracing anyone who disagrees with them or whom they don't like. My guess is that once Walker is traded we will hear every negative thing that he has done since donning a Cubs uniform. Maybe they even have video surviellance of him leaving a game early, etc. Oh, do not get me wrong. The Cubs have become a PR joke, with the way they tend to handle news and react to things. To answer your question about Stone, he is on WSCR about 3-4 times a week, and is generally critical, snide, and smart alecked about it. I can understand the critical, but it's in the tone of his delivery that smacks of sour grapes and immaturity. Maybe he's playing to his audience/host, since they all tend to be pretty negative about the Cubs. The other thing I don't like is that he typically doesn't offer much insight when he answeres a question. Well, in Stoney's defense, when he's on WSCR its with Boers & Bernstein. Their whole schtick is to be snide and sarcastic, so Stoney falls right into it each time. I, too, have had occasion to listen to Stoney's analysis in other forums and he isn't nearly so caustic. You can't blame the hosts because Stone rotates his on-air appearances (he isn't just on with B&B). Yet, he maintains his nasty tone and lack of insight.

Cubs.com has new Mark Prior quotes. He still contends that he felt fine leading up to this incident. I'll say it again, I don 't think anyone (he or the team) was hidding an injury. The Tribune says this: The best quote:

Todd Walker isn't going to net a 5th starter in a trade and keeping him doesn't guarantee that Neifi wont have the opportunity to "save" us later in the season. The Cubs will probably carry 12 pitchers so I don't see them also having three 2B. Plus, Walker's lack of versatility makes him expendable. 1B is really the only other position he can play (so can Mabry) and odds are DLee wont take too many days off.

He's probably talking about Dusty's "nothing hurts. nothing, nothing, nothing" Was that a lie or did Baker think the discomfort was normal Spring Training soreness? I think it was the latter.

I can predict that as well. Sure, I'd trade him for Brian Roberts. Would you trade him for Luis Matos? Actually, I would trade him for Matos considering he's all that's available. His OBP and power potential would be missed in the lineup but his defense would not be missed in the field. Also, I expect his BA to be in the .280s and not the career high .305 he set last year (.259 with RISP). All things being equal, I'm not sure that he will outperform Hairston enough to justify the potential runs he may give up on defense and or extra pitches he may cost the staff. Of course, the gamble is in giving Hairston (not Perez) a starting position when he hasn't played a semblance of a full season since 2002. I'd take the gamble that Jerry Hairston is the most complete 2B of the three candidates.

What's your opinion? Should he be traded because of his comments? It's easy to say he's greasing his way out of town. I agree. I disagree that he should be traded for the likes of Matos, though. No, I don't think his comments alone should get him traded but I'd trade him in a heartbeat for a more complete second baseman. Since that's not going to happen, and I don't think the Cubs want to go into the season with three 2B, I think he's as good as gone (and if the Cubs can get Baltimore to pay the difference in salaries he'll be shipped out sooner than later).

In the end, he, and not the Cubs, looks bad. Teams, and other players, aren't going to all of a sudden stop doing business with the club. On the otherhand, Walker's current contemptuous remarks coupled with his already established reputation as a one dimensional player may shrink the pool of available teams for which he will be abled to play.

Since there's apparently no market for him, trading him for peanuts would seem to be equally not very smart, especially if you picked up his option. Even if you are human. It wouldn't be the first time a team has made that kind of move. I just think he's making the decision easier for them.

Because Walker is trying to win a starting job? So, you're saying the Cubs would allow Walker's talking to affect their decision of who starts even if he out performs the competition. If they do, they are a more poorly run organization than I feared. No, that's not what I'm saying. In general, I don't think the Cubs mind that he likes to talk to the media (he's done so for the last two seasons).However,there's a difference between being eager to talk to the media and saying "it would be tough" to play off the bench or "they don't always tell the truth." I understand that Walker has feelings but let's not forget that Hendry and Baker are human too. Taking jabs at them in the media then asking for an impartial decision is asking a lot. In fact, it isn't very smart at all considering he (as well as Perez and Hairston) knows they had other plans for 2B.

Because Walker is trying to win a starting job?

I'm also not ready to give up on him. I'm more concerned about his preparation (which can be controlled) than in-season injuries that can happen to anyone.

but despite his backhanded comments about cedeno, neifi is? give me a break - walker has every right to be angry here. What are you talking about? I didn't mention Neifi in that post. If you read this thread you'll see one of my posts where I mention Perez's selfish comments about Cedeno. Right now we're talking about Walker... BTW, why does Walker have a right to be angry?

There's a fine line between being injured and having pain or discomfort. My point is, I'm not sure that he knows the difference between the two. There are pitchers with long careers that deal with ongoing pain. I'm trying not to be cynical however, I do recall Prior saying last year that he's going to have to learn to pitch through pain. I don't see any change. Here we go again I think he needs to do more in the offseason to get himself ready to pitch. Blueheart, Short, sweet, and on point. =D> An illness requiring hospitalization could make that somewhat more difficult. He said he had a trip to the ER he wasn't admitted. Having said that, I agree that the illness set him back (I've said so a few times in this thread). However, this isn't the first time he's come to camp with problemsI which makes it hard to give the guy the benefit of the doubt...Hopefully, he will be ready to go by mid April or sooner.

I'm not so much dissing Team Mexico as I am Team USA and the way they played tonight. The cold, hard fact of it is that Team Mexico brought the pitching tonight, and Team USA left their bats at home. That said, I feel like if the team that beat you isn't advancing to the next round, then you have no business losing to them if your advancement is contingent upon winning. Fair enough!