CubDad4Ever

Based on a smaller sample size. Which comes to be important when evaluating whether Williams is going to going to regress or not. I just dont buy the cubs give the vet the nod every time. Coach L

Come on gooney , i think Mt Ruschmore has thrown decently as a cub starter. Im not putting him in the hall but he is a southpaw who has been overall fairly productive as a cub starter. I think williams fairly , has to prove he will go get it in terms of consistancy and motivation. Thats what hurt him in SF. Coach L. Its time to stop the obligitory Cubs love Vets hate youth crud. Pagan, Marshall , Theriot, Murton , Cedeno, I dont care who is on the bump as long as they keep us in the game.

South side. im just joshin, I dont think Hendry has failed on to many trades. Im not big either way on a bynum move. Beane is actually a good partner for a guy like hendry, they both are willing to be creative in trades. coach L

Yeah , i hate when beane ripped us off giving us Mike Barratt. Coach L Dont deal with him .

Gooney, I think that is one of the best things , i have seen you write. I could not agree more. Coach L. Have a great day.

he has played less games each of the past two years. that is a numerical regression. His age increase and limited fielding ability are also factors sited . Those are facts , whether they meet your or my opinion of Walker is not relevent. Coach L

I also think Walkers lack of durability the past few years has contributed to the teams evaluation of him. Coach L

dude, i remember you called it, willis cy young ,when the trade went down. Damn Nostradamus you are good. Coach L

What intellectually honest non emotional opionions. Coach L

Yeah , i hate seeing hall of famers like maddux, compared to guys who may or may not make it in the big leagues. Coach L

Great work V, i would not differ on that rotation a bit. I think the cubs are going to be okay. They certainly are well under the radar at this point. Whether they can get it done or not , is yet to be proven. Coach L

Goony, i appreciate the honesty in your answer. I too have my doubts about Dustys and other peoples utilization. Im just a recovering emotiholic who is trying to find quantifiable info to inhance my enjoyment of the games , and help me not to break my wifes antique table with a soccer ball. (see game 6, nlcs 2003) Its an interesting topic. Thanks Coach L

You may, it does not make you right, and trying to say overuse comes in an exact set of pitch counts has yet to be proven. I agree some monitering has to be done , especially realitive to how many innings guys have thrown on the way up to the bigs. Buy more has to be proven, or its just i hate Dusty and this fits my argument. Coach L

You cant on one hand claim to be stat oriented, as in obp over all , and on the other hand tell some one they are burying their head in the sand., when they ask a legit question about quantifying utilization patterns. Because no one has defenitive proof as to what equals misuse. I agree at times Dusty can seem to push that envelope. However injuries happen to pitchers on all teams , with all types of managers. We will see , how it turns out. They have to play 162 with or without Prior. Coach L

A couple of things. I have no problem saying the cubs are an average offense, thats probably the case. I do think with all the changes since 2003 , they are moving toward a better than average offense with a potential for more permanence. The Juan leadoff - small ball argument. 1. There will always be a place for playing for a run , to not do so as a blanket statement is as moronic as trying to steal or bunt every time there is a runner on first. So juan brings increased value with his ability to help create a run in a critical situation. 2. I wish he was the perfect leadoff guy , who could run and hit with power , along with walking even more. (rickey henderson) They dont grow on trees. He is good at what he does and is way better than what we have had. I think his approach right or wrong is hit oriented. Because he is a high contact guy , who realizes his lack of power , along with the horses behind him in the order means he is going to draw strikes thrown , more often than not. So i believe he has built his game around hitting the first good one he sees. I have no problem with that as long as he is not swinging at balls over his head or in the dirt. or if he will take a walk against a wild man. I think he is going to bring more good than bad. What that equates to , will have to be seen. Have a good one. Coach L

The book did a great job of dispalying the cultures of power , that led to the look the other way mentality that strengthend the use of roids. Media, baseball execs, players, union all had their hand in the mess. Good read. Coach L

Hildago, has done nothing but backtrack the past two years. Coupled with a desire to start , I never felt he was a viable option. Guys like Sing intrigue me. but i dont know if he would be better served getting full time triple A playing time. I wonder how much Hildalgo has left. Coach L

By the way Goony and Tiger, thanks for the stat comparrison between the two. I thought they were somewhat comprable. Coach L.

As i said many times , when i was being a Nefi apologist. This era (post steroid) is going to emphasize defense much more at premium positons. ss-cf-c. Thats why i argued Nefis salary was not that out of line. It looks like a bargain next to Wilsons, who is an outstanding defender. I feel the cubs are acutually covered pretty well up the middle. Its going to be tougher to put together defense and high ops at those positions. It will come at a premium. (see frucal) thanks Coach L

Minor league numbers matter, but age considerations and skills in other areas do to. Can a player bring other skills to offset a poor start. How highly rated he is also can by players time to prove themselves. Dubois stunk on defense and had poor plate discipline in the bigs. I watched Sandberg live as a rookie and despite his poor start you could see he could make hard contact to all fields, run like the wind. and field with range. Numbers count , but in the context of that individuals situation. Coach L.

Dubois was a player whose triple a numbers , when age related were not that spectacular. At the big league level he was a one trick pony, who whiffed and stunk on defense. I love young players my brother who is a fan thought i was a rookie apologist for a long time. But they have had crappy positional prospects for a while. I too want Murton and Cedeno to light it up. It would help the cubs on many levels. Thanks and lets hope it happens. Coach L

I dont think its a matter of giving in to the kids. Dusty finally has some young players that deserve to play. Dubois stunk , Hill crashed and burned. SF did not have a great load of positonal players either. I think the Dusty hates kids thing is way overrated. I again think it is the gms job to shape the roster. I like the makings of what the cubs have, of course its dependent on the top pitchers staying healthy. Even though i read every article i can daily. Thanks for the link Vance. One of the things i most appreciate about the board, is the plethora of info from different sources provided here. Have a great day. Coach L

UK, im with your line of thinking on an eclectic front office. Any ideas on a more numbers friendly person , that would fit with Hughes and Wilken two outstanding but "scout" oriented people. Coach L

UK , i agree with alot of your premise. I was thinking of Maddux myself, when i wrote the last post. He basically ignores runners. I also agree with having an "offensive mindset for your utilization of baserunning" However i still think even great athletes have to fight distraction. There is nothing tougher than going through a read progression and having color flash in or by your line of vision .(NFL QB) and trying to maintain mechanics and focus. So i have to believe even "strong minded" athletes are affected some. Just my 2 cents worth. Great takes by both you and Goony UK Coach L

Goony when replicating a movement skill like pitching . any detrimental effect , such as divided attention can and does have an effect. I coach QBs in football. The difference between a big time player and not , is the ability to execute a series of skill sets under duress . Few and far between can do that at a high level. Baseball is no different . It absolutely affects pitchers. How they deal with that situation differs. That being said , i am with you and UK on the importance of OBP at the top of the order, or any spot for that matter. I just think speed is also important. Thanks Coach L