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USSoccer

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Everything posted by USSoccer

  1. USSoccer
    I think he's down 2 or 3 mph from a couple years ago. I remember him hitting 99 in the NLCS. He was always more effective working in the 94mph range, but even when he really lets one fly it's not as hard as it had been. Was that the game where Beckett also threw one at "99" to Sammy? I had my doubts about the gun in that game. Maybe. I remember Z overthrowing the entire time. I remember Beckett throwing one that Sosa thought was at his head.
  2. USSoccer
    Then execute him as an example to the others. Or they could give him two turns as the 5th starter and then a week at closer to see if he can handle other jobs. "Hi, I'm Jim Hendry. Have you considered a career in management?"
  3. USSoccer
    I'd happily trade them Z. Hill? Not so much.
  4. USSoccer
    I think he's down 2 or 3 mph from a couple years ago. I remember him hitting 99 in the NLCS. He was always more effective working in the 94mph range, but even when he really lets one fly it's not as hard as it had been.
  5. USSoccer
    I'm guessing you are exaggerating a bit. I read about him a couple times. It seems the writers are making a conscious decision to not talk about the so-called QB controversy though, realizing what a waste of time it is to ask for the millionth time whether or not Lovie is thinking about bringing in Griese. Could be. I wasn't reading things very closely, but it seemed that everything was Hester-related. Well it's definitely been limited. I wonder how he's handled the Super Bowl.
  6. USSoccer
    I'm guessing you are exaggerating a bit. I read about him a couple times. It seems the writers are making a conscious decision to not talk about the so-called QB controversy though, realizing what a waste of time it is to ask for the millionth time whether or not Lovie is thinking about bringing in Griese. Could be. I wasn't reading things very closely, but it seemed that everything was Hester-related.
  7. USSoccer
    For the overload of attention he got the last 4 months of the season, I don't think I saw Rex's name mentioned anywhere this weekend.
  8. USSoccer
    That would be a very stupid way to manage. This team isn't good enough to waste starts.
  9. USSoccer
    Putting Dempster into the rotation can not be considered "doing anything it takes to win". It's actually the exact opposite. Dempster has failed over and over again as a starter. What would make this time any different? Leave Dempster where he is. He is. Why do people keep bringing this up? Because it was considered, and even considering something this stupid is enough grounds to seriously question someone's intelligence.
  10. USSoccer
    I'm leaning less and less toward "hurt" and more and more towards "needs to get his head straight and listen to his pitching coaches.
  11. USSoccer
    Making moves and changes for the sake of change is not the mark of a good manager. It is the mark of someone grasping at straws. Players should be replaced if they aren't producing? Sure, Lou has done an acceptable job when it comes to position players for the most part, but would you like to tell me how Angel Guzman wasn't producing and therefore deserved to be demoted to fewer innings and a less important role? The problem here is the decision making process, just as it always has been. Yes, he's started Theriot, but only a true baseball idiot (or Dusty) would have stuck with Izturis and DeRosa after the way Therior started. Hes handled Murton terribly, and that's not all his fault, given the OF Hendry gave him. He makes erratic late game decisions. He's left us short on the bench several times thats to maddening double switches. He insisted on a 12 man pitching staff for no good reason. This whole argument is talk radio/sports columnist boilerplate. All the buzzwords are there. Not "Coddling" players. Will do "anything" to win. This is a bad decision, made for bad reasons, and will probably hurt our overall record, not to mention Guzman's development. At best, it will be break even. There are better options for Piniella than making change for the sake of change.
  12. USSoccer
    I don't buy it. If they could have done it a couple years ago they would have.
  13. USSoccer
    Hendry's extension? That's number one on the short list. Signing Baker? That's on there too.
  14. USSoccer
    It shouldn't even be a possibility, though. Dempster is a proven failure as a starter. Which makes me question Piniella's decision making. The man can clearly read a stat sheet properly based on his position player decisions (for the most part). What about making a failed starter a starter again makes any sense?
  15. USSoccer
    Hendry's extension? That's number one on the short list.
  16. USSoccer
    I wouldn't go that far, but this is a head-scratcher if true. I could see making him a set-up man. I wonder if this means that Z is on the block? Why do you think that?
  17. USSoccer
    What could be wrong with that plan? You mean aside from every part of it? Piniella hasn't impressed me at all as far as his in game management goes. Yeah, he says all the right things, and his lineups and generally sane. I like that Izturis found the bench and he has Theriot starting. However, his management of pen roles is idiotic, and his PH patterns and late game substitutions are not very good at all. And now this. This is a move that makes the team so much weaker.
  18. USSoccer
    So, to sum up, Lou can't figure out how to properly use his bullpen, so he's goingto take an effective 5th starter and dump him into the pen and take a failed starter and okay reliever and make him a starter.
  19. USSoccer
    Will it be okay to blame Lou for this? Yes? Good. This would be one of the stupidest decisions in recent Cubs history.
  20. USSoccer
    I'd prefer he doesn't put the two relievers most responsible for blown holds and leads in hold situations. That's not too much to ask, considering Lou complains about it afterward. He's aware of the problem. He's fixing it the stupid way. What's the non-stupid way? Lean on Ohman and Wuertz every day and let Eyre and Howry rot? What do we do in August when their arms are burnt out? Wuertz is your primary RH set up, with Marmol backing up. Cotts and Ohman can be your LOOGY guys. You don't need a LH set up guy. Handle it like that until Howry and/or Eyre get straightened out in roles that see them coming in with a big lead or trailing, or when Wuertz, Marmol and the LOOGY's are unavailable.
  21. USSoccer
    Condescend much? You must be new here. Subtle dig. If people want to get in serious discussions here, they should bring their "A" game. You can call it condescending, but it's simply summing up a bad argument and calling it out on the table. If someone wants to bring a point countering the consensus in an effective way, fine, but if people keep trotting out talk radio arguments and logic, they should be prepared for appropriate responses.
  22. USSoccer
    I'd prefer he doesn't put the two relievers most responsible for blown holds and leads in hold situations. That's not too much to ask, considering Lou complains about it afterward. He's aware of the problem. He's fixing it the stupid way.
  23. USSoccer
    But then we'll have wasted a month's worth of starts, and this team isn't good enough for that kind of crap.
  24. USSoccer
    Seriously, this is laughable. People are trying to justify this by saying: -Marshall might be just as good as Guzman -Guzman has cramps, so he should be a reliever -Our bullpen stinks; we need Guzman there more than we need him starting And ignoring: -Marshall probably will be worse than Angel, and will almost certainly not be better. -Lou is mismanaging his bullpen now as it is. -They brought up Marmol for depth. Why dump Guzman in the miz too? -A reliever is far less valuable than a starter. -Cramps are no reason to make a guy a reliever. This is really not that hard. Can't the defenders of this idiocy see that the problem with the pen is just as much Piniella as it is Howry and Eyre, and that Marmol makes Guzman redundant? Can't you grasp that 5-6 IP starting is a ton more important than 2 random innings per week out of the pen? That cramping is so incredibly minor that the fact that it hasn't been addressed is a damning indictment of the training staff?
  25. USSoccer
    Point #1 That Everyone Is Ignoring: Marshall is no lock to be better, and the odds are that he'll be worse than Guzman. Guzman is a strikeout guy. Marshall is not. Guzman throws hard. Marshall does not. Point #2: Cramping is no damn reason to take a guy and make him a reliever. If the incompetent Cubs trainers can't figure out how to hydrate a guy, they need to be fired. What are they around for if not for this? Point #3: If Marshall sucks for 2-4 starts, that hurts the team, and we are not anywhere near good enough to waste games because Lou can't figure out how to best use his bullpen. This is the same logic that people didn't grasp about Wade Miller wasting 6 games for us. Those 6 games can never be won now. Had Guzman started them, things might look much different. Why waste more games?
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