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USSoccer

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Everything posted by USSoccer

  1. USSoccer
    Baseball is alla bout focus. right now the Cubs have no focus at all. If they focused on a new manager that hold them accountable I'm betting they would respond. The Cubs have the talent. What they need now is the focus. Maybe in the form of a loony manager. Goonie. I have heard rumors he'd like the Cubs job (Davie that is) Baseball is all about pitching, hitting, and catching a round ball. It has no more or less to do with things like "focus", "chemistry", "intensity" than any other job. The reason the Cubs have struggled recently has nothing to do with not being held accountable. It has everything to do with the fact that the talent on the roster isn't that great, and they are without 3 of their best 5 players.
  2. USSoccer
    Replacing a manager with a guy who yells and tries to pull bases from their moorings isn't going to help Pierre get on base. It's not going to help our pitchers throw strikes. It's not going to do anything except provide the illusion of intensity. All that matters is the talent on the roster. And what will happen if Lou replaces Dusty and there's no effect on the team's play? People will say that Lou's intensity "turned the team off", and the players "tuned him out".
  3. USSoccer
    How has it been proven? In the standings. Source?
  4. USSoccer
    I think Kruk is more of a cone of ignorance than Phillips: Prior for Cano, eh? We "need that 2B", eh?
  5. USSoccer
    I don't think anyone should get their half-shirt in a wad over tongue-in-cheek comments about Edmonds. But they should be uptight over something that Steinbrenner says about his employee? When the senile old owner of the biggest baseball franchise in the league starts teeing off (unnecessarily) on the reigning MVP simply because the team got thumped by a rival, people will comment on it. No one is uptight about it. People are stating the obvious-George is losing it and is calling ou that team's best player for no good reason.
  6. USSoccer
    This is why the organization has tried to keep Steinbrenner away from the media in the last couple years. He's losing his mind.
  7. USSoccer
    But Vance, if you give them Pie, who is the Cubs CF for the next generation? Please don't say JP. With the Ramirez/Lee/Cabrera/Murton/Barrett core, you could just have Greenburg play CF and get away with it.
  8. USSoccer
    That would require us selling high. That's not JH's strong suit.
  9. USSoccer
    Again, I completely disagree, but that's how it goes. I think that if you call out the group rather than single out individuals, it can have a positive effect.
  10. USSoccer
    I'd rather have the unknown. With Dusty, you know they won't win. With the unknown, there is a 50/50 chance. The whole coaching staff has to go in my opinion, except Speier. Speier goes too if he doesn't want the interim coaching job. If you go that level of a shakeup, you should also get rid of the dead weight on the 25 man roster, even if it means taking a salary hit.
  11. USSoccer
    Jesus. As much as I hated overpaying for Pierre, I didn't imagine it could be this bad. I need a drink (again). That's an embarrasing OBP for a leadoff hitter. And an embarrasing SLG for a baseball player.
  12. USSoccer
    A payroll cut from the $95-100m range down to $80-85m would be worse. If you couple a payroll drop with the incompetent management team (which was just extended), it would get worse to the point it would take a few years to recover.
  13. USSoccer
    He's not going to hit .228 all season. He's raised his AVG 30 points in 4 games, and his BABIP is way below league average, let alone his career average. He's going to be fine. Whether or not we have enough other guys in the lineup to score runs consistently is another story. As far as his opt out clause, I'm not worried about it at this point. If we go into the tank or soemthing, then I'll be concerned, but he's expressed a desire to stay here ever since 2003.
  14. USSoccer
    None, because I don't think the Cubs will pitch to him.
  15. USSoccer
    I doubt the Pirates trade Wilson at this point. And if they were to trade him to the Cubs at this point, it would take more than Hill and filler.
  16. USSoccer
    What do you mean "you don't have to worry about where he plays"? The poster suggested RF right away and I just said 2B is the best bet. I was talking about immediately, if he were signed. And pretty much all my concerns about a Soriano trade involve future use. He's disgustingly overpaid as a corner OF, he's a defensive liablity at 2B, and he doesn't deserve the contract he's going to get. Not to mention he does nothing to address the enormous OBP problem on this team. Maybe I didn't get a chance to read your post carefully. I'm at work, so bear with me. Your knocks on Soriano are dead on. However, if you're looking for an offensive boost for this year only, he plays 2B until Lee comes back and RF or 2B as the situation warrants. Let him walk after 2006. He'd be a help short term for the offense, I think.
  17. USSoccer
    I'd love to have Soriano on the Cubs. Offer Jones, Rich Hill, and Wuertz...or something like that... I'd play him in RF though in place of Jones. I'd then call up Pie to start in Center. I'd start either Hairston or Theriot at second, whoever hits better. Another idea is to trying starting Hoffpauir at first and Walker at 2nd. It would be great if they could trade Jones, but I'm lukewarm on a Soriano acquisition. If they feel the need to resign him this offseason, they could end up doubling the mistake that was the Jones signing. Soriano is simply not a $10 million player. And he could be looking at a 4/40 type deal this offseason, maybe more. If they do sign him, you pretty much have to play him at 2nd. Pierre isn't going to be benched. You'd put Pie in RF and see what happens. There's no reason to go out of your way to get Hairston or Theriot in the lineup. Goony, You don't have to worry about where Soriano plays until Lee comes back in July. At that point you can worry about where to put him depending on what Jones is doing, Pie is doing, Walker, etc. It's not a terrible idea, depending on the player cost.
  18. USSoccer
    Questioning the shape he's in is one thing. Questioning his effort is entirely different. I'm dissapointed that he's not noticeably in better shape after all the noise about winter conditioning that was made. However, I don't notice a lack of effort on his part. If in 3 weeks he's hitting .290, I'll bet there will be far fewer cries about his effort.
  19. USSoccer
    It looks like the 2006 season's whipping boy is set. 2004 it was Sosa, 2005 it was Corey, and now Aramis is going to get bashed for something that doesn't prevent the team from winning. Aramis is a very good player who got off to a slow start. There's no reason to go bashing him for not "playing the game the way it was meant to be played". Unless he's out there with a cricket bat and a football helmet, he is playing the game the way it was meant to be played. Crticism about "hustle" and "heart" are impossible to prove or disprove. I'm sure Aramis cares and tries as hard as the next guy on the team. It's ridiculous to single him out and take out frustration about the team's play on him. I'd note that I have seen him hustle out infield hits this season that I've not seen him do in the previous 2.5 seasons with us. Additionally, complaining about him staring at a home run is hilarious. I shudder to think what would happen if baseball players, after home runs, starting reacting like soccer players when they score goals. Keep in mind a lot of players look like they "don't hustle" when the team is losing and the player is pressing.
  20. USSoccer
    DFA Perez, Bynum and Rusch. Promote Pie, Wuertz and Aardsma. Bench Jones and try and deal him for low ceiling prospects. East 1/2 his contract each year for the 3 years. If not feasible, shop Pierre for 1 good prospect and 2 mid level prospects. Play Pie in RF. Trade Williams for Choi. Trade Wuertz for Graffanino. Pierre Cedeno Walker Ramirez Murton Barrett Pie Choi P Graffanino Hairston Blanco Restovich Mabry I don't understand your reasoning behind the two moves I highlighted. Graffanino replaces Perez' supposed versatility at a fraction of the cost and about triiples his production. Choi plays 1B until Lee comes back, costs virtually nothing and will produce in that spot.
  21. USSoccer
    At the time Nomar was coming off 2 season where he played in about half the games on average for us. He wasn'ta sound signing, even at $5m. Neither was Jones, but I can't knock Hendry for not wanting to bring back an oft injured player, even at a "discount" of $5m. I can knock Hendry for signing Jones for 3 years.
  22. USSoccer
    DFA Perez, Bynum and Rusch. Promote Pie, Wuertz and Aardsma. Bench Jones and try and deal him for low ceiling prospects. East 1/2 his contract each year for the 3 years. If not feasible, shop Pierre for 1 good prospect and 2 mid level prospects. Play Pie in RF. Trade Williams for Choi. Trade Wuertz for Graffanino. Pierre Cedeno Walker Ramirez Murton Barrett Pie Choi P Graffanino Hairston Blanco Restovich Mabry
  23. USSoccer
    This was predictable going as far back as last summer. Pierre isn't good. He wasn't worth what we paid. I have a sliver of hope he'll pick it up, but I have a sinking feeling that we're seeing the 2006 Juan Pierre right now.
  24. USSoccer
    There were 2 positives last night. Aramis got 2 hits, which has to be his first multihit game in a while, and Marshall pitched well again.
  25. USSoccer
    This sort of cold spell happened in 2004 when Ramirez went down for about 5 or 6 days. Their offense went ice cold and they got swept by like the Brewers and lost 2 of 3 to someone else before Ramirez came back and the team picked it up.
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