USSoccer

Pat is very good, but Santo isn't a very good color guy at all. I understand his purpose and appreciate his passion, but it's one of the least informative (and insightful) broadcasts around. I think if you put Hughes with someone a little more insightful, you'd have a great combo

Link As Tampa edges ever closer to dealing Huff. Too bad we already have our RF... :roll:

Mine too. You can hear the place go to another level, noise-wise.

I can't think of a single instance of Walker making a baserunning error, and can only think of one throwing decision that was bad. There's nothing to suggest Walker isn't fundamentally sound. There's no relationship between success offensively and "putting pressure on the opposing pitcher". If anything, I think it would be more of a distraction to the hitter, since he sees constant movement out of the corner of his eye, wheras pitchers are used to guys being on base.

And that would be a bummer because with Walker batting second, the notion of small ball goes out the window. Having just one speedy leadoff hitter is not enough. Pierre needs a fast 2-hitter behind him to be more effective. Furthermore, I don't think Walker lays as good a bunt as Cedeno. Walker will square off to bunt, Cedeno doesn't. That keeps the other team guessing. Cedeno can hit to both sides, Walker is a dead pull hitter. When Walker struggles (and he struggles for a long time), he hits too many ground balls. I just see a lot of wasted SB opportunities with Pierre because Walker does not know how to play small ball. He's too dumb and makes too many mental mistakes. My issues with Walker don't end with just his lack of fundamentals, but his less than impressive defense. How many times did we see him and Neifi hack away on the first pitch to hit a pop up when we had a runner trying to steal second?? you've convinced me - walker should definitely bat 2nd. eliminating smallball will lead to many more runs. And how do you figure that? Are you kidding? (I can't spot sarcasm if you had any). Our lack of runs scored in the first inning last year was due to NO small ball. We had too many hackers last year, and Walker is one of them. What does small ball do? It advances runners into scoring position for the big boppers and that requires capable and fundamentally sound tablesetters. One thing I agree is that Walker is a better 2-hole option than Neifi or CPatt, but that isn't much to say, is it? Small ball is a myth. If you get 27 outs in a game, why waste them? If there is a specific situation where the Cubs need to advance a runner, bunting ability is important, but that's not a way to formulate an offensive strategy. The Cubs should value not making outs over making them. And our lack of 1st inning runs was due to the fact that Lee would usually bat with 2 out, and no one on base, because our 1-2 hitters...made too many outs.

The Cubs pen had an ERA of 4.24 last year, tied for 9th in the NL. A 4.00 ERA would've put them alone in 8th last year, between San Fran's 3.98 and Pittsburgh's 4.06. Another interesting note. Aside from the two big pitcher's parks(Washington and SD), the bullpens with the best ERA's pitched the fewest innings. That's not suprising, considering when you have a lot of IP from your pen, it's usually because your starters stink, and middle relief isn't ever good. Which begs the question, if you want to improve bullpen performance, are you better off improving the amount of innings your starters are able to go(whether it's via new players, lack of injuries, new training methods or philosphical approaches) or getting new relievers(especially given the wild variation in relief performances)? I think it's all about starting pitching. You need to make sure you have a staff that is going to consistently go at least 6 IP. You have to avoid middle relief. Middle relievers are almost always the worst players on your team-they are almost all failed starters and innings eaters. If you have SP's who blow up, or aren't durable enough to go 6-7 IP, you have to use the middle relievers or overextend your setup men, which catches up to you by the summer. Given that relievers are so up and down, it seems to be the smart way to build a staff would be to get durable, low BB SP's with solid WHIP and K/9 numbers. Spend money on that, and you can go cheap in the bullpen and get away with it. You can hide your middle relief and save them for mopup type outings, and fully and most effectively use your setup guys and specialists in situations that most favor you, based on matchups, which will also boost bullpen performance.

Agreed. If you are going to make millions a year to play a game, the least you can do to earn those millions is to pretend to care about the game enough to be ready to play. It's a shame that less talented players who do stay in shape 12/365 never see a major league roster. But, if you are going to beat them out of a job and sign that big contract, you owe it to your employer, the fans and those less talented players to show up to camp ready to play. Lee also plays the least demanding position. That's a big help. But I agree with your larger point. I'm not sure I agree with that - if you aren't flexible you can't play first - at least not like Lee does. Less lateral movement in general, less stress on your upper body...depending on the rest of the infield, less stress on your legs (though with Aramis thorwing to him, he does his share of stretching). Certainly less stress on your arm. Less area to cover.

Agreed. If you are going to make millions a year to play a game, the least you can do to earn those millions is to pretend to care about the game enough to be ready to play. It's a shame that less talented players who do stay in shape 12/365 never see a major league roster. But, if you are going to beat them out of a job and sign that big contract, you owe it to your employer, the fans and those less talented players to show up to camp ready to play. Lee also plays the least demanding position. That's a big help. But I agree with your larger point.

I don't mean to nitpick, Soul, but in 2004 Aramis didn't really miss any extended time beyond 5-6 games straight games due to injury, and in 2003 he was pretty healthy for both Pittsburgh and us. 2001-158 games 2002-142 games 2003-159 games 2004-145 games 2005-123 games It's not like he's a china doll. If he's worked on his flexibility and lower body this winter, you shouldn't see any nagging injuries this year.

The Cubs pen had an ERA of 4.24 last year, tied for 9th in the NL. A 4.00 ERA would've put them alone in 8th last year, between San Fran's 3.98 and Pittsburgh's 4.06. Another interesting note. Aside from the two big pitcher's parks(Washington and SD), the bullpens with the best ERA's pitched the fewest innings. That's not suprising, considering when you have a lot of IP from your pen, it's usually because your starters stink, and middle relief isn't ever good.

Are you talking about Rusty Jones? I would love for the Cubs to get his non-union baseball equivalent. Mack Newton? No, his non union baseball equivalent :wink:

I've had it bookmarked for awhile. It's kinda sad to watch the Kerry homer,but if you watch Alou's HR in the 5th, Wrigley didn't seem as loud. Weird.

Are you talking about Rusty Jones? I would love for the Cubs to get his non-union baseball equivalent.

So you think that Ramirez will draw more walks than Lee? Whoops. I calculated that wrong, didn't I? Because Lee will have more walks, he'll show less at bats per plate appearance, so I did that backwards. Nevermind. But, the batting higher in the line up and durability argument I'll still argue. :P I am not going to argue with durability (although Lee plays the position with the least wear and tear), but I can forsee a scenario where Ramirez bats 3rd, and draws more walks. I think that Ramirez will be the more dangerous hitter by the time 06 is done.

So you think that Ramirez will draw more walks than Lee?

Nice, what did you use for playing time? By comparison, in a BP chat they have the Cards scoring 750-775 runs next year. Probably too optimistic regarding Walker, Murton & Cedeno, but here you go: ABs AVG OBP SLG SB CS Barrett 450 .272 .336 .443 1 1 Blanco 150 .210 .270 .330 0 0 Lee 600 .298 .383 .570 8 4 Walker 350 .279 .341 .424 1 1 Hairston 325 .260 .320 .360 7 4 Ramierez 500 .293 .356 .540 1 1 Cendeno 400 .274 .320 .387 12 3 Perez 375 .270 .300 .370 6 2 Murton 400 .281 .343 .418 7 3 Grissom 175 .220 .265 .325 0 0 Pierre 625 .297 .348 .361 40 15 Jones 500 .268 .327 .441 12 5 Mabry 300 .260 .310 .375 0 0 Pitchers 350 .200 .230 .300 0 0 RC Totals 5500 .271 .328 .420 95 39 727 2004 Cubs 5584 .270 .324 .440 65 39 703 Why did you give Ramirez 100 fewer AB's than Lee?

How accurate was PECOTA last season? I'm looking at the pen numbers and they seem really bad. Also, I think Ramirez and Barrett's lines are low.

I think they would have rather had Williams than Mitre. But your point is well made. And welcome back!

Adam Dunn=Chuck Norris. Seriously.

Is their any way to revive a defunct team name? I think that Texas owns the rights to the Senators, but what about something like that?

I have no clue when Ramirez took his place in the "Cub Whipping Boy 2005-6" line, but I just don't get it. He got hurt. So what? It happens. He's on a conditioning routine, and he's been the team's most consistently good player the past 2 seasons. BA aside, he was having as good of a season as Lee was having before he got hurt, but people don't remember this. People rag on him for "not running out ground balls". With a hurt quad and a sore hamstring. So, he ran hard down the line to beat out a DP and completely pulled his quad. And gets ripped for getting hurt. I've seen this pattern of "Can do no right" before, and it's crap. He's the best offensive player the Cubs have (Lee needs to do it more than once for me to think last season was anything but an aberration), and thusly, should be cut some slack. If he comes into camp out of shape (which I really doubt given the offseason training he's done), then rag on him if he gets hurt. But injuries happen. Let's not lose sight of that in a mad rush to have a highly paid scapegoat.

I thought it was how Baker used him that you couldn't stand. :wink: The heat of the moment does not help one's sense of proper perspective. :D One last, funny story about it, though. My now-wife thought his name was pronounced Knifey, and thus he became her favorite player. She was very dissapointed it was actually Neigh-fee, and promptly went back to complaining about the fact I spend so much time watching the Cubs and talking about them on NSBB. Here's hoping that we both get a life someday !! :wink: I tell her all the time I'll stop caring so much once they finally win a WS. She's less than encoraged by the past century's track record.

I thought it was how Baker used him that you couldn't stand. :wink: The heat of the moment does not help one's sense of proper perspective. :D One last, funny story about it, though. My now-wife thought his name was pronounced Knifey, and thus he became her favorite player. She was very dissapointed it was actually Neigh-fee, and promptly went back to complaining about the fact I spend so much time watching the Cubs and talking about them on NSBB.

No. The grand slam game was Sun 24 July 05. Wow, for some reason I always thought that homer came much later in the season. Me too. I thought mid August. That was such a hilarious moment. Everyone was resigned to failure, and then it just exploded, hahaha. Right before it happened I was telling my now-wife how terrible Neifi was, and how much I couldn't stand him, and how he was absolutely going to weakly ground out to short. Then I was speechless. She was laughing.

No. The grand slam game was Sun 24 July 05. Wow, for some reason I always thought that homer came much later in the season. Me too. I thought mid August.