USSoccer

And crappy and a malcontent.

I'd target Weaver. It removes the need for Rusch at the start of the season, and frees up Williams to be used to aquire an OF bat to replace Jones in RF around June or July. Especially considering Weaver could be had at a 1 yr "show me" deal for probably a reasonable figure...yeah. I like that. Z Prior Weaver Maddux Williams Looks a whole lot better than Z Prior Maddux Rusch Williams for the first month.

It's not complaining; it's criticism. If you're emotionally/financially invested in something, you have every right to be critical. That's not even including that DKWG brings up an excellent point in regards to the use of the assets available this offseason.

BK seemed to think that the metrics suggested he wasnt that great. BP's metrics indicate he's easily above average. While I'm not going to cling to BP's fielding metrics as gospel, I probably won't spearhead an argument either way. Fair enough, Hobbes :D I still will keep my opinion that Neifi isn't a gold glove SS. He's a serviceable utility IF, a 25th man. He's nothing more than that.

BK seemed to think that the metrics suggested he wasnt that great.

No one is saying that. Even your most cynical posters (JC, Goony, me, etc) all agree that it's still possible to contend, but Hendry's offseason moves made it more difficult to contend without luck, great health and regression from St Louis and Houston to make it happen. Additionally, all of those aforementioned posters point out that that's not a good plan to count on things you cannot control in order to contend with a top 5 payroll. It just sounded that way to me, sorry. I'll leave this thread, and stay away from threads with so much negativity in the future. Instead of looking at it as negativity, look at it as invested criticism. If we were all negative, we wouldn't watch. We're just expressing frustration that something we are all invested in emotionally/financially is letting us down. It's not something to avoid. It's something to discuss.

No one is saying that. Even your most cynical posters (JC, Goony, me, etc) all agree that it's still possible to contend, but Hendry's offseason moves made it more difficult to contend without luck, great health and regression from St Louis and Houston to make it happen. Additionally, all of those aforementioned posters point out that that's not a good plan to count on things you cannot control in order to contend with a top 5 payroll.

But the thing you are ignoring is that every single defensive metric has Perez grading out at, at best average. Most have him below average. Add in the fact that every offensive metric (not just OBP) has him between below average and terrible, and you get a picture of a below average baseball player. It's not people picking and choosing stats to support Perez being below average. It's people pointing out that nearly every stat shows Perez to be below average. And despite this level of evidence, everyone here sees that his best possible value lies in being the 25th man, which allows for him to use his "good teamate/clubhouse guy" skills without his poor baseball skills hurting the team.

And the 79-win team last year was quite a bit better than most teams that Cubs fans under 100 are used to as well. That doesn't mean we should be content with a losing season, just like we shouldn't have to be content with well-below average players having substantial roles on the team. This is a fantastic point, and really underscores the entire problem. Just because we are "used" to a certain level of production (bad), does not mean we should tolerate it! This is what I cannot understand. Why do some Cub fans in general seem to be willing to tolerate such mediocre players? If Dunston, Bowa, and AGonz were bad, Neifi doesn't get a pass because he is also bad, and we've not had any better recently. It should mean that Cub fans should clamor for a better option. Neifi, again is a 25th man. He is a utility IF. He is not now, never was, and never should be a key regular on a contending team. If he is, it's a mammoth failure on the part of management.

Here's the problem-Neifi is not a great defender. He's at replacement level. He makes above replacement level money, and is placed in spots that are production driven by his manager. Add in the fact we have better, cheaper options at IF right now (Cedeno, Walker and Hairston), and there is no reason for him to make what he makes, and have the role he has. He's not good at anything. He's the very definition of mediocre. You can win in spite of him, but you will never, EVER win a division because of anything he can provide. Also, his salary on it's own is not prohibitive, but when you have about 15% of your payroll eaten up by players barely at replacement level (Rusch, Jones, Perez and Blanco), when you have better, cheaper alternatives from your own system to plug in, it will hamstring you when you need to come up with a little more money in a tight negotiation. Again, since we seem to be going around in circles: Neifi as 25th man, less than 30 starts, defensive replacement, and $800-$1m/yr player = Fine with 96% of NSBB. Neifi as 1 or 2 hitter, 2yr, $5m player, primary backup IF or starting 2B on a contending-minded team = guaranteed mistake. This is not complicated.

He's not excellent at anything, but if he's your backup, he should be paid like a backup IF is paid around the league, not paid as if he's an irreplaceable asset.

Good point. Assuming he was paid in-line with his production, he's a 25th man. But at $5M for two years, he should be on a different team. not even the Yankees pay their 25th man what Neifi makes. That tells you something about how Neifi is overvalued.

It's cause his brother knows you and most of the rest of us don't like him, and told him so.

Jones should have never been signed in the first place, but Eric Byrnes would have made a very nice platoon partner. Unfortunatly, he signed for less than the Cubs were willing to offer a bench player. And FWIW, Jones will kill he offense if he bats between Ramirez and Lee. It's a lock. He's a very mediocre hitter, and not one that was worth anything near what he got.

I have no personal hate for Neifi. I dislike and disagree with the way he is used, the amount of AB's he got in the top 2 spots of the order, and the fact that he was given a raise after a very mediocre season. And even if you want to look at the more traditional offensive metrics, his BA isn't very good. His offensive production was porr given his AB's. He hits into far too many DP's, which is death for a lineup given that, again, he hit in the top 2 spots was too often. I cannot fathom why anyone would say he was the best option, either. Ronny Cedeno could have *at the least* given you a .274 BA with a .290 OBP. And, given his performance in the PT he did get, coupled with his minor league numbers and Winter Ball numbers, would in all likelihood given you much better production at a fraction of the cost. If you want a 25th man who is a good teamate and can play 2 IF positions, fine. Just don't pay him $5m over 2 years. That's 5 times more than what he should get. Also, don't give him 500 plate appearances. Let him be a defensive replacement for someone who can actually hit, and give him a pty start every 10 days. That's how a 25th man is supposed to be treated. Also, comparing his stats to Bowa's, Dunston's and Gonzalez's is useless. None of those players were or are any good. In a very real way, Neifi is a living example of everything wrong with Baker and Hendry.

From another article: Is there any connection betwen this Axelrod and long-time Chicago Democratic machine political hack David Axlerod? Would explain how a 22 year old kid got such good seats and had a lawyer ready to sue on a moments notice. It's his son. So the lawsuit has nothing to do with money.

Insurance fraud??? This could get interesting! What a classless move. Way to crap on the face of your franchise.

I haven't heard it anywhere.

Atlanta and Los Angeles both build their system around "ceiling and toolsy players" and they have two of the best farm systems in baseball. The decline in the farm system has more to do with, like you said, our recent failures in latin america and asia, John Stocksill's mediocre drafts, and injuries. In Atlanta's case, they also allow their young players to play for extended stretches everyday. They are developed with the intention of them producing on the ML level. They are drafted and generally kept in the role that they're intended to fill, from A ball to the majors. There's a track record of young players being treated no differently than vets by Bobby Cox, and being relied on to produce. For instance, Francour hit in the middle of the order in the lineup in the minors, so Cox kept him in that role in the majors. The Cubs would have had him hitting 7th or 8th, and platooning indefinetly. The Braves set their players up for success, and try and maximize the tools a player has. The Cubs, needless to say, do not do this except in very rare instances, and even then they find ways to contribute to a player failing (Corey Patterson). In LA's, count the number of everyday position players they have that have come from their system. It's not a very big number. They had Izturis, and before that, who? LoDuca? Piazza? It's not as if LA's a factory of productive young players the way Atlanta does. In the minors, the Cubs generally keep players in the role they are intended to fill as well. Every team does. And Francoeur only hit in the middle of the order after he established himself as the team's best hitter. He didn't come up and immediately step in batting third. Regardless, Bobby Cox's usage of young players doesn't change the fact that, as an organization, the Braves draft raw, high-ceiling players consistently and always have one of the top farm systems. So the Cubs problems extend beyond their draft philosophy. As for the Dodgers, Logan White hasn't really been around long enough to have a lot of his players graduate to the majors. But within the next two years, Russell Martin, Andy LaRoche, Joel Guzman, Delwyn Young, James Loney and others will all be in the majors. And they currently have the best farm system in terms of ranking. Actually, Cox did bat Francour 3rd-5th upon his debut. He never once bat him 7th or 8th. Your point about the Cubs having issues beyond their draft philosiphy is an obvious one. I don't think anyone would say otherwise. As far as the Dodgers go, we're talking about successful major leaguers developed from the system. None of the guys you listed qualify. They all could crash and burn.

Do we really have excellent instructors? I'm probably one of the minor league instructors biggest critics. It's getting real old hearing how good so and so is yet seeing guys not reaching their potential. Guys like Choi, Hill, Kelton, Dubois Jackson, etc. I'm still seeing nothing really extraordinary from Harvey. So, our instructors are considered excellent based on.....? I was under the impression that the DJAXX had really good coaches.

Atlanta and Los Angeles both build their system around "ceiling and toolsy players" and they have two of the best farm systems in baseball. The decline in the farm system has more to do with, like you said, our recent failures in latin america and asia, John Stocksill's mediocre drafts, and injuries. In Atlanta's case, they also allow their young players to play for extended stretches everyday. They are developed with the intention of them producing on the ML level. They are drafted and generally kept in the role that they're intended to fill, from A ball to the majors. There's a track record of young players being treated no differently than vets by Bobby Cox, and being relied on to produce. For instance, Francour hit in the middle of the order in the lineup in the minors, so Cox kept him in that role in the majors. The Cubs would have had him hitting 7th or 8th, and platooning indefinetly. The Braves set their players up for success, and try and maximize the tools a player has. The Cubs, needless to say, do not do this except in very rare instances, and even then they find ways to contribute to a player failing (Corey Patterson). In LA's, count the number of everyday position players they have that have come from their system. It's not a very big number. They had Izturis, and before that, who? LoDuca? Piazza? It's not as if LA's a factory of productive young players the way Atlanta does.

He built it into a top 5 system as of 2002-3. That's more than somewhat. It's no longer a top 5 system, and it's not just because Z and Prior aren't in it anymore. It's because we've passed over deserving young players and trashed their value until we've had to give them away, and because we've neglected to propely scout latin america and asia, and finally, and most importantly, you choose to build your system around ceiling and toolsy players. and the Cubs have some excellent minor league coaches. They can't prevent, for example, Cruz having his value wrecked by being misused by Baylor and Baker, and then traded for peanuts relative to his previous value.

Hendry has had 2 straight poor offseasons. You cannot give him a free pass based on a couple of deals made 3 years ago or more. If anything, it highlights just how terrible 20044 and 2005's offseasons were, since Hendry has shown himself to be capable of taking advantage of salary dumps and arb eligible players like Ramirez and Lee, and aquired them for very little. To have him go from relatively shrewd decision maker, to clueless dope is really troubling. Also, Hendry has allowed the farm system he built to be misused to the point where it's nearly useless to call up young position players, or fresh bullpen arms, since his manager won't use either properly, and then their prospect value plummets. Finally, your last point is irrelevant, as MacPhail and Lynch wouldn't be your only choices to replace Hendry. There are plenty of really capable people who would be able to run the team more effectively than endry has the last 2 years.

they have a better option on their roster right now, if all you want is a utility IF who can play defense and can't hit. Jerry Hairston would/could fill that role for less money, and give you signifigantly better offensive production. Perez had an OBP under .300. In about 500 or 600 AB's. Think about this. He's bad unless he only plays the last 2 innings in a defensive role only, and maybe gets a pity start every couple weeks. And for the right to enjoy below replacement level production, they paid $5m over 2 years.

Let's hope he decided to skip the worthless event and concentrate on his upcoming MVP season with the Cubs instead.