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USSoccer

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  1. USSoccer
    On SoSh, they've bandied about Brady Clark as a CF replacement, and mentioned Shoppach and pitchers (?) named Cruz and Arroyo as trade bait for him. That would be a good haul. Shoppach and Miller would be a good C tandem for the Brewers.
  2. USSoccer
    But defense is not the reason this team didn't win enough games this year. Not saying you are wrong, but I can think of 3 games off the top of my head that the defense cost us. An improved defense should be one of our concerns, especially up the middle. Ok, you can name 3 that D cost us. I don't doubt that you can, and I'm sure they were all legit. However, about 10 come to mind right off the top of my head that lack of timely hitting cost us. Okay. Hawkins threw away the comeback line drive. That cost us one. Macias in CF against the Mets probably cost us the Zambrano Sunday night game, since the Mets ran on his "arm" at every opportunity. And that's aside from his routes to the ball. There's 2. Perez had a 2 error game in May, I think, that cost us a win. Barrett's botched rundown in Philly. There's 3. :P
  3. USSoccer
    Oh, then I'm sure Tim's proposal will go over well :P As good and fair of an idea Tim has, I just don't see an MLB player taking a pay cut before they hit FA. Even one as bad as Corey was last year. He has to face the reality that if the Cubs non-tender him, he's not going to get a $3M contract elsewhere. But I did forget about the Boras factor in this plan. You don't think, say Colorado, Detroit, the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers wouldn't pay him $3m if we cut him completely loose? $3m isn't a lot of money, especially for the latter 3 teams.
  4. USSoccer
    Oh, then I'm sure Tim's proposal will go over well :P As good and fair of an idea Tim has, I just don't see an MLB player taking a pay cut before they hit FA. Even one as bad as Corey was last year.
  5. USSoccer
    Who is Corey's agent, BTW?
  6. USSoccer
    See, why didn't we do that?
  7. USSoccer
    Work release jobs don't pay enough for Sox fans to afford that, though. But seriously, that's a real good ploy. I wish playoff tixs in 2003 were that easy to get for our team.
  8. USSoccer
    And Goony's point is that getting Wilson is not acceptable. I respect his opinion. I think he's wrong on this one. He thinks I'm wrong. Either way, it will always be civil. Oh, I know it's civil! Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't traslate well to text :D Well you are the Rich Hill of the board. :? See? The humor of an arched eyebrow just doesn't work via emoticon.
  9. USSoccer
    And Goony's point is that getting Wilson is not acceptable. I respect his opinion. I think he's wrong on this one. He thinks I'm wrong. Either way, it will always be civil. Oh, I know it's civil! Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't traslate well to text :D Well you are the Rich Hill of the board. :?
  10. USSoccer
    They should be 0%. But why haven't they already dumped him? They spoke glowingly of his play all season, and have not given any indication that they were unhappy with his production. The fact that he isn't already gone frightens me. Hendry has an inexplicable love for JB, and he's had it for years. Even if they don't exercise the option, they will pay the buyout, and possibly even another $4-5m to comeback. They like the guy with absolutely no justification. Just to reiterate, the Cubs were 12th, 16th and 15th in OPS in the NL from their LF, CF and RF, respectively. Yes, that's right, their RF produciton ranked lower than their LF production, despite all the talk about LF all year. And I don't believe for a second that Hendry is even aware of that stat. The JB love Hendry has had hopefully will be tempered by the fact that JB had more RBI chances than Lee and ARan, yet drove in less than both, if I'm not mistaken. And that's with Aramis missing a month.
  11. USSoccer
    And Goony's point is that getting Wilson is not acceptable. I respect his opinion. I think he's wrong on this one. He thinks I'm wrong. Either way, it will always be civil. Oh, I know it's civil! Sometimes my sense of humor doesn't traslate well to text :D
  12. USSoccer
    His numbers were not very good, in any context. He was bad, just less bad. He was terrible in 2004. He's fallen apart since some early success. He's just not a good baseball player, and at 31, I'm not expecting improvement. I think Hoops' point is that being less bad than Corey is still an upgrade, and that, given other moves, would be an acceptable move. Just trying to keep the peace! :-#
  13. USSoccer
    It won't technically be a lie when he spends $5-6m on Wilson, $6-7m on a Burnitz clone (or, god forbid, Burnitz himself - no rational GM would wait this long to not exercise that option), $5-6m on a Trachsel/Tomko type, $3-4m on a reliever, $2-10m on some type of SS, $3-4m more on a couple bench players, and then piggy banks a couple million for the inevitable July trade for somebody else's problem. If they bring Burnitz back they are truly mad. And that sounds like a fairly credible breakdown on how badly things coould turn out this offseason. BTW, what do you figure the chances that Burnitz's option is picked up? I figure 35%, but i might be way off.
  14. USSoccer
    If Hendry wastes his time with Wilson, he's already screwing around with Burnitz type players. And if he spends the money to get Wilson, he'll say there wasn't enough to also go after a real RF. I have no problem with them getting rid of Corey. What I have a problem with is getting rid of Corey and replacing him with an overpaid Wilson who will still be an OBP liability and not offer anything of value. Which, unless they slash the budget by 20%, would be a lie. I think/hope/pray that Hendry knows this is a make or break year for this team, and plans his offseason accordingly. And this time around, bothers to start making inroads by the time the Winter Meetings come around. I don't want to hear excuses about him "waiting for the market to settle" or some other such crap like we heard last winter. I want action. Intelligent action, but action nonetheless. If we wait this offseason out, we're going to end up with scrap heap players again, and we'll get to suffer another year.
  15. USSoccer
    Stow that noise. Aramis >>>>>>>Nomar. In about every area except for speed. Aramis is younger. I'd rather have a middle IF of Walker and Cedeno if it meant I still have ARam at 3b. He's going to win an MVP award at some point in this contract-mark it down.
  16. USSoccer
    I'm not certain Corey would put up that line, but he could. And even if Preston puts up that line and Corey doesn't, Wilson is not likely to be worth twice the cost. I'm more comfortable making real upgrades in RF and sticking with Corey in center, than wasting time and money on the bum that is Preston Wilson in center and inevitably settling for a second rate RF. There is just no way that Hendry goes hard after a big time RF if he goes after and gets Wilson. He'll package Wilson as a real solid signing, rather than the bumgap that he truly is. I think that if Hendry thinks that way, you are probably right, but I suppose I am hoping he's learned his lesson from last offseason and won't screw around with Burnitz type players this time around. However, I really, really think this is moot because the club is going to sell Corey to the first bidder after the W.S.
  17. USSoccer
    The dude is capable of a .250/.320/.450 season, and he'll likely get paid more than twice what Patterson will make*. That's a huge upgrade over 2005 Corey, but I have to believe Patterson can at least put up his career average numbers next year, which aren't that far off from that line. And while I've given up on the idea of Corey as a star, I would not be at all surprised if Corey outproduces Wilson next year. *You know that if Jim goes after him he'll be more than happy to grossly overpay, as he has with so many other mediocre free agent signings. That's a good point, but I don't think that Corey could put up that line you mentioned in Chicago. Mentally, I think he's done here. Sure, there's the chance it could happen, but are you more comfortable taking more chances with our position players?
  18. USSoccer
    I know you are, which really makes me question your logic in every other thread. :wink: I don't think the Cubs will be better off with Wilson in center instead of Corey. If Giles or Abreu is playing RF, I think Wilson in CF batting 6th or 7th is a huge upgrade over Patterson. Yes, I do believe that. :wink: What I have said repeatedly is that I don't want Preston Wilson, if he's the only move Hendry makes in the OF. I'm with you, Hoops. Wilson on his own isn't very good, but compared to Corey he'd be a nice upgrade-so long as RF is also upgraded. For instance, if you go Murton/Wilson/Giles, you are better than you were last year. Wilson is a better player than Corey.
  19. USSoccer
    This year was the first year in 6 years he has had less than 500 ABs. I'm not worried. But hip issues on a guy who relies so heavily on speed, has to be a concern. I'd say your previous point about the Wrigley grass might be more of a worry than his hip. As long as it's not degenerative or anything, hip flexors generally heal. Small sample size but he did hit .333 (17-51) from 2002-2005 in wrigley. Too small of a sample for me to get excited. I totally agree but just thought I would bring some pertinent information to the discussion. No doubt, it's just so hard to predict how a guy will do given 82 games in a park.
  20. USSoccer
    That would be hilarious if there weren't dopes that thought that way about the composition of the team in the front office.
  21. USSoccer
    This year was the first year in 6 years he has had less than 500 ABs. I'm not worried. But hip issues on a guy who relies so heavily on speed, has to be a concern. I'd say your previous point about the Wrigley grass might be more of a worry than his hip. As long as it's not degenerative or anything, hip flexors generally heal. Small sample size but he did hit .333 (17-51) from 2002-2005 in wrigley. Too small of a sample for me to get excited.
  22. USSoccer
    This year was the first year in 6 years he has had less than 500 ABs. I'm not worried. But hip issues on a guy who relies so heavily on speed, has to be a concern. I'd say your previous point about the Wrigley grass might be more of a worry than his hip. As long as it's not degenerative or anything, hip flexors generally heal.
  23. USSoccer
    There might be better options than Bradley, but I wouldn't call them plenty. I'm not big time Bradley booster or anything, but I can't think of anything better right now. The big difference between Bradley and Sosa is the 10 years of age. Nobody thinks Bradley can return to any glory, he's never had any. But they do think he can be a relatively productive CF. His attitude is definitely a concern, but it's not the most important thing. The Cubs need production, not chemistry. Agreed. Chemistry got us a sub-.500 record this season. I'll take the chance that Baker can control Bradley.
  24. USSoccer
    i cant use it at work :x
  25. USSoccer
    But defense is not the reason this team didn't win enough games this year. Not saying you are wrong, but I can think of 3 games off the top of my head that the defense cost us. An improved defense should be one of our concerns, especially up the middle. Every team's fans can think back at a few games that were lost due to defensive miscues. It wasn't defense that hurt this ballclub, it was the same quantifiable problems that have plagued this team for years, no walks or OBP on offense, too many walks given up by the pitchers. Solve those two problems and this team will go somewhere. Ignore them, and focus on other things, and they'll still struggle. But aren't Bradley, Furcal and Castillo upgrades in the OBP department?
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