Dirt Dog Sparly

Very very happy. With the few players on the market being priced like HOF caliber players there are very few deals that would be worth making.

Last night on the 11P CDT Baseball Tonight. Buster Olney??? Goes with a few other things that have been said in Cincy and Dayton papers on line too.

I dont think the Cubs make a move and they will be better for it. This team is a .500 team and all our wishes and prayers wont change it. Let the kids play an extended period and lets see what they have. We have nothing to lose and alot to gain.

Ownership has told O'Brian that he could trade either Randa or Arilia and no one else. Looks like his hands are tied unless someone makes them a stupid offer that they would be even stupider to turn down.

uhh ohhh Will Carroll was speculating a Bigbie for Matt Lawton swap earlier in the day. Oh please, please, please, let that be true.

Neif is one of the worst hitters in MLB history due to a combination of factors; his terribly low production numbers and the amount of playing time he somehow manages to get. Neifi's rate stats are deplorable, but what really kills him is that playing time. Most/all players who are as futile at the plate as Neifi never even make the major leagues and those few that do see the show tend to be bench warmers on third-rate teams. For whatever reason, (poorly constructed team/foolish manager/injuries) Neifi has lucked into starting roles pretty much everywhere he's played. This has gotten him enough AB's to cost his teams about 190 runs compared to the production an average hitter would have put up in his place. That's bad, but I say that he's not yet to the point of being called the worst hitter in the last 50 years. That title firmly belongs to Ozzie Guillen, who cost his teams about 250 runs over the course of his career. What about a contribution defensively? Would Guillen have made up those 250 lost runs by contributing to taking away as many by playing defense? Not trying to pick a fight, just wondering if that can be measured also?

Actually I think he is wearing out. His hands look slower at the plate than they did early in the year. Occasionaly he will still get the bat head through the zone but more and more he drags it. All in all about what one could expect with him playing every day so that Cedeno can be kept on the bench next to the water cooler so Dusty can be sure there will be someone there to get him water. :roll:

Maybe playing in front of crouds of 6 to 8 thousand. AAA travel, having to handle your own luggage, almost none of the things you get used to as perks in the Majors. Maybe, just maybe, there were some things said in that meeting that finally let C Patt know that patience with him had worn thin. Maybe Patterson has finally figured out, organisational golden boy or not, they wont allow another Sosa to develop in attitude department. Maybe not getting booed for breathing let him back off and worry about the game?

I still have the feeling that Patterson will be back in CF and a platoon of Murton and Gerut in left. What Dusty plans to do with it however... The Cubs will use the LF platoon as #2 hitters and allow CP to be what he has always seen himself to be and that is a power guy. Leading off is a skill set and mindset, same as being a power hitter. It has been cruel to watch the Cubs try to fit CP in the round hole they want him to be instead of blossoming into what he could be. A #6 or #7 hitter with power and speed that you would normally find in a corner position.

All I have to say, before I head to bed, is that I find it FASCINATING, that people can judge a trade, in black and white, before the guys traded have even reached their new homes. Clairvoyancy is a skill I need to develop. Agreed. That said everything I have read, and the few times on TV I have seen, Gerut I think this is a bit of an upgrade defensively and plate discipline wise. Not a 4 hole hitter to protect Lee but quite the 2 or 8 hitter. This could also be a sign that the Cubs are going to keep Patterson and allow him to be what he wants to be instead of trying to cram a square peg into a round leadoff hole. Think about it, traditionally you look for power in the corners. In Gerut and Patterson you would have the OBP guy in a corner and power in center. Still getting your power and on base just not in thier traditional slots. This in no way should be taken as me advocating Patterson being handed CF back. He needs to learn a high strike out of the pitchers hand and stop swinging at it. He isnt in HS anymore, you cant catch up to that pitch in the Majors.

Radio just said that the throw hit him in the back of the head?

I watched him in his rehab start in Nashville. In his better innings he repeated a smooth north-south delivery. Basicly yes he slowed everything down a bit to allow his arm to catch up and not get behind his body opening up. He repeated his delivery on the front end and most of the time on the back end. The inning he struggled the worst he visabily regressed to a thrower who was landing all over the mound. IE; he was opening up to early leading to his arm being drug through to the release point. This is where his sholder problems stem from. Most of the time it is simply a guy trying to throw the ball through his catcher and the backstop. This is another reason he leaves so many balls up and misses locations. The effectively wild Wood is the guy who trys to make the adjustments, the Wood we would like is a pitcher, and the Kerry Wood who gets hurt is the thrower.

Dont do the trade for Huff. I dont believe he would be much of an upgrade over what we could do in house. Baez would be a very nice addition but would he be willing to set up or would he gripe about not closing?

I'll take the counter argument. In the past Hendry has unloaded prospects he received from other orgs. to get an MLB player. If he thinks this season can be saved, Murton may be traded for an impact bat. I can't believe that anybody thinks this season can be saved with Baker at the helm. Save this season? I don't think Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, the Reverand Moon, Hare Christna, Vishnu, Zeus, Captain Underpants, The Teen Titans, Joseph Smith, Ra, or ET could save this season. You haven't seen their OBPs... Jesus is pushing .600 this year. Yes, yes He can. Ya know why? Because He knows it's coming.

Mac is a super sub type of guy. Can play everyday and play several positions while doing it. That means his value to the Pirates is not equal to his value to the Cubs. What it would take to get Mac from Pitt isnt worth the price we would have to pay for what we would use him for.

I have done Macs Laundry when he was in AAA and can say that he is a genuine throwback baseball guy. I like this idea, replacing Macias on the roster with Mac. Mac can do everything Macias can and IMO is better doing it. I know it will never happen until some folks are gone, but a nice idea none the less.

To much here to gut the team. The bullpen isnt great but when you are in the middle of a revolving door between Iowa and Chicago what can you expect? Not to mention a few guys who are doing roles they shouldnt. The infield corners stay. Barrett stays because I dont see anything better out there realisticly. The Cubs must get value out of Burnitz, Walker, and Hollandsworth, and maybe Harriston. I add Harriston because it is out there now that he is in Dustys doghouse, (IMO), and his value is a bit reduced. If anyone bites then Perez and/or Macias. Keep Blanco because he can play everyday if something happens to Barrett and he does everything you expect from a catcher well. Allow Cedeno, Murton, Dubois, Patterson if he gets his head together, Fontenot; to show you if they have a clue and selectively go into the Free Agent market to fill the Bench and Bullpen in the off season. Then take 2006 to let them learn how not to lose and then how to win. In 2007 get a key guy to put you back into contender status and go get them. My two cents.

That goes along with several different theories I have thought of. I asked the question because I had two really phenomenal coaches in highschool that had both played minor league ball (both made it to AAA). They were great coaches and both went on to coach college first as assistants and now one of them is the head coach at UIC. Just thought they were phenomenal coaches who know the game extremely well. The things you are both saying here also fall along the lines of scouting and player development - it's all pretty much a "fraternity" of ex players that handle those things (as well as being batting and pitching coaches). Off topic a little, but it always interested me how the "moneyball" theories of baseball worked their way into the sport. Those theories were certainly revolutionary and there are still lots of ex players/scouts etc... who slam them any chance they can get. OT in a way here but Earl Weaver, (now there was a skipper), was "Moneyball" before most of the current young bright lights were out of diapers. Beane isn't yet IMO. The quote that comes to mind here is one by Sir Winston Churchill, "The problem most people have is that they will trip over the root of truth, fall down, get back up and dust themselves off and continue on thier journey." Earl Weaver went to war for his players and kicked them in the behind when they didn't do what they were supposed to. He was supported by a great team in Baltimore, then, that also gave him the tools to get the job done. The question we should really be asking is Has Baker been handed the tools to get the job done. If you say yes then he needs to go. If you say no then Baker needs to stay and the front office needs to go. My views anyway.

Actually a Cubs fan since the early 80's. Jackson is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from me although it isnt that bad a drive. Thanks for the welcome and glad to be here.

Long time lerker, first time poster. The reason you dont see college coaches making the move to the Majors is the ingrained idea that if you didnt play here, you know less about the game than I do; so say the players. There are exceptions to the rule on both sides but the view is if you were so good why did you coach in college? It also trickles down from the college ranks to those of us in high school who get much the same response from colleges. Just one of those things that makes baseball in it's own way a little mafisio. Other factors play a part in that professional baseball is quite a bit different than the college experience and really two different approaches are needed to be sucessful. I could go on for quite a while but it all boils down to the first one I stated. My two cents anyway.