sporrer17

Wow...interesting... A double jump for a guy with his first real taste of success in years...hopefully he can handle it. If he puts up numbers like he did at Peoria, he's going to be re-emerging as a prospect rather than just a highly-paid A ball player...

I see him as a Mark Grace-type hitter, only more athletic and more power. I could definately see Murton hitting 30 HRs, however, as he's always been tabbed as having pretty good power potential, and has won HR derbies and such in the past. He might not do it many times, but I could certainly see it happening. But hey, if he can "only" put up the line of .320/.380/.500 with 20 HRs....I can probably find a spot to squeeze him in the lineup everyday ;)

Murton has excellent discipline at the plate and great bat control. He lacks the power a lot of teams desire for a corner outfielder, though. He does lack the HR numbers right now, but he's always been tabbed as having a lot of untapped power too. He's won a few HR derbies and he has the build to hit more longballs. He just tries to do what he can with the pitches he's given. (ie go to right field) I think he's got a solid .300/.370, 20 HR, 20 SB type of upside.

It's really interesting to see how some of these guys are doing after all the ratings from the offseason. Disappointments: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 (to an extent), 9, 11(somewhat), 16, 17 Surprises: 2 (showing power), 10, 12, 14, 20, and basically all those you listed outside of the top 20. It's funny how from in one-half a season, a couple of guys in the 40's could jump up to the top 10. Obviously any of these guys could have a breakout 2nd half (Dope, come on...) or the opposite, they could fall off the face of the earth the rest of the year. It just goes to show, you can't judge these guys too quickly, and you can't put a whole lot of stock in A ball players, or AA for that matter...heck, even AAA success doesn't equal big league success (ask Dubois).

:-k

Iowa sucks...they aren't competing for anything...who cares...lol

He'll probably hit 3rd, he was a 3 hitter all throughout his minor league career, and truthfully, Iowa doesn't have anyone really deserving of being a 3 hitter anyway. If they still feel he's got the stuff it takes to be a leadoff guy, he may hit leadoff...

I'd go give them someone like Richard Lewis and another midlevel pitcher. See if they bite...I don't know that they would. I'd certainly like to have someone like Mack on this team.

It was just so refreshing to see a young player TAKE PITCHES, draw a walk, and put that walk to use and come around to score. I mean seriously...when was the last time we had a guy walk and come around to score...

I don't think you "gut" the team...no. There are quite a few solid players on this roster that you would have a hard time finding a legit upgrade without overpaying dearly in prospects. Think about it, seriously, can you upgrade significantly over any of these players/positions: C-Barrett 1b- Lee 2b- Walker 3b- Ramirez SS- Nomar (Cedeno) The OF is a totally different situation. Our OF is completely in shambles. Burnitz has been solid. He doesnt seem to be much of a long term solution because of his age. He maybe has 1 more year. Hairston is solid, but is he good enough to block Pie or Patterson (provided he finds his swing in AAA)...Murton looks to be a very good, patience, big league hitter. Kind of reminds me of Mark Grace, only in RH version and much more athletic. He's got that good eye, but also makes solid contact. A little more pop and a lot more speed.

So he actually thinks Greenberg will play MORE than Murton? That's interesting, i would have thought the other way around. I know we need the leadoff hitter, but frankly, Murton has been one of the minors' best hitters this season, and we need offense from wherever we can get it right now...

I'm on.

I'm a heads up guy...I know I'm not funny, so I have to cover myself...

I can't confirm that he does or does not...but a friend of a friend of a friend, who's dog once did its business in my yard told me that he saw him at the Supermarket, and while he was picking out fruit, he seemed to be unhappy with the watermelon selection.... Can we afford to have a guy who treats his melons that way on our roster? :lol: *disclaimer*this post is in no way shape or form representative of how my humor is on a good night...this is an off night, do not pass judgement on one sorry attempt*

Who said Grieve should replace Macias? I believe the initial point was that Grieve would be a better PINCH HITTER than Macias. If you care to argue that fact, I suggest you watch Macias once in a while...Macias helps with his "versatility"...but Grieve's got a much better bat than does Macias, end of discussion.

5 IP, 5 hits, 3 earned, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts. Piggy gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks in his inning in relief. Iowa lost 5-0. This is bringing a whole new meaning to the term "Piggy-back start"

I can understand and even favor loyalty to a certain extent. You can't have too short of a leesh with a given player. Everyone deserves a fair shot. However, with that said, when an obviously superior player is not getting said chance, the loyalty factor goes out the window, and you now must go with the better player. Hairston right now, is a better fit for our team than either Patterson or Hollandsworth/Dubois. Cedeno is also a better fit for this team than is Neifi...and it can't be due to defense, because Cedeno is clearly as good as Perez defensively. He's always been heralded as a great gloveman. He hits .370 in AAA, but he's not ready for significant playing time in the bigs because Neifi's still hitting .260's because of his one good month...and disregard his sub .300 OBP, that stat doesnt mean anything, because it's called hitting, not walking. Forget playing the younger, better, more promising player...that's old-fashioned...the new thing to do is to let all the young players come up on teams like Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Cinci, and Colorado...until they are at least 27-28...then you trade for them. That's how the young talent gets influxed into the market...because we are above rookies...we are the Cubs. We wouldn't want Cedeno to come in and have a decent amount of success so he could possibly be our starting SS for 5+ years and we could wave goodbye to Nomar and save on some salary...because that would make Dusty & Co. look foolish for not making the move to Cedeno earlier...

I hate these stupid commitments Dusty makes to certain players...because they are always to players who don't get the job done. Holla had one good half a season with the Cubs, suddenly he's Mantle re-incarnated... Perez has 2 good months with the Cubs (one this year, one last) and he's A-Rod's clone...Lenny Harris is a career pinch hits leader...so lets START him at 3b and let him do what he does WORST, play every day.

So his reluctance to play Hairston in LF is based on what, exactly? Oh, because it's the "hardest OF position to learn"...wait, what's that? Hairston's got more time in LF than Dubois? Dubois can play LF and stumble around all he wants, but Jerry Hairston would be a defensive liability... He can't be gone soon enough...and as far as this being and "overreaction" to a losing streak...NO...it's been a long time comin' for Dusty and Co. Get Grady Little or ANYBODY in there than can deal with young players, or players with the ability to take a pitch. Dusty seems to have no patience for either of them.

Hooray for Dusty's magical lineup-producing ability! :roll: Where's Cedeno...is he fetching coffee? We need to re-acquire Augie just so he stops using good players to be the coffee/toothpick boy. This is getting out of hand...

We have rarely had a set lineup...at all...during Dusty's tenure. In '03, when we acquired the 3 guys from Pittsburgh, we were fairly consistent. Other than that, we have struggled with problems at SS (last year, pre-Nomar and post-Nomar) CF (Corey to leadoff, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th) and various other positions.

He probably got pretty bored too....I would have. I think a 3 year old picking random people from our dugout could form a better 1-2 combo at the top than Corey/Neifi.

In that same Trib article, it said that they wouldnt have Hairston play LF because it was too hard of a position to learn or something. I'm sorry, but if he can play CF, he can handle LF...plus he's played it before, I believe...

I know, but the whole thing's a dumb argument anyway...no point to it. I declare it OVER

wow, it wasn't that big of a deal... if someone makes a post about something they felt the need to post, it doesnt mean anyone/everyone who didnt feel that post was necessary has to reply to the original post with their objection...just let it fade away into message board oblivion...