Sammy Sofa

Sexcellent.

Are you [expletive] kidding me?

Soto single! Bases juiced with no outs. Please keep abusing that hole on the left side.

Soto looks fat.

Johnson squeaks a single through. This would be an excellent time for Soto to have ROY flashbacks.

Great, I had forgotten how close the Cubs were to winning last night if Joey had been running. Thanks, Len and Bob.

Epic #5 hitter right here.

Wait, THAT'S "bleeped" out? Come on. That makes my comment look much spazzier than it actually was.

I like how people are expecting the most [expletive] [expletive] in that dugout, Lou, to be the motivating factor that turns the team around.

Cantu basically willed that hit.

The farm system has actually gotten much better (though there's obviously room for much improvement, especially in the scouting). Granted, you can't really go anywhere but up from completely awful, but still.

Why would the sale get rid of Hendry? He got that extension. From the ownership in place. I'm hoping the new owner is smart enough to see what an awful job Jim has done and that basically all he has done is out spend the rest of the division. The extension makes that tremendously unlikely. What year is it through? I'm guessing new ownership gives Hendry this upcoming offseason, and his future will depend on where the team is by next June/July. Did he get a 2-year or 3-year extension? I'm blanking.

Why would the sale get rid of Hendry? He got that extension. From the ownership in place. I'm hoping the new owner is smart enough to see what an awful job Jim has done and that basically all he has done is out spend the rest of the division. The extension makes that tremendously unlikely.

Why would the sale get rid of Hendry? He got that extension.

Why is Fukudome sitting again?

I'm thinking SS and 2nd are the prime spots to upgrade offensively in that order if there's anyone out there and the payroll can be upped if needed. I'd say 1B as well only if the Cubs are willing and able to eat a chunk of Lee's contract.

Cubs win 8-2.

Technically they underachieved.

Too bad Marshall's gem was wasted. Hopefully he nets us something good.

This series is going to kill me. So awesome. God bless Noah's miracle speed.

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." I'm obviously not as avid a reader or poster as you so I'll defer to your assessment of the local public opinion. The vibe that I got all through the offseason and in these first 20 games was that Soto would rebound and be the monster he was last year, even "progressing in his development". To me this implied even better numbers than last year were expected, while I assumed the league would figure him out, he'd adjust, they'd adjust, etc. making it a long and difficult season of learning a great deal for Mr. Soto. I've been otherwise occupied with schoolwork this past week or so. Perhaps I've missed a major shift at NSBB? Perhaps my sporadic and haphazard reading here has led me to not view the full body of work. Again I'll defer to you. You're the expert. Nobody here is claiming to be an exprt on anything. I simply don't recall a large push by a number of posters here thinking that Soto was a lock to repeat his rookie season or surpass it. There was the obvious hyperbole, but that was just that: obvious hyperbole. When it gone down to realistic predictions, most hoped/thought that Soto would produce at the worst average offensive production from the catcher's spot while giving the team excellent defense. So far he's not even sniffed either. From the "Bold Predictions" thread Geovany Soto contributes a nearly identical line to his 2008 season and is only outmatched by Brian McCann as the best catcher in baseball. Soto has a better year than last year Steel cage match, Soto vs. Wieters. The world ends because this much awesomeness can't be in one place at the same time. geovany soto is the third or fourth most productive catcher in the national league. Most garing is that in 6 pages only 4 people mentioned him at all, implying no significant change from last year. I said: severe sophomore slump for Geovanny Soto. As in, he is bottom half of nl catchers in OPS. The only response:thats simply not realistic In the "What if Soto goes on the DL" thread Soto going on the DL would immediately make the Cardinals the best NL Central team. I don't think I'm out of school in saying this community expected great things from Soto this year, with plenty of exceptions, I'm sure. We are all individuals. Two of those comments (the steel cage one and the Cardinals one) are so ridiculous that they're clearly not serious. Besides that there's three comments from the entire site that you found that show people expecting Soto to do better than last year. I know there's more, but even then it's hardly a general consensus. Most people here are more realistic than that.

If that is the case, he should be DL'd untill healthy enough to produce, and one of the guys at Iowa called up - Chris Robinson seems to have had a good start the year there. I definitely agree that Soto's struggle are likely due to his hand/shoulder issues, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could stand to lose 15-20 pounds on top of that. A DL stint wouldn't be unwelcome at this point.

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." I'm obviously not as avid a reader or poster as you so I'll defer to your assessment of the local public opinion. The vibe that I got all through the offseason and in these first 20 games was that Soto would rebound and be the monster he was last year, even "progressing in his development". To me this implied even better numbers than last year were expected, while I assumed the league would figure him out, he'd adjust, they'd adjust, etc. making it a long and difficult season of learning a great deal for Mr. Soto. I've been otherwise occupied with schoolwork this past week or so. Perhaps I've missed a major shift at NSBB? Perhaps my sporadic and haphazard reading here has led me to not view the full body of work. Again I'll defer to you. You're the expert. Nobody here is claiming to be an exprt on anything. I simply don't recall a large push by a number of posters here thinking that Soto was a lock to repeat his rookie season or surpass it. There was the obvious hyperbole, but that was just that: obvious hyperbole. When it gone down to realistic predictions, most hoped/thought that Soto would produce at the worst average offensive production from the catcher's spot while giving the team excellent defense. So far he's not even sniffed either.

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful." Pretty sure he's talking about the manlove for Soto from last year. Where people would quote Geo 10 times. Fickle fans, very fickle. I can't wait to see these guys after Kosuke goes in a slump. Read the game threads, KF is a monster, once he goes 2-20, he'lll be a bum, and Fox should play RF, with Bradley beeing sccotted over. And yet again, people have reason to be critical or wary of Soto so far this year. This about as slumpy as a slump can get, if it's even that. He's had the weight struggles, the issues with his hand when batting and now the shoulder troubles. Offensively he might as well not even be in the lineup and now also defensively he's playing below adequate levels. Most here clearly did not expect Soto to repeat last year, but this is waaaaaaaay below expectations. It has little to do with being "fickle."

What does this even mean? The "expectations" for Soto right now are generaly somewhere around "please don't be awful."