jmajew

I just want a manager who won't coddle his players. The day after Jacque over throws the cutoff man I want to know that he was forced to practice that throw 50 times. Piniella, LaRussa, Leyland, Bobby Cox, even Ozzie to an extent all demand that there players know the fundamentals. They may not always have the best players but they usually have very fundamentally sound teams which in turn makes them a consistently good team. I believe this Cubs team has more talent than their record suggests. That is what bugs me. I hate when players and teams don't play up to their ability. I want a manager who loves the game and is fiery about it. Baker doesn't seem to love it to me, it seems like it is just a job to him. The reason certain managers have outbursts on the field is because they get so frustrated with the way their teams are playing. When the Cubs lose it doesn't seem to me as if Baker cares. If we had a manager that had passion for the game we would be a much better team. I strongly believe that.

"Fire" doesn't win games. Talent and strategy does. Ask Bill Belicheck. Fire Hendry. You can't honestly tell me the White Sox last year were the most talented team in baseball. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals were all far more talented. The White Sox had more passion and love for the game. That makes a difference. The Marlins were not teh most talented in 2003 and the Angels were also not the most talented in 2002. Talent is not everything. Your Bill Belicheck analogy doens't make much sense to me. He has never had the most talented team in football. Alway the best coached and most motivated teams. That is why they have been able to replace players.

I just feel like this team plays with no fire. When i've been at games during warm ups it seems like the team has already given up before the game even starts. They are just playing to get paid that is the managers fault. A team that plays there butts off but still loses is somewhat acceptable in my book. But a team that seems to not care and loses is not. Someone needs to hold these players accountable.

If the Cubs could change one thing about their team right now which move would help the team the most? I'm going to toss out 4 options for this. Trade Wood, Trade Prior, Fire Baker and Hire Piniella, or Fire Hendry. I Believe the Cubs need to get rid of Baker and hire Piniella. Look at what Jim Leyland did for a team of veteran players with a lot of talent that had no motivation. He turned them into one of the best teams in the league. Piniella would have the same affect on the Cubs. No longer would you have Aramis dog it to first base on a pop up which is dropped and only getting a double when he should have gotten a triple. Wood would pitch through his little bit of pain. We would be a team that actually knows the fundamentals. If the Cubs played baseball the right way they would be good. I hate the use of the word right way but that is the only I can think of to say playing baseball properly. Hendry and Baker seem to follow every fad that comes along. (Except OBP) I'm just venting here a little I apologize. Right now I feel that little league teams play a higher level of of baseball than the Cubs. I guess in all reality i'm just hoping for a miracle cure. Kind of like when Jack Mckeon went to the Marlins in 2003.

I heard this on US 99.5 today, which i know is not a very relaible source so don't go bashing me for using it. But I believe they said something about Walter E. Smith buying the naming rights to Wrigley. The stadium now becoming known as Smith Field. The chick on the radio said she was going to buy a bunch of the new t-shirts tonight at Walter E. Smith because they already had some printed and was going to pass them out tonight at some concert. Is any of this true? I really hope not? I hope it is just an April Fools joke they are trying to play or something.

Can someone who has gotten tickets multiple times today please tell me there secret. This is the fourth year in a row i've gotten the shaft. I have not yet gotten any tickets.

I'd like to see the Cubs sign Sammy to a one day contract so he can retire as a Cub. I think he and the Cubs fans deserve that. I will always love Sammy Sosa, and I hope he makes it into the Hall of Fame and I look forward to the Cubs putting him up on the foul polls with Banks, Sandberg, Santo, and Williams. Sammy, Good luck and God bless.

I haven't read this entire thread so if some of this has been said I apologize. I think this is a good trade for both teams. It will hurt neither teams future and it will help both of them in the present. AVG/OBP/SLG 286/405/474 274/333/512 Those are both Abreu's and Dye's lines from last year. Abreu is obviously better. However, the addition of Contreras into the deal makes this an extremely fair and good deal for both teams. The Phillies need pitching in order to compete in the NL EAST. In order to get what you need you have to give away something you have an excess of. The Phillies have more offense then they need and the Sox have more pitching than they need. You always trade from your biggest strength to help your biggest need. Look at the PHillies lineup without Abreu in it. It is still possibly the best in the division. Rollins, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Dye, Rowand, Lieberthall, Bell. Look at the Sox pitchign staff. Buerhle, Garland, McCarthy, Vazquez, Garcia still the best in baseball. This deal would make the Phillies staff competetive this year. If Contreras and Dye bomb you can use the 17 million they save on signing players next year. For the White Sox after next season both Contreras and Dye were going to be gone anyway. With regards to Contreras having only having one good half, it was because he changed his arm angle. Once he did that his pitches got more movement on them; making him harder to hit. IMO I do not think Contreras was a fluke.

I was thinking of doing that same thing with Barrett. Have Jones bat 5th against righties and Barrett against lefties. Barrett's stats agaisnt lefties the past 3 years. (AVG/OBP/SLG). 261/351/497. Jones agsint righties the past 3 years 280/333/474. I think that would be a spectacular platoon situation. I would switch those two between the 5 and 7 spots. I would want Murton always batting 6th. Unless there are days when Barrett is not catching and a lefty is on the mound then I would have Murton batting 5. I think this will put a little less pressure on Murton and may help him to actually have a better year. So here would be my two lineups. vs. lefties Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Barrett Murton Jones Cedeno vs. rigthies Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Jones Murton Barrett Cedeno I think this puts both Cedeno and Murton in a better situation to succeed. I feel if we put too much pressure on these guys like batting them in 2nd or 5th from the start of the season they won't reach there full potential. With regard to the topic of speed and fundamentals being the most important aspect I think is laughable. It is a part of the game, but not the most important part. Last year the White Sox seem to claim that they won because they had speed and good fundamentals. That is entirely false IMO. They won last year because of timely homeruns. They hit over 200 homeruns last year. The White Sox had a balance of fundamentals and power. The only thing they lacked was OBP, which was why there offense struggled to score runs. It was a good thing there pitching and defense was so incredibly good. The Cubs biggest problem offensively last year was the low OBP at the top of the order. With Pierre batting leadoff we upgraded there and with a healthy walker all year we upgraded the two hole. Which should automatically lead to more runs being scored. OBP is the most important stat when it comes to scoring runs, and in particular it is the most important stat when looking at the top of the order.

Courtesy of ESPN.com: Depending on what prospects the Indians give up I think this is a very good trade for the Red Sox. IMO, Crisp is basically on teh same par as Damon. Last two seasons stats for Damon AVG/OBP/SLG 304/380/477 and 316/366/439. Crisp 297/344/446 and 300/345/465. Offesnively Crisp is a bit below Damon but defensively I'm pretty sure he is an upgrade. He also costs 11 million dollars less than Damon. Frankly I like what the Red Sox have been doing this offseason. They upgraded their defense substantially at third, first and center, and they added to their pitching staff. A lineup of Crisp, Loretta, Ortiz, Manny, Varitek, Lowell, Nixon, Snow/Youklis, AGonII is very formidable. Don't forget their rotation as of now is Schilling, Beckett, Wells, Clement, Arroyo, Wakefield, Papelbon. If anyone is going to say that the Red Sox gave up too much, I think they must be conceding the division to the Yankees. In my mind whenever a team has a chance to win the World Series, like I think the Red Sox due, it is the organizations duty to do whatever they have to do without trading away its entire future. In all reality this Crisp deal is basically Renteria and Mota for Crisp and prospects. Definitely not a bad deal in my mind.

Walker>Hairston>Nefi. If anyone in the Cubs organization does not see it this way we have a huge problem. With that said as of now I see it being extremely unlikely that Walker will be traded right now. I really don't know what teams would even need his services. Rangers and Indians? If I were Hendry I without a doubt would not trade Walker. For no other reason than if Walker is traded that means Nefi will start at 2b. In case you didn't realize that first comment was meant towards Baker. If Hairston does not start on this team, he will have very little use to us. The reasoning is that Pierre will never take a day off so Hairston won't play there. When Murton and Jones get days off Baker will want to replace them with players that have a higher OPS than JHJ. Either Grissom or Mabry will get those starts. Basically Hairston will most likely be the last player off the bench. I don't know if JHJ would be used as a defensive replacement late in games. Is he better defensively than Jones or Murton?

First off this has been an incredibly interesting debate. This got me to thinking of the White Sox deal for Jim Thome. If the Sox would have had a choice of trading Aaron Rowand or Scott Podsednik which one would you have chosen. avg/obp/slg/sb/cs Rowand 270/329/407/16/5 Podsednik 290/351/359/59/23 To me this question will really sum up how valuable speed really is. Rowand is by far the superior defender but Podsednik had the higher OBP and AVG. My personal opinion is that Rowand was more valuable to the White Sox team last year. That entire team was built around defense and he is one of the top 4 defensive CF in the game with Jones, Hunter, and Cameron. I think it is easier to replace a speedy player than it is to replace a great defensive centerfielder. This is probably one of the reasons a lot of teams overlook speed, imo.

I would not have a problem skipping the 5th guy early. I don't think the extra day off here and there is helpful that early in the season. I do think you should find way to skip guys by June/July though. 12 pitchers is dumb though, and 8 relievers is asinine, but very Cubslike as well. Why? Pitching is a tearing down process. They have 5 starters avail., there's no severe dropoff between Williams and Zambrano and certainly minimal difference between Maddux/Rusch to Williams, not to the point where it would have any impact of the standings. Early on in the year, it will take their bodies longer to recover, especially with the colder weather. I definitely agree with UK on this. Whenever you can give a guy a little extra rest we should always do it. With the way Baker rides his pitchers I think it is imperative to get them as much rest whenever possible. Seeing as Prior has yet to pitch a full season I think he most of all should get the extra days rest. Just an idea to throw out there but if wood is healthy in july wouldn't it be advantageous to go with a 6 man rotation for the month. That way Prior, Wood, Zambrano, and Maddux can all be primed to go for the stretch run.

I would have first resigned Nomar. Then would have traded Aramis for Manny and some cash, roughly 15-20 mil. I would have traded for Pierre and I would have signed all the relievers. The bench I would have signed Nefi to be a utility player(note at only 1.5 mil a year) and I would have signed Mabry and kept Patterson. Pierre Walker Lee Manny Nomar Barrett Murton Cedeno Bench: Hairston Nefi Patterson Blanco Mabry Rotation: Zambrano Prior Wood Maddux Williams Rusch Bullpen: Dempster Howry Eyre Williamson Ohman Wuertz

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I was also tossing around the idea of a lineup that had Barrett batting 5th and Jones batting 6th. Pierre Walker/Hairston Lee Ramirez Barrett Jones Murton Cedeno To say Jones will not see better pitches batting infront of Aramis to me makes no sense at all. I have to believe that Jones was pressing alot in Minnesota because he needed to be a huge offensive force. I believe in Chicago knowing that he is just meant to be a complimentary piece will help him to relax and perform much better. You cannot tell me if you are on the mound and there are runners on seond and third with two outs with Jones up and Ramirez on deck you would not throw more fastballs to Jones? Of course you would. Jones's success rate will be better because of that, however, it still will not be as good as Aramis but it will be better. If you bat Jones 5th and have Barrett behind him you don't have that same fear factor for the pitchers.

I was sitting around today thinking of what the order would be for the Cubs this upcoming season with who we got and I was kind of curious what others would say about what I came up with. Pierre Walker/Hairston if Walker is traded Lee Jones Ramirez Barrett Murton Cedeno I know most of this is pretty obvious. Howver, there was one spot in the order I struggled greatly with. My natural instinct was to at first put Jones 5th. However, as I thought about it more I began to believe that in order to get the best production out of Jones he would be best suited to bat 4th. Teams would be scared of Ramirez and would thus throw a lot more fastballs to Jones. The only problem with Jones batting 4th is that it would limit the amount of baserunners that will be on base when Aramis comes to bat. Jones will probably only have an OBP of optimistically 330, whereas Lee would probably be around 380-400. I think part of Jones problem the past three years was that he and Torri Hunter were the only threats that the Twins had in their lineup. You would have to think that with more protection Jones would have to up his BA by atleast 15-20 pts. I think by putting Jones at 5th he would be the same player he was in Minnesota but 4th I could see him being a better player.

First of all I don't think there is any chance the Red Sox would trade Marte straight up for Lugo. I think it would end up being some kind of package deal that would net them both Lugo and Gaithright. I could see Marte and one of their 5-10 pitching prospects for those two. And don't forget the Red Sox need for a leadoff hitter is not as great as everyone is making it out to be. They did trade for Mark Loretta who is very adequate. So the Red Sox biggest need is probably CF. A lineup of Lugo, Loretta, Ortiz, Manny, Varitek, Lowell, Nixon, Snow/Youklis, and Gaithright is still one of the best in baseball. With regards to the Cubs trading for Lugo I'd be all for it. My bet is we could get him for a package of Hill and Wellenmeyer. However, if I were Hendry I would not even think about this deal unless he gets Baker's word that he WILL play Cedeno at short and Lugo at second. With each of them getting about 140-150 starts, allow Nefi to start a decent amount of games. Pierre, Lugo, Lee, Jones, Ramirez, Barrett, Murton, Cedeno in all honesty look like an upgraded lineup over last years. Simply for the fact that our 1-2 will have an OBP of around 340.

Tejada 280/338/477 Soriano 280/320/500 Those are career numbers. I'd much prefer Soriano over Tejada any day of the week when cost is included. I honestly believe Soriano would be the better fit as well. This way Cedeno can play his natural position at SS and then we would bat Barrett second. When Barrett isn't playing you give either Cedeno or Murton a chance to bat there. My bet is we could get Soriano for a combo of Patterson, Hill, Wellenmeyer or Novoa. We coudl even throw in Walker so they can spin him off to another team.

As of right now I have to say that the Blue Jays are probably the second best team in the AL East. This could be a real down year for the Red Sox. They need Mike Lowell to bounce back.

I'm just hoping to get some help from people to explain to me why Hendry still won't trade Pie. We traded two solid pitching prospects for Pierre to play center so we have to assume Hendry sees him as more than a one year rental. We signed Jacque Jones for 3 years so we are stuck playing him. Then we have Murton in Left. I just don't see where Pie fits in. Which leads me to believe that we should now be trading Pie. The only logic I see in keeping Pie is that maybe Hendry thinks that eventually Murton and Jones will platoon. Anyone else got an explanation for me? This refusual is now making me mad because it doesn't seem logical to me. We could be using Pie to land Tejada and not forcing us to add Prior into the deal.

Sorry to jump in so late but I have a gut feeling that if we make a three way deal it would include the A's and I don't think it would be that bad of a deal. I think it would be something like this: Orioles get: Prior, Hill, Patterson A's get: Bedard and Dopirak Cubs get: Tejada and Zito With all this said with the recent signing of Jacque Jones for three years and the trade for Pierre I see absolutely no reason why Pie would be untouchable. To me it would actually make more sense to trade him because he will be blocked for a few years by "proven" major Leaguers. If I were Hendry i'd offer up Pie, Hill, Patterson straight up for Tejada. Hendry's unwillingness to trade Pie now is unexcusable in my humble opinion.

I'm happy atleast one reporter is saying it. I hope it starts to come out in the Chicago Media. It has come out in the Chicago media _ if you're looking at the right paper. I don't think the letters OPS were printed in any paper but the Daily Herald today. The issue of OBP and OPS were prominent in my story and they have been ever since the Jones discussions began. Thanks for the opportunity for the shameless plug. Glad I could help.

Don't know if anyone posted this yet but Rob Neyer was pretty critical of Hendry in his article today. I'm happy atleast one reporter is saying it. I hope it starts to come out in the Chicago Media.

.335-.340 or higher in my book For what it's worth, the league average last year was .330. Just replacing Neifi in the lineup with Pierre puts us at league average. Where we go after that, depends mostly on who Hendry acquires to play right field. Thanks. That is a really interesting stat.