Pinktermite

Well to Starlin walks are apparently crazy and Manny isn't. OBP isn't irrational. Starlin is.

This is just silly. is there any minor league cub in recent memory that's destroyed a league to this extent? Why is KB not on a plane or a train to Des Moines?

Ok, if the manager doesn't "add wins", then he can add losses then? Seems like the same thing there. I would like to know two or three examples of the kind of manager that would manage the Cubs different then and show the kind of success that we all dream of. I remember people knocking Joe Girardi, he's now won a world series, is that BECAUSE of him...or despite him? What other managers would do things differently and aren't "old school" as you say? I would say that after years of production, it's a little easier said than done to do nothing other than trot your high priced first and third baseman out there and watch them make you look like the worst manager that ever walked the Earth. And Lou certainly doesn't blow the saves or make the errors or get caught stealing or drop fly balls or not pay attention to the cutoff man. This is a product of the poor players they have mixed with some good ones that make the team look average. I don't think we can any more blame Lou Piniella than we can blame the Pope for this oil spill in the gulf. Does he contribute? Yes. Does the team suck BECAUSE of him? No. Hiring Ryne Sandberg won't make a hill of beans difference unless they have the players.

Would a veteran NSBB poster please make me understand 1. Why Sandberg would be worse than Lou or any other choice for that matter. 2. Why Trammell "deserves his shot". 3. And how there would be any difference in a manager with "experience" vs. one that just managed in the minors? If the team sucks...as our beloved Cubs rightly do...then what but a few games difference can a manager make? After all, he can't swing the bat or throw a strike can he? I'm just asking, not trying to start a fight, just some devil's advocate here.

It seems to me that both process AND outcome are important. But I think it's forgotten that luck and chance (great poker example earlier) play a larger role in baseball than we give credit to. This year, who could have predicted the Rockies? Last year, who could have predicted the Cards winning the series? The White Sox before that? Or the Marlins in 03? You can have the best process in the world and it sometimes will never matter. If the measure is playoff appearances, then clearly the Yankees would have a "good" process. If the measure is world series wins, then do ANY teams have a good process? Because it seems like a new team wins it every year, which makes "processes" less important than "outcomes", at least by that measure. But, in the end, clearly without a solid baseball "process" and strategy, your chances would have to be reduced. I think.

Can they spend? Of course they can. Will they? No way. Does anyone know of an ownership situation in any sport that was in flux where the team spent significant amounts of money?

It's not always about the money, it's just MOST of the time about the money. Is that the case with ARod? Probably...but that's not certain, and nobody knows the answer except him and Boras. Regardless, the Cubs won't/can't sign him because they don't have an owner.

Alex won't come to the Cubs for the simple fact that they don't have an owner yet. And won't anytime soon. End of story.

Let the Yankees or Redsox have ARod for that kinda dough. I mean, seriously. How many World Series has ARod brought? For that matter, how many pennants? This is just obscene. This thought process (for those of you that would take ARod at nearly any price) is exactly why the Yankees have failed...too much money in all the wrong places. Also, case in point are the teams that have recently made the WS either as a wild card OR as a moderately priced baseball team. Good God, man!

Yeah poor Homer, he won't be able to lift a beer to his lips one year from now.

Wow, how can they be so dumb? Harang will probably average 185 pitches per start now. Would they think that Dusty didn't ruin Prior's arm after that?

I guess Bay is an upgrade depending on what we give up. But he's had three declining years in a row, including his declining walks rate. I think the Cubs can do better with what they have. Or find something else.

I find it funny that despite the success of the Cubs this year, there are those willing to trade Lou to the Yankees. This is just absurd. We finally have a manager willing to play rookies and one who will bat the guy that is hitting... Girardi did okay with a pile of scraps at Florida. Both of you guys are probably a little wrong. He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't Casey Stengle either. The Yankees aren't going to give us Cano or Cabrera for Lou. They'll just hire Mattingly or Brenly or even Tony LaRussa if he's available. Let's be realistic here.

I think there is an extreme UNDER-empasis on the word 'luck' in this thread. Momentum doesn't matter much when you face Willis or Webb or Clemens when he's on his game, it's why teams with better pitching (whether due to luck or momentum or whatever) win World Series titles...mostly...it's what makes baseball so beautiful.

If Fox is sent down, then what happens when Ward comes off the DL? Who goes down then?