goonys evil twin

On my ideal team? No way. On a Hendrified crap team that has to make due with what they got..........., probably not. If he's my second baseman, and I can't find any other help elsewhere, then I'd think about it. But he's nothing special as a corner OF. He's just a faster Carlos Lee.

If every other position was the same, a lineup that featured Bobby Abreu would score more runs than one with Carlos Lee no matter where you hit them. How do you know this? Because he's more productive.

It's not a matter of whether the trib can afford it. It's a matter of whether or not the Cubs can field a good enough team with that big of a chunk given to somebody who isn't all that special. The White Sox didn't win much with a very cheap Carlos Lee. The Brewers haven't won anything despite having an affordable Lee and possibly more talent than the Cubs have had. Hendry has not shown any ability to efficiently manage his funds, which tells me he wouldn't be able to fill out the roster properly if he spends $12m on Lee. If Jim dedicated 5 or 6 roster spots to young guys who make nothing but can give you the same thing that Neifi, Rusch and others give you (if not more), then overpaying for a solid but far from spectaculiar Carlos Lee may not be a bad idea. But I don't see that happening.

Andy might be in NY within a year or two. When he's gone, Hendry's biggest supporter is gone. I believe Hendry will have to turn things around by next season or he'll be canned either way. The Cubs are not afraid to fire people.

I think it implies that the number two batters of late are not really threats to get on base. Speaking of which I happened to catch a bit of the Brewer radio broadcast from the first game of the series and Bob Uecker (aka Harry Doyle) was basically ridiculing Baker for have Pierre and Perez, two guys with OBP's below .300 batting 1-2 in the lineup. Classic, how true it is. Sure, you just "happened" to be listening to Uecker. Stalker!

He didn't. He hit the DL and is on a rehab assignment.

Only by people who don't know how to compare hitters.

Are you kidding me? Anybody who isn't a strong advocate against resigning Pierre just doesn't care about having good players on the Cubs. This can't even be a topic of discussion if people want to seriously think about how the Cubs can improve.

I'm not measuring his worth with games played numbers. I'm refuting the claim that he averages 30/105, which is just not true.

What does average matter? Nothing.

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies. I don't get how what you stated is much different that what I stated. He doesn't say swing at ball four and by being overly aggressive means our hitters rarely get to ball three counts, anyway. But in the rare instances our guys do get to ball three, Baker's philosophy and our hitters' lack of pitch recognition makes it difficult for ball four. Hey, when is someone going to ask him why he downplays walks on the offensive side, but hates them when we give them up? Cuse said, "Dusty preaches aggresive hitting and with that comes swinging at ball 4" and you tried to defend Baker by saying he doesn't preach swinging at ball 4. It doesn't matter if he doesn't preach that, he preaches something that leads to ball 4. There is no defense for Baker on that charge, and there's no reason for you to try and defend him.

You shouldn't want one or the other. You should want the more productive hitter, which is Abreu. Don't fill roster spots with stereotypes. That's how you end up with guys like Pierre. This team would be very well off with Abreu hitting 4th, or 3rd, or 5th, or 2nd, or 6th.

Sorry, but you're wrong for defending Baker here. He doesn't teach swing at ball 4. But he does loudly downplay the value of the walk, bench players whose best quality is patience, try to get patient hitters to be more aggressive and teach overly aggressive approaches at the plate. Just because he doesn't say swing at ball 4 that doesn't mean his instructions don't lead to people swinging at ball 4. It's part of the package when you preach what he preaches. You can't deny responsibility for the negative ramifications of your bad philosophies.

Why not? Neither is a franchise player. No bullpen is going to carry a team. They are both older players with up and down pasts. And we know relievers have a short shelf life and are inconsistent. It would be negligent to turn down a trade that would better the ballclub just because we think these guys are the key to any future success. Everybody should be available for the right place, and these guys aren't close to the Zambrano/Lee area, let alone the Ramirez/Prior zone.

1 this season (2 more of 6, 1 of 5). 2 last season (1 more of 7).

That's the problem, he doesn't average 30/105 per season. He averages that per 162 games played, but he's only played 162 once. He's only surpassed the 100 RBI mark twice. Anybody could drive in 100 RBI in the middle of even a mediocre lineup. That's no accomplishment. Carlos is a good hitter. But he's far from great. And he has some serious drawbacks to his offensive game, more than Dunn.

All they have to do is go 52-33, for a .612 W%, the rest of the season to finish at .500.

Sort of like a bucking horse?

Thankfully the Red Sox are red hot right now and the Blue Jays are hanging around. It will be interesting to hear the haters explain how meaningless it was since it's against Atlanta, especially if Boston wins anyway.

He stopped getting lucky. It's one thing to succeed as a ground ball pitcher with a low K/9. But with a miniscule K/9 it's very difficult.

I'd pull the deal on a trigger tomorrow for a pre-prime stud hitter. I'd probably pull the trigger for something less prior to him leaving via free agency if nothing improves between now and then. But considering they control him for a while now, and that he isn't going to be breaking the bank anytime soon, I'd be giving him plenty of time to improve.

GIS "sign of the end" http://www.retrovegasgirls.com/entertainers/photos/siegfried_roy_tiger_1_r.jpg

I know more than a few people will treat it that way. HEY, WE MIGHT NOT GET SWEPT AT HOME!!!

Stupid kids

I think they just figured out where the starting gate is! BCB They found the gate after it was pulled away from the track and put in storage.