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goonys evil twin

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Everything posted by goonys evil twin

  1. What is this "low-profile" and "high-profile" talk? I'm not up on hat fashion.
  2. I get annoyed only because so many of them allow it to taint their analysis of the Cubs. The aforementioned Mike and the Mad Dog show, while NY-centric, often talks about national issues. When talking about the Cubs, they seem to scoff at their chances because they are the Cubs, as opposed to because of the fact that they have a GM who refuses to acknowledge the value of the walk. It pisses me off that the Cubs curse nonsense takes precedence over the competence of the management. It almost excuses poor management decisions because they couldn't help it, since it's the Cubs. that's more laziness by those guys than anything. Yeah, but it's annoying. And I'm too lazy and stupid to stay away from their show.
  3. I sure as heck am not convinced that the shotgun is the answer.
  4. I get annoyed only because so many of them allow it to taint their analysis of the Cubs. The aforementioned Mike and the Mad Dog show, while NY-centric, often talks about national issues. When talking about the Cubs, they seem to scoff at their chances because they are the Cubs, as opposed to because of the fact that they have a GM who refuses to acknowledge the value of the walk. It pisses me off that the Cubs curse nonsense takes precedence over the competence of the management. It almost excuses poor management decisions because they couldn't help it, since it's the Cubs.
  5. You guys are all way off. This is a pre-spring training cover. The cover jinx will come to the team that is on the cover of the actual baseball preview issue, which will come just prior to the start of the season, and will likely be the team that SI picks to win it all. CubInNY Mike and the Mad Dog hate the Cubs because they view them simply as a sideshow, a style over substance joke. Chris is a die-hard Giants fan, while Mike is a Yankees guy. Mike especially embodies the "the only thing that matters is winning the World Series", and he takes the standard media person's view that the Cubs can't win the World Series since the owners don't want to win the World Series. They laugh at the Cubs because they just assume there is no chance of them winning because they are the Cubs. Likewise, they (well, mostly Mike) think the Yankees will always win because they are the Yankees. They are all into that chemistry/intangibles nonsense as well.
  6. You surely can't be saying that we're getting above average scoring out of below-average players due to his play-calling, are you? You think his play calling should have led to more scoring? No offense, but the vast majority of the time when people talk about play-calling, they are just grasping at straws. Football is a far more complicated sport than baseball, which anybody could break down. The fact is, that Super Bowl gameplan could have led to a championship with half the turnovers. When somebody runs on 3rd and 12th, and they make it, he's a genius. When they run on 3rd and 2 and don't make it, he's a hack. Yes, I was annoyed by some of Turner's calls throughout the season. However, I'm a results guy, and Turner has gotten greater results out of the office than one may have expected, given the talent. Going into the season, I was expecting great defense and hoping for average offense. I think the defense was a little worse than I expected and the offense was a little better than I'd hoped. I can't find justification for the "run Turner out of town" rants. In a salary cap sport, when management has focuses the vast majority of their resources on bettering one side of the ball, I find it very hard to be pissed about above average production from the neglected side.
  7. I don't understand the backlash against Turner. He's taken an offense with extremely limited talent and gotten average yardage and well above average scoring out of them. There isn't a true #1 receiver, there isn't a great running back, there isn't even a good QB. There are a bunch of okay players, yet they've performed better than most. I think football fans cry out against game plans as a sort of catch-all for being pissed that the team lost. Cut the turnovers in half in the Super Bowl and that gameplan probably produces a championship.
  8. ??? Yes, that is what I am talking about. Those numbers are much more telling. There is less "interference", so to speak. Well, they are slightly different, but tell the same story. Mediocrity, punctuated with downright disgrace. FYI, while the comps with AL teams would generally make things look worse, it works 2 ways. Ranking 20th and 20th in MLB in 2005 for OBP and R, compares with ranking 11th and 9th in just the NL. In 2004 they look slightly better by going with just NL numbers, but in 2006, they actually benefit from including all MLB numbers. So the point stands, no, you aren't really making things look worse than they are by including all MLB. It's pretty much the same story.
  9. Your argument is wrong. 2003 and 2004 were okay teams, but they won only 88 and 89 games, well off the pace of the best in baseball, because they relied so heavily on pitching and had such lackluster offenses. As the offenses got worse and worse, the losses mounted.
  10. 2006: 29th in OBP, 28th in Runs 2005: 20th in OBP, 20th in Runs 2004: 22nd in OBP, 16th in Runs 2003: 24th in OBP, 20th in Runs Something tells me pitching (namely relying on Wood and Prior) hasn't been the only major problem this team has had over the past four years. I think it's much more objective to present your rankings for just the NL. Of course the AL teams are going to dominate the upper half of those rankings with the inclusion of the DH. I'm not saying that the Cubs will have a great ranking in the NL per se, but you are making things look worse than they actually were relative to a similar peer group. Not really. The Cubs were 14th, 14th, 16th and 16th in walks taken the past 4 years in the NL. 13th, 11th, 11th, 16th in OBP, and 9th, 7th, 9th, and 16th in Runs scored. The team's biggest weakness under Hendry has been the walk, both taken and given up. They've been at or near the bottom throughout his tenure, and that one simple stat has greatly affected the bigger ones, like Runs scored, and given up. They have been a below average scoring team under Hendry, and last year were the worst. It's not just Prior and Wood.
  11. I was thinking the same thing. The photographers are playing golf. Or Scott Eyre ate them. With Rusch gone, is Eyre the new whipped cream boy? Yes.
  12. Dusty could be worth watching, in a "for entertainment purposes only" sort of way.
  13. He's done alright with landing A-Ram and D-Lee for a pile of junk. Sure, he's had his share of bad moves as well, but he has secured four players who are likely all-stars this year (D-Lee, A-Ram, Soriano and Barrett. Yet, as has been pointed out repeatedly, with all the talent, he's still constructed a team that is sub .500 under his watch, despite a top 5 payroll. I'm not saying he's incapable of identifying a talented baseball player, I'm saying he's been horrible at assembling a good baseball team.
  14. I don't really question Hendry's ability to get who he wants. I just question his wants.
  15. Yay. Now rip up the contract and give him a 5-year deal.
  16. I think he was on that diet when he was a Cub. zing! I think Zingers were a Dolly Madison product. They still are! Ron I loved those things. Probably haven't had one since high school though.
  17. That makes no sense. You can't "just go out and sign the #1 FA pitcher on the market next year". You are devaluing top notch pitchers by referring them as commodities.
  18. I think he was on that diet when he was a Cub. zing! I think Zingers were a Dolly Madison product.
  19. I'd rather have Z, Oswalt, or Carpenter over Zito. Yeah, I have two problems with this story. First off, you are making it seem like Zito is the greatest pitcher in baseball. That's not close to the case. Also, calling extraordinary players commodities is just inaccurate. Commodities suggest readily available and significant supply, not to mention of equal value. Extraordinary players are by their very nature extraordinary, ie not commodities. They are worth the money because those are the guys that make a difference between average and great. Sure, you'd rather get your great players at cheap cost, but that can only happen if you grow them internally. They are few and far between and hard to develop, however. I would much rather overpay a great player and fill the rest of the spots with replacable commodities (guys like Marquis, Izturis, Jones), than overpay those replacable commodities and let a great player walk. I agree with your statement that the Cubs don't have motivation to give into Zambrano's arby price, or even the midway point. But the reasoning you use to get to that point isn't really logical at all.
  20. But hasn't Soriano said he doesn't want to be bounced around anymore? I agree that what you just wrote would probably be best for the team right now. Hendry believes that Pie will be ok in right field. He has the arm for it. So, if Soriano doesn't want to move from CF to RF when Pie is ready, Pie plays RF. I personally believe that if Soriano sees that it's best for the team to move to RF for Pie, he'll do it. Either way, the line-up would look the same. I don't see any way that Soriano has a longterm future in CF. He's never played it, so he's starting from scratch at 31 and relying solely on his athletic ability to handle the position. I don't think anybody believes he'll be good there, they are just hoping for adequacy. As he reaches his mid-30's, an age when several former top CF start to lose a step and/or move out of that position, he's not likely to be of much service in center. I think he's going to play center this year. But I don't think he'll be there once Pie establishes himself as a big leaguer.
  21. There wasn't much "if" talk before.
  22. Other than the people implying that Aramis was lazy, out of shape and unfocused, earning the disrespect of his teamates, and maintaining the ire of the fans by signing a fat contract and showing up "late" (whihc turned out to be on time", you're right. No one said anything critical. Other than that. I saw one comment that he looked out of shape-which is a common thing said about at least a few players on the team all the time on this board (including in the last week)-nobody jumped all over them. I didn't really see the other implications you're talking about-the only other comment that could be seen as remotely critical of Aramis is that people wouldn't be impressed by him if he showed up late-he didn't, and the person even said that he really just wanted to know who was there/and wasn't there and was not turning against Aramis in any way. I guess I just didn't read the same implications into things that some others did. Maybe you just skipped it, or maybe people edited it, but there was much more negative Aramis commentary then you are leading people to believe.
  23. I disagree with this train of thought. What you need are guys that can produce with the bat. The Cubs have been RH heavy for years, but they've also been worse against LHP than RHP during that time. If anything, the Cubs need more RH bats, to offset guys like Jones who cannot hit LHP worth a lick. Last year the Cubs were 14th in the NL for OPS. But they were dead last against LHP, and 9th against RHP. Finley is washed up garbage. He doesn't do a thing to help this team and shouldn't be considered for any sort of position.
  24. I don't believe so. I think you can spread out the payments over 3 or 4 months, and maybe more. But it's pretty much an all or nothing service. You can sign up later in the season, but it won't be half the cost or anything. I've never tried to do it, but if you got the package on the installment plan, and then canceled halfway through, wouldn't that essentially be the same thing? I don't know why anyone would do this though, unless they discovered they just didn't like it. I don't know if you can do it. I think you commit to the season when you sign up. I guess it might be possible to cancel your entire service before finishing paying for the package, if your contract is up. But even then they might force you to finish the payments.
  25. I don't believe so. I think you can spread out the payments over 3 or 4 months, and maybe more. But it's pretty much an all or nothing service. You can sign up later in the season, but it won't be half the cost or anything.
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