goonys evil twin

I don't think there is anything ideal about hitting a guy, for whom a .346 OBP would be a career best, near the top of the order. He doesn't have much patience, strikes out too much in comparison to his walks to really think he's going to emerge as a truly great player. I'm basing this on the careers of guys in baseball who truly are difference makers right now. Guys like Vlad and Nomar can get away with this type of approach and still produce, but that player is few and far between. David Wright is a young player with difference maker written all over him. He hits for average, draws walks and has fantastic power. He outpaces Crawford in everything that matters most. Carl has been no better than Orlando Cabrerra this year, who is certainly not a difference maker. He's been a hair better than Joe Crede, who has never been confused with a difference maker.

I'm pretty sure (in fact, I'm 100% sure) that players with no-trade clauses routinely accept trades. Indeed, if some team was willing to pick up Wood's $13 million option as a condition to a trade, I'd be shocked if he didn't accept it. Acting like there is absolutely no chance that Wood will be traded is more naive than ignoring his NTC. It's been widely reported that Wood's NTC is exactly that, and he would not waive it. Exactly what? NTCs are simply negotiating tools for players to get compensated for being traded and to direct their next destination. You wouldn't be able to trade him to Tampa or KC, because neither will make it financially beneficial to Wood. But you could probably swing a deal with a number of other teams.

Cabrera is a realistic possibility to be trade bait. Abreu is still capable of leading a good team from the heart of the order. If not him, then Burrell might be on the block. Drew may be dealt by the new Dodgers regime. I'm not a big fan of either, but Carlos Lee and Soriano would probably have more impact than Crawford, and both could be on new teams sometime this season, if not next. To me he's Corey Patterson, without the blown out knee and time spent screwed around by the Cubs. I wouldn't have a problem with him in CF (assuming he can play), but you'd really have to do something to the rest of the lineup to truly solve the problems on this team.

I really can't stand the dives these guys take.

I've been away a while. Is Guzman really sitting in the bullpen right now?

I'm not saying he's worthless and can't continue to improve. I just think he's overrated by the hype, hasn't done enough as a pro to warrent all the excitement, and isn't capable of being a cornerstone corner outfielder. I think he might peak at a little higher level than Jacque Jones, and probably make a lot of money as a major leaguer for many years. But I don't think he's worth giving up a ton of talent, because I don't think he can be a difference maker. Guys who walk as infrequently as him have to be one of a kind talents to have great success. He's no Vlad, or even Soriano.

Agreed. Aardsma needs to work on his control but if he can improve on that, he'll be an effective big league pitcher. This describes a lot of Cubs pitchers. If they could have greater control they'd be good pitchers. The problem is they don't. I'm not sure why, but the Cubs just don't seem to emphasize throwing strikes, or location. Or they don't know how to develop guys who can throw strikes.

That's the craziest thing of all, it tops the cake. I could almost understand if the Cubs were bringing up some young stud, but Fast Freddy Bynum? Are you kidding me? Just when I think it can't get worse, it does. I'm not just talking about Bynum. He's been nothing short of terrible this year, but he's only a couple years older than Matt with little experience. His pass from Dusty is his speed and versatility, two things that have described some of the worst Cubs players in the Dusty era. But it's telling when the first position player demotion of the season happens to a guy like Murton, while Pierre hasn't seen the least bit of pressure to improve his game, and Neifi keeps getting more and more playing time the worse he plays.

The future is what matters. And this team has to find out what part of the future Murton can play. You don't just sit a struggling young player because the team sucks. A sucky team is a perfect opportunity to play a struggling young player. And you don't allow sucky veterans to play while benching the kid. That serves no purpose to the team.

And name the teams that abuse their pitchers as much as the Cubs. When you lead the world in pitcher abuse and suffer a series of pitching injuries, it doesn't take much to find a correlation.

I think we, as the fans of this organization, have earned the right to overreact by watching this team everyday in the hopes of a meaningless victory. Oh - and Z has been one of the constants, not getting hurt. This does not happen everyyear, but it could be "his year" Yes, actually it does happen every year. Heavy arm is common and Zambrano has experienced as much in the past seasons as well. You have absolutely no more of a claim to the statement that "it's nothing, happens every year" than others have to the claim that "it's something". Maybe it doesn't have to happen every year if Dusty had an ounce of common sense in dealing with his pitchers.

How do you know that? He might be playing Pierre because upper management says to play him. Rusch, I can't explain away.... I know, Hendry says that Dusty makes the calls on the field, but it is possible that the higher-ups want Pierre to play to see how their (poor) investment pans out. Regardless, Pierre has no reason to hate Dusty. And it's highly doubtful that Dusty is being forced to play the guy. Dusty openly supports him all the time. And he plays him everyday. If he didn't want Pierre playing, he'd find more days to sit him and he'd dropped him in the order when he does play. Pierre and Dusty are clearly on the same page.

I would not be surprised in the least if a significant number of players disliked Dusty. These guys know baseball, and they have to know basic strategy. Dusty does not, and it shows. Plus, the clubhouse has been terrible since 2004. They tried to fix it by getting rid of so-called bad apples, but you can't fix a screwed up clubhouse by trading a personality or two. The manager continually handicaps his own team with terrible moves, and the players are sick of seeing it. Guys like Rusch, Perez, Bynum etc probably don't mind, because it means more playing time for them.

But the important thing to remember is Dusty doesn't have any sort of unjustified infatuation with veterans and he treats young players fairly.

Looks like a great battle. But did anybody notice if he swung at a bunch of balls out of the zone? You hate to lose a batter after a 3-1 count. He swung at 12 out of 16 pitches.

What's so special about Crawford? He's not good at getting on base. I guess if he was a really good defensive CF his numbers would be nice out there, but nothing to give up a load of talent for. He plays LF and I don't know anything about his ability out there or his ability to move to center.

Has anyone seen the contract to know that it's guaranteed? With the possible threat of him leaving for the NFL, I'm sure someone would be smart enough to include clauses. And yes, I realize we're talking about the Cubs. The contract talk is based on clauses, but baseball contracts are all guaranteed. He'd probably have to play full seasons to get the full money, but it's still his choice. It wouldn't be like the Cubs could say "we don't like how this is working out, we're releasing you without pay."

It would be guaranteed. He could always choose to retire and forfeit the money, but it is guranteed. He gets it if he keeps playing, just like every other baseball player. To claim that it's not guaranteed just because he might quit is just the same as saying Randy Johnson's contract isn't guaranteed because he might quit. There is very little chance he'd walk away from that guaranteed money unless some NFL team offered guarantees above and beyond what he'd be giving up. And that is unlikely to happen given the nature of a structured salary cap league like the NFL. Goony, that is why it is backloaded though. If he sucks at baseball and realizes that he has a brighter future in football I can definitely see him walk away from baseball, with some pressure from whatever NFL team drafts him, before the big money in that contract kicks in. I think he will give baseball a couple of years and see what happens but after that I would imagine he will be pressured to choose one or the other. Yeah, that's why it is backloaded, but it doesn't change the fact that it is guaranteed money. If he wants it he can have it. The odds of him walking away from guaranteed money are extremely small.

It would be guaranteed. He could always choose to retire and forfeit the money, but it is guranteed. He gets it if he keeps playing, just like every other baseball player. To claim that it's not guaranteed just because he might quit is just the same as saying Randy Johnson's contract isn't guaranteed because he might quit. There is very little chance he'd walk away from that guaranteed money unless some NFL team offered guarantees above and beyond what he'd be giving up. And that is unlikely to happen given the nature of a structured salary cap league like the NFL. I thought you were convinced he was going to take the larger NFL signing bonus and run? I'm not convinced of anything on this subject. I just don't like the odds of it working out in the Cubs favor. I could see him trying to take both sets of paychecks, which would ultimately hurt either team. The point is badgercub is wrong to say the money isn't guaranteed. It is guaranteed, as is every baseball contract, in the sense that as long as the player doesn't quit, they'll get the cash. A football team can take a chance on him quitting baseball, then cut him if they don't like the results. A baseball team can't do the same. As soon as he signs, the money becomes guaranteed up unless he decides he doesn't want it. Not many ballplayers have walked away from guaranteed money.

Murton gets a free pass (I don't know why) from some because he's under 28 years old. Are you kidding me? You don't know why? It's because of the likelihood of improvement, and expectations coming in. The so-called free pass is given by sane and logical people who don't think a kid has to be great from day one in the majors. I for one didn't expect a lot from Murton this year. If he was going to be a starter, I wanted a great player on the other corner. Otherwise, he should have been platooned. But with a hack like Bynum? What's the point?

Just because he's an improvement over the garbage that is out there now does not mean it makes sense to trade for, and then resign the guy. He's not very good, but he's paid like a very good player and will get a big contract. That would be incredibly inefficient usage of resources.

It would be guaranteed. He could always choose to retire and forfeit the money, but it is guranteed. He gets it if he keeps playing, just like every other baseball player. To claim that it's not guaranteed just because he might quit is just the same as saying Randy Johnson's contract isn't guaranteed because he might quit. There is very little chance he'd walk away from that guaranteed money unless some NFL team offered guarantees above and beyond what he'd be giving up. And that is unlikely to happen given the nature of a structured salary cap league like the NFL.

He'll fit right in.

I expected improvement, but not vast improvement. Pierre was a lifetime 87 OPS+ player, Corey was 81. But Corey still had the potential for upside, while the one dimensional and past his priem Pierre did not.

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