goonys evil twin

Uh yeah, he better miss much of the season.

Mine's not working, it says the Cubs are in 4th place. That's unpossible.

I haven't seen video yet, so it's tough to comment. But if he just tossed it in the air and it brushed the ump, I'd say "hit bat struck the umpire" is an appropriate description. If he threw it at the guy, that's different, but I don't know yet.

I wouldn't give 3 first rounders for Davis. That's absolutely insane. technically, it would only be 2, this year's first round pick would just be improved. considering our track record with 1st rounders, we're bound to miss on the next two years anyway, why not make this year worth something? especially with a tight-end that gives you so many different options. 2 first rounders for a potentially great player is an easy deal to make. barring injury, vernon davis is a virtual lock to be a perrenial pro-bowler in the NFC. Wow, a little overhype there, no? I heard the same about Bubba Franks. I have no interest in such a trade. A tight end is still nice, but it's still just a tight end. If he's anything short of phenomenal, it's a terrible trade that will cripple this team longterm. And I'm not so sure I'd be as quick as you to dismiss this administration's ability to draft. If anything, I'd rather be on the receiving end of all those extra picks. Giving up lots for 1 guy rarely, if ever, works out as hoped.

Even more fearless prediction: The wind is blowing out to right and Pierre goes deep. Pierre: 9 career HR in 3493 AB's for a ratio of 388 AB per HR Cedeno: 1 career HR in 145 AB's for a ratio of 145 AB per HR It should be noted that Pierre has gone deep at least once (high of 3 in 2004) in all 5 of his full big league seasons. According to this site, Juan had 1 HR in 1305 minor league at bats. In all his professional career, the ratio is 479.8 AB per HR. Ronny went 71.58 AB per HR in the minors.

It surprised you that Sully would feel that way?? Where've you been bro? i think he was surprised by the relative benevolence toward america in the post. No offense, but yeah, that's what I meant. The flag is just a symbol. It is not an actual veteran, or the grave of a veteran. And the reproduction and bastardization of the flag in so many forms that are technically against the rules of proper treatment of the flag (as well as the irony that burning the flag is proper disposal) makes me laugh at the disingenuous nature of many people's complaints. Make no mistake, I think flag burning is a crap form of protest. It's a pathetic attempt to make a statement when you don't even know what you want to say. But it's harmless, and somewhat serves a purpose as it exposes the fools.

I'm still hoping they find a good defender early. Make the best part of your team the best it can be.

The loud booing and subsequent banishment of Patterson is what led to the high price paid to acquire Pierre. I don't want management making decisions based on fan/player interaction, or else you might see them going out and signing the Augie Ojedas of the world.

If the cost is low, I don't see why people have such a hangup about versatility. It is legal to have guys on your bench whose primary purpose is to swing a bat. You don't have to double switch in every pinch hitter. And every bench player doesn't have to play 5 positions. The Cubs have an abundance of versatile players on their bench now, and it still sucks. What they don't have is bats, and they need them desperately.

Not surprising, he's really old, and really bad.

It's not exactly lights out. They have the 7th best WHIP, 3rd best K/9, 4th best OPS against and 6th best ERA. Their biggest weakness is walks and Williamson has been one of the biggest culprits. He's got a 5+ ERA right now. It's not like he's the most important piece of the puzzle.

I read this story yesterday, then saw something on the bottom line under the NCAA heading that said "self inflicted gunshot", so I just assumed it was related to this story. Anybody know if that's the case?

I don't think we can say for sure that he's definitely anything. He does have lots of similarities to Corey. Personally I don't want him up just yet, but I'm betting he could at least duplicate with the flying frenchmen have done so far. And I wouldn't be upset in the least if he did replace one of them tomorrow.

Yes and yes. The question is how much are those going to rise from their current state. From the sound of things, they are only going to get worse. . . . . . .the end of the world is upon us. Nobody has suggested anything close. Why can't people point out that Pierre has been crap without people making wild accusations about their intentions and completely blowing out of proportion the statements that are being made. Pierre was mediocre last year. And he has been terrible this year. The Cubs need him to be good.

baseball is a man's sport

But it's the complaining that gets annoying, not the constant complaining about complaining and accusations about those who are complaining.

That's great that you aren't worried, but it's an outright lie to claim he's not doing that bad. Why are expectations so high? Those who are against Pierre, what are your expectations from the leadoff/CF spot? From every position in the lineup, I look for at least a .350 OBP, an .800 OPS, and solid defense. That's a well balanced player. I'll be surprised if Pierre provides any of the 3. Meanwhile, we traded 3 young arms for him, we're paying him millions, and we have a CF in triple A who I believe would indeed provide all 3. Well, I think you expect too much. There wasn't a team in the major leagues that met your expectations last year just from an offensive standpoint. It's worth shooting for. And it would obtainable in CF by simply benching Pierre and calling up Pie. I certainly expect better than Pierre's current .275 OBP! It's absolutely terrible. A .350 OBP and .800 OPS from everybody is high. And i'm not sure Pie is a great bet for at least the first part. I'd like a .340-.350 OBP from the top of the order guys, somewhere around .370-.400 from the middle guys and .320-.340 from the lower guys. There's nothing wrong with a sub 800 OPS from a few guys, it's going to happen regardless. It doesn't matter though, because no matter how you slice it, or how many convoluted "1 hit a week" theories you come up with, Pierre is off to a terrible start and needs to improve to help the team.

That's great that you aren't worried, but it's an outright lie to claim he's not doing that bad. Why are expectations so high? Those who are against Pierre, what are your expectations from the leadoff/CF spot? So high? Claiming his sub .300 OBP is bad reflects unfairly high expectations?

That's great that you aren't worried, but it's an outright lie to claim he's not doing that bad.

Combine the "lowered expectations" with the "let's get all worked up about relatively meangingless side facts" and there's your argument. Just because he could be better than last year's leadoff hitters doesn't mean he's good. And stolen base totals don't make a player.

That's no more tangible than the rest of the discussion. OPS+ 2000-2005 55 89 65 98 107 84 He's averaged a 87 for his career. He peaked at 26, as expected. If he repeats his disappointing 2005, he'll be right in-line with his career. I don't think he'll stay as terrible as he's been this year. But if he does improve, he'll have to hit much better than he did last year to be anything close to valuable. He could be less of a liability than Patterson was last year, but that's not enough to earn recognition as a valuable member of the team. Better than crap can still be bad.

He's not too young to be declining. I'm sure he's not totally washed up. He still has some skills. But he turns 29 this season. 26 is the typical peak year (coincides with Pierre's best years). Guys start differently, but 28/29 is not too early. And it's especially not too early for a one dimensional player like Pierre, who relies so heavily on his speed, and really doesn't have any other skills. Remember, his career #s are helped by time in Colorado, and even then he had a season with just a .332 OBP. He was lower than that last year. His 2005 season can't be ignored as an "off" year, as his OPS was only about .100 points below his previous year. His OPS+ was nearly in line with his career, which has been below average most of the time.

Yep, if you're trying to predict the rest of the season. But no matter how small the sample size, it doesn't change the fact that he's sucked this year. Last season combined with the first 20 games does, however, provide a pretty significant sample size. Shouldn't you worry more about the White Sox? I don't think the Cubs face the White Sox for a couple months, right? May 19th (my B-Day) is the first series at the Cell. Wow, that soon. I guess I should start to worry in the next couple weeks. Thanks for the heads up trueblue. Almost. :cry: TrueBlue is the one who gave me the heads up to start worrying about that series. You corrected my calender error. So, thanks to trueblue for the heads up, and thanks to blueheart for the clarification.

Yep, if you're trying to predict the rest of the season. But no matter how small the sample size, it doesn't change the fact that he's sucked this year. Last season combined with the first 20 games does, however, provide a pretty significant sample size. Shouldn't you worry more about the White Sox? I don't think the Cubs face the White Sox for a couple months, right? May 19th (my B-Day) is the first series at the Cell. Wow, that soon. I guess I should start to worry in the next couple weeks. Thanks for the heads up trueblue.

My thoughts are they are about a game or two above where I was thinking they'd be, or maybe it was hoping they'd be. I'm hoping they can stay above .500 with Lee out, and get another bat within the next month or so. The bench was weak to start, now it's devastatingly bad. I'm looking forward to the slow and deliberate return of some of the starting pitchers. Hopefully Lee can come back at full strength, and if it's ahead of schedule, all the better. And yeah, Pierre's contract shouldn't even be a topic this season.