goonys evil twin

It only makes sense if you ignore some pretty strong evidence indicating he can't maintain this performance, though. wasnt there also some pretty strong evidence that dempster couldn't close games because he walked too many & didnt have enough strike outs? I don't know about that, I was supporting Dempster as closer since 2004. I compared him favorably to Isringhausen, and his transformation from an inconsistent and unimpressive starter coming off surgery to a good, but not great closer. Some people just made the general statement that he walks too many to close. You can lump me into the crowd of people who wouldn't have much faith in Lofton, but I was all for Dempster, and I don't see a correlation between the two situations.

I am in the "Lofton's affect was a bit overrated, or overstated, by many" camp. He did well, but that didn't make the team any better. I don't blame him for that though. I'm also not a big Lofton fan. He's not a good CF anymore. He was a part of that whole mess in Yankeeland last year. He's a parttime CF this year, and his numbers have been helped by a favorable home park. But, I wouldn't mind him being a stop gap, I just wouldn't rely on him as the sole CF, and I wouldn't rely on anything special in terms of numbers. I think he'll be back to a .340-.350 OBP, at best. And that is only if you limit him to about 400 PA or fewer. Dusty would have to use him the way he claims to use the young guys, letting him bat against favorable matchups. In this case, I'd defintely keep Hairston around to play a good 50-60 of the games in center. And if Lofton does start to fade, you cannot just let him play out the string and hope for a rejuvenation. They would have to be willing to cut bait at anytime, and we all know that with Dusty, that's not likely.

Following the 2003 season, we were in no need of a closer. Borowski had been performing fine in the role. Of course, he should have been calirivoyant (sp?) and realized Joe would get hurt and lose velocity. :roll: anyone worth a salt could see we needed an upgrade at closer. jobo had a nice year out of nowhere but if you weren't scared every time he took the mound, then you have no pulse. much like we all knew we needed an upgrade at short over gonz.i certainly did want to trot jobo out in the ninth with a trip to the series on the line. I wasn't scared of JoBo in 2003. He was great in 2002 and the same in 2003. They did not need an upgrade at closer until JoBo's arm disappeared in the spring of 2004.

I want a salary dumped Hinske as the backup 3b/1b to help in the preventive maintenence of those players.

I think Murton, Hill and Mitre might do it. Unless Billy has had his fill of pitchers, then it might be something like Murton, Sing and Hill, possibly with Fontenot thrown in somewhere. I wouldn't want to see that move, but if they went out and traded or signed for impact OF bats, I wouldn't object too much. Given our outfield situation, there's no way I'm letting go of Murton now. As much as I would love to have Zito fill out our rotation, isn't there someone else we could send along? My plan wouldn't call for a trade of Murton. But if the Cubs can get Chipper in a trade and sign Giles, I'd have no problem dealing him. In other words, if you fill the OF spot with production, go ahead and trade Murton if you have to.

Unless he is sleeping for 35 hours and 59 minutes, I say under. It's a road game, so he should be able to get proper rest finally, you never know.

I think Murton, Hill and Mitre might do it. Unless Billy has had his fill of pitchers, then it might be something like Murton, Sing and Hill, possibly with Fontenot thrown in somewhere. I wouldn't want to see that move, but if they went out and traded or signed for impact OF bats, I wouldn't object too much.

I think they certainly did have the players, they just didn't want to deal those players.

100% agreement. It's not luck that keeps STL over CHC. It's not unfair nitpicking to note that other organizations routinely outclass the Cubs front office in the personel decision game.

I'm not Bruce, but I have something to say on that. In my opinion, the way the Cubs organization is structured, Andy's job is strictly business/directional care for the longterm. He's the go between for ownership and management, and is basically just supposed to make sure the franchise is heading in the right direction, both as a financial entity, and a baseball club. For the most part, he's done that job pretty well, although not really in a timely fashion. The franchise was a mess before he arrived. It was a mid-point kind of payroll team, with no farm system and terrible results on the field. The organization is pretty healthy right now. It could be a World Series champion next year without a major overhaul. They are in a position to contend every year. The two problems I have with him is his apparant 100% satisfaction with Hendry/Baker, and the loyalty he has to the good ole' boy network that has hindered the developmental side of operations. I'd love to see Andy pull Jim into his office and say, "Hey Jimbo, Dusty was a failure, get rid of him, and start fixing some of those long running problems this team has, first and foremost, the lack of OBP on offense." But I'm not sure that is a fireable offense. The Trib and Andy have given Jim, the front office and Dusty more than enough to produce a championship caliber winner year in and year out. It's up to that group to make the proper baseball decisions to get it done. If he lets this team drift back to the 70, 73, 77, 75 win embarrasment of mediocrity, then get him the heck out of there. This should be the last sub .500 season for the rest of the decade. A repeat of 2005 should be met with mass overhaul of the front office.

Has Hendry had the money to get the top guy?? Will the Trib even allow him?? Iirc he wasn't playing w/ much budget prior to 2002. They were paying Hundley, Gonzo, Alou & Sosa to name a few. He made a real nice pick up in Remlinger, and the Hundley for Grudz & Karros trade was pretty nice. Prior to 2003, they had a little more money w/ Hundley gone and he went out and got Hawkins, Walker and Maddux. I recall most people being pretty fired up. Last year he put a good amount of money into Nomar. Again I recall a lot of people being pretty fired up. I don't think they'll go after any FA who wants more than 4 years. The Trib's scared for some reason. However, I can see him making 3 or 4 signings for guys like Furcal and Millwood. Hopefully, it doesn't turn out like the year we got George Bell, Danny Jackson and Mike Morgan. :cry: EDIT: Can't believe I forget the Great Walker. I think Hendry will be doing great if he signs Furcal and Millwood. I have suggested in many posts that the Cubs ought to resign Walker, Rusch, and maybe Nomar (depending on Furcal signing). Using Walker, Rusch/Williams, Patterson, Mitre, Hill, Welly, and some of our other prospects ought to fill an OF position and a veteran reliever. A player like Lofton will come cheaply and be a stopgap until Pie is ready. 1B....Lee 2B.... Cedeno SS....Furcal or Nomar (Low base with high incentive contract) 3B ...Aram LF....Murton CF.... Lofton RF.... ??? (player acquired in trade mentioned above) C.... Barrett with Blanco as sub SP.... Prior, Zambrano, Wood, Maddux, Millwood/Rusch/Williams Bullpen....Wuertz, Ohman, Novoa, ???? (veteran acquired in trade above), Hill/Welly/Mitre/VanBuren/other prospects. Closer..... Dempster Bench....??????? Rusch blows. He's also got an option. If he does not excercise it, I hope to heck the Cubs don't consider resigning him.

Ah, a young pup I see.

I don't think Carp looks mortal, I think he looks terrible. 5.40 ERA in September, 800+ OPS against. He didn't make it to last postseason did he? A lot of people couldn't explain his greatness mid season, perhaps things are just balancing out, like with the White Sox. I don't have a negative thing to say about them "laying down" at the end. I could care less. They locked up the division early and can treat September however they want. However, there has to be major concern out there. Mulder's up and down season continues, Morris is on his 4th month of 4+ ERA. Suppan has been the best post All Star pitcher. Sometimes this late season stuff is overblown, as for how it applies to the postseason. Sometime it's underplayed though. Anybody who is handing the crown to STL isn't watching their pitching, which is the part of the game I'd least like to see struggle heading into the playoffs. But all in all, I'd switch places in a heartbeat, even Eddy Curry's.

The reason I am not okay with a Furcal signing is because I know there is no possible way that would be the secondary move. That would be paraded around as the "put us over the top" move, filling leadoff and SS, and the OF would be filled by scraps.

Neifi, Macias, Rusch & Co. owed it to the league though, to try their darndest, and I think they did.

If you really believe what you're saying about the dangers of potential legislation, then you certainly shouldn't hope the league tells congress to stuff it. At that point they will be forced to actually do something. What you should hope is for MLB and MLBPA to come to a solid plan, so congress doesn't have to intervene and risk setting a precedent for other walks of life.

Okay, but how do the Cubs get Michaels. Saying he might be the odd man out doesn't put him in Wrigley. How do the Cubs get him. Philly won't just give him away. And Cruz is expensive.

You want Cruz Jr as 4th OF, and Hairston as 5th OF? Who are you 1-3 OF? Those are pretty expensive guys to have on your bench when we're talking about making the upgrades needed throughout the starting lineup. Goony, please correlate this thread with the thread in Transaction about the Cubs OF. So you want Murton, Michaels, Giles, Cruz, Hairston? Or am I confused? How are Michaels and Cruz getting here? Is either a FA? What are cost estimates? Isn't Cruz like a $5+m guy? Is LA going to let him go after a .322 .401 .566 line?

Let's go 2007!

You want Cruz Jr as 4th OF, and Hairston as 5th OF? Who are you 1-3 OF? Those are pretty expensive guys to have on your bench when we're talking about making the upgrades needed throughout the starting lineup.

I've heard his name, I've yet to hear an explanation of how he becomes a Cub. And even if he did become a Cub, I still see no reason why Giles shouldn't hit 2nd with that OBP. OBP is the only thing this team should be worrying about. SLG is not a problem, anywhere. Nomar's numbers since coming back, .314 .347 .541, compare favorably to the top 3 team 5th hitter splits in the NL. Even if he's down considerably from there he's easily top half. And the Cubs would be near the top at 2-4. Walker is more adaquate of a 2 hitter than Nomar is a 5 hitter. OBP should be the topic. Worrying about 5th hole SLG is misguided and unnecessary. This team needs OBP atop the order, plain and simple. Giles, if he came here, would be top 2 on the team for OBP, and would be best served in front of Lee and Ramirez. I guess it really doesn't matter in the long run, but coming off a year when Lee's super human production was wasted with bums hitting 1/2 much of the year, it would be baseball malpractice to go into 2006 with whatever .330-.340 OBP CF they find and .330-.355 OBP Walker in front of Lee, and waste Giles .375-.430 OBP after Lee. Odds are they won't get Giles and a decent CF, I'd much rather have Giles than the decent CF, and in that case, Giles is without a doubt the best option for 2nd.

I think it might depend on how many infielders the Cubs have on the bench. Also, if the Cubs decide to go with 14 or 15 pitchers next year Hairston would be more valuable. What role are we talking about?

I'm confused. So you want Nomar 6th? Ideally the Cubs sign Giles, and another bigtime OBP guy, but where will this person fit? Are we talking Lofton? What if they settle for somebody like GMJ instead? You could improve CF drastically and still not have a very good OBP there. I think ?/Giles/Lee/Ramirez/Nomar/Walker/Barrett/? could be about as good as we can reasonably hope for. Giles' OBP is much better than Walkers. Nomar isn't a top of the order guy. SLG is not lacking, at all, in the 3-5 spots, and really, Walker and Barrett's are perfectly acceptable in 6-7. SLG isn't the issue. They don't need more pop in the middle of the order. Burnitz didn't suck this year because of lack of pop, he sucked because he makes too many outs, just like the team in general. Giles' greatest contribution to this team would be his OBP, and that OBP should be utilized atop the order, in front of the Lee/Ramirez/Nomar if possible.

And his road SLG was .462 in 2004. I'm just not very confident in Hendry getting even one high OBP player this offseason, asking him to get two might be too much. Realisticly Giles can be a fantastic 2 hitter, setting up Lee and Ramirez for numerous RBI opportunities. Even if you do get one more OBP guy there, Giles could still hit 2nd. I'd love to see Marcus/Brian/Lee to start every game for the Cubs.

So are they seriously going to give Maddux another worthless start on Sunday? I guess the excuse this time would be to give him a chance to erase the embarrassing sub .500 record. This team's priorities are so far out of whack, it's impossible to have faith in their ability to turn things around next season. Team collapses two years in a row? Let's talk contract extensions for the GM and manager. Lack of walks and OBP continue to hold down an otherwise potent lineup? Let's worry about team speed and clutchiness. Team virtually eliminated since August 31? Let's reward the veterans who "got us here" by giving them tons of starts and playing time, and ignore the kids who we don't know enough about. Injuries down the stretch thin out the roster? Let's give 90% of the fill-in starts to a couple bums with no qualifications to start and no hope to help this team in the future.