goonys evil twin

Which in the end is completely meaningless to the debate of whether Neifi has been the 4th or 5th best hitter on the team this year.

Save for OBP? OBP is meaningful, it overrides the avg difference, and SLG is a wash, basically non-existent. Neifi has played a lot more than Hairston, and used differently, which explains the difference in counting stats. Throw-in Neifi's inexcusable 17 GIDPs (compared to JH's 4) and there's no debate.

What does that mean Neifi has outhit him most of the year? Burnitz has been better than Neifi all year. neifi has a better batting average than burnitz for most parts of the season and overall. Who cares. Batting average doesn't mean he's better. Alex Sanchez has a better batting average than Alex Rodriguez, but nobody would say he's better than ARod. Neifi has sucked, there's no point in trying to make him look better than he's been. Hairston, Burnitz, Walker, Barrett, Aramis and Lee have all been better.

What does that mean Neifi has outhit him most of the year? Burnitz has been better than Neifi all year.

Burnitz has been a terrible disappointment. But by no means can you say Neifi has been better. Also, Hairston has been better.

....every other outfielder they've had this year has been terrible? And Burnitz has been far from good.

I'm pretty sure he signed a two year deal this past offseason. Isn't it a player option second year? Yep. $2 million player option. At this point he'd be nuts not to exercise the option, but there's always a dumb GM out there willing to overpay for lefties.

The good thing is this team doesn't seem to have quit on Dusty at all, he's got them playing their best and getting the most out of them with his motivational ploys, just like last year.

At least he's not striking out.

Neifi sure doesn't like to make Dusty look smart.

The question was would they have a 6th starter in-line in case it doesn't work out, with it being Kerry Wood ready to start the season. If Mitre was the 6th guy, and Wood wasn't ready, he wouldn't have to start in the pen or pass waivers, as he would start the season in the rotation.

He'll have one. Whether it's Mitre, Pinto, Hill, Koronka, Rusch, or Burnett, though, is the big question.

When the stripers are biting you have to bait the hook early. I've wondered the same thing, but have decided to go with the, "it's just Dusty being Dusty" theory. There is no reasoning behind it. Not being "baseball people" though, we aren't allowed to ask such trivial questions.

I'm confused....to be ready to play next season or to be ready by the beginning of next season. Here's a quote from the AP article on the Trib website: The Cubs hope he'll recover in time to start the 2006 season. emphasis added

I really appreciate his hustle and his attitude. Tracking down balls in the OF, hitting his cutoff man, hustling down the line on ground balls, and not blaming everyone else when things aren't going well are examples of what he has brought to this team. And yet, overall, his presence in the middle of the order on a daily basis has been a disaster, and they absolutely must replace him in the offseason.

Let's go out there and try and get McGriff that record.

FYI Hairston Neifi Lee Burnitz Nomar Walker Barrett Patterson Rusch can't let those kids play back to back, you owe it to your vets who got you where you are

Now that's just ridiculous. Walker is more than capable of hitting leadoff. And he's more than capable of reaching home with less than 3 hits after him. That's just absurd talk that completely belittles the rest of your message. I'm not impressed with Furcal because he's not very good. He's fine, but he's no $8 million difference maker. He's a career .346 OBP player, and that's acceptable, but hardly impressive. He's also got a drinking problem, that, unlike Kyle Farnsworth, has actually gotten him in serious legal trouble. If Furcal is your primary offensive improvement in the offseason, you will still be severaly lacking on offense. The OF must be addressed. The Cubs have options at SS, but they don't have anything for the OF.

What is Hairston's contract situation? Unsigned, arbitration eligible?

Oh, I don't know. Let's say they trade Patterson and Murton, then end up with Abreu and Burrell. In that case I'd be fine with Hairston starting in center. Or, if they end up with ARod at short because the fading Yankees go berserk, and they find a solid RF, but have to deal Murton, then I could see Hairston starting in LF. Or if they pick up Walker's option, but then trade him to a team that's desperate for a 2B, and get back strong corner OF either in that trade or via free agency, then I could settle for Hairston at 2B. I'd much rather him be a utility guy, but it wouldn't necessarily be a disaster if he's starting, because improvements were made elsewhere. If Macias was starting, it would be a disaster. Neifi again? Big problem. But Hairston? No.

You absolutely cannot blame the Trib for not spending enough. $100 million payroll speaks for itself. It's not about going the extra mile, it's about a GM knowing his payroll options, knowing the market and making the right choices. Sometimes you have to go cheaper in one area than you'd want, but if you can't make it work with a $100 million payroll, you've made mistakes, and should be held accountable.

Play Jerry at second for an entire season, or look at his numbers with the O's. As I said back in April, Jerry Hairston is a mediocre player. He could be the Jose Macias in terms of versatility for 2006, but he shouldn't be an everyday anything. Walker should be the option at 2nd next year. There's a couple scenarios in which I'd be willing to see Hairston as a starter, but it should be a fallback option, not a first or second choice.

Yep. They need serious offensive upgrades.

I agree with much of what your write, however, Cameron has never been a stud. He's typically a 775-800 OPS OF, and don't forget he was being used as a RF. Comparing the Yanks studs and the Mets so called studs doesn't make much sense to me. The Mets don't have many stud offensive weapons, their offense is no better than the Cubs, yet they were willing to go with kids for prolonged stretches, even guys like Reyes who has sucked for much of the year.

Authority? When the hell did I ever claim authority on any issue on this board. Man, it surely is interesting to know how many people apparantly stockpile past posts of mine and wait to come out of the woodwork to attack me with words from history. I must really have affected your lives for you to act this way. How humbling. For the record, I freely admitted that Lee was much better than Choi, and the trade, on a player for player basis was certainly a "win" for Hendry. However, what I didn't like was the fact that the team made a move that I didn't think improved the team on the whole. Oh, and while people sit there and say there was no possible way to predict the injury riddled seasons of Prior and Wood, thus giving a free pass to Hendry for his failings to produce a winner, there was also no possible way to predict Lee's emergence from a clear cut second tier mildly productive 1B to an MVP candidate. The Cubs traded for a stable, consistent good 1B, and had no idea he would turn into a 1100 OPS kind of guy. They also thought Zambrano was done as a starting pitcher prospect and tried moving him to the pen, apparantly not realizing he would be the best of the starters in a couple years. That stuff happens in both directions. Individually none of it matters. What matters is the team's record at the end of the year. And right now we're approaching the end of the year and the team Hendry spent $100 million putting together, has an awful, unforgivable, inexcusable record. But you go ahead and spend your time worrying about how unfair I am to judge the team, the GM, the manager, the entire organization, on it's record.