Yestheydo

I don't either. And it's probably just as well. Griffey is having a great year but he hasn't been reliable in years -- especially at the end of the season. In fact, he's had pretty good years the last two but found a way to miss most of Sept. both times. Dunn potentially would be an even bigger problem. If he can't handle RF you run the risk of screwing up Soriano's production by moving him again. Not to mention the fact that Dunn is notoriously bad in September. Here's a tidbit I recall from last year: The Reds were contending for the first time in years. Their two big bats combined barely managed to drive in one more run (8-7) in the month of September as ........wait for it....................Juan Pierre. Don't get me wrong; I'll be excited and hope for the best if somehow Dunn or Griffey are on the Cubs this week. But it would be a huge mistake to assume either one will be big producers down the stretch. Floyd/ Murton works just fine for me. I'm way more concerned with the starting pitching.

What if he's just a platoon partner for Jones in center? A wait and see approach might be in order.

Isn't it obvious? The Reds want a good look at Murton before they trade Adam Dunn for him and Wuertz. Sure hope he has a good series.

shockingly, bad teams can beat good teams once in a while. This isn't the Cubs versus the Helen Keller School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind. Sorry, that was directed at the ledge-jumpers, not the Cubs.

Wow. Way to get behind a team that's been playing great. Hilarious.

If we get him, we need to be patient: his career OPS in August: .661 ----------- in Sept.: .903 But yeah, we need all the help we can get against lefties. Edited to add if it's him or Conine it's a no-brainer.

My guess is that the perceived problem with Murton is that he has to be in the lineup every day to produce. He never really had that chance this year with Floyd around and he's probably not going to get it until Floyd is gone. That's why they're looking at guys like Monroe and Conine who are used to playing at least semi-part-time.

You mean maybe we should wait and actually see how he does before arrogantly denouncing it as a horrible move? You must be new here.

I have a theory that Zambrano has let them know that if they want him to come back no more sucky defense at the catcher position or else. Does anyone know how Soto's defense is? I doubt it's worse than Barrett's. It's above average. So what you are saying is, there is officially NO reason for Soto not to be on this team? Yep. Too bad Hendry doesn't realize that. Yeah, because he wants to lose. I hate when that happens.

I have a theory that Zambrano has let them know that if they want him to come back no more sucky defense at the catcher position or else.

They're not going to agree, their minds are made up. Jacque Jones bad. Period. Bad in Minnesota. Bad when he signed. Bad last year. (Even though he was pretty good, he will always be bad bad bad). Very bad this year. He'll be bad til the end of time, no matter what, forever and ever amen. It is by definition impossible for Jacque Jones to ever do anything good. Wouldn't you agree? =;

I don't know how anyone can look at Dunn's career September numbers and still want to trade for him. His name would look pretty in the lineup but he flat out tanks sometime in August. Plus there really is no way you want him in RF. I stopped considering Dunn the second I realized Soriano had to be in left to be productive. Hypothetically, would anyone here trade Soriano (ntc I know) for Dunn and Griffey?

Valentin behind the plate makes Michael Barrett look like Pudge Rodriguez. There's a reason the Reds usually carry three catchers; ideally, Valentin is just a pinch hitter. No way do we want him starting.

trade the bum he Sox

Marmol Mia

I'm guessing Kyle Lohse

I've been thinking this would explain why he got off to such a great start and had such a great season last year. There's WAY less to think about in left.

They're 5-2 in the past week, and playing better than they've played in a long time. Soriano/ Pie are both thriving right where they are. But by all means let's screw with it just so people won't think we're stupid for batting a 40 homer guy at leadoff. No thank you. Can we at least wait until we lose a few games in a row first? Just in case ? So let throw out the won/loss record for the whole year. If I remember correctly we got into this hole with Soriano mostly batting leadoff. And started to turn it around when he finally got what he wanted: Left field, leading off, with his friend Pie hitting behind him and playing next to him. Who knows if it will last? The only way to find out is by leaving them there, which Lou will, because he's not stupid enough to change something that's actually working for once.

They're 5-2 in the past week, and playing better than they've played in a long time. Soriano/ Pie are both thriving right where they are. But by all means let's screw with it just so people won't think we're stupid for batting a 40 homer guy at leadoff. No thank you. Can we at least wait until we lose a few games in a row first? Just in case ?

Good point. Why move him while they're winning? Even in the two losses this week they scored 10 runs. The offense is looking pretty good; let's worry about the pitching.

You get a different sense of things if you look at the none on/men on splits year by year. Over his last five seasons: 2002 Overall - .300/.332/.547/.879 None on (464 ABs) - .287/.322/.550/.872 Men on (232 ABs) - .328/.353/.543/.896 2003 Overall - .290/.338/.525/.863 None on (439 ABs) - .305/.348/.569/.917 Men on (243 ABs) - .263/.320/.444/.764 2004 Overall - .280/.324/.484/.808 None on (358 ABs) - .265/.308/.480/.788 Men on (250 ABs) - .300/.345/.488/.833 2005 Overall - .268/.309/.512/.821 None on (349 ABs) - .292/.340/.547/.887 Men on (288 ABs) - .240/.273/.469/.742 2006 Overall - .277/.351/.560/.911 None on (435 ABs) - .278/.326/.556/.882 Men on (212 ABs) - .274/.396/.566/.962 His career splits with nobody on vs. with men on are really skewed by two seasons (2003 when he had a good year and 2005 when he had a mediocre year). Of those five seasons, though, he actually had a higher OPS with men on base compared to nobody on in three of the five seasons. And that includes his career year, when he had a significantly higher OPS with men on base than he did when he came up with the bases empty (mainly because of a huge increase in walks). I really don't think there's any real statistical foundation to the belief that he's just a better hitter batting leadoff than hitting in the middle of the order. The idea that he can only do well batting leadoff just took off earlier, yet I have yet to see anything that makes me believe there is anything actually behind it. I don't see how breaking it down by year changes the fact that his OPS over his career is significantly higher with nobody on base. Solo homers offend my sensibilities too but that doesn't mean I have to ignore reality. The bottom line is that if they keep winning, he's probably gonna stay there, and I bet we can all agree that would be just fine.

Stuff like this is a major reason why I don't like his contract. He's being paid huge money primarily for his ability to hit home runs but he's not very good at it when men are on base, which is unfortunate, because homers with runners on base are worth a hell of a lot more than homers with bases empty. That said, I love the hot streak. The effect he and Pie seem to have on each other is making the contract look less horrible to me. I don't know that I can remember a more electrifying combo at the top of the order, Dernier/ Sandberg included. Hopefully Pie sticks in the 2 hole.

I anticipate Pagan being sent down when Floyd returns from the bereavement list. I believe you anticipate wrong. As good as Pie has been, he is overmatched against LHP, Cubs will need to platoon him for now, and Pagan is the only guy that can be that platoon partner. No, the move needs to be a trade of either Murton or Jones, there is no room for three RFs on this ballclub. One of them has to go, and because of his pop, Floyd won't be that guy. Pie held his own pretty good against the lefty starter the other day. He definatly wasnt as lost as Jones looks against lefties, and Izturis vs any pitcher. I'm thinking if Pie is hurting the offense against lefties, he'll bat eighth against them, with Theriot or DeRosa moving up to 2nd. But I bet he plays pretty much every day.

In his career, Soriano's OPS with the bases empty is .862. With runners on, it's .799 and with RISP it's .770. So no matter where in the lineup you hit him, he becomes a worse hitter with men on base, and it makes little sense to move him down in the order in hopes of getting men on in front of him, thus making him a worse hitter. In comparison, Ramirez has an .804 lifetime OPS with the bases empty, .858 with runners on, and .870 with RISP (.998 with them loaded btw). Lee goes .864 -- .867 -- .884. Just for fun, Manny Ramirez: .951 -- 1.062 -- 1.067. Now there's a guy who should never lead off. Soriano should, unless you want to make him less effective. Also, with all the money the Cubs have blown on the Rusches and Neifis and Joneses and Izturisises of the world, it's nice for once that they overpaid for someone who's actually productive, whether he's truly "worth it" or not.

Yeah yeah yeah. Enough with the Patterson talk. Remember, this is the FELIX THREAD, where we shamelessly extol the many virtues of the one the only FELIX PIE..... (I apologize in advance for this): Cause I can't fight this Felix anymorrrrrre.... I'd forgotten what the minor leagues were forrrrr.... Tried a big piece of Pi-e and I want morrrrre.... Let's throw Jacque out the doorrrr, foreverrrrrr......