RonnieWooWooSanto

Maddux's problem is that he gives up the big home run. He still demonstrates some masterful pitches. But, he just makes more mistakes than he used to. Granted this is not good when you pitch at Wrigley and the wind is blowing out (about half the time) or even if the wind is still. Dodger Stadium is a place he might be able to get away with some mistakes. They wouldn't necesarily go for home runs. At least not at night. The day games are more lively, but they mainly play at night. He would face mostly NL west opponents and could feel secure pitching in SD and SF(because he doesn't give up many homers to right field). Granted Colorado would be an adventure. He could possibly struggle in Arizone also. It might be worth the gamble to the Dodgers. They have an upset fanbase because they did not make the playoffs last year in a weak NL west. This year's NL West is repeating itself. They probably don't want to miss the playoffs again. They can afford to give up prospects because they can always go out and sign free agents with no concern for cost. Like I said to get anything it would be a package that includes Maddux. And I wouldn't necesarily write off the Dodgers as not being interested or unwilling to give anyone up because there have been many reports saying they would be interested. There has to be some validity if different people/outlets are reporting it. I'm not saying it would happened, but it sounds like they would definitely take the call if not make the call themselves.

They will scapegoat the bullpen coach. Juan Lopez will be fired and the rest will remain.

I called this back on Jun-29. That Pierre will have a very good second half once dlee was back. He let his injury get to his head (IE: slumps when he doesn't have as many good hitters around him, because he tries too hard and slumps). He's had a bit of a hot streak. But, he does need to maintain it into all star break and throughout the second half to make up for the previous few months. Hopefully, this will heighten trade value and not make Hendry that much more enticed to re sign him. If you are right on the letting DLee's injury affect his head, then he needs to get mentally tougher. But, I do struggle to believe that this is the reason for his poor start.

I was hoping to maybe get Eithier under the idea that they would give him up if the deal was right because they want to win now. I have no idea if it would be possible. Maddux doesn't have a NTC according to Cot's. But, maybe Maddux would agree to a trade west.

I know that Maddux does not have a NTC; however, it is customary that a player of his stature would be asked to approve a trade NTC or not. That being said, who could the Cubs receive in return for Maddux. Based on what I've heard he might be willing to accept an offer to a west coast team. In particular, the Dodgers or the Diamondbacks. But, the Dodgers name keeps popping up. I'm terrible at figuring trades, but I think one component of a trade to the Dodgers should include Andre Eithier coming to the Cubs. He was drafted as a centerfielder, but has been playing left for the Dodgers. Now I'm not sure if the Dodgers would be interested in Pierre along with Maddux, if so, a trade like this might get Eithier and good prospect. What is their closer situation like? I believe Danny Baez has been their closer with Gagne on the DL. Would they be interested in Dempster? What about middle relief? Would they be interested? Trade proposal 1: To the Dodgers: Maddux/Pierre To the Cubs: Andre Eithier/prospect(other than Billingsly) OR Trade Proposal 2: To the Dodgers: Maddux/Pierre/Middle Reliever OR Dempster To the Cubs: Andre Eithier and Billingsly Note: Please be kind in your responses. I'm new to this. :D

Though he did speak up enough to say he thought he was a "#6 type hitter"...and oh, how we and the local press mocked. Curses! He's a No. 2 hitter now. When did they move him into that slot? I could swear he started doing well for Baltimore hitting down in the lineup. He bats seventh in the line up.

2001 Texas Rangers went 72-90 spending 107 million for that season. The Seattle record is worse but this Ranger team spent 21 million more for three more wins. I'm thinking the one of the Mets' teams might take the cake.

Well, one team that has to be extremely upset is the Tigers. Some reason I think they might have been one of the phone calls.

But if you take away his bunt hits....ah forget it. Not liking it doesn't make it go away corey's numbers aren't the only thing that's true of Sorry for pointing out the truths some people can't/don't want to accept. I think Dobson's statistics pretty much debunked your whole premise. But if you want to keep thinking that Patterson's renaissance is only due to bunt hits, go right ahead. It makes about as much sense as your claim that it has helped his SLG%. I'm not sure the debate that is going on in this thread, but Darrin Jackson said during tonight's telecast that Patterson has 13 bunt hits this year.

Maybe I'm crazy, but Sarge Jr's catch was the greatest I've ever seen. EVER. Yeah that was sick. My top 5 web gems though are as follows: 1. Sarge Jr robbing the HR 2. Ibanez robbing that HR 3. Crisp diving to rob a hit 4. Rowand making that catch and going into the wall full force 5. Pierre robbing Bonds of # 714 I'm starting to wonder if I've seen the same Pierre catch. He ran it down to the centerfield wall(granted playing fairly deep considering it was Bonds). And reached up made the catch. Not much acrobatics involved. It saved the Cubs and RichHill from being the goat. But was it really a top 5 or even a top 10 of the year type of catch?

Nope: I would love to know who called and what they said.

Would it be worth sending him back down to Triple A to regain his confidence? Or see if he can fight through it? His defense has improved quite a bit though and it's the best on the team. I say let him stay up and work through it; there's no way to learn how to hit ML pitching except for staying in the majors. He's proved he can hit AAA pitching so there isn't much for him to prove there. Derrek Lee

Oh Mannnnnnnnnnn!

I'm not so sure. I don't think its clear even from the replay that Ronny got the bag with his foot. The point is, players get the call lots of times even if their foot never gets within a 10 inch radius of the bag. That was never the point. I quoted the wrong post :lol: I meant to quote texascub's post about the FSN SW replays. Players might get that call from time to time, but you certainly can't rely on always getting that call. It's called fundamentals; if you get your foot clearly on the bag, you don't even need to worry about which way the call is going to go. Well I think it's obvious that most shortstops or second basemen turning the DP are more concentrated on getting the throw to first rather than stepping of second. Actually it is not uncommon for coaches to teach the allusion of swiping the bag.

In other news, Corey Patterson just cranked a homer off McCarthy.

Fixed.

Don't forget "I can do your job, but you can't do mine so stop criticizing me" Good to see LaTroy continues to ingratiate himself to the fans!

Of the five possiblities, who is most deserving of an all star appearance?

Of the five possibilities, who do you feel is most deserving of an all star appearance?

The game is being replayed again this afternoon at 2:30 cst. So you have another chance to get a hold of it.

Why can't we argue with the fans' choice? Lo Duca is one of the worst all-star selections in recent memory. He's probably not the best catcher on the Mets. The media created Paul Lo Duca, All-Star with their incessant fawning about him being the Heart and Soul of the Dodgers. A bunch of crap. I'd trade Lo Duca for Brad Penny (the number 6 pitcher in MLB by VORP, right behind Carlos Zambrano) any day of the week. To think the stupid LA sportswriters criticized the trade. :x You should have got more people to vote for Barrett then. I agree with the other poster; the debate is between McCann and Barrett. IMO though, Ross is more deserving than Barrett. Ross has the better numbers but, Barrett has 208 at bats while Ross only has 110 at bats. That is a pretty big leap.

Barrett was left off because he wasn't having a good enough year. I've been trying to tell everyone that all year. I like him a lot, but he just isn't an allstar this year. Why this is a shock to everybody is beyond me. Who deserves to be the two catchers for the National League? McCann seems to be a good choice and probably should be starting. Should LoDuca be there?

He does have a NTC. But, if the fans/media and even the Yankee organization itself is getting to Arod he might welcome a chance to get out. Even though the Cubs are a disaster, he might not mind moving to a another major market. Plus, he might see the Cubs as a team that has some good pieces in DLee/Zambrano/Barrett. I think I would question his willingness to move to the National League versus wanting to be a Cub.

Why would you call Pierzynski undeserving? VORP among C in the AL 1. Joe Mauer 44.7 2. Michael Napoli 21.7 3. Ramon Hernandez 19.1 4. Victor Martinez 18.7 5. Jorge Posada 18.0 6. Kenji Jojima 17.5 7. A.j. Pierzynski 16.7 OBP SLG AVG AJ Pierzynski .372 . 450 .326 R. Hernandez .336 .500 .274 V. Martinez .363 .458 .296 J. Posada .396 .468 .284 K. Johjima .351 .482 .298 Note: Napoli has only played in 43 games so I left him off and Mauer already made the team, so I excluded him. If you view it this way, it seems to boil down to which you value more....obp or slg%. That being said they are all very close in those regards. I'm not a sabermetric follower, so I'm not really sure how important VORP is compared to looking at OBP, SLG, or OPS. That being said their vorp numbers(excluding Mauer and Napoli) seem to be very close, but like I said not really a sabermetric guy so they difference might mean more than I think. If their numbers are close, then one needs to be chosen and I'm not sure any of the afforementioned catchers could be labeled "undeserving" considering that the number of roster spots makes the situation circumstantial.

He just got a contract extention a couple of months ago. He is not going anywhere, in my opinion. I can't see the Cubs willing to just eat that contract and bring in someone new.