wastra

Well, good thing our $100 million payroll let us trade for a center fielder who hits leadoff coming off a terrible leadoff season and sign a rightfielder middle of the order hitter coming off two terrible offensive seasons. Because that's how you build a winner. Keep overpaying for guys who are regressing and hope the trend reverses. :roll:

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd Piere with the unintentional swinging bunt. No kidding. :roll:

there you have it. who could we have got. rf's don't grow on trees. Yeah, because no one has added any quality outfield bats in the past 2-3 years. :roll:

Well when your lead off hitter is on 4 times in a game and he cant score, something is seriously wrong in the 3 and 4 slots in your order. .205 is ridiculous. A leadoff hitter with a .308 OBP is seriously wrong as well.

You must be mistaken....Hendry said himself he was only looking to add guys "who can catch the ball" last winter.

I was in favor of those. I just thought we'd sign a RF, a CF, and maybe a SS too. like who? Yeah...because no team managed to add a decent bat or two this winter...or the winter before...or the winter before that... :roll:

they're not really worth since the offense sucks so bad. Our offense deosn't suck THAT much...compared to the Royals, anyway. (we're 29th in the majors in runs scored ](*,) )

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/sortable_team_stats.jsp?statType=1&timeFrame=1&groupByTeam=true&Submit=Submit&baseballScope=mlb&timeSubFrame=2006&sortByStat=R :cry: ](*,)

Hey...an unintentional swinging bunt from Pierre. What are the chances. :roll:

What do you have against the 3rd base coach? If anything, get him a lawnchair. He's got to be lonely as hell for half the game. And if we play our cards right, we might be able to bring back Wavin' Wendell!

We're getting pretty much exactly what you'd expect from this team on paper. Strong bullpen. Streaky offense (that is significantly worse without Lee). Bad starting pitching (lots of rookies and fill-ins due to injury/ineffectiveness). I know it sounds like typical Cub pessimism, but this team wasn't a division winner on paper, there's no reason to think it would be on the field. This is what happens when for 2-3 straight years, very little is actually done to significantly IMPROVE the roster. We consistantly settle on multi-year deals with mediocre players or players who are terrible, but had a hot month. We're running a $100 Million payroll and have what amounts to rookies at Short, Left, 2-3 starting spots, and a couple bullpen spots. You can't expect too much from that type of mismanaged roster.

I wish I had some sort of hope for this season, but I had very little before the year began, and even less now. We were a 3rd place team when the season opened. Our offense is putrid WITH Lee, despite most everyone getting a nice start to the season, and it will be horrid without him. We are, essentially, a two-hitter offense. It's totally true that there are lots of 2-hitter lineups out there, but few, if any of them, are true world series front runners. And on top of that, as many of us cautioned last winter, one of our two has a history of nagging injuries costing him weeks at a time (Ramirez). We took a team that couldn't pitch or hit last year and improved the bullpen. Wow. We signed Juan "Swinging Bunt" Pierre and Jaque Jones (if there is a more Hendry-esque player, I'd like to see him). And much frustration isn't based just upon this past offseason. the Cubs have done precious little to actually improve the team in 3 years. It's like they keep praying for lightning in a bottle but spend like they're getting all stars. They get on a different kick each offseason (first veteran presence, then power, then character, then "guys who can catch the ball") to the point where we have a hodge-podge team with no real "plan" as to how it's built. Hendry seems to be a "trend" GM. He has a new theme every year rather than settling on a philosophy and working each year until he gets it right. It leads us to where we are now...a middle of the pack team with a front of the pack payroll and increasingly frustrated fan base.

You forgot to mention Juan "The Perpetual Swinging Bunt" Pierre at the top of the order.

His voice sounds just like Kermit the Frog.

We just need to get Wood and Prior back in the freakin rotation so we don't trot these bums out there every five days. As of now, our long-term staff looks like (in no order) Maddux Zambrano Marshall Prior Wood Rusch (they won't just dump him...unfortunately) Eyre Howry Williamson Dempster Wuertz/Ohman/Novoa/whomever is hot at the moment With Williams, Hill, the odd-man/men out in the last bullpen slot, and Aardsma in Iowa in case of injury.

I just don't get it. The Cubs were frustrated by Corey's inability to be a more selective hitter, so naturally they go out and get a more EXPENSIVE, OLDER version of Corey. I just don't get it. I would prefer Burnitz to Jones. Jim Hendry = No Offseason Plan. Again.

It's not a terrible decision given the options. You don't call up a strict 1B in this situation unless you expedct him to start everyday. In this case, there's little doubt that Mabry and/or Walker are getting most of the 1B starts over anyone we have in the minors, so calling up someone mainly limited to 1B makes it tough to find at bats for them. Restovich, who COULD play a little 1B (I know he played there in at least 2 spring training games) and corner outfield is at least a warm body who provides an option or two.

What "big middle of the order type hitters" were available last offseason? And I mean available so Brian Giles doesn't count. LOL. Perhaps I should have said "for the past 3 years."

Well, here we go. A lot of us really clamoured for a big middle of the order type hitter last offseason and we got Jones instead. This is going to take lots and lots of career-best streaks, to overcome. Unless our pitching is lights out, we're in some serious trouble for the next couple months.

I have read somewhere that to do the same thing over and over but expect different results each time is the definition of insanity. This is Jones (and the Cubs' organization's) biggest problem. He's coming off two bad years, and really really wants to start playing better, but he's not changing his approach in the least. He's just hacking. that's insanity to keep doing that every at bat and not expect the same P***-poor performance. Given that, it's early, and we have a number of key guys sucking *** at the plate...Ramirez, Jones, Pierre, etc. There's plenty of time for them to find their stroke.

I think we now lead the majors in hitting, BTW.

WOooo!!!!!! Walker slaps a double! Great hustle so far!

Pagan plays CF as well. I knew that, don't know why it slipped my mind. Thanks. Anyone else think Prior, Wood, and Zambrano might be our best bench bats aside from Mabry? :shock: :wink: :P

We might have the most versatile bench we've had in my lifetime. Mabry: 1B, 3B, LF, RF Perez: 2B, SS, 3B Hairston: 2B, LF, RF, CF Pagan, LF, RF Bynum: 2B, SS, LF, CF, RF Our only totally one-dimensional backup is Blanco, and I think that's understandable. I would have liked a more powerful right-handed bat off the bench, but if Bynum continue to make contact like he has this spring, he can be a very valuable asset. Given that our outfield defense is looking pretty weak, I don't mind some speedy outfield defensive replacements with a couple offensive tools as well.

If Hairston is starting at second, we should start Walker in right.