badnews

Uh, they'd be dumb not to trade him. He's more of a .785 OPS DH with a crap BB/K ratio than he is this .900 OPS doppleganger.

You're trying to use data from months ago to justify that the team isn't doing blah now. The Cubs have been a .500 team since the beginning of June, and they've been below average offensively since June. How long do you want to give the team a pass because of May before you get worried? Does nobody think this could be like 2004, where the Cubs finish with a respectable win total and nothing to show for it?

In June the Cubs were 12th in runs, in July the Cubs are 23rd in runs, but hey the Cubs are 1st in the NL in runs still so nothing to worry about because things in May were good. Or something. Meanwhile, St. Louis is 1st in the majors in team OPS away from home, and Milwaukee is 5th.

Why can't I say that? They should be. Not being able to take out mediocre pitchers "hitting their spots" is what got the Cubs swept in the playoffs last year. I haven't looked at the game log, but my general feeling (yes, yes, someone will prove me incorrect - I'm saying my general feeling on this) is that the Cubs are piling on against crap pitching (with the exception of Aaron Harang) and not doing it against better pitching. Now you say, that's what every team does but the Brewers put more of a hurting on Matt Cain than the Cubs did. I want to see the Cubs do what the Pirates did on Monday, just put on all-out-blitz on an elite closer like they did to Valverde. What I'm saying is I'd like to see the Cubs put an ass-whuppin' on some good pitchers instead of simply showing off how well they beat up on Phil Dumatriat and Tom Gorzelanny earlier in the season. The Brewers and the Cardinals have shown they can get to good pitchers it seems like. The Cubs, I don't know. The Cubs come up empty against the better pitchers in baseball and people just assume the Cubs will be facing all Bronson Arroyos and Brandon Backes in the playoffs.

Arlen Spector has called for a "transparent, thorough, and independent" investigation of this matter, which the media has now dubbed "Cerdagate."

I think it's how they've been losing. Getting one run off Brian Moehler isn't going to cut it. He's not bad but playoff pitchers are going to be better. Then 1 run off Wandy Rodriguez. Randy Johnson came into the game with an ERA over 5, you can't let him shut you down. Some guys here are talking about line drives but some of those weren't line drives to me, they were "warning track power" pop ups.

I don't like Ronny Cedeno either. I'd rather have Marco Scutaro than Cedeno. I like Scutaro more than his numbers dictate. Cedeno just looks awful to me. Since April he has like a .400 OPS. He swing looks terrible. I say let him be someone else's reclamation project. He's a waste of a bench spot.

Luck finally is with the Pirates. Before this year I thought Nady was pretty overrated in terms of how often he comes up in trade talks. Now he's a .900+ OPS guy? Wow.

Over the past 5 weeks they've been a .500 team. Sorry, but this all sounds too much like Dusty excuse making. "We're just snakebit man."

So what, you can't say just one nice thing? At least yr name is appropriate. Sorry. He is best player ever.

Varitek is pretty old for a catcher, and he's looked so hopeless at the plate, you can't figure many teams are going to be after his services. How much are the Red Sox going to have to overpay for him? I doubt he's going to chisel them for every last cent and if it comes down to it I think they'd just let him go if somebody else gave him something crazy like a 3/30 contract (which I doubt will happen).

Nice additions. Remember when people used to talk about how the Indians should hurry up and sign Hafner to a $100 million contract before he gets the money he *truly* deserves? Ouch. No way now. Hunter's actually around his career averages. Ryan Zimmerman has to be the sorriest "franchise player" of any franchise. That's who they're building the team around? Yeah.

Yeah. I don't think any of them are as bad this year as they were last year though.

Miguel Cabrera (always a lock for a .900+ OPS) .833 OPS, not bad but not elite as usual Vernon Wells - .777 OPS - Is he done as a standout player? Jeremy Hermida - .758 OPS - I thought he'd be better than this. Casey Kotchman - .753 OPS - Is the power going to come or not? I thought he was better at drawing walks than this. Shabby for a 1b. Miguel Tejada - .749 OPS - On Baseball Tonight they talk like he's back to his normal self. Apparently not. Alex Rios - .746 OPS. Whoa, where's his power? Coming into the season he was considered elite by some people. Alex Gordon - .740 OPS... is it going to happen or not? He was supposed to be an instantly dynamic producer. Ichiro - .736 OPS - 5 year, $100 million huh? Mark Ellis - .711 OPS - I always hear about what an overlooked gem he is but whenever I look at his numbers they're shabby. Chris Young - .704 OPS - I thought he was going to out Mike Cameron Mike Cameron but he's under Mike Cameroning it out there. Coco Crisp - .703 OPS. No, he's still not back to the days of the Indians. It's not happening! Carl Crawford - .697 OPS. Wow, you suck Carl Crawford. Luis Castillo - .695 - MAYHAPS AN UNWISE CONTRACT BESTOWED Aaron Hill - .685 OPS - Another stinky Blue Jays hitter who should be doing better Orlando Cabrera - .676 OPS, giving Kenny Williams a headache for what should've been a sure-fire victory trade Robinson Cano - .676 OPS. How? Bobby Crosby - .675 OPS. The Long Beach shortstop no one gives a damn about any more. Billy Butler - .674. He's very young but I thought he'd do better than this. Gary Mathews Jr. - .668. Remember those preseason rumors about trading for him? Get that man some HGH stat. Jeff Francoeur - .660 OPS. He's got a strong arm... Austin Kearns - .656. Steroids? Melky Cabrera - .654. I remember all the "What a young stud" talk around the time of the Santana trade rumors. Varitek - .646 OPS. He looks utterly finished. Juan Pierre - .644 OPS. Haw haw. Brad Wilkerson - .643 OPS. It's Austin Kearns' lefthanded brother! Yuniesky Betancourt - .639. I thought this guy was heading up, up, up. Wow was I wrong, wrong, wrong. Daric Barton - .639. Performing like a touted Cubs position prospect. Edgar Renteria - .635. WE DODGED A BULLET GENTLEMEN Carlos Gomez - .634 OPS. Toolsy outfielder Number One Billion to show flashes of brilliance while putting up horrid numbers. Khalil Greene - .598 OPS. ANOTHER BULLET DODGED. Freddy Sanchez - .564. Wow. Kenji Johjima - .539. You're not supposed to use a piano leg. What a strange year so far. Post thoughts and comments.

Ichiro's stats aside, I'm like the only person who doesn't think Ichiro is charming or great. He seems like a bit of a prick and not the best teammate.

I like Dave Bush a lot better than McClung. Just a few years ago Bush was a leader in K/BB ratio I believe.

I always thought Fontenot was terrible and had no place on the roster. Last year he had a smoking hot streak too though. It's kind of hard to believe he's an .800+ OPS hitter "for reals."

In the Cubs organization, a 10 day blister on your finger is code for "It's a race to see who returns to active duty first, Wood or Robb Nen."

Personal attacks aren't necessary. Simply go read the "They've figured out Kosuke" thread. In it, basically everyone who has doubts about Fukudome is told "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll adjust" and ridiculed for their lack of faith. I'm still wondering how people are "sure" he'll adjust.

But what does "his numbers will even out" mean? Here's what bothers me - in 2007 Chicago Cub right fielders hit for a total .795 OPS. Let's say Fukudome finishes the season with a .780 OPS. People will regard that as an "upgrade" because they spin what Fukudome does in whatever positive light they can. I don't even think he's going to finish with a .780 OPS at this point. But it will turn out the Cubs spent $12 million a year to downgrade their offense in right field. Jeromy Burnitz put up a .757 OPS for the Cubs in 2005 for $6 million, 3 years later you could see Fukudome finishing with a .770 OPS (a downgrade from 2007's .795 OPS) and people spinning it as some kind of victory.

Then we're not reading the same topics. Look at the topic "So they've figured out Kosuke" where everyone says "He'll be fine, he'll make the adjustments." In this topic, the two previous posts before mine just now, the first one said worrying about Fukudome was an overreaction, and the one after that (the one that mentioned Alexi Ramirez) said yeah, it's okay, he'll adjust. Seriously. Go read the topic on page 2 about "They've finally figured out Kosuke" and tell me there isn't some bizarre cabal on this board dedicated to maintaining this guy's illusion. Because if that's not the case I'm not sure why people are so content to pretend on this.

He's reminding me of a cross between Akinori Iwamura and Ben Grieve. Ben Grieve could wait out a walk too, that didn't mean he wasn't crap.

I am not angry. I am frustrated that we must continue this charade of playing make believe for no good reason. Nobody even has any reason to believe in Fukudome. It's just the most generic blandishments you can imagine. "I'm sure he'll make adjustments." "He's playing in a new league." That doesn't mean anything. That's empty double-talk. We're mired in deceptive doubletalk. It's like George Orwell's 1984 here. "War is peace. Doing crappy is good." Well I'll tell you what. Fukudome is "doubleplus" sucking and this business where anyone who acknowledges is seen as some kind of ledge-jumper, instead of correctly identifying the type of hitter he is compared with similar Japanese players, is preposterous.

Everybody says they're "sure" Fukudome will get back on track, and I keep asking people how they can be "sure" outside of wishful thinking and nobody seems to have an answer. In reality, the 2nd tier of Japanese hitters below Hideki Matsui and Ichiro are disappointing .750ish OPS blah players. Or Kaz Matsui, who is worse. Look up the Japanese numbers for Kaz Matsui, Akinori Iwamura, Kenji Johjima, and Kosuke Fukudome and you know what the difference is? The difference is the first three guys are paid like $5 million a year and Fukudome makes $12 million. I mean, holy crap. If this were Ryan Theriot you guys would've all jumped off the bandwagon, but since this is Fukudome and he looked great for 3 weeks you're determined to ride this sinking ship all the way into the Mariana Trench. You know what I'm learning? This board just can't be honest about Fukudome. All of you who say you're sure he'll go back to being a .800+ OPS guy seem like you're lying to yourself. I'm tired of this spin. If this were a less popular player the board would be allowed to get with reality.

Is this like when Adrian Beltre was "adjusting" to the AL after leaving the NL? Somebody tell me when the popular vote on this message board is going to stop with the wishful thinking free passes.