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In 2006......... CUBS are 15-26 in one run games.... 8-15 in two run games To give a comparison here-the Cubs last year won 43.8 percent of their games not decided by 2 runs or less (43-55) They won 35.9% of their games that were decided by 1 or 2 runs This year, they are 7-4 in games decided by 3 or more runs (and this counts the extra inning game yesterday, which probably should be lumped in with the 1 and 2 run games) 0-7 in games by 2 or less

I disagree about his hitting the ball hard. He has 7 2B's in 69 AB's. That means that if he has around a normal number of AB's, he will have 56 2B's-which would be a career high (the only time he hit 40 or more of those was 05). The K numbers are consistent with every year but 2005.

Then I'd like some of whatever Murton is smoking that makes him the luckiest player on the planet. .357/.400 without hitting the ball hard. Pass some of that to the rest of the team, Matty. That lack of power is concerning. Not necessarily HR power (although a couple would be nice) but the ability to hit 2B's. Murton had 22 2B's and 3 3B's with 14 HR's last year. He only has one 2B this year, and that was a bloop the other day. He might be hitting the ball hard on the ground to get singles, but he's not driving the ball at all. If he continues to not drive the ball combined with that poor walk rate, he's not going to be a productive corner outfielder. Do I expect that to continue? No, I'm sure he'll figure out a way soon to work through this-but that's why think he needs to work through some things. Again, if .357/.400 is Murton struggling, then I think I'll be able to live with his production if he can get consistent playing time. Without driving the ball, he cannot sustain that .357/.400 line-if you look at his BABIP as a starter, it's extraordinarily high-which means that he's getting quite lucky right now for so many singles to fall in the way they have. Ok, I'll give up the jig. I know Murton hasn't been amazing this year (I do think he's been good when given regular AB's, though). I'm just pointing out how ridiculous all the talk of Murton't tremendous struggle is. You can't really say that someone hitting .357/.400 when they start is lost at the plate. You can if you put more faith in subjective distinctions like luck, looks, and driving the ball. It's great fun. I think the thing is that we really cannot say how Murton is doing because he hasn't played enough yet. However, we have a pretty sizable chunck of data from previous years that suggest how he could do if given more time. Murton is not a big bopper (a run producer). That's his main problem with baseball men like Hendry and Lou. First off, I would agree that there simply aren't enough at-bats to get a clear sample yet. Second, I do not appreciate the thinly veiled sarcasm aimed at some of my posts. I am putting out an objective distinction, not a subjective one. As a starter, Murton has been a singles hitter so far with a poor ISOD and a very high BABIP. If that does not change, then Murton will become more like Ryan Theriot offensively-which is not a level of production that a team can really afford from a corner outfielder spot. I am quite confident that Murton can make adjustments to increase his SLG and ISOD, which will offset the losses from his BABIP going down. I'm was just responding to the posts that said he has been doing well so far while starting and saying that if he continues to repeat his ISOD and ISOP, he will struggle.

Not like it matters. Why has it taken him so long to see this guy? P.S. I hate still caring about Prior, but I just can't make myself stop. From what I heard, he just couldn't get an appointment until now-Andrews is the best, and he has many clients.

Then I'd like some of whatever Murton is smoking that makes him the luckiest player on the planet. .357/.400 without hitting the ball hard. Pass some of that to the rest of the team, Matty. That lack of power is concerning. Not necessarily HR power (although a couple would be nice) but the ability to hit 2B's. Murton had 22 2B's and 3 3B's with 14 HR's last year. He only has one 2B this year, and that was a bloop the other day. He might be hitting the ball hard on the ground to get singles, but he's not driving the ball at all. If he continues to not drive the ball combined with that poor walk rate, he's not going to be a productive corner outfielder. Do I expect that to continue? No, I'm sure he'll figure out a way soon to work through this-but that's why think he needs to work through some things. Again, if .357/.400 is Murton struggling, then I think I'll be able to live with his production if he can get consistent playing time. Without driving the ball, he cannot sustain that .357/.400 line-if you look at his BABIP as a starter, it's extraordinarily high-which means that he's getting quite lucky right now for so many singles to fall in the way they have.

Then I'd like some of whatever Murton is smoking that makes him the luckiest player on the planet. .357/.400 without hitting the ball hard. Pass some of that to the rest of the team, Matty. That lack of power is concerning. Not necessarily HR power (although a couple would be nice) but the ability to hit 2B's. Murton had 22 2B's and 3 3B's with 14 HR's last year. He only has one 2B this year, and that was a bloop the other day. He might be hitting the ball hard on the ground to get singles, but he's not driving the ball at all. If he continues to not drive the ball combined with that poor walk rate, he's not going to be a productive corner outfielder. Do I expect that to continue? No, I'm sure he'll figure out a way soon to work through this-but that's why think he needs to work through some things.

Exactly. One could make the case that he is struggling becuase of sporadic use and PHing. That sporadic use and PHing are a direct cause of Murton's struggles. Put a young player in a position where he has to produce to "save" his job and he's going to get hacking. Considering Murton's history from last year, I'm not so sure that's true. His job was safe until he started hacking too much, and then when he had to fight for playing time he became much more patient. That same history though does give plenty of hope that he will work through this pretty soon, and I'm hoping (without being too upset if he doesn't) that he gets a good amount of the starts soon.

Also I am pretty sure Floyds HR was a pinchhit or late inning sub shot. It was either his second or third at-bat after replacing Soriano on Monday.

The likelihood is that whoever is the 5th starter will get skipped because of the off day on Thursday. You will likely see Zambrano.

yeah i think a lot of us agree that this would be best, unfortunately the Marlins and Yankees don't agree I bet the Yankees might agree, especially with their pitching in shambles right now. yeah and Z would fix that how? Do you really think Z is going to continue sucking? He's been terrible pretty much every April of his career. He's always been a slow starter. I think he's just saying that right now there would be absolutely no way that the Yankees would trade the hottest hitter in the league for a pitcher who has an ERA over 7 and is due for a huge contract at the end of the year. The fans have a love-hate relationship with A-Rod-right now they love him, and they would lynch the Yankees front office if that happened. Now if Z starts dominating, and A-Rod struggles for a month or two, it might become possible.

Guzman can't be called up yet-have to wait until Friday for that. Personally, Pie causes more problems then he solves if he stays up until Jones is traded. His hitting isn't quite ready, and to start him everyday with Jones, Murton, and Floyd combining to play one position is a tricky situation. Pie will likely make it the rest of the week, but when Guzman comes up Cedeno makes more sense for staying up-otherwise, Lou will never be able to pinch-hit for Izturis in a key situation.

Only 3 of Cedeno's starts at SS have come within the last 6 games-the other one came at game 6, the first Sunday of the season. Also, the main reason he didn't play SS the second week was because he got 2 starts at 2nd. My guess is that Cedeno will keep getting 2-3 starts a week at SS. You're quite right about game #6, but Cedeno has still started 4 of the last 6 games. (#13, 15, 17, & 18). He has 5 total starts, and Izturis' total is 13. And you are quite right about that-I guess if you are correcting someone you better have your own facts straight :D

Only 3 of Cedeno's starts at SS have come within the last 6 games-the other one came at game 6, the first Sunday of the season. Also, the main reason he didn't play SS the second week was because he got 2 starts at 2nd. My guess is that Cedeno will keep getting 2-3 starts a week at SS.

This is somewhat strange-when the Cubs do get a hit off Vargas, it is almost always for extra bases. Look at some of these: Izturis: 4/12, 2 2B's, 1 3B Floyd: 3/10, 2 2B's, 1 HR Ramirez: 4/10, 1 HR Jones: 3/9, 2 HR Barrett: 2/4, 1 HR Murton: 2/2, 1 HR Cedeno: 1/1, 1 HR Hopefully the wind blows out again tonight-because this team loves to elevate the ball for home runs against Vargas.

I believe he can't be traded until June 1. Floyd is currently sporting a .647 OPS. He's also slow, a below average defender, has serious health questions, and is coming off a bad season. If he can get a hot streak going he might be marketable, but I don't think we could get anything for him now. Hendry was able to get him at a cheap price precisely because he lacked marketability. Hendry was able to get him cheap because Floyd turned down several more lucrative offers to come home. It was reported that there were 5 other teams that wanted him, and most of them were wanting him to be a starter full-time. Reported by who? Floyd's agent. He's old, comming off surgery, and can't throw the ball. He's a DH. I said this in January and we are now seeing the results: The Cubs are put together like a jigsaw puzzle with several pieces that don't fit. The sooner Hendry is gone, the better off the Cubs will be unless they hire another "baseball man" like Jim Boden. It was not Floyd's agent that reported it. You are right though-one of the common themes was that it was AL teams who were interested in him. The Mariners, the Orioles, the Athletics, the Indians. As far as I know, the only National League team that was interested in him was the Pirates.

I believe he can't be traded until June 1. Floyd is currently sporting a .647 OPS. He's also slow, a below average defender, has serious health questions, and is coming off a bad season. If he can get a hot streak going he might be marketable, but I don't think we could get anything for him now. Hendry was able to get him at a cheap price precisely because he lacked marketability. Hendry was able to get him cheap because Floyd turned down several more lucrative offers to come home. It was reported that there were 5 other teams that wanted him, and most of them were wanting him to be a starter full-time.

Lou wants 12 pitchers-that would still leave him with 11. I do like the idea of bringing up Cherrry now and releasing Miller. Then you bring up a starter next week (likely Guzman) and either demote Pie or trade Jones. Jones is the best hitting OF ATM. He is not my favorite player on the Cubs but the Cubs shouldn't be rushing to get rid of him, without being sure that Pie is going to stick. I would agree. Like IMB said, I don't think Pie is going to stick right now. My guess is that when that starter is pulled up, Pie will be sent down for a while. My guess is that if Jones is traded this year, it won't be until closer until the deadline.

It's not Jim Hendry's job to figure out how the possible sale of the Tribune Company would affect the on field decisions of the Cubs. He doesn't talk to the Tribune at all-anything like that would have to be communicated from the Tribune to McDonough to Hendry. McDonough didn't do that until it was too late (and basically said as much in the press)-it's not known for sure if McDonough knew and didn't tell Hendry, or if the Tribune didn't tell McDonough until it was too late either. Hendry did his job-he negotiated the contract with the player using all available information, and he did it before he lost the player. The ownership just changed the rules, for a reason that had nothing to do with the Cubs, and there was a failure to inform the proper people until it was already done.

Lou wants 12 pitchers-that would still leave him with 11. I do like the idea of bringing up Cherrry now and releasing Miller. Then you bring up a starter next week (likely Guzman) and either demote Pie or trade Jones.

Except Des Moines on Monday. I have a bad feeling you are right about this. Didn't you watch the 10th inning? Murton is going to be the CF from here on out. :^o Yeah!!!! When the Cubs start making roster moves I usually think what would make the least amount of sense. Like sending down Guzman the other day. What move would make the least amount of sense now? You think sending down Guzman so he could replace Miller made the least amount of sense?

I hate Posey, Wade, and Payton with a passion. But I don't hate them more than the Cardinals. They are definitely the team I hate the most in the NBA though. I don't watch the NBA, but why do you not like Wade? The main reason is because if you breath on him, it can be called a foul. Somebody should actually watch the NBA before coming up with a ridiculous question, and within one Heat game, that question would be answered. Wade's a classy guy, blah blah blah, but the Bulls are going to make him work for everything he gets this series. This is NOT the matchup he wanted. Okay, I don't watch the NBA on a regular basis. I think the NBA sucks, but I wasn't going to say that in this thread since it wasn't relevant. I have watched games from time to time. Personally I don't mind the Heat or Dwayne Wade. Does he get calls? Yes, but so did Michael Jordan. I suppose you didn't care that Jordan got those calls though because you were a Bulls fan. The calls Wade gets are beyond anything Michael got. I think he mentioned watching the NBA because last Finals, Wade got a foul call after hitting a fadeaway jumper and falling down literally untouched. It's almost reached a new level with him. The calls Wade gets are bad, but they are nothing like Jordan's, or even Shaq's calls for most of his career for example. Those 2 have been the worst in the last 20 years.

I'm kind of surprised they didn't put Theriot in center-wasn't he working there a little bit? I guess that clears up if they thought he could play it at all if they are going to put Murton there over him.

Floyd is struggling right now-let him have a few days off. He'll be valuable for this team, but he is not even taking the same type of swings as he was a week and a half ago.

And by a little bit, he's still been only our 3rd most effective reliever. Amazing.

That would be my plan. You're right, the 5th start is not needed until May 1st (a week from Tuesday). The gamble for Miller didn't work-it's not a big deal if the mistake is admitted and corrected. It can become a very big deal if it continues. Release him in the next day or two, and bring up a reliever. Then send down Pie for Guzman on May 1st.