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Winning your division guarantees a top 4 spot. The top 4 spots (the 3 division winners and the team with the best record that didn't win their division) are then arranged by record.

There really isn't a way to construct this lineup correctly if Ramirez is out. If you start with the premise that 3 spots in the lineup are filled-Soriano in the 1 spot, Theriot is playing so he has the 2 spot, and Izturis has the 8 spot. So if you have the hitters who played today-Jones, Lee, Floyd, Barrett, DeRosa. Keep in mind that Lou wants to split the left-handers-why? So what happened today to the Cubs with Stanton against Jones cannot be compounded by having Floyd bat right behind him. It lets either one of the Cubs big hitters face a left-hander in the late innings, or it lets one of Floyd or Jones face a right-hander in the late innings because the left-hander was used to get the other one out. DeRosa seems like the candidate for the 7th spot-he really has been struggling this past week and was the opening day 7th hitter anyway. That leaves Jones, Lee, Barrett, and Floyd-you could do Lee/Jones/Barrett/Floyd, Jones/Lee/Barrett/Floyd, or Jones/Lee/Floyd/Barrett. I really don't see the big difference between any of those lineups, and so in this lineup Jones hitting 3rd or 4th is just as good as anybody else paired up with Lee.

I don't agree with that. The Cubs this year are built to be a heavy slugging team that hopes to be middle of the pack in OBP. Their strength is their slugging-they just hope that their OBP is not a huge detriment. So it's problem of design and not execution. In a way, yes. With the pieces that were there already though, it would have been almost impossible to build a high OBP/high SLG team in one year. SLG was available, and so that's what the team went out and got. This team is hoping to be similar to Atlanta/Texas/Mets/Detroit of last year (who finished 5th/6th/7th/8th in RS). Here are their OBP, SLG, and HR ranks Atlanta: 15th in OBP, 5th in SLG, 2nd in HR Texas: 12th in OBP, 8th in SLG, 13th in HR NY Mets: 17th in OBP, 9th in SLG, 7th in HR Detroit: 24th in OBP, 6th in SLG, 6th in HR Now, it's not the ideal-the Cubs offense probably cannot be top 3-4 in the league because of their OBP deficiencies. They have built a team like these teams of last year though-if you can get around middle of the pack in OBP, and one of the top 10 in SLG and HR, you can have an offense between 5-10 in the league. As of the last updated stats before today's game, they had accomplished the middle of the pack OBP status so far-but they are severely lacking in the SLG component that was supposed to be their strength. This can still be one of the better offenses in the league even if the OBP is not in the top 10.

Okay, so you look at K/9 and K/BB and HR's allowed. Awesome. Hits, walks, and runs allowed are kinda sorta important too. They're important looking backwards, but after three games they are in no way important as a predictive stat. Nobody's trying to predict the rest of the season. They are just saying-who has pitched better so far-Z in his 3 starts, or Marquis in his 2?

Even if he's even with the right/left split, which I doubt (he probably just has a minor split difference), but even if he has no split if he bats anything like the 2006 Cedeno did than he is basically the same as Jones against a LHP-pretty close OBP, Jones with a slightly better SLG.

For sure? Do you have his minor league splits somewhere that I don't know about? All I'm doing is basing it off of his limited major league numbers Cedeno in 2005: against RHP (41 AB's)-.341/.426/.415 against LHP (39 AB's)-.256/.275/.333 2006 against RHP (382 AB's)-.251/.279/.353 against LHP (152 AB's)-.230/.250/.303 2007 (just for fun-if 39 AB's mean little, 5 means nothing) 0 for 5 against LHP Jacque Jones Against LHP 2004-.245/.328/.329 2005-.201/.247/.370 2006-.234/.261/.416 2007-1/4 They are both terrible, but from available evidence, it seems that even against LHP Jacque is better than Cedeno against LHP. If Cedeno didn't have these splits in the minors, it might be different-I don't know if that's the case or not.

I don't agree with that. The Cubs this year are built to be a heavy slugging team that hopes to be middle of the pack in OBP. Their strength is their slugging-they just hope that their OBP is not a huge detriment. Before today's game, their OBP was 12th out of 30 teams. 12th-I know that may be hard to believe, but it's true. Obviously today's game will take that down, but I'm not sure how much. Their slugging was 15th-that is unacceptable for this team. This team is tied for 25th in home runs-this is a team that should be top 5 that is 1 home run away from being tied for last. OBP may end up being the worst area of this team, but it is not what it is right now. This team simply cannot hit home runs like they were supposed to do right now, and that is costing them. The middle of the league OBP is not. You can disagree all you want. The Cubs won't win on a consistent basis until they learn to quit swinging at junk. Are you saying they cannot win with a middle of the road OBP?

Because Lou messed up by pinch hitting with Murton earler and leaving himself with only Ward(lefty) and Blanco on the bench to ph. Ward shouldve pinch hit with Ward first but Lou didnt think that far ahead and see the possible Stanton Jones matchup. Basically, that is correct. The only options were Cedeno, Blanco, and Ward. Cedeno and Ward are actually worse against LH pitching then Jacque is, and Blanco burns your backup catcher and makes you put Ward out in RF for the next inning, all for the benefit of having a bad hitter pinch hit. I'm not sure the Murton usage was the absolute incorrect usage though-maybe have Ward bat in the 8th and then have Cedeno pinch run for him. The reaction in the game thread would have been priceless if Ward had come up to pinch hit leading off the 8th, especially after the reaction the other day when Ward pinch hit with Murton still sitting on the bench :D

I don't agree with that. The Cubs this year are built to be a heavy slugging team that hopes to be middle of the pack in OBP. Their strength is their slugging-they just hope that their OBP is not a huge detriment. Before today's game, their OBP was 12th out of 30 teams. 12th-I know that may be hard to believe, but it's true. Obviously today's game will take that down, but I'm not sure how much. Their slugging was 15th-that is unacceptable for this team. This team is tied for 25th in home runs-this is a team that should be top 5 that is 1 home run away from being tied for last. OBP may end up being the worst area of this team, but it is not what it is right now. This team simply cannot hit home runs like they were supposed to do right now, and that is costing them. The middle of the league OBP is not.

Or WHIP (Z-1.875, Marquis-1.27) or BB/9 (Z-6.188, Marquis-4.90), or HR/9 (Z-2.25, Marquis-0), or even VORP (Marquis/1.1, Zambrano/(-5.0). The only thing Z has been better in is K/9 and K/BB. Is this going to continue? Of course not. Z will rebound, and Marquis can't sustain anywhere near this ERA. I don't see how Z has pitched better than Marquis so far this season though. It's not like Z has even been unlucky-every run that has been scored off of him has been definitely his fault, if that be giving pitches right down the middle to Adam Dunn or walking people in his last start.

JJ looked aweful the first 2 or 3 months of last season as well but then turned things around with a great second half. I was really hoping they would trade him during the offseason, as I saw this kinda start coming. I wonder if Floyd could play right and Murton left? Not quite-JJ was awful in the first month of each half (April/July). He was very good in both May and June. As far as Floyd playing right and Murton left, I'm not sure. They were going to have Floyd play right in 1 ST game this season, but then they changed their minds 15-20 minutes before gametime. As far as I know, neither one of them has gotten any time in RF at all this season even in the spring (and IIRC, Murton has never played there in his career).

Threatening to bench? I'm guessing Izzy and Floyd. Hopefully Jones too. How are we going to bench all 3 of them? Are you going to put Ward in RF or put Cedeno in at SS and Theriot in RF? Both of those are not good options right now either. I would love to bench everybody who isn't playing well, but the truth is that Lee, Ramirez, and Theriot (Theriot in the last 3 days) are the only players hitting well.

I think that ball of Jones's is gone during the summer-the wind really knocked that one down.

4 players, 2 coaches.

No-next left-hander the Cubs will face is Wednesday in Atlanta. Murton has a good chance of getting the start on Tuesday-he hasn't faced Maddux, and Floyd hasn't been very good against him in his 78 at-bats. They face Clay Hensley tomorrow, and neither one of them has faced him much, so Floyd will probably start.

Wow. So the Cubs World Series hopes rest on the who wins the classic good/evil battle between Cliff Floyd and Matt Murton. Alright then! :lol: I have said if the Cubs were a legitimate WS contender this year, I would be for Murton and Floyd platoon. Since they are not playing Floyd makes no sense. If the Cubs surprise me and become a WS contender this year I will be the first to come in here and say I am wrong. This makes sense. If you believe they have no chance to win it all then it make sense to go with the better long-term option. The Cubs obviously do believe they have a WS contender here-their spending spree and their comments since then seem to back that up. Only time will tell which opinion is closer to correct. The problem of course is what is a WS contender. I would say that winning the weak central does not make the Cubs a WS contender. I am guessing this is what really is debatable? I don't know-if they did win the Central, I see no reason why the Cubs would not be a WS contender. Their biggest worry right now is depth in the starting pitching. Getting into the playoffs and going with a rotation of Z, Hill, and Lilly-I'd be hard pressed to find another potential playoff team with a playoff rotation like that in the National League. The offense would also probably be the 2nd best in the playoffs behind the Mets (not saying they'll be 2nd best overall in the NL, but can't see another playoff team right now besides the Mets that is likely to have a better one), and the bullpen and bench are not detriments. So if they did win the Central, I'd see no reason why they would be any less of a favorite to win the NL as any other team out there. Once they reached the WS, they'd be facing a better team then them, but anything can happen in a series like that. So I'd say if they reached the playoffs they should be considered a WS contender.

If Floyd starts today (and there's a pretty decent chance that he does) remember that Murton will get some starts this week. Monday-not sure who will start Tuesday-Murton will probably start Wednesday-Murton will start Thursday-Murton has a pretty good chance to start No pitchers currently known after that. The matchups for Floyd are not as favorable this week as they were last week. The team is facing some pitchers that Floyd has not done as well against, along with the left-hander on Wednesday (oddly enough Floyd has done better against the left-hander than either right-hander on Tuesday or Thursday). Murton will likely the majority of starts this next week, even if Floyd starts today and tomorrow (and I bet Murton starts one of those 2 games).

My guess is that it all stems from the promise they made to Soriano when he signed to have him be an OF only. Who knows, they may have even written it into his contract.

Wow. So the Cubs World Series hopes rest on the who wins the classic good/evil battle between Cliff Floyd and Matt Murton. Alright then! :lol: I have said if the Cubs were a legitimate WS contender this year, I would be for Murton and Floyd platoon. Since they are not playing Floyd makes no sense. If the Cubs surprise me and become a WS contender this year I will be the first to come in here and say I am wrong. This makes sense. If you believe they have no chance to win it all then it make sense to go with the better long-term option. The Cubs obviously do believe they have a WS contender here-their spending spree and their comments since then seem to back that up. Only time will tell which opinion is closer to correct.

So-for the maybe 75-100 points of OPS extra you would get by doing that, you would make 2 more defensive black holes than the team already possesses (right field and second base) along with making your free agent who just signed for 8 years very, very angry. Would it really be worth it?

Yeah, this is another complaint I have. If the org. was bound and determined to turn Matt Murton into a platoon player then they already had the guy who is screaming to be his platoon partner: Jacque Jones. If they really wanted to sign Floyd and platoon him then it's not hard to find somebody who can play LF and hit passably vs. LHP. How about Ryan Theriot? Or maybe bring back some cheap vet like Michael Restovich. Wait a second. So you are suggesting that Murton platoons with Jacque in right, and then Floyd platoons with Theriot in left. Correct? I know that's not your ideal, but that's your suggestion to at least make it better. My question-how is that any different than what they are doing now-so far (1 game) Jacque has platooned with Theriot in right, and Murton is somewhat platooning with Floyd in left but he's getting more at-bats against right-handers than if he was platooning with Jacque. Isn't that the better solution if you're not going to have any of them playing everyday?

Yeah, he got 2 hits, but they were both singles, and he also got a GIDP and got picked off. Multihit game, but overall not an impressive performance. He's struggling a little. I'm not all that suprised. I'll be shocked if it continues for months. Cub fans will boo him senselessly like they did with Jones. Not saying that can't, it's their prerogative. But how wrong were the fans about Jones? Pretty damn wrong --- to the point of coming to the stadium with apology placards and signs. They should learn their lesson and look at the bigger picture. Not to mention their booing of Lee in 2004-that didn't work out too well either. Lee was booed in 04? Boy, I don't remember that at all. Yup. He struggled out of the gates in April, and he was booed for a decent part of the month. Here is an article from this year that makes a passing mention to it: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070331cubs,1,1957041.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

Yeah, he got 2 hits, but they were both singles, and he also got a GIDP and got picked off. Multihit game, but overall not an impressive performance. He's struggling a little. I'm not all that suprised. I'll be shocked if it continues for months. Cub fans will boo him senselessly like they did with Jones. Not saying that can't, it's their prerogative. But how wrong were the fans about Jones? Pretty damn wrong --- to the point of coming to the stadium with apology placards and signs. They should learn their lesson and look at the bigger picture. Not to mention their booing of Lee in 2004-that didn't work out too well either.

Murton AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 04/03 - 04/30 77 12 22 4 1 2 34 16 10 13 0.286 0.368 0.442 0.809 05/01 - 05/31 84 13 24 3 0 2 33 4 8 12 0.286 0.358 0.393 0.751 06/02 - 06/30 66 8 16 0 0 0 16 1 4 11 0.242 0.286 0.242 0.528 07/01 - 07/31 49 9 18 2 1 0 22 7 6 4 0.367 0.429 0.449 0.878 08/01 - 08/30 82 12 26 5 0 5 46 22 6 8 0.317 0.364 0.561 0.925 09/01 - 09/30 92 15 31 7 1 4 52 10 11 16 0.337 0.425 0.565 0.990 10/01 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.500 04/03 - 10/01 454 70 138 21 3 13 204 60 45 64 0.304 0.372 0.449 0.821 Much more than I thought. At least this year, we have a backup that is capable of starting. Last year, we had the likes of Freddie Bynum backing up Murton. I like Floyd as well. I think he's a good hitter in the situation that we have given him. But I still think Murton is getting the shaft here. I agree. I would like Floyd to get some starts. Maybe 3/10 games with Murton getting 1 or 2 of those games in RF. I think Floyd has a to offer to this team, but I think Murton is the better/younger/healthier option and should get the bulk of the playing time. Do you believe that Murton is a better option than Floyd against RHP? IMO, the only way that is true if you fully believe in Floyd's 2006 when he was injured a large amount of the time. If he's healthy, he's going to hit right-handers very hard, and if he has nagging injuries he's not going to play this year to bring down his numbers like that. If I were just playing for this year, Floyd would get as many starts against right-handers as I felt his health would allow with Murton getting the rest of those and all the left-handers. I think that would make the team the best it could be in 2007. Since I know there are long-term implications as well, I believe that Murton should get the majority of starts, but not the vast majority of starts. I would love to see Murton get some starts in RF, but it does not look like management trusts either him or Floyd out there (as evidenced by them playing a combined 0 ST games at the position). Since they are only LF's, I would propose to have batter/pitcher matchups help dictate which right handers each one of them starts against, with Murton getting every single start against left-handers. This will likely result in Murton getting 60-70 percent of the PA's overall.

He's always hit. He hit at every minor league level and he hit his rookie year and the beginning of last year. The time he struggled last year was the only time he's struggled in his career. He was bound to break out of it. Just wanted to compare Murton's minor league stats to his major league stats: MI: .309 .380 .451 831 MLB: .303 .370 .462 832 The guy seems pretty consistent. Just let him play and you'll end up with a .300/.370/.450'ish guy, who might improve past that. Both of the years in the majors have been skewed statistically though-Murton was put in situations he could succeed when he was playing part of the time in 05 and 06, and he often sat against pitchers that he would likely struggle against. So in projecting a year for him that would have to be taken into account. In 447 PA's vs. RH: .289 .351 .431 .782 In 237 PA's vs. LH: .325 .401 .507 .908 He's better against LH, but very solid against RH and has had nearly double the PA's against RH. So its not like they just put him in there against LH. I would agree-I'm not saying that if he played full-time he would be terrible. But when he tended to sit last year, it was either when he was struggling, or sometimes it was when the team was facing a right-handed pitcher that had a decent right/left split. If Murton had played full-time against all those pitchers, his numbers probably would have trended downward-not all that much (he probably still would have been around .775-.780 last year) but it almost certainly would have gone down.