questionmarkgrace

Basically what we are looking at a is a history of the cubs spending big for the flavor of the month, based on one or two amazing years Lee, Aram, Soriano, Z, Bradley, etc. All fit this bill. None of these guys were the marquis player at their position either but rather the splashy move to make. None of these guys have improved with the cubs either. The cubs sign guys for big contracts and they become complacent and or lose their new found skill level. The Yankees sign huge contracts but get the most our of their players. Four reasons why, 1) The cubs never go after that guy who has proven he can put a team on his back in general because the yankees and redsox always overpay for that guy. We are always stuck with that guy who was that guy for a bad team or did it for a year but never the guy who is a pure stud. 2) the cubs always look for the one move solution because they are and have been too budget conscious despite egregious unwarranted spending. its a contradiction of philosophy spend big to get the man of the moment, and ignore other holes that are often huge, assuming that the new guy will carry the team. When the redsox sign a guy there are 8 other guys in the line up that are top players at their position. When the cubs do its just the new guy and a couple of real solid players, and a couple mediocre guys, but not the guys that can make up for one or the other top tier players missing half a season. Thus we are always one player away. 3) We havent drafted nor really developed any really good hitters so our chances of getting these guys are highly dependent upon free agency, which as I have pointed out we are not the best at. 4) finally, there is entirely too much organizational promotion within the cubs, Wilkens the exception to the rule. In general our scouts have been our scouts for a long time, Hendry & Oneri Flieta have been here for a long time. When your organization has a poor philosophy and that is continually stressed upon all new employees due to the seniority of the management personal you will have little change. Sure we spend more, but with little effect or repercussions. And yeah we get new managers but they are similarly f-ed because they are so dependent upon the scouts and the gm poor drafting etc. hopefully rickets sees some of these problems and addresses them. But like all other owners he will try to avoid rebuilding on these levels with band aids because of the economic effects of the cubs not contending.

only hendry puts a guy on the block after his weakness is most apparent: he starts off hot and the wheels fall off come june. he should have been on the block in april when he was hitting 400. Also this guy has a no trade clause? thats just plain crazy

Unfortunately Hendry is so dumb that he wont trade anyone at the trade deadline. And will instead suggest that we are still in the race if only to continue to fill seats for Ricketts. God I love the way this team operates.

Yeah how could you blame Rudy when Aramis and Lee say that they are their own best hitting coaches are hitting .168 and.234 respectively. I maintain the team has unusually amount of inconsistent hitters and guys who k too much/ walk too little. Its been like this since late 04. Thats why we lose 8 of 10 and avg 2 or 3 runs a game. Then win 3 straight by a combined score of 35 to 3 and hit 8hrs. But I digress.... If anything you cheer Rudy for his impact on Soriano and Fontenot turning it around and Marlon Byrd having a breakout year.

get there early, interleague games seem to always be crowded and while the crowds have been thinner than usual I always try to stake out a good spot when i sit in the bleachers.

Dude, trending in baseball is only applicable in three year chunks at the most and probably most accurate ing 3-4 month samples that predict short term behavior. The sport is too inconsistent, the slightest injury can derail a career (Derosa is a recent example) some guys can just find it (Bautista) others lose it quickly (Dye). The fact that D-Lee has become more and more inconsistent since the year he went crazy is a testament to the inaccuracy of long term trends. Also, when you factor age say 33+ into any equation seeking to explain a player's performance the trend is a downward one overall, most lose a bit and then fall off quickly in their mid to upper 30's. As for the difference in Neyers ratings, taking into account, increasing inconsistency, age, and recent performance that explains the low rating. Remember D-Lee didn't hit this poorly for this long last year basically thats the difference. He is also on pace for 160 k's his worst since he was with the pads, and his lowest obp, avg, and slugging in many years. Not good. So in general recent performance is a better indicator of short term performance. Sure there are outliers Big Papi in April vs May but we are 1/3 of the way into the season and while he will no doubt have a good stretch he should not be the three hitter on a 140 million dollar team.

Its questionable to sign players from latin america even with the age verification in place, steroids seem to be so much more rampant there. But at least the evidence of top quality players coming from there is really good. On the other hand I don't think that the pac-rim has produced enough players in general to warrant the way we are scouting there. I understand they are trying to get a foothold in a potential major market in the future but until one of these guys pans out, I will continue to be a skeptic as to whether it is a better approach. I think China will be key in the future, but we have yet to sign a guy fromthere yet.

are you kidding a 2 year extension? off of this year? He is in Jermaine Dye territory right now. He gets no more than a 1 year 3-5 million dollar deal next year and hopefully not from us. I too find it hard to believe that the Angles want him. But if they show any interest I say jump pay whatever they want and maybe get a decent prospect back. I wouldn't mind seeing Nady take over at first he's starting to heat up and he at least had a bonefide excuse for starting out slow.

Who is the top first baseman in the draft? I have to believe with Lee going after this year we draft one early on that can move quickly. Any guys like this? We seem really empty at the power corners in general throughout the minors. thoughts? Also Wilkens has a strong history of picking guys who seem like they dont belong early on. Any sleepers?

i don't know anything about his velocity the last couple years so I'm just guessing, but i would have to believe that he was a roids guy. if he still throws mid 90's gas someone gives him another shot. heck Rich Hill has had two more shots and he didn't have half the success Dontrelle did.

theriot is way too inconsistent to be an everyday player. the one walk in a month thing is a joke. Beyond that he goes on stretches where he hits in bunches and others where he is just completely lost. Fontenot seems to have found something with Rudy J. More playing time should come his way. I will continue to say it, we have some of the most inconsistent players in the game on our team. We need more steady guys whose production varies less. Especially in key line up positions like 2,3,4.

personally, the ticket prices have turned me off from attending. Not the cost per se; but the arrogance of increases every single year. ten years ago you could get a bleacher seat for 20-25$, a 200% increase between now and then puts it at $50. Plus this year they got rid of the value date, regular, premium tier so they could institute fourth tier bronze silver gold and platinum. It means even more expensive seats and less reasonable tickets for a mediocre at best product. It is pure arrogance to assume that we will continue to pay more every year for a crappy product. Compound this by talks of not enough funds to get players and Dempster restructuring his contract and I have become a thoroughly alienated cubs fan. The price hike will most certainly show to be a poorly calculated business move by Rickets.

Its really more Lou hurting the team than Aramis. Even if he is going to be given the chance to work his way out of this horrendous, season long slump, it needs to be from the 7 or 8 spot, not the 4 or 5. this is definitely part of it. Why lou insists on Lee and Ramirez batting in the key spots of the order when they have been so unreliable this year is beyond me. Aramis used to be a pretty good bad ball hitter but is just flailing at everything and k-ing more than ever before. Both him and Lee need to stop saying that they are their own best hitting coach, check their ego's and take some pointers from Rudy J. He's go everyone else raking so wtf?

I wasn't before but I think I'm on this bandwagon now. Three reasons: 1) Bullpen use 2) in game management 3) lineup changes with no reason

I'd rather sell high on fukudome before the twirl o-matic comes back in august.

You know, its sad but that is exactly how cubs management thinks.

Typical cubs move. lets sign a fastball only pitcher who no longer has a fastball. Great job Hendry bullpen fixed.

Count me in.

"Lee does work with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, but trusts himself more. "I still feel I'm my best hitting coach," Lee said. "I listen to how my body feels and I know what I need to do. Rudy's there for support. I've had this swing for a long time. I know what gets me in trouble. I get in these funks sometimes and I have to work my way out." " awesome. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100510&content_id=9943182&notebook_id=9943190&vkey=notebook_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

7 men left on base today 0 for 5. This is our three hitter? No thanks. He's on the Jermaine Dye plan to not playing next year.

I think Dae-Eun will be fine in time. But time is key look how long it has taken Liriano to come back and be the guy he was before.

MARCH/APRIL 2006 .318 .448 .614 2007 .392 .468 .567 2008 .364 .437 .682 2009 .189 .253 .284 .537 2010 .203 .337 .367 .704 MAY 2006 .227 .346 .364 2007 .306 .359 .482 2008 .234 .269 .411 2009 .313 .403 .552 2010 ?????????????? 2005 was clearly the aberration and is likely never to be repeated. Anyways Even in 2007 when he started off good he completely fell apart in July and August only to go crazy in Sept. Looking at this I think everyone can agree that we need more consistency from the number three hitter.

just cause they are different hitters doesn't mean they aren't all streaky. Lee usually starts really slow and has had great years and bad years as of late, soriano usually has a crazy month and is mediocre the rest of the year, theriot is hot for a couple weeks cold for a couple weeks and then slides at the end of the year and Ramirez is having a slow start and also did so the year that D-Lee got hurt 06?. Also yes moving them down in the order helps because they get less at bats and the way are 1 &2 hitters are getting on base it takes the pressure off them and allows someone who has more confidence and is hitting well the chance to drive in some runs.

I agree this is a problem and yes moving them down in the line up would help. To Lou's credit though he did break up lee and ramirez(he batted 5th) a couple days ago probably against a lefty or something. I still contend though that we are too streaky of a team and have been for a while. Theriot, Lee, Soriano, and to an extent Ramirez go on wild fluctuations where they can do no wrong and conversely when they are ice cold. Its hard to win with a team like that. Sure every player goes through fluctuations in their quality of play but it seems like these guys are abnormally up and down.

this move amongst others they have made this year seems more symbolic than anything, like taking soriano out after he makes an error. Yes Z has been bad but not that bad and he often starts slow. but, maybe this is exactly what he needs to get his head straight and to focus. This is old school and I like it.