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Backtobanks

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  1. Backtobanks
    I guess the good part about Soto continuing to rake and show good defensive abilities is that I'm actually starting to believe Hendry and Lou would be comfortable heading into 2008 with Geo penciled in as the starter. The offensive power advantage over Kendall is wonderful, but the defensive ability to throw out runners should make it a no-brainer to continue starting him.
  2. Backtobanks
    If the Cubs can win 5 out of 6 against the Pirates and Marlins, they won't have to worry much about what the Brewers do.
  3. Backtobanks
  4. Backtobanks
    I don't have the answer, but the question has stumped all of the baseball "experts" all season. With Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Murton, and Barrett (earlier in the season), you would think they would be killing lefties. If I were an opposing manager, not only would I line up my starting rotation so that I had lefties facing the Cubs, I would call up any lefty minor leaguer to face them.
  5. Backtobanks
    This goes back to a thread I started about Lilly being the ace of the Cubs this year. If the 3 games the Cubs are most likely to lose are Zambrano against the other team's ace, is he really the "great" pitcher all of us make him out to be?
  6. Backtobanks
    I've got a good idea. Let's wait to see if Hendry picks up someone like Tejada or not and then bash him for whatever decision he makes.
  7. Backtobanks
    That would be great if we could replace Murton in the deal with Cedeno. Marshall, Jones, Dempster, and Cedeno for Tejada sounds good, even if we have to add another low level arm to the deal.
  8. Backtobanks
    Theriot has done okay for a middle infielder. Somehow we all got spoiled by these shortstops who hit 50 HRs and drive in 130 runs. Also, let's remember that he's still young and may get better. That being said, of course you upgrade with someone like Tejada if he can be had for a decent price. Obviously, Ryan Theriot as your starting SS is not the biggest weakness on this team.
  9. Backtobanks
    Naw. I never heard of this guy either. And yet there are 3 pages of posts about him getting a new contract.
  10. Backtobanks
    You're joking, right? I'll admit he made some good signings this past offseason, but that doesn't undo the damage he did in 2005 and 2006. The Cubs still are far behind where they were in 2003 and 2004; they just have the good fortune this year to be the least crappy in a crappy division. He doesn't deserve an extension simply for partially recovering from his past incompetence. I don't know why he is joking. Ozzie just got a 5 year deal for taking a World Champion to last place to 2 years. On the same subject, Kenny Williams seems to have a lifetime position for doing the same thing.
  11. Backtobanks
    It was a great pickup. Even though Floyd has gotten hot. I feel much more comfortable with Ward at bat. Ward is able to come off the bench and deliver. There aren't many players that have that skill. Floyd needs regular at bats to be of value.
  12. Backtobanks
    Once the playoffs start everything is out the window. All you need is one or two guys to get hot at the right time and they can carry you through a short series. Look at how many time the "hero" in the playoff series or WS was some obscure player that nobody in their right mind would pick as the "hero".
  13. Backtobanks
    Boy, I hope you're right. Personally, I see the Cubs winning it with 84-78.
  14. Backtobanks
    I don't agree with your "out of the box" thinking. First, let Kendall go and start Soto with Blanco in reserve. While I like Kendall offensively, he has shown to be terrible on defense. I would love to get Either, but Loney is a big downgrade, offensively and defensively, from Lee. Your idea of trading Howry, Murton, and DLee for Loney and Either and we would probably have to throw in some money and a couple of young arms is unbelievable. The 3 players you mentioned for Either and Loney is so one-sided in the Dodgers' favor that to add cash and young arms is outrageous.
  15. Backtobanks
    How many FAs at any position are worth half of what they end up getting?
  16. Backtobanks
    Soriano is a #5 hitter, not a leadoff hitter. It really is as simple as that. How Lou doesn't see that is beyond me. I'm hoping Lou will convince Soriano that batting 5th and playing RF will help the 2008 Cubs. Doing those 2 simple things gives you more power and RBIs in the middle of the order, gives you a higher OBP guy leading off, strengthens your OF defense in both LF and RF, and allows Murton to play everyday. Make Soto your starting catcher and you've improved the defense at that position too. Obviously, these changes won't be enacted for the rest of this year.
  17. Backtobanks
    Well that equates to a 4.50 ERA and a good amount of pitchers do better than a 4.50 ERA. Not sure what you mean by "do better than the 6/3 QS". What I'm simply asking is. What percentage of starting pitchers have a 6 inning 3 run line or better game? If it's a low percentage than it might be considered a qualty start. I realize that a 4.50 ERA is that that good and that giving up 2 runs should be a quality start and 3 should be called something else but as I wrote, I wonder what percentage of games have starting pitchers keep the other team from scoring more than 3 runs in 6 innings? I would think that a 6-inning 3-run start by a pitcher that is your #5 starter is pretty darn good. I would think that most managers would be happy if their #4 and #5 starters would give them 6 innings with only 3 runs.
  18. Backtobanks
    When I started this thread, I didn't think there would be all of this discussion over semantics. My point is that Lilly has been the best Cub starter all year, has been the starter to break all of the losing streaks, and continues to be the pitcher who gives the Cubs the best chance to win games this year. To me, that defines the "ace" of a staff. I'm not talking about next year, who has the best stuff, his flyball ratio, or whether he would be the "ace" on other teams.
  19. Backtobanks
    Ted Lilly has left no doubt about who's the ace of the Cubs' pitching staff. Congrats to Lilly and Kudos to Hendry on this one.
  20. Backtobanks
    I'm not defending Trachsel, but his last outing was actually pretty good and would have been very good if Lou would have pulled him instead of leaving him in to try to get a win. I'm not sure what Trachsel's record against the Pirates was, but I thought they were going to use him in specific situations (against a team that kills lefties). I think the idea of a modified 6 man rotation might work if you mix Trachsel and Marshall according to the other team's weaknesses.
  21. Backtobanks
    I lookat the talent on that list and try to figure out what package I would ask for in return and then I try to think of happy thoughts. I have to believe that any talks involving Hawpe or Eitheir would start with Hill+. Burrell and the Seattle duo would also cost a bit and they are more like consolation prizes (a little less so with Burrell). Church, Quentin , and Baldelli may not be any better than Murton in the long run. With the right deal, I could see the Cubs thinking about trading either Hill or Marshall. They've done a pretty good job, but I'm not sure the Cubs want to go into next year with 3 lefties in the rotation. Also, one of their strengths seems to be young pitchers, so they might be expendable for the right player.
  22. Backtobanks
    He does look like an interesting option, especially as a platoon player. My original suggestion was to convince Soriano to play RF and bat 5th for the good of the team. That way Murton or a Murton platoon would be more than adequate in LF.
  23. Backtobanks
    Ya, you're probably right about the impact SS not being signed or traded for but I'm not sure about the Vet middle guy and don't they already have Blanco signed for next year? As I mentioned in my post, Renteria or Tejada might be options depending on what salary the other team will take back in trade (Eyre or Jones) or eat as part of the deal. Another possibility would be to trade someone like Eyre or Jones first and then go after Renteria or Tejada.
  24. Backtobanks
    It wouldn't surprise me to see the Cubs go make a deal for someone like Renteria or Tejada, with Theriot sliding over to 2B. I would make Cedeno part of the package along with some young pitching. I was hoping Cedeno would make it, but he seems to be totally overmatched at the major league level. Also, I'm not sure where Patterson fits into the future of the Cubs, so he might be trade bait. I would think Jones, Murton, Ohman, Cedeno, Patterson, Marshall/Hill, plus prospects could be mentioned in trade talks depending on the other players involved. The other moves I would make would be to let Kendall go (start Soto) and move Soriano to RF and bat him 5th.
  25. Backtobanks
    You know, he's not in control of that. There is a manager around. If taking a day off today means he'll play the rest of the way, I'll take it. A manager? Really, what's that? Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot. Come on, if Ramirez wanted to play badly enough today, he would've been in the lineup and you know it. You do realize that he said just a couple days ago that ramirez said in the paper that if it was up to him he wouldnt take any off days until the end of the year because he feels the team needs him this last month. I would think that Aram would have begged Lou to put him in the lineup when he saw the flags blowing straight out. We watched the Dodgers take batting practice and just about everyone hit 2-3 homers.
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