Backtobanks

The Astros aren't exactly the 1927 Yankees when it comes to offense. Let's wait a couple of months before we put Mitre in the "Dontrelle Willis" category. I do think that Mitre can be a decent #3 or #4 starter though.

I still don't understand how our young players are question marks while teams like the Brewers have all future stars. Murton looks like the real thing and Cedeno has been successful at every level. Jones makes too much money, but is an "adequate" OF.

Wait 'til you see game 2... Cabrera's not fast enough, he'd clog up the bases (lol).

After watching the first game, who needs Cabrera?

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:14 am Post subject: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- soapy wrote: According to Sullivan , Baker will have Cedeno on a short leash. Why am I not surprised he's so anxious to get his boy Neifi in there? I'm a big Cedeno fan, but let's be honest. Cedeno should have the starting job and be given every opportunity to continue in that role, but I don't think the Cubs' offense is strong enough to cover Cedeno if he continues hitting .200 for two more months. I am the first to criticize Baker, but Cedeno needs to prove he belongs as the starter at some point in the first month or so. Another problem is that it looks like Cedeno has carried his offensive woes out to the field with him. Poor hitting combined with poor defense will certainly put him on the bench. Let's just hope that Cedeno gets it together and that this discussion will be moot.

I'm a big Cedeno fan, but let's be honest. Cedeno should have the starting job and be given every opportunity to continue in that role, but I don't think the Cubs' offense is strong enough to cover Cedeno if he continues hitting .200 for two more months. I am the first to criticize Baker, but Cedeno needs to prove he belongs as the starter at some point in the first month or so. Another problem is that it looks like Cedeno has carried his offensive woes out to the field with him. Poor hitting combined with poor defense will certainly put him on the bench. Let's just hope that Cedeno gets it together and that this discussion will be moot.

I agree, nobody wants to admit that their top prospect isn't as good as someone else's. Using the Cubs as an example, all we heard was that Pie is the face of the future for the Cubs and now we're going to trade him for another prospect. I would think any major league team would only trade their top prospect for an established major league star.

I'm with you, but only if I can get some good tickets as a partial owner.

I was one of the people who thought the Brewers would be decent last year, now that everyone is piled on the bandwagon, I don't think they're ready yet. Weeks and Fielder will experience growing pains. They are bad defensively. Hardy won't be as good as his 2nd half numbers, but not as bad as his first half. Lee's a great RBI man, but doesn't get on base like a 3-4 hitter should. Jenkins had a great 2nd half too, but won't hit as well in 06. I think they are seriously in danger of seeing decreased production across the board offensively with the exception of 2B and possibly SS. If Ben Sheets can't start 30 times for them, they are in bad shape. As I originally stated, the Cubs, Cards, and Brewers all have question marks, but they are the top 3 teams in the division. The Brewers are counting on some talented youngsters, but they are youngsters. They got a career year out of Brady Clark and I think it's questionable that he will repeat that success. If he doesn't, Lee's RBI total goes down significantly. I do find it interesting that so many sportswriters will assume that every other team's question marks will succeed while the Cubs' question marks will fail. After this spring, I don't think of Murton as questionable. I think Jones in RF will be adequate. Hopefully Pierre will return to his career averages, but his "lousy" year in 2005 will be a vast improvement over last year's leadoff men. I do agree that spring training didn't solidify Cedeno as a "sure thing", but I do have confidence that he will be a solid SS and an improvement over 2005. As usual, the one unknown is the injury situation, which does seem to haunt the Cubs more than other teams.

The Cards have lost talent, the Astros has lost a ton of talent, the Reds have no pitching, and the Pirates are the Pirates. The Cards should be favorites, while the Brewers are the team on the rise. The Cubs have some question marks, but so do the Brewers and the Cards. The Cubs should end up 2nd or 3rd with a shot at 1st if a few things go well. I think some sportswriters write stupid things to get people discussing their column. Apparently it worked.

I don't think the Cubs will have a "building" or "rebuilding" year anytime in the forseeable future. With the budget at $100 million, the success of the White Sox, and attendance at 3 million, the Cubs will continue to at least give the impression that they are competitive.

I still don't understand why Hill is considered so valuable.

STL will get him and he'll end up playing regularly and hitting .300.

Selig was at Saturday's game and discussed the success of the Wild Card. He pictures 20 teams still in the hunt by Labor Day because of the Wild Card. Having said that, it's difficult saying how many teams would be "sellers" in July.

Wow, talk about pessimism. If Konerko gets injured, Buerhle's arm falls off, Posednik breaks his leg, Garland and Dye regress, Thome and Contreras realize how old they are, and Williams trades Garland and Garcia for Jeff Fassero, the White Sox could be in trouble too.

I don't know what's going to happen with Baker, but I think MacPhail thinks the world of Hendry and wouldn't replace him. Of course, if the Tribune ended up selling the Cubs to someone like Mark Cuban, all bets are off on retaining MacPhail, Hendry, and Baker.

People can critcize Soriano for lots of reasons (money, defense, attitude, etc.), but to say that Soriano is only a "marginal improvement offensively" over Walker is ridiculous. I like Walker, but he has to fight for a starting job every year while Soriano is making All-Star teams. Offensively, Soriano is Jeff Kent with speed.

He won't have to worry about crashing into the OF wall because he will be traded as soon as Bowden can get enough to save face. I don't understand why people are surprised that he backed down and went out to play LF, since he isn't stupid enough to lose $10 million and his free agent year. If I were an AL GM, I would be interested in trying to get him as a DH.

Since it is obvious that the Cubs are trying to trade Walker, I would love to see the Cubs get Soriano as long as they get him cheap and the Nationals pay a decent chunk of his salary. His defense stinks, but what he would add to the lineup would more than make up for it. It is said that he averages one error every week, but how many HRs, RBI, and stolen bases would he average in a week. Actually, I'm surprised an AL GM hasn't tried to get him to DH. The funniest thing about all of this is that the Bowden traded [b]two[/b] good outfielders for a 2B that refuses to play the OF.

If I was an AL GM, I would jump on this Soriano situation right now. You could probably get him cheap and use him as the DH.

There you go being logical again.

Rusch knows what it means to be a #2 starter on the Cubs, so he followed everyone else and got injured.

Yea, how about sending one of our young guys out there and tell them to give it everything they have for 3-4 innings and then relieve them with another for 3-4 innings, etc. If they only have to go through the batting order once, they might be able to fool the other team.

Marshall shows some promise, but I'm not sure he's ready. Of course, there's always a Walker for Clement plus cash deal or a Walker plus someone else for Clement, Graffanino, and cash deal.

Burnett plus $5 million per year for 5 years for Kerry Wood. Does this belong in the transaction forum?