jersey cubs fan

There are two things Lou keeps talking about that make no sense to me. 1) Felix Pie HAS to bat 8th. 2) The best use for Fukudome is as protection for Ramirez. Protection is a joke. But even if you do consider it when drawing up a lineup, why in the world is it given such high priority as it apparently is given with Fukudome. It's beyond absurd to me that the only 2 guys who seems to have a spot locked down are Theriot at leadoff and Pie at 8th.

1 lefty pitcher, 3 RH hitters, 3 balls in play, 3 softly hit balls on the ground. 1 Cub making an out on the basepaths. Some things never change.

theriot dribbler to third, out cedeno bleeder up the middle for a single Derosa battling in a 2-2 count. I'm assuming if people want to know more, they can just turn on espn2

Ugly lineup today. theriot cedeno derosa murton ward soto mcgehee pie

That was some sort of option play with nobody covering the RB.

Why don't you rush a little more Western Kentucky, you impatient jerks are going to ruin my perfect start to the day.

What do the Cubs need?

I'm very annoyed at Davidson for being so bad at finishing on turnovers.

Vitters: I have to be a little skeptical about somebody being able to make such a claim as a weight transfer being a fraction of a second early. And that's an incredibly disappointing report on Vitters.

Weird, your profile says this is your 1st post. Another thing about breaking up lefties is the Cubs also have another lefty, Pie. And from time to time, they will have Ward, and if Patterson or Fontenot gets some playing time, those guys as well. I think the breaking up the lefties thing is completely overblown. But the Cubs always seem to focus on silly secondary issues.

That can't be good for the ole' trade value.

It's funny how little chance they have to make the playoffs despite a fairly good record, while the Bulls are just a hair outside and horrible. They aren't completely comparable, because of the overtime rules, and how they prop up many records. But it's been a fun season. It's nice that they've had so many sell-outs, and are moving in the right direction. But they still need to find more offense and stabilize the defense. And Khabi is still grossly overpaid. Yeah he just doesn't take the ice enough. He's been a walking injury since he got here, like Havlat. It's really the youngsters that make this team worth the investment of time & anguish. And that's a good thing. They can build from here, if they're smart. I haven't been able to say that about the Hawks in a long time. Even when he's been on the ice, Khabi hasn't come close to fulfilling what were probably overly enthusiastic expectations.

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years. Right, but the green light to get the big pricey FA names seemingly only showed up in the last year or so. An organization this hapless suddenly deciding to spend big isn't the situation where I expect to see much being done that's thought out right away. What a bunch of nonsense. Hendry was given more than enough resources to field a great team every season he's been at the helm.

Quickly? Hendry has been here since 94, and GM for 5 years.

That only matters if there was some sort of rule that said they had to sign him in the first place. It was only Jim Hendry's incompetence that put him in a position where he felt so desperate to make the signing.

Yeah, I don't see anybody talking end of times. Major hindrance is not sky is falling. It will be possible to field a winning team, just all that much more difficult.

The injury means more than fewer SB, it means missed time, which has already happened and likely will continue to happen. Maybe. Or maybe not attempting to steal as many bases will help avoid significant DL time. Stealing wasn't what hurt him in the first place. He's in his early 30's and can't start a spring training at 100%. You can pretty much kiss good bye any thoughts of complete seasons going forward.

That doesn't mean anything. You still have to replace those players, in addition to replacing what you thought you were paying Soriano for in the first place and will never get. Soriano's contract will hurt, there's no point in sugarcoating it. The fact that Lee and Ramirez might not be here for the last couple years does not change that. The point I was making that when those players' contracts are expired, we may have some very acceptable cheap in house replacements, and the money saved from their exiting contracts could be used to get a free agent to compliment the declining skills of Soriano elsewhere. Kosuke will be a free agent by then. There is no realistic in house replacement for Lee. Even if Vitters does come in and replace Ramirez at a high level, you're still going to need to be playing for middle infield help (cubs don't have a SS in the system). If Soto is any good he'll be making a ton by then. Plus the pitching. The fact that Lee and Ramirez's contracts (which are both reasonable) come off the books during the second half of Soriano's contract doesn't make his contract any less of a hindrance.

The injury means more than fewer SB, it means missed time, which has already happened and likely will continue to happen.

we'll see what happens, but I hope Fukudome ends up being our 3rd best, and not because of a Soriano regression or injury. I'm going to homer for Fukudome all season. i know, i know, SPRING TRAINING, but i just am totally in love with what i've seen so far. I'm not in love, but I too hope that Fukudome is good enough to be better than Soriano, because Soriano just isn't that good. Eh. In my mind, Sori is a far far better bet to put up a ~.900 OPS, which is pretty damn good (though I'm not a huge fan of how he does it), than Fukudome. I do love Kosuke's approach at the plate, though. Not all OPS are created equal, as the one with better OBP is worth more. Add to that the likelihood that Soriano will get himself picked off far more frequently, and I'm thinking Fukudome could outproduce him. That's also why I say 3rd or 4th best hitter. We don't know what either will do this year.

Not even close to the same. Dlee's fluke 2005 was unlike anything he'd come close to in his career. Soriano flirted with 40/40 on a regular basis. But when you pay him what the Cubs paid him, you better be expecting that out of him. Flirting is one thing...look how many times 40/40 has actually been accomplished. Expecting a player to do it agan is statistially pretty ridiculous. He had the drop off last year due to the injury time. Had he not missed that, he likely would have come near 40 home runs again. Again, I'm all about the one part of the 40's, not the stolen bases part. I don't see why everyone automatically assumes that because he's lost some speed, his bat is somehow going to suffer as well. Not being able to steal 40 bases is pretty far from not being able to steal bases at all, so it's not like his stealing "threat" is gone for people hung up on that. His speed was going to drop off relatively early in the contract due to his age anyways. Personally, I don't care whether he actually gets 40/40. But the fact remains, Soriano has been close to that on a regular basis, whereas Lee has never come close to duplicating 2005. Now, if you want to say it's unrealistic to expect Soriano to repeat his 2006, fine. That's true. But that doesn't mean it's wrong to be disappointed that your $136 million player stands little to no chance of ever living up to his contract, because the only way he could is if he regularly repeats his 2006.

That reminds me, I hate that word, chalk. I haven't heard it much this year. But mike and mike were saying it repeatedly last year, and even tried breaking it out with the NFL playoffs.

we'll see what happens, but I hope Fukudome ends up being our 3rd best, and not because of a Soriano regression or injury. I'm going to homer for Fukudome all season. i know, i know, SPRING TRAINING, but i just am totally in love with what i've seen so far. I'm not in love, but I too hope that Fukudome is good enough to be better than Soriano, because Soriano just isn't that good.

That doesn't mean anything. You still have to replace those players, in addition to replacing what you thought you were paying Soriano for in the first place and will never get. Soriano's contract will hurt, there's no point in sugarcoating it. The fact that Lee and Ramirez might not be here for the last couple years does not change that.

Not even close to the same. Dlee's fluke 2005 was unlike anything he'd come close to in his career. Soriano flirted with 40/40 on a regular basis. But when you pay him what the Cubs paid him, you better be expecting that out of him.