jersey cubs fan

And what everyone else is pointing out is: -It doesn't matter, because if you think Aramis and the 2 others that left planned on losing, you're insane. -These guys are rich enough to pay for refundable, open ended tickets -Someone in the organization probably set it up for them. Do you seriously think Aramis was like on Expedia.com at 7:30 am on Saturday booking airfare back to the Dominican? Everybody knows Zambrano is in charge of making all online transactions for the team.

He's definitely not a sure thing. But my point is the difference between where they bat is far less consequential than if they are in the lineup in the first place (and producing, of course).

The Cubs were at or near the bottom in production from SS, C and CF. And if they can't pull off the ARod miracle, I would try really hard to trade the farm for Cabrera to fill RF. SS is not the only opportunity. This is how they compared to NL average OPS... SS---115 points behind CF---52 points behind RF---8 points AHEAD If you want to plug Theriot's #s instead of all of our SS, then we are 83 points behind. We were 16th at SS, 13th at CF, and 6th at RF. Yeah, CF is an issue, but definitely not nearly as much as SS. Plus, its where our best two non-Vitters position prospects reside. Saying it's the spot where they could conceivably get the biggest improvement is not the same as saying the only opportunity for significant improvement. I agree SS is the big one. But C (that's catcher, not CF) is also a big one.

Jones scares the crap out of me on a longterm deal. But I take issue with the talk of expecting anybody who signs with the Cubs to fail. If the Cubs sign the right guys, they won't fail. Hell, even Soriano was at least close to his best. But back to Jones, he's had a very nice career, but the way he bookended his prime years with some abysmal performances just sticks out. It's similar to Renteria, although Edgar seems to be more of a 2 years on 2 years off kind of guy. So hard to be comfortable with. Anyway, I think both guys offer enough hope that they should be better than the other options to be really serious discussions.

In all fairness, they got the 6th best NL OPS out of RF this year. Granted, teams 6-10 were all closely bunched, but the Cubs biggest holes were SS, C and CF. If they can get an impact RF, I'm all for it. Yeah, I know the 2007 stats. I was talking about looking ahead to 2008. I think Jones and/or Pie can outproduce CF from this past season (Pie improvement, Jacque in a FA year starting the season on time, no Pagan) and leave RF as the hole, with no Floyd and Murton probably on the bench. I'm not sure why Jones in a contract year gives you much faith, but if Floyd is gone and Jones is in center, I think Murton starts in RF and there is no real hole (although probably no mountain either). no real hole in RF that is. I think CF could very easily still be a hole, and SS is still a huge hole, in that scenario.

Well...since we're forgoing the don't attack the poster attack the post rules... soap drop you. I was there, they said it to me, I thought some in this forum would find it interesting. I attacked the ridiculous nature of the post. The Cubs lost on Saturday, a few guys bought tickets that day and flew out Sunday. Big freaking deal. People who can afford it by last minute tickets all the time, including open-ended refundable tickets. This is an absurd rant. What do you want him to do, sit around and hold hands with crying fans?

Shouldn't a team that added Derrek Lee, Mark DeRosa, and Alfonso Soriano have improved more than that? Everybody says "You can't turn impatient hitters into patient ones" but Soriano did take more walks than ever in 2006. It's just a defeatist attitude. If Jose Reyes came up through the Cubs' system he'd still be taking 5 walks a year, let's face it. I can just imagine what the board would say if the Cubs grabbed David Ortiz from the Twins: "Oh well, can't make him anything more than he already is." The point is a hitting coach can't change these guys overnight. Changing a young kid who is still developing is quite different from changing a career free swinger. Ortiz was a moderately productive hitter in his early-to-mid 20's who got great right in the middle of his prime. If Perry does no good for guys like Murton, Pie, Colvin etc. over the next couple years, it will be a problem. But there's nothing to go on right now to suggest he did a bad job.

this is freaking ridiculous. not that they flew out, or bought tickets yesterday, but that you started this thread. Did you get any input from Rozner?

Yeah, but it's not like Murton and Renteria can't be in the same lineup. It's much less important where they hit than that they hit at all. Turning a low 600 OPS into a high 700 OPS from a position would be a tremendous help. Not as big as going to ARod, obviously, but still big.

You're right, but if I was a professional columnist I wouldn't want to have to resort to stupidity to garner interest. And I certainly wouldn't want to be known as a fool just to be able to say I sold papers. But in the case of Rozner, his repeated shots at Ramirez do not seem to be anywhere close to him just looking for something else to write about. He makes it pretty clear he's disgusted by Aramis.

Yeah, at this point his biggest job has to be turning Felix Pie and Matt Murton into productive everyday hitters. If he got a lot out of Cedeno he'd be worthy of serious praise.

I'm not sure how one judges the softness of a team. Is it just every team that comes up short? The Cubs didn't do enough offensively because they aren't a good offensive team, haven't been for many years. This sounds like the whole Jeter and ARod in the postseason talk. Lots of guys on this team had a lot of really big pressure hits throughout the year. The problem is they just aren't that good. A team that swings at everything, and has always swung at everything, is going to look like they tried too hard.

I wouldn't say I'm impressed, but I wouldn't say he's been a problem either. The Cubs are who we thought they were. An imperfect team put together by a bad GM. They have a lot of talented hitters, but not a lot of productive hitters. They are dumb. That's not on the hitting coach. He can't just turn Jacque Jones, Soriano and others into all-around productive hitters. You can't just make Ryan Theriot a legit major league starter with coaching. The Cubs got bottom of the barrell production out of 3 positions, and only one of them was a surprise, C (and that was only a surprise with Barrett, nobody else that filled the spot really underperformed). There isn't a single hitter on the team, who, when you look at his numbers, makes you think "I never would have thought he could be that bad." If he stays around for a few years and we don't see improvements, I would question his value, but there's nothing to really talk about yet.

Who?

I think you are foolish yourself. The Cubs aren't better than those teams. They were the 7th or 8th best team in the NL. But they continue to be one of the highest revenue teams in the league, which should allow them greater financial flexibility than those others team, so they maintain an important advantage.

The core of this team isn't getting any better, but I think the Cubs can have a similar shot for the next couple years, unless ownership calls for cuts and they have to give away assets. As nice as the Colorado and Arizona stories are, neither team was great, and I'm not sure Milwaukee is going to be much better, because all their talent is just going to get more expensive.

My thoughts exactly... and thank god. Also, 3/31? Does that mean we have the MLB Regular Season opener? 3/31/08 is a Monday. More like than not, somebody will open up Sunday night, 3/30.

I don't see why he should be bashed for it. He came up short in 3 games, but that happens. Go ahead and lament his lack of timely hitting, but bashing him? I see no point in that.

In all fairness, they got the 6th best NL OPS out of RF this year. Granted, teams 6-10 were all closely bunched, but the Cubs biggest holes were SS, C and CF. If they can get an impact RF, I'm all for it.

The Cubs were at or near the bottom in production from SS, C and CF. And if they can't pull off the ARod miracle, I would try really hard to trade the farm for Cabrera to fill RF. SS is not the only opportunity.

Well, I guess it's good to find out early what the talking points are going to be for the fans who turn on the next young Cubs player to be thrust into the spotlight.

I'm not so sure about this with respect to Kendall, depending on what type of FA designation he gets. Lots of teams need catchers and love having veterans behind the dish. If he gets Type A, a team that sees this upcoming draft as not being particularly deep would be fine plunking down some change for Kendall instead of sinking that money into a draft pick. If he gets Type B, nobody loses a draft pick and it might make him easier to move. Is there any chance he gets Type A? He was one of the worst catchers in baseball this year, and he's been pretty bad for a few years now. I know the rankings aren't all that logical, and that weak guys get ranked higher than expected. But I can't imagine any scenario in which Kendall gets rated a Type A, and some team is stupid enough to sign him before the Cubs have to offer arbitration.

Sure it is, I don't see them having the resources to make any big splashes until they trade for someone like Renteria. Which I don't consider that big, unless you expect to contribute like he did last year compared to his career norms. Yeah, unfortunately with the ownership situation and Hendry's ability as a GM, treading water is probably the most we can hope for at this time. Some people will act as though this was a good team and that treading water would be fine. Unfortunately, they are going to have to rely on the weakness of the competition if they want to sniff the postseason again. The four biggest chances for internal improvement are: 1. Pie playing well in centerfield, holding his own with a 750 or better OPS. That would lift the Cubs CF production from the bottom to the middle of the NL pack, and the improved defense for a full season would be a bonus. 2. Murton getting full-time duty in RF and responding with an 850 or better OPS. The Cubs were 6th in the NL in RF OPS this year, but it was a tight race between team 6-10. 850 likely puts them in the top 2-3 teams, and Murton is clearly capable of such numbers. Whether or not he's given a chance, or responds to that chance is to be determined. 3. Soto building on his remarkable 2007 season and putting up some solid numbers in 100 or more starts behind the plate next season. The Cubs were 14 out of 16 NL teams in catcher OPS with a line of .239/.304/.369. If Blanco is the backup, his line is going to look something like that, or worse. So, if Soto can OPS 740 or higher, or possibly even flirt with an 800 (a big if, but one that doesn't look unreasonable), the Cubs may move from bottom of the barrel in catcher production to upper half of the league. 4. Prior starting 20+ games at a reasonably effective level. This may be the longest reach. The chances of seeing 2002/2003 Prior are slim and none, but if Prior can give the Cubs 20 starts at or about the level he pitched at in 2004/2005, ideally starting with the big club by late May and lasting all year, it could be a major improvement if it replaces the kind of junk they were getting from Marquis and Trachsel late in 2007.

anybody gritty whose game goes beyond the stats.

Rozner is scum. He picks a target and just rags and rags at every turn. He's been on Ramirez for a few years now. I couldn't even get through that column it was so pathetic. I'm sure he called Maddux on his mobile phone to get that great man's opinion on the matter though.