jersey cubs fan

Oh Jimmy, you're so great, I really appreciate everything you did. You're a genius. The rosters you've put together over the years have been tremendous, it's just a shame the players completely underperformed from where you knew they should perform.

I was just in London last weekend, and I've got to say, the beer is potent.

They may or may not start that low, but the only possible way they score "a lot more runs" is if they go out and get a stud somewhere. This lineup is what it is. I really don't understand how anybody could say they were "under productive". They weren't productive because they aren't productive, not because of some fluke.

we've got a lot of baseball left.

Not to mention, the threat of him using his right to demand a trade/free agency after year 1 would actually work in the team's favor.

We got swept in that series too didn't we? you're missing the point -- Enrique knew the stadium the rest of the team blew it for him God Bless Dusty Baker. I actually heard him say on the radio during the Indians Yankees game that he had managed twice in the World Series. Both times Lofton was on his team. You know with the Giants and Cubs. HAH, I heard that too. That's the difference between normal people like us exaggerating our accomplishments and someone like him doing it. I was saying the same thing to Scarlett Johansson while having sex with her last night.

I agree. I could almost see the Cubs and Blanco coming to a buyout decision with Henry moving into some sort of coaching position, possibly instructing minor league catchers or as a bullpen coach. I would definitely settle for that sort of $700,000 catching situation, if it means investing millions in a real bat elsewhere. I doubt that happens. The Cubs are stuck with Blanco, period. You won't see any buyouts at a discounted price. Most likely, but there's something about the Blanco story that just makes me think the guy is really considering retirement. He doesnt' want to just give up all that money, but if he can get 80% of it without doing the work of a player, while still maintaining a positive relationship with the Cubs so he can get into the coaching fast track, maybe he'd choose that path.

I really like the idea of Pie and Murton in the OF with Soto behind the plate, a rotation that includes Hill and possibly Marshall, a bench that includes Theriot and Fontenot, and a bullpen with Marmol and maybe a guy like Hart. That's a lot of payroll cleared up for a SS upgrade. I don't see alot of payroll being cleared up. They owe an additional 20 mil worth of salary to Z, Soriano, Ramirez, Lilly, Marquis, and Derosa compared to '07. That's more than salaries of the FAs that would leave. They'd have to unload salary to take on additional salary. They already have to have a large increase to keep a somewhat similar roster, adding someone like Renteria/Tejada, without them taking on salary doesn't seem like it fits. Which is unfort. b/c this team is still one (great/Arod) to 3 (good) players from becoming good enough to contend. I would strongly consider dealing away Jones. I think Marquis might actually be tradeable. And a black horse candidate for money saving potential is DeRosa. He's had a nice year, but nice isn't what this team needs. He's basically a slightly over 100 OPS+ guy the last two years, but a bit below for his career. He'll be 33 as well. I don't think he's a lock to repeated his 2007, in which case, I'm not convinced the Cubs would be unable to get similar production out of Patterson, Theriot, Fontenot, Cedeno. Plus, I think DeRosa would actually be valued relatively high on the trade market, as opposed to being a salary dump. They could actually get something for him, and save some millions in return to spend on a real SS, RF or CF.

When was the most recent of those 33 plate appearances? Those are probably all Pittsburgh numbers. Kendall Vs. Hernandez by Year Year PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS +----+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+ 1997 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 1998 7 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .429 .333 .762 1999 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .500 .333 .833 2000 2 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 1.500 2.000 2001 4 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 .750 1.250 2002 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250 .250 .250 .500 2003 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .666 2004 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .666 2005 4 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 +----+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+ TOT 33 31 11 1 1 0 3 1 1 .355 .394 .452 .846 Pittsburgh up until 2004. Oakland in 2005. Right up to the point where his career ended. Nice. I'm predicting Hill throws a shutout and the Cubs win and Lou gets credit for going all veteran savvy and all.

better be 100%. But I'd say they are pretty good, at least. Yeah, I really have no idea. I could see somebody with authority thinking, "The key to the success of 2007 was forgetting about Prior and Wood, so let's just be done with it and let him go." I could see somebody say, "I'm not going to be suckered into losing money on a guy like that and I don't care if he does well elsewhere." I could also see them being 100% committed to trying to get the most out of him. It's like most things involving the offseason, depends on the sale. I'm hoping for 75%, but I'm worried it's no better than 50/50.

I don't understand why fans of other teams just hate the Cubs so much. The Cubs haven't done anything in 60+ years....you would think that would cause people to feel at least a little bit sympathetic. I admit, I did feel a little satisfaction when the Red Sox won it all, cause a lot of their fans have waited so long and suffered through so much. But nobody feels that way with the Cubs? Sheesh. Cubs fans tend to dominate the atmosphere wherever they play. Personally, I completely understand why that would piss off the home fans. In fact, I was pissed off at TBS for how much they played up the "Cubs fans will dominate here tonight" storyline before game 1, when it was clear AZ fans outnumbered and out yelled by a very wide margin. I've been going to road games since the mid 90's. It used to be that people would say, "wow, that's cool that you guys come out and support your team here in NY (or philly, or pittsburgh, or Colorado, or Atlanta, etc). But it started turning into a "let's get a loud Cubs chant going to try and embarrass the locals", and as the team became more relevent, the fans became louder, and the locals became less enthusiastic about their presence.

Just like the Cubs would destroy the Dbacks? The Dbacks are for real, it will be a hell of a series. They aren't for real. Gimme a break. That series would go 5 games at best. LOL How in the hell can you say they arent for real after they have kicked the Cubs asses the 1st 2 games of this season. They won 90 games, and have completely dominated this series, so you gimme a break. The problem is you are pretending beating the Cubs is any sort of accomplishment. The Cubs were the worst of any NL contender this year, aside from MIL. Just because AZ can handle the Cubs doesn't mean they've accomplished much.

The camera probably focused on him for a good 3-4 seconds, but I'm pretty sure Dick Stockton had no idea who it was, as he never mentioned him. He did mention earlier things like, "That's Soto on the right." when they showed Murton and Soto in the dugout. But he was just silent this time.

I past two seasons I thought we dodged a bullet with Furcal signing with the Dodgers. The Dodgers would have to eat 40-50% of that contract to make it worth it. His power has died to a point where him and Theriot could have a HR hitting contest with each other. I would rather go for Orlando Cabrera with Brandon Wood waiting in the wings for the Angles. It's definitely an interesting name, but not one I've ever been interested in. Furcal repeating a career year would help this team, but it still leaves them lacking that impact bat they need, and as was noted above, he's way too expensive.

fixd. no, they'll just swing

swing

Exactly. That's the type of reaction you see in the Little League World Series from 10 year old, not a grown up MLB player. If a White Sox or Cards player threw his glove down like Lilly, this thread would be over 30 pages long and ripping the dude to shreds. I'm just not hooking into this one. I couldn't disagree with you more. I don't see the big deal. I doubt a Cards/Sox player doing this would garner more than a couple snide remarks in the game thread. The over-reaction of Lilly to giving up basically a season-ending 3 run jack is far suprassed by the over-reaction on this board today, IMO. Considering how mixed the reaction to this storyline is, I'd have to say that's no where near accurate.

I agree. I could almost see the Cubs and Blanco coming to a buyout decision with Henry moving into some sort of coaching position, possibly instructing minor league catchers or as a bullpen coach. I would definitely settle for that sort of $700,000 catching situation, if it means investing millions in a real bat elsewhere.

Actually, that ended well before he was replaced. Kendall had a great August, but as soon as Sep 1 rolled around, he disappeared again. Soto became the starter around the 15th, Kendall was hitting about .170 with an OPS near 500 in the first half of September.

Same thing they've needed for years, a real offense. No more of this 8th or worse in the league in scoring and bottom of the barrel in OBP/walks stuff (gee, think those two go hand it hand?). Get a freaking top 5 lineup, and along with a top 5 rotation your chances for making the postseason drastically increase, which in turn increases your chances to win postseason series.

Was it enough? That suggests what they needed was more heart. It's not heart that is beating them, it's baseball playing ability. no, i don't buy that...sorry...i just really don't i don't care if these cubs get swept out tomorrow because it wouldn't change my belief that out of every NL contender in the playoffs this year, the cubs would be the best team to represent the NL in the World Series and possibly bring home the title... they are stuck inside their heads...they are an extremely talented ballclub that is in their heads...nervous...whatever...but they are not lacking in talent... i haven't bought into that argument since day one of the season and a quick exit from the playoffs this year will not make me change my mind either Ignore it all you want, but they aren't good. There's a reason they only won 85 games, got their butts handed to them by every contender in the east and west and could barely handle the junk in their own division. They aren't that good.

Really it's all about the 5 hitter. 6 could very easily be handled by Murton and/or Soto.

Was it enough? That suggests what they needed was more heart. It's not heart that is beating them, it's baseball playing ability.

The Cubs should never pitch anybody on 3 days rest, unless they start the season, and probably more importantly, the pitchers' careers, pitching on 3 days rest. It's a stupid risky decision that rarely ever works out.

Just to clarify, they took two of three from the Cubs twice. The Cubs were swept by Florida twice and Houston twice, although one of those was in a 3 games series that was shortened to two and the Cubs won the makeup game. But your points still stand.