jersey cubs fan

Holy shnikies I think I love this man. Strike throwing relievers on short-term deals, who knew?

What about the scenario that Lou opts out at the end of the year to take the Yankees job, while Hendry is replaced, allowing a new owner to hire a new GM who can then hire his own manager? I think that might be the most likely good case. Of course, best case is Hendry fixes this mess and they go on to enjoy a great season together, but how likely is that? I think that's the only way both return next year anyway.

A Yankees fan just told me that Gammons reported Pinielle has an out in his contract that can be exercised if the Cubs are sold, and that Hendry has told his inner circle he should have hired Girardi. I don't know anything about the validity of the report, but it's kind of interesting in that the whole "inner circle" thing is really a George/Yankees idea. You never hear about the Cubs people and their inner circle. A tiff would make sense, but it would be funny if Hendry was somehow blaming Piniella for the issues.

Yeah, whatever it was, the first sound appeared to be a B.

I think it has to do with Jim's glass half full mentality. The guy seems to put together teams that can win, if a lot of things go right. But he's awful at planning for unexpected, or even expected, setbacks. Lots of teams play through injuries and down years from players. Jim seems to think, "Well, at his best Jacque Jones is a pretty darn good RF" without calculating the odds that he will actually be at this best at any given moment/year. Or, "Izturis was all star caliber for half a season, so we expect him to be all star caliber for us." Jim only thinks about what players can do at their peak, without realizing that peak years don't last forever and are not guaranteed to anybody.

No we haven't. Why does everybody always talk about RISP? The Cubs have had only the 7th most AB with RISP this season, but they rank 3rd in OPS and 1st in AVG for the season. That means fewer chances than some, but much greater rate of cashing in. Over the last 7 days, when the offense has sucked, their OBP ranks 13th in the league, which means much fewer chances than normal. The Cubs aren't failing with RISP at an alarming rate. The problem is they aren't getting into scoring position. The few hits they've had are measly singles. And they aren't drawing walks. To add insult to injury, they are making outs on the basepaths with their stupid over aggressive mindset of trying to make things happen.

And for a team with too many corner outfielders, I still find it funny that they don't have one natural all around great corner outfielder. They all have very large flaws.

[wishful thinking]Maybe that means Pie is coming back up to play every day.[/wishful thinking] Given this teams tendency to shake things up just by reshuffling deck chairs, it wouldn't surprise me.

If they're .500 by the All Star break they are still very much in the NL Central hunt, and considering they have a + total run differential for the season that is not an unobtainable goal by any means. They're not hopeless. Flawed, but not hopeless. All this is true, but it's also the same story that was told in 2005 and 2006. At some point it's got to be less about "it's not over yet" and more about winning ballgames. The nature of the baseball season, especially with 6 divisions and 2 wild cards, means most teams will technically be in it well into late summer. But that doesn't justify pissing away April and May, and doesn't make it wrong for fans to get pissed off about a team pissing away April and May. Frankly I find it insulting when people tell disappointed Cubs fans to get a grip because it's early. This isn't some perennial contender having an off month. If the Cubs aren't running away with things, the safest thing to assume is they will come up short.

True. At the time I found it odd that so few here were dead set against the Soriano signing, and odd that even fewer were in favor of a rebuilding year. These still seem like sensible positions to me, would've expected more support for them. I was begrudginly accepting of the Soriano deal, mostly because they were so desperate for an extra bat and it appeared quite obvious they were raising payroll. I would also add that I'm confident Wilken will turn up a couple good young cheap bats in the next couple years, so when Soriano is really a waste, it'll be offset by those guys. And I'm still not in favor of a complete rebuilding. First, I think it'll be impossible. This isn't a team with 37 year olds like Kevin Tapani leading the way. The core of the club is still late 20's to early 30's. And I think this team could be in for a quick turn around with a solid GM.

Remember Carlos, they pay you to win.

Not interested.

Blowout, hands down. It's the easiest to laugh off. Blowout with a fake rally is probably the kind I most remember, since it's been happening for years. Score early, then shut down and watch the lead evaporate is the most frustrating.

good for arod

I'm not saying, I'm just sayin'

Huh?

Do you? A popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal. You may have described an inefficient use of roster space. But you have not proved the notion that some pitchers are only good at getting LH hitters out, is a myth.

Loogys are a myth because: #1 cant be used on 11 man pitching staffs b/c lack of innings #2 cant be helpful in a bullpen b/c they dont throw a lot of innings and most important #3 managers can pitch hit for the left handed batter with a right hander leaving the decision to take the Loogy out after 1 pitch or let him face the righty. Either way, not a good scenario as Ohman has shown all year b/c they are totally ineffective against rightys usually. Now there will be those that scream and say that you should only face the guys you know that wont be pinch hit for- all that does is cut down their innings further. On most teams that would be only 1 guy and on several teams that would be no one at all. Therefore in summation after factoring pi to the 13th power, Loogy=myth. Do you know what myth means?

I don't know about you, but I've lost my appetite for his hard throwing walkathon pitchers. I'd rather employ guys who can find guys who don't issue free passes at will. Agreed, but I don't know that to be Hendry's fault. It could have to with the coaching these guys receive as they make their way up the system. I believe Hendry's general lack of respect for the value of a walk works both ways. His pitchers have always given up walks, while his hitters have always refused them. I'm sure coaching plays a role, but Jim employs the coaches.

I think you have to be willing to trade spare parts for veteran relievers from time to time. The important thing is to not get into longterm contracts with them, or trade very good prospects. You have to be willing and able to cut bait with guys as soon as they begin to crumble. And you have to be flexible enough to be able to bring in a whole new batch right away.

Do you really think they're that close? I don't see where else they could get an influx of difference making talent. It's a lot to ask Patterson and Pie to step in and fill two holes. Even then they still need a new catcher and SS. $$$$ They have, and spend, more than most other teams. They will always have the financial advantage over the division, and don't have to worry about contending with the Yankees or Red Sox in the league. The Mets and Dodgers are the only legit competition, from a financial standpoint. I really think this team is capable of winning 95 games within the next 2 years, if they get a good GM. Hendry's recent contract splurge hurts a bit, but there's still room to maneuver around his mistakes. If the new GM wants to trade Lee and Ramirez and go with a complete overhaul, sans the untradable Soriano, then I'm not going to cry about it. But I like both of those players, and think the team can definitely win with them.

Um, the team is well under .500 under his control. I honestly don't see how anybody can not get the reason why people want him fired. He's a bad GM. Cubs fans want the Cubs to be good. In order to be good you need a good GM. So we want a good GM. Hendry doesn't fit the bill.

That's something Yogi might say. :lol: I originally listed just Bench and Biggio, and later added Yogi. Guess I did a poor job making those changes.

True. There's probably little value firing Jim now since the new owners will probably want to bring in their own people from the start anyway. It would be a great opportunity for someone to show what they could do. It would be sort of like an extended interview. I don't believe that the mess Hendry has made is as bad as it seems. Soriano's contract will be a millstone around the franchise's neck for some time but the Cubs can probably get out from Ramirez, Lee and what they would have had to pay Zambrano. Trade those guys for some young talent and reload. How about Zambrano and Ramirez for Cabrera? Could the Marlins turn that down? It gives them a chance to win now or they could flip one or both for someone else that they want. The Cubs get the best RH hitter in the NL without getting older and are no worse off financially. I don't really see the need for trading Lee and Ramirez to get better. This team can win big with those guys on the team, within the next couple years.

The cap makes the rule unnecessary. If you already have a cap, the rule is just a pointless addition to make it more difficult to improve your team. A hard cap would make the rule unnecessary. The NBA uses a soft cap. Did you read CubColtPacer's post? Yes, I just don't see how it's true. Obviously it hasn't kept good teams from being dominant, as the same teams keep winning. Not allowing teams to trade actually pretty much guarantees that bad teams will stay bad and great teams will stay great. But I guess this is the closest anybody has come to supplying a reason for the rule. It's not like the NBA is the only league with foolish rules. It just seems to me that most leagues have these rules set up for a legit reason to benefit either the teams or the players. If you have a salary cap and then tax every dollar spent above that cap, then why can't they just tax the added dollars that come via a trade? It's not like teams are just going to be giving away Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson type players to the dominant teams and not take market value back. It appears to me to be an unnecessary barrier to trade. A man-made inefficiency that doesn't help anybody. A lawyerly creation designed to look smart but in practice and in reality, without purpose. The NBA is still a team dominated by the teams that win in the draft. It takes teams forever to get any good. More ability to trade would allow the better GMs to go from have nots to haves in a more timely fashion. The current system just seems to doom the bad teams to poisoning their home market.