abuck1220

so there's some kind of secret forum that's invite only, and what? everyone else is mad? jealous? sad? nursing hurt feelings? i don't get it.

i'm guessing it also included hitting.

can't believe it took this long for this factor to be pointed out. it's clearly the most important.

i thought we were done with the "speed and versatility" days.

At least 2? He only really had 2006. If that's your argument, why should Theriot get another shot? Because he helped the team to the playoffs and he didn't suck. how many more numbers need to be shoved down your throat before you understand that he did, in fact, suck.

the cubs starting rotation had the 3rd best era in the majors this year and the offense scored the 18th most runs. why would you go after starting pitching instead of offense? I'm assuming you are not serious because I am sure even you watched the NLDS. You don't think it is important to improve the starting pitching? did you watch the nlds? the cubs scored six runs in three games.

the cubs starting rotation had the 3rd best era in the majors this year and the offense scored the 18th most runs. why would you go after starting pitching instead of offense?

let me make sure i'm getting this straight. and you realize that pie is a cf and cedeno is a ss, right? and that they're both (pie especially) above average defenders? so offense isn't important at ss or cf when you're talking about theriot, but when we're talking pie or cedeno they need to "do something offensively" if they want to play. insecure and jealous of what? my inexperience broadcasting minor league games compared to you?

No, we're not just using OPS and SLG to evaluate him. His BA and OBP suck, too. 19th out of 26th in BA. 17th out of 26 in OBP. As a 27 year old. yeah, i'm eager to hear how we should be evaluating him. i'm guessing hustle and collegiate winning %.

man, i get sick of hearing these lines every postseason. if pitching beats hitting so often in the postseason, then why are the rockies about the beat the dbacks?

that's not true. yet you still think theriot should start even though he wouldn't even qualify as an all glove, no hit middle infielder. what has theriot done at the major league level besides be one of the worst ss in the league? i get it, theriot was nice to you when he was in AA, maybe the other guys weren't.

craptober AND acktober...LOL!

How about factoring in the 2006 season as well - I hardly think that the numbers mean anything considering he hardly played at all in 2007. yes. clearly sample size is the biggest problem with your "shortstop winning %" argument.

based on shortstop win %, ryan theriot is a better ss than ernie banks.

I don't know why it would be nuts the Cubs over paid for a LF last year and america overpaid in the louisiana purchase. it's all related, really.

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. Lee, Soriano and Ramirez are all guys with track records, all guys who performed below expectation and past performance (in the power department) for the vast majority of the season. If someone showed you the team's 2007 power totals before the season, there's no way you would believe it. Sure, the OPS was good for the big three, but the run production wasn't very good due to the relative lack of power. If you can honestly say you think that Soriano and Lee combining for 8 homers and 42 RBI in the first 2 months of the season wasn't a fluke, then you're crazy. And that had a whole lot to do with the Cubs' poor start. Or Ramirez's power disappearing during june, july and august (which have historically been his best power months). No one expected these things to happen, and there's no rational reason to expect them to again. we're not stuck in some kind of perpetual 2004. those guys are all getting older and more injury prone. i don't know why everyone expects guys like soriano to "bounce back" as he gets older. we're not guaranteed 2006 soriano for the next seven years.

people i talk to that like stone always point out his ability to predict what pitch a guy is going to throw. that doesn't make you gm material.

i better not hear about how arod is out of the cubs' price range if they're going to throw $7 mil at trachsel and blanco.

yeah, i seem to remember him whiffing at a fair amount of breaking balls low and away from all of the cubs' right-handed starters. i wasn't the slightest bit worried about him.

the crush the chicago fans/media have on theriot is insane. i didn't fully appreciate it until i was in chicago listening to the people at the park and on the radio. one host was glowing about how young the cubs are now, how it's nice to see the farm system produce players, etc using fontenot and theriot as his examples. some guy called in and basically called him a dummy, citing young players on the other playoff teams that are, you know, good. the radio guy didn't seem to care. they love them some theriot. by the way, soto, theriot and wood probably got the biggest ovations during introductions on saturday. weird.

that's just a stupid way to judge a guy's personality. having been to several spring trainings and i-cub games, i've seen a lot of those guys ignore fans, and i've seen plenty of cubs be jerks to fans. i saw pie interact with fans all the time during ST as if he were a superstar...same with patterson. but i've also seen them both be very nice to fans. plus, kids at baseball games are flat out annoying, and i'd probably get sick of them too. Personal interaction and observation are a stupid ways to judge a guy's personality? when you've interacted with them or observed them only a handful of times, yes.

that's just a stupid way to judge a guy's personality. having been to several spring trainings and i-cub games, i've seen a lot of those guys ignore fans, and i've seen plenty of cubs be jerks to fans. i saw pie interact with fans all the time during ST as if he were a superstar...same with patterson. but i've also seen them both be very nice to fans. plus, kids at baseball games are flat out annoying, and i'd probably get sick of them too.

wow, that's an amazing job of just making stuff up.

ubaldo jimenez needs a couple more starts and a month or so of hype to fully build up his trade value.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected. soto was catching in hill's last start (the one-hitter) and he caught hill's first big league shutout. plus, i'm guessing he caught him a lot in iowa. if anything, hill would probably feel more comfortable with soto.