lumafia

Geo forgot how to hit himself. 4 for his last 28. Still, a better option than Nady especially considering Geo is going to come in the game anyway since you pinch hit for the other catcher. He's forgotten how to hit for the time being but he sure as [expletive] still knows how to walk. Dude, it's called hitting, not walking. Damnit, somebody tell Dusty to stop possessing me. You can't walk across the plate. He'll clog the bases.

I swear that Lou has Alzheimer's and forgets that Geo knows how to hit.

Actually, you can really easily. It wasn't smart. Soooo....you walk a guy who has been out for a full month and has a .689 OPS against you, so you can face a guy that you've only pitched to 3 times? No. You make a better pitch.

You can't really argue with him pitching to Rollins right there. He has pretty good numbers against Rollins and Rollins has been out for a month or so. He's not too familiar with Ibanez (3 AB's), and that usually bodes well for the hitter. I do have a problem with him throwing it in his wheelhouse though.

At the rate the Cubs are efficiently producing outs, this game will be over in about 15 minutes.

The last 6 hitters for the Cubs have seen 12 pitches. Way to make him work fellas. [-X

Ha. I never said I was concerned, I said I thought it was odd, that's all. What do you find odd? And why is it odd? Here's something that is odd. He is 8 for 14 when he has 2 strikes, and he is only 1 for 8 when ahead in the count.

Ha. I never said I was concerned, I said I thought it was odd, that's all. You better make sure you think about your post before you post them 'round these parts. Some of these guys are just looking to pounce on somebody. To address your concern...He's only had 14 hits, so 3 XBH in that time is great. He's only 6 XBH behind Ramirez in 130 fewer AB's. His SLG% is still .500. I'm much less concerned about his slugging as I am about Ramirez's .288 and Lee's .346.

I've been watching video of his swing, and here is what I've come up with: Strengths: He has amazingly quick hands. Maybe some of the quickest hands in all of baseball. He is able to hit any ball within reach, and his quick hands allow him more time to see the ball. He hits the ball deep in the hitting zone. Many hitters like to hit the ball out in front, and in an ideal world, this is where a hitter can thrive because of the dimensions of the ballparks. Because Castro hits the ball further back in the hitting zone, he's able to keep his bat in the hitting zone longer, thus improving the likelihood of contact and solid contact. Also, this allows him to wait longer to gauge velocity, movement and location, also improving contact and solid contact. Weaknesses: Haven't really had enough AB's to see any big weaknesses, but his relatively high leg kick is a concern. In most cases, the raising and planting of the front foot is nothing more than a timing mechanism, but can become a hinderance to a hitter if the hitter puts his foot down too late. Again, the timing mechanism is more of a mental preparation, and technically, has no effect on the mechanics of a swing. There are many great hitters who did not pick their front foot off the ground (Moises Alou and Garciaparra are a couple that would be familiar to Cub fans). It can, however, effect the commitment of a player. A player with a pronounced leg kick CAN become overly committed to swinging and it can effect their perceived patience. If you combine that with Castro's ability to hit anything he can reach because of his superior hand-eye coordination and fast hands, you could be in for a ton of bad balls being put into play when he could be waiting for a better pitch to hit. As long as he keeps showing "patience" like he is now, it won't be an issue. However, pitchers will start to bust him inside with his large leg kick when they figure that out, and that could force him to stretch the zone. With his quick hands, the pitchers would have to almost be perfect with their pitches, but it could be an issue in the forseeable future for him. All of that being said, there are many great hitters in baseball that had pronounced leg kicks. Manny Ramirez early in his career is a good example. IF this becomes an issue, Castro can simply adjust his timing mechanism appropriately and/or add strength to compensate. Based on what I've seen so far, barring injury, this kid will have a great career.

Outside the Cardinals, who are currently trying to make themselves jokeish with their recent play, the entire division is a joke. When was the last time every team in a division had a sub .500 record other than the division winner? Last year's AL central was pretty darn close, with the Chicago White Sox coming in at 81-81 in 2nd place.

Please explain how Z doesnt give a [expletive]? I think what he's talking about is that he is always smiling in his picture on the Gamecast. How could you peform so poorly, and keep smiling? He obviously doesn't care. 8-[

I don't remember a signing or trade of this sort since Jeff Blauser and that was before Hendry. I could well be forgetting something, though. While this is true with Hendry, it's also true with many GMs. That's why there are so significantly many retread managers out there. Lenny Harris and Aaron Miles off the top of my head. Harris had a career .710 OPS against the Cubs and Miles has a .571 OPS against the Cubs. If that's why they were signed, it was more perception than reality. Lenny Harris' numbers in 24 ab's against the Cubs the year before he came on board .458 .480 .750 1.230 The last 5 or 6 games against the Cubs in 06, Aaron Miles was a thorn in our side. He played great defense and got on base alot. I remember posting, in jest of course, that Miles would be a Cub before too long. Sure enough. And your right. It was more perception than reality. I wasn't condoning Hendry's actions. Harris' tenure as a Cub player was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen, in a bad way. And it had absolutely no merit.

How has Z helped the bullpen exactly? That's what I thought. Maybe he's not a reliever. Put him back in the rotation already, or trade him. One could probably get a dozen brand new baseballs and a really nice fungo for him right now.

I don't remember a signing or trade of this sort since Jeff Blauser and that was before Hendry. I could well be forgetting something, though. While this is true with Hendry, it's also true with many GMs. That's why there are so significantly many retread managers out there. Lenny Harris and Aaron Miles off the top of my head.

The bold text is completely false. You had a few people here gung-ho for Lou, but most were vehemently opposed against hiring him even when it was just being suggested before Dusty was actually gone. When Lou was got hired the general consensus beyond those fanatical few was basically "at least he's not Joe Girardi/it could be worst" in terms of being positive. Really? I guess I wasn't quite here then, but I find this kind of hard to believe. Who else did people want? If I recall Bobby Valentine was at the top of many people's wish lists. I believe there was some talk about Fredi Gonzalez as well, but I may be confusing that with the previous search when Dusty Baker was eventually hired. As I recall, we had to pick from a group of managers that were on the scrap heap for a reason. None of them were ideal, so we picked someone that was considered a player's manager in the hopes that the label would help us lure some decent free agents on the negotiating table. I don't think anybody expected Lou to make many decisions. Mostly, we all thought he would sit in the dugout staring at the ceiling. As it turns out, he likes to make lots of decisions, which isn't good for us.

Not than anybody gives two squirts of rat pee what I think, but I'm gonna share my opinion anyway. Hendry's most glaring weakensses are his obsessions with "toolsy" high-school prospects, left-handed people in general (hitters and pitchers), players that have a tendency to hurt the Cubs (regardless of how horrible there numbers are against every other pitcher or hitter in the league), unhealthy devotion to managers with "experience", penchant for buggery, getting-his-man-at-any-cost-even-if-it-is-above-market-value syndrome (actually found this condition in one of my 6th grade health books) and soft drinks. His strength is selling his bosses on his credibility so they will give him more money. That may outweigh his weakenesses. Outside of all that, he's the bestest. I think the 07 trade of Rocky Cherry and Scott Moore for Steve Trachsel was my favorite trade of his tenure so far. Only because Steve takes 5 hours to pitch 6 innings and any transaction involving a guy named Rocky Cherry is worthy of being a favorite. The "No you didn't just knock an osprey off it's perch from 200 feet away if it wasn't a protected bird in the state of Florida we would promote you immediately due to your awesomeness as long as it doesn't die oh wait it just died so now we're mad and your traded to Tampa Bay so TAKE THAT!" trade is a close second.

You are calling for heads to roll. How is dropping them in the order causing heads to roll? Did you read the post, or just the first sentence? I clearly stated that they need to be dropped to the bottom of the lineup.

This is stupid. Really? Dropping Lee and Rami in the order is stupid? Sorry...how silly of me. Let's continue to allow them to hit a combined 180 in the middle of our order. That's not stupid.

No kidding. Any talk like he's slacking off or burnt out or whatever is just absurd. He has every motivation to do well this year in what his likely his last opportunity for a really big payday. Except for the fact that he has a player option for next year, that at this point, he would be crazy to opt out of.

Wait, what? Talk about being melodramatic. Finishing 83-78 was underwhelming and a letdown, but a "historic underachievement?" Yeah, right. The Cubs entered into the top 3 in payroll for the first time since average payrolls exceeded $10 million back in 1988. So yes....historic underachievement in not making the playoffs.

I'm not going to presume too much, but I can make an observation based on logic. I played competitive baseball (including college and semi-pro) long enough to know that there will come a time in EVERY player's career where they will feel tired and discontent. Some earlier than others. It is common to see player's take more than there share of "time off" in the offseason. Aside from injury, I can't think of any other reason for Aramis to be struggling the way he is. That being said, I wouldn't blame him if he felt somewhat burnt out. I've been through it, and every player goes through it at some point. He has always been our most consistent player since his arrival in Chicago, and he had to sit and watch the Cubs completely fold in 08 when they were a favorite to win it all. He had to sit on the sideline with a freak injury as he watched his 09 team completely tank in a historic underachievement, even by Cubs' standards. It would be completely natural for him to feel somewhat responsible, and a little unmotivated coming into this season. It's my opinion, and I'm sticking with it. Aramis decided to take a little extra time off. But it's time to come back.

I agree with both of you. Lou needs to go, but he won't. However, I disagree with both of you. While this team ALWAYS needs to look to the future, there is talent on this roster. If Lee and Rami had produced at even marginal levels, this team would have won 4 or 5 more games to-date. That puts them a game or two behind the Cards, and maybe motivates Hendry and Co a little further into their pursuit of some additional late inning relief help. I think this is where heads should roll. Either Rami and Lee are "pushed" to produce, or they lose their jobs. Period. They've already been paid, and regardless of how poorly they've played, Lou continues to run them out there. Where's the motivation? Are they really working as hard as they can? Did they work as hard as they could have in the offseason knowing that Lou would stick with them until the end? I don't know, but it certainly seems like the only people who came to camp ready to play in 2010 are the people that "could" lose their jobs. Rami and Lee are the 2 guys least likely to be pulled from the lineup, and they are the player's who have sucked the most. I just don't see that as a coincedence.

I've got an idea. Spend 300M to build a new stadium in an inconvenient location that will undoubtedly lower the appeal of the team to the common fan, and thus worsen the franchise as a whole. Wow. I guess you're saying that all the Cub fans that come out in droves to see the Cubs play on the road are just there because of Wrigley? Listen, I understand what you are saying. And I understand that Wrigley does make them some money. However, my personal opinion is that Wrigley has served it's purpose. Wrigley served the purpose of converting the casual baseball fan who came out to see a game into a Cub fan. The Cubs have one of the largest fan bases in all of baseball and it has nothing to do with today's Wrigley field. If you build it, they will come. The fact is that Wrigley will inevitably limit the revenue opportunities for this franchise. The fewer advertising opportunities and activies available at the ballpark will simply inflate ticket prices, and people will stop coming anyway. Wrigley's days are almost over. It's time for the organization to pre-emptively begin the search for a new location. It'll be cheaper than waiting for fans to stop coming because of high ticket prices and the city or contractors hold them hostage for an overly-ridiculous price.

For heads to roll. To quote Yogi Berra, "It's getting late early". I know that many of you will probably chastize me for jumping the gun, but some of you know me well enough from the ESPN message board days to know that I don't do that. I'm not necessarily saying that Hendry has to fire Lou. As a matter of fact, he won't. He'll use Lou as a scapegoat if the season continues to go south in an attempt to keep his own job. However, if logic overcomes, there will come a time where you have to start sitting guys on the bench. I don't think you can keep your job 2 years in a row blaming the entire team's struggles on 3 offensive (pun intended) players. Last year they blamed it on Bradley, Soto and Sori. This year the plan appears to be to blame it on Rami, DLee and Z. Z already lost his job, and that didn't send the message. I think it's time to stick Lee and Rami at 7 and 8 in the order, and if that doesn't spark some sense of urgency, you put them on the bench for somebody else. There just doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency with some of the players on this team. The two players that seem to have worked the hardest in the offseason, and continue to work hard (Fuku & Soto) spend quite a bit of time on the bench in favor of questionable lefty/righty matchups and unneccessary "rest". What message does that send? Work hard, get yourself in shape, and maybe I'll find a way of getting you out of the lineup while our light-hitting corner infielders with years of service can do whatever the hell they want. FYI, Demp, Lilly, Rami, Lee, Z, Silva and Sori make more money combined than the entire rosters of the teams that just took 5 of 6 games from us, and completely dominated us in 2 of the 5 games they took. We are already in the unfortunate position to have to play 100 win pace baseball in order to win the division or Wild Card. So much fo the "this is a long season", "we'll come around", "it's a matter of time", "these guys always hit", "we'll get this thing going in the right direction" crap we've been hearing fot he last 6 weeks.

I have an idea... Build a stadium somewhere else. 8-[