Derwood

I am hardly a Cedeno believer, but young players first breaking into the majors typically improve as time progresses. and i feel the same way about cedeno as i do about pie: they may be good big leaguers long term, but a playoff chase isn't the time to break in the rookies. i know that creates the question of "when is the right time" and right now, i don't know.

ronny cedeno had over 500 AB's last year and posted a 53 OPS+. what makes anyone think he's the answer to anything? because he's beat up on crappy PCL pitching the last few months? The team doesn't (only) need a better #8 hitter here

if that's the case, it's a REALLY bad excuse, as Floyd is barely playing

the people spoke, and the people wanted vance!

Did you got to the Jim Hendry school of cost management? Frankly I don't care if you don't care what he makes. The fact is it matters. Smart teams get the most bang for the buck. Poorly run teams pay big money for not big production. Inefficient management is why this team has had the troubles it has had. my point was that if he's brought up and contributes, great, but the fact that he is cheap isn't what should be considered

Except he's already produced in the big leagues over nearly a full season. indeed he has. why people are clamoring for the guy who DIDN'T produce in the big leagues over a full season, I just don't know. but that's another thread. also, i don't care what Murton makes salary-wise. cheap is cheap. good is good. occasionally, those two coexist also, also, for the record, i'm not actively arguing against murton being given a chance. i'm simply playing devil's advocate to everyone who sees him as a guaranteed whatever in RF

To me what you have posted there is the biggest cause of the problems when people call someone a "Murton lover" or whatever (not that you are one of them). Murton is not going to be a superstar. He's not going to be great. But what he will do, if past performance is any predictor of future performance, is get on base, hit a few HRs, and hit for good average. These are all things the Cubs need. He might not be better than Floyd, but he probably will be healthier and he's cheap so the Cubs can look to spend money elsewhere. I don't think anyone thinks the Cubs are holding down a potental star, but I think they are making poor decisions. Those poor decisions started way back in the offseason. he would be fine if the team was getting power from more than two spots in the order. If Lee had 18 HR right now, then fine, stick him out there. But people can't say a) we really need more power and b) how dare we don't play Murton in RF

have i mentioned that i hate comcast sports net and their limited broadcasting range?

all i'm saying is that Matt Murton could be great, could be just fine, or could be Jason DuBois redux. AAA numbers are great, and can be predictive to a point, but you could make a long list of guys who did great in AAA and never made it in the bigs

Good question. I'd try, but have no idea where to start. :D Research past playoff history on MLB.com. Look at game 3's for the past 5 years, and let us know what % of those who won game 3 won the series ;-). I looked at the last two years out of curiosity. In 2006 the game 3 winner ultimately won 6 of the 7 postseason series (the St. Louis vs. San Diego NLDS was the exception). And in 2005 the game 3 winner won all 7 series. So that's a 13-1 record for game 3 winners. To put a little perspective to that, in series that were tied at one in 2005 and 2006, the team that won game 3 won the series all seven times. To go back a little farther, since 2000 in series that were tied at one the team that won game 3 went 21-5 in the series. The Marlins in 2003 actually lost game 3's in this situation (series tied at 1) to both the Cubs and Yankees. So yeah, when the series is tied, Game 3 is very important. but your 3rd starter doesn't always start Game 3. If you didn't clinch the playoff spot until the final day of the season, it may have been your ace who pitched on that Sunday, meaning your ace would be pitching Game 3

i'm saying maybe he's lazy. maybe he has an attitude problem. maybe he had a run in with Lou. there's any number of things we don't know about that could be the reason for him being banished to AAA. i think it's easy to write off the organization as stupid, but there's probably a reason they are paid to make baseball decisions and we're sitting at home typing on a message board

Then why use him all last year(with a good deal of success)? It's not as if Murton has been permanently oppressed, he performed in an extended period last year, and this year he got banished for a poor month. i'm just posing the possibility that there is more to it than "a poor month".

i have two kids. that said, i wouldn't want to sit in the bleachers with someone else's little hellion. also, a night game? with a 10 month old? maybe i'm old fashioned, but my kids are in bed by 8pm. i'm guessing that kid will be mighty cranky by the time that game ends

why has no one considered that maybe, just maybe, there is something about murton that the organization just doesn't like? it's easy to just say "the cubs are idiots for not using him", but is there even a hint of a chance that they know something we don't?

he's an option, but I'd rather not keep throwing band-aids on the problem.

i'm on a Cubs-like tear and have climbed to within 11 of the leader.

don't know why, but i have a feeling like hendry might pull one out of the hat in august too

Trade for Lofton AND Griffey. =P~ Lofton Lee Ramirez Griffey Soriano DeRosa/Fontenot Theriot Kendall or Lofton Theriot Lee Ramirez Griffey Soriano DeRosa/Fontenot Kendall to play along, it would more likely be: Soriano Lofton Lee Griffey Ramirez DeRosa Theriot Kendall

Sure, except this Ryan Church bats lefty, can catch a flyball and score from third on a ball hit to shortstop. The only valid argument in that post is that he is a left handed bat. I guess I imagined Murton dropping two routine flyballs in right field. I guess I imagined the three times early in the season when his crippling indecision as a runner at third cost the Cubs runs. All you need to know about his future with the Cubs is that Lou has referred to him on several occasions as "the guy who played a little right field for us earlier in the year." Lou hasn't spoken Murton's name since he left. They called up the great Jake Fox and then Scott Moore instead of Murton. Lou's "get me somebody who can run the bases and catch the ball tirade" was directed just as much at Murton as it was Barrett. I know Murton's hitting .326 at Iowa. Good for him. I also know that Felix Pie and Ronny Cedeno are hitting .372 and .360 there. Apparently Des Moines has sprung a mountain range since we last looked and the I-Cubs are playing at altitude, it's the only explanation for why guys who can barely hit their weight in Chicago are excelling down there. Murton's only position is left field and that's booked for the next seven and a half years. Try not to get too attached. well, several PCL teams ARE at a high altitude, and, overall, PCL pitching sucks, so there are a few more explanations

look at Lee's power drop off after a broken wrist, and we're over a year later....

i went with NLDS loss. Assuming the other teams are some combo of ATL, NYM, MIL, SD or LA...I like our chances against the west better than the east. If the WC comes from the east, that screws someone (due to MLB's stupid rule that the best team in the league can't play the wildcard if they are from the same division)

no way. i'd rather ride him to the playoffs and risk losing him than trade him and miss the playoffs entirely

From what that says it seems like a winner will be picked around the world series but the winner and Zell (or whoever) reaching a deal could take a little longer (?). not if Zell buys the whole thing, and then sells the team off to someone new. Could take all winter

I wonder if Steve Phillips has heard Lofton's name "kicked around" by the Cubs people, or by Bruce Levine, who has been talking about Lofton on ESPN AM 1000 for the last 2 weeks. he heard it from whatever intern ESPN assigned to him today

you always have to PM a mod to do it