Derwood

Thomas is a hard worker by all reports. I can't see that happening at all. I meant a high flyer who can dunk and dazzle but can't create his own shot. Thomas is already a better defender than Robinson ever was

Unfortunately the pristine-ness of the outfield wall will soon be defaced with billboards, but such is the view of any minor league park

We have the June 6th draft to look forward to. I can't wait to see how many toolsy, fast atheletes and control-free fireballers the team drafts this year!

Thanks Rocket. By Weaver-ball I simply meant "playing for the big inning". Without any real HR threats, there are no big innings. If you can hit a 3 run HR early in the game, that takes pressure off the starting pitcher. Steve Phillips really took shots at the Angels hitting coach for teaching his guys to swing early and often. Clines and Sarge should get equal treatment

I think worst case scenario is that Thomas ends up being the next Eddie Robinson.

All reports I've read say that if the Bulls land the #1 pick that they are taking Tyrus Thomas. Otherwise it's likely Aldridge

What do you mean by "manufacture runs?" I can't tell if that was a sarcastic question or not

Great...we'll end up getting help at the one spot in the line up that is actually starting to hit alright. From a guy who can't hit. but he's fast. And can catch the ball. And....okay, just shoot me

the OBP thing isn't new, but the team could always hide behind the fact that the team hit a lot of homers and could play Weaver-ball. Now with very few homers the inability to manufacture runs is even more magnified

2 HR? My HR Derby team rejoices!

I taught for a year at IWU

Cubs lose 5-2

Alright, tickets in hand, 8 games in total. Opening Day of the inaugural season i'll be 2nd row. Plus a Curve game and possibly the Eastern League All Star Game. Nuts to the Cubs...I want to go see players who actually care

Vance, for some reason the one from your sig made me laugh even harder. Something about "grrriittssssss".... :lol: that was from the "Dmitri Young slapped his girlfriend" episode

just bumping this with the lottery drawing imminent (tuesday?) Tuesday, 7:30pm EDT, ESPN

They can't send Theriot down! Who would play 2B?

all is quiet at cubs.com.....

No they need an old man to bench their assess when the get doubled off of second two times in three weeks. right, that would've helped the team. It's not like Jones has been the best hitter this week or anything

:lol: =D>

A few more wins and we'll be as good as the D-Rays! :shock:

how about it's the players' faults? Millionaires need an old man to motivate them?

We don't actually disagree. I was only defending him on the two specific points I made. Everything you said is true.

I'm pretty sick of seeing 2000 posts a day blasting Jim Hendry. Believe me, he has done a lot of bad things as GM, but there are two points that I wish to defend him on, if only because no one has made the case for him. In the spirit of any good debate, both sides should receive equal time. 1. "I can't believe how bad this $95 million team is playing" Let's be fair here. The team that has been on the field the last month is NOT a $95 million team. Since Lee's injury, your basic starting lineup has included Murton, Pierre, Jones, Ramirez, Cedeno, Hairston/Neifi, Walker, Barrett. That's approximately $30 million. The starting rotation has been Maddux, Z, Marshall, Hill, Guzman, around $16.5 million. Another $5.5 mil for the bench and $13.5 for the bullpen and you have had a $65.5 million team on the field for a month. It's not fair to compare this group to other $95 million teams because the big money guys aren't on the field. It is fair, however, to criticize Hendry for overpaying many of these players. So in truth, it's actually a $65 million group of players who are only worth about $50 million. 2. "Injuries aren't an excuse/Hendry should have had more depth" Yes, injuries are one excuse for poor play. Little could be expected with 3 rookies in the rotation. An MVP candidate is out of the lineup. These things do matter. Three of the injuries (Miller/Wood/Prior) were known in the off season, and many here bash Hendry for not doing more to compensate. But let's be realistic. The Cubs have over $16.5 million invested in those three pitchers (or about 17% of the payroll). It's unrealistic to expect Hendry to invest that much more money to insure solid starters 1-5. Particularly when it was thought that Wood and Prior would be back in the rotation earlier than they have turned out to be. The Lee injury was a freak thing, not Hendry's fault, and no one in baseball has a bench full of starter quality players that can plug that sort of hole in the lineup. What do people want? By all reports Hendry has tried very hard to trade for a 1B but other GM's aren't stupid. They know the situation we're in here and they can ask very steep prices for marginal players. I'm not a Hendry apologist by any stretch. I think he values the wrong attributes in players, I think he bids against himself, and overall this just isn't that good a team. But I thought these two points needed to be addressed. I"m putting my suit of armor on in preparation for the bashing I'm about to take :lol:

nor was he fired. He was interim

Yes, that's about the dumbest thing I've heard in a while