Derwood

Baker has been given the tools to get it done in the past two years, but unfortunately they were not the tools that he wanted. Ergo he has NOT used them so he has NOT gotten it done. Or....he DID use them and they failed (LaTroy Hawkins anyone)?

Dang. I wanna know how we played Blanco last year when he was with the Twins. I'm sure he meant Paul "Choco Taco" Bako

have we given up on the career matchups and such? Where's our stat boy?

If Murton gets platooned against lefties only, I'm bringing a sniper rifle to the next Cubs home series with a convenient view of the home dugout. As Brenley said last night, "Prospects aren't called up to the majors because they platooned at the lower levels. They are called up because they have proven they can hit righties and lefties effectively."

Every friggin negative thread turns into a Dusty Bust-a-thon. Christ. I thought we were talking about CP, Doobs and who will play CF for us? I sure don't want Hairston in there full time. Do you have an opinion on my question? no? Then don't respond. We know you are a Dusty apologist why do you feel the need to include it in every response you make? I simply asked the question as to why you never see elite college baseball coaches offered jobs as MLB managers. I thought it was a very good question. Probably because just about every major league manager I can think of is a former major league player, while most of the college baseball coaches probably aren't.

Someone in the big Patterson to AAA thread suggested that it's common courtesy for major league teams to not claim players off of revocable waivers prior to July 31st. Had he been claimed, Hendry could have pulled him back. Plus someone stated that he has one option left despite his service time.

Why do I have a sick feeling the lineup will be more like: 1. Hairston - 2B 2. Perez - SS 3. Barrett - C 4. Ramirez - 3B 5. Hollandsworth - 1B 6. Burnitz - RF 7. Macias - CF 8. Murton - LF

I haven't heard. Normally those high numbers go to relief pitchers who have no business on the 25 man roster. All those Atlanta rookies had "normal" low numbers. Maybe we'll find out if either actually play tonight.

Heh heh, good try though :D I know, right? People weren't exactly in a froth, posting all night about this. I'm shocked this thread has so many responses actually. It's not like the Nomar trade...

No, but as the poster above just stated, he is ALWAYS first off the bench for pinch-hitting roles. It's as predictable as the sunrise, death and taxes.

The official transactions page on ESPN.com says that he was optioned to AAA, which I would think means no waivers.

But it seems unnecessary to set up Baker for a fall. Hasn't he done enough to merit getting fired without "rookie entrapment" on Hendry's part? The other scenarios are just as far fetched. Such as, if it wasn't a precursor to something bigger, why not just call up Kelton and Grieve or Hubbard? Or why would Hendry risk trashing Murton's trade value/development arc? Why would he call up to rookies with Baker as the manager? This move frankly makes little sense on it's own. The only way it makes sense is if it's the first of a series of moves. Throw in Hubbard getting cut from Iowa and the plot thickens...

But it seems unnecessary to set up Baker for a fall. Hasn't he done enough to merit getting fired without "rookie entrapment" on Hendry's part?

Good morning. Glad to see the discussion is still rolling along here. Why do I foresee Hairston getting screwed out of playing time through all of this? The dude can't catch a break. I bet he is platooned with Macias in CF.

Baker will have to fired or Macias and Perez will have to go for this to make sense. I am hoping it's the former. If you are going to call up 2 guys to sit on the bench, at least call up guys who are used to sitting on the bench at the major league level. This is a teast for Murton and Greenburg.

and tell me how you know they'll waste away on the bench? this could be a precursor to dusty's firing, which would lead to young players actually having a chance to play. We'll see what happens, but how would this indicate Dusty being fired? If Baker was going out, Dubois would stay and both Macias and Perez would sit or be released. If that doesn't happen, this is almost like the opposite. Dubois wasn't performing. He got his shot for nearly a month and did nothing. I don't think Doobie had a future as a starter on the Cubs, regardless. I don't think he was ever given a full chance, which does nothing but hurt the Cubs and does a real disservice to Hendry. Not only do they not know what if he'll be able to contribute next year, they killed his trade value. That is true, but it's water under the bridge at this point. It's too late for Dubois, I think. If he could have succeeded, he was ruined by Dusty. I can't believe Hendry is foolish enough to repeat that. I don't think it's too late for Dubois. He's only 26 and he's had 1/2 a season under his belt. More than likely, he and Patterson will play everyday in Iowa, get their swings back and head to Chicago rather quickly. My hope is that they both succeed in correcting their problems. And if Hendry hasn't seen that Dusty doesn't like youngsters by now, he's never going to see it. If they don't get a chance to play this is a terrible move. There's no value in letting them rot on the bench. All the youngin's. Exactly. That's what is fishy about this. If this was just a swap with AAA guys, we'd see Kelton and Hubbard up. So what gives with the AA guys? Doesn't make sense yet.

and tell me how you know they'll waste away on the bench? this could be a precursor to dusty's firing, which would lead to young players actually having a chance to play. We'll see what happens, but how would this indicate Dusty being fired? If Baker was going out, Dubois would stay and both Macias and Perez would sit or be released. If that doesn't happen, this is almost like the opposite. Dubois wasn't performing. He got his shot for nearly a month and did nothing. I don't think Doobie had a future as a starter on the Cubs, regardless. I don't think he was ever given a full chance, which does nothing but hurt the Cubs and does a real disservice to Hendry. Not only do they not know what if he'll be able to contribute next year, they killed his trade value. That is true, but it's water under the bridge at this point. It's too late for Dubois, I think. If he could have succeeded, he was ruined by Dusty. I can't believe Hendry is foolish enough to repeat that. Same thing happened with Kevin Orie as I recall. At least they sent DuBois to AAA. Orie was stuck on the bench, meaning he wasn't playing and he wasn't developing.

in before the lock!

I'd just have to believe if Dusty has been going against Jim's desire for this long, something would have already been done. That leads me to think that they're close to seeing eye to eye. I'm also quite worried as to what this will do to their (especially Murton's) trade value. I think that even had Jim wanted to can Dusty over philosophical differences before, he couldn't justify eating Dusty's contract while the team was still in contention, and with injuries as an excuse. Now the team is as healthy as they have been all year, and are playing the worst ball of Dusty's tenure. Now there is more impetus to can him. Interesting how the team played its best ball with Prior on the shelf. Why can't this team pitch and hit at the same time?

Interesting how this thread is getting more posts per minute than either of the game threads today.

Right. And why should Baker play the youth when guys like Cedeno pinch hit and swing at the first pitch every time? His lack of confidence certainly rubs off.

and tell me how you know they'll waste away on the bench? this could be a precursor to dusty's firing, which would lead to young players actually having a chance to play. We'll see what happens, but how would this indicate Dusty being fired? If Baker was going out, Dubois would stay and both Macias and Perez would sit or be released. If that doesn't happen, this is almost like the opposite. That's a good point. Perez and Macias are a couple of Baker's "dudes", and are probably only on the roster per Baker's request. If Baker is canned, those two can't be far behind.

there is no way these guys play unless Hollandsworth and Burnitz are traded. It just doesn't make sense. This isn't a rebuilding team in September here folks. You don't bench Burnitz for Murton no matter how bad the team is doing. Besides, this isn't Burnitz's fault.

There is a certain amount of "if you don't play the right way, you're going down to the minors" about this, but this is too out of left field for something else not to be happening.

But despite the losing streak, isn't it early to pack it in and play the youth? This is a $100 million team. I can't see Hendry waving the white flag in the first week of July.