CubsWin

I don't even know what the debate is. You just keep talking about fans digging deeper and obviousness. I really don't know what you're talking about. I realized that, so I went back and edited my post to clarify it just before you hit submit.

Most of Baker's bad moves don't require any level of digging deeper. And what exactly is the issue you are raising? It just sounds like a circuitous way of defending Baker at all costs by saying we can't know everything he knew to make the decision. Another example of the "you can't criticize him because you aren't in his shoes" theory. I can't be any less circuitous or more clear when I give you an example. Lets talk about the supposed obvious choice of starting Womack over Neifi against Milton which Baker didn't do. He was criticized for missing that "obvious" move in this thread. What's your opinion? Opinion about what? Whether he should have made that move? I don't think it really matters, they both suck. Ugh, more avoidance. There are people who are criticizing Baker for missing the obvious choice there. I guess you aren't one of them then.

I'm not even sure what you're arguing here. Are you saying we shouldn't criticize a manager for decisions that we think are incorrect, just because there are possibly variables that we aren't aware of? I think it is very clear what I'm saying. I couldn't be saying it more plainly, if you are going to make the bold statement that someone is stupid and irrational, not that some of his moves seem stupid and irrational, but that the person is stupid and irrational, then you either have to know a whole lot more than the manager you are criticizing or you aren't looking into the situations you are criticizing very deeply. I never said anything about not criticizing or not being critical. Why is it that many people jump to that. I don't know. I've never typed it. Yes, we do, and when was the last time they called Baker stupid and irrational? Boy, it sure seems real simple to me, just consider all the possible reasons why a manager would have done what he did before labeling him stupid, irrational, an idiot, etc. I do it all the time. I posted an example of this one page earlier, surrounding the Womack/Perez issue that some people were criticizing Baker for. I, too, at first found the choice to start Perez odd, but when I did some research and considered that there may be reasons that I would never know about like the possibility of Womack being sore or something, there was enough reasonable doubt to not conclude that Baker was an idiot or that his brain is somehow deficient. That's all I'm saying. I never asked anyone to stop criticizing Baker when they have a solid argument. But when you choose to label someone stupid and irrational, you have set the bar pretty high when it comes to providing the evidence to support your argument.

Most of Baker's bad moves don't require any level of digging deeper. And what exactly is the issue you are raising? It just sounds like a circuitous way of defending Baker at all costs by saying we can't know everything he knew to make the decision. Another example of the "you can't criticize him because you aren't in his shoes" theory. I can't be any less circuitous or more clear when I give you an example. Lets talk about the supposed obvious choice of starting Womack over Neifi against Milton which Baker didn't do. He was criticized for missing that "obvious" move in this thread. What's your opinion?

Dusty fails to make the obvious choice on a daily basis. He is, however, both stupid and irrational, so it is difficult to predict how he will behave. Stupid, irrational and obvious. Wow, well I guess you should know since you have access to all the inside workings of the Cubs clubhouse and know everything there is to know about baseball. Because, to me, thats what it would take to make such a bold statement. Certain aspects of baseball may seem simple to us, but I bet if you talk to a lot of major league managers today, they will say that there are very few "obvious" choices in baseball except for the ones the fans tell us about. Of course, I could very well be wrong and baseball actually is a simple game with obvious choices that truly boils down to numbers and doesn't really involve human beings, but I'm certainly not smart enough or exposed to enough inside information to know this for sure. If you are, more power to ya. As far as this thread is concerned, I guess we'll see who is right when Dusty either starts Nevin in place of Murton on a regular basis or doesn't and uses him as a fill in for Lee and a platoon with Jones. Read the sections I've bolded, Cubswin. What I'm saying is that there are very few obvious choices in this complex game except for, of course, all the ones that many fans think are obvious. So the use of the word obvious in the first bolded section is referring to those moves that us fans think are obvious, like starting Womack over Perez against Eric Milton the other day. Those of us who have "lost faith" in Dusty's ability to make the obvious choices might be thinking that those choices are more obvious than they may actually be, and that if we gave the benefit of the doubt for just a moment and looked deeper, that we indeed will find reasons for making a choice other than the "obvious" one. In the context of this thread, if Dusty sits Murton and starts Nevin on a regular basis, I will wonder why, but before I conclude that he is an idiot, I will look into every possible reason. Of course, that hasn't happened yet. What will you be saying if the man who you have dubbed as stupid and irrational plays Nevin primarily at 1B until Lee gets back and then brings him off the bench against lefties? How could a guy who is truly stupid and incapable of rational thought make such a seemingly logical decision based on the information available to us fans? because it's obvious. ](*,) Correct me if I'm wrong, Careless, but aren't you the one that said he would fail to make the obvious choice because he was stupid and irrational in the first place? You can't have it both ways. But the semantic games that are being played here are only allowing you to avoid addressing the point. Are you ever going to speak to the issue I'm raising? About fans not digging deeper when they are perplexed by one of their manager's choices and jumping right to he's stupid and irrational? For example the starting Perez instead of Womack decision I detailed a page ago...

Dusty fails to make the obvious choice on a daily basis. He is, however, both stupid and irrational, so it is difficult to predict how he will behave. Stupid, irrational and obvious. Wow, well I guess you should know since you have access to all the inside workings of the Cubs clubhouse and know everything there is to know about baseball. Because, to me, thats what it would take to make such a bold statement. Certain aspects of baseball may seem simple to us, but I bet if you talk to a lot of major league managers today, they will say that there are very few "obvious" choices in baseball except for the ones the fans tell us about. Of course, I could very well be wrong and baseball actually is a simple game with obvious choices that truly boils down to numbers and doesn't really involve human beings, but I'm certainly not smart enough or exposed to enough inside information to know this for sure. If you are, more power to ya. As far as this thread is concerned, I guess we'll see who is right when Dusty either starts Nevin in place of Murton on a regular basis or doesn't and uses him as a fill in for Lee and a platoon with Jones. Read the sections I've bolded, Cubswin. What I'm saying is that there are very few obvious choices in this complex game except for, of course, all the ones that many fans think are obvious. So the use of the word obvious in the first bolded section is referring to those moves that us fans think are obvious, like starting Womack over Perez against Eric Milton the other day. Those of us who have "lost faith" in Dusty's ability to make the obvious choices might be thinking that those choices are more obvious than they may actually be, and that if we gave the benefit of the doubt for just a moment and looked deeper, that we indeed will find reasons for making a choice other than the "obvious" one. In the context of this thread, if Dusty sits Murton and starts Nevin on a regular basis, I will wonder why, but before I conclude that he is an idiot, I will look into every possible reason. Of course, that hasn't happened yet. What will you be saying if the man who you have dubbed as stupid and irrational plays Nevin primarily at 1B until Lee gets back and then brings him off the bench against lefties? How could a guy who is truly stupid and incapable of rational thought make such a seemingly logical decision based on the information available to us fans?

I know, I was scratching my head with that one too, but when I really thought about it, I came up with a lot of possible reasons that if I knew more inside information could be verified as Baker's actual reasons for starting Perez. Any one of these reasons by themselves might not justify the move, but a few them taken in concert with each other could. 1. Baker may consider Neifi a better defensive 2B than Womack. 2. Neifi's OPS against lefties over the last 3 full seasons is roughly 80 points higher. 3. Womack's numbers against Milton were actually worse than Neifi's though in a smaller sample size. 4. Baker is a big believer in a standard old school belief of righty hitter against lefty pitcher and vice versa. Neifi is a switch hitter. 5. It is possible Womack tweaked something in the batting cage or was abnormally sore, something that we as fans would never hear about. 6. Neifi homered in his last start and maybe Baker has reason to believe that Neifi has found something in all the lefty-thrown batting practice he has watched him take lately. The list can go on. Neither do I. Nor did I ever say that they did. What I did say was in order to so confidently declare that Dusty routinely misses the "obvious" choice and is clearly "stupid and irrational", one would have to know everything there is to know about baseball in order to so confidently identify the obvious choices from the more murky ones. You will agree that at one point in time, it was obvious to humankind that the world was flat, then we thought the world was round. Lately, after much more careful and accurate measurements, they are saying the earth is kind of oval in shape. And as I just showed, what seemed like an "obvious" move (starting Womack over Perez) can be shown to be less obvious with a little consideration. So someone who considers a move "obvious" is either not thinking very deeply and considering all angles or knows basically everything there is to know and can thus accurately and confidently say which moves should be made and which ones shouldn't. I decided to go with the more flattering of the two options. As I give the benefit of the doubt to Baker, so too did I think I should give it to Careless.

Dusty fails to make the obvious choice on a daily basis. He is, however, both stupid and irrational, so it is difficult to predict how he will behave. Stupid, irrational and obvious. Wow, well I guess you should know since you have access to all the inside workings of the Cubs clubhouse and know everything there is to know about baseball. Because, to me, thats what it would take to make such a bold statement. Certain aspects of baseball may seem simple to us, but I bet if you talk to a lot of major league managers today, they will say that there are very few "obvious" choices in baseball except for the ones the fans tell us about. Of course, I could very well be wrong and baseball actually is a simple game with obvious choices that truly boils down to numbers and doesn't really involve human beings, but I'm certainly not smart enough or exposed to enough inside information to know this for sure. If you are, more power to ya. As far as this thread is concerned, I guess we'll see who is right when Dusty either starts Nevin in place of Murton on a regular basis or doesn't and uses him as a fill in for Lee and a platoon with Jones.

If you compare Pierre's splits against lefties over the last 3 full seasons to Jones's, I doubt that you would still be saying the same thing. Pierre against lefties from '03-'05 - .305/.349/.354/.703 Jones against lefties from '03-'05 - .238/.295/.363/.658 Jones is hot right now against lefties but he had better be because his numbers were absolutely terrible (I mean like .050/.050/.050) against lefties prior to the last couple of days. Heck, they still are well below his career averages. So don't let his recent performance against southpaws lead you to believe that he is likely to keep this up. Replacing him with Nevin will, according to the averages, be a solid improvement and a better move than sitting Pierre. Unless, of course, you believe that Pierre is not likely to improve over his current level of production...

c'ya Matty. :shock: nevin most likely plays in place of the two starters who can't hit lefties. I know. When I heard what Dusty had said about trying Nevin in the OF, I automatically assumed that that would mean sitting Jones against lefties. I can't see how anyone would think that he meant sitting Murton who hits lefties really well (.395/.477/.684). I can't speak for CubinNY, but I think some people may have just lost faith in Dusty's ability to think clearly enough to make that obvious choice. I'm sure that Nevin will see some playing time in LF just as Hairston did on May 11th and Bynum did on May 5th, but I can't find any reason besides the manager's brain not working properly to sit Murton in favor of Nevin so I don't think anyone should actually be worried about that. Now replacing Jones against lefties is another matter entirely...

Is anyone in this thread saying that it is? I'm really asking...so are you saying that you would be complaining less if Hendry just gave up and never addressed the lack of a right-handed power bat off the bench and fill-in for the injured Lee? I'm interested to see how Dusty uses Nevin. I don't see why using him as a platoon for Jones would be so surprising. He is a diehard believer in that lefty/righty platoon thing. He used it with Karros and Choi. Jones has been hot as of late against lefties, so while he remains hot and Lee remains on the DL, I think Nevin's primary position will be 1B, but once Lee returns, RF against lefties might be the only spot for Phil to get some ABs. You've been predicting in previous posts that Dusty will sit Murton in favor of Nevin. Since both of them are righties and Murton's numbers are better than Nevin's this season, and Murton is clearly the better defender, why would any manager do this? You must have some rationale other than "because the guy is an idiot", right?

I was at the game.. Blackford's two hits were both playable. the first was a sure base hit up the middle that Johnston made a great play on but threw the ball away throwing to first. The second took a bad hop just over the 3rd baseman's glove. 2 of the 5 walks came to start the 7th inning and were th only two guys he faced. Todd Blackford's rise continues. 4-1, 4.25 ERA. The WHIP is still less than great, but if he keeps pitching like he has, some of his numbers will soon be rivaling those of the Don, and Todd is 9 months younger.

I think its time to put Mitch Atkins officially on the prospect radar. The guy has been dominant so far this season. He just pitched 7 scoreless, only allowing 3 hits while inducing 15 ground ball outs to just one fly ball out. He is only 20 years old and won't turn 21 until after the season is long over. He has good size at 6'3", 230 lbs. That is NFL linebacker size right there. What I don't know is, what's his stuff like? He's got an ERA of 2.01, a WHIP of 1.03, and he is striking out a batter per inning with a ratio to walks of 3:1. Not that it matters much, but in 9 starts, he is also undefeated at 3-0. When you put Atkins in with Donnie Veal (21), Scott Taylor (19), Mark Reed (just turned 20) and Jonathan Mota (about to turn 19), that is a good young nucleus of talent that happens to be performing quite well at the moment.

Mark Reed continues to rake and strikeout. .358/.422/.481, but with 21 Ks in just 81 ABs. Reed has just turned 20, so he's got time to learn a better batting eye. I just wonder if Cubs instructors have the ability to teach one... Scott Moore, Ryan Harvey, to a lesser extent Felix Pie, not to a lesser extent Corey Patterson, etc.

Thats the second strong outing in a row for Todd Blackford...

I'd say grab this guy if you can, but the question remains why would he want to sign with the Cubs?

CR, my subscription ran out. What's the synopsis? Comparison between Scott Moore & Jame D'Antona of the D'backs. -Both strike out a lot. -Both aren't particularly quick or agile. -Moore is using all fields and taking pitches well. -Moore's made progress around 3B, but he likely will end up league-average defensively. He might stick there down the line, but a move isn't out of the question. Thanks, O_O. Is D'Antona someone worth comparing Moore to? What is the point of the article?

That's better than his knee bothering him again in my book.

This is getting old...almost. Scott did it again. Tonight he went 2-for-4 with his 9th HR, and he struck out, too, bringing his total in that catagory to 50, I believe. Oh, if only there could be more than one Adam Dunn, but his numbers aren't good enough to make that comparison, except, of course, for his strikeout numbers...

CR, my subscription ran out. What's the synopsis?

Yeah, that's what I have him for. And a .195 BAA. Great to see him bounce back so well from the injury. Yeah, don't look now, but the entire AA rotation is lookin' pretty darn good. Only Mathes has a WHIP over 1.18 and his is only 1.27. Only Mathes has an ERA over 3.18 (4.00). Only Mathes and Shaver are over 23 years old, and they are both just 24 at that. Not bad.

I definitely agree that the Ks are a major concern for Scott. That's what I meant when I wrote he needs to improve his plate discipline or contact rate. Of course, that said, he did go 2-for-5 with his 8th HR and 3 RBI tonight...

I was just looking over some minor league stats and a question popped up that I thought I would put to you guys. What is the toughest jump between levels? Is it AAA to the majors? Or High-A to AA? Any thoughts?

In Mesa they're playing games right now, they just aren't reported. So he's not just working out, he's also pitching on a regular basis. Are these games not reported because press are not allowed to attend? Are the games public? You would think in these times someone could affoard to send a reporter there from time to time to report on some of the prospects that are there. What I think Tim meant by these games aren't "reported" is that they aren't official games and thus they aren't recorded. Last season, there was talk of getting rid of the rookie leagues altogether. There is no rookie league schedule listed on cubs.com while there is a Boise schedule so it looks like there will be no rookie league this season, but I'm not sure what they decided to do. If anyone has any info on that, it would be appreciated.

Acquired from the Braves in the Todd Hollandsworth deal last season, along with Angelo Burrows. Low 90s fastball, decent change, and a slider that needs to be tightened up. Drafted in the 13th round of the 2004 draft out of an Indiana HS. There isn't a whole lot of info on him out of that draft in terms of projection, makeup, or anything else along those lines. A low 90s fastball, decent change and a slider that needs work. Thanks. I remembered that we got him in that trade, but I had never heard a breakdown of his stuff. At 20 years old, he should have a decent shot of at least adding a few mph to that fastball considering he is 6'4". Though 215 lbs. is pretty well filled out. Thanks again, O_O. Not just for the scouting report on Blackford, but for all of the daily reports and box score links. I visit it everyday.