CubsWin

I knew Neifi was bad but not THAT bad! By what measurement is he the 2nd worst of all time? OPB, SLG? looks like i was a bit off. he's only the third worst hitter of all time at the moment. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-real-chase/ I found that article, The Real Chase, entertaining, sardonic and unfortunately unbalanced. He didn't say it in his article, but what the stat RCAA really shows is how good of a defensive player Neifi must have been over his 11 seasons to continue to get ABs despite being the poor hitter that he freely admits he is. It also shows how hard it must be to find a SS that can both field and hit well in a league of 30 teams. The article attempted to ridicule Neifi has the worst hitter in all of baseball, but the author used the wrong stat, and it missed the mark. There are plenty of other stats that make a much stronger case for Neifi being a bad hitter. His use of EqA in the "worst doctor in the world" article, I felt, was far more persuasive. But trying to label Neifi Perez as the worst hitter, or 3rd worst, in all of baseball just doesn't hold up to intelligent scrutiny. It certainly isn't supported by the use of the RCAA stat. In fact, since most of us, I think, are already aware that Neifi isn't a good hitter, using the RCAA stat doesn't really put him in a negative light at all. Its actually flattering (of a his defensive abilities and longevity) to head this -300 list. Weak-hitting middle infielders have been a reality of major league baseball for a very long time. Usually they are bench players, as in the case of Neifi as a Cub. But occasionally, a team will find themselves in a bad way and will have to sacrifice offense for a good defensive SS. So it is somewhat of an honor to have been the SS with the good enough glove to be the guy teams turn to when they miss out on a good offensive shortstop. Its either that or every GM who has ever employed Neifi Perez is an idiot, which, unfortunately, is what this guy chose to imply in his article.

I don't know about that. I know what you mean, Furcal signed with another team opting not to come to Chicago, but he only did so because the dollars per year were better in LA. It was the Cubs who "resisted the urge" to match or better the Dodgers offer. Revisionist history once again. What actually happened was the Dodgers said that their $39m/3yr offer was only good for as long as it took Furcal to try and use the offer as leverage with other teams. Effectively, the Dodgers put the pen in Furcal's hand, and said, sign now, or don't sign. And, it being $39m/3yrs, he signed. The Cubs at no point had the opportunity to improve their offer, which was already plenty expensive enough at $47m/5yrs. Wow, I didn't know that. How did you hear about that? If that's the case, it sure seems like Ned Coletti has it in for the Cubs even more now...

Bingo! I think this is the real point. Barrett removed the idea that he was available at all which potentially changes how the Brewers will use their bullpen late in the game. This could be a valid argument, for one AB. However the first time Barrett DOESN'T come on to pinch hit in a likely situation the cover's blown anyway. I wouldn't think 1 "phantom" AB would make that much of a difference in the greater scheme of things, though strenger things have happened. I disagree. Teams decoy all the time with hitters they really don't intend to bat. I remember last year, Kenny Williams was upset with Frank Thomas because he didn't conceal his foot injury during the Cubs series. He wanted Thomas to stand on deck and help alter the manger's decision. Anyway, the Cubs have a short bench to start with so if teams know that Barrett is unavailable it will affect more than just one AB. Having the threat of power off the bench is big. Apparently, the Cubs aren't the only team in MLB to have this policy... Can we say, "mountain out of a molehill" with this thread?

I don't know about that. I know what you mean, Furcal signed with another team opting not to come to Chicago, but he only did so because the dollars per year were better in LA. It was the Cubs who "resisted the urge" to match or better the Dodgers offer. The line does admit the Cubs had an urge to add a shortstop, which indeed they did, but in the end, they chose not to do what it took to sign Furcal or trade for Lugo and take their chances with the kid. It sounds a little misleading, but when you think about it...

You're right. I did forget about Miller. If he can return to close to his previous form, he would make even another option. This trading deadline could be verrrrry interesting with what could be some rather desirable commodities and plenty of them. Of Marshall, Guzman, Hill, Williams, Miller and Rusch, 4 or 5 of them could be available to trade. The number will likely be smaller than that, but... Of Williamson, Wuertz, Aardsma, Ohman and Novoa, 3 or more of them could be traded given the possibility of Rusch and others moving to the pen. Players like Jones, perhaps Murton and Pierre, one of the 2B, and any of the hitting prospects not named Pie or Patterson can also be added to round out any trade offers. Some combination of the above players should be able to bring in somebody good to play RF. Shouldn't it?

The only reason to veto a trade is if the two teams are suspected of colluding to benefit one team at the peril of the other. To that end, some questions should be asked: 1. Is the team that is getting Manny one of the best teams in the league, and even though it is early, is the other team not expected to make the playoffs? 2. Are the two team owners close friends or relatives? It doesn't sound like this is collusion to me because of Manny's age and the fact that this is a dynasty league. The guy acquiring Murton is probably a Cubs fan who is excited about the prospect Matt's future being a really good one.

More of a question than a comment, but would MLB or the Players Association allow you to rework Wood's contract to pay him less money? And why would Wood do that? If he does come back and pitch well I truly believe there is some team out there willing to pay him big money. Look at the contract Burnett got and he has a history of injuriies and is on the DL right now. The extension wouldn't be paying him less money. It still guarantees him 13 million for one year's worth of work. It just moves 3 million of it into a buyout for '08. I have no idea if Wood is willing to do something like that. I was simply saying that that is what I would try to do. As to whether that is illegal per the latest CBA, I don't know exactly. Good question.

This team is playing with the type of hustle and attitude that when they hit a grounder, they run to first almost expecting the other team to throw the ball away. They are aggressive and forcing the other team to make plays, but at the same time they aren't making a lot of dumb baserunning plays. When a player makes an error in the field, the entire squad buckles down with even more concentration and effort to get out of the inning without a run scoring to pick that player up. Pierre and Cedeno provide electricity on the basepaths, but also with guys like Jones, Hairston and Bynum (not to mention Lee and Pagan when they return) the Cubs have the team speed to make a lot of things happen instead of hoping for a 3-run HR. Baker is playing guys in a sensable way and seems to have been given a more talented roster this season. Depth and options also seem to be plentiful on this roster. Roberto Novoa looks on. Aardsma was lights out in AAA and is beginning to settle down after a rocky start. And they are the 6th and 7th guys out of the pen. Murton is for real. Cedeno should provide decent stick. Pie is putting up similar numbers at AAA as to what he put up at AA before getting hurt. The Cubs should have plenty of trade fodder come July. Assuming Prior and Wood are back and performing well by then, there will be plenty of starting pitching to trade away. There should also be some really good bullpen arms that could be dealt, too.

I'm beginning to believe that Sean Marshall is the real deal. I'm not expecting him to continue to put up performances like he did last Tuesday, but he's got a decent shot at putting up an ERA under 4 in his rookie season. Considering the lack of playing time Marshall has had in his minor league career, staying under a 4 ERA becomes even more impressive. Looking at next year's rotation, if Sean is equal to the task and can be a solid back of the rotation guy for the Cubs, who should fill out the rest of the '07 rotation? Obviously Z and Prior, assuming they are both healthy, should be in there. That leaves two spots left and a lot of options with which to fill them. Wood's option could be picked up, or he could be resigned to a different deal. Maddux could be resigned, especially if he continues pitching this well. Rich Hill is currently tearing up AAA, and I mean tearing it up- 25 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 33 Ks, 1.44 ERA, 0.80 WHIP. The Cubs just called up Angel Guzman who's got the stuff but is struggling a bit with his control at the moment which isn't unusual considering the amount of time he has missed due to injury. Jerome Williams has put up solid numbers over the first three seasons of his career and is still just 24. That's five reasonable options. We will learn more about how good each of those options will be come September. Will Wood be healthy then? Will Maddux have an ERA under 3 come September? Will Hill still be tearing up AAA or will he have been called up and how did he fare in the bigs this time around? The answers to those questions and others will make the decision a lot easier. But if you had to choose right now, would you bring Maddux back next season knowing how many other, younger and cheaper options you have at your disposal? If he finishes with an ERA under or around 3, I think you have to. What about Wood? If he can pitch in 25 games this season and do what he normally does, I would try to redo his contract such that the 13 million dollar option the club has on him would become a 10 million dollar contract for '07 with a mutual option for another 10 in '08 with a 3 million dollar buyout. I would only do this deal if it wouldn't prohibit me financially from acquiring a big time RFer should that opportunity present itself. However, if keeping Wood and Maddux is so costly that they can't afford to trade for/sign a better RFer, then I say get the RFer and let one or both of those pitchers go and give Hill a shot. He looks ready.

DJAXX, thank you so much. Great job!

Not bad. Wellemeyer, a guy the Cubs were going to have to cut anyway, for Holdzkolm, a decent, 24-year-old, AA prospect (plus Zach McCormack, whatever) and Kerry Ligtenberg, who will do exactly what Wellemeyer would have done with the Cubs had he stayed, toil down in AAA in case someone should get injured.

It has a lot to do with the fact that he was signed as Nomar's reserve and then performed better than expected. He is a bench player so the expectations are much lower than someone like CPatt who was touted to be an all-star and showed flashes of brilliance and Jones who, in many people's minds still, is a replacement for Sammy Sosa (so they are wanting at least a certain amount of production out of him). True, strikeouts are ugly and visible and will draw the ire of a lot of fans. But it is the lower expectations that are really at play here. CPatt and Jones were/are starters that Cubs fans are counting on to come through and help the team win games on a regular basis. When they go long stretches without producing, many Cubs fans see yet another season slipping away and, probably out of fear and frustration, start booing. But Neifi has none of those expectations because he is a fill in.

Rehabbing and then trying to work his way back into the bigs.

Thanks, pistol. Was there a post on this site and I missed it or did no one both to create one? Clearly I come to NSBB first for my Cubs news. This is starting to sound a lot like a commercial...

When did they sign him? I can't find his aquisition on the Cubs.com transactions page, but according to MiLB.com's stat page for the Iowa Cubs, he's pitched in 2 2/3 innings in 2 games, finishing both of them. He has allowed 2 hits, no runs and no walks while striking out 3. He's also listed on the team's roster. Doesn't sound like a typo to me. Did I just miss this or was he signed very quietly?

Last night, Len made it sound like Walker would be the primary 1B for now. I'm interested to see what he does. Well, that's exactly what Dusty did. Against the right-handed Ponson, Walker played 2B and batted 3rd with Mabry at 1B batting 5th. Cedeno hit 2nd. Not bad. I guess when Baker has clear options, he knows which one to take. Maybe, just maybe, he isn't as stupid as some people have made him out to be. We'll wait and see what he does tomorrow.

Did Ron go into specifics about what Gene and Gary said to Matt? Because if all Ron reported is the general statement you have written above, that Murton is too patient and needs to be more aggressive, the conclusions that can be drawn from that are few and far between. Were they referring to every situation? If so, then the comments you have made are somewhat justified. But if they were referring to only certain situations, then I would say you have jumped the gun with your criticism. Unfortunately, without more specific information on what the coaching actually was, any comment in support of or being critical of their coaching requires a rather large assumption and becomes pointless.

Well, in day one of life without Lee, Dusty started Hairston at 2B against a lefty and moved Walker to 1B. We'll see what happens tomorrow against the righty Ponson. I'm hoping he goes with Walker at 2B and Mabry at 1B.

If that's true, it probably has something to do with the reason why he wasn't traded. :wink:

I can't stress enough how awesome it was sitting in those new boxes in Dodger Stadium. You know how when you are watching the game on TV, and the Cubs do something good, you shout out, "Yeah, great play, Ronny!" or when they are down a couple of runs you'd say, "Alright, let's get it going now" as if they can actually hear you? Well imagine saying those things and they actually can hear you and see you and some of them look back and make eye contact with you and nod. Its like being in the dugout with them. Section 26. Field Box 2, Seats 1-4. Boxes 3-5 do just fine as well. Outstanding. So worth the money. I took some great pictures. I'll try and post them. I've never done that before. It can't be too difficult, can it? And finally, Cedeno is an electric player. He airmailed that throw to a guy in the same row as me about 15 feet to my left. But more than makes up for it with the game winning hit and incredible, game-saving, completely horizontal, diving catch to end the game. Nomar who?

The Derrek Lee injury happened right in front of me, literally maybe 20 yards away, and, the collision was palpable. Coincedentally, as I was leaving the ballpark, Derrek was getting into a Lincoln Town Car right outside the gate I was exiting. Before his driver could shut the door, I went over to him and asked him if he was alright. His right wrist and hand were wrapped up very heavily with ace bandages over something else. I couldn't tell if it was a cast, but his wrist looked immoblized regardless. He heard me and answered, "We'll see tomorrow." Sorry, not much of a scoop, but you still got it straight from the horse's mouth. From my vantage point, it doesn't look good. I think he's missing a minimum of a few weeks with a good possibility of him being gone much, much longer. We'll see.

Was she in the suite with Hugh Hefner? A playmate threw out the first pitch on Tuesday. She bounced it...if you know what I mean. :wink: On a related note, watching Hugh Hefner do the wave was hilarious for some reason. What a freakin' stud.

Knowing that Ohman didn't get Drew out, it is easy to consider that Dusty should have done otherwise, but the lefty/lefty match-up and the dominant manner in which Ohman got out the first two batters was good enough for me. Drew's hit down the right field line kicked up some chalk I understand so it just as easily could have gone foul and he strikesout on the next pitch. That's baseball.

Yeah, they are nice. They are brand new, too. Lots of leg room. Which is great if you are tall like me. Its kinda like flying first class except they don't give you a hot towel.

Oh, God, I hope not. :shock: