beowulf28

I was going off this: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/schedules Hopefully Rusch doesn't start ever again. Prior is slated to start Friday, which will give Marshall the start on Saturday. Could a trade be near?

Thanks for giving me nightmares! :shock: :-&

:lol:

Dusty is such a great employee. It's amazing that he can still get out of bed each morning to work for a measly $4.5 million. Didn't Kramer keep showing up for work? Even though he wasn't actually on the payroll? Maybe Hendry should hire Kramer! He couldn't be any worse, could he?

You are correct, sir!

Well stated, BBB! =D> I totally agree with both of you! =D> =D>

It wasn't luck. It was good pitching. Remember that horrid 2002 season? The team scored 706 runs and posted a .321 OBP that year. In 2003, they weren't much better. They scored 724 runs and posted a .324 OBP. They made some strides in 2004 by improving the OBP to .328 and increasing their run output to 789, but they fell off dramatically last year with 703 runs and a .324 OBP. They weren't lucky in 2003. The pitching was so good that they won games in spite of the poor hitting attack. If you had great pitching, you might be able to get away with what Houston and the White Sox accomplished last year. But, it's risky to do nothing to improve a bad offense and assume your pitching will carry you. And right now you are seeing why that is such a risky game plan. The White Sox didn't sit on their hands after winning the World Series by living and dying on a strong pitching staff. They went out and improved the offense this offseason while also working on improving the pitching staff. Hendry had an average pitching staff at best last year. He had a horrible offense. Instead of focusing on improving the offense, he focused on speed and defense. Gee, why is this team 20 games under .500? And I'm no rocket scientist. He went after speed w/o OBP. That won't get you on base. You need both with power and OBP, as well.

And with him, MacPhail.

Hard for Hendry to see when his head is buried in the sand. :lol:

Bingo! :D

I was speaking from their perspective rather than my own. Also, there are plenty of guys out there with high averages and OBPs that are not much higher. The guy batting leadoff for the Cubs, for example. Like I pointed out in my other post, if you look up the top 40 OBP guys in the majors 37-38 of them are good hitters. Sure there are some good hitters that don't have high OBP, just as there are bad hitters that have outstanding OBP, but they tend to be the exception rather than the norm. How many walks do they have? Are they above average? Do they hit better because they have more patience?

I sincerely hope he can dump, er, I mean trade Neifi and Rusch. Seriously, though as you said, if used properly, Neifi's flexibility can help a team down the stretch. As we all know, Dusty doesn't use him properly. :(

Too bad he does something pesky like...GET ON BASE! OMG! How do these clowns in Cubs management keep their jobs? Young guys can't play because the manager would rather play has-been veterans. In the meantime, we could get more of a handle on who might be ready NEXT year in '07. Now, whether Dusty stays or not for next year, we won't have any idea who's ready to be brought up, what positions we need to stock for next year. Don't these guys realize that that's what happens when you are out of it? The teams with a GM with a clue go through the rest of the season testing their young'uns trying to find out who's ready for next year, who's not, and where they need help! Sorry. :oops: Thanks for letting me vent, but enough's enough already!

before the deadline or this offseason? Yes, he'll make some sort of move before the trading deadline, and probably a waiver deal as well, and some offseason moves. Will he get an impact bat? No. I meant before the deadline at the end of July and the waiver deadline at the end of August. It was wishful thinking on my part as far as his getting an impact bat. He doesn't seem to value OBP...or walks!

How about ARam for Abreu? So you'll trade a player who's much younger and in his prime for a guy who's older, and who's skills are in decline? That's a terrible idea. I was looking at the trade from an OBP perspective. Of course age is a factor...probably a big factor.

Jim Hendry will make any trades or waiver deadline moves this offseason? I don't think he believes--or is ready to admit--that this season is over for the Cubs. Anyone believe he'll try to get an impact bat by the end of July?

How about ARam for Abreu?

No one counted on Blanco's performance, but we got it. So losing Barrett for 10 days meant equal production at the plate and probably better defense at C. If you can find any evidence at all that suggests that Barrett's absence actually cost us any games or kept us from contending this year, I'd like to see it. But I don't think you can. No, it wasn't wise of Barrett to punch AJP, but it cost the Cubs nothing. Not a thing. Same offensive production, better D, and the 24-man roster argument doesn't hold water (see my earlier post about Guzman). The problem w/ our team sucking is we go hunting for scapegoats. Barrett isn't one - he's been solid to very good all year. He's one of the few and maybe the only one who can say that (Z sucked for the first month). I have to admit that that punch to AJ was the only dark side to Barrett this year so far. And when I saw how high his OBP is, I thought that was great. But who could've guessed Blanco would've done so well?

Dang, I thought you were going to say he was going to step down as the Commissioner of MLB, then Andy MacPhail could step in! :D :cry:

It's good. Better than I could do. But I'd probably put Nevin in there instead of Mabry. He's good as a PH off the bench. I'm more angry at Dusty for playing him as a starter (Neifi too). They should be used off the bench. Dusty can't play the kids. It's not Mabry's fault. D'oh, sorry! :oops: Your sig is good!

I'm hoping it's former Northwestern Wildcat, Mr. Mark Loretta. That would be great, Hoops! :D Is Mark Loretta a FA after this year?

What do you think it would take to get Lane?

I agree on Kottaras, but he's not worth Aramis. I'd offer them Maddux and others for Kottaras. Kottaras has great numbers so far, eh? I also noticed that, in the Padres' AAA Portland team, they have Manny Alexander, remember him? :shock: And Bobby Hill!

Since Adam Everett has a 605 OPS, and Houston's relief pitching ERA is ranked 10th in the NL, why not trade them Scott Williamson and Neifi Perez (hitting very well in July) for a prospect? Houston selects any prospect to trade if they pick up Neifi's salary in 2007; the Astros select one prospect from a group of 10 specified by Cubs scouts, if the Cubs pick up Neifi's 2007 salary. Jason Lane and/or Morgan Ensberg would be great! :D Now, try to tell Hendry that! :(

Pick him up, then package Howry, ARam, and TWalk (or some comparable package) to the Yanks for ARod. I don't think the Yankees would go for it; that gives them two 3B (Ensberg might be able to play in OF but I don't think he ever has which makes it a rather hard sell) and Cano should be back soon. I would mind getting ARod, from the Yankees end it doesn't seem like they're getting much. I also wonder what it'd take to get Ensberg from the 'Stros? Ensberg has a .390 OBP. I wish there was a way to pick him up. What would we do with ARam? What would it take to get ARod from the Yankees?