soapy

I wouldn't mind seeing him lead-off, especially when Lee gets back. Murton Walker Lee Ramirez Barrett Jones Cedeno Pierre Pitcher That will never happen though.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=31763

Just throwing out more names, but I still think a Floyd/Murton platoon in LF would be nice. Did Bradley sign a long-term deal with Oakland?

If Baker's not here, get Bellhorn as a "super-sub", please.

I don't think Cedeno's ever really had a lot of plate discipline (through the minors). I hope that he's just going through a slump that all "rookies" (I know he's not technically a rookie) will go through and will start to adjust soon. There might be some cause for concernn because Cedeno didn't really hit well until last year. However, he did also continue that hot hitting during the winter, so maybe he has put it together. Short answer: I don't know.

Bolded names are the ones different from yours, BeerHere: Keepers: Murton Cedeno Lee Zambrano Barrett Eyre Howry Dempster Marshall Ramirez Guzman Prior Absolutely must go: Perez Bynum Pierre Jones Mabry Blanco Non-Decided: Wood Hill Theriot Maddux Walker Pagan I would probably only label Zambrano as "untouchable".

Scott, I commend you on your faith. However, I don't share in it. Let's hope that you're right and I'm wrong. Having said that, I have to take issue with some of the things you've stated. 1. Why should we just accept that Dusty will be here for two more years? He hasn't been extended yet, might not be, and OBVIOUSLY should not be. One can still root for the team and dislike the manager. 2. Again, I'm not sure how you know Hendry won't make a significan trade, but I'm not going to accept that either. Hendry needs to make some kind of move beit either acquiring some much needed offense, or trading away some players to start building for next year. The next month will let them know which is the more appropriate route to take. 3. I don't think people go to Wrigley just to boo. But really, what does that have to do with anything? The Cubs suck right now. Fans booing or not booing really doesn't have an effect on that IMO. 4. I don't see where this is an issue. The trib is not the problem. Management has the resources to build a contender and hasn't done so (again). In addition, complaining about obvious shortcomings on the team right now should not cause one to question his/her loyalty to the team. In fact, I would say that the opposite is true. Instead of just giving up on the team and finding other ways to fill one's summer, many people come hear to discuss, vent, etc. about this team and how they think it should be changed. That says a lot to me about how much a person cares about said team. Even if they do turn it around and are contenders come September, it shouldn't cause one to feel sorry for questioning the team's talent, philosophy, whatever early in the season if they were valid concerns at the time.

I disagree with that statement, Lou would never put up with the inordinate amount of mental mistakes made by the team, accountability would be higher, and the fundamentals would be stressed more. It would be nice to see a manager with a little bit of fire in him. That part may be true, but you'd see a lot of playing time for inferior vets, just as you do with Baker. That's more of what I was talking about. This is the same man that converted Alex Gonzalez to a 3B and kept him in the lineup. Ouch.

Why does he insist on constantly saying "Cubdom". I hate it. I have to disagree with Mariotti on a few points: 1. No thanks to Lou Piniella. He and Dusty have pretty similar philosophies. 2. The Cubs corporate ownership isn't the problem. Management is the problem. They've been given an enormous payroll and have done nothing with it.

One of the amaizing things about the Cubs (as has been for a few years) is that they have pitchers who continually give up too many walks and hitters who continually take too few. I wonder why some people think Cubs' management doesn't properly value the walk (and indirectly, OBP).

I wonder what "philosophy" Hendry will use to assemble next year's team. He's already tried sluggers, chemistry and defense. Maybe next season he'll realize he likes guys who are productive players. I won't get my hopes up.

How does that explain his poor play in Minnesota? As has been said, (over 2,000,000 times by my count) dislike for Jones goes far beyond his early season struggles in 06. You know what, nevermind. ANYONE WHO THOUGHT JONES SUCKED IS WRONG AND IS A HATER. I CAN'T WAIT FOR PIERRE TO HAVE A HOT WEEK SO I CAN START A THREAD JUST LIKE THIS. THEN RUSCH, THEN NEIFI!!! IT WILL BE GREAT!!

Not sure how either helps us at 1B, other than by allowing us to leave Walker there. And, I'm pretty sure that Soriano isn't the answer to our woeful OBP, though it would be nearly impossible to lower it any. Not that I put much into this, but maybe the Cubs feel they can play Soriano at 2B until Lee returns and then move him to LF leaving Murton and Jones to platoon in RF. :? Having said that, Soriano doesn't address the team's glaring weakness in the OBP department.

The only way I'd be able to broadcast a Cubs game is if it was on HBO, Showtime, or the like. My language would have me fired before the end of the 2nd innning. Having said that, I don't know if I feel sorry for them or not. Sometimes I feel bad for guys like Ernie Banks and Ron Santo, I guess. It's really a crime that they not only never won a WS for themselves, but have never even seen the Cubs play in one. Guys like Ernie and Ron deserve much better. I really don't understand how they can maintain such a positive attitude. Of course, so do we.

Oh my God. Please stop making Albert Pujols threads FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!! Sorry Derwood, you're just the straw that broke the camels back.

I picture this thread going on a wonderful adventure. I can't wait.

Oh my God. Me ---------> :puke: <---------Dusty

not sucking would be nice. let's do that.

I agree. Things will be ugly at home. Also, this will be the newest excuse for poor play.

Honestly, at what point does Hendry just take a long look in the mirror and realize he's done a poor job of assembling this team (2005 as well)? It has to be obvious to him at this point. I mean, really, they are only missing one player that they expected to have in the lineup (Lee). Certainly he's their best player, but how many more wins would they have if he was healthy? I'd think maybe only a couple at best. He overpaid for two poor outfielders (Jones and Pierre) and VASTLY overpaid for two terrible players (Neifi and Rusch). He "assembled" an absolutely horrible bench (again). All while operating with one of the highest payrolls in the NL. He's just done a poor job the last few years. There's really no other way to say it. He's made some nice moves in the past, for sure. But he's done very poorly the last couple of years. Oh, also, Dusty sucks.

This best sums up my feelings on the matter. Look, people don't want Dusty fired purely because of 2006 (which, by the way, has been stated repeatedly; same with Jones, Pierre, etc). He's been a poor manager since he got to Chicago. The poor talent this year (largely Jim Hendry's fault) doesn't absolve Baker from his failings in the 2003 NLCS, 2004 and 2005. People really need to stop making excuses for him. I do tend to agree with the original point that managers don't seem to have a great impact on a team's success in MLB. Certainly, this team is just not talented. But Baker often doesn't put his team in the best position to succeed. Would batting Murton 5th and Mabry 8th made a big difference in yesterday's game (in hind sight)? No. That doesn't make it the right decision.

Dusty again employs his mastery of the deflection technique... Psst...Dusty....you're 4.5 games back of Houston. There is a difference.

hahaha...Maybe that's why The Riot hasn't had an AB yet. He has to finish those first.

Yeesh. Why does this scare me? Seems like Corey had trouble with being given too much info to remember, and I'd REALLY hate to see that with Murton... Maybe I'm over-reacting... I almost posted this same thing this morning but I thought that I might be over-reacting as well. It is somewhat troublesome to hear though. Baker, et al. start trying to get Murton to "implement some of the things he is being taught" and he starts struggling. Hopefully it will pass. I just hope Murton doesn't lose his patience at the plate. I'll try not to read too much into this for now.

Wow, Williamson has gotten some serious rest.