CubfaninCA

Why they even pitching to ARam when Hollandsworth and Neifi and perhaps the worse 6-7 hitters in the league. Bring up Patterson.

Schmidt was low-mid 90's. But the strikezone got smaller with LaTroy than it was for Schmidt for some reason. Hmmm.. Not bad. He's been pretty solid his last several starts. Seems like he's getting back on track. He may never be dominant again, but he's still quite effective.

Schmidt was low-mid 90's. But the strikezone got smaller with LaTroy than it was for Schmidt for some reason. Hmmm.. Not bad. He's been pretty solid his last several starts. Seems like he's getting back on track. He may never be dominant again, but he's still quite effective.

Schmidt was low-mid 90's. But the strikezone got smaller with LaTroy than it was for Schmidt for some reason. Hmmm.. Not bad. He's been pretty solid his last several starts. Seems like he's getting back on track. He may never be dominant again, but he's still quite effective.

Help us out LaTroy!! How fast was Schmidty throwing tonight?? 7 innings 1 run. Gee I want no part of that. :roll:

Shut him down. He's unreliable and a distraction. Maybe he'll be ready to go by opening day next year. Quite frankly I could care less at this point, as I continue to read that his mechanics are part of the cause for continual injuries. He may never get it. What a waste of talent.

Shut him down. He's unreliable and a distraction. Maybe he'll be ready to go by opening day next year. Quite frankly I could care less at this point, as I continue to read that his mechanics are part of the cause for continual injuries. He may never get it. What a waste of talent.

Patterson, Dopriak, Mitre, Murton & Rusch for Alou and Schmidty. Schmidt's been an inning eater up to this year, and seems like the type of guy who's forgotten more about pitching than Wood ever learned. I wouldn't want him as my leadoff or second pitcher in a playoff series, but he'd be a tough #3.

A lineup of Hairston, Nomah, Lee, Burnitz, ARam, Alou, Walker and Barrett could be pretty potent. No more Todd Hollandworth striking out swinging w/ 2 on. :x The Cubs need to upgrade the 6th spot and the #3 pitcher asap.

How hard is he throwing tonight? I can't get the game.

How hard is he throwing tonight? I can't get the game.

And wait til 2006? 2007? 2008? There aren't any powerhouse clubs out there. I don't care if the Sox and Cards are well over .500. It's not like either's phenomenal, and the Cubs are better suited for the playoffs where their lack of depth isn't as exposed.

Looks like either Nevin wants to ride the pine in SD or perhaps SD can pull a deal w/ LA for Weaver.

And the Cards would have to give up Pujols and Edmonds. Schmidt's a free agent, who SF may not retain. They aren't going to get the moon.

Some of you need to learn how to read. All I wrote about Sosa was two sentences. It should be too hard to understand it not like I wrote 10 paragraphs like some. It's not too difficult to understand that I'm not complaining about his trade or his deal. Yes it put the team in the bind, as his production and health tailed off, but I'm glad they resigned him 4 years ago. If I was blaming the Sosa trade, I would have had that in the heading.

I'm not eactly sure where to start piakcing apart this post, so I'll just start at the top. Baker, Nomar, Wood, and Patterson aren't the sole, or even biggest, reasons the Cubs aren't 10-15 games over five hundred. The reasons are: 1. The lack of a true leadoff hitter, before Hairston was placed there (yes, Patterson does tie into this). 2. An extremely inconsistent young bullpen. Those are by far our two biggest problems. Blaming Dusty, Wood, Nomar, and Patterson in some sort of blind rage is easy, but it's also wrong. You're scapegoating, when, in reality, the Cub's problems run much deeper than a top caliber pitcher who has been abused prior to joining the big leagues, a center fielder that was taught to be a power hitter all through the minor leagues and only now has been told to be a leadoff hitter, a perenial all-star shortstop who has won abatting title who tore amuscle from his groin andn (rather than sitting on his money) is now rehabbing in an attempt to rejoin the Cubs and contribute down the stretch, and a manager who you personally don't like even though he has carried to the NLCS, and back to back winning seasons for the first time in a long time. As far as the Sosa deal, would you rather pay him $20 mil (or whatever it would be) to bat .230 for us, or $15 mil (or whatever it is) to bat .230 for the Orioles. We've been through this already on this sight, there was NO better deal out there, especially after the video of him leaving the clubhouse early surfaced. Early in the season, Baker was batting Neifi and Patterson at the top of the order. Last year, Patterson had initial success in the lead off spot, and was told to prepare to be a leadoff man this year. That expiriment, at least for the moment, has failed. That's on Patterson not Dusty. Neifi was on fire for several months, and putting him at the top was logical. He has cooled off significantly since then. Yes Dusty like to play veterans, like Perez, over rookie's like Cedeno. This is a GOOD philospophy. Dusty is having to choose between experience and raw talent. Nobody knows how Cedeno would handle being a starter in the Big leagues, and the middle of a race for the wild card isn't the time to find out. I like young players too, but they have to prove themselves before I put blind faith in them like you do. Nomar Garcipara is a superstar, and deservedly so. He got injured, and has a recent history of injury. HE"S A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE! He's going to be injured. Hopefully his groin muscle is fully healed, because when health he is one of the best hitters EVER. Kerry Wood was overused by his High School coach, laying the foundation for the shoulder structural problems he has tody. His mechanics are much smoother now, taknig strain off that shoulder. Still, he went down again with shoulder tightness recently. After the season he may have a procedure like Matt Morriss did last year to repair some of the damage. This may be a good idea, because when healthy this guy is one of the best. His arm problems, at best, are only partially his fault, with others like his highschool Coach carrying much more of the blame. You blame Baker for Corey Patterson's struggles. Obviously you don't know much about how FARM SYSTEMS work. In the minor leagues he was trained to be a run producer, power hitter. He was told all along he would be a run producer, power hitter. He wants to be a run producer power hitter. Now, suddenly, he's ordered to be a leadoff man, a very differnt style of hitting. Patterson has neither the skills or desire to be a power hitter, and Dusty Baker is too busy being the MANAGER of a big league team to snap the kid into shape. If he will ever be a leadoff hitter, he will learn it in the minors for a minor league hitting coach, not a big league MANAGER. I'm sorry, but I'm really getting tired of people lashing out about problems with the Cubs, and blaming anyone and everyone in sight. One man cannot solve all the woes of the Cubs. Firing Dusty would signify the end for our bid to reach the post season this year. Do you really want to do that? We need bullpen help, and for Hairston and Walker to continue to produce at the top of the order. Nomar may provide a seruious spark should he return (I hope! I hope!). Kerry Wood is still a top level starter. He needs to watch himself the rest of the season, and, if necessary, get surgery to clean up some of the scar tissue in his shoulder. In the mean time he should be on a pitch count the rest of the season. Thank you for basically writing the post I would have written. CubfaninCA, there were so many holes in your post I didn't know where to start either. I loved the part about the Sosa deal putting the Cubs in a financial bind this season. If the Cubs hadn't traded Sosa, they would be paying more money in payroll this year. That trade saved them money, got them better production out of RF and gave them their best lead-off hitter. What led you to complain about the Sosa trade? Read again. I didn't complain about the trade. jfc

Gee what a surprise. Shut this guy down and don't let him break this team's heart again this year. Just fix his arm, his head, whatever it is and hope he can pitch well enough in spring training to warrant a trade. Time to get Schmidt. The Cubs pitching just doesn't look too hot right now.

Give me Schmidty!

Put me on board. Send them Patterson & Rusch for starters. Does Mitre have much trade value??

Can I ask your source? Not because I doubt it's accuracy, but because I have been looking for a source of such numbers. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/stats2005/ Looks like some Bill James stats that overvalues the walk. Some people use bias to try to prove their point. Some of James theories are far from perfect.

I wonder if they factor in that perhaps a guy hits better when he's not spending nights in some hotel room, but rather at his home/familar surroundings. :o

I never said to stand pat, I even said to go after Dellucci in this thread. The fact is, Walker has been more productive than Soriano this year, despite having a lower OPS. That's why his low OBP is a problem. Is your proposition a suggestion to trade for Soriano? More productive?? Are you serious?? He's played 45 less games for starters. Runs Created/G, Second Baseman with at least 225 Plate Appearances. Roberts 9.1 Kent 8.1 Utley 8.1 Kennedy 7.4 Freel 7.1 Castillo 7.1 Walker 6.4 Biggio 6.1 Giles 6.0 Durham 6.0 Ellis 6.0 Figgins 6.0 Counsell 5.9 Aurilia 5.8 Soriano 5.5 That value is park adjusted, BTW How do they adjust for parks?

I never said to stand pat, I even said to go after Dellucci in this thread. The fact is, Walker has been more productive than Soriano this year, despite having a lower OPS. That's why his low OBP is a problem. Is your proposition a suggestion to trade for Soriano? More productive?? Are you serious?? He's played 45 less games for starters.

Bat Delluci 2nd. All those walks will get put to better use in front of the 3-4-5 hitters.

I like Delucci, but Soriano won't play anything other than 2B. Why does that matter. He has a great slugging percentage, 17th overall. They can just go w/ Hairston and Delucci 1-2 or Delucci and Nomar 1-2. As CPatt pointed out, Soriano's road OPS is bad. Factor that with the fact that he's not a severe upgrade over Walker, and he becomes much less attractive a player to have. I'd much rather have Delucci on his own. The prospect cost would be more reasonable, too. His slugging % is 50 points better than Walker's and he's alot faster. Some of you guys overvalue the walk and undervalue the home run. Not many walks are going to push Lee, Burnitz and ARam across the plate. Most likely it just gives Neifi and Barrett the chance to strand them. Also home runs are a sure run. The Cubs would be pretty dangerous w/ three 35+ homer guys. 18 of Soriano's 24 Home Runs are at home. He's been horrible away from home this year, and he wasn't very good away from home last year. I really doubt he'd hit 35 HR as a Cub, not that any particular benchmark like 35 HR is especially important. Walker has 7 homers all year. What's he been?? I'll put more faith in the more durable guy. Got bitten too many times this year already. Walker's been very consistent home and on the road. There's no guarantee that Soriano will be better than Walker. In fact, it's probably quite likely he will be worse than Walker, and we would have to give up players to get him, likely valuable ones. There was no guarantee that Lee would be better than Choi 2 years later or that ARam would ever be good. Standing pat will just continue the long tradition of not winning it all. There's no guarantee Walker will be healthy next week either. Gmab about it be quite likely Soriano's worse. Deal Walker, Patterson, Mitre and another prospect.