CubfaninCA

[insert something about manager getting the most out of players here] then dusty deserves credit for making lee an mvp candidate. sure you want to go there? ;)

Holy dear lord, you've changed your opinion. It's magic, I say, magic. Nice try, my foot. You are a contrarian, CubsfaninCA, and you regularly skirt the line of trollish behavior pretty regularly. You've been a dropping into threads in such a fashion almost since you joined the board. I'm all for different opinions and I like a good debate. I don't like when people reiterate the same opinions time again without sufficient support for the argument. Additionally, it's pretty clear that "almost everyone else in baseball" doesn't mean much of anything since we don't have access to their thoughts. I would add the argument, too, that it's pretty clear that there are a lot of baseball clubs that really don't know how to maximize their winning potential. The Cubs are, and have been, a great example of how not to assemble a baseball team. that's really rich. when the information doesn't back one's opinion go personal. take the next lecture to pm. Keep dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging. You may not like it, but you are contrarian. It's not personal and it's not an attack. You take pride in fighting the conventional wisdom of the board. You like pointing out how stats can't do this, and stats can't do that, and how your eyes told you that Choi sucked as a Dodger. Oh, and by the way, since you never read the last PM I sent you, why would I bother sending you any more? If you don't like what I have to say, in what forum I say it, how I behave as a Mod, how and when I moderate, or if you have a problem with me personally, please feel free to contact Tim or 1908. i think i read a few of your pm's and got tired of the lectures. obviously, it offends some that i question the dependability of moneyball. if that makes me a "contrarian," so be it. i can admit i've been wrong on guys like rusch, pierre and walker. i doubt the moneyballers can ever admit error, since they can always claim small sample or gm's are dumb or "he didn't get a proper chance", etc. pot meet kettle.

Your eyes and your memory have misled you. Choi had an OBP of .389 and an SLG of .496 (OPS of .885) when he was injured. But he still can't hit lefties. He never has been able to. That's a fact. And the key is those were his stats BEFORE he was injured. What has he done since then. You can state your case based on that but he's not that same player. I could make the argument that Sammy was still hitting well before he got beaned in the head and that should warrant a contract. But Sammy changed after that, teams know that, and that's why he isn't playing this year. Choi never could hit lefties, and after he suffered the concussion, he changed. And that right there is reason enough that Choi shouldn't play everyday. The guy at best is a platoon player. Really? Wow, he sucked as a Marlin in 2004. Only had a .388 OBP and a .495 SLG (.883 OPS). That's just awful, I say. Definitely took a dip to Neifi-esque suckitude with a .331 OBP and a .453 SLG (.789 OPS) as a Dodger in 2005. In the minors, Choi faced lefties everyday and wasn't platooned. He did fine against them. TT, post the numbers. 2003 to 2005: Lefties: .159/.317/.280/.597 Righties: .253/.357/.461/.818 Using your example of 2004: Lefties: .167/.268/.278/.546 Righties: .261/.381/.469/.850 Also from 2003 to 2005 he hit 38 HR's and 36 of those were against righties. The guy can't hit lefties. Face it and admit it. I'm not debating that he can sometimes hit righties, but he can't hit lefties to save his life. 34 k's in 82 abs. but what does jim tracy know.

Holy dear lord, you've changed your opinion. It's magic, I say, magic. Nice try, my foot. You are a contrarian, CubsfaninCA, and you regularly skirt the line of trollish behavior pretty regularly. You've been a dropping into threads in such a fashion almost since you joined the board. I'm all for different opinions and I like a good debate. I don't like when people reiterate the same opinions time again without sufficient support for the argument. Additionally, it's pretty clear that "almost everyone else in baseball" doesn't mean much of anything since we don't have access to their thoughts. I would add the argument, too, that it's pretty clear that there are a lot of baseball clubs that really don't know how to maximize their winning potential. The Cubs are, and have been, a great example of how not to assemble a baseball team. that's really rich. when the information doesn't back one's opinion go personal. take the next lecture to pm.

Is the whole team struggling? As far as offense, Barrett is playing a little above projection right now, as is Ronny and Jacque (believe it or not). Murton's OPS exactly matches the OPS that PECOTA projected for him this season. Walker's slugging percentage isn't as high as it should be, but his OBP is pretty good - higher than it will probably be at the end of the season. The two players who are falling well short of projections are Aramis Ramirez and Juan Pierre. And, of course, Derrek Lee isn't in the lineup. I think what's going on right now shows that Lee and Aramis were being counted on to provide the bulk of the offense this year. I wonder if we'd even be a .500 team if both were healthy and playing as expected. add 50 points to pierre's abysmal obp and get aram to .850 ops and this team's .500. none of the hitters are really playing above average. unfortunately, a couple guys are just awful when considering their career numbers.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid. The Marlins are really the only team that has allowed Choi to play regularly, and when given that opportunity, he produced. Then they traded him to the Dodgers who let him rot on the bench. perhaps i'm wrong, but didn't a bunch of teams have a chance to claim choi off waivers recently?? I believe the Red Sox have him stashed at AAA now. Doesn't change the fact that when give a chance to actually play regularly, he played well. if the guy could produce, he wouldn't be stashed in AAA. He also just came off the DL. But, whatever, don't let your disdain for Choi get in the way of your analysis. it's an objective opinion. i actually watched the dodger play. i change when the information changes. unfortunately, there are those who never budge an inch. Really? As far as I can tell, you've never budged from being a contrarian who makes it his mission to be go against the grain. I've also never seen you admit that anyone else might possibly be correct. In case you were curious, when Choi gets an opportunity to play he produces at a decent clip. I know this is hard, but rather than trusting your eyes, why don't you check out his stats? They don't bite. He's not an All-Star. Probably won't be an All-Star. But for the right side of the infield, would you rather have Walker and Perez/Hairston or Choi and Walker? Plus, when Lee is back, Choi can be sent to AAA, be a PH, DH for interleague, be traded, or whatever. He's certainly a better option than Clark or Durazo and the other retreads that have been proposed recently. lol @ the "contrarian" label. seems i'm in agreement with almost everyone else in baseball, but nice try. just recently i've changed my opinion on pierre & rusch. some people called it, so what, i'm wrong.

pierre's current obp is 57 points below his worse season. amazing

should have signed pedro a couple winters ago. cubs need an 10 man rotation.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid. The Marlins are really the only team that has allowed Choi to play regularly, and when given that opportunity, he produced. Then they traded him to the Dodgers who let him rot on the bench. perhaps i'm wrong, but didn't a bunch of teams have a chance to claim choi off waivers recently?? I believe the Red Sox have him stashed at AAA now. Doesn't change the fact that when give a chance to actually play regularly, he played well. if the guy could produce, he wouldn't be stashed in AAA. He also just came off the DL. But, whatever, don't let your disdain for Choi get in the way of your analysis. it's an objective opinion. i actually watched the dodger play. i change when the information changes. unfortunately, there are those who never budge an inch.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid. The Marlins are really the only team that has allowed Choi to play regularly, and when given that opportunity, he produced. Then they traded him to the Dodgers who let him rot on the bench. perhaps i'm wrong, but didn't a bunch of teams have a chance to claim choi off waivers recently?? I believe the Red Sox have him stashed at AAA now. Doesn't change the fact that when give a chance to actually play regularly, he played well. if the guy could produce, he wouldn't be stashed in AAA. :roll: Whatever you say. I guess the fact that he actually has produced when given the chance to play regularly doesn't mean anything. No one is saying he's a star player. However, there are some AL teams that could use him as a DH, and probably a handful of teams around the majors that could use him at first base. He just happens to be in an organization that has productive players at 1B and DH already. he would have been picked up by one of those teams that needs a 1b or dh then. if he could play ss or catcher, someone could use him. he doesn't produce enough for 1b/dh.

The Angels won when they were owned by a corporation. What good does it do to have one owner to blame? true, disney won a title. everything went right for anaheim the year they won it all. i'll bet tho that they have a much better winning percentage w/ moreno as owner. iirc the angels mostly sucked under disney. also, i recall how the dodgers went downhill when fox bought them.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid. The Marlins are really the only team that has allowed Choi to play regularly, and when given that opportunity, he produced. Then they traded him to the Dodgers who let him rot on the bench. perhaps i'm wrong, but didn't a bunch of teams have a chance to claim choi off waivers recently?? I believe the Red Sox have him stashed at AAA now. Doesn't change the fact that when give a chance to actually play regularly, he played well. if the guy could produce, he wouldn't be stashed in AAA.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid. The Marlins are really the only team that has allowed Choi to play regularly, and when given that opportunity, he produced. Then they traded him to the Dodgers who let him rot on the bench. perhaps i'm wrong, but didn't a bunch of teams have a chance to claim choi off waivers recently??

taking walks gives him immunity. i'm starting to wonder if he's already worn out. he's not the most durable guy. 6 for his last 42 makes me wonder.

have seen this before. choi, jerome walton.... it's a legit question. not trying to knock the kid.

good question. at least he's doing better than furcal. True, but he's not doing nearly as good as Nomar. :wink: he's not a shortstop any longer. :)

good question. at least he's doing better than furcal.

He's been struggling of late. He's on something like a 6-32 stretch, with 11 k's. I recall Choi & DuBois starting out hot and then cooling off when the league seemed to adjust to them. Is this happening w/ Cedeno now? His .710 ops is starting to catch up w/ Neifi's .681 from last year. Although Murton lacks power, I like Murton a lot better. I thought Cedeno had some plate discipline, but doesn't look like it.

a few days ago fred posted that he's 2-38 w/ men on. matt lawton part II. :x

Speaking of rediculious. Before the season you wanted a quick fall from contention? Wow. Why is it ridiculous? I looked at the team and didn't see a contender, and the org. needs some housecleaning anyway so yeah, let's crash fast, take out the trash, and get ready for next year. Better that than some tragically halfassed darkhorse run this year. It's ridiculous to hope your team fails, especially before the the season even starts. Did you see a contender before the 2003 season? If not you must have wanted a quick fall from contention that year also. You must have been pretty dissapointed come mid October. IF someone's rooting for a quick fall, they're essentially rooting for multiple injuries, a major decline in key players, and for the young players to be either below average or just average. Wood, Prior & Lee are all hurt. ARam's horrible. Guzman & Williams sucked. Cedeno, Murton & Hill are all bordering average. Yippee

Keepers - Lee, Z, Marshall & Dempster Anyone else can go for the right price.

Mariotti's the same guy who cried and cried for getting Baker. What does he know.

Who knows if they actually are...7 of their last 14 victories have come against the Cubs. 7 out of 8 vs other teams is quite good.

(a) No they're not better - that's the point. (b) Explain the losses to the Pirates, Diamondbacks, and Giants in the same time-frame. In SF, the rookie pitchers didn't pull through. Versus Pitt & AZ the Cubs were in the midst of a massive hitting slump. Guzman pitched vs. Pitt. Sure loss. Maddux returned to earth vs. AZ.

the padres are redhot, so maybe the cubs are better than what they've been showing. since they have z, marshall and wood going in the washington series, i have hope. if washington beats up on the cubs, forget it.