ZZ Thorn

After that game, I'm going to have to step out myself. You're not on the road? After living on the road in 2003 and 2004 for all intents and purposes, I've only been on the road 6 weeks in the last 5 months. Fortunately, I have a lot of comissions to show for it (I just dropped off nearly $.5 mil (2% of which is mine) in invoices at the City of Chicago yesterday, now if they can just pay me before 2006... thank you big city bureaucracy). That'll change tho - I've got easy trips (i.e. close together with not much driving in between meetings) lined up for the next two weeks - gonna be nice to be on the road. XM Satellite radio will sure come in handy.

I am smoking in my cubicle - everyone else is gone. WOO-HOO! PARTY IN ZZ'S CUBICLE!

I think you are over simplifying the problem. Dusty is one problem, I don't care if you think he's a big problem, but he's still just one problem. We need guys who can hit and know how to play the game. Or do you really think Burnitz is capable of having an MVP year under a new manager? We need players. A new manager means this team will still suck just suck with a new manager. YES BUT WE NEED A SCAPEGOAT!!!!!!

Woot first post! Go Williams!

Let's hope your prediction comes true. I for one would celebrate if that happened. There's the post of the year. Hoping for a Cub loss. I hate Perez, but I don't hope he goes 3 for 55 just so he might sit. Hoping for a loss is just as bad as players quitting. Hoping for one loss which would cause Baker to be fired would be a godsend for the fans and players of this team. I don't really think so - I bet if they ran a poll on "should Dusty be fired" on chicagosports.com he'd still get a majority of support. I do think his firing would make a very vocal minority happy - and I think it'd make the generally silent majority roll their eyes less at the vocal minority, who the majority would wish would stop obsessing over Dusty, at least in postal form. As far as the players, they are definitely Dusty fans. They would be very upset if he was fired and no manager could come in and get them to play great this year.

There is no right personnel to leadoff on this team. Why is he still putting Walker 5th? To protect ARam? ARam's slump ended a month ago. Ideally you would want Hairston and Walker up front but unfortunately they play the same position. Although having Hairston in CF over Corey is probably better for this team right now. Shoot, that's probably right, but let's keep in mind CP didn't fall off the board until recently. I'm not all that enamored with Hairston - he's inconsistent and makes a lot of mental gaffes - but he is a better option than CP right now... as is Grandma ZZ.

Wait a minute. ZZ, aren't you Mister Optimism when it comes to the Cubs, Et tu Brute!!! LOL, I am an optimist, but that's about today's game and tomorrow's. But the past is pretty clear - the Cubs are the laughingstock of MLB, have been for decades. We're a cultural touchstone synonymous with 'loser.' But I like our chances this year (although this is diminshing rapidly.)!

There is no right personnel to leadoff on this team. Why is he still putting Walker 5th? To protect ARam? ARam's slump ended a month ago.

I think it would be Patterson. (plus at least 2 arms) For some reason, Patterson doesn't strike me as a Billy Beane type of player. That's what I said, but who plays CF for them? Bobby Kielty? I'd rather take my chances with CP.

He's due a combined $29 mil for the next two years, then a team option for $16 mil in 2008. He also has a no-trade clause. Love to trade for him, but no way I'd deal Z for him tho.

I think it would be Patterson. (plus at least 2 arms) Well, I'd definitely give up Patterson. I don't think he can succeed here anymore and I know Kotsay is the leadoff hitter we've needed since Lofton.

Wouldn't any deal for Kotsay be centered around moving Patterson? What will you do with Patterson if he isn't in a deal for Kotsay? No, Rich Hill would not be involved in a deal for Kotsay if Mitre is already part of the deal. He's not cheap, and he'll most likely only be a rental. Isn't he a free agent at the end of the year? I'm not even dealing for Kotsay at this point, personally. I'd rather they go into sell mode at this point and hope that the team can start healthy and strong for next year. I'm not talking fire sale, but rather sensible trades that sell off veterans who are not part of the long term picture of this team. Maybe smart moves that will help the team next year will also help the team for the rest of this year as well. In other words, I would not trade for a rental guy. Period. Kotsay has an option for next year at $7 mil, as I recall. So we'd have him at least thru 2006, then Pie should be ready if we don't retain him. Yeah he's not cheap, but there are very few legitimate leadoff hitters to be had out there. Beane is trying to work out an extension with him and if Kotsay's traded it will probably be close to the deadline. I don't wanna see them do a white flag - maybe if we keep slumping all thru mid and late July.... CP may be part of a deal, but he doesn't have to be. I'd have said that he'd be too expensive for Oakland in March, but he can't be demanding too much as a FA now. LOL, CP is the anti-Moneyball player, so I'd be surprised if they took him. I figure Oakland needs a lot of pitching.

I don't think he's an upgrade over Dempster, so I'd be shocked if they annointed him closer instead of Ryan. But I think he'd be a very good set up man - he's dealt with pressure with decent results. He's a good arm with experience - is he great, no, but everyone wants relief help and if we can get him he'd improve our pen. Wouldn't trade a blue chipper for him tho certainly. Getting Huff and Kotsay would be great for next year, they're both contracted thru 2006, as is Baez. Do we really have any OF that are planning to be better than these guys in 2006 in the minors? Nope, Murton and Pie both need minors time. There's no one in our current crop of OFs that couldn't be upgraded. Burnitz is the only guy I'd be totally fine with keeping, which certainly is something I'd never thought I'd be writing back in November.

Well Prior sure fell apart quickly. Sheesh, Hendry better bring in some reinforcements before we fall totally out of the race.

I'd be pretty freakin thrilled if we shipped out CP, Dubois, Holla, and a bunch of pitchers and got back Huff, Baez and Kotsay. That'd really be quite a change for the better - that'd put us right back in the race. A fella can dream....

I was extremely ticked when they signed Maddux, cuz then the writing was on the wall for Clement. He seems like a real nice guy, so I'm glad he's doing so well. I think everyone does better when they leave the Cubs is cuz they're leaving the Cubs, you know, the most loser franchise in baseball, so they have nowhere to go but up.

I miss Hornk's solid PBP. The good news is I am setting up a super easy work travel schedule for the next couple weeks. It looks like real cake so far. Speaking of travelling, I'm headed to Cedar Point, Ohio this weekend. Gonna ride the roller coasters. And now back to your offensively offensive Chicago Cubs game thread. You know Doobs has head problems now defensively, he's screwed up so many times.

Farns had to go, and Hendry got a near-ready ML player in Novoa with very good stuff and a good prospect in Moore. He certainly did not get fleeced, but he certainly gave up an at times dominant at times disappointing reliver. If Nova could just fill out the space between his huge butt and his huge neck he'd have a 110 mph fastball.

Can we keep this thread about Kotsay? The "I hate Macias" posts have been done to death. I wish Hendry would get Kotsay ASAP - we can sure use him. If it goes down, I predict we get Kotsay for Dubois, Mitre and a good pitching prospect, like say Nolasco. Or maybe they go all pitching and take Leicester and leave Doobs. Either way, I bet we lose 2 ML ready players and a lesser, 'potential' heavy minor leaguer. Would y'all give up Hill or Welly for him? I'd rather not, and I bet this is where the haggling is centered: who's the centerpiece guy they get in return.

Not to mention having JVB in the minors as a backup option if Dempster walks with a big offer. People don't seem to think well of JVB's chances in the majors - they say he's a 4A player. He's put up some great numbers tho. If we lose Demp I'll be incredibly upset. I like seeing him K someone on a great slider and then get all excited and pump his fist.

That may be, but do you really think he's worse than Macias? I mean that's what were talking about here. Nobody is claiming that Grieve is some outstanding player. The point is, he's better than Macias. As is Kelton for that matter. It seems fairly obvious to me. But that's a different point than the fact that Grieve sucks - Macias sucks too, but Grive is not a big upgrade over Macias to me. Things like attitude, versatility, yes, even body-language, all these things count to the guys on the field. Is Grieve better than Macias, yes, but not by a significant amount IMHO and he still definitely sucks. Grieve can't even hit in AAA -all he can do is not make contact. All Macias can do is provide defensive versatility and that's more useful out of your 25th man to me. He can't hit in AAA? .248 .365 .523 Body language? We're judging who the worthy players are now on body language. Wow, talk about grasping for straws. Hardly. See, someone who's called up has to play in the real world, not in the airless world of stats. That means he has to fit in with the team, he has to not be an aggravation, and as the last man off the bench he can't be a sulker who brings the team down, he has to ...have good body language. If the new 25th man thinks the team revolves around him, then I'd stay with the old 25th man. This is the 25th man after all.

MacDougal was pretty effective as the Royals closer - he's a kind of poor man's Farnsworth. If the Cubs think they can straighten him out, they'd get a huge return and they really don't have too far to go. It'd be a good pickup, depending on who they gave up.

That may be, but do you really think he's worse than Macias? I mean that's what were talking about here. Nobody is claiming that Grieve is some outstanding player. The point is, he's better than Macias. As is Kelton for that matter. It seems fairly obvious to me. But that's a different point than the fact that Grieve sucks - Macias sucks too, but Grive is not a big upgrade over Macias to me. Things like attitude, versatility, yes, even body-language, all these things count to the guys on the field. Is Grieve better than Macias, yes, but not by a significant amount IMHO and he still definitely sucks. Grieve can't even hit in AAA -all he can do is not make contact. All Macias can do is provide defensive versatility and that's more useful out of your 25th man to me.

I agree: we'll never find an SS this year, have to go with Perez/Cedeno, preferably more of the latter. Maybe Nomar will come back.... We definitely have to do something at the OF then, something that brings in a Kotsay-type hitter somewhere. Hey, let's bring in Kotsay! He's a Kotsay-type hitter. So if Corey stays or goes, I'm fine with either. Corey/Perez hitting 7-8 is fine with me, and I'd rather have Corey in LF than have Holla/Dubois there. If we trade Corey, Holla and Dubois, and upgrade in LF (as well as CF with Kotsay) I'd be fine with that too. But we need a Kotsay-type hitter, preferably a leadoff hitter, and it seems best to find one who plays OF.

Mark Kotsay=Todd Walker Todd Walker as a lead off hitter over the last 3 years (602 at bats) .297/.353/.477/.830 97 runs scored/51 walks. Mark Kotsay as a lead off hitter over the last 3 years (770 at bats) .310/.363/.474/.837 99 runs scored/64 walks. We have a guy just like Mark Kotsay in Todd Walker, and he's had a total of 2 at bats in the lead off spot this year. A quality lead off hitter is certainly a need. Some good points, and Walker would be good in the leadoff spot, but wouldn't Kotsay be better? He doesn't have SB speed but he has good basepath speed, more than Walker certainly. I think Kotsay/Walker 1-2 would be a pretty good tandem. They would see a LOT of pitches - sure would be nice to see that from our top of the order. To me Walker is a great #2 hitter - ARam is back, he doesn't need protection anymore. I hope Dusty regains his senses and puts Walker back at #2.