SouthSideRyan

Next. If there is only hope for this team, it is our kids. Rich Hill Matt Murton Sean Marshall Carlos Marmol Pie, Gallagher, and Veal down the road. but at the same time now that I think about it, a bunch of young guys have had chances to develop down there. I'm not sure you could find a manager/coach in organized baseball that wouldn't start the season with Rich Hill in the rotation.

I always heard that Zimmer was a glorified mascot as Yankee bench coach.

I'd like to see specifics on the bullpen/starter issue. And I think Willingham should've stuck at catcher. Having his bat at catcher is a valuable thing.

I don't really think Baker managed that poorly in '03. He made a few glaring mistakes, but didn't do horrendously. My main point is you can't judge a manager based on one season. (Baker, Piniella, Pena, Girardi, etc.) That's not to say put no stock ever in how a manager does in his first season, but it takes the need to look deeper into the maanger's duties than simply looking at the record the year before and the amount of roster turnover.

95-67, but I don't think that has much of anything to do with a manager's skill.

Exactly. If they are gonna spend all that money, get 4 #1 starters. You can assemble the best offensive lineup in baseball, but on any given night they can get shut down by good pitching, its that simple. Offseason Headline: Yankees sign Zito, Scmidt, and Matsuzaka Thats the thing that worries me Steinbenner is going to be on mission this off season driving up the price on these players to a ridiculous level. I'm happy they lost but this could be bad news for any hope of the Cubs getting Zito or Schmidt. This post has been made in baseball forums every year in October for the past 6 years. And then the Yankees sign Jaret Wright.

Has been a lot of talk about the relative impact a manager has, or may not have on a ballclub. What about Baker? Did he have an impact on the Cubs? From 67-95 to 88-74? They really didn't add a whole lot to that club outside of Ramirez. Guys like Prior, Zambrano came up to produce. Does Baker get any credit?

Case in point, he gets runs into Marcus Giles injuring his shoulder. Comes back and pitches the next inning(stupidly)

Find me a guy who is a hardcore defensive stat guy. If such a person exists I haven't met him/her. Mitchel Lichtman of UZR is. But he's a douchebag.

I have little to add here besides Go Tigers and boo A-rod But the line I'm on the ganja from kctigers who's posted almost exclusively great analytic content just cracked me up for some reason.

If the A's win the playoffs look for the Cubs color scheme to change to green and gold.

Am I making things up or did Herges have some sort of dust up with one of his old managers?

Honestly Cuse, how much are you loving the state of the ACC right now? What a horrible conference. GO GA TECH!!

I hope Hendry waits so long he misses out on Piniella.

Who to root for when 2 jeks like those 2 are the coaches? I was inclined to say Amato, cause FSU was actually ranked(a joke), but this might save Amato's job which is bad.

Couldn't you say the same thing about our team's pitching philosophies? (Ironically going the opposite way; by NOT walking every other hitter) I just look at right now if the starting pitching isn't addressed at all you have Zambrano/Hill/Prior/2 of Marshall/Mateo/Guzman/Marmol/Ryu/Gallagher/Veal If the lineup isn't addressed at all you have 2 of Theriot/Izturis/Cedeno, 1 of Pagan/Pie, and Moore all the lineup. My main problem is the backup plan for position players is ugly. I don't want to see Cesar Izturis anywhere on this team next year, but I also don't want to see Ronny Cedeno leave Iowa until he reestablishes himself as a capable hitter there. That leaves the best of the 3 options for 2 spots as the much debated Ryan Theriot. I'm a fan of Theriot and would rather this thread not turn into another debate about him, but the point stands that if he's the most reliable of your Middle IF heading into next year, it's gonna be kinda ugly up the middle. I don't want to see Pie in a major leauge uniform until he proves his 2nd half in Iowa wasn't a small sample size. If he keeps it up, I'm fine with him up around June, but I also don't want Angel Pagan, everyday player up until that point. I have no problem playing a couple inexperienced guys on the team, but I don't want Felix Pie heading into the season as the 6 hitter (or even worse, leadoff)because we spent all our money on pitching And before it's brought up, no I don't feel all or even most of those pitchers I listed for the 2 spots will be ready, but I'm fairly confident that choosing from those 7 pitchers you can sort it out and find 2 that would give you #4 stuff at virtually no cost.

FINALLY!! This is why I think ARod would be easier to acquire than Derrek Lee. His unclutchiness and not true yankeeism would devalue him a lot. That and he's not friends with the Jeter. And Jason Giambi told me he doesn't like him.

LSU has lost and West Virginia hasn't played anyone. Thankfully for Michigan, no matter what happens as long as they win out, they will be in the title game. They get a free BCS boost if they can beat OSU on the road (unlikely at this point, but possible) Edit: Just realized that 1 loss teams like ND are ahead of LSU. Oh well that will change this weekend against Florida I don't believe margin of victory comes into play, and ND's schedule has been tougher than LSU's I'm sure. Texas, I'm not so sure that their schedule would be harder, but that won't matter when they lose to Oklahoma this week and IMB gets even more pissed at the Oregon refs.

I'm guessing that means there are 3 unique streaks longer than theirs, not just 3 teams with longer streaks. Cause if it's the latter, well I just have no faith in statistics anymore.

Agreed, Hudson shouldn't cost that much, and if he does, the Braves should be pitching in serious salary relief.

Why? Cause he was a hell of a hard worker, and pretty good on the basepaths from what I remember. I think he'd be a good 1st or 3rd base coach. And he's a pretty vibrant guy, and I like having coaches that are likeable. Why not? Well, he sucked, had a horrible approach, and there's no evidence whatsoever that he has any qualifications to coach. Perfect example of a crappy hustler by the way. Ramirez jogging is 800 times better than Dunston running out another ground ball out. Boy, for someone who's a NSBB Hall of Famer, you sure have a nice attitude. :? He's just here for the chicken wings.

And undermine the GM and manager? In the middle of the pennant race? You might as well fire them if you're going to go over their heads on that, and you'd find pretty much nobody that would fire a manager/GM in the middle of a pennant race. Even the Marlins waited til after the season on Girardi. What stunt was that? Not allowing people who have nothing to do with the Cubs to make money off the Cubs product? Bastards! And a competitive team helps the bottom line. But wouldn't an overhaul of the minor leauge system lead to those young players that Minnesota has? And wouldn't a team with young studs cost a lot less than 100M worth of mediocrity? Wouldn't a team of young studs that were contenders draw in more money than 100M team that goes 66-96?

I believe he was quoting people "in the know" with their descriptions of the candidates, purposefully putting quotes around those oft-repeated phrases. Yes, they are largely meaningless, but I think we know what they all really mean..... nothing. Did anybody else "picture" Chris Farley "reading" that "article". http://www.patheticpersonals.com/images/brauer.jpg Lou Piniella may not "understand OBP" or "play anyone under the age of 30" Just cause he doesn't like "big innings" or "taking care of a pitcher's health" People have problems with him "fighting his players" and "making himself the story"

Maybe he is, or maybe its just an act. He is a salesman first and foremost. Let's not forget that. At this point I have 0 trust for anyone associated with the Tribune compnay So a marketing exec from another team would've been a better choice?

I think it'd be pretty tough for Hendry to get away with blaming another horrible season on the manager. If the Cubs suck next year, I have to believe Hendry's gone.