SouthSideRyan

And you know well enough that there are 500 Nate McLouths that stayed nobodies for every 1 that became something. Maybe we're wrong, maybe Joshua saw something in his swing that he toyed with and he sees him becoming something more, but that's the type of thing that needs to be proven rather than giving every 750-800 OPS guy a shot in the majors just because Nate McLouth outperformed expectations.

Screaming idiots like David Kaplan? I can't wait to drink his tears the day Fuld gets sent down.

We should give him a shot, and DL Patton. Side Rooter>

I kinda hope this drags on to February now and Utay gets the Cubs just so Kaplan can be incredibly wrong. Hate this clueless moron.

In his defense, he's been a part of some terrible organizations since he left the Cubs. Baltimore, Cincy, and now Washington. It's pretty tough to change bad habits when you have coaches from any of those organizations teaching you how to get better at baseball. I hope he can turn it around and stay in baseball for a few more years. Are you seriously implying that the organizational coaches/instructors in those organizations are ALL clueless and incompetent? Seems like a pretty ridiculous statement to make without any firsthand knowledge. When idiots of the highest order regularly reach the pinnacle of coaching in their respective sports, I don't think it's a stretch to say there are a lot of incompetence floating around out there. We'll just have to disagree I guess. I know of several great coaches in the Bal and Cin organizations, can't speak of Washington. Its ignorant to blame an organizational coaching staff for the failure of a guy who hasn't had success anywhere. These guys know what they are doing. It comes down the philosophy of the organization top to bottom, and what kind of teaching would be beneficial to the individual. Dusty Baker was hailed as a great hitting coach before becoming a manager, and his hacktastic teachings could be(and was) beneficial to some people. Doesn't mean I wanted him instructing Corey Patterson on how to hit. When an organization such as the late 90s-early 00s Cubs ignore the skill of plate discipline from majors to rookie ball, and spend most of their time trying to turn a power hitter into a slap hitter because he's a black CF, then yes I feel comfortable laying a good bit of blame at their feet for Corey. Like I said, it's possible that same instruction was quite beneficial to others, but from the second Corey left Lansing he was taught to be Juan Pierre, and it speaks to the cluster-[expletive] that was the farm system of the MacPhail Cubs.

Yeah, Calipari is all I was thinking.

How is Fuku any better than a career minor leaguer at this point? This guy nosedives in the second half faster than a kamikazee pilot. Cause he's Japanese, guys.

In his defense, he's been a part of some terrible organizations since he left the Cubs. Baltimore, Cincy, and now Washington. It's pretty tough to change bad habits when you have coaches from any of those organizations teaching you how to get better at baseball. I hope he can turn it around and stay in baseball for a few more years. Are you seriously implying that the organizational coaches/instructors in those organizations are ALL clueless and incompetent? Seems like a pretty ridiculous statement to make without any firsthand knowledge. When idiots of the highest order regularly reach the pinnacle of coaching in their respective sports, I don't think it's a stretch to say there are a lot of incompetence floating around out there.

I don't think Bradley has trouble seeing the ball. I just don't think he gives a damn whether he catches it half the time. I don't trust an important position like center in Milton Bradley's hands. Awesome.

The Lakers probably just won next year's title. Cleveland might end up with Ariza and Rasheed's probably going to Boston. You guys thought I was annoying this year?

Patton has come in to pitch with the lead once. His first game of the year. He wasn't pitching the 9th with anything less than a 10 run lead. I was expecting Lou to use Shark in the 9th, but unless we get some runs here I think he will use Marmol or Gregg. I'm pretty sure he's going to use Marmol. Cause it's a good idea to bring in the wildest pitcher in the pen with a 4 run lead.

I'd blame the crappy pitcher before I'd blame the lack of Theriot's range. I'll take crappy pitcher inducing the ground ball as he should. It cannot be understated how bad Theriot's range is at SS. His UZR is blowing my mind.

Patton has come in to pitch with the lead once. His first game of the year. He wasn't pitching the 9th with anything less than a 10 run lead.

Vs. righties, Fontenot is a much better player than Blanco.

Roast is a weak man.

Yeah, I think they'd go to 11 pitchers before having Fontenot as the backup SS.

Of course he can't just come out and throw strikes. I really wish we would have signed Derek Lowe. Lowe's walked 3.1/9 this season and is striking out nobody. He's also 4 years older than Dempster. He's also making 2M more per season.

Not a little beer league, a lot. Defense up the middle is very important IMO. It's very important in beer league too.

Racist.

Well, at least until you realize the 20/10 guy is Zach Randolph. Yeah, people are really overrating Randolph in here. He's a worthless load.

Not sure if that was joking or serious. The INTERNET needs a sarcasm detector. But just in case it's not joking, I have to disagree. If there is one player I don't think we'll ever see on a PED list, it's Pujols. Which is sad, because that would legitimately make him the greatest hitter since Ruth. And I'd hate for that guy to be a Cardinal. Let me put it this way. Either Pujols is and has always been clean as a whistle. Or he's incredibly stupid after doing that Sports Illustrated cover. Imagine the backlash there would be if he wound up being exposed as a cheater. Hate to say it, but I think he's just that damn good. I think Pujols is damn good, but so was Barry Bonds before he started taking PEDs. I hate to say it, but I would be surprised if Pujols is clean. That's why the rest of the names need to be released and a lifetime ban should be put on players from now on. Having said that, I do think MLB will have to acknowledge the Steroid Era and allow players in the HOF. It's kind of ridiculous to have a HOF displaying the greats of history with no players acknowledged in a certain 20 year period. The bottom line is that as the drugs improve, so do the masking agents and the drug testing. Can we ever trust any record in baseball again? I think a good analogy is when the public found out about the lies during Viet Nam and we stopped believing anything the government tells us since then because we know it's all a pack of lies. The difference between Pujols and Bonds is that Bonds started his career with four seasons under a .900 OPS and didn't have a 1.000 OPS until his seventh year, when he was 27. Pujols' worst OPS was .955 in 2002, his second year and age 22 season. By his age 27 season, Pujols had already put up five 1.000+ OPS seasons and a sixth at .997. And Bonds came up in '86 and Pujols came up in '00.

Milton Bradley has acted like he cares He has? People who don't care don't scream at umps when calls go against them, excitedly flip their bat when they walk, or smash water coolers or throw their helmets when they do poorly. Whatever has been ailing Bradley this season, having passion is certainly not a problem for him. But is it passion for the team or passion for his own benefit? When Bradley went nuts over other player's walk offs he was only showing passion because he didn't have to come up again and lower his average further.

This is the bigs, not Japan. Tell me, how is is that most people in and around major league baseball think the guy is a BIG bust? Hmm, maybe it's his numbers? Just a hunch. I'm withholding judgment til Mickey Morandini weighs in.