Wilson A2000

Except hit home runs and play average defense. Murton knows he needs to do this to play everyday in the bigs. Unfortunately he just can't. Wow, you're just knocking them out of the park left and right today. What do you think is the real reason Murton isn't starting or in the bigs? Does Jim Hendry not like red heads? Murton isn't a flawless player without holes in his game, but neither is Eric Patterson by any means. Each has their own individual strengths and contributions they can bring to the team. The difference is that Hendry doesn't value Murton's strengths (OBP, Quality At Bats), but values Eric Patterson's (Speed, Left Handed). Granted. But Patterson will not be playing everyday. Fontenot will. If Murton is brought up, he would most likely be playing everyday. That exposes him more. Then the question is why in the world would anyone want Fontenot playing everyday over Murton playing every day. Because Fontenot doesn't have to play everyday. Johnson can play left and DeRosa can play 2B.

Oops

How did the Cubs win on Sunday? Zambrano hit a grounder, hustled to first base, and Utley threw it wildly to first. An error occurred, and the Cubs scored. Utley admitted that he saw Zambrano running hard and that made him rush his throw. With the Cubs' lack of solid starting pitching, the race for the division will be tight. Every game will be important. That's why you hustle. Do you realize that you can say the exact same thing about how much Ramirez getting hurt would harm the team if his "hustle" managed to cause an injury? The guy has leg issues and, on top of it, he's slow. Asking him to leg out every ball he hits is tantamount to wanting injury prone pitchers to pitch through pain. Nothing good can come of it. The situations are not the same. First of all, you don't know if Ramirez is injured right now. Second, how did ARam get hurt last year? By running slow to first, seeing that there would be a play, trying to turn it on, and then hurting himself. Do you want Kerry Wood to not throw sliders because he might get hurt? If Ramirez hits a gapper, I am not so much concerned that he jogs into second. I don't like him having to run hard to second because he stood and watched what he thought was a homer. I guess I wish Zambrano would have just jogged into second so that Utley wouldn't have had to make an easy play, thus prolonging the game just so that Zambrano doesn't hurt himself.

Except hit home runs and play average defense. Murton knows he needs to do this to play everyday in the bigs. Unfortunately he just can't. Wow, you're just knocking them out of the park left and right today. What do you think is the real reason Murton isn't starting or in the bigs? Does Jim Hendry not like red heads? Murton isn't a flawless player without holes in his game, but neither is Eric Patterson by any means. Each has their own individual strengths and contributions they can bring to the team. The difference is that Hendry doesn't value Murton's strengths (OBP, Quality At Bats), but values Eric Patterson's (Speed, Left Handed). Granted. But Patterson will not be playing everyday. Fontenot will. If Murton is brought up, he would most likely be playing everyday. That exposes him more.

How did the Cubs win on Sunday? Zambrano hit a grounder, hustled to first base, and Utley threw it wildly to first. An error occurred, and the Cubs scored. Utley admitted that he saw Zambrano running hard and that made him rush his throw. With the Cubs' lack of solid starting pitching, the race for the division will be tight. Every game will be important. That's why you hustle.

Except hit home runs and play average defense. Murton knows he needs to do this to play everyday in the bigs. Unfortunately he just can't. Wow, you're just knocking them out of the park left and right today. What do you think is the real reason Murton isn't starting or in the bigs? Does Jim Hendry not like red heads?

You really shouldn't be surprised at this.

What? Does baseball involve a lot of running? No.

I find you odd. Since when did asking a guy to hustle make anyone odd? It's odd dwelling on a ridiculous and subjective intangable over the actual concrete production a player accomplishes. How much of baseball is physical and how much is mental? If a good portion of it is mental, is this subjective or objective? My point is that if you are in a slump, at least do what you can to improve. What's so hard about running? My goodness, it's not like any of them run a lot. So run hard while you can. No running is not a big deal and doesn't significantly alter one's stats, but it is one of my pet peeves, especially when a person's stats are down.

Because they are not obvious doubles Sure they are. The risk isn't worth the reward. Especially when the reward is absolutely nothing. Ramirez thought this was an obvious homerun. The reward is that you make it to second base safely. He did, but I believe that he ran hard into second.

I find you odd. Since when did asking a guy to hustle make anyone odd?

Because they are not obvious doubles

If you did, you would be stupid

Are you seriously saying that it is OK to loaf on a ball that was not absolutely crushed? No, he would not have gotten a triple, but he could have gotten thrown out. This wasn't the first time that Ramirez did this and it won't be the last. I find it odd that people who make tons of money don't give it all on the field. I find it even odder that Cubs fans who haven't won squat in 100 years don't demand this from their players. Piniella, the supposed tough manager, treats Soriano and Ramirez with kid gloves. One thing I did like about Baylor is that he held Sammy accountable.

Except hit home runs and play average defense. Murton knows he needs to do this to play everyday in the bigs. Unfortunately he just can't.

Is there a specific speed at which one crosses the line from "loafing" to "hustle?" Yes. It's like the difference in speed when you hit and home run and when you hit a double and run in to second. Soriano runs like he hits a homerun whether he hits a double or is running for a ball down the line or in a gap. Ramirez has this problem too. He started to hustle early last year, but then decided that he will get paid regardless. See his home run, I mean double last series.

No, just run faster.

I don't think I have once seen Soriano hustle. He lopes after everything in the outfield. He never hustles down to first base. What about that triple that occurred this year off the side wall that he defended horribly? If you are going to be lazy, you better put up monster numbers. If you are having a terrible first month, then hustle.

He had a good OPS, but when you look at his numbers since he started getting 500 AB's, his home runs and RBI's were down a bit.

Soriano's skills haven't diminished. Well then he has no baseball acumen. How about a diminished stats clause? 130 million just doesn't buy much anymore. Someone tell Soriano that just because the dollar buys a whole lot less doesn't mean that his play has to diminish in kind. The Cubs wouldn't have made the playoffs last year without Soriano's torrid pace in June when we coincidentally turned the season around. That's right. But he is too streaky. Way too streaky for 130 million. Not fundamentally sound enough for 130 million. Where was Soriano when it really counted, in the playoffs? I would move the right fielder to short center and throw him curveballs and watch him try to pull everything. I am just tired of this injury prone, fundamentally unsound, player who doesn't even give a ton of effort.

Murton has no one to blame but himself. He can hit for average, but he doesn't have speed, and doesn't have power and is a butcher in the outfield. In order to be a corner outfielder, you have to be better. At best, he is a fourth outfielder.

Looks like Derosa is going to left and either Patterson or Fontenot playing 2B. That's actually an upgrade considering how poorly Soriano has been playing. Time to move Fukudome to leadoff.

Soriano's skills haven't diminished. Well then he has no baseball acumen. How about a diminished stats clause? 130 million just doesn't buy much anymore. Someone tell Soriano that just because the dollar buys a whole lot less doesn't mean that his play has to diminish in kind.

Forget Coco Crisp, go after Kenny Loften. How much longer until the Cubs can activate the diminished skills clause in Soriano's contract and let him loose?

The same reason they had such an easy ride to 16-0, they play in the pathetic AFC East. When the Bears went to the Super Bowl in 2006, they had the easiest schedule in the league that year I believe even though they had the first or second best record in the NFC the year before. The NFC Central/North was just plain terrible. But remember, although the Patriots have the easiest schedule based on last season's record, many teams improve from season to season which could mean they have a much tough schedule than was originally thought.