dalgreen

of course, whether that happens or not remains to be seen. I'm pretty much at the point where I hope none of the promising young players are called up to this team. I'd rather not see what Clines, Sarge, and Baker can do to Eric Patterson and Felix Pie. I don't understand the "promising" label given to Pie. Don't we already have enough guys who lack OBP? If he can't get on base at AAA what makes people think he will all of a sudden develop an eye at the major league level? And Hendry's a hypocrite. If he hadn't signed some of the veteran players or kept them around, then we would have had some playing time opened up for somebody else.

You are assuming that we have had high quality young position players, which we have not. I blame the Cub organization for Patterson's struggles because they rushed him. But I will give Baker credit for sticking with Patterson even when many on here thought he should have been benched, and he's pretty much stuck with Cedeno. I think too many of us read one or two publications that rate our players, and we automatically assume they are can't miss players. Four or five years ago, many of us swore that guys like Patterson, Jackson, Kelton, Dubois, Montanez would be playing in Wrigley right now. I think we need to rededicate ourselves to scouting, both domestic and international. The way I see it, a lot of our prospects seem to be just athletes and not guys who really know how to play the game.

Outside of my favorite GM, Dallas Green's era, when have the Cubs produced a series of position prospects over the last four decades? So, it 's not just Baker. I think the organization has been horrible at judging talent for almost all of my Cub fan life.

With all due respect, it sounds as if you're defending Hendry. A lot of people on here know that I can't stand Hendry as much as I can't stand Baker. But I think you're giving Hendry way, way too much credit if you believe he's trying to justify NOT re-signing him. It's Hendry's call to fire him or re-sign him. For the most part, it was his call to hire him. As I've said for three seasons now, Hendry and Baker are two peas in a pod. Regarding the re-built system. I think most of us were fooled into thinking we had a dominant system. Our pitching prospects may have been good, but I can run a list of position players who were just flat out overrated and overvalued. I'm not defending Hendry at all, because I think he gave into the idea that speed could win because Podsednik and the "Speedy White Sox" won the World Series. I tried to make that point clear in the second paragraph. He's as guilty as anyone. I disagree that it's Hendry's call only on letting Baker walk. I think there is much more to it. I think there is a fundamental flaw in this organization and would prefer total regime change. Building a team of baseball players as a opposed to track athletes is just a starting point. Instead, I am just presenting a view on how Hendry might be operating to try and continue in a great job. He certainly has enough evidence to make Baker the fall guy and continue on as GM, if his bosses still like the job he's doing. I just don't see why Hendry would gamble when there's already 2/3 of the season's evidence why Baker and others should go. Hendry's even less intelligent than I thought if he keeps Baker for the rest of the year for the sole reason of proving that Baker should go. What happens if the Cubs play .500 ball or better from here on out? There's already enough reasons why Baker should go, so the fact that he's staying through the rest of the year might indicate Baker will be back if he wants to.

Jacques Jones should get 1/2 an rbi for his hard slide to second to prevent a throw for the double play. Yeah, the ball was slowly hit, and Nevin may not have been thrown out at first, but Jones' take out slide helped us score a run.

I am in Chicago and the ESPN feed is blacked out - what are they saying? Every time something happens (like Ramirez bobble) he says "oh, it must be Dusty's fault". I can't stand Berman. But there are fans and posters who don't seem to hold the players responsible.

I'll be glad when Hendry decided to sign guys who actually know how to play the game. That rundown was a perfect example of how NOT to execute a rundown.

I am wondering the same thing...he is like a best-ever AAA man but can't do squat here. :cry: The mound must be 45' 6" from the plate in AAA. No wait, the baseball is bigger in AAA, no wait he pitches right handed in AAA, no wait.....

I think I let Wuertz bat this inning no matter what. You're only down two runs in the fourth.

He doesn't suck (I know that was sarcasm) but why the props for doing what most second basemen do? Theriot wouldn't have bailed out.

It's amazing how good a pitcher can be if he throws strikes.

With all due respect, it sounds as if you're defending Hendry. A lot of people on here know that I can't stand Hendry as much as I can't stand Baker. But I think you're giving Hendry way, way too much credit if you believe he's trying to justify NOT re-signing him. It's Hendry's call to fire him or re-sign him. For the most part, it was his call to hire him. As I've said for three seasons now, Hendry and Baker are two peas in a pod. Regarding the re-built system. I think most of us were fooled into thinking we had a dominant system. Our pitching prospects may have been good, but I can run a list of position players who were just flat out overrated and overvalued.

I can't believe that the majors are THAT much different than AAA -- unless you're a AAAA pitcher, which I think Hill is.

I agree with you. I've beaten up on Dusty all season and was utterly shocked that the two words "plate discipline" came out of his mouth. I'll give him credit for this move. However, I want him to mention "plate discipline" to the whole team and not just Cedeno. Saying plate discipline doesn't mean a thing. Making mentions of things isn't what matters. People have been talking about this problem for 4 years and he just now mentions the words and we're supposed to get all giddy? Dusty's track record is set as far as patience at the plate is concerned. He would have to undergo a drastic change to make a difference for the better. Saying you are going to talk to somebody about plate discipline isn't the same as actually making a hitter better. Who said anything about getting giddy? I give him credit for even forming the two words "plate discipline" to Cedeno. I was thinking he was going to just say his standard old "He's not swinging the bat well" statement, which would just mean that he needs to get hits vs. changing approach.

:?: Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, confirmation hearings, pubic hair, can of coke, long dong silver...... any of this ring a bell? I think he was barely a teenage when this happened. At least Reynolds won't call this a "high-tech lynching." I was just in high school when it all went down. Yeah, but you were pushing twenty-one. Not the same thing.

I agree with you. I've beaten up on Dusty all season and was utterly shocked that the two words "plate discipline" came out of his mouth. I'll give him credit for this move. However, I want him to mention "plate discipline" to the whole team and not just Cedeno.

:?: Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, confirmation hearings, pubic hair, can of coke, long dong silver...... any of this ring a bell? I think he was barely a teenage when this happened. At least Reynolds won't call this a "high-tech lynching."

I believe the Ivan DeJesus trade was for Larry Bowa with Sandberg as a throw in. Dallas Green was the last truly competent GM we had.

Sort of an odd thing to hear about from Maddux and sort of an odd thing to see reported by the coaching staff. Maddux does have a sense of humor. He was joking with Pole.

I'm still trying to figure out if Cedeno is taking his defense to the plate or his offense to the field. I think in the end he'll be all right. Remember, going back the beginning of 2005, I don't think it was the Cubs' first plan to go with Cedeno in 2006, perhaps 2007, but not 2006. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if some of you who are disappointed in Cedeno are the same people who were screaming at Hendry not to trade Prior for Tejada. I don't understand why some of you think we have to have eight stud offensive players to be good. Look at the Cardinals, they haven't had offensive production from the catcher's position since Pagnozzi. And this year, don't have good power numbers from the outfield spots. Same thing last year when Rolen, Walker and Sanders were hurt. Having the best hitter on the planet will help any lineup, but Pujols isn't coming to the Cubs. If you have OBP guys and add one or two more OPS guys, our offensive problems should be cured.

Although Baker and Rothschild should receive most of the blame for the abuse, I also place some blame on Wood, Prior and Zambrano. It really infuriates me to see how quickly they can get a guy in a 1-2 count, but then it takes them another 6-8 pitches to get him out. That raises your pitch counts, so that they're consistently in the 100's by the sixth inning. It sure was refreshing to see a guy like Lieber throw complete games while only having to toss 90-95 pitches. Yeah, I understand the whole power pitcher vs finesse pitcher stuff, but if you're consistently around the plate, you'll throw less pitches.

Agreed. The "he needs rehab" talk in this thread has been a bit over the top. And has this been confirmed that he's going to be gone? Who was our 3B coach during tonight's game? I believe I said that if he needs help. I don't know Chris Speier, but I do know that leaving for "personal reasons" doesn't usually mean for a vacation. And how is it that fans on here know that he's not an alcoholic? I'm not saying he is, but maybe he is. It could've just been a stupid mistake or it could've been a sign of deeper issues.

Don't most companies have some kind of requirement of rehab when this type of thing happens? Why is it that everyone seems to always jump to unnecessary conclusions about people getting fired? I'm pretty pissed at this organization right now, but if Speier is being granted time to get the help that he needs, I'm happy with it.

(sarcasm ahead) That can't possibly be the case. This is just an attempt by Hendry and Baker to let him be the fall guy for this piss-poor team. The thought of Speier needing rehab can't be the reason why he won't be the third base coach for awhile. The only reason has to be that he shamed the team and must be punished. I don't know why people can't figure out that he probably will have to go to rehab just as most other companies would require of their employees. This isn't a witch hunt, folks. We'll beleive it isn't as soon as the OTHER coaches are fired too. Would you mind telling me where you got the information that Speier was fired?

(sarcasm ahead) That can't possibly be the case. This is just an attempt by Hendry and Baker to let him be the fall guy for this piss-poor team. The thought of Speier needing rehab can't be the reason why he won't be the third base coach for awhile. The only reason has to be that he shamed the team and must be punished. I don't know why people can't figure out that he probably will have to go to rehab just as most other companies would require of their employees. This isn't a witch hunt, folks.