dalgreen

I think this team is an enigma. You can't say it's not a good team and you can't say it's a bad team, either. Which team is it? The one that beat the White Sox and Red Sox and Cardinals two out of three and swept the Marlins? Or the one that has lost seven in row, eight in a row and got swept by the Nationals and lost three of four to the D-backs?

Well, I was origionally not in favor of this trade either. Not so much because I didnt like it, but moreso because I wanted somebody bigger. Now that I've had a night to think of it, I really do like this deal. To answer some of your concerns. If you wanted someone bigger, were you ready to give up somebody big? For example, Hill, Pie, Murton, Harvey, etc? That's why I didn't want a big deal. The only way a big deal was going to be done is if 1) we gave up top tier prospects, or 2) get a high priced big time player whose team is looking to get rid of money. Either way, I didn't want to go.

That's not fair. If you're the manager, you don't have the option of giving the umpire three lineup cards. Baker seem to hate having lefties right after each other, so I'm not sure if Lawton and Walker would hit 1-2, even though I'd do it.

How do you explain his pre-injury 2003, then? The numbers he put up indicated that he was a superstar in the making. Something has happened between then and now...I'm not sure you can blame his struggles this season on the Cubs "rushing" him through the minors. Welcome to the forum! I'm a Patterson fan and still hold out hope he can turn into the very good player that people have thought. I can't explain his pre-injury 2003. But I will say that although he had a very good pre-injury season that in no way automatically means he would've had the same kind of 2nd half. Lots of guys have good first halves, especially young guys until the league figures them out. Now maybe he would've kept the same pace had he not gotten hurt, I don't know. But it appears to me that Patterson has difficulty making adjustments when the pitchers make adjustments to him. But I see no good purpose of having Patterson on the bench just to pinch run in September. I like the Lawton pick up and wish they'd put him in left field. One thing I like about him is that he seems to know how to play baseball the right way. You won't see him swinging for the fences when the wind is blowing in at 15 mph, unlike a few of the guys we have now.

There's much more to playing centerfield than just having speed.

Yep, I think that will be the outfield. Some people really undervalue defense. Cub pitching is not that good. Murton & Hairston may be the odd men out. If that's the case, then it means Murton goes down for Patterson, which I don't like. Of course, they could always get rid of the redundant reliever, and keep Hairston as a utility guy. But I doubt we see them do that this late in the season. I don't see the Cubs bringing Patterson back up before September. They know it'll take him some time and don't seem to be in much of a rush. What would bringing up Patterson in September do? I don't think Patterson sitting the bench would be productive for him. I'd hate for him to be brought up only as a late-inning defensive replacement. From what I've read and heard, I'm not sure there's a big difference between Patterson now and Patterson of April-June. What's the alternative? By September the Minor League season is over, and Iowa isn't going to the playoffs. Actually, I had suggested a couple of weeks before his demotion that he should play winter ball. Right now, I just want to put Patterson in a positive position. I'm just not sure playing in Wrigley this season is it. Imagine him coming in to pinch hit and he strikes out. Yes, he could walk or get a hit, but I just want him in a positive environment where he can be comfortable. Funny, isn't? They rushed him through the system, needlessly, and now he's where he should've been throughout 2002.

Yep, I think that will be the outfield. Some people really undervalue defense. Cub pitching is not that good. Murton & Hairston may be the odd men out. If that's the case, then it means Murton goes down for Patterson, which I don't like. Of course, they could always get rid of the redundant reliever, and keep Hairston as a utility guy. But I doubt we see them do that this late in the season. I don't see the Cubs bringing Patterson back up before September. They know it'll take him some time and don't seem to be in much of a rush. What would bringing up Patterson in September do? I don't think Patterson sitting the bench would be productive for him. I'd hate for him to be brought up only as a late-inning defensive replacement. From what I've read and heard, I'm not sure there's a big difference between Patterson now and Patterson of April-June.

I would assume that Murton's OBP won't stay that high...sure. But, I've wanted to see a young Cub come up from the minors and step up as Murton did and now that he has the Cubs replace him. I just hope that he still keeps getting AB's but if Lawton is batting leadoff I doubt Baker will sit him out against all lefties..it's not the way Dusty has managed. Honestly, what's the rush? The Cubs will likely need two outfielders next season, and Murton should be given every chance in spring training. Even if he's sent down this season, he'll be back in September. I don't have a problem seeing Murton replaced with Lawton, I do have a big problem with Murton being sent down for a guy like Hollandsworth. I like the deal. It cracks me up how some people are disappointed that a "blockbuster" wasn't made, but would've been upset had Hill, Pie, Dope, or Murton been involved. That's the only way a blockbuster was going to be made. I'm glad Hendry has hung onto a lot of the prospects.

Dusty makes a lot of stupid mistakes, but his decisions in the ninth will go unnoticed. Such as pinch-running for Walker and leaving Macias (I hate Macias, but I give the devil his due) in the game. His speed scored the run. Good job by Barrett. I usually rip him because he has some poor at-bats with runners in scoring position (like yesterday), but he came through. Maybe this game can give them some adrenaline to get through the next two games before an off-day. Let's root against the Nats and Astros.

I absolutely hate Barrett hitting with men in scoring position. It seems like he doesn't realize the pressure is on the pitcher instead of him. He better be patient.

I always wonder how tiring it is to play baseball when you are at home and the other team has been traveling. The team has no excuse for its lackluster efforts as of late. Err...this 18 game stretch included a road trip to Pittsburgh & St. Louis and then they travelled home ALL without a day off. You work your job 18 straight days with 3 travel days included and see if you are tired at the end of it. Sheesh So, the one day off Arizona has had makes all the difference? Please. How tiring is it to play baseball. I don't remember ever being winded except when I pitched. Most of them also had the All Star break off. Maybe the Astros just have better beds than we do. Ok, no matter the profession, if anyone works 18 straight days (not to mention travels 3 times as well) it would get to you. Not sure what your profession is but I don't want to go to work 18 straight days. And I love my job. Again, why is this a valid excuse for the Cubs and not the Diamondbacks, Astros, or Braves? In my profession, I work at times 70 days strait with 8 hour plus days and travel about once per week during that time frame. Is it tiring? Yes. But if I represent my client on day 68 and the adverse party kicks my but, my client will not accept I'm tired as an excuse. I work my but off and so do those that I deal with and against. Excuses, such as I'm tired, don't go over to well with me when everyone else faces the same conditions. The only difference is we can't tell if you're sluggish or not. YOu might be. But these guys are on stage and we can see it.

Novoa retires the four guys he faced. Come on offense, let's go.

Stop posting on here because you make way too much sense.

Great call. Our bullpen is the best in the league and they have shown great ability to hold one-run leads. What team have you been watching? Even if a guy has a 4.5 ERA that means there is a good chance he won't give up a run. How many times do you have to see Wood/Prior/Zambrano give up leads in the 8th or 9th to figure out that a tiring starter is not as good as a mediocre reliever. Or how many times do you have to see them go to the DL to figure out they are being overworked Using that logic, we should never get mad at anyone for making an out since they're supposed to do that 2 out of 3 times at the plate. A 4.5 ERA is horrible for a reliever. That means they're going to give up a run at best every other outing if they go a complete inning. Spare me with the DL and overwork argument. When Zambrano and Livan Hernandez go on the DL for arm related issues then I might listen. There are many other factors relating to a pitcher going on the disabled list.

I always wonder how tiring it is to play baseball when you are at home and the other team has been traveling. The team has no excuse for its lackluster efforts as of late. Err...this 18 game stretch included a road trip to Pittsburgh & St. Louis and then they travelled home ALL without a day off. You work your job 18 straight days with 3 travel days included and see if you are tired at the end of it. Sheesh I wish my job was to take BP a few hours before gametime, stand motionless in a field for half of 3 hours, sit on a bench for most of the other half, and once in a while swing a bat at a moving ball. That is sooo tough..... You really can separate the athletes from the non-athletes. I'm guessing you never played competitive sports at a high level. I also bet you were inside air-conditioning last week in the 100+ degree temps last week instead of losing 5-10 pounds playing baseball.

Great call. Our bullpen is the best in the league and they have shown great ability to hold one-run leads. What team have you been watching?

You can't predict results, but the responsible thing to do is to field a lineup that satistically gives you the best chance of winning. Dusty rarely does this. I see no difference in fielding a D+ vs. a D lineup, which is basically what the lineups you were comparing.

I dunno, maybe he's tired and mislocated because he has pitched 115 pitches? If we had even an average bullpen we could've taken Prior down for a pinch-hitter. As I've said, we need a two-run lead per every out needed in order for the bullpen to hold a lead.

Neifi is a pioneer of suckitude. He is always blazing a trail of new and inventive ways to fail. Derrek needs a day off, IMO. Then Derrek should have hinted at that. Oh, wait. He did. Dusty has been very un-Dusty-like in that regard this year. Any other year and he would not have been riding Lee and Burnitz this hard. Dusty either ignores or is oblivious to the obvious sometimes. I think the Almighty could blast a message into a stone wall with lightning right in front of him and he would disregard it if he didn't agree. Are you kidding? Dusty can't catch a break. People earlier were talking about the bad lineup he's tossed out there today. Do you really think there would be lots of people okay not having Lee and Ramirez in the lineup? A good bench and you could get away with that. A bad bench and you can't. THe guy can't catch a break from some people. Come on. There are better options than Macias. Neifi can play 3B for a game here or there. So can Barrett. And Lee could have been rested yesterday. I think I could put together a decent lineup w/o Ramirez and Lee: 1.Hairston 2B 2.Cedeno SS 3.Walker 1B 4.Burnitz RF 5.Murton LF 6.Gerut CF 7.Barrett C 8.Neifi 3B Now you know Dusty would do this: 1.Hairston CF 2.Perez 2B 3.Walker 1B 4.Burnitz RF 5.Hollandsworth LF 6.Barrett C 7.Macias 3B 8.Cedeno SS We don't have the greatest roster, but clearly Dusty really makes the worst of it, more often than not. You mean a better lineup how? On paper? Or by results? I don't know....we had a good lineup out there yesterday and was shutout. We had many crappy lineups last year that scored 5+ runs.

Ron says the pitch was right down the middle. Was it?

Good move by walking Gonzalez. Now it's up to Prior to get the strikeout or double play. I don't know what it is about the eighth inning with us.

The eighth inning never seems easy for our pitching staff.

I've been begging for Lee to get a rest for about two weeks now. He knew the weather forecast going into the series in Cinci but still didn't sit him. Lee said that he could barely move at times in the heat in St. Louis but still, no rest. He complained again about how tired he was yesterday and still isn't resting. The fact that he complained publicly twice about being tired when he usually says he wants to play every day is significant. If Dusty needs to go one game without either Lee or Ramirez, that's fine by me. Resting a player who's not swinging at 100% is going to be better for the team in the long run. I was hoping Lee would've gotten the Thursday game against Pittsburgh (game 1 after All-Star game) off. I hope he gets Sunday's game off since I don't count a travel day as a day off.

Unrelated to this game, but Frank Thomas will likely miss the rest of the season with a fracture in his foot.

I've been begging for Lee to get a rest for about two weeks now. He knew the weather forecast going into the series in Cinci but still didn't sit him. Lee said that he could barely move at times in the heat in St. Louis but still, no rest. He complained again about how tired he was yesterday and still isn't resting. The fact that he complained publicly twice about being tired when he usually says he wants to play every day is significant. If Dusty needs to go one game without either Lee or Ramirez, that's fine by me. Resting a player who's not swinging at 100% is going to be better for the team in the long run. I agree with everything you've said. But if Lee's name wasn't in the lineup today, you know all hell would've broken loose.