Outshined_One

I don't care what an unbiased report says. Fact says, Kent and Bonds got into a fight in the dugout, during a game. Fact says, Mercker, Walker, Alou and others got into arguments with the broadcast team. Hawkins trashed the fans and media in Chicago. Jones trashed the fans for booing. There were also speculations in the Baker era that Wood and Prior smashed Sosa's boombox. Baker himself was rumored to be feuding with Patterson, Sosa, Hawkins, and others in private. Baker being a calming influence is so unbelievably false. You can't pick and choose your argument. I take from your post that you don't blame him for not controlling Sosa and Bonds because of their egos (which, I'd be willing to give you that since Sosa was made a monster before Baker and Bonds is well, Bonds). But if he can't calm down the star, he can't properly discipline the rest of the team. You also don't blame him for the stuff I mentioned, which shows a group of veterans all running wild and complaining about any and everything while the team was getting beat. I think you're both right. Baker doesn't run a tight ship. He's very hands off with his players, thinking that it promotes clubhouse chemistry. From what I've read from a number of the Cubs players, the players seemed to really like and et along one another. There's a loose atmosphere and guys usually don't fight with one another. However, unless he has some player leadership, this gets out of control. Guys won't be held accountable for their actions, whether it's slumping or getting into really stupid conflicts with people outside the clubhouse, because Dusty either ignores it or implicitly encourages it. Cripes, Dusty himself embodies this! We've all seen his quotes where he'll make any excuse under the sun to deflect blame from himself. His players are the exact same way unless there's a clubhouse police officer who holds guys accountable. Why do you think Hendry was bemoaning the lack of Eric Karros in 2004? Jeff Kent is one of those guys, by all accounts. Guys like Bonds have massive egos and usually don't take well to being policed by fellow players. Two personality types like that can and will clash. Dusty allowed that exact kind of behavior from both of them and it led to that confrontation. So, Dusty runs a clubhouse that's so loose and hands off that his players will basically run amok without veterans policing the team.

See, it'd be one thing if Piniella were willing to actually TALK about OBP. The problem is, he's one of those guys who discuss things in terms of what he sees. Guys who work the count and don't bunt to give up outs don't necessarily lend themselves to being high OBP guys. Lou would still bat a guy like Pierre leadoff because his average is so high, despite his .330 OBP. He has a reasonable average, he can foul off a bunch of pitches, and he doesn't strike out very often. If you're a traditional baseball guy, you like Juan because he is a prototypical leadoff hitter in terms of his tools. However, as we all saw, his success is heavily tied to his batting average, which can be an incredibly fickle thing. However, plate discipline is not something that fluctuates nearly as much. Guys with low IsoD don't go into a slump and say, "Okay, now I'm going to work the count, draw walks, and get the pitch I want to hit." The ability to work counts and draw a good number of walks is not something that's like an on-off switch. It's rare for guys to break out of their mold in terms of K/BB or IsoD, depending on your preference. That's basically the problem I'd have with Piniella. I think he'd advocate a less aggressive approach at the plate than Dusty's crew of nitwits, hence why I'd be fine with Chambliss and McLaren. However, he would still focus too heavily on BA when this team already has a number of guys whose BAs are fairly empty (Izturis, Cedeno, Jones). I worry that his philosophy would not change that enough to make this roster offensively competent. I haven't even gotten into the way he treats pitchers yet. That's the thing I'm reeeeeeeeeeeeally worried about.

Brenly has actually acknowledged OBP and pitcher abuse during his tenure. Lou has bemoaned OBP and said that baseball needs more "thinkers". If Piniella brings Chambliss and McLaren with him, this might be a good move for the offense.

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner!

I think Leyland just took a few bong hits in the clubhouse.

Hey, it worked for the White Sox and Tigers. Why not us?

Neifi saved the Tigers!

Magglio Ordonez gives the best interviews ever.

I think my roommate just died of a heart attack.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Tense situation. Yay.

Oakland needs to overspend on Juan Pierre and give up a draft pick for him.

This angers me, greatly. Either you trust Hendry with the decision or you don't. If you don't, then fire him. Bruce Miles debunked this in one of the other threads.

I'm still reading that it's not a done deal and that Piniella's salary demands could keep it from happening. While it appears Piniella is the top choice, I don't think it's certain he's gotten the job, at least not from all the sources. Come on Lou, make insane demands! :D ...please? :cry:

And I'd rather have a scrappy hustler who gives 100% that hits 290/392/523 instead of a guy who gives 75% and hits 290/392/523 or 243/260/316. What about a guy who gives only 99% and hits 291/393/524? :P

Yep, he began his career with the Braves while Aaron was still with them. He was on the team when Aaron surpassed the Babe. Wait so your telling me he was our manager for 4 years, and I never heard about this from him? Not once?? If I was him, I would have mentioned it as much as possible. Dusty played baseball?

No Michael Main in the Top 10? Ouch.

I'd rather have a guy who gives 75% and hits .290/.392/.523 than a scrappy hustler who gives 100% and hits .243/.260/.316.

Two words: Scott Boras The Cubs never had a problem negotiating with Boras. Where is Justin Jackson project to be picked? Correct, but Boras' high school clients are almost impossible to sign. Pawelek was the exception. The vast majority of the time, Boras' guys go to college. Jackson may be a different case if he gets picked this high, but that is something that is worth keeping in the back of your mind.

How about Juan Gonzalez?

If we get Lou, and then the Sox get ARod, my interest in baseball will severely deteriorate. :( Didn't A-Rod make Kenny Williams swear off Scott Boras clients? I swear I could remember Boras using the White Sox as leverage in getting A-Rod his ridiculous contract, despite making it seem like A-Rod was willing to sign there. Kenny Williams was really, really angry because of that.

Two words: Scott Boras

The problem with Cirruses is that those parachutes are usually rather useless. The Cirrus:

From all accounts, he's still a monstrous power hitter and a good defender with a strong throwing arm. However, his plate discipline is decidedly lacking. He's the kind of guy who will drive both traditional and sabremetric people nuts, since he strikes out a ton and rarely walks. Unless he somehow manages to start posting better walk numbers, the odds of him becoming a superstar are quite slim. At best, it seems like he'll be a Dave Kingman-type. However, considering he still has AA and AAA ahead of him, that remains to be seen.

The gyroball is a myth that was debunked in another thread. Apparently it's feasible, but Matsuzaka doesn't use it. Also, I didn't see Iwamura down there.