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TheDude

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  1. TheDude
    Will there ever be a day when people stop pretending like Giles was available to us? Or any of the top OBP guys fans covet? This offseason provided minimal opportunity to improve the team in FA or by trade without giving up Prior, Zambrano, or Pie. And somehow the Cubs brass were supposed to sign the players who weren't leaving their current teams, or trade for these studs without giving up equal value. The Cubs were actually hurt by the fact that their only real trading chips were simply too good for the Cubs to trade. There wasn't a tier between exceptional talent and respectable talent to trade from. The expectations were overblown from the start. Hendry could have done better than Jacque Jones, Glendon Rusch, and Neifi Perez. Otherwise, he did a solid job improving the team.
  2. TheDude
    This is a rant full of lots of emotion and little basis in actual baseball knowledge.
  3. TheDude
    He really should go to Colorado with the ole blank check routine like Andre did. Then Colorado can play him in home games only, or when the lid is open in Arizona. Absolutely no starts in the California parks. That's a pretty severe stance to take (and offbase). Sammy has the power to hit the ball out of any park. The size of the park isn't the issue and has no relevence to his homerun capability. The size of the park won't change his ability to make contact between the bat and the ball.
  4. TheDude
    If you're going to use that logic, then the counter-argument easily surfaces, 'The Cardinals and Astros got lucky the Cubs had serious injury problems the last 2 seasons.' So that won't work. because without injuries the cubs would have won over 100 games both seasons? that's ridiculous. Not in the least. If you get 30+ starts out of Prior, Zambrano, Wood in those years, winning 100 games was not out of the question. They were afterall the favorite going into both seasons. yeah, mediocrity is always what a franchise should shoot for. I had "Fire hendry" in my sig for several months, and if hendry offers baker an extension with any expectation that he'll accept it, I was too kind Nice spin-doctoring. Nobody ever said GMs strive for mediocrity. I said all GMs have deals that work out, and others that don't. That is the nature of the business. And in Hendry's case, the deals that have worked out have been far more valuable for the team than those that haven't, even if the 2004 and 2005 records don't reflect it. Having Lee, Ramirez, and Barret going into 2006 is critical for this team.
  5. TheDude
    While I am not advocating Jones for 2nd or 4th, part of your statement is incorrect. Jones has displayed increased patience at the plate the couple of years, despite declining BA and OBP. He sees more pitches per plate appearance and swings and misses fewer pitches. On topic, my preferred lineup would be: Pierre Walker Lee Ramirez Jones Barret Murton Cedeno The subs lineups change a lot when I look at it. If Walker isn't playing, then Murton climbs to the 2 hole and some other shifting occurs. Perez and Blanco slot to 8 when they get a start.
  6. TheDude
    I'm not going to defend the Jones signing because I don't like it anymore than the next person. But Hendry is correct in saying that 2 off years doesn't define a player if the player is only 30 years old. At 34, maybe. On the other hand, given the off years, the three year contract was a mistake.
  7. TheDude
    Neither. He was never an option because he didn't want to leave San Diego. Talks of NY were smoke screens. Giles was staying all along. So you don't think a GM is in the business of knowing and anticipating the market of the sport? He did not set the market, he anticipated it and jumped on the players he wanted early. This is good business.
  8. TheDude
    Giles would have been ideal. Perhaps that wasn't feasible, but the Cubs apparent disinterest was disappointing. The overpay for Neifi was unfortunate. I would have looked for some cheaper bullpen options, but I'm optimistic about Howry and Eyre. Giles was never an option. That one isn't on Hendry. And the market for middle relievers was high this year, and Hendry knew it. He paid the market price for 2 of the best. They were good acquisitions at this point. Neifi is overpaid.
  9. TheDude
    If you're going to use that logic, then the counter-argument easily surfaces, 'The Cardinals and Astros got lucky the Cubs had serious injury problems the last 2 seasons.' So that won't work. On topic, nobody should be surprised that Hendry will get an extension. Hendry is not a bad GM. Like most GMs, he's made the right and wrong moves and is just about 50/50 overall. Baker on the other hand should not get premature extension talks. He hasn't earned it, and his greatest asset as a manager couldn't save the face the of the franchise from a shameful falling out. I want to see where the Cubs are in August before even blinking at a Baker extension. For Baker, it should be 90 wins or bust, and any even then, an extension shouldn't last more than 2 years. Hopefully, he doesn't want it.
  10. TheDude
    I think Gossage is the only one who gets in. For some reason Blyleven has become a litmus test for a "new tier" of bubble pitchers that many old school voters won't budge on. His 60 shutouts and 3,701 K's should qualify. BTW - For some of the candidates I was allowed to vote, for others I received a "premium members only" kind of error. I didn't see in your posting rules for this excerise that it was premium only.
  11. TheDude
    That's probably because they know what they're doing. Park effects are neglible when you are talking about the top pitchers in MLB and the conversation is about Cy Young candidacy.
  12. TheDude
    I agree Corey's laziness played a role in his demise, but would you bring a player up to start CF for your 100mil team with this kind of advancement: low-A Lansing: 320 with 20 homers and 33 stolen bases Skip high A: (which is very understandable) AA: .261 AAA: .253 MLB thru 59 games: .221 He very clearly struggled at every level he was advanced to, and the jump to the majors is not a small one.... Maybe he was rushed, but I get tired of the no-win scenarios fans place on management. If he doesn't get the playing time at the ML level then it's because the manager hates kids and won't give them a chance. For some reason people expect all kids to have a formulaic culturing process through the minors. If they get there before age 23 they're rushed, and if they don't hit MLB at the specific age of 25, then they suddenly become to old to ever make it. It simply doesn't work that way. The Cubs took a chance on Patterson and it didn't work. End of story.
  13. TheDude
    Huh? Who is Lidge going to close games for with the O's? And Taveras' stats are not good: http://www.baseballreference.com/t/taverwi01.shtml Because we all know a 24 year old rookie should be required to put up all-star numbers. Taveras will get better. And Lidge is special. It would have been a solid deal for the Orioles.
  14. TheDude
    Hogwash. The Cubs didn't ruin Patterson. Corey did it to himself.
  15. TheDude
    Does this really need another thread?
  16. TheDude
    Do you think this is a better move than non-tendering him? Trading him is indeed a better move than non-tendering but he would have been good as a backup OFer especially now that we all know Grissom will be our guy. Oh I agree with that. I think he would have been a good speed option off the bench as well, a la the Red Sox use of Roberts. Not at his salary. That is a terrible idea for a 3 Million dollar player. Bench speed and defense doesn't cost that much.
  17. TheDude
    It's a no-win situation for management. If they don't give Corey the 2nd, 3rd and 4th chances, they get blamed for not playing the kids and giving them a shot to be successful. If they do give them the chances and they fail, then move on, they sold low. It was a forgone conclusion Corey was going to be traded. There was no reason to believe he would get the 5th chance to increase his value.
  18. TheDude
    A team could do worse than Weaver and 9 mill is the average for guys his age that perform with average numbers. The biggest thing he has going for him is the fact that he doesn't walk a lot of guys and he is durable. A team with with a decent sized ballpark and solid defense gets the best value out of Weaver.
  19. TheDude
    I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying your argument. You're basically saying Edmonds is the reason the Cardinals are significantly better than the Cubs in offensive production heading into 2006. The Cardinals haven't made any improvements to the daily lineup. And Bigbie/Encarnacion < Sanders/Walker, while Spivey/Cruz < Grudz. So they've taken steps backward at three positions. Meanwhile, the Cubs are improved in CF and lateral with all other replacements.
  20. TheDude
    Len, it appears the Cubs have made lateral or minor improvements in each of LF,RF,CF, and SS, without making a major improvement anywhere, but also without taking any steps backward at any position (from last year's production anyway). Likewise, the bullpen is improved by summation of all moves made (and maturation of previous moves, like Williamson). Do you think these minor improvements or lateral moves improve the product the team puts on the field in 2006? Or do you see the transactions differently (as in you think the team has made a great improvement or taken a step back somewhere)? Lastly, do you believe its enough to compete for the division? Thanks.
  21. TheDude
    But the fact is they don't have a lineup to compare. You speak in generalities, like Lee and Ramirez stack up against Rolen and Pujols. Simply "stacking up" doesn't mean much. Comparing teams and lineups this way doesn't take you far. STL's lineup routinely outproduces the Cubs lineup, and their lineup is no worse than it was, while the Cubs is not significantly better, if it's better at all. But you are also speaking in generalities. St. Louis's lineup in recent has outperformed Chicago's, but not at the core of the team (3-4). It's the unexpected overproduction out of roleplayers in St. Louis, and the unexpected lack of production out of key or role players in Chicago. With the core of each team stacking up comparatively, all it takes is for the breaks to fall to the other side: Pierre ignites the Cubs in the same way Eckstein did for the Cardinals, Grudz returns to old Grudz, the OF fillers for St. Louis don't have a career years, and Murton finds his sride as an everyday player. I have no issue looking at both teams lineups on paper right now and saying they are close. I do give St. Louis an edge, but not a drastic one.
  22. TheDude
    The Cubs do have a lineup to rival St. Louis. Ramirez and Lee is every bit as good as Rolen and Pujols. Give the slight edge to St. Louis for Edmonds, but the rest of the lineups besides the all-stars stack up evenly. The Cubs also have a better pitching staff than Houston (minus Clemens), because they are deeper with the 4th and 5th starters, and they have a more reliable bullpen (assuming we don't have Alf/Hawkins redux). I believe what Hoops stated earlier is correct. The Central isn't as scary as everyone makes it out to be. The current Cubs make-up can compete, and if Murton or Cedeno isn't cutting it at the deadline, acquire an impact 2B or LF for the stretch run.
  23. TheDude
    That's just silly. You have zero real knowledge of how the correspondance went down. On top of that, all indications from the glimpses of media coverage show us that Baltimore has a higher asking price for Tejada than the market is willing to pay (not just the Cubs, but all other interested parties). Why are people so quick to assume Hendry is to blame for not making deals happen? It takes two to tango they say, so folks need to stop pretending Hendry's dancing with himself. Why are people so quick to defend Hendry at all times, when he has done jack to improve this team for the 2nd straight year. Folks need to stop pretending like Hendry is "God" because of what happened in 2003, and look at the overall picture, and quite frankly the picture is pretty damn ugly. The Hendry defenders are grossly outnumbered by his detractors, FYI. Actually my intent was not to defend Hendry so much as reset the field. Deals are not done by one organization and all indications show that Baltimore management is very difficult to deal with in any trade scenario. As far as I'm concerned you could replace Hendry with any GM and my statement still holds the same value.
  24. TheDude
    That's just silly. You have zero real knowledge of how the correspondance went down. On top of that, all indications from the glimpses of media coverage show us that Baltimore has a higher asking price for Tejada than the market is willing to pay (not just the Cubs, but all other interested parties). Why are people so quick to assume Hendry is to blame for not making deals happen? It takes two to tango they say, so folks need to stop pretending Hendry's dancing with himself.
  25. TheDude
    Likewise others examine stats for so long they read more into them than is actually there.
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