UK1679666180

Surprised and pissed would be a nice way to describe it. Nothing usually surprises me, but if Neifi is starting at 2B this Spring, that would surprise and anger me. It would be like Publisher's ClearingHouse coming to my door, me getting all excited as this 1995 Dodge Caravan pulls up with the balloons, I open the door and they shoot my dog, instead of giving me a big cardboard check.

In an ideal world, it would have been allocated towards the rapidly declining farm system. But it wasn't a Jones or bust scenario, overspending like he did indicates otherwise though.

That would be the icing on the moldy cake.

Mike Schmidt never hit well against the Cubs did he? :) He scared me more than any other hitter that I've seen face the Cubs, that includes Bonds, McGwire, etc.

quote]AMERICAN LEAGUE BALTIMORE (3): Kurt Ainsworth, RHP; Eric Byrnes, OF; Eddy Rodriguez, RHP. BOSTON (2): Chad Bradford, RHP; Wade Miller, RHP. CHICAGO (4): Jon Adkins, RHP; Felix Diaz, RHP; Willie Harris, INF; Timo Perez, OF. CLEVELAND (1): Jose Diaz, RHP. KANSAS CITY (2): Shawn Camp, RHP; Ken Harvey, INF. MINNESOTA (1): Grant Balfour, RHP. NEW YORK (1): Wayne Franklin, LHP. OAKLAND (1): Hiram Bocachica, OF. SEATTLE (3): Cha-Seung Baek, RHP; Ryan Franklin, RHP; Jamal Strong, OF. TAMPA BAY (4): Joe Borowski, RHP; Lance Carter, RHP; Trever Miller, LHP; Michael Rose, C. TEXAS (1): Nicholas Regilio, RHP. NATIONAL LEAGUE ATLANTA (2): Jim Brower, RHP; Wes Obermueller, RHP. CINCINNATI (2): Ramon Ortiz, RHP; Joe Valentine, RHP. COLORADO (2): Jose Acevedo, RHP; Ryan Spilborghs, OF. FLORIDA (1): Joe Dillon, INF. LOS ANGELES (3): Michael Edwards, OF; Brian Myrow, INF; Jason Phillips, C. MILWAUKEE (2): Jeff Bennett, RHP; Dan Kolb, RHP. NEW YORK (2): Wayne Lydon, OF; Tyler Yates, RHP. PHILADELPHIA (1): Endy Chavez, OF. PITTSBURGH (1): Josh Fogg, RHP. ST. LOUIS (4): Bo Hart, INF; Mike Lincoln, RHP; Mike Mahoney, C; Scott Seabol, INF. SAN DIEGO (3): Dewon Brazelton, RHP; Craig Breslow, LHP; Miguel Olivo, C. WASHINGTON (4): Alex Escobar, OF; Junior Spivey, 2B; Rick Short, INF; T.J. Tucker, RHP. Names I like are in bold. Dillon would be a NRI.

I thought you wre curious about who the Cubs got for Rifkin when he was traded to Colorado.

It's always good that he has a line drive swing, there are times especially ahead in the count where he'll uppercut his wing. But, last year he was an extreme ground ball hitter. If he hits like that at Wrigley, he'll struggle to hit over .240. This isn't the Metrodome of the early part of this decade, those that get past the 2b in Minnesota will become routine outs at Wrigley.

What you're getting with Jones... Athletic Aggressive hitter Line drive swing Pull power Good FB hitter Avg. instincts defensively Decent baserunner Not a great off-speed hitter Will expand his strike zone w/2 strikes Strong arm that needs better accuracy

Beating the Packers in GB to win the division, sweeping the season series, and giving them their 12th loss would be nice. I'd be more than content when the Bears win it, but for those Bears fans mliving in Wisconsin or along the border, it has been fun for a change.

You're probably right, sometimes I try to give Baker more credit than he deserves. It's obvious that Jones is an ideal platoon candidate, who'll produce produce between .760-780 for the year, against RH'ers he'll produce between .790-.810 and against LH'ers, it'll be in the mid to high 6's. The ideal solution would be to get a RH'ed RF'er who mashes LH'ers, but it makes too much sense.

I agree but will Baker actually do that? My money is that he doesn't. If he could platoon Walker/Perez, anything is possible.

The priority of getting Perez increases w/the signing of Jones, not an ideal platoon, but more productive than Jones facing LH'ers for the year.

Odd how they pick up a potential 5th starter to possibly trade Marquis for an OF'er immediately after their primary OF target unfort. (for both teams involved) signs w/another team.

Even though the Red Sox ended the curse, I just decided to root for them again. Discover your local Indy League team. :)

He has a plan, I just question and often disagree with the logic behind it.

From BA around 12/03... This was in the top 10 GM prospects... (He was ranked 9th ahead of Antonetti and Ng.) This is someone who has worked under Pat Gillick, Bobby Cox as well as Lamar, who despite not doing well as GM was able to build the fam system and is a product of the Braves.

This is a great hire by the Cubs, he's done a very good job with TB, and with Blue Jays.

Why not? That decision merits cost and benefits analysis, we're potentially witnessing it now as there's plaenty of debate whether Wood will be ready. It's a move that happened in the past that could be dictating the future, that deserves discussion. It was a poor move under any circumstances, whether you had nor problem with it at the time or were against it. It turned out to be a gamble with little reward and a higher risk since surgery was needed and it possibly delayed heading into next years with a pitcher that would be making over 11 million and is slated to be a key component of next year's squad. It was a careless short-term move with damaging long-term potential.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/viewtopic.php?t=23456&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=23456&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Long before he came back.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=24259&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 http://www.northsidebaseball.com/PremiumForum/viewtopic.php?t=24259&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 Revisionist or not, just a terrible decision.

Kerry pitched out of the pen from 8/5-8/29. At the time, they were 54-54, 4 1/2 back of Houston. By the time they ended the debacle... The Cubs were 62-69 and Houston was 56-47, 8 games back. Not only was it a stupid gamble based solely on the fact it was delaying surgery. It also included a manager who lacks the ability to manage a bullpen, but a pitcher who has never pitched out of the pen since HS. But, they played worse. Just an amazing moronic decision.

It's a good book and has good thoughts on in game managing, platooning players, building via FAs or trades, etc.

In their minds, he probably won't be ready to handle the workload of a starter and will be eased back into the rotation. Especially, pitching in April at Wrigley. What a genius move pitching him out of the pen turned out to be.

Everyone loves the white 5'5" red-head utility IF'er, no talent, but he looks like the bat boy so let's cheer him as STL did w/Hart. I always considered Augie to be more of a mascot than a ballplayer.

They should a 3rd rounder on that kicker from UVA.