dew1679666265

Dan Roan said a couple minutes ago that they were meeting to decide on a start time tonight, so hopefully we'll hear something soon.

I was thinking the same thing...I move and don't have cable for 2 weeks and I don't have a clue who he is... Any relation to Tom? Hell of a pass catcher. Here you go - left handed reliever Jason Waddell. minor league numbers: 3.76 career ERA, 1.356 career WHIP and 389:152 career Ks to BBs

If you remember back, it was Lou that gave people like Theriot and Soto a chance to earn a lot of playing time as young players. The Cubs won a lot of games due to those type of decisions. This year, though, Lou seems incredibly passive as to what's going on on the field, and doesn't seem quite ready to make radical moves yet. I'd love to see things like Soriano at 2B, Fox/Hoffpauir playing regularly, etc., but I don't think it's in our near future. The Theriot/Soto decisions aren't really similar at all to the Fox situation, though. Neither Theriot nor Soto were awful at any facet of the game and Soto was hitting at a terrific pace (similar to what Fox is now). Fox, however, is awful defensively, so not only do you have to wonder how he'll transition offensively to the move to the majors (like you did with Theriot/Soto) but you also have to wonder how much of a negative he'll be (or Soriano would be at 2B) defensively. Unless Fox plays far better defensively than all reports indicate he will (or Sori figures out how to play 2B), then this is a completely different situation.

Forgot about Wadell, so thats a possibility as well. Honestly Id rather it was Patton Has it been 10 days since Fox went down?

That's what concerns me. I doubt we'd go after him again, but if we do, now would be the time - before his value shoots through the roof. If he does keep hitting, and thr Indians do decide to trade him, I wouldnt be surprised if he carries a similar price tag to Holliday due to his versatility. More teams seem to be in need of an infielder than an outfielder, and DeRo can do both. If you are going to go for a rent a player, it may as well be one you can plug into your everyday lineup without moving too many guys around. If they ask for a Holliday-esque return, I don't want the Cubs anywhere near the trade and I doubt too many teams will be interested. As good and versatile as DeRo is, he's still 34 years old and not nearly the hitter Holliday is. Holliday returned three of the top 15 prospects in Oakland's organization and will likely be similar to that if the As trade him this year. That's way higher than DeRo's value.

That's what concerns me. I doubt we'd go after him again, but if we do, now would be the time - before his value shoots through the roof.

you can't force anyone to hit a pitched ball and you can't fire your expensive players with no-trade clauses. any increase in offense will be entirely coincidental. I wouldn't say entirely coincidental. It's unlikely, but there's a possibility that Joshua will see something awry in the swing of some of the players and help them improve that way. Like I said, though, this move isn't likely to reap much of an improvement, but it could.

He has been getting sporadic playing time and there's no way that's helped him. I still think it's a slump he'll break out of given time and the fewer lefties we face, the better it'll be for him.

Thanks for the recap. It's just so unlikely that I have my doubts, but it'd be fantastic to bring him back. If they're going to do it, though, they better do it soon - DeRo's starting to hit now and his value will rise quickly if he continues.

What did Kenney say in his interview?

Am I reading that wrong or is that completely opposite of everything we've heard about his injury? Everything I've heard to this point is that it would likely continue nagging him even after he returns and could hurt his overall performance. If this report is true - and if I'm reading it right - this could be terrific news.

My biggest disappointment is multiple crushing defeats my teams have faced. The Vols were a half away from the national title game in 2001, the Titans were a yard short of OT in 1999 and then were the best team in football (or close to it) last year before collapsing against a significantly inferior Ravens team and were dropped in the AFC Title game in 2003, and the Cubs had the best team in baseball last year and were swept pitifully. So close so many times, but only one title to show for it. I'm extremely appreciative of that title, but that's 11 years ago now.

To the extent that a hitting coach can "teach" anything to a player, there's definitely merit to a hitting coach teaching his players patience. The patience didn't improve much from 06 to 07, but it did nearly across the board from 07 to 08 (counting only returning players) - it simply takes time. "Small ball" is a reliance on moving runners over by bunting, stealing bases and hitting and running. To my knowledge, Joshua doesn't promote much of that and Lou doesn't either, generally. Joshua is probably as heavily into teaching patience as Perry was, but he may have some hitters make a few adjustments that may help them. Going the other way more often may be part of that. Theriot is not a good example of what you're trying to describe. Since he's been pulling the ball more often, he's improved his OPS from .745 to .773 - and that's after a recent slump. He still goes the other way at times, but his new approach has improved his slugging by 71 points while dropping his OBP by 44 points. And that drop in OBP was likely anyway due to decreased luck (high BABIP and average last year).

I think Hendry was looking for that happy medium this offseason when he brought in Aaron Miles and Joey Gathright and dealt Mark DeRosa. He was looking for more left handed hitting and more speed/grit. The problem is, the players who excel in small ball - Miles, Gathright, Pierre, etc - aren't all that good baseball players. The improved Cub offense was, I think, a mix of both Gerald Perry teaching a more patient approach and acquiring players who had a good overall approach (Soto, Fuku, Edmonds). To give all the credit or all the blame to one of the two is incorrect, I think. I don't think there was an obvious choice - if there was, it would be a certainty that the problem will now be fixed. Firing Perry was an option, but I don't think it was the best option.

That's still painful to watch every time I see Dyson stretch for the end zone.

Yeah, I don't know where I got that from. I'm confusing my years or something...

Yeah, if he keeps hitting the ball hard and making good contact, he's bound to work his way out of his slump. Last year, his LD% was 18%, it's up 4% since over last year now, so it is mostly bad luck at this point.

He didn't preach patience, but he also supported bringing in players who were either never very good (Neifi, Macias) or never showed any patience (Jacque, Soriano). Dusty actually manages similarly to the way you seem to want the offense to move toward. He sac bunted a lot, played for one run often, attempted stolen bases often and had players swinging to put the ball in play more than to make good, solid contact. That style of baseball, especially in this era, will lose you more games than it'll win. It's hard to ignore the good job he's done the last two years simply because he couldn't fix a few problems over two months this season. Maybe Joshua will come in and see some things that Perry didn't, but Gerald Perry's instruction was not the root cause of our struggles, so I have trouble justifying his exit.

1998 Tennessee Vols Otherwise, the Titans made the Super Bowl and lost by a yard. Nothing from the Cubs. Well, you could count a few Lady Vol basketball titles, but I'm not a big enough fan to count them.

Dusty played a great deal of small ball - that's why he liked guys like Juan Pierre and Neifi Perez at the top of the order. "Dustyball" is far from sitting back and waiting for the 3-run homer.

I'm fine with that. With the entire lineup struggling, I don't have a problem leaving him where he's most comfortable. Even if it's just a mental thing for him, it could help him out of his slump. There are no other good candidates for more ABs at the moment (maybe DLee). Leaving Soriano at leadoff wouldn't "help him come out of his slump" anymore than moving him to 6th would help him come out of his slump. If you want to leave him there because there's no better option, fine. But if/when he does come out of his slump, let's not pretend it was because of the comforts of leadoff. If that were true, then you could say he went into the slump because of the comforts of leadoff. My main point is that there are no better options for the leadoff spot, even with how badly Soriano has struggled. As for the comfortable part, since there's no real value in moving him out of the leadoff spot, I don't see how making a change like that would make him any more likely to break out of his slump.

Just out of curiosity, who would it make a huge difference with if they didn't have an NTC? It's pretty obvious that no one would take Soriano's huge remaining contract even if he didn't have an NTC Lee has 10/5 rights making his NTC moot Z would be a possibility to trade Aramis is still in his prime (and if the shoulder injury hurts his offense, his trade value will drop) Ted Lilly has been our best pitcher this year, trading him would hurt our chances next year If Kosuke's overall numbers are for real there's no reason to trade him and if they're not, he won't be tradeable So, out of that group there's one player who's NTC might hurt us - Z. Otherwise there's no reason to trade the player (Lilly, Aramis) or no market for said player (Soriano, Kosuke). I don't see how the NTCs have that horrible a negative effect on our roster. The worse problem is long term contracts to 30+ players who are becoming untradeable with or without NTCs.

Teams are going to do poorly overall when they score 3 runs or less. Let's look at two playoff teams last year, the Red Sox and the World Champion Phillies for evidence: 2008 W/L when scoring 3 runs or less for Boston: 10-45 2008 W/L when scoring 3 runs or less for Philadelphia: 12-47 Those are the only two I figured up, but I'd wager that most teams follow that lead. Combined playoff record for the two: 18-7, with the Phillies winning the World Series. I understand that team will lose MORE games when scores 3 or less, the point is that the Cubs did it 66 TIMES, compared to 55 and 59 for the Sox and Phillies... The Rays did it 61 times. You KNOW that that will be the case in the playoffs too when facing the likes of the Dodgers or Phillies staff. You either have to be HOT at the plate, which the Cubs weren't, or be practiced in small ball and manufacturing runs when you need to. The Cubs DON'T do it. That's why they can't get bunts down, move runners, or score runs on a CONSISTENT basis. Is five games over the course of 162 games that big a difference? It might translate to one more game of three runs or less in the playoffs, but it's certainly not the difference between last year's Cubs and last year's Phillies. Even good teams have a lot of games where they don't score a lot of runs. It happens over 162 game seasons. The goal should be to put together the best team possible, make the playoffs in as good a shape as possible and take your chances from there.

This has zero foundation, when swinging for the fences and bad pitches has led to more strikeouts, GIDP, and rally-killing pop-ups to foul territory have meant a consistently bad offense. When Derrek Lee leads off the inning with a single, and there is ZERO power threat behind him, you MUST do the little things to move him over and drive him in. Its as simple as that. We have a leadoff hitter that doesn't run. We have back-order hitters that can't get the bunt down. We have an entire lineup of guys who choke with a runner on third and less than 2 outs. Shorten up with 2 strikes and go the other way... Theriot just showed you that THAT wins ballgames. This year we have a team of bad hitters so far, that's why our offense hasn't been good. Last year we had a team of good hitters who were patient, got on base and slugged well - and they were a fantastic offense. Small ball can be useful in certain situations, but it should not be the core of what the team is built around. If it is, you're limiting your ability to be successful.

I'm fine with that. With the entire lineup struggling, I don't have a problem leaving him where he's most comfortable. Even if it's just a mental thing for him, it could help him out of his slump. There are no other good candidates for more ABs at the moment (maybe DLee).