Soul

Ump's shaving points!

I did think the same thing.

Did you bother to read any other post before you enlightened us all with the gem above? It is posts like this that are dragging this board down to a lower level. This post and others like them are completely uninformed and vaccous and unfortunately all to indicitive of the general level of analysis as of late. It really sums up how absolutely clueless the anti-Murton crowd is. That's ridiculous. Someone disagrees with you and they become clueless. Just for the record, I don't dislike Murton. Put him on the damn roster. I care not. But he's no savior, which I think we can mostly agree. I still think we need more to keep our offense competitive with Ward finished, Floyd gimpy as hell and rather non-productive, and Ramirez one bad step away from needing more games of rest.

No steroid allegations + magic number 3,000 = HOF. I don't see how being the best player on your team matters. He was one of the best 2B in the business for a long, long time. Plus, come on. Mazeroski got in on .260 BA, .299 OBP(!!), .367 SLG. Nobody can tell me Craig's .282/.365/.434 doesn't blow that out of the water 6 ways to Sunday. Bigs played longer, too. Without commenting on Biggio's qualifications, we're not really using Maz as the baseline, are we? He's in, isn't he? It's a 2B comparison, Maz is in and Bigs will be voted on. How is that not a valid comparison? Not my fault the voters put Maz in. The vets put Maz in, not the BBWAA. Biggio should be in easily, and Maz shouldn't have to come into the conversation to prove it. Whatever. In is in, who cares which voting body put him there. I never said who would vote him in, or when, and it doesn't matter in any event. Just because he got in somehow, doesn't mean they should make future mistakes by using him as the baseline. I'm pretty sure Biggio is in pretty good company statistically among second basemen. Bill James ranked him as the fifth best 2b of all time in his Historical Baseball Abstract as of his 2000 season. Alright, fine. Maz has come up in every discussion of a 2B hall of fame candidate since, he came during the Sandberg nomination, and I'll be willing to bet he'll come up during the Biggio nomination and beyond. The hall voters made their bed when they put the guy in, he'll be the calling card now forever. I don't see what was so wrong about me merely bringing him up.

No steroid allegations + magic number 3,000 = HOF. I don't see how being the best player on your team matters. He was one of the best 2B in the business for a long, long time. Plus, come on. Mazeroski got in on .260 BA, .299 OBP(!!), .367 SLG. Nobody can tell me Craig's .282/.365/.434 doesn't blow that out of the water 6 ways to Sunday. Bigs played longer, too. Without commenting on Biggio's qualifications, we're not really using Maz as the baseline, are we? He's in, isn't he? It's a 2B comparison, Maz is in and Bigs will be voted on. How is that not a valid comparison? Not my fault the voters put Maz in. The vets put Maz in, not the BBWAA. Biggio should be in easily, and Maz shouldn't have to come into the conversation to prove it. Whatever. In is in, who cares which voting body put him there. I never said who would vote him in, or when, and it doesn't matter in any event.

A couple other players to watch: RB: Garrett Wolfe. Is he just too small or will his speed and quickness make him a suprise pickup? I think we'll find out after about 2 weeks; if he starts pulling up with nagging injuries he's in trouble. OG: Josh Beekman. With our aging line, Beekman needs to develop into a solid option.

No steroid allegations + magic number 3,000 = HOF. I don't see how being the best player on your team matters. He was one of the best 2B in the business for a long, long time. Plus, come on. Mazeroski got in on .260 BA, .299 OBP(!!), .367 SLG. Nobody can tell me Craig's .282/.365/.434 doesn't blow that out of the water 6 ways to Sunday. Bigs played longer, too. Without commenting on Biggio's qualifications, we're not really using Maz as the baseline, are we? He's in, isn't he? It's a 2B comparison, Maz is in and Bigs will be voted on. How is that not a valid comparison? Not my fault the voters put Maz in.

No steroid allegations + magic number 3,000 = HOF. I don't see how being the best player on your team matters. He was one of the best 2B in the business for a long, long time. Plus, come on. Mazeroski got in on .260 BA, .299 OBP(!!), .367 SLG. Nobody can tell me Craig's .282/.365/.434 doesn't blow that out of the water 6 ways to Sunday. Bigs played longer, too.

Paraphrasing a Hendry interview from about a week ago on what deals he's looking to make: "I'm always looking to improve the team, but I also know we have nice pieces here. I'm not going to look to go out and replace Ryan Dempster. I'm not going to go look for someone to replace Ryan Theriot." I know we should always look for improvement, but we're winning and Theriot is doing a solid job both ways and providing some spark into the lineup and clubhouse. He's done just about everything you can ask for and it just doesn't seem like you should reward that by replacing the guy, especially when things are clicking on the field and in the clubhouse. Obviously, Tejada is and always will be the better player, but I just don't think you go out of your way to improve something that isn't really that much of a problem when you have other problems much bigger than replacing a solid #2 hitter. I suppose, but that DiamondBacks series has to have left a bad taste in somebody's mouth. It was the first halfway-decent team we faced in a long time, the Crew beats them and then they come to Wrigley and punk us. There are some better clubs coming up on our schedule now. I'm not comfortable just saying "we're winning" and "it's clicking" after getting beat 2/3 by an also-ran in the playoff race -- including getting shut out -- and coming up on Philly & the Mets in the near future. Even Colorado 8/10 - 8/12 could pose a problem, those boys can hit. Yeah but the Brewers lost 3/4 to the Pirates, 2/3 to the Nationals and 2/3 to the Giants, while we lost 2/3 to the Pirates, 1/4 to the Nationals, and 1/4 to the Giants. So the Brewers went 6-8 vs. the Pirates, Nationals, Giants and DBacks, while we went 8-6 I guess. I'm just not real comfortable writing it off and concluding everything's great. It might not continue to be. I don't view making a real move as optional.

I can't say I would have retired 2 years ago. Getting 3,000 hits is mega-important to a player's legacy, which is what it's all about for Biggio at this point.

He hit another one last night. This guy is ridiculous. He doesn't even have a muscular build. He's just a guy -- and he pounds out HRs like there's no tomorrow. Is there anyone who should be ROY over Braun, provided he continues on this pace? Christ this guy is making me freak out. He didn't even make it out of ST!! Where's our Braun, Mr. Hendry?

So then doesn't this indicate to you we need a power bat in the OF? Or shall we attempt to catch the biggest HR-hitting team in the league with the likes of Matt Murton and Angel Pagan?

Paraphrasing a Hendry interview from about a week ago on what deals he's looking to make: "I'm always looking to improve the team, but I also know we have nice pieces here. I'm not going to look to go out and replace Ryan Dempster. I'm not going to go look for someone to replace Ryan Theriot." I know we should always look for improvement, but we're winning and Theriot is doing a solid job both ways and providing some spark into the lineup and clubhouse. He's done just about everything you can ask for and it just doesn't seem like you should reward that by replacing the guy, especially when things are clicking on the field and in the clubhouse. Obviously, Tejada is and always will be the better player, but I just don't think you go out of your way to improve something that isn't really that much of a problem when you have other problems much bigger than replacing a solid #2 hitter. I suppose, but that DiamondBacks series has to have left a bad taste in somebody's mouth. It was the first halfway-decent team we faced in a long time, the Crew beats them and then they come to Wrigley and punk us. There are some better clubs coming up on our schedule now. I'm not comfortable just saying "we're winning" and "it's clicking" after getting beat 2/3 by an also-ran in the playoff race -- including getting shut out -- and coming up on Philly & the Mets in the near future. Even Colorado 8/10 - 8/12 could pose a problem, those boys can hit.

If they let Z ride and he hits the FA market and then lands, say, on the Cards? Oh man. There will be some cryin on these boards like we've rarely seen.

although the cubs offense statistically was better before Lofton got here in 03 Probably because Corey Patterson got off to such a hot start. Lofton was a significant upgrade over Goodwin. Yeah. A lot of people attributed the Cubs making the playoffs to Lofton's presence as a true leadoff guy or whatever, which isn't true because the offense was actually better before he got there(and the pitching was the reason we did anything anyway). That doesn't mean that Lofton wasn't good as a Cub though, far far from it(.327/.381/.471 in 236 PA's). Sausage-basher put us over the top!!!!

They aren desperate for OBP more, and Murton does provide that. Additionally, OBP is more important than SLG. Let's do a reset. Are we saying Murton is never going to be brought up? I'm just talking about why he might not be here at the moment. As far as I know, he could be brought up any time provided he's not traded. I would like to see him on the roster instead of Pagan. I'm not sure what the thinking is there. At the very least though, with Ward now out, I think we could use a SLG on the bench and Floyd would be the only guy I can see doing it. It might even be the only real use for him since when he starts he breaks like fine crystal.

I just think we are desperate for power, Murton doesn't provide it. Lou's gambling on Floyd providing it; I think it's a significant gamble and we need to make a move to get more power from somewhere. I can't get too upset over Murton for these reasons. He should be a good kid somewhere down the line, but right now he's not going to fill the dire need. It's Wrigley in the 2nd half. Wind starts blowing out, and the team that muscles up the most usually wins. We start getting into bashing contests with only Lee & ARam powering our train, we're probably going to derail.

Considering he's an inconsistent hitter who is a bit weak in the OBP department and he plays the one position among the 4 needs spots that the Cubs actually could get decent production out of already, I don't see how he's precisely what we need. A productive SS is precisely what we need. A solid catcher would help more. Dye isn't really a guaranteed step up from Floyd. He should help, but not a ton. Hmmmm, really? Dye will play, Floyd I'm guessing will be touch-and-go the rest of the season. We'll likely be looking at DeRo in RF many games, with a subsequent non-power hitter filling his spot in the lineup @ 2B. I do think Dye is exactly the kind of power bat that could make our lineup more dangerous on a more consistent basis down the stretch. I'm sure Grif would be better but I don't know if Cincy would be willing to help us out in-division like that.

I wouldn't because I don't think we've tapped Marmol's full potential yet. He could be a fantastic closer, and that has alot of value. Maybe someone can shoot me down, but it seems like Garland's been pitching forever. I don't think he's old, but I do wonder if the mileage is building up on his arm. Doesn't this sort of sound like D-Train for Clement, mach II? I'm chicken. Scared. I wouldn't do it.

I think he's just speaking in terms of the contract. He's a rental unless we re-signed him, but during trade negotiations I'm sure any team would put the fact that his contract is up on the table. Good Lord, Dye is precisely what I think we need. Would the White Sox really help us out like that?

Nothing against Lofton, but I'm still of the opinion we need a power bat, and if we don't get it I fear our offense will falter down the stretch.

Fixed to include the entire report.

A Grossman dig for good measure: King acknowledged last weekthat he has an almost annual love for the Lions... Well there you go. One year out of 20 they'll finally be right, and then they'll all jump for joy and pat themselves on the back for their prognosticating powers, while ignoring the other 19 years they were wrong.

Any prolonged stretch of .600 baseball would be more than acceptable. 12-8 would leave them at 63-54, or a .538 W%, good for a pace of 87 wins. That would also leave them with 45 more games to reach the 90 win plateau, which would mean going 27-18 the rest of the way, also a .600 W%. considering the "easy" games in this stretch are on the road and the "hard" games are at home, I stand by 12-8. Not knowing the pitching matchups makes it hard to guess though This weekend proved pitching matchups mean nothing. Cubs beat Brandon Webb with Jason Marquis, then lost vs. Owings and Petit when their SP gave up a combined 2 ERs in 12 innings. I wouldn't go that far. If Kip Wells and the Cardinals go out and beat Zambrano and the Cubs tomorrow... I think it's definitely fair to say pitching matchups are often given too much attention as a predictor of the outcome. But saying they mean nothing at all is akin to saying pitching itself means nothing.

Any prolonged stretch of .600 baseball would be more than acceptable. 12-8 would leave them at 63-54, or a .538 W%, good for a pace of 87 wins. That would also leave them with 45 more games to reach the 90 win plateau, which would mean going 27-18 the rest of the way, also a .600 W%. considering the "easy" games in this stretch are on the road and the "hard" games are at home, I stand by 12-8. Not knowing the pitching matchups makes it hard to guess though This weekend proved pitching matchups mean nothing. Cubs beat Brandon Webb with Jason Marquis, then lost vs. Owings and Petit when their SP gave up a combined 2 ERs in 12 innings. I wouldn't go that far.