Soul

You don't see a difference between Murton fighting for time with Ward, and fighting for time with Ward and Floyd. I do, but it's because Ward isn't up to par for that kind of situation, not Floyd or Murt. I thought this thread was about complaining that we were acquiring Floyd. Sounds like the real beef should be with Ward. I thought the thread was about the Cubs interest in Floyd and the pros and cons that go along with it. The beef is with splitting up Murton's potential 700 PA of solid production among 3 guys, who, when combined, might be no better than Murton alone. The negative to that is you have a need for help in other spots, and 3 guys who aren't going to play any other position. Plus, you are hurting Murton's value by putting the platoon player stigma on him, or, by failing to let him develop as a full-time player. I don't see why anyone would think a healthy Floyd would suck. From what I see, a healthy Floyd has historically been a productive Floyd. Why would that suddenly change? As for a 3-man situation, I agree that would be stupid. I don't see where Piniella or anyone else has said they plan to 3-man ANY position, including LF. If they are, then no argument here.....dumb. As for taking away Murt's precious at bats.....he's 24, with barely a year's experience under his belt. No danger of stunting his growth. None whatsoever.

Well known, solid CF's aren't in short supply. They're in NO supply.

You don't see a difference between Murton fighting for time with Ward, and fighting for time with Ward and Floyd. I do, but it's because Ward isn't up to par for that kind of situation, not Floyd or Murt. I thought this thread was about complaining that we were acquiring Floyd. Sounds like the real beef should be with Ward.

It's not as simple as picking a number and saying good or bad. I think if Murton is only getting 300 PA, that's really bad, for anybody who wants Murton to be the regular LF soon. But if he's platooned with somebody who puts up a 900+ OPS in the other 400 LF PA, then it's not bad for the Cubs. It's about a balance. Then I don't see what we're arguing. Floyd's last healthy season yielded a .863 OPS---close to your .900 bar. He hit 34 HR and had 98 RBIs in 2005. That's a decent injection of power. If he's not healthy, then Murt plays anyway. If we want to throw Ward into the mix, then that's fine----I don't like that. But it's because WARD can't hold up the other end of the bargain, not Murt or Floyd. A Murt/Floyd platoon just doesn't sound all that bad to me. Sure, it doesn't address CF, but I didn't think that's what we were talking about.

Not sure how you can say that. Even if Floyd plays a lot and breaks down, that still leaves Ward in the mix for some playing time in LF. If Lee is fully healthy, he'll play 155+ games. If Soriano stays healthy, he'll play 155+ games. That leaves LF as Ward's only position to get some playing time. With such a RH dominant hitting attack, I can definitely see Ward and Floyd gobbling up a huge percentage of the at bats Murton should get. I like Floyd. I really wanted him in a trade for Sosa. However, the wrong guy is going to get pine time due to Floyd's presence. I don't see how that's the same issue. Even if Floyd is not acquired, Ward's still there and Lee/Soriano will still get their games. That will still leave Murton vulnerable, in your scenario. But it's got little to do with Floyd. Personally I don't think Lee is going to be playing 155+ games. I think they're going to try and rest him some early in the season, and give Ward some starts at 1st. Anyway, nobody mentioned a 3-way "platoon" (or whatever it would be called) between Murt-Floyd-Ward, they just talked about Floyd. If Ward has been acquired to spell Murton, then the damage is done and we should be more worried about the fact that Ward's numbers when healthy don't figure to be better than Murt's----possibly worse.

Preds are one of the best teams in the league. I was actually heartened to see that the Hawks really played with those guys----even dominated the play for much of the game. Moral victories? No. But I think this team is figuring out they don't need to fear anyone when they take the ice.

Yes, he's a junior and is coming soon to an Oakland Raiders or Tampa Bay Buccaneers near you. Thanks. I assume that Tampa would get him and the Raiders would want a QB or is Simms done for his career? Simms is probably done in Tampa, but I doubt they pick until #3. If the Lions lose their last two, they have the #1 pick and likely go with Brady Quinn. There's not another really good quarterback on the board, so the next two picks are probably Joe Thomas (T, Wisconsin) and Johnson. Both Tampa and Oakland could use OL and WR help, so I doubt those guys get past #3. Didn't Millen just shell out a bunch of cash for 2 QBs this offseason? Here he goes again, picking up a ton at one position and forgetting about the rest. The Lions need so much more than just a QB. I'd try to assemble an actual, you know, football team first---lest the "Great QB" I draft wind up just like Joey.

LOL. Teachers on full tenure are jealous of the job security of former football players turned color commentators 8-)

He's a whimp! Get on the bump and pitch! :wink: I've got a feeling he's going to this year. I just feel good about both Rich Hill & Marky Mark. Hill's ready to show what he can really do. Prior's got the motivation of knowing he's on the cusp of losing all that he wanted to achieve in this league.

In my non-stat supported mindset, I've got the Cubs hovering somewhere from 5 over to 5 under .500 It's too early for me to start pushing my opinion, though. Too much can happen. I'll need to see who actually reports to ST healthy and ready to go, and who didn't bother to prepare for the season (I wish I didn't have to say that, but with this club it's a factor).

Thanks. I didn't click the link :oops:

Give me 2004 Loretta any day. 2006 Loretta? Less so.

Give me a decent CF, and I don't care so much about this. I'm pretty sure Murton will get the majority of the play time anyway. If Lou tries to give Floyd more, he'll break down and Murton will wind up playing full time. If by some chance Floyd doesn't break down (as he didn't in '05, for example), then looking at his numbers he's better than Murt in the power categories anyway, and we could use some more pop. This is alot of hubbub about nothing, IMO.

They should destroy tonight. They've got a good shot at beating the Bears next weekend, too. Bears are playing for nothing at this point---no matter what anyone says, it's hard to maintain that edge.

I guess the difference is that we know that Izturis will be horrible offensively and good defensively. Cedeno at least has the chance to improve, particularly under a new coaching staff. Izturis might be inserted into the #2 spot- with very likely bad results. Cedeno, if he were to start, would be relegated to the 8th spot. I don't want Izzy to hit 2nd. Bad move. As for Cedeno, I don't get what you see in him that would tell you he has a chance to improve. Other than the fact that he's young. If that's all it is, then maybe we should put our single-A SS in over Izzy because he has a chance to improve, too. Cedeno's hitting was terrible nearly his entire minor league career, except for one season in Jaxx where he was marginal, and half-seasons in Iowa and the Cubs, where pitchers never saw enough of him to expose his crippling weaknesses at the plate. Once they did, he tanked as always has. He has little if any chance to improve, IMO.

I think he'll be fine as closer. But I don't know Lou will do that. He might do as you say.

Bah these are all the same morons who said the Bears would finish 8-8 and win the North "because someone has to"

Yes, and you can extend that to the entire team. The downward spiral since 2003 has been astonishing. Only the Cubs. The Marlins TRIED to match us and couldn't!

I'd like to see everybody play at least a half of the last 2 games. I don't want to see the injured guys getting 3-5 weeks off before the playoff game. I think it hurt the Bears last year. Good to see Vasher and Todd practiced. I'd like both to get some time this week (especially Johnson). I thought I'd heard a quote somewhere that Vasher thought he was ready to play, but that Lovie was the one keeping him out. Vasher's been saying he can play for more than a week now. Lovie's just making sure he's good to go. I expect him to see action this week.

Blow up as in have a huge year ---- or ---- Blow up as in completely fall apart? Blow up as in have a monster season, of course.

Replacing cedeno with Izturis is at best a lateral move. I would say at worst it's a lateral move-there will likely be a small upgrade offensively (probably around 30-40 points of OPS, with 25-30 points of that coming from OBP) and a decent upgrade defensively. The contract is a different story, but Izturis's 2007 is probably going to be a lateral move at its worst from Cedeno's 2006 campaign. It may be an upgrade over what we got from Cedeno last year, but I hardly imagine Izturis will provide four million dollars worth of upgrades over what Cedeno is capable of this coming year. I would agree with that-I just said that because these posts in these threads are talking about just the upgrades on the field, not really the contracts. Was the upgrade to Cedeno to Izturis worth the money that Izturis commands? No-most likely not. Is SS going to be better this year than it was last year? Almost certainly yes. Cedeno was atrocious at times in the field. Izzy will most certainly be a significant fielding upgrade. As for hitting, I just don't think Cedeno was ever going to be good. Izzy's not either, but he's marginally better than Cedeno. It's more than a lateral upgrade, but the "upgrade" part is mostly defensive. The offense coming from that position will still likely be terrible.

The fact that a starting pitcher takes an inning or two to really settle in has no bearing on what they would do as a reliever. It's two completely different roles, with a completely different approach and mindset.

Since when are there anything but IFs in baseball? The whole game is one big IF. Perhaps you would care to clarify your meaning?

To be honest, I'm getting sick of the overuse of this word too. It doesn't exist in all the world of sports. There's no such animal.

I still agree. I'd like to see a lot of Bradley, too. Does Benson have a 100 yard game yet? I'd love to see about 25 carries for 120 yards from the kid.