Soul

That would be my fix as well, but I doubt Dusty sees it that way. Wouldn't mind Neifi in late-inning duty, but I think Hairston is the odd man out with the Dusty dice. not so far. lets hope he continues to make good decisions. I think it was only because a lefty was on the hill yesterday. I'd rather not see Neifi, but knowing Dusty...

Honestly, if you want to be an uber-pessimist, that's fine. But you don't have to preach it like the gospel. We can all see what is going on, and don't need people exacerbating our existing frustration. If you want to vent, that's fine. But the "I told you so" BS is really annoying. Sorry to have annoyed you. I will cut the "I told you so" B.S. immediately. It *definitely* seems like some people on this board won't accept any criticism of the Cubs whatsoever no matter what happens. Not singling anyone out----just seems that way. And that's fine too. But there needs to be some balance to the discussion when catastrophies like Wood & Prior or Lee happen. These are crushing blows. CRUSHING. Some like to ignore them and move on. I don't. And I don't see how either view should be attacked. Seems like people who try to say "things are not good" around here get attacked and labeled. I think that's completely unfair, especially in our current situation. It's a shame that Wood is going to join the long list of pitchers who had their careers cut short by being delayed a week with tightness below the armpit. I was more referring to Lee, and Wood & Prior being unable to be healthy in general. But it does bring up a good point that I find myslef wondering about. Is Wood really unable to continue his training regimen? Or are the Cubs just treating him with too much sensitivity? If he's really that fragile that he can't get through a simple ramp-up to regular season strength, then maybe his career is just about over. But I wonder if they are just being too careful. Everyone has aches and pains. At some point don't you have to play through them? If I decided to skip work every time I woke up feeling less than my best, I'd use up my sick days in no time. I hope the Cubs aren't denying Wood a chance at getting his career back on track just because they can't distinguish between a normal body ache and something more serious.

Honestly, if you want to be an uber-pessimist, that's fine. But you don't have to preach it like the gospel. We can all see what is going on, and don't need people exacerbating our existing frustration. If you want to vent, that's fine. But the "I told you so" BS is really annoying. Sorry to have annoyed you. I will cut the "I told you so" B.S. immediately. It *definitely* seems like some people on this board won't accept any criticism of the Cubs whatsoever no matter what happens. Not singling anyone out----just seems that way. And that's fine too. But there needs to be some balance to the discussion when catastrophies like Wood & Prior or Lee happen. These are crushing blows. CRUSHING. Some like to ignore them and move on. I don't. And I don't see how either view should be attacked. Seems like people who try to say "things are not good" around here get attacked and labeled. I think that's completely unfair, especially in our current situation.

Yeah, I really don't see how people doing stupid dances on top of taxis makes you want to drink Pepsi. LOL.

That qualifies as sticking your neck out, nice 8)

Yup yup. This time he got an extension for leaving us blowing in the wind. That's progress :roll:

For what? I guess so he can throw a few more simu-towel-games before having another surgery.

I think he grew it for the 1B gig. I think he grew it hoping nobody would recognize him anymore.

I think the Reds are better than us now. Alright it's close. But it wasn't before we lost Lee. This is a lower-tier ballclub now.

Tried to tell you all---don't get your hopes up. Not with Prior either.

Wow Aardsma is just junk.

I'm trying to introduce you and others on this board to the reality of where we are at as a ballclub. But it's useless. OK, you win. We would have won it all in '05 with this years club!! We'll win it all even without Lee!! Whoohoo!! Go Cubbies :?

I would say that we don't know if Prior and Wood are going to be back at full strength. During Spring Training, the initial reports said nothing was wrong with Prior, then he would only miss a few days, then he would miss a couple starts, then he's out til the middle of May. Frankly I don't know what to think of our pitchers and when they are actually going to return. I wouldn't be surprised at all to have Wood come back only to go back on the DL within a month. To rely on him is one of the worst things you can do. Prior is another thing. As somebody else pointed out, Prior has had some freak injuries. But hints and target dates aren't sure things. Pretty much the inescapable reality. But I've said my piece. Raw wants to be optimistic. Fine. I wish I could be too. But that little thing called reality just won't get out of the way :wink:

Wood & Prior aren't playing in '06. Nobody knows when they'll be back, and frankly nobody knows if they will be of any use this year when they DO get back. You can't just throw whoever you want into the mix just to bolster your argument when they aren't even on the active roster. The '06 team is without Wood & Prior until proven otherwise. Secondly, you can't use career averages whenever you want when talking about specific seasons. Nor can you just disregard marginal players like Aardsma because it sends your argument down the drain. As for Lidge/Dempster: I'm not going to knock Dempster, because I love the guy and think he's done a fine job. Lidge is the far more feared pitcher though. In your player-by-player analysis, it's highly suspect to say Cedeno is going to surpass anything. He's basically a rook. Doing great now, and I hope it continues. But any assumptions about him are premature. Saying Murton is better than Berkman is just plain laughable. You know better than that.

Right handed power that can play first and the OF. Who would you have brought up? Sing, who is still having troubles getting acclimated to AAA? Somebody that had potential to be good someday. BTW how many games has Restovich played at 1b in his career? Again, who would you have promoted? How is this a "bad move" by Hendry given the situation? It's not a bad move given the situation. It's probably the best one he could make. I would have liked to see Sing get an opportunity, but Restovich has major league experience. This is a catastrophe for the Cubs, obviously Hendry is scrambling. There's not much else he can do.

We had to fight our way to a division title that year. Literally and figuratively :D

If you had used stats to prove your hypothetical, it would have been even more out there. Now you're asking me to use stats to "prove" mine? Use your common sense. The Cubs are 61 years out from their last World Series. Yet you believe *THIS* ballclub, with Prior & Wood on the shelf, would have gone to the World Series last year where all others have failed? Come on. Who are you trying to kid? So your logic that it's impossible for the Cubs to make the World Series this year because they haven't done it in 61 years? I'm not sure I agree with Raw but his comparison makes sense. Your disbelief with nothing else behind it isn't exactly a valid argument. Yeah, but you agree this team wasn't a World Series contender even with Lee. You just don't like the fact that I don't care to look up stats at 9am on a Friday morning when I should be working :wink: Maybe tonight I'll double back and grab some stats. Right now though----I really do need to get some work done.

Think the Stros and Cards will play .500 ball too though? It's not just what we do, it's what our opponents do as well. Last time I checked 3rd place is an automatic trip to the golf course in October.

It did for the Astros. I know people don't want to compare the teams, but they are pretty similar (I have said exactly this in other threads). Obviously, no Cubs pitchers will be as good as Clemens was most of last year. Heck, none may even come close to Pettitte either, nor be as good as Oswalt. But Zambrano will be very good. Prior and Wood will be very good WHEN they are able to pitch. Maddux looks to be primed for a good season. Every single spot in the Cubs rotation should easily be better than Backe, who was a run better than what Houston threw out in the 5th starter's role, helping to make up the difference. And Lidge is possibly the best Closer in the NL, but Dempster was better, in the closer's role, last season. He's not slowing down so far. I think the Cubs bullpen is also deeper and just as strong as the Astros were in setup (Wheeler, Qualls, Gallo = Howry, Williamson, Eyre). As for the offense, I think there's a very good chance, almost a given that Walker, Pierre, Barrett, Cedeno, Murton will be better to a man than Biggio, Tavarez, Ausmus, Everett, and the combo in LF were for Houston last year. Ramirez 06 and Ensberg 05 will be pretty close. Jones 06 and Lane 05 will also be similar. Then you have Berkman vs. Lee and his replacements. Lee will miss twice as much time as Berkman did last year (30 games), but when he's back he will outproduce what Berkman did last year. So, I think you have a similar team. Of course, with the way the Astros have started, they look to be better than the 05 version, also. That's insanity. We're nowhere near the '05 Stros. It's not even close. Back it up. Stros went the World Series last year. You think this year's Cub team would have made the World Series last year? I'm not going to argue about it-----that's insane. Prove that it's insane. I didn't mention stats in my post, but I used them. Just because you think it wouldn't have happened is not proof to me. If you had used stats to prove your hypothetical, it would have been even more out there. Now you're asking me to use stats to "prove" mine? Use your common sense. The Cubs are 61 years out from their last World Series. Yet you believe *THIS* ballclub, with Prior & Wood on the shelf, would have gone to the World Series last year where all others have failed? Come on. Who are you trying to kid?

It did for the Astros. I know people don't want to compare the teams, but they are pretty similar (I have said exactly this in other threads). Obviously, no Cubs pitchers will be as good as Clemens was most of last year. Heck, none may even come close to Pettitte either, nor be as good as Oswalt. But Zambrano will be very good. Prior and Wood will be very good WHEN they are able to pitch. Maddux looks to be primed for a good season. Every single spot in the Cubs rotation should easily be better than Backe, who was a run better than what Houston threw out in the 5th starter's role, helping to make up the difference. And Lidge is possibly the best Closer in the NL, but Dempster was better, in the closer's role, last season. He's not slowing down so far. I think the Cubs bullpen is also deeper and just as strong as the Astros were in setup (Wheeler, Qualls, Gallo = Howry, Williamson, Eyre). As for the offense, I think there's a very good chance, almost a given that Walker, Pierre, Barrett, Cedeno, Murton will be better to a man than Biggio, Tavarez, Ausmus, Everett, and the combo in LF were for Houston last year. Ramirez 06 and Ensberg 05 will be pretty close. Jones 06 and Lane 05 will also be similar. Then you have Berkman vs. Lee and his replacements. Lee will miss twice as much time as Berkman did last year (30 games), but when he's back he will outproduce what Berkman did last year. So, I think you have a similar team. Of course, with the way the Astros have started, they look to be better than the 05 version, also. That's insanity. We're nowhere near the '05 Stros. It's not even close. Back it up. Stros went the World Series last year. You think this year's Cub team would have made the World Series last year? I'm not going to argue about it-----that's insane.

Again, look at the schedule for the next 45 days. It's a pretty soft one. It gets much tougher in June and July, but asking the Cubs to stay in the NL Central race until June isn't all that unrealistic. Factor in Wood coming back within the next 2 weeks, and you've plenty of cause for short term optimism. The Cubs are 9-5 after 14 games. If they can play .500 for the next 46 games, their record will be 32-28 which will certainly keep them "in the race" at that point. There are a lot of "ifs" about the lineup, but with Wood, Prior, and Miller coming back soon I don't think .500 ball is out of the question. Are they though? You might be jumping the gun a little bit there.

It did for the Astros. I know people don't want to compare the teams, but they are pretty similar (I have said exactly this in other threads). Obviously, no Cubs pitchers will be as good as Clemens was most of last year. Heck, none may even come close to Pettitte either, nor be as good as Oswalt. But Zambrano will be very good. Prior and Wood will be very good WHEN they are able to pitch. Maddux looks to be primed for a good season. Every single spot in the Cubs rotation should easily be better than Backe, who was a run better than what Houston threw out in the 5th starter's role, helping to make up the difference. And Lidge is possibly the best Closer in the NL, but Dempster was better, in the closer's role, last season. He's not slowing down so far. I think the Cubs bullpen is also deeper and just as strong as the Astros were in setup (Wheeler, Qualls, Gallo = Howry, Williamson, Eyre). As for the offense, I think there's a very good chance, almost a given that Walker, Pierre, Barrett, Cedeno, Murton will be better to a man than Biggio, Tavarez, Ausmus, Everett, and the combo in LF were for Houston last year. Ramirez 06 and Ensberg 05 will be pretty close. Jones 06 and Lane 05 will also be similar. Then you have Berkman vs. Lee and his replacements. Lee will miss twice as much time as Berkman did last year (30 games), but when he's back he will outproduce what Berkman did last year. So, I think you have a similar team. Of course, with the way the Astros have started, they look to be better than the 05 version, also. That's insanity. We're nowhere near the '05 Stros. It's not even close.

Plus the fact that Aram won't be seeing very many good pitches if he is the only HR threat in the lineup. The only hope we have is that everyone on the team contributes a little more. If Jones, Pierre, and Ramirez can get going, with Walker, Barrett, Murton, and Cedeno continuing what they've been doing, we could be okay. Mabry can be very effective with spot starting. He won't be spot-starting though. He'll be the guy at 1B most days for 3 months. That's a regular. And Ramirez already has one leg on the DL---how much longer before he's gone for an extended period too?

whoever wins the first game will win the series, IMO. Huh? I'll be happy if the Bulls can take one game. There's no way we take this series. Not one chance. How do you figure us being competitive?

Yes. The point is, we weren't good enough to win even with Lee. Now we are a bad ballclub. Looks like it will be Mabry/Walker/Restovich @ 1B, in whatever combo Dusty likes. Wow. Don't panic? My goodness. I was panicking before Spring Training began, and with good reason----we lost all our pitchers before we even started preparing for the season! Panic doesn't describe the appropriate response to Lee's injury. More like resignment to fate.