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I'm sure he could, but I don't think he will. It would make sense to me, though. I'd rather have him in the 1 or 2 spot than the 5 where Lou is talking about batting him now. It is still early in ST, so who knows how things will work out. I think many here would be surprised if Brian Roberts isn't leading off on opening day, though.

Not to nitpick, but if you're bringing Rich Aurilia into this, I'll say Mark Grace was a lot better for a lot longer. But I agree with you overall.

Houston is definitely not in the southwest. Well not technically, but close enough for me. I find Texas as a whole to be closer to Southwestern in nature (if not geography) than anything else.

When Hendry hired Dusty, he had just taken the Giants to the World Series!! I'd be willing to bet that when Hendry hired Dusty, you thought it was a GREAT signing. I'll take it one step further and say that in 2003 when the Cubs were 5 outs from the World Series themselves, you were probably one of the people holding up the "In Dusty we trusty" signs. So all of a sudden that's a bad move in your eyes? Hindsight is the red-headed step child of foresight. I for one saw what he did wrong even in 2003, but let it go for the most part, but was far from a fan of Baker. When he was signed by the Cubs, I was told by Giant fans what he did wrong, and many of them felt the Giants won in spite of him and not because of him. The things they complained about him doing are the same things we complain about him doing, and the same thing Reds fans will complain about him doing before the end.

And who hired the manager that let Prior and Wood in for 120+ pitch counts on a regular basis? And who hired the manager who put the pieces in the wrong place to win the games? Hendry? Yeah, if your kid is a pyromaniac and you buy him matches, you can't be absolved of guilt when he burns the house down.

and a lot that are clearly better -- that still makes him either a bad GM or a mediocre one at the very best Define "clearly better?" It is my experience, when I would troll ESPN boards, that fans of other teams considered their GM to be an "average" to "worse" GM then the next team. Oakland fans has had questions about Beane. Even BoSox fans have questioned Theo Epstein. So, IMO, there was only "ONE CLEAR TOP GM" in baseball, and the Braves move him upstairs. So, I don't buy that there are "clearly better" GMs then Hendry. When it comes to what is important, like identifying your team's weaknesses and addressing them expediently, there are plenty of GM's who are better. How long did it take for Jim to realize the OBP was a big problem? three, four years? Or how now he is overlooking the team's biggest hole (SS), and focusing on a position of relative strength? (though I would like to see Roberts a Cubs, it clearly shouldn't be priority one) Sure, there a many general managers who are worse (Krivsky, Colletti, Bavasi, Bowden, Wade, Sabean, etc.), but not being the worst does not mean you aren't bad.

Clearly the man is having trouble adjusting to southwestern food.

can he? if he could, i'd say yes, right away. he could definitely play center if he needs to, to give pie a break. it would also give us an opportunity to end the great ryan theriot experiment. maybe we could trade him to minnesota, they seem to like players like him. he has not played SS at all in the majors i'm too lazy to check. No, no time at SS.

Showing off for the Baltimore scouts.

No, Jordan is indeed 6'6".

Pie ripped that one.

There's no reason to think that Lieber won't be effective as a #5. Yeah, but they'll both probably be about #5 quality, and having 2 of those makes it ineffective. I think it's perfectly realistic to think that Lieber could put up #4 type numbers. Damn, Ward smoked that ball.

I d rather have Cintron here over Fontenot but not over Cedeno. Let's face it, Fontenot isn't good defensively at either 2nd or SS. Cintron and Cedeno seems redundant. I have to believe Cedeno is going to be traded.

There's no reason to think that Lieber won't be effective as a #5.

Unless he can prove he's versatile enough to handle SS if needed. Lou mentioned on the broadcast yesterday, that Mike was going to play some SS in upcoming games. Fontenot's bat is better than Cedeno's. Also, right now both of our MI are RH, so having a LH compliment might be preferred. I am highly skeptical of Font's ability to play SS effectively.

Yeah, mostly because Ronny can play quite a few positions.

I thought it was a forgone conclusion, for better or worse.

Doubted. I think he just wants to give Fuku a day off but still play sori. I'm sure you're right...just grasping at straws. Another topic, could Fukudome be effective at leadoff and how would that set up the rest of the order? I think he'd be very effective. High OBP and he even has enough speed to convince old school managers. I'd set it up like this Fukudome DeRosa Lee Ramirez Soriano Soto Pie Theriot Pitcher Lou would put theriot ahead of pie though. I'd put Soriano between Lee and Ramirez. Not much incentive to pitch to him otherwise.

not worth it. rather have fukudome. Yeah, let's not forget what Torii is making. I would love to have Hunter in CF - at half of what the Angels are paying him. And while the LH part is overrated, the OBP is not.

Beauty I think it was actually up, up, down, down, left, right , left, right, B, A, B, A, start.

Wouldn't is be easier to go to MLB.com and find out? Extra Innings is about $250 for the season I believe. I think MLB.TV is around $100. EI is $179 for the season, about $235 w/superfan.

seriously, especially since Rotoworld does the same thing for free you get Insider free with their crappy magazine -- I got a 3 year subscription on ebay for about $6 Mine just started showing up every month in the mail. Never signed up for it, but they some reason they started sending it to me for free. And that is about what it is worth. They started sending it to me when FHM crapped out mid-subscription. It was not an even trade off.

I don't think the Rangers are in any hurry to give up Young, and unfortunately, I don't think the Cubs see SS as a position of need.

Awesome. I hate Milwaukee, the city is a POS. Their fans are annoying and unrealistic. However, once Fielder, Braun, and Hart leave for better money they'll be back to worthless for another 18 seasons until they scrounge a winning season again. Then their fans will be back... Diehard Brewer fans are just as clueless as casual Cub fans. They think every minor leaguer they have will be an All-Star, and rarely follow the other teams in the division. :rotfl: Are you laughing or crying? You'll be good for a few years, but you have to know Fielder, Braun and Hart are all history once they reach free agency, and probably before. That's why I don't hate the Brewers. They'll never sustain success like the Cardinals. Fielder, probably. Only because of Boras. Hart, I would put money on him staying long term. The Brewers have already talked about a long term extension for Braun. This isn't the $40 million payroll Brewers, plus you can't assume there won't be more new talent coming to replace possible loses considering how well the Brewers have drafted and developed under Executive of Year Jack Zduriencik. Sure, they can't keep everyone, but don't kid yourself into thinking they are all gone soon. In other words, i'm laughing. Maybe, but it Braun puts up numbers like he did in 2007 for the next few years, someone is going to give him more than the Brewers. Now I know the crew doesn't have a tiny payroll, but they don't have a big one, either. As for a Braun extension, I am sure they'll look into signing him through his arby years, but unless he has a bad sophomore slump, I can't see him signing for any of his FA years anytime soon.