XZero771679666304

So......what front line SP are going to be on the market this offseason?

Absolutely unacceptable. Z's days as a Cub are clearly numbered.

Braves announcers say Z left Wrigley.

Hopefully his arm will fall off.

I don't think there's any way someone can say anything other than it shows extreme stupidity and immaturity from both men, particularly Zambrano, and supreme blowage from the entire team. The only good could be if it inspires some personel changes. Agreed. The only spark I am hopeful of seeing is one in the front office.

2007 CERA: Barrett: 4.11 Blanco: 4.04

And the last world series champ came out of this baseball cesspool. It's crazy.

You mean all twelve of them?? Seriously. They have no fanbase.

RF is not a stand alone stat. Makes many assumptions that may or may not be accurate. Still, I remember researching defense, and seeing that Jeter's RF was so much worse than other SS that there had to be something to it. I have yet to see a defensive metric that I like, but I am willing to bet that others here can produce a myriad of them that support what Jeter's RF implies. Even watching him, you can see that he lacks range. He makes all the plays in his zone, but his zone is freaking tiny. I still find the fact the Yanks kept Derek at SS and put ARod at third to be laughable.

I wish I could actually get interested enough in another team to make me forget about the Cubs for even a nanosecond, but I can't. The only slight respite I get from being a Cubs fan is the modicum of joy I take from seeing the Yankees circling the drain with the highest payroll in history, and white sox and Cardinal losses.

He has had some bad years (like last year) and then he has some good years like 2004/2005. Average or slightly below avg. range does not equal terrible. IIRC, in a few seasons his RF was the worst among all everyday SS.

And Jeter is pretty good (although not great at SS). Laughable. Every defensive metric said that Jeter was consistently one of the worst SS in baseball. You're right. Jeter's defense may be the most overrated thing in the sports world today. It's not just that he's not as good as his reputation, but he's actually not good at all. A few flashy plays have overshadowed reality.

With all due respect, the Astros are a far longer shot than the Cubs. And I voted Brewers.

I think it's more accurate to say that later in his career, he was overrated defensively. A big reason is because he was previously an excellent defender. That's not just something that happens to Jim Edmonds; players commonly undeserved Gold Gloves and are selected to the All-Star game based on reputation and historical performance. Bingo.

I think the offense is the biggest problem. A consistant offense will usually hide most bullpen woes or at least make them less critical. All bullpens allow runs. It just so happens that their teams offenses scores runs while ours is usually one-shot and out. Good night Irene. It's been this way since the beginning of the Don Baylor era. The pen has blown games when the Cubs have scored a lot of runs, as well as when they haven't. With all due respect, the pen is far more to blame than the offense.

You think its fate? I think its baseball Gods way of torturing us Cubs fans in a new way. Usually we suck are are out of it in June and we deal with it. Now this year we suck but hes goin to make us pay attention all year saying" I know our offense will get going," or "our bp will get better and we will be able to overtake first place", when in reality we will probably just barely miss out, and once again having been tortured for an entire season, instead of just 2 months. :cry: I don't know about you, but I feel tortured by the Cubs 24/7/365 and one extra on leap year.

Clearly the problem here is the bullpen. If you'd have asked most people before the season started what would be the biggest weak spot for the Cubs, I bet the bullpen would have gotten the least number of votes. But no, the bullpen has been by far the biggest problem, specifically Eyre and Howry. And the rotation, which seemed like the biggest liability coming in to the season, as been the strongest part of the team. Fortunately, the rest of the division has been sucking even harder than the Cubs have over the past couple weeks, and the Cubs are still right in it. Tho offense will come around, I have no doubt of that. I hope they come around before the rotation regresses, and if they do, the Cubs should still get the same mean production from those two. It's the bullpen that MUST be fixed. I can't see how Eyre can be used anymore, and Howry should be relegated to mop-up duty for the time being. I think fate is giving this team a chance this year by having Milwaukee and Houston and most of the Central go belly-up during what will hopefully be the Cubs' worst stretch of play.

And yet as bad as the Cubs have screwed the pooch on this road trip, they've gained ground on the Brewers and passed the Astros. Crazy.

I think it is worth mentioning that Ryan has a 0.97 WHIP, 2.65/1 k/bb, 8.86 k/9 and .176 BAA after tonight to go with his 91% save percentage.

I think a lot of people saw Carp getting injured as being a strong possibility, as well as Edmonds and Wells sucking. Their rotation was under heavy scrutiny well before the season started, even from homers like Dayn Perry. Rolen is getting older and his injuries are starting to catch up with him, Reyes has never been this bad, but he has always had durability issues. Really the only thing no one could have foreseen was Looper being this good. This past offseason Jocketty looked a lot like Hendry did last offseason, it's the same sort of crap we roast Jimbo for.

they can Thats incredibly sad. It might sound cold but I really hope that father doesn't get a cent. How is that incredibly sad? Bars/bartenders are not supposed to overserve folks precisely so that situations like this can be avoided. Yes, because bartenders know everybody's tolerance and BAC and should be expected to stop serving somebody right when they're over the legal limit. While we're at it, let's install breathalyzers in every bar test everybody's BAC before they're allowed to order a drink. Just because a guy is drunk and over the limit doesn't mean a bartender can tell that the guy is. EDIT (just so I don't come off sounding like a complete dick): I do agree to a point that bars and bartenders should be held liable. If a guy is falling over and slurring and is visibly drunk, that is one thing, and then you shouldn't serve them. But with a lot of drinkers, especially some experienced ones, it is hard to tell when somebody is over the legal limit. It is common sense not to serve someone who is stumbling drunk. However, some people seem to think that you have to be stumbling drunk to be dangerous. All a person has to have is a buzz or even less to have their driving ability impaired to the point of being a danger to others. I am an ex-bartender, and can verify that it is quite hard to tell who has had too much. It's easy to tell who's had WAY too much, but most people can be far too drunk to drive without falling off of barstools or stumbling around and slurring their speech. And on a busy night when a bar is full, you can't expect a server to babysit every patron. And it is true, the really experienced drinkers, those that wear their drunkenness well and have fooled themselves into thinking they have control or measure over it that are the most dangerous of all. And then there those heroes who think their tolerance is higher so they can have a higher BAC than another person and be no less impaired. It's all a bunch of BS. Personally, I think a lot of people like to debate this so they can convince themselves that they are responsible, that their drinking doesn't cross the line, and that if it does, there will someone else to blame. It is all a way to justify behaviors that they themselves feel some uncertainty over. The bottom line is that as soon as a person decides to go out and drink, they have begun a chain of events that they and they alone bear the responsibility for. It the god given right of no one to be able to drink at all and drive. If a person wants to be assure that they won't be convicted of DUI, they should have zero drinks. Any consumption before driving is a chance taken. I am not some straightedge teetotaler, but I don't drive after I drink. If you can't get a sober DD, drink at home. If a person drinks and drives, they deserve whatever bad happens to them. It's the people they might kill that don't deserve it.

Wins for pitchers are highly over rated IMO, as long as the team wins I don't care which pitcher gets credit for it and neither should they. Why must this be debated every time its mentioned. He got the ND for a game it would be nice to have gotten him a win for, simple as that. I don't think it has to be debated. It's common sense that wins are a team stat, and that starting pitchers only have a fraction of the control over them. It's the most overrated stat in the game. And no has said to the contrary. Why must it be mentioned every time? I think it's like a defense mechanism, people are so sick of the misconception about wins as a stat, they attack it whenever possible.

where were you when Murton was 2-3 with a walk yesterday? give me a break I know he's had a few games this year, but he's had a bunch of really crappy starts, and he seems completey useless coming off the bench.[/quote He actually has been better pinch-hitting than anything: 3 for 11 with 1 BB, .272/.333/.636 All his other at-bats .284/.341/.333 That 3-run homer all of a sudden made his pinch hitting #'s look good. The same way Dempster's 9th in New York made his ERA look bad. It's too early to draw any conclusions with average based stats.

Wins for pitchers are highly over rated IMO, as long as the team wins I don't care which pitcher gets credit for it and neither should they. Why must this be debated every time its mentioned. He got the ND for a game it would be nice to have gotten him a win for, simple as that. I don't think it has to be debated. It's common sense that wins are a team stat, and that starting pitchers only have a fraction of the control over them. It's the most overrated stat in the game.

It's an old problem, people acting like being drunk is an excuse for anything, or a mysterious condition. You put the booze in your mouth and swallowed it. You are 100% responsible for anything bad that happens as a consequence. Not the bartender, server, brewer or distillery, you, 100%.