Larry Horse

for leaving the Cubs out of the standings on the home page. Their place in the standings is something I don't want to be reminded of..........

If the Cubs don't play their young talent, how can they judge if they are going to be any good?

I still won't like Dusty, no matter how many WS rings he wins with the Cubs. (Quick prediction: zero)

That's interesting, because given the amount of PT Cedeno had, I have no idea how anyone could have "a pretty good idea what he can do." "You got to reward the guys who busted their butt for you."? Kind of like how they rewarded Murton. Uuugghhhh. I wish Dusty would remain silent for the rest of his Cubs career. His contradictions just illuminate his ignorance.

3 million for a guy who has played in 109 games since 2004? Wow, that would be like paying a starting pitcher who can't stay healthy 12 million......

Hopefully, the Cubs won't be one of the bidders.....

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp "Starting something? The altercation over the weekend between Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley — Kent thought Bradley wasn’t hustling and let him know about it — didn’t come as a surprise to Cubs manager Dusty Baker. But it did make Baker wonder if he might have had a hand in it in that six-degrees-of-separation kind of way because of something that happened when he managed Kent in San Francisco. “I was just hoping when I read that … the first thing I thought was that I remember asking Jeff to do something like that,” Baker said with a laugh. “I was just hoping that it was something that maybe I didn’t help create.” So let me get this straight......a player wasn't hustling for SF, and Dusty has a PLAYER go confront him about the lack of hustle? What an absolute spineless moron.

I think the most disturbing part of the article is that MacPhail, after 11 years, thinks the Cubs "are on the right track"? In 11 years, they have made the playoffs twice and that is "on the right track"? That is some scary thinking. Wood, Prior and Z and no stud position players? I would probably term that production in that time frame a "failure" “We’ve had three or four different attendance records. I think those things we’ve done to the park are going to help keep the ballpark viable for the next generation of Cub fans.” There's the kicker. They've made a lot of money. They are definitley successful in that department. And I can't support the "resign Nomar" campaign. Even if he signs for cheap, he can't be depended on to play on a regular basis. I think the last two years have shown that.

Heck, even the same team ... If the Cubs had traded for Corey Patterson off another team using some career minor leaguers and took on $3 million for this kind of production, the same people would be heading the Corey Patterson Sucks bandwagon. Its because he came up through this system, somehow that trumps objective evaluation. They've followed his box scores through the majors. They went to bed with grandiose dreams. They can't bring themselves to recognize this is a poor man's Preston Wilson. You can make an animated .gif of another player's head poppking out of a toilet and its a riot, but heaven forbid you say the least critical thing about the beloved .270 OBP player who's just trying as hard as he can but them mean ole' Wrigley fans are hurting his wittle, bitty feelings. Corey is the classic toolsy player who doesn't know what to do when his tools can't save him. The only thing he knows how to do is to get more aggressive, depend more on his physical abilities. This is the Moneyball chapter of Billy Beane as a minor league player. There's been a thousand before him, and there will be a thousand after him. Great post. Hendry hitched his wagon to this guy as the "5 tool" player that would take care of CF for years, and sadly it's not going to be the case. Another overevaluation of a minor league position player. I'm really holding my breath about Pie, who's supposed to be the next great CF'er. And what's up with this "lingering" ankle injury Felix has?

That sounds about right, though The Cubs would have to go 17 over .500 the rest of the way, which is pretty daunting. Or as I like to think, given the consistency of this team, impossible.

Maybe Eric Patterson will be good.........

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sportsstory.asp?id=85100 “I explained it to him,” Baker said. “I said, ‘Hey, man, you’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve done everything right that you could ask a young man to do in limited action.’ He’ll be back. Just take what he’s learned here and keep improving on his game. Keep improving on a .339 average with a .415 OBP? Dusty, you truly are a moron. Why not just say, "To bad you're not older" Gotta keep "Holly" fresh and Lawton and Burnitz make too much money not to play. Aaahh, the pearls of wisdom from Dusty keep on coming. BTW, what a great headline by Bruce. He is hands down the best.

I'm still waiting for the pro-Dusty fans to jump on board and try to defend this dumba**. I would have liked to seen Hendry DFA "Holly" and keep Murton up. But I guess .300 hitting outfielders who seem to know how to hit are a dime a dozen on this team......... Vance, you and I are in agreement. Hendry has tied his wagon to the wrong horse and he better consider shooting the horse. And to think how pumped I was when they signed Dusty........

http://www.suntimes.com/output/deluca/cst-spt-deluca16.html "The Cubs are still in the market for another starter and are expected to inquire about veteran left-hander Kirk Rueter, who was designated for assignment Sunday by the San Francisco Giants. The Giants have eight days to trade or release the 34-year-old who opened the season as their No. 2 starter. Rueter went 2-7 with a 5.95 ERA for the Giants. He was upset last month when they put him on the disabled list, citing gout in his right big toe as the cause. When he was demoted to the bullpen last month, Rueter asked to be traded. Rueter has a solid history with Baker, who managed the Giants before coming to the Cubs and used Rueter as his Game 1 starter in the 1997 National League Division Series."

The franchise we know as The Chicago Cubs is currently in it's 130th season of competition in the National League. To casually throw around phrases like "unprecedented to the ..... franchise" suggests that you have done little or no research on this team. You may want to start with 1935. Start with 1935? For a little more relevant argument, how about going back 20 years and pull out the years when the monster last month carried the Cubs into the playoffs.......

People, don't do this to yourself. Houston won yesterday. I think the Cubs would have to play about .660 ball and have Houston play about .500 ball to get to 88 wins, which will not win the wildcard. The season is over.....not mathematically, but realistically. The Cubs are not the Astros, the Cubs are the Cubs, and the Cubs are in their own special little baseball world.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-kiley10.html

NO MORE NOMAR !!!!! What a big name, non-factor. Thank God they acquired him, because those 70 games he's played have been huge. Here's an idea: Cedeno at SS. Give it to him in ST. For the love of God, would it kill the Cubs to have some younger players starting every day? This isn't some sort of dynasty we're talking about here.....IT'S THE CUBS!!!!!!! How about mixing things up a little with some youth? 2008 is coming pretty fast, and the same old, same old is getting, well, old. I realize with the current manager, this may be tough, just wishful thinking. Cedeno, Lee, Ramirez and Barrett. The other 4 positions can be up for grabs . I'm sick of looking at this band of underachievers.

That pretty much sums it up.

Isn't it a relief? Wash your hands of this years debacle......and let me say what I think is the first for this year: Wait till next year. Meet the new boss......same as the old boss.......

Oh, of course the players could never be responsible for their own sloppy play and failure. What was Jim thinking? You guys are on the ball on this. 1) the players are responsible for their own bad play 2) Hendry brought in these players 3) Hendry brought in the guy who is supposed to motivate these players 4) these players are playing badly without motivation 5) Hendry must take the blame. It's called command responsibility. Amen there.

That's weird....that emoticon showed up when I didn't put it in there.

I thought this quote was pretty funny from Rittenburg's Daily Herald column: "The Cubs managed only 2 hits in 7 innings against Reds left-hander Brandon Claussen (7-8), who entered Monday with a 9.42 ERA in the second half. Claussen joins Jae Seo and Brad Halsey in a group of seemingly anonymous pitchers who have recently dominated the Cubs." Seemingly anonymous. Kind of like the Cubs right now.......

I just got home and checked MLB.com to see the box score of the Cub game.....and I see an outfield of Lawton......with MACIAS AND HOLLY?......AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!