sunnydoo

Its like a floating rating for GMs. Omar has been good for quite a few years. He was actually making the Expos in Montreal very competitive for a while. That is Nobel Prize Genius type of stuff with the payroll he had up there. Not only did he navigate the offseason better than most other GMs this past winter, he also scored for getting a new ball park built that will finally destroy Shea, and for reworking the long term philosophy for the Mets all awhile working in the toughest enviroment in Sports- NY City. With his team now comfortably in front, the man is looking like a true baseball genius.

Sadly, yes. There are so many great GMs out there these days (how i wish we could find one) and it is a dog eat dog world. Schuerholz gets bumped down because of the loss of personnel, the limiting on the budget, and the performance of the team to date. The World has become what have you done for me lately.

And i disagree with this point. Going to go SABRE on me?

No question, Schuerholz has been the best GM in baseball in terms of organization for the last several years. They are the perfect idea of what an organization should be...scouts, office staff, and the coaching staff working in cohesive harmony. They dont come better than Cox and Mazzone in the Dugout. The scouts have drafted talent and sent those players through minor league instruction, and they have begun paying dues (eg Langerhans, LaRoche, and McCann). Schuerholz was there like a maestro calling the moves. However the departure of Mazzone and Kasten, the limiting of payroll money, and several other structural changes to the Braves are going to finally cause Doom and Ruin to that organization. They are already 10 games out at this point in the season and they have Jorge Sosa in their starting rotation. Ramirez comes back this week, but if Andruw is hurt bad and several of the other starters cant get healthy, it could be a long long summer down in Hotlanta.

He was brought up through the Mets organization. The entire fan base has waited for his opportunity to play. Now he is returning boffo rewards for his team. And they are just crazy about him. The Mets are in 1st place and have no reason to make this trade. They would end up adding at least 11million in payroll. They also already have several cheaper deals on the table to replace zambrano.

Busted. :oops: I really dislike all the posters on this board screaming about all the sacrifices we attempt. A lot of teams are really successful with the strategy (including the Braves). Unfortunately what most posters dont understand is that it is the execution lacking for the Cubs, not the strategy. I personally would have shipped Hairston to Triple A over the weekend and told him that he could come back to Chicago when he figured out how to advance a runner from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd with a bunt.

No, the Mets have absolutely no interest in trading Wright. Minaya has said that he is the cornerstone for the future in NY.

He wasnt arguing a home plate call per se and the funny thing was that both a Met player and Cox got launched on the same play. They had dueling arguments going on. What happened was Smoltzy dropped a suicide squeeze (if you are not a fan of small ball, i cant explain to you what a suicide squeeze is- just try to follow along). LoDuca tagged the guy coming in from 3b. The Home Plate ump blew the call and called him safe at the plate. LoDuca spiked the ball, said the magic word, and got heaved in one broad stroke. The runner on 2nd advanced to 3rd during the spiking. Smoltz tried to advance to 2nd during the argument. Randolph finally got to the plate and pulled LoDuca off of the ump. The 2nd base ump told Smoltz to go back to first because according to the rule book, when LoDuca spiked the ball and got tossed for it, it became a dead ball and no other advancement was possible. This infuriated Cox and he started screaming at the Crew Chief, who by this time was in no mood for futher antics. He then tossed Cox. Altogether terrific comedy.

Any time Alf is your set up guy, your days are numbered. The Fighting Showalters are therefore the choice here. The Rockies are real. If they can stay healthy, they could be spectacular for many years. The Reds are getting a lot out of Phillips and Arroyo and may end up a lot better than last year. They might be able to eek out the WC if they can get their pitchers back from the DL and add a couple at the wire. The Tigers are getting better, but not there yet. They will be fading by June. The DBacks may be able to hang around in the West for a while. It is so messed up out there anything is possible. They will be good next year with Dusty managing them.

Oh noes... C Young :shock: Lets go Cubs!

he may have been picking the pints up too fast or not curling them correctly. i kid.... :lol:

I care for one. First of all, you are right- it is nice to see that he is at least hitting his weight now (.220). But ARam is still not their yet. And until he can play 140+ games regularly and consistently and put up solid stats, I wont be sold. When you spend $11 million on a player you have certain expectations. One of those expectations is a respect for the game and the players. It is a traveshamockery not to run out a ground ball or to sit and admire your work at home plate. It shows up the other team, the other player, and makes you look extremely lazy. It is one of the truest reasons why i hate Bonds, Manny Ramirez, and others. They refuse to even run out ground balls. But what happens if that ball didnt carry last nite? You would have a long single with a team that desperately needed runs. Just not the kind of veteran leadership i look for. And if his groin is that bad and ginger, then we dont need him and need to find a replacement. Otherwise he needs to run things out and play the game the way it is meant to be played.

Steve Trachsel. Although I must say, he is looking mighty svelt and in shape these days.

Consider how many teams were seriously trying to get his services at the time, including the Cubs. It turned into a bidding war and he got a lot of money out of it. He had a down year for production last season, but his OPS is well over 1 this year and I think he will be better served later on in the season with this current lineup. Pitchers will have to come at him instead of around him like last year or else they have to deal with Delgado or Wright. The move getting Delgado and the development of Wright are what is going to put the Mets over the top this season, and Carlos will have a big say in things too.

I think he was referring to ARams stare down last nite. That was ridiculous. Hit the ball and run. Dont just stand there and show up the pitcher. If i were the Fathers, Mr ARam would have gotten buzzed on his next AB.

Zambrano was a deadline deal on July 30, 2004. Omar was not hired until Sept of 2004. This deal was one of the reasons Jim Duquette got axed. And i completely disagree about your assessment of Beltran and his deal.

That was pre-Minaya. Minaya is the best GM in baseball. Period, end of story.

i think we need a "dont care" option too.

Mets put Zambrano on the 60 and he is done for the year. Recalled Jose Lima from Triple A Norfolk. Lima

I have an idea, can we get a hold of someone at WGN tonight and have them change the opening song. Instead of Jump or whatever they are playing this year, have them play the theme song to Chariots of Fire. Use cutaways of people actually hitting home runs or scoring from earlier this season.

Don Baylor was the worst Cub manager for at least the last quarter century. Having a good lineup is the responsibility of the General Manager. If he does not provide the players for the manager to manage, then it should be his downfall. Having good players simply allows the manager to place them in the correct spots day in day out, and to work on other things like the psychology of the game. If the GM is good, then it should be a no brainer like the Mets, the Yankees, the Red Sox, etc. Think they have lineup issues? I for one can tell you that Terry Francona is very much less than a baseball genius, but Theo Epstein is damn good at his job. When the team gets in trouble, sometimes a manager needs to get creative to bail them out. A great example of this is Bobby Cox in Atlanta. It is the difference between an extraordinary and a merely good manager. Dusty is not in that league. Maybe he will develop into the Larussa, Cox, or Torre class one day, but he isnt there yet and its unfair to judge him to that standard when those guys all have 10+ years more experience than he does. Dusty is trying whatever he can to shake this team up and get their heads out of their collective asses. I can tell you with ARam hitting .198 and several other players not stepping up their game, that its not Dusty's fault right now. People dont want to hear that, while others say just wait most of these guys (like ARam) are 2nd half players. Well guess what? Why the hell did our brilliant GM sign all 2nd half players then? Tying Dusty's hands with the coaching staff (ie Rothschild and the others) also has not helped things. I think Dusty is very much going to enjoy Phoenix next year where he actually will have a GM that will listen to him. And that will be our loss when we are stuck with Jeff freaking Torborg. And one other thing....Baylors lifetime record is a whopping .476, while Dusty has only had 2 years where he had records worse than that. His lifetime record is over .530 and he is only one of 4 NL managers All time who have ever had 8 straight winning seasons. Baylor has never even had 3 full seasons in a row at .500. They arent even in the same class, so dont try to compare them.

um pudge is too old and the yanks wont trade AROD. try something else.

for a moment there i thought that was Alex Mr 9th Inning Gonzalez and my heart nearly froze.....whew.

dont bet on it. the players we need are the ones who can step up when challenged. that is the breed that makes a champion. he is just a little puppy dog right now and not so cute atm.

barfield is jesse's son right?