Tim

Raisin, I think your team should trade you now. Without much power, that .818 batting average is built off a pretty unsustainable BABIP.

Did you change anything with your system? Not that I know of. I guess I'd suggest starting by clearing out your cookies and seeing if that helps.

Did you change anything with your system?

Well, let's look at the Yankees system. They traded away most of their minor league talent for higher-priced stars, leaving them with a $200 million budget and no exceptional talent pool to draw from. And as we can see, $200 million does not guarantee a WS. For the Cubs to trade away the majority of their farm only to buy them back in free agency leaves the team at a financial disadvantage and potentially gets back guys who have already hit or passed their prime. The Cubs are doing a good job of trading prospects for quality players. Especially in this market, I'd be more apt to continue their SOP than to sell the farm. Your argument is hurt by the fact that the Yankees won 4 WS in 5 years using the philosophy your describe. If that philosophy netted the Cubs just 1 title, I'd be for it. The philosophy the Yankees used to win those titles was based upon building from within. Jeter, Williams, Rivera, Pettitte & the real core of that team all came from the farm. They added role players through trades & FA (such as O'Neill & Tino), but didn't go after the huge stars. When they started shelling out the huge dollars is when they stopped winning titles.

Did this just start or has it been happening all along?

Honestly, I think the playoff run in 2003 hurt this team more than Dusty's managing in 2005. I have no real support for the idea, but I believe that burning Wood & Prior down the stretch of that season has been a major factor in their inability to stay healthy since that time. Fortunately for Z, he showed more visible signs of fatigue that year and Dusty didn't push him as hard down the stretch after the innings had piled up. And I think most managers would have succumbed to the temptation to load those guys up down the stretch in a playoff hunt, just like Dusty did. If Wood & Prior were healthy and pitching like they should this whole year, Dusty's shenanigans wouldn't make that much difference. Given the injuries & effectiveness of personnel that the Cubs have had in 2005, I think Dusty hasn't cost the team more than 3-5 games. But that's just me.

If he's in the pen, someone better hang a sign in the dugout that tells Dusty that he can't be used every stinking day. I'm all for Dusty getting fired yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But if he's still around having Dempster and Williamson as solid relievers will help. Tell that to Wuertz.

If he's in the pen, someone better hang a sign in the dugout that tells Dusty that he can't be used every stinking day.

If you (in the general sense, not anyone in particular) want ARod, come to grips with parting with Z or Prior. That's the only way it's going to happen.

I don't disagree. However, my question is this: if we need a lefty replacement for the pen, why not bring up Rohlicek (sp?)? A. He has spent the entire year in relief. B. I'm pretty sure he has slightly better numbers. C. We have seen Koronka at the ML level, but not Rohlicek. D. Rohlicek, like Koronka, is on the 40 man. Is there a service time detriment to bringing up Rohlicek that is truly prohibitive? If we needed a pen lefty because management believes we are still in it, then Bartosh would have been the best choice due to his experience and numbers. The decision, while not having a major impact, is indicative of the curious thought processing that is going on with management. Thats what is the most difficult for me to swallow. Bartosh is ruled out because we'd have to clear 40 man space for him. Rohlicek is probably not in as much danger of losing his roster spot as Koronka, therefore has a less immediate need to prove himself.

For once, I'd like to see us go get a pitcher who has great stuff AND has actually put it together. It's that second part that's so difficult for the Cubs to understand. How many pitchers are ever available that have both the stuff and have put it all together? Oh yeah, we can get AJB this offseason...

The Cubs have to decide whether to keep Koronka on the 40 man during the offseason. Heck, they may be looking to take him off in September to see what some other youngsters can do. He's getting one last chance to hang onto a roster spot. Season's over anyway, why not see if Koronka can show enough to hang on? Seriously, what is it going to hurt at this point? At least the other youngsters will know that they'll get a chance before they get lopped off the roster.

Cedeno was never a good hitter until the '04 season, where he started to turn it around in AA. However, he was always fairly young for his league (in the majors by 22 isn't bad). This season he's been much better as a hitter than anyone could have ever imagined. He's got great defense, also. If he continues to hit like this in AAA, I don't see how he doesn't get a shot. Cedeno was an excellent hitter when he was in the rookie league (he won a batting title there, in fact).

Oops. I forgot about Hairston. Add him to my bench players.

Please. It saves me the trouble of matching the email from paypal up to the database registration list. For checks it is a requirement since your real name doesn't get entered in my database when you register.

I haven't really put together any cohesive thoughts about next year yet, so these are just initial impressions of what I would do, not what I think the Cubs would do. Free Agents: Priority #1 - AJ Burnett Priority #2 - Brian Giles That's it for me and the free agency market. If there's an OF available through trade that's younger than Giles and is even close to the OBP stud that he is, then I'd be interested. But Giles fills a tremendous need for this team and I'd give him a 3-4 year deal and look to trade him part of the way through the contract as he ages. Burnett is a rare talent and I'd love to grab him. Resign or pick up options on: #1 - Nomar #2 - Walker #3 - Dempster #4 - Williamson I'd be more than happy to give Nomar another one year deal to see if he can stay healthy and be productive. There just aren't any better options out there. Walker is a very underrated player at 2B for his production. Dempster has been fine in the pen. While I'd prefer BJ Ryan, I think Dempster makes more sense from a cost/performance perspective. Trades: As I say above, if I could find a younger option than Giles that is a good bet to provide a .400 OBP, I'd do it. There aren't many of those options out there, though. So, I really don't have a lot of positions I'd care to fill through trade. I do have a bunch of guys I'd like to trade away for minor leaguers, though.... #1 - Maddux #2 - Rusch #3 - Mitre #4 - Novoa/Wuertz/Welly/Ice Maddux needs a bigger park where the home runs won't leave the park quite as often. I'd see if SD would be interested in sending minimal talent back and if Greg would accept a trade there. Rusch should be traded somewhere he can be a starter. He won't bring back any kind of impact minor leaguer, but I think we could net a decent return for him. Mitre, Welly, etc. are out of options and will need to make the team, pass through waivers and outrighted, plain ol' released or traded. There isn't going to be room for all of them. I'd pick "traded" if at all possible. Arbirtration: I'd offer Lawton & Dempster arbitration. I'd be okay with a one year deal for either guy if they accept and I'd like the draft picks if they leave. Coaching Staff: #1 - Promote Von Joshua as hitting coach #2 - Replace Rothschild #3 - Replace Dusty Surprisingly, I don't think #3 is as big of a deal as nos. 1 & 2. Position Players: Assuming Lawton is out of here, this gives me a position player lineup of: C - Barrett 1B - Lee 2B - Walker 3B - Ramirez SS - Nomar LF - Murton / Sing / Greenberg / Pie CF - Patterson (in LF/RF if Pie is the rookie that wins the job) RF - Giles (probably in LF, depending on the rookie) My preference would be for Pie to stay in AAA, Greenberg to be the backup OF, Murton to take the job in LF to start the year and Sing to destroy Iowa for a while before getting called up. I also may be the last person that still thinks Corey can be a valuable contributor, but I'd like him to remain in CF until Pie improves his discipline in the minors. Bench: IF - Fontenot IF - Cedeno OF - Murton / Sing OF - Greenberg C - Blanco Starting Pitching: Prior Zambrano Burnett Wood Maddux I'd do everything I could to trade Maddux or convince him to retire. If I were successful, I'd put Williams or Hill in his place. Bullpen: Dempster Williamson Ohman Wuertz Hill Williams other youngster (Novoa, JVB, Welly, Ice, etc.) Yes, I know many will complain that I'm not doing enough in the pen. But I think there's plenty of talent there, it just needs to be used properly.

I'm ambivalent to Lawton for 2006. What it comes down to is that I'd like to pack the order with the best possible eight hitters instead of worrying about stereotypical roles.

Butler stole bases at a high enough success rate to be valuable to his team. He also performed in a different run environment than exists today where that stolen base meant a lot more. Pierre does not.

Also, I have no interest in Pierre. He's extremely overrated by many (probably underrated by others, including me). We'd have to give up talent to get him and he'd be no better than going with what we have in CF.

The generic term of "hit" is always equal to or better than a walk. Included in that "hit" are extra base hits, hits with runners on base that advance them further than a walk does, etc. What is not so clear (and is dependent upon the player under discussion) is whether a walk is better than "putting the ball into play". For a player like Pierre, taking a walk is far better than him slapping at the ball and putting it into play due to the fact that most of those balls in play turn into outs (and some of them turn into two outs). For Pujols, a walk is less valuable than when he puts the ball into play because of his ability to hit for extra bases, his sustainably high BABIP, etc. Ironically, this ability when he puts the ball into play is what makes him feared and drives up the number of walks he receives.

Victor Ramos? Nope, I know nothing. There was a latin player I was very excited about around 2-3 years ago named Jonathon Ramos - a lefty who put up absurd numbers in the DSL at a young age. But he hurt his arm and the Cubs dropped him either at the beginning of this year or last year. It's all a blur now!

No Anibal Sanchez? :( J/K - I wish Remmy success with an organization that figures to utilize him more efficiently.

Kansas City Colorado Tampa Bay Pittsburgh Seattle San Francisco Cincinnati LA Dodgers Detroit Baltimore Arizona Cubs If we stay in the top 15, we can sign any FA we want and only lose a 2nd rounder.

After I submitted, I knew someone would jump at that! Okay, Mr. Smarty, his BA won't likely stay above .300 if he keeps striking out at that rate. ;)

By my calculations, here are his August numbers: BA - .429 OBP - .538 He's 9-21 with 4 BB, 1 HBP, 6 K, 5 R. The good news is the walks & HBP. The bad news is the K's. That batting average won't stay that high with that many strikeouts. But hey, it's progress.