David

This whole "Soriano can only hit in the leadoff spot" crap needs to stop. Soriano just happened to be batting leadoff when he had his career year in 2006. His OBP that year was also artificially inflated by an absurd amount of intentional walks in that horrendous lineup. That is why his leadoff splits compared to when he was hitting in the middle are so pronounced.

Says who? People have only speculated this. I really don't think Soriano would be moved down even if they got Roberts, which at this point seems unlikely anyways. That was an assumption... hence the bolded part. So? You said "would likely", which is untrue. That's like me saying Roberts "would likely" bat cleanup if the Cubs got him. Except that Roberts hitting leadoff over Soriano is likely, while Roberts hitting cleanup isn't.

And the broken record skips again. One more time: 1. Leadoff is not a position. 2. You don't know what Hendry wants any more than any other fan. Ok leadoff might not be a position, but it is still something you need to focus on when building your team. You need a leadoff hitter on your team just like you need a 2B. We have no leadoff hitters, so getting a leadoff hitter should be a top priority. Who cares if it is a position or not! It is a position in the batting order! No you don't! Would the Cubs score more runs with Brian Roberts leading off or Chase Utley? You want to have good players and then sort them out. This is the argument that was used for the wonderful Juan Pierre. You are obviously just a baseball fan. I am a baseball coach. It has been researched for years. Different spots in the order serve different purposes. Of course the Cubs would probably score more runs with Chase Utley batting leadoff rather than Roberts because he has a higher OBP. BUT, if you have Chase Utley on your team, you wouldn't bat him leadoff cuz you aren't utilizing his power and rbi potential. A leadoff hitter needs to take pitches, get on base, and be fast. Then the number 2 hitter should be able to control the bat well. Make a lot of contact, very rarely strike out, and place the ball wherever he wants. Then the number 3-4-5 hitters need to have power and drive those 2 guys in. This is the typical way the batting order should be structured. Soriano hit a ton of solo HR's last year. If he batted after Roberts, then a lot of those solo HR's would turn into 2 run shots. If roberts gets a single then soriano hits a HR we have two runs. If Soriano hits a HR then Roberts singles, we still only have 1 run. You can't just put anyone at leadoff. Aside from the fact that you basically admitted that your logic is completely wrong by conceding that the team would score more runs with Utley at "leadoff" (think about it, really hard - If we had no prototypical "leadoff hitter" but had Utley bat first, the team would score more runs... Oh, and it has nothing to do with his spot in the order and everything to do with the fact that you're talking about having a better hitter at one of your positions), I love the irony of the bolded. You might want to do some research yourself and look up what contemporary studies say about lineup positioning. You get the best bats you can at every position, and THEN you worry about where to hit them.

From what I heard, it was Booker who contacted the Bears and let it be known that his first choice would be to come back to Chicago, since the Bears weren't one of the teams to contact him initially.

Daryle Ward is already there.

That's PECOTA's projection, not Meph's. It's due to the fact that he had so few PAs last year.

Since nobody's mentioned it, it looks like Fuku will be in camp early (on Thursday), according to that article.

I think he's just implying that since a deal hasn't been reached yet, and those were the names we've been hearing for a long time, that the names aren't the same. I'm not sure he's implying that Gallagher isn't one of the names, nor do I really think that Sean would know that himself. I'm not reading anything into the winking, because PC has done it in every post recently, including ones that couldn't possibly be insinuating anything. ;)

Sure looks like it. Maybe a little better. I'd take it all day.

If anything, wouldn't thrusting Pie into the majors too soon be what would stunt his growth and make him "the next Corey Patterson" (again, if anything), seeing as how many feel Patterson didn't develop enough at the minors and was promoted through the system too quickly? That said, I think Pie has proven what he needs to prove in the minors and now needs to show he can do it at the MLB level. It's just that I don't see how having an insurance policy that would, if he's not ready, possibly keep him in the minors another year (he turned 23 4 days ago) would stunt his growth and turn him into the next CP.

:shock: Hey, I guess if Derrek Lee can play LF... You realize that that was a tongue-in-cheek shot at how bad Bonds is these days in the field, right?

Let's not forget about the degrading comments about women. I'm not even trying to bash Grace. I was a fan of his. He was criticized for not having enough power, but he was fairly often in the vicinity of a .900 OPS thanks to his ~.400 OBP. That said, if we're going to be hyper critical of these guys' personal faults, Grace could definitely hang.

Way to let the point fly right over your head.

And still is...

i know you were probably dying to mention grit in some manner, but what a bad example. grace would hit sure triples and wait at second while outfielders were still chasing down the ball, just to pad his doubles totals. how was he "gritty"? He was white.

What, because I made it up Dusty can't have it? I don't think there's anything late about it.

Late onset?

That's part of it. He was also extremely gritty (wink, wink, nudge nudge). I wonder if media guys even put any thought into the fact that the foreign-born players might be not-so-friendly because they have a hard time communicating and are probably uncomfortable around them. That might be logical, no?

Is it really cheating when the act itself gives the player no actual competitive advantage? I guess the intent is there. If Sammy took a lucky rabbit's foot and put it in his pocket because he thought it would help him, and lucky rabbit feet in pockets were deemed illegal in MLB ages ago because rabbit feet were, at the time, believed to help, would THAT be cheating? If a tree falls in a forest, but nobody's around to hear it, does it make a sound?

It's funny how Mark Grace, who did have a messy divorce from the Cubs and was as slow as molasses around the bases, was never similarly thrown under the bus.

Pie would really have to suck for Payton to be a viable fall back plan. PECOTA projects an OPS for .697 for Payton. I just have a really bad feeling Pie's not going to hit. I think it is important to have realistic expectations of how he'll preform. I think it is realistic to expect a league average CF production from Pie with well above league average fielding. To me the problem is not putting Pie in CF it is that the Cubs don't have a strong enough team to let a talented young CF learn to be a major league player. They need Pie to produce. IF we had a legit SS, we'd be able to handle it pretty well, since we're pretty strong in the other 6 spots in the lineup. If we do get Roberts, probably the best case scenario would be for Theriot to get hurt or suck REALLY bad so that they're stuck having no choice but to give DeRosa a good amount of time at SS. I'm not saying I'd hope for Theriot to start out poorly or get hurt. I'm just saying, realistically, it's probably the best thing that could happen. Why wouldn't the best thing for the Cubs to have Theriot play like he did for that one month, for 3/4 of the season (no one will play like that all season). Then slot him in at the #2 spot and he would be fine. I also find it hard to believe it that the Cubs are not good enough to allow a young CF'er to develop. If the Cubs aren't good enough then who is, maybe the Tigers and Boston. Lee, Ramierez, Soriano are all above average. Fukudome should be above average. Second is average, or will be above average. Soto should be at least an avg. hitting catcher. So that leaves short most likely below avg. at a position that history shows as not impact bat position. So if they can't help bring up a young player, then who can? I said realistically.

Although I agree with the rest of your post, I have to say, "Ugh," to the bolded.

Pie would really have to suck for Payton to be a viable fall back plan. PECOTA projects an OPS for .697 for Payton. I just have a really bad feeling Pie's not going to hit. I think it is important to have realistic expectations of how he'll preform. I think it is realistic to expect a league average CF production from Pie with well above league average fielding. To me the problem is not putting Pie in CF it is that the Cubs don't have a strong enough team to let a talented young CF learn to be a major league player. They need Pie to produce. IF we had a legit SS, we'd be able to handle it pretty well, since we're pretty strong in the other 6 spots in the lineup. If we do get Roberts, probably the best case scenario would be for Theriot to get hurt or suck REALLY bad so that they're stuck having no choice but to give DeRosa a good amount of time at SS. I'm not saying I'd hope for Theriot to start out poorly or get hurt. I'm just saying, realistically, it's probably the best thing that could happen.

The Tribune continues to drag his name through the mud for leaving a completely meaningless game early. They can soapdrop the hell off.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/ Take a look at the pictures of guys who "dogged" it for Chicago. I'm actually disgusted, for once. Crap like this doesn't usually even get to me. It is such a joke to include him in there with the rest of those guys.