CaliforniaRaisin

Seriously, WGN pisses me off. They play all sorts of stupid White Sox games that I don't care about, but don't air any of these three on the Superstation? Boo.

But he can hit.

Any other information first-timers should know?

1954.

He's being accurate by using hindsight? There's no chance in hell that Murton is hitting as well as he is b/c of his playing time compared to you know his actual hitting talents and approach at the plate. There's no reason for Dusty to try and incorporate the way he handled Murton into the logic of Murton hitting so well unless he trying to stroke his own ego (pun intentional for my last post) or pat himself on the back for a job well done while Hollandsworth stunk it up after they unloaded Lawton to the Yanks. Great job Dusty, I wish I could give him as much credit as he gives to himself and then I could accept mediocrity as "not my fault" when I screw up, but I believe in accountability. I've never seen UK more terse than in this thread. I like it. Agreed.

:(

Phew.

Get Uribe out, plz.

Gah, one more out before a run scores, plz.

Or maybe he is just being accurate. I hate to introduce empirical evidence in a thread like this one, but, in two and a half pages of posts, shouldn't someone have asked what Murton thinks? I couldn't agree with you more. I want him gone, too. But I can't bring myself to make the leap to using words like idiot when describing Dusty Baker. Not only do I think it is needlessly disrespectful, its simply inaccurate. Comments like "he's an idiot" say more about the person that wrote them than they do about the subject, in my opinion. Wait, you're expecting Murton to say something else there? How can he make any answer besides one that flagellates his manager without fear of repercussion? Maybe he's being genuine?? This may come as a shock to some, but maybe Murton likes Baker and respects him cause he was a pretty good hitter. Scoff away. Still waiting for some specifics on who Baker ruined in SF..... I really doubt Murton cares or respects Baker for his hitting abilities 25 years ago. He probably respects him for being his manager.

Thanks, Bruce! Neifi leading off. :( I wish Dusty knew Walker could leadoff.

JD Drew has missed time in two different seasons due to HBPs. Nomar missed most of last season with a "body breaking down" sort of injury too. I don't think Prior is injury prone, I think Kerry Wood and Jerry Hairston are.

You're just jealous.

Could the Yanks make up 4 on the White Sox? Let's hope so! Actually, let's hope that the Yankees lose every remaining game and the A's and the Angels go on a massive roll together and it ends up Red Sox, Indians, A's and Angels! I'm definitely with you on that. Those are the teams I'm rooting for.

The problem is, we wouldn't want Damon 5 years from now when his contract hasn't finished yet.

I'd take Dunn over Wilkerson in a heartbeat and would be happy with either on the Cubs next season, despite Wilkerson's poor 2005 showing (he has been playing hurt all year in a pitcher-friendly home stadium). As the elder statesman of that group, it would ensure that you would hit leadoff too. But I hit leadoff in HS. And I'm really fast.

.286/.412/.520 at the time of injury is badly slumping? Given that for the month of April he hit .259/.386/.444 with only 4HR and 10RBI hitting in a run procuder's spot and striking out 14 times, yes that is slumping for a player who is a franchise guy. We were talking about it at the time with AR. Also he hit in may .244/.373/.411 with only 3HR and 12 RBI & 22 K's. That is a slump to begin the season. And I know you listen to sportstalk radio in So Cal so I know you remember Drew getting beat up in the media at the beginning of the year. Drew was a bad sign for the Dodgers. Injury risk and a questionable "franchise" type player. Hendry's "risk" on Nomar was much more calculated. Nomar was not an injury prone player as he had a broken hand from a pitched ball (could happen to anyone) and was strong in spring training and has a great work ethic. Drew has had 1 full season and the Dodgers had no one to replace him as the franchise guy. The Cubs have plenty of "Franchise or Face of the Club" type guys and Nomar could be one of them but not the only one. You said he was badly slumping when not injured, he had to have had a great stretch to get his numbers to where they were when he got hurt (and thus, not slumping at all times when not injured). If you're going to let Nomar off the hook for injuries from HBPs, you should be consistant and do it for JD too. If you ask me, I think both JD Drew and Nomar are injury-prone. I would not have signed him if I were the Cubs, but would not have complained had Hendry signed him.

Exactly! I'd say the same thing about Cedeno. i agree with both of you. it appears that these players just know how to play without having to think too much. ballplayers, billy beane would call them. i could live with murton in left and cedono getting siginificant time in the middle infield spots, preferably backing up nomar and walker. murton also provides a cheap option that affords us the luxury of spending big in right field, centerfield, and getting another sp and reliever. i think the only possible way that we don't land giles is if giles simply does not want to play anywhere other than crappy southern california. we have the most money to spend and hendry knows that he has work to do. Why is Southern Ca crappy?? The chances of the Cubs giving Giles enough money to leave SoCal is slim and none. i've just never had any use for it. i've always counted the hours of my departure whenever i've been there. anything north of santa barbara is cool, though. Don't worry Sulley, we have no use for you either.

I thought Aardsma was supposed to be prjected as a quality BP arm. I'm I wrong? Back a few years Aardsma was discussed as having a big-time fastball. I get the impression from his work at WTenn that his fastball is unexceptional, both in terms of velocity, movement, and command. And that his breaking stuff isn't above average, in terms of movement and command. Seems like fairly average fastball with fairly average slider and somewhat below-average control. Guys can improve, and I hope he does; but at present he looks pretty average and somewhat limited to me. He's been pumping them up in around 95, so the fastball velocity is there. Not sure about his offspeed stuff at all. Burnt has it right, he really fell apart with some bad outings in the regular season in August and September, he was doing much better when he first got to the Jaxx. I see no reason to protect Luke at all. Take a look at his stats at Boise (lowlights include a 30-4 BB-K ratio and a 31.05 ERA). Either he's still bothered by injuries to do that bad at short-season A-ball or he has completely lost it. Craig, I'd definitely protect Sing. If the Cubs don't protect him, another team could easily take him and try to start him in the OF. He batted everywhere from 3 to 6 for the Jaxx last season, when he started to slump in early August he was dropped to the 6-spot. When he got back on track, he remained in that spot, it's not like he was a 6-hitter all season.

Nor would I.

I definitely wouldn't bother protecting Billy Petrick as he comes back from his labrum surgery. I wouldn't protect Hagerty or Blasko. I definitely would protect Marmol, Marshall, Nolasco, Pie and Sing this offseason, haven't thought much about Craig but he'd come after those first 5.

I would gladly trade Walker + Hill for Hunter + Crain; and then turn around and spin Hunter + cash + Brian Dopirak to Florida for Juan Pierre. Crain is an excellent reliever. So, let me get this straight. You'd trade Todd Walker, Rich Hill, Brian Dopirak and cash for Jesse Crain and Juan Pierre? The Cubs are getting ripped off big time there.

Done! (Sorry, gus_dog.)

2.5 BACK! \:D/

Man, Wickman is nerve-wracking.