javy knows my name

theriot is good enough at ss if we improve a lot at rf and cf. Right. But she said nothing about that, which was my real problem with the article.

I don't understand most of the criticism she takes. She works for the Cubs. Do you really expect her to write, "Theriot is a below average hitter who had one good month, so if the Cubs don't get A-Rod than the team is in trouble?" She is not in the position that someone like Bruce is in. As much as anything or anyone else on cubs.com, she has to help that team sell tickets and make money. Everything she writes, like everything on cubs.com will have a positive spin. This is no different than any other team website. Get over it, and get your thoughtful cubs writing from Bruce, the only Cubs writer in town with a clue. I started the thread because it seemed she went a little beyond the plausible deniability logic that you used above. Everyone knows she can't stay stuff like "Murton should start in RF every day" which directly criticize management, but I see no reason to post an email calling Theriot a hole and then make a point of refuting the guy's assessment of him. She made it a personal case and advertised her high opinion of a guy who really is a hole in the lineup. It seemed like she crossed the line from safe journalism to bad journalism.

I was not aware we had any players named Lurton. :wink: I really wanted Murton to have a fair shot at starting again. Though, it may be best to bring in an upgrade. Also, I don't see Murton bringing much in at the moment. His stock isn't low, but isn't exactly high and it would take another big piece to bring in a talented player. If we start Murton in AAA next year, and hurt his trade value some more, I'm going to scream. That said, I think we should package him with Dempster and someone like Patterson for a big bat at SS or RF this offseason.

Carrie Muskat = Cubs Management Agreed, I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought the first post was a bit ironic :lol: EDIT: I also purposely made the subject of the thread ambiguous, assuming people would ignore any thread with the words "Carrie Muskat" in it.

CM is happy with Theriot's production at SS next year :shock: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071022&content_id=2275851&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Okay, so he's probably not going anywhere... That improves the outlook for Abreu

The entire albums of Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. Specifically, Fade to Black Orion Sanitarium Battery Damage, Inc. Master of Puppets Ride the Lightning For Whom the Bell Tolls Creeping Death Leper Messiah When the people who always reminisce about "old school Metallica," those two CDs are what they're talking about. Kill 'em All is good too, but it has a lot more of a raw sound. Phantom Lord, Four Horsemen, No Remorse, Anesthesia are the ones to check out from that one, IMO. (Should we feel guilty for threadjacking yet?) Awesome, thanks. And I definitely feel guilty for threadjacking. :lol:

Soap-drop-udome!! :lol:

I was reflecting on this, and decided that I'd rather the Red Sox were in it, so that I have a team to root against. I like the Indians better, but if they were in it I wouldn't know who to root for, and would be much less into this series. So, Go Rockies!

I don't want to get rid of DeRosa, I think they should consider trading him if somebody gives up value. He's basically an average hitter (probably will be right around 100 OPS+). He's going to get paid $4.75 and $5.5m the next two years. Not overpaid, but not cheap either. He will be 33 and 34 the next two years. I believe it would be possible to get similar production at 2B by using a platoon of Theriot and Fontenot. DeRosa was a nice player this year. He took a small step back from his career year last season, and will probably continue to do that the rest of the way, but he's definitely somebody they can win with. Anyway, back to the money. You clear away Jones, DeRosa and Dempster, and you've cleared $15m in payroll for 2008 (plus $5.5m for 2009). And each one of those guys is tradable. Jones bounced back, hit for average late in the year (despite a horrible season), has a decent reputation, played CF and RF, and has only 1 year left on the deal. DeRosa was a nice all around player who can fill a middle infield spot and contribute to a team in need of offense. Dempster has the "closer" label and he's "been there". He hasn't been that good, but overall, as a reliever, he's been pretty solid. I would rather take my chances that Abreu would give me significantly above average production in RF (115-125 OPS+) and the other spots would get filled, than keep spending $5m on replacable guys. I don't see 2-3 years as getting in the way as much as 2008 payroll specifically. You missed a "greater than symbol." We're not getting Abreu so there's no sense in trying to force you and other's with this thought process to understand the reality of the situation. Ummm, could you clarify this post a little bit? Like maybe rewrite it completely?

Agree 100%. And I think that because we have so many in-house options, we should definitely look to trade Dempster this offseason. Because of his "closer" label, he is likely the most valuable of our relievers, even though he is not the most talented. Of course we all know that if he is traded within the NL central, he will dominate us for ten years. :lol:

Cliff Burton (RIP) + best Metallica song (For whom the bells toll) = Burtonbell I also use it for Burton C Bell from Fear Factory, one of my fav bands back in the day. For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favorite Metallica song also. I just get chills from the first 2 minutes of the song. That would be an awesome song to have as your "entrance music" (relief pitcher, UFC Fighter, et. al. Sadly, Metallica would likely not allow it.) I'm surprised you guys both say it's your favorite. Definitely not a bad song, but it probably wouldn't make my top 15 by them. Also, I don't think playing clips from the song for a brief period at the start of an AB violates copyright rules, so not even Metallica could shoot it down. Sort of like how we're allowed to post quotes from linked articles here, but can't post the whole thing. I can't recall specific instances in the majors, but I know there were several players from Oakland's AAA team that used clips from songs off Puppets, and they aren't far at all from Metallica's hometown of San Fran. I've never listened to their old stuff. Someone want to give a top ten list to give me some starting points?

Haha yeah, but I knew what he meant right away, which is more than I can say for this: or this

Yeah, I suppose it is. I'm not looking to make any enemies here, just wanted to point out what, to me, was an obvious misread of OP's post. And Mojo, I did concede that OP was wrong in his assessment of Dempster, but I when I hear Glendon Rusch's name, my sarcasm sensor goes through the damn roof.

I don't think he is nearly as valuable in our RF. I think that if you saw him play our RF, you would likely conclude that Murton really isn't terrible there. There is no reason to sign him unless it is to fill a defensive CF hole. Obviously, Pie fills that and then some. Torii's offense is not good enough to allow him to play right field. Only when both play RF is the comparison to Jacque Jones fair; in CF there is really no comparison.

I can't stop here. He was being facetious. Yes, he did say that Dempster was a piece of crap. And he was wrong. But when the next name brought up is Glendon Rusch, you know that he was almost definitely making fun of himself. Okay, I'm done.

Nice of you to show your maturity by using a demeaning nickname for a player that didn't have a bad year. I think people need to re-read his post and notice that he was suggestion that Glendon Rusch would be a better option. Glendon Rusch. Seriously. He said it. Yes. He did. So that automatically means he was being serious. Absolutely no other option. I mean, he said his name. Please tell me you didn't miss the sarcasm in his post. Actually, tell me you did. So I can laugh at you.

Go NOT Red Sox!! Boo Jon Papelbon dancing in his skivvies!

any idea's who would have been a bigger impact than a guy like Lilly was that Hendry was trying to swing a deal for at the deadline. Parla usted ingles?! Yeah this sentence sounds like something that came right from Mike Pagliarulo's blog. http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/label/billy%20beane

Capitalism at its finest. You beat me to it :D

Five years seems very real to me--he'd be 37 when that's done. I could see 6-7, depending on the bidding. He's had some leg issues, but with natural turf, I could see him lasting that long. At this point, I can't imagine why someone wouldn't sign him for CF, since that's where his numbers have the most value. He's nothing special as a corner OF, though he could move over if needed as time goes on. I didn't know he was only 32 :oops: I'd bet he'd probably get 6 years at $85 mill, which is way too much. It would be interesting to see if a new playing surface would help him maintain his defense out in center over those year, however. I think and hope we stay away from him.

Because clearly the Cubs have Grady Sizemore as an option. Soriano is an eminently reasonable choice to lead off given the resources at hand. who said sizemore was an option? i'm simply asking what people would prefer if given two options with identical OPS+ : higher OBP/lower SLG or lower OBP/higher SLG So what point are you trying to make? If we had Sizemore in CF and Soriano in LF, are you seeing if anyone would suggest that batting Soriano 1st makes sense? Oh God, I think I need to change my pants now.

Does anyone really think Torii will get signed for 5+ years? I'd love to see him play center or right for the Reds and block Josh Hamilton and Jay Bruce. (And pesky Cub-killing Norris Hopper.) Honestly, though, I don't think even Krivsky is that dumb, regardless of what Dusty might contribute to the conversation. I know some here will disagree. Not to derail the thread, but did anybody else see Jay Bruce at the futures game earlier this year? Kid looks better than Longoria, and scares the crap outta me.

Because clearly the Cubs have Grady Sizemore as an option. Soriano is an eminently reasonable choice to lead off given the resources at hand. who said sizemore was an option? i'm simply asking what people would prefer if given two options with identical OPS+ : higher OBP/lower SLG or lower OBP/higher SLG 1 point of OBP > 1 point of SLG. Grady's OBP is almost 60 points higher than Soriano's this year. I don't see much of a debate.

Absolutely no way Jay Bruce starts this year. He is FAR too young and talented.