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I think there's a pretty good shot Fontenot could at least match Miles' career .704 OPS vs lefties. Plus if Miles is in there it means we won't have a single lefty in the lineup against LHP.

But if those projections of Lou's end up being true, that means Miles is getting all the at-bats vs lefties. That also means we have no LHB in the lineup against lefties, and I don't really like that either.

Because I don't want a platoon. Miles playing against lefties occasionally is fine.

He says he sees about 350-400 at-bats from Fontenot. If that happens, that means Miles is playing against lefties.

bradley's hitting 4th i said the best hitter, not the hitter who has been the best for the past 600 at-bats

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090314&content_id=3986650&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc gross. sounds like a strict platoon to me

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090314&content_id=3986650&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc Sounds like what I've been saying all along... that Miles will get most of the at-bats against lefties. That's really stupid.

No, but if he hits like he did most of the last two seasons, it won't be a bad deal no matter what you think. lol okay. that settles it then. or he was aided by coors in his first few seasons and his numbers those years would have been worse than his numbers with the cardinals if not for the park. he had some pretty hefty splits while he was in colorado, so i'd say his career numbers are definitely a bit better because of it.

The biggest thing I hate about that lineup is our best hitter batting 5th

This is exactly what I mean when I say that you give him a free pass. Nothing else hendry has done changes anything about who Aaron Miles is. Not really. Miles is better offensively, but at least Cedeno can actually play shortstop. I don't think some people realize that Miles is not even close to the utility guy (in terms of defense) that DeRosa was. The .410 wasn't in reference to those guys. It was just an example of how you were completely ignoring slugging percentage. Since you mention Vazquez's numbers being inflated by Texas.... Career OPS Miles-77 Vazquez- 85 Hairston- 85 Lopez- 89 Cora-75 Punto- 74 The only guys he beats are Cora and Punto, but those guys' value comes from their defense. That's where I get the "they are all better than Miles" thing. That's what you keep saying, then you always come back the second anybody ever voices anything negative about Miles and tell us all how we should shut up and stop complaining about it. You bring it on yourself.

but gms value guys who can get a single 29 percent of the time off the bench... or something like that.

god what a stupid and unnecessary thing to say. i mean really, who actually has that phrase enter their mind? and who takes it further and actually says it? uncanny. lol relax im pretty sure he didn't mean it literally well i didn't think he meant it literally. it's still stupid and unnecessary especially for this "family" board. if anybody is offended by that then that's pretty sad

god what a stupid and unnecessary thing to say. i mean really, who actually has that phrase enter their mind? and who takes it further and actually says it? uncanny. lol relax im pretty sure he didn't mean it literally

whoa, if what miles got is the going rate for players like him, then how did we get german so cheap? man this hendry guy really is a genius afterall.

You just act like people aren't outloud to voice criticism. I haven't seen you ever acknowledge that Hendry has ever made even a questionable move. Hendry could trade Soto for Victor Zambrano and I think you'd get mad if people complained. You complain about people complaining and not letting it die, but you do the same thing. You just argue the other side. Well a 2 year contract isn't the going rate, but that's besdie the point. Why should it be okay that we waste money on crappy players as long as other teams are doing the same? We didn't need Miles. He doesn't really make this team better. Cedeno could have done the same thing for far less money. I don't know why you don't unserstand that getting a single 29 percent of the time doesn't really mean anything if you don't do anything else. Imagine Juan Pierre without the speed. Is that a productive player? Because that's exactly what Miles is as a hitter. He's Juan Pierre without the speed.... only worse. Think about that for a second. Juan Pierre without the speed is still a better offensive player than Aaron Miles. Would you take a .260/.330/.360 guy over a .260/.330/.410 guy? That's the question that actually is relevant. See, you only cite BA and OBP because those are the only things you can say he's comparable to. You say that slugging percentage is everything, but nobody is saying that. It's the complete opposite actually. You're pretending like it's nothing so you can say Miles is as good as those guys. Why else would you leave it out when comparing them? All of those guys other than Punto have more productive career numbers than Miles, despite Miles hitting a single more often than them.

How do we know that Lou isn't part of the choker mentality when the playoffs start? I'm not saying he is, but we don't know that he's not. A lot of the time sports coaches/manager tend to tense up and give off that vibe. We just heard Shaq call out Van Gundy for it. Choking isn't only reserved for players. Again, I'm not saying this is the case with Lou, but his teams have now fallen well short of expectations in 3 straight postseasons. It's at least possible that he has something to do with it. Oh BTW, saying Girardi ended the 13 year streak isn't fair. They were still a really good team last year, they just played in a ridiculous division.

I guess not, but still, it was like 10 seconds.

He was clutching his shoulder. hmm. i didn't see that. i thought it was his leg

The results weren't there but the effort and intensity was there.

did they say anything about the injury? relax

better get it together in these next few weeks or it's going to be a quick exit in the playoffs

What else is new? you watching a game? campbell has been hearing the boos a lot lately 2 of the goals were defensive lapses by Keith, but guess what? He made up with it with 2 points. Campbell hasn't been good or bad this game. Huet has let in 2 soft goals. The Hawks should have 5-6 though... it's [expletive] DubiROYcz in goal... WAIT... WHO???? ...... exactly... no those were 2 seperate thoughts. i was just mentioning that campbell has been hearing it pretty hard lately

Miles career numbers of 290 and 329 OBP are just fine for a bench player. If Miles could get on base at a higher rate, he would be seen as a everyday player(like Theriot and many others). Last year he had a big year and the media started thinking he might be a regular this year, but obviously the Cubs don't expect him to repeat those numbers. Most back up middle infielders don't have higher then a 329 career OBP, and thats why there back ups. Miles asset to the bench is he could hit for average. He can fill in for a regular and go 2 for 4 on any given day, and he can come off the bench and get a big hit off a good pitcher. Having a guy who can consistently hit the ball off the bench is valueable to a team, even if he's only getting singles. There was plenty of times last year, when if Cedeno or Ward just got a single, we would have gotten runs and won a game we lost. Of course the bench also needs power, and thats why Hoffpauir or even Koskie need to be on the roster, and be at the plate with alot of guys on base. But I don't see how having Miles as a back up is bad for the team. I know you love to defend hendry at all costs, but you sill haven't explained why it's okay to give a crappy backup infielder a 2 year deal what does that matter? the cubs, and just about every other major league team, are going to have a crappy backup infielder on the roster year after year. what difference does it make if you sign one to a two year deal, or sign ones to one year deals every year? the money is the problem with miles, not the years. because with every player.... longer contract=higher risk. you risk that player getting hurt and paying for nothing, among other things. with crappy bench players who are found everywhere, there's absolutely no reason to offer a 2 year deal and up the risk for a player who is easily replaced in the offseason.

What else is new? you watching a game? campbell has been hearing the boos a lot lately

Name them. Aside from last year and his fluke BA, it's fun to try and name any guys like Miles that stick around in the big leagues. 70something OPS+, can't play SS.. he owes Tony LaRussa quite a bit for putting him there when he clearly should never ever be playing the position. Off the top of my head, Ramon Vazquez, Jerry Hairston, Nick Punto, Alex Cora, and Felipe Lopez are all making over 2m next year. I'm sure there's others making around that or simliar salaries or as well, but I don't feel like looking it up right now. A) All those guys are better than Miles B) Only 2 of those guys got 2 year deals