Lefty

Hey, that was mine! It was the Expos, 1st & 3rd, one out in the ninth, Cubs up by 1 the day after they took over first place. On a full count with Miguel Dilone running, Pete Rose hit a line drive up the middle off of Lee Smith's back which was caught by Dave Owen. My main memory of the play was Owen absolutely firing the ball to Durham with Dilone already on 2nd. I'm thinking, why are you firing it?! "The good lord must be a Cub fan!"

And yet, if you read her comments not to necessarily include the Governor (though she has some license as a candidate), what about her statement was false?

Then he can take down the lights.

Sure, you can have 1 error a game Eric Patterson. Murton is off limits. Don't you think EPatt can be salvaged at 2B? It seems worth the effort. We usually think of more development time in the minors for offensive reasons. Maybe he needs to think of his defense more.

The problem for the current management is that they are no longer in control of the process. The Chandler family wants a sale, and the bids have begun. Selling off a newspaper here or there is not efficient and won't make much of a dent. The way to look at it is by business segments. There is print media, broadcast media and entertainment. By selling the bigger pieces to a strategic or financial buyer, they can get more value. As far as a "Chicago" strategy, the newspaper business stinks everywhere. The TV business is good. I am not sure that is a more rational way to look at the company. Right now the vultures have all the money. They won't stop until they've picked at the bones. Fine with me.

Let's stop with the fast versatile guys and get players who are actually good baseball players.

After the first round of bids for the Tribune came in "too low" (everything is a negotiation), the Trib has said it would consider selling off individual assets as buyers emerge. I know this is the umpteenth thread about a Cubs sale, and lord knows I've chimed in on every one, but as I've always said, this is happening. Previously I had written that the junk bond market had to hold through the autumn. It has. The sale should happen in the next few months. The only wrinkle for Cub fans is the possibility that the Cubs are bought by the current operators who will no longer be Tribune employees. If the current crew, McDonough, Fitzsimons & Hendry remain in charge, I am sure that most of us would not be happy.

Well, I told my seven year-old over the summer that Hendry's plan was to imitate the World Series winner. I had forgotten the conversation. Two nights ago my kid asks me how the Cards won the series. I said that five errors by Tiger pitchers might have been the difference. He said that Hendry would get guys who could ground it to the pitcher. When I realized what he was talking about I cracked up (I was so proud). From the mouths of babes!

I believe we are in serious trouble right now.

Are you honestly arguing against Ichiro on this team? The man is the best leadoff hitter in the game and picks up 200+ hits every season, not to mention the stolen bases and great defense. Pierre had 200 hits this year, so I am not sure you want that to be part of your argument. I have had conversations with former Seattle, and current Arizona, pitching coach Bryan Price about Ichiro. He said that in his quest to get hits he would swing at almost every 2-0 and 3-1 pitch regardless of where it was. Apparently hits were the important cultural stat. I'd take him in CF, as would Seattle. He doesn't really serve us in RF unless publicity is more important than winning.

I think Z's high walk totals are partly a function of nasty, and uncontrollable, movement. It's part of a very good package.

Are CLee or Soriano really stellar bats?

Would NY agree to any trade that doesn't involve Aramis? Any other decent FA 3rd baseman they could go for this year? Why would ARamirez re-sign with us if we are going to trade him? We need ARod at SS, so trading Ramirez wouldn't be that much of a gain. If you saw the ALDS, you know the Yankees need pitching. They have to ask for Zambrano. If you don't want to do that, the only possibility is to trade every young pitching prospect. Gallagher, Veal, maybe Hill too? Remember, Hendry has to win now. So he will trade the cupboard bare to win this year. The problem most of us have with Hendry is we don't trust him to understand what actually increases a team's win total.

Weh, weh.

But once again, he is fast and bats leadoff. Someone has to make those outs.

Sulleymon might go for that.

Yeah I don't think this is about WARP. They could have won 49 games with a minimum salary team; they won 66 with a $100 million payroll. It's just a hilarious number, but intuitively we know they were terrible this year. No surprise. But what would that team look like? OF-Murton, Pie & Restovich 3B-? SS-Cedeno 2B-Theriot 1B-Pena, Choi or Hoffpaur C-Soto SP-Marshall, Guzman, Hill, Mateo,Marmol BP-Wuertz, Novoa, Aardsma & 3 other stiffs Looks like the team that actually played a little bit, no?

And he led the league in outs made by a wide margin. Doesn't that negate some of the singles? We have accurate formulas that assess the totality of offensive contributions. Pierre created about 90 runs in slightly less than 20 games. I'd offer him arb because I think he'd decline and I want the picks. But the production should not be hard to replace. Where is a leaderboard for outs? I haven't been able to find one. I found the one that has the outs champ for each season, but I would like to see a list of leaders and not just the champ. Had to figure it out myself. Having analyzed stats to death in a past life, I can't imagine anyone even came close to Pierre.

And he led the league in outs made by a wide margin. Doesn't that negate some of the singles? We have accurate formulas that assess the totality of offensive contributions. Pierre created about 90 runs in slightly less than 20 games. I'd offer him arb because I think he'd decline and I want the picks. But the production should not be hard to replace.

Copied from baseball prospectus.com. The article is much longer, so I think I am within my rights to post this much. If I am wrong, someone please set me straight. The Marginal Payroll/Marginal Wins (MP/MW) system evaluates the efficiency of a club's front office by comparing its payroll and record to the performance it could expect to attain by fielding a roster of replacement-level players, all of whom are paid the major league minimum salary. The formula is: (club payroll - (28 x major league minimum) / ((winning percentage - .300) x 162) How do the clubs break down in terms of spending per marginal win? One might think that the Yankees would own this category, but another club beat the Yankees handily in this department. The underachieving Chicago Cubs take the award for spending the most per win this season at a whopping $4,900,488 per marginal win. The Yankees, by comparison, pulled in at $3,832,791. By division, the least and most efficient clubs break down as follows. AL East Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Yankees 48.4 $3,832,791 Most Efficient Blue Jays 38.4 $1,634,349 AL Central Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Royals 13.4 $2,846,119 Most Efficient Twins 47.4 $1,144,304 AL West Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Mariners 29.4 $2,680,402 Most Efficient A's 44.4 $1,195,655 NL East Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Braves 30.4 $2,664,503 Most Efficient Marlins 29.4 $198,724 NL Central Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Cubs 17.4 $4,900,488 Most Efficient Reds 31.4 $1,648,201 NL West Club Marginal Wins Cost per Marginal Win Least Efficient Giants 27.7 $2,920,593 Most Efficient Padres 39.4 $1,541,628

funny, I thought he brought 39 home runs, 114 RBIs and the highest OBP on his team. Back on topic, Murton is a more than serviceable left fielder when it comes to defense. He improves just a little bit more in his offensive stats and he quickly becomes one of the best left fielders in the league. If he's only to get better in both defense and offense, then I'm looking forward to watching him mature. ...playing LF for the White Sox. I thought I should finish the post for you.

It looks clear to me and makes a lot of sense. I don't like lack of hustle, but if he produces, I can live with it. I'd hate for this offseason's theme to turn into "I decided I like guys who hustle." Then you better hope the World Series doesn't turn on a hustle play. Um...gotta get to the World Series before that matters. I'd rather have a good player that occasionally may not hustle, than a mediocre player that gives it his all. See post above.

It looks clear to me and makes a lot of sense. I don't like lack of hustle, but if he produces, I can live with it. I'd hate for this offseason's theme to turn into "I decided I like guys who hustle." Then you better hope the World Series doesn't turn on a hustle play. They gotta get there first. I think he was referring to Hendry's tendency to do copy the previous WS winner's approach. Yes. Didn't think I had to spell that out. Considering that the Cubs haven't been to the Series in 61 years. Say that again; 61 years. Wow.

It looks clear to me and makes a lot of sense. I don't like lack of hustle, but if he produces, I can live with it. I'd hate for this offseason's theme to turn into "I decided I like guys who hustle." Then you better hope the World Series doesn't turn on a hustle play.

His name is Brutus _____? :D My money says he is a laid back guy. I know the bench coach, Don Wakamatsu. He is very laid back. He also is very knowledgable about the stats side of things, but is not necessarily a Moneyball guy. College teammate of Bonds.