Jehrico

The better our castoffs (like him and Welly) do, the better it reflects on our system, and the more we should be able to get in trades using AAA pitching in the future. I hope he continues to do well.

Pierre Cedeno Walker Aramis Barrett Murton Jones Hairston Pitcher That's what the order should be everyday until Lee comes back (give or take resting a few guys every so often). Murton's struggling let him hit in the 6th spot for now. I like the lineup with Cedeno hitting 2nd. Too bad Ronny lost his ROY eligibility, Baker had him ride the pine too much last year...

I hate the excuse, but technically, thanks to Selig's lack of a reaction to the growing trend of roids at the time, steroids weren't illegal back then, and there was nothing the umps could have done. That's a good point...two of the most well-known Roids abusers both played for TLR, as TLR was Oaklands manager back in the day. If you really want to open a can of worms, how about this...maybe that's why they (the Cards under TLR) always used to get all-star performances from washed-up has beens. If they can't seem to get something like that this year or the next, I'll really begin to wonder...

I think they should wait until there's a bench clearing brawl, then eject and punish the losers. Finish a brawl a winner farnsworth style, and you get to go on unpunished! :D That'd make baseball more interesting right there...

To everyone who thinks TLR was just trying to break up Madduxes rhythm and give his team a chance to get back into the ballgame...I don't buy it. There have been more complaints of cheating from the Cardinals against us in the last few years (headhunting, doctoring the ball, stealing signs, etc), than the rest of the league has levied against us combined. This is a routine thing with TLR, he can't stand to lose to the Cubs, and always looks to find an excuse. I don't recall him doing this sort of thing as often against other teams as he does against us. It's juvenile and stupid, and his track record suggests it goes beyond just trying to mess with Maddux and get his guys back in the game.

He may well be. Time will tell. One things for sure, he's enjoying that ML coin for the time being. :lol: Glendon has gone on rushes like that before (no pun intended). We'll see how long he can keep it up. Cruz was better than that when he first came up, but once the league had seen him a couple of times, he never was able to put up the same numbers.

Knowing Maddux, the thought probably crossed his mind. I would have rather seen a little Edmonds chin music myself though...

There are not many players in baseball for whom I'd trade Wright. Very, very few. I assume you mean straight up? Willis plus two upper-tier pitching prospects could really turn around the Mets long term pitching outlook. I wouldnt do it for two "decent" pitching prospects in addition to Willis, it would have to be two of their better pitching prospects.

I think he can do it, but he's going to need SOME run support. But the 20-year plus Cub fan in me feels that a good performance will be counterbalanced by NO RUNS. Then Crusty will trot out Williamson (or someone else not named Howry, Eyre - is he still out?, or Dempster) after Greg is done for the day, and the Cards will get the sweep in their back yard this time. Ask, and ye shall receive. 0.99 ERA for Madux on the year, outstanding!

If I were NY, I would have offered Wright for Willis + a couple of other prospects? The Mets farm isnt very strong on pitching, they could have boosted it a little bit with Florida, they have a ton to offer.

For those who say Jeromes only had one bad outing...hes walking almost a guy an inning, striking out less than half as many as he is walking, and has a collective whip over 2. Its not just one bad outing...he has been bad overall if you look at his peripherals. As for Guzman, his numbers are kind of funny...23Ks, 3BBs (outstanding!), whip around 1.2 (good but not great), ERA over 6 (not good), 4 hrs (not good)...does anyone know if he was given certain things to work on while he wsa in AAA, or was he just sent down there to pitch and do his best? Im wondering if he was told that they just wanted to see him keep his velocity up, show a little endurance, and work on keeping the BBs down or something like that. The results for him in the early part of the AAA season have been mixed. edit: correction: WHIP for him is wrong, it should be 1.13 instead of 1.2 (15 hits and 3 walks in 16 IP), which is a bit better...

Cedeno has been doing everything asked of him. I have been pleasantly suprised so far. Murton needs to hit higher in the order. Nobody's going to give you a pitch to hit when they know Blanco and Glendon Rusch are coming up next. Ramirez looks like he's in more than an early-season slump. He's already had a tweak this year----I'm half-expecting to hear he's been playing with a nagging injury. These past two games I believe we have been exposed. We don't have the pitching without Prior & Woody, and we don't have the offensive pop without Lee and with Ramirez looking bad. There's just no way around this. The players aren't stupid. They see the same things we do. When you watch all your good players hit the D/L or slump, it has to have an effect on your outlook. It just looks to me like the Lee injury was the straw that broke the camel's back with these guys. I don't think I've ever seen a team that needs a road win this early in the season as badly as this Cubbie team. Here's praying for another Gem from Mad Dog...

The problem wasn't that we walked more of them than the other way around, the problem was we gave up most of our walks all in the same inning! What made me sick is the guys that we walked were So Taguchi, John Rodriguez, and Hector Luna. There's no reason to be giving free passes to guys like that.

Aramis made the last out before the first double switch, but Walker got pulled instead. The way Aramis and Walker have been hitting the ball, I would have rather seen Aramis pulled than Walker. That said, a double switch in the 5th pulling either of them was just flat out stupid.

Aramis needs to get his stick going. If he makes good contact at least once in his first three atbats today, the game could be a different story. If he gets back to his old .310 ave .550 slg self, that should be enough to ignite the offense. Barrett has been solid, Cedeno is doing better than anyone expected and hasn't started to slow down yet (who was it on here that was calling him crap?), Pierre is slowly starting to come to life. I'm holding out hope the Murton can get back on track, but I'm not worried yet, as of right now, it's just a normal slump guys go through. Walker's tearing it up. The only guys in the lineup that I look to suck are Jones and Mabry (when he's in). Baker needs to get his head out of his rear end. Why do a double switch in the 5th inning and take the best bat out of the lineup, when he wasn't even the last out? Then do another double switch before the original pitching position is even up? Dusty's evil twin poked his stupid head back out today.

That's true. I don't know why Sullivan's word is being so readily accepted. I heard on the radio (B&B) that sources said Prior and Wood were expected in May. Add to that, Jim Hendry just said in the pregame that his "pitching reinforcements" would return in May. I also read in a Cubs.com article that Miller is expected around June 1st. He''s suppose to be the furthest away from return. What happened to Miller being right behind Wood, as they kept saying in ST?

Why? Top prospect? Yes. One of the most 50 valuable players in baseball? No way any 18 year old right out of high school just getting his first sniff of the minors qualifies to be listed as one of the most valuable players in the game. That's absurd. Upton is the only one I listed, but that was only he was the most extreme case, as he's had the least professional experience. His rating is based purely on ceiling and not at all on past performance or current ability. We all know how rarely someone like that pans out. To be fair, I could have put in the time to throw all of the prospects out there, my excluding them shouldn't imply that I think Upton is a future flop or overrated. I think you'll find there's absolutely nothing wrong with his current ability whatsoever. And his rating is based as much on that as it is on his ceiling, which is superstar. Yes, he has very little professional experience, so he doesn't have the numbers to back up his talent right now, outside of his hugely impressive 16 PA stint with the Diamondbacks in major league spring training, as an 18 year old, in his first ever proper games, but the kid is something special right now. Right now. Not maybe five years down the line if this and that works out for him, but right now. There's no chance that the kid is going to do anything for any major league team this year. Nada. Right now, he's another superstar prospect with a loooong way to go before he reaches the bigs, and he's got just as much of a chance of flaming out as the myriads of others similar to him that have before. He's a great prospect, but again, not one of the 50 most valuable in the game. Just because the Diamondbacks probably aren't going to have him see the majors this year doesn't mean that he couldn't handle it. Upton's bat really isn't that far from being ready, and he could probably hold his own in the majors right now, not dominate but at least not look hopelessly overmatched. But the Diamondbacks have nothing to gain from having him up, because they don't have the pitching to be competitive, so moving him too quickly through the system would be pointless - they don't need him at the major league level, and you don't want to needlessly burn service time on a player this young. Then there's Upton's defence. He's moved positions, from SS to CF, so he'll need to learn the new position, better than he does that on the farm. The bottom line - Upton for a high school hitter is ridiculously polished, and the fact that he's young and starting the year in the low minors shouldn't be confused with him being a long way away at all. He's not, not in terms of how much development he's got in front of him. Well have to agree to disagree. I think putting that much more stock in him over numerous other star-caliber prospects because of 16 spring training plate appearances is foolish at best. Yes, because that's really what I'm doing. The only thing you've provided that differentiates him from other superstar prospects is his "hugely impressive 16 PA stint in ST." If he were to come up now, he'd get chewed up and made to look stupid. That is, of course, unless he's facing Glendon Rusch....

No, I doubt seriously that the Cubs would ever consider having Palmerio back on the team. Are any of the guys on the team today married to any tramps? Okay, so that's a trick question. Raffy in the clubhouse would be a bad idea.

Will Neifi supplant Tejada as the guy sticking unknown needles into his buttocks? Sorry, couldn't help myself...

Why? Top prospect? Yes. One of the most 50 valuable players in baseball? No way any 18 year old right out of high school just getting his first sniff of the minors qualifies to be listed as one of the most valuable players in the game. That's absurd. Upton is the only one I listed, but that was only he was the most extreme case, as he's had the least professional experience. His rating is based purely on ceiling and not at all on past performance or current ability. We all know how rarely someone like that pans out. To be fair, I could have put in the time to throw all of the prospects out there, my excluding them shouldn't imply that I think Upton is a future flop or overrated. I think you'll find there's absolutely nothing wrong with his current ability whatsoever. And his rating is based as much on that as it is on his ceiling, which is superstar. Yes, he has very little professional experience, so he doesn't have the numbers to back up his talent right now, outside of his hugely impressive 16 PA stint with the Diamondbacks in major league spring training, as an 18 year old, in his first ever proper games, but the kid is something special right now. Right now. Not maybe five years down the line if this and that works out for him, but right now. There's no chance that the kid is going to do anything for any major league team this year. Nada. Right now, he's another superstar prospect with a loooong way to go before he reaches the bigs, and he's got just as much of a chance of flaming out as the myriads of others similar to him that have before. He's a great prospect, but again, not one of the 50 most valuable in the game. Just because the Diamondbacks probably aren't going to have him see the majors this year doesn't mean that he couldn't handle it. Upton's bat really isn't that far from being ready, and he could probably hold his own in the majors right now, not dominate but at least not look hopelessly overmatched. But the Diamondbacks have nothing to gain from having him up, because they don't have the pitching to be competitive, so moving him too quickly through the system would be pointless - they don't need him at the major league level, and you don't want to needlessly burn service time on a player this young. Then there's Upton's defence. He's moved positions, from SS to CF, so he'll need to learn the new position, better than he does that on the farm. The bottom line - Upton for a high school hitter is ridiculously polished, and the fact that he's young and starting the year in the low minors shouldn't be confused with him being a long way away at all. He's not, not in terms of how much development he's got in front of him. Well have to agree to disagree. I think putting that much more stock in him over numerous other star-caliber prospects because of 16 spring training plate appearances is foolish at best.

They were both hit and runs. Blame the hitters for not making contact on hittable pitches. Agreed. I have no problem with the situations when he hit and run. Aramis is a good double play candidate because of his speed, and Jones wasn't hitting too far behind him, and Jones has been hitting a ton of balls on the ground. Mabry hits alot of ground balls too, if I'm not mistaken. Sending Aramis reduces the chance of DPs and opens bigger holes in the infield.

I disagree strongly. They aren't average workers. They are unique elite workers in an industry with strong demand from the consumers. Practically anybody in the country could do what the average American worker does, there's a miniscule supply of labor for baseball players. BS, they get paid to play a Sport.....and a ton of money at that. I agree with Derwood on this. They're paid what the market allows them to be paid, just like every other profession. They get paid what economics determine they deserve, but I don't think anyone deserves to be paid millions to play a game, economics or not. I would bet that just about every single one of these guys making a million or more would gladly take a 90% paycut if they were forced to choose between doing that, or going and finding a job in the real world. Almost all of these guys would gladly play this game for $100 grand a year if consumers weren't paying millions upon millions for them to provide this entertainment to us.

I completely disagree, but that's fine. Who's better? Who's your top 3, assuming perfect health? Santana, Peavy, Prior? Right now, Maddux is looking like he's bumping Prior down to the 4th spot... :wink:

Why? Top prospect? Yes. One of the most 50 valuable players in baseball? No way any 18 year old right out of high school just getting his first sniff of the minors qualifies to be listed as one of the most valuable players in the game. That's absurd. Upton is the only one I listed, but that was only he was the most extreme case, as he's had the least professional experience. His rating is based purely on ceiling and not at all on past performance or current ability. We all know how rarely someone like that pans out. To be fair, I could have put in the time to throw all of the prospects out there, my excluding them shouldn't imply that I think Upton is a future flop or overrated. I think you'll find there's absolutely nothing wrong with his current ability whatsoever. And his rating is based as much on that as it is on his ceiling, which is superstar. Yes, he has very little professional experience, so he doesn't have the numbers to back up his talent right now, outside of his hugely impressive 16 PA stint with the Diamondbacks in major league spring training, as an 18 year old, in his first ever proper games, but the kid is something special right now. Right now. Not maybe five years down the line if this and that works out for him, but right now. There's no chance that the kid is going to do anything for any major league team this year. Nada. Right now, he's another superstar prospect with a loooong way to go before he reaches the bigs, and he's got just as much of a chance of flaming out as the myriads of others similar to him that have before. He's a great prospect, but again, not one of the 50 most valuable in the game.

Pedro has only thrown fewer than 186 innings once since the mid-1990s. He's always a little dinged up, but he pitches through it and definitely produces, no matter the circumstances. We certainly can't say the same thing about Prior. Yes, and Pedro Martinez is 34, has a 90% torn labrum in his pitching shoulder and is throwing in the mid- to high-eighties. Prior when healthy is one of the best three pitchers in all of baseball period, and he's 25. However big the supposed injury risk with him, there aren't 50 players in the game that should be owned over him unless the drafting GM is Ned Colleti or Jim Bowden. fixed.