Jehrico

Agreed. Huff would have to return to previous offensive levels that he hasn't shown he can get back to in order for him to be an upgrade over Jones. I'll agree that Huff's numbers were bad last season, but he is 1 year removed from a 297/.360/.493 line with 29 HR's and 104 RBI's. In 2003 he went .311/.367/.555 with 34 HR's and 107 RBI's. In 2002 (113 games) he went .313/.364/.520 with 23 HR's and 59 RBI's. Why do you think he "hasn't shown he can get back to" those numbers? He had 1 down season, where he opened the season playing through an injury, bounced between 4 poisitions, and voiced frustration (multiple times) about still being a Devil Ray. I think with a stable position and a change of scenery he can absolutly get back to those numbers. Jones hasn't hit above .254 in the last 2 years, never has had a .350 obp, hasn't slugged .500 since 2002, and despite his speed he has 67 steals while being caught 40 times in his career. He is clearly the better defensive player, but this club needs more offense. It's not just that he had a down year, but it's how it happened. He hit for a much lower average(which isn't particularly worrying), and on top of that his IsoP dropped as well. Whether that's due to the scarlet S, or injuries, or whatever, he's not certain to return to that former production. On the other hand, no one EVER is certain to return to previous form after a down year. Huff, IMO, is much more likely than Jones to return to his norm, and his norm is much better than Jones best.

Who cares? Offer them a ton of young players (except Pie). Hill, Brownlie, Sing, and Dopriak for starters. Cabrera is the kind of player the Cubs need. If we're talking Miggy Cabrera, then I say so long Pie, have a nice career in Florida. There's no package of 4 or even 5 prospects in our system I think twice about not giving up to get Cabrera.

Yes, but that part of the article is a little misleading. The Expos moved him around from catcher to thirdbase all during his time in the big leagues. In 1998, Barrett played 3 games at C and 3 at 3b for the Expos. In 1999, Barrett played 59 games at C, 66 at 3b, and 2 at SS. In 2000, Barrett played 28 games at C, and 55 at 3b. In 2001, Barrett played 131 games at catcher. This was the first season that he was used exclusively as a catcher. So, in reality he's only been a fulltime catcher for 4 years. When looking at his games played by position, Barrett moves back and forth from catcher to thridbase from 1998 to 2000 and doesn't become a fulltime catcher exclusively until 2001. I know he never exclusively focused on catching till we got him...I just didn't think his catching experience, limited as it may be, dated that far back is all.

I didn't think he had been catching that long. According to the story, he began catching in his second year of pro ball in '96. He's been catching at least part time for about 10 years now.

Let me know when it's out!

We should be getting back from NTC just before the Coors series, I'm hoping to get to go! It'll depend on my wife though, as she'll be about 8 months along at that time. I don't know if she'll let me sneak away for a day at that point. Yea, that could be tough - although you'll probably know if its about to happen. I could see not wanting to be too far away though. This your first? Yup...it'll be #1.

Keep your head up and your eyes peeled. You never know what may happen over there. I had a friend who was there on tour from Spring '04-05 and he got shot in the foot. But you'd never guess how...celebratory gunfire. According to him, the Iraqi national soccer team notched a big win over Saudi Arabia (IIRC). All across Baghdad the air became littlered with sounds of gunfire. He was guarding one of the entrances into a medical center when he felt this sudden burning sensation near his big toe. He looks down to find one of the bullets had pierced his boot on the descent. Lucky for him, it only was wedged in between his toes and all he was left with was a skin abrasion similar to a rug burn. This isn't the end of the story. Turns out because he was "injured" in the line of duty, he was eligible to receieve the purple heart. However being that he has a ton of character as well as (pry more importantly) future political aspirations, he didn't think it was a good idea. You'd think they'd actually review the circumstances before they'd issue such an honor. Apparently not. Anyways, stay safe and do whatever you can to keep yourself psychologically healthy. In the end my friend was glad he went (he thought it really put things into perspective for him), but he said the living conditions were absolutely horrendous. Three - four guys in a small dormitory sized room, and he was confined to being on a city sized block for the better part of a year. Not to mention, MREs and the food they serve get awfully old pretty quick. Might be a good idea to bring/have a bread maker sent to you. He said it was a saving grace and made him quite a few friends on the compound. This will be my second go around in Iraq. We were in Ramadi last time, I got a little dinged up a coupleof times over there the last time. I'm actually glad to be going to Baghdad this time and not back to Ramadi.

I have my doubts as to the level of havoc it causes being anything but minimal, but MLB pitchers have commented on the fact that they sometimes pitch differently or pay too much attention to the runner. The fact that I love my wife and child is no less true because I can't show proof that I do. In Pierre's case, we have the benefit of him and Castillo batting almost exclusively 1 and 2 for several years. Look at the numbers, when Pierre is performing well(i.e. he's on base a lot), Castillo does poorly. When Pierre isn't performing well and not on base very much, Castillo performed very very well. Their OPS's made almost a perfect ratio. Not that I doubt you, but is there any sort of study or any numbers someone has crunced that support this conclusion? I'm curious as to how this conclusion was derived, as I'd never heard this theory before.

We should be getting back from NTC just before the Coors series, I'm hoping to get to go! It'll depend on my wife though, as she'll be about 8 months along at that time. I don't know if she'll let me sneak away for a day at that point.

Care to expound?

I wouldn't. There are players like Cesar and Macier Izturis, Erick Aybar (very solid SS prospect of the Angels), Omar Quintilla, etc. Cedeno has a better glove, or a better bat, but these are similar type players, that could be had for LESS then Pawelek. If in your hyperthetical situation, would I trade Pawelek for Cedeno? Of course not....I would offer something like....JK Ryu, or somebody of that caliber for Cedeno. Cedeno will be a fine player, but like the Yankees, we tend to grossly overrated certain young players (ie Hill/Patterson/Choi). You wouldn't come close to getting someone like Cedeno with Ryu. The Izturis brothers aren't worth nearly as much. I don't know enough about Aybar or Quintanilla to comment on those guys.

For me, that ranks behind the Penn High School baseball stadium. You don't mean JUST behind Penn HS stadium, do you? I think the gap is bigger than that... :lol:

He's probably more valuable teaching the young kids who are willing to learn as opposed to veterans who are stuck in their ways. I completely agree. Good point...if only we could clone him...

Fixed

Any reports on how Angel has looked so far at Spring Training?

This would be a shame. For some reason, some of those vendors remind me of the days when they'd pan the camera shots to the rooftops, and instead of seeing bleachers, you'd see guys slamming a beer while firing up a grill.

PNC is an absolutely gorgeous park. I'd be my number 2, after the Holy Mecca of Baseball, of course.

Personally I think it's rather ridiculous to go around insulting other fans for stating their opinion on the OF situation. The fact remains the Cubs OF is pretty poor. It wouldn't take much to be the best of the bunch. Murton could have a disappointing season and still accomplish the feat. I wonder if Baker would stay with Murton if he has a 260/360 type of line and shows very little power. He would stick with Jones if Jones had that line (actually, I'd be very happy if Jones put up that line). I don't know if it'd be enough for Murton, though...

I'm surprised I hadn't seen any threads on it. Maybe everyone's afraid of jinxing them. Several glowing reports on how Wood, Prior, and Miller are coming along. Miller may be able to fill that #5 slot in the rotation by May from early reports. This link has a good roll up of all of the latest cub stories. There's an article listed today from the Trib, the Suntimes, and the Herald (another great piece by Bruce) all attesting to the good news on all three pitchers.

How does Patterson have any bearing on how Murton will perform in the future? None, absolutely none at all. No offense, but you're sounding like Dusty Baker, not giving him a chance until you've seen him play a full season. He's displayed good judgement of the strike zone, which won't leave him, he's displayed the ability to adjust in the box to different pitching strategies, and to pull the ball or take it the other way. Those are traits of a disciplined hitter, which is what seperates Murton from other would be prospects like Patterson.

Oh no please tell me you don't think Murton is our best OF. Thats just ridiculous. Murton just might end up being our most productive outfielder this year. It's not a sure thing, but I'd say its more likely to be than not. Pierre might give him a run. Who do you think projects to be so much better that the notion that Murton is our best OFer is ridiculous? Either way, the point stands.

If they can get him on the cheap, and get something of value for Walker, I'd be much more satisfied with the 2B depth chart of Vidro, Hairston, Perez, instead of Hairston, Perez. I envision that to be a rather big if. Wrong. This is a big IF. :wink: How about this IF?

That schedule pi$$es me off. Colorado Springs is going to Iowa, but they don't get to go the other way. I'd love to catch the I-Cubs here in Colorado.

Do you mean you do think a guy's HBP numbers can be somewhat predicitive? Somewhat, although I would concede it's less predictive than most other facets of the game. One pitch can turn that around for a guy too. If a guy gets a good one in the head, he may be more willing to get out of the way in the future, if you know what I mean. If a guy gets a doctor to authorize him to wear body armor (like Baroids), then he may become more inclined to stick that elbow out there and take one.

They used to. It was called the 90s.