Jehrico

Dusty for Milton Bradley, anybody? Grady Little is still in the organization, isn't he?

Okay, ya got me dead to rights on that one...

Good. He doesn't deserve to be anywhere near MLB. He was one of the worst managers, ever. That also means he won't be moonlighting for ESPN either. He was one of their worst commentators ever, as well.

I would trust Carpenters statement that he didn't change his mechanics over any garbage that ESPN (Eastcoast Sports Prime Network) puts out anyday.

WHIP is NOT fatally flawed. Like virtually every other statistic we have, it is supposed to be used in context, and not used as a sole indicator to predict future performance. Each stat is like a tool, and statisticians use their whole tool box when evaulating guys. It is a better indicator of a pitchers performance than wins alone, but should be looked at along with K/BB ratio, ERA, BAA, etc...Your main problem is you are trying to look at individual stats alone, you should weigh several of them together to get a better picture of a pitchers performance.

I don't recall my first Cubs game too well...I do remember Bill Buckner getting a game winning hit, and Fergie Jenkins started the game. I don't think I was but 6 years old at the time.

I'd go ahead and sign him for 5 and 50. In two years, trade him to the Yanks or someone and give the reigns to Ronny. We should be able to get a blue chip prospect and then some for him in a couple of years (especially since there doesn't appear to be any stud SSs hitting the market in the near future, which will only help raise his trade value even more) when RonnyC's ready. Sign him for 5/50, pay him for 2/20. Let someone else pick up the other 3/30.

If those are the options next year, I go with RonnyC.

I'd rather get Bradley over Pierre. - Handling players like that is supposed to be Dusty's fort'e. - He's considerably better than Pierre. - He won't cost near as much as Pierre, money or prospect wise. Considering the above three factors, Bradley is a relatively low gamble. We could keep CPatt if we get Bradley. if he is out of control the first half, give CPatt the job back, or, if he's tearing up AAA, bring up Pie (I'd rather not see that happen in '06, but Hendry already seems convinced the kid is ready).

It's not a fair question. You're listing a 2nd option at SS with a 1st option in RF, then a 1st option at SS with a 10th option in RF. To make it an even statement, I go with Furcal and Floyd. [edit - smelling pistakes] No, it is a fair question. Lugo/Giles will probably cost about the same amount as Furcal/Encarnacion. Furcal/Floyd would cost more. I don't think it's a fair question...you're only considering the '06 budget and not the future opportunity cost of the lost prospects when weighing the trades. I would rather have Lugo and Giles over Furcal end Encarnacion, but getting Lugo instead of Furcal doesn't mean squat when it comes to who we sign for RF. As far as we know, Giles has no interest in coming here, regardless of who we sign at SS, so we may as well go for the best option at SS. Each position should be weighed independently, and we should take the best guy available, unless the best guy available is not available for a someone reasonable price (i.e. I'm not giving someone with JD Drew's injury history the money that Depoidiot gave him last offseason, even if he is the best available).

I agree. Weaver strikes me as the type that just might flourish under Rothschild. Call it a hunch, I dunno, but I'd love to see Hendry go after him.

I was aware that he spend some time focusing more on football, and didn't primarily dedicate himself to baseball until close to the end of high school, but, correct me if I'm wrong, he still played in little league and other various organized leagues as a kid growing up, didn't he? Most kids I grew up with that concentrated more on Football still played baseball because football isn't year-round. He just didn't make baseball his first priority until later, unless I'm mistaken. That, IMO, would give him a big jump over where Pie was coming from.

So you're saying you thought Jeff Francis, Jeff Weaver, Matt Morris, Jeff Suppan, Mark Mulder, and John Leiber had better years than Roger Clemens? Man, Houston got ripped off paying $18 million for only a lousy 13 wins.

That's the attitude I was referring to in my first post that I was referring to as classless. He's a bum because he's had shoulder problems using the mechanics that made him one of the most feared pitchers in baseball. I'd like to see how you react if he adopted Maddux's mechanics and couldn't keep his ERA under 6.

There's another enormous difference between Pie and CPatt that other people are overlooking...CPatt grew up playing organized baseball. Pie never had ANY coaching, any instruction, NADA, until the Cubs noticed him and brought him into the organization. He's only had three years playing something more organized than stickball in the streets...despite the overal "rawness" of Pie, he's managed to have quite a bit of success at each level he's played in despite being about the youngest guy in each league he has stopped at. He's incredibly advanced despite his rawness and youth. Those of you trying to grade him on the same principles as any other 23 year old at AA are making a mistake.

I'd be ticked about the bad trades, but at that time, no premier FA who cared about winning was going to sign with the Cubs while Lynch was running the show.

No, you don't. He was drafted with those mechanics, he was promoted to the majors because of the results in the minors he got with those mechanics, and he was rewarded with his contract because of the results in the majors with those contracts. If he did smooth out his mechanics, who's to say he would have the same impact, that he could put up a 3.00 ERA instead of an ERA over 5.00? You would be all over him then because he couldn't get anyone out anymore. What's this We stuff? You're not paying a dime. Even without him, our payroll on the other 24 guys is enough to contend on it's own. It's a matter of whether or not that is spent wisely enough, again, not Woods fault. You're kidding, right? He has his bad outings from time to time, but he's put up a very respectable percentage of quality starts, and when he does have a quality start, he's usually mowing people down. Are there any statements to back that up, or is that more unfounded opinion/speculation provided as fact? I don't understand why there has to be blame to go around here. It's unfortunate, but why does there have to be someone to point the finger at? Wood's career path has evolved around uncontrollable circumstances.

Have you fixed your bad mechanics so you won't get injured again? Isn't it Ironic that you joked/took a stab at Steve Stone criticizing your mechanics earlier in the year by saying "Maybe someone can teach me better Mechanics, I don't know", and then later in the year you were shut down YET AGAIN!!? When you go down again next year, will you please stay in the 8th inning, because that's the only way you can actually help this team. Would you please waive your non trade clause to get traded so you don't ruin another one of our chances with your injuries? feel free to use any one of those. . . :roll: I'm as frustrated as anyone else that he hasn't had that breakout season that we know he's capable of, and that he hasn't been able to stay healthy, but damn, people...quit acting like he's a jerk or something. Wood has done nothing wrong. All he has done is pitch his heart out when he's out there. If you want to blame someone, blame the minor league pitching coaches who never worked with him to learn how to pitch with correct form in the minors before he ever got this far along. I think this, and a couple of other posts, are pretty classless. Some of you act like he's hurt because he doesn't care/he's lazy/has a bad attitude, whatever. Those mechanics are the mechanics that the coaches in the minors let him go through the minors with, they're what got him to the majors, they are what got him the 20k game, those are the mechanics that got him all of his success. I'd use mechanics that hurt my arm after a few months if it would get me in the majors and a multimillion dollar contract that would set me and my family for life.

Sadly, they are.

Both Murton and Cedeno will still have rookie status next year, if I'm correct, since neither exceeded 150 at bats. Here's to seeing Murton make a run for ROY in 06...although I wouldn't be disappointed if he looses it to Ronny.

With the thin FA market this year, I think there will be more activity (i.e. trade rumors/discussions) than during other years.

Levine scooped the Rusch contract before anybody Levine absolutely is not the least credible source in Chicago. That would be Phil Rogers from the Trib. Actually, I'd put him middle of the road when compared to others. He's not that bad compared to the load of crappy journalists that flood the media nowadays. Never forget the completely out of touch, George Ofman. He is the man with NO contacts. He guaranteed Maddux would not sign with the Cubs. George is the worst in the city for reliability. I wouldn't give Ofman the worst reporter in the city award, because I'd reserve him as a candidate for worst reporter in the country! He is maybe the one guy in Chitown that makes Rogers look good.

He doesn't have an "organizational" attitude? Didn't he sign here for less than he could have gotten anywhere else to sit on the bench, when he could have started for other teams? Didn't he give Chicago a pretty good hometown discount (hence, the desirable contract you listed earlier) because he wanted to be part of this team? If that doesn't constitute an "organizational" attitude, I don't know what does. I think everyone blows his comments to the media waaaaay out of proportion.

Maybe Hendry is going "under the radar" with Giles??? Could it also be that the 11 day window when teams can not pursue other teams FAs hasn't exired yet? They're still in the exclusive negotiating window that teams have before others can start giving their FAs offers.

Levine scooped the Rusch contract before anybody Levine absolutely is not the least credible source in Chicago. That would be Phil Rogers from the Trib. Actually, I'd put him middle of the road when compared to others. He's not that bad compared to the load of crappy journalists that flood the media nowadays.