frostwyrm

I finally figured out why this picture bugs me: it looks like Riverdance. http://images.ussoccer.com/Images/cms/ussf/309_adu_JD_MNT_20080320_223.jpg

When you bat a guy leadoff, you are making sure they get the most PAs of anyone. Not if they miss a month. To make sure he'd get the most at bats of anyone on the team at this point you'd have to bench Lee for an equivalent amount of time. ;) Or just get rid of Lee. It's my firm belief that Soriano will be Lee's replacement at 1B. It's just a question of when. I actually like the idea of trading Lee if he has a huge year. His trade value would be high enough to get a real nice corner OF to replace Soriano, and putting Sori at 1B would keep him healthy, I hope. For example? That is a lot of production to make up for taking Lee out of the lineup. There are other people here who know a lot more about the trade market than I do. I don't know if we can find a single OF of equal value to Lee but I'm sure we could get a nice package of several players.

When you bat a guy leadoff, you are making sure they get the most PAs of anyone. Not if they miss a month. To make sure he'd get the most at bats of anyone on the team at this point you'd have to bench Lee for an equivalent amount of time. ;) Or just get rid of Lee. It's my firm belief that Soriano will be Lee's replacement at 1B. It's just a question of when. I actually like the idea of trading Lee if he has a huge year. His trade value would be high enough to get a real nice corner OF to replace Soriano, and putting Sori at 1B would keep him healthy, I hope.

I want Soriano down in the order because I hate seeing a guy hit so many XBH and have so few RBI's to show for it. Putting him at leadoff would be great if it all it did was get him more at bats, but it devalues his power way too much for my liking.

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw the news story. The Reds let him spend $46M on a relief pitcher in the offseason, then fired him after 20 games. That's silly.

What's really impressive is we have a 14-6 record and our $136M man has contributed absolutely nothing.

There's an old saying.....Jack of all trades and master of none. That sums up the "versatility" idea. Jose Macias. I see his face every time a manager is asked to list a player's skills and the first thing he comes up with is "versatility."

I literally just suffered some brain damage. Lou is like a little kid these days. He can't make up his mind and stick to the decision more than a few days. Though I wanted Murton called up, I think it's lame for Lou to be talking about dumping Patterson already. If you're not willing to give the guy a fair chance you shouldn't call him up in the first place.

I'd like the Cubs to say exactly where Murt is on the OF depth chart. There are definitely 5 OF's in front of him, and probably DeRosa, and possibly Ward. That makes Murt no higher than the 6th OF, most likely the 7th, and possibly as low as 8th. Why is he still around? Soriano Fukudome Pie Reed EPatterson DeRosa?(Fontenot at 2B) Ward?

Even as AAA filler Murton's value is questionable at this point. Once an org lets the world know that it projects a player's ceiling as a 6th or maybe 5th OF with no CF capability then he's just a waste of space at any level higher than A ball. Trade him for a PTBNL, waive him, release him, whatever. It makes little difference anymore.

Funny when you consider Chicago's moniker of "Second City." It should be changed to "Second Basemen's City."

This organization has done everything it can to diminish Murton's trade value but I still think he should be moved while he still has value, however little it may be. Another year of languishing in the minors will put his value at slightly more than zero.

For those of you who haven't seen it you can get the injury flash video from MLB by pasting the text below into a notepad file and changing the extension to .htm. Right-click on link and "save target as". get video here

No doubt it's a big move but it makes sense if Soriano keeps struggling to stay healthy in the OF. Soriano will have $112M and 6 years left on his contract after this season. You absolutely cannot let a player's body break down when you owe him that much money. We could get something pretty good for Lee, so it's not like Lee's production would just disappear if he were traded.

This is an injury you'd expect from Moises Alou. Little hop results in a muscle strain. Soriano's legs are looking shaky enough that it's not unlikely he'll need to move to 1B in the not too distant future. The hugeness of his contract makes it financially unnacceptable to let him break down if it can be avoided. Lee is a good trading chip and I can see him moved in this offseason or the next to open up 1B for Soriano.

Steve Carlton's 1972 numbers are sick: 27-10 record, 346 IP, 1.97 ERA, 310 strikeouts to 87 walks, and only 17 home runs. Maybe the finest season of the modern era, certainly won't be equaled again. Pedro did some amazing stuff but not for 346 innings. http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/carltst01.shtml

Will White pitched 680 innings in 1879. Nobody will pitch half of that again.

If Neifi is a great player, then what adjective is appropriate for ARod? Fantastamagorgical?

It's hard to argue against Pujols, but Beltran gives you awesome production from CF, where the offensive bar is much lower than at 1B. Beltran also adds speed that you don't get from Pujols. I'd be real happy with either of these guys, but I'd give a slight edge to Beltran.

Carlos Beltran's contract looks like a huge bargain now. He'd have to be my pick because you couldn't sign a player of that caliber at that price today.

Augie Ojeda starting at SS for Dbacks today vs. Dodgers! Go Augie! Juan Pierre starting 4 of the last 5 games in LF while Matt Kemp rides the pine! Go Juan! http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=280409129

Could Matt Kemp be an everyday CF? He's been losing a lot of playing time to Pierre. If that continues you have to wonder if Kemp could be had for the right price. Maybe we could swing a 3-way deal where we send Pie to a 3rd party and get Kemp from LA.

Umm, hes played since being beaned. Yes, I know. I didn't say it was broken -- just sore enough that they're holding him out. It would be the absolute wrong move to have him gut it out through pain in his hand, putting additional pressure on him if he doesn't perform. I'm surprised they let him play the day after that. Im not saying you are wrong Tim, but Im yet to see this anywhere else but from you. What can I say? Sometimes I hear things through email. Nothing I would put a tremendous amount of faith in except for the fact that it seems really logical. It does seem logical but what seems more logical from the Cubs is he didnt produce for 4 games so we are playing the veteran And what seems even more logical is that - based on your comments - you are hell-bent on making a logical leap and concluding that the Cubs have given up on him, in spite of the fact that: - He was beaned and is hurt - The Cubs did not and have not pursued another everyday CFer - He has been the starter in CF since Day 1 this season - The Cubs outright refused to trade him this past offseason, even though evidence suggests that including him in a package with other players would have greased the skids in the Roberts talks. I'll buy into the injury theory. The Cubs had chances to trade Pie but they didn't, so I don't see them giving up on Pie after 5 games. He'll get a grace period, but not for a whole season. Hendry will not sit idly if he thinks Pie might cost him his job. When you have a selfish GM who is desperate to win immediately everybody is on a short leash. Thats being pretty unfair and unrealistic. You're telling me, even as fan, that if the trade deadline rolls around, and we are neck and neck with Milwaukee and Pie is still not producing you would say "no we shouldn't try to upgrade there, let him learn" and leave a weakness in your lineup for the playoff run? And as for the selfish comment, judging by the Cubs payroll, I'm guessing he's under pressure to win. So therefore he's selfish for trying to do what his superiors demand of him (AKA HIS JOB)? You seem to expect a hardworking guy to say "Oh I can't possibly build a proper team, its best I just leave a job I've worked a long time to earn as it can't possibly be whats best for the team". Try realistic expectations sometime, they're really swell. Yeah he's selfish. He got a contract extension through the 2008 season and proceeded to give out big backloaded deals that balloon in size in 2009. Do you really think that's a coincidence? I'm sure he won't hesitate to do it again if Pie flops. It'll be something like the Dodgers sending a lump payment of $10M along with Juan Pierre. That money would be applied to some other short-term fix. If that fails to save this season it won't matter to Hendry because someone else will have to clean up his mess in 2009.

Umm, hes played since being beaned. Yes, I know. I didn't say it was broken -- just sore enough that they're holding him out. It would be the absolute wrong move to have him gut it out through pain in his hand, putting additional pressure on him if he doesn't perform. I'm surprised they let him play the day after that. Im not saying you are wrong Tim, but Im yet to see this anywhere else but from you. What can I say? Sometimes I hear things through email. Nothing I would put a tremendous amount of faith in except for the fact that it seems really logical. It does seem logical but what seems more logical from the Cubs is he didnt produce for 4 games so we are playing the veteran And what seems even more logical is that - based on your comments - you are hell-bent on making a logical leap and concluding that the Cubs have given up on him, in spite of the fact that: - He was beaned and is hurt - The Cubs did not and have not pursued another everyday CFer - He has been the starter in CF since Day 1 this season - The Cubs outright refused to trade him this past offseason, even though evidence suggests that including him in a package with other players would have greased the skids in the Roberts talks. I'll buy into the injury theory. The Cubs had chances to trade Pie but they didn't, so I don't see them giving up on Pie after 5 games. He'll get a grace period, but not for a whole season. Hendry will not sit idly if he thinks Pie might cost him his job. When you have a selfish GM who is desperate to win immediately everybody is on a short leash.

It'd certainly be nice if the Cubs would give Pie this whole season to adjust, but it ain't gonna happen. Hendry needs to win now or he's unemployed this fall. I guarantee you he'll make a move if Pie still looks bad in late May. Juan Pierre will probably still be available.