Magnetic Curses

no, the biggest difference is that their pitching went sour this season. if their pitching was up to last year's par, they'd be coasting into the playoffs easily, despite the emergence of detroit, who'd be battling it out with minnesota for the wild card. kenny williams did a great job in the offseason, he even shored up the staff with vazquez as a 5th starter. the rotation just didn't perform.

Yeah, I'm aware that Zito's perceived value is that high, but Sulley was saying it was justified. it's justified because his kind do not become available every day, you know. i don't see any other pitchers besides schmidt and mussina that we can add to our rotation that really add anything that our rookies can't. Agreed, add into that the switch to the much easier national League and i think you can see why Zito would be a huge get for us. I think Zito will end up in NY (Mets or Yankees), but the switch to the NL may not be as easy as people think. Zito won't know any of the hitters in the NL. I'd like to get Schmidt because he has shown what he can do in the NL. but then again, the hitters won't know him very well, either. did i just blow your mind or what?

Agreed. Also, for the past 2 years his avg has been about .260(.385 obp in 2005 and 356 obp this year) and def a little shy from .270 which pecota projects. IMO, Edmonds shouldn't even be an option. He is the epitome of anti-Cub. i don't understand what "anti-cub"means. and i also don't understand how he won't be much better than pierre. If you don't understand what anti-cub means I don't know what to tell you. okay, so you don't know what it means either, i'm glad we got that settled. It means he hates the Cubs, if you honestly didn't know what that meant. i've thought on it long and hard and: it's a vague term which more probably means that this poster hates edmonds, not that edmonds hates the cubs.

i don't think we should give up hill to get dunn, we need every good pitcher we can. a very good starting staff is worth much more than a team with a good OBP--that said, dunn's butchery in the field makes little difference to his value.

And that's pretty ridiculous. This isn't little league or high school ball for that matter. Even the most defensively challenged major leaguer makes most of the plays. When the ball is put in play, more times than not, an out is recorded. The put it in play mantra is great in little league. I hate 12 year olds that strike out because with that age, 75% of the time when the ball is in play, something good does happen for the team at bat. Not so in the majors. I want production. Dunn makes fewer outs than most other options for LF. When he does make an out, it's often with the K. Big deal because he is still making fewer outs. Outs are the most valuable commodity in the game. The players who make fewer outs (OBP) and make the most of their contact (SLG) are the most valuable (OPS). Ok, you obviosuly didnt understand what I was saying. And there you go again, jumping to conclusions. When you put the ball in play you are putting pressure on the defense. Putting the ball in play means hits, doubles, triples, HR. I dont know why you brought up little league ball? I rather have guys who put the ball in play, then guys who strikeout with a guy on 3b with less than 2 outs. Thats considered a wasted AB. Strikeouts dont help the team. Wasted AB's. A concept you probably will never understand. I like Dunn, but I dont like the fact he will strikeout 200 times a year, and he is a huge liability in the field. Which hurts the team. i would disagree very strongly with the bolded. when your key objective is to simply "put the ball in play" you are absolutely taking pressure OFF of the pitcher and defense. weak ground balls result from "just putting the ball in play" and are the easiest outs to record. strikeouts at least eat up 3 pitches at the least. i would rather a player make a pitcher work, wait for a pitch he can drive, and then drive it. by swinging at a pitcher's pitch just for the sake of "putting the ball in play" the hitter fails to do his duty. by being afraid to strike out, a hitter fails in his duty. if the hitter doesn't see the pitch he wants in a plate appearance, a good hitter will tip his cap to the pitcher (or make a comment to the umpire) if a strikeout is recorded, or walk down to first base and be happy that he did not record an out if a base on ball ensues.

upper management should make the personnel decisions and set organizational philosophy. the field manager should make nice with the media and perpetuate the ideas of upper management or else he's stupid.

the cubs are the best team in the NL at not striking out, putting the ball in play a lot hasn't helped. you don't win by simply putting the ball in play, that's gutless baseball. players who are afraid to strike out have no place in this game.

I would think that what we see as the #1 priority will never be what Angelo sees. Didn't he have a reputation of ignoring O line in Tampa? First priority is extending Briggs, Vasher, and Tommie Harris. The D is the identity of the team, the strength of the team. They have to keep these guys to stay at such a dominant level. Even a minor drop off in defense could kill this team because the offense while improved, isn't near strong enough. Priority #2 is the O-Line. Hopefully one of these young receivers can establish themself as a big time player so priority #3 won't have to be a WR. i get the feeling that angelo isnt going to re-sign briggs. he's arrogant enough to think that he can replace briggs like he replaced colvin.

Agreed. Also, for the past 2 years his avg has been about .260(.385 obp in 2005 and 356 obp this year) and def a little shy from .270 which pecota projects. IMO, Edmonds shouldn't even be an option. He is the epitome of anti-Cub. i don't understand what "anti-cub"means. and i also don't understand how he won't be much better than pierre. If you don't understand what anti-cub means I don't know what to tell you. okay, so you don't know what it means either, i'm glad we got that settled.

is this because they both have red hair?

Agreed. Also, for the past 2 years his avg has been about .260(.385 obp in 2005 and 356 obp this year) and def a little shy from .270 which pecota projects. IMO, Edmonds shouldn't even be an option. He is the epitome of anti-Cub. i don't understand what "anti-cub"means. and i also don't understand how he won't be much better than pierre.

You really believe that? His slugging alone makes him worth more than Pierre, and he isn't going to forget how to take a walk. Did you not notice the first part? If he continues on this decline, his numbers will look like Pierre's. I don't know if they will continue on that path. My guess is it won't be that drastic. But it's been that drastic for 2 years, and he's an old man with a thousand past injuries. goony hates older players. but that's okay, his pecota predictions, iirc, are pretty decent, plus his injuries haven't limited him as much as many would have you believe. if he's been injured, he seems to have played through it pretty well. PECOTA's 2007 .270/.396/.564 in 515 PA yep.

I disagree. I think that is one of the problems he had at Miami. They kept switching his position. For now let him focus on returns and his defensive back role. i think we should make his role "the guy who gets the ball in his hands, period". You do have a point. Maybe throw in a couple end arounds for him. Let last end-around I remember from the Bears was with Bobby Wade and is blazing 4.6 speed....ugghh. that's what i'm saying. give him the ball with defenders in front of him and tell him to get into the end zone. i don't think it would be that complicated for him. throw him a zero pass, give him an end around, heck, make him a decoy--good things will happen. i don't necessarily agree with having him out there regularly, but if you can bring him in to either confuse the defense or make a big play, i don't know why that would be a bad thing.

You really believe that? His slugging alone makes him worth more than Pierre, and he isn't going to forget how to take a walk. Did you not notice the first part? If he continues on this decline, his numbers will look like Pierre's. I don't know if they will continue on that path. My guess is it won't be that drastic. But it's been that drastic for 2 years, and he's an old man with a thousand past injuries. goony hates older players. but that's okay, his pecota predictions, iirc, are pretty decent, plus his injuries haven't limited him as much as many would have you believe. if he's been injured, he seems to have played through it pretty well.

I disagree. I think that is one of the problems he had at Miami. They kept switching his position. For now let him focus on returns and his defensive back role. i think we should make his role "the guy who gets the ball in his hands, period".

kottaras would have been nice, though.

i really don't think that ramirez will get 15 mil per, i really don't. the dogers might inflate his asking price a bit, but i'm not worried that we won't match it, we're already planning on paying him like 11 mil, right? what's another couple of mil to keep one of your best hitters?

I think it depends on the new manager and what they do with the rest of the bench. Theriot seems to have earned a spot as utility infielder. Pagan does make a decent 4th OF. Having both of those guys on the bench eliminates the need for Bynum's speed- the only tool he possesses. The silver lining, even if Bynum and Pagan make the team, is that neither are making any money and are therefore easily expendable for more attractive bench options. If Soto replaces Blanco- as he should- the Cubs have the luxury of having half their bench set for less than they paid Perez. Whoever the new manager is, he's going to be a Hendry hire, which means he'll be a guy who likes people like Bynum on the roster. I would be shocked if either Freddy or Pagan are gone. Angel is a 5th OF (a 4th should be able to start for a month or two without hurting the team - Angel can't). Bynum has probably done more than any previous "25th" type player that Hendry has been smitten with. I think he'll concentrate more on spending on pitchers and a big bat than finding more veteran 25th men. Pagan, Bynum, Theriot and a catcher probably account for 4/5ths of the bench (assuming they foolishly go with 12 pitchers again), with a veteran corner man taking the other spot, unless Murton moves to the bench as well. i would disagree on pagan, i think that he could hold down a corner outfield spot for a month or two without hurting the team. but that's provided we have a decent team.

hester should be a third down back or line up in the slot on a few plays. his talent would be wasted on defense.

I disagree, we actually are lucky that we kept drafting pitchers. I would think most teams would be interested in Gallagher, Veal, and Pawelek. That and with the guys in front of Pie getting the call I would say he might be top 20 in all of baseball. last time i heard, pawelek was pitching out of the bullpen. You heard wrong. no, i didn't. He just started game one of their playoff series and pitched great, his best outing as a pro. If that is out of the bullpen some of our starters should try it. i said: "the last i heard", which was true.

I disagree, we actually are lucky that we kept drafting pitchers. I would think most teams would be interested in Gallagher, Veal, and Pawelek. That and with the guys in front of Pie getting the call I would say he might be top 20 in all of baseball. last time i heard, pawelek was pitching out of the bullpen. You heard wrong. no, i didn't.

Pie and Veal are probably in the top 50 of all of baseball after this season. yep, and that package could be easily beaten. Sure, that doesn't mean the prospects aren't there though. i said "virtually". :wink:

I disagree, we actually are lucky that we kept drafting pitchers. I would think most teams would be interested in Gallagher, Veal, and Pawelek. That and with the guys in front of Pie getting the call I would say he might be top 20 in all of baseball. last time i heard, pawelek was pitching out of the bullpen.

Pie and Veal are probably in the top 50 of all of baseball after this season. yep, and that package could be easily beaten.

Yeah, I'm aware that Zito's perceived value is that high, but Sulley was saying it was justified. it's justified because his kind do not become available every day, you know. i don't see any other pitchers besides schmidt and mussina that we can add to our rotation that really add anything that our rookies can't.