Magnetic Curses

Where do you get a "clutch hitter"? honestly. If someone can name for me a hitter whose BA w/risp and 2 outs is significantly higher than his regular BA throughout his career, i would like to know him. it's funny how writers can simply throw terms like "clutch hitters" out there without naming any. it only perpetuates the mythology that "clutch hitting" exists. we need a unicorn, too, or maybe a leprechaun.

they both strike out too much, which means they suck and wouldn't help us achieve a "balanced" lineup. plus, dunn's terrible in the field, which means he sucks. did i mention that they strike out too much, which menas that they suck?

i don't think you should add high priced players with low-obp's to correct the team obp problem. it doesn't make sense. we could have burnitz, who already puts up numbers close to hunter's. stick burnitz in center and spend the money elsewhere, which would probably make up for the difference in defense. we don't need obp monsters at every position, but hey, where are the other "monsters", i see lee with an obp over .400 and two guys over .350, one of which might not even be back next year if we trade him for hunter. we don't have much obp, which is what we need to address this offseason, hunter gives us nothing that we don't already have. LOL @ Burnitz in cf. How many games will it take before Zambrano strangles him for his inadequacy. Cf's an important defensive position. the problem with this team isn't defense. the "burnitz in cf" was facetious, next time i'll denote it. i was simply pointing out that this team would be better off with even burnitz in CF and spending the money somewhere else. hell, we could put barrett in center and have a better shot. hunter and his lack of obp can stay put in minny.

Exactly! I'd say the same thing about Cedeno. i agree with both of you. it appears that these players just know how to play without having to think too much. ballplayers, billy beane would call them. i could live with murton in left and cedono getting siginificant time in the middle infield spots, preferably backing up nomar and walker. murton also provides a cheap option that affords us the luxury of spending big in right field, centerfield, and getting another sp and reliever. i think the only possible way that we don't land giles is if giles simply does not want to play anywhere other than crappy southern california. we have the most money to spend and hendry knows that he has work to do. Why is Southern Ca crappy?? The chances of the Cubs giving Giles enough money to leave SoCal is slim and none. i've just never had any use for it. i've always counted the hours of my departure whenever i've been there. anything north of santa barbara is cool, though. and i would say that the cubs could probably give giles more money than anyone else and will probably target him in the offseason.

Exactly! I'd say the same thing about Cedeno. i agree with both of you. it appears that these players just know how to play without having to think too much. ballplayers, billy beane would call them. i could live with murton in left and cedono getting siginificant time in the middle infield spots, preferably backing up nomar and walker. murton also provides a cheap option that affords us the luxury of spending big in right field, centerfield, and getting another sp and reliever. i think the only possible way that we don't land giles is if giles simply does not want to play anywhere other than crappy southern california. we have the most money to spend and hendry knows that he has work to do.

i would take JP in a second, but like Tim, I prefer DePo. I'd actually rather have Beane, but I'd love to see what JP could do with a big budget squad.

i don't think you should add high priced players with low-obp's to correct the team obp problem. it doesn't make sense. we could have burnitz, who already puts up numbers close to hunter's. stick burnitz in center and spend the money elsewhere, which would probably make up for the difference in defense. we don't need obp monsters at every position, but hey, where are the other "monsters", i see lee with an obp over .400 and two guys over .350, one of which might not even be back next year if we trade him for hunter. we don't have much obp, which is what we need to address this offseason, hunter gives us nothing that we don't already have.

I think 2005 was his break year. It has been a brutal season in which the Cubs have seen themselves get blown out of contention in the division, and turn belly up in the Wild Card after two consecutive seasons over .500. The offseason was excruciating, in large part due to Hendry's mishandling of Sosa and the subsequent deals made to that debacle. If you bought into Hendry's insistance that money should be kept back for mid-season additions, well, I give you Matt Lawton. Everyone from MacPhail to Baker should lose their jobs, including Hendry. who do you think should get hendry's job? I haven't put a lot of thought into that, Sulley. Partly due to the fact that I don't know the qualifications or availability of candidates. That doesn't stop me from wanting him removed. I would never accuse Jim of not being a hard worker, but I don't see much creativity in what he does. I don't like his negotiating style and I don't like how narrow minded he can sometimes be with respect to players he covets. While some of his moves have certainly been beneficial to the Cubs, I don't agree with most of his decisions. Most distressingly, his relationship, evaluation of, and loyalty to Dusty causes me too much concern to keep him at the helm. So, I don't know who I'd choose to replace him. However, were I in the baseball field, I'm confident I could find a candidate more in line with how I think the organization should be run. i was just wondering if you knew of any names out there that you'd like to see, as i can't really think of any. i'm sure there are superior alternatives to hendry and i only hope that phillips' name doesn't come up should hendry be replaced.

that's messed up, tree. wasn't it pretty similar last year as well?

Yeah, if they really cared about winning they would've kept Sosa! That way they could've had an even greater sinkhole in the OF and had a 100 million dollar payroll. Then they'd care about winning to you, and that's all that matters. Good point. People who say paying off bad contracts shouldn't count on payrolls should consider the alternative. What alternative, that we kept Sosa and his salary? While I acknowledge Sosa's massive decline, Jeromy Burnitz didn't lead us anywhere to speak of. The organization's obsession with moving Sosa was an obvious distraction to bettering this team. While the club fielded an $87M team with respect to the "talent" under contract, it is unfair to blur the line and call it a $100M team that is inflated due to bad business decisions. Their may be $100M in expenditures toward the 2005 budget, but their isn't close to $100M in talent on the team. That is why its a lie in the context in which it has sometimes been used. 100 million in talent? We're paying Zambrano and Prior a combined 7 million. The point that LoneStar made was that the "illusion" of a 100 million dollar payroll is the fault of the Trib. If you want to say the talent doesn't reflect the payroll, then blame Hendry. The Trib isn't at fault. :scratch: I must have missed something. My intention wasn't to fault anyone for the amount of money spent. Rather, I was just agreeing that the roster isn't a $100M roster as some in the organization have tried to argue. the argument was the same tired old argument concerning the blame which should be given out. i don't think you can blame the trib, if they significantly cut payroll this year and it's back to around 85-87, then yes, blame them for being cheap. i blame hendry for a terrible off-season and dusty for pretty much everything he can be blamed for. he did everything wrong this year and he shouldn't be the manager. technically speaking, the trib pumped more revenue back into their team than anyone else in the national league, and it's unfair to blame them for anything that's happened, and this is coming from me.

I think 2005 was his break year. It has been a brutal season in which the Cubs have seen themselves get blown out of contention in the division, and turn belly up in the Wild Card after two consecutive seasons over .500. The offseason was excruciating, in large part due to Hendry's mishandling of Sosa and the subsequent deals made to that debacle. If you bought into Hendry's insistance that money should be kept back for mid-season additions, well, I give you Matt Lawton. Everyone from MacPhail to Baker should lose their jobs, including Hendry. who do you think should get hendry's job?

So 5 of the 8 position players on the Cubs are better than the Cards, and 6th one is a wash this year (Lee/Pujols). So that means that you'd only take the Cards for 2 of the 8 positions? And yet the Cards have scored 80 more runs than the Cubs. I don't get your logic. isn't wolf a cards fan? I don't know. His logic is flawed, regardless of who he's a fan of. i'd take burnitz over taguchi, barrett over molina, and a healthy nomar over eckstein. i'd also take walker over grudz (he's better in every offensive category of significance). aram and rolen will probably be a wash from here on out. i'd take pujols over lee, edmonds over anyone in the national league, and larry walker over whatever there is that's left. the fact is, the cubs have a better OPS than the cards, despiet the fact that the cards have scored 80 more runs is a testimony to either the .012 OBP advantage (and a better hitting philosophy) that they have over the cubs, or luck.

So 5 of the 8 position players on the Cubs are better than the Cards, and 6th one is a wash this year (Lee/Pujols). So that means that you'd only take the Cards for 2 of the 8 positions? And yet the Cards have scored 80 more runs than the Cubs. I don't get your logic. isn't wolf a cards fan?

:sunny: Persectives....that's what we all need! This off season to me is what will determine the direction the Cubs are going to go. I've defended Hendry but if he does any of the above...I will not be able to argue his case again. i agree, this is hendry's make or break year. he's really already been broken for me, though. sadly, there's not a lot of experienced GMs out there whom I'd approve of. but i still promise that neifi and macias won't be back.

wow, wizard, that's quite a schpiel, there. the cards are good, i'll admit. but that's quite delusional.

Now to have the Cubs get Gonzalez and resign Perez and Macias while giving Baker an extension and my time here is complete. Signed, Satan it doesn't upset me as much as it does others. we have money to spend, we'll spend it regardless of whether maddux comes back next year. is he overpaid? yes. is it a disaster for us? no. he's a serviceable pitcher that will log 200 innings. not worth 9-11 mil, but not the worst thing that could happen, either. I'm glad to have him back, actually. we won't have to worry about filling that 5th starter spot, seeing as how the young stable of starters we had 3 years ago disappeared rather quickly. If it stops at Maddux Sully I'm ok with it. It's the domino effect that has me worried. would you feel better if i promised you that macias and perez won't be back? because i'll do that.

that's what i was thinking, too. tim, your OBP projection [-X was a bit low. There are an awful lot of examples I could trot out of players whose minor league IsoD didn't exactly hold up during his rookie year. Especially when they're trying to break into a lineup managed by Dusty. i don't disagree, i seriously doubt that greenberg will ghet many starts in CF next year.

that's what i was thinking, too. tim, your OBP projection [-X was a bit low.

Now to have the Cubs get Gonzalez and resign Perez and Macias while giving Baker an extension and my time here is complete. Signed, Satan it doesn't upset me as much as it does others. we have money to spend, we'll spend it regardless of whether maddux comes back next year. is he overpaid? yes. is it a disaster for us? no. he's a serviceable pitcher that will log 200 innings. not worth 9-11 mil, but not the worst thing that could happen, either. I'm glad to have him back, actually. we won't have to worry about filling that 5th starter spot, seeing as how the young stable of starters we had 3 years ago disappeared rather quickly.

Well, it doesn't bode well when all of your starting pitchers have regressed from 2003 to 2004 to 2005. EDIT: And for the record it is my opinion that we should fire the entire coaching staff(save for Spier.) A change to shake things up is necessary IMO. I've heard a lot of good things about Larry. But the results say otherwise. The pitching just hasn't been there. Control is an issue with everybody. Mechanical problems have reportedly injured many. Larry should have been all over Dusty to take Wood/Prior out of some of those games they were kept in way too long. I think they need a clean break, including Speier. Get rid of all of them. This isn't a scapegoat situation, it's a scapeherd. The whole lot of them came up short, by a significant margin. i think we need a young crew, maybe a first-timer like girardi. people who know a lot about the game but are constantly trying to learn. Not that Giradi is necessarily like that, i don't know him. But maybe we need someone with some perspective on our situation.

hunter is not a stopgap, nor a long-term opportunity. his numbers are mediocre, even if he looks good being mediocre. Sad thing is that Hunter is pretty good as far as CF's go offensively. i'd rather put a non-CF in CF than overpay for hunter. Oh I agree, that's I why I said it wasn't worth it to get Hunter. Thing is though, there just aren't that many decent CFs out there. It's bad enough to make someone wonder if Patterson could return to previous norms, or even if Greenberg could hit .270/.350/.400 in CF. if greenberg could do that, he'd be my choice.

Would anyone consider Hunter a good stop-gap until Pie is ready in 2007? He only has one year left on his contract, so it isn't like he necessarily be in our long-term plans. I'd take Hunter over another year of Patterson, that's for sure. And, with this year's free agent class, it isn't like there are that many quality outfielders available to us. Think about what Hunter's cost will be compared to his use to us as a stopgap. It's not worth it. hunter is not a stopgap, nor a long-term opportunity. his numbers are mediocre, even if he looks good being mediocre. Sad thing is that Hunter is pretty good as far as CF's go offensively. i'd rather put a non-CF in CF than overpay for hunter.

Would anyone consider Hunter a good stop-gap until Pie is ready in 2007? He only has one year left on his contract, so it isn't like he necessarily be in our long-term plans. I'd take Hunter over another year of Patterson, that's for sure. And, with this year's free agent class, it isn't like there are that many quality outfielders available to us. Think about what Hunter's cost will be compared to his use to us as a stopgap. It's not worth it. hunter is not a stopgap, nor a long-term opportunity. his numbers are mediocre, even if he looks good being mediocre.

i'd pretty much welcome any alternative to hunter, who's .267 career average is not a sign that he's been a good hitter.

TRUE, HOWEVER IN STADIMS LIKE PITT, JUICEBOX, NEW BUSCH, MIL I THINK HIS D COULD BE AN ASSET, NOT MUCH IF ANY DROP OFF FROM PATTERSON BUT MORE RELIABLE OFFENSE we need to add obp, hunter has never had one better than .337. we'd be better off with giles in center for a season.