CUBZ99

Juan Pierre has been horrible this year, a big reason why the offense stunk. There never was any kind of a "need" for him, and therefore, there can be nothing that enhances that need. Pierre was terrible in April and May. His June OBP of .352 and July OBP of .439 are far from horrible and the year is not over yet, so it is possible that he will finish with a season OBP near his career average. (.350ish). Pierre is not the biggest reason the Cubs offense has struggled this year. It is more of a group effort.

When Pierre is on his game, he is better than any player in recent Cubs history at navagating the bases and finding a way to score. Unfortunately, Pierre has only been "on his game" for a short period of time.

"And today it was announced that Sean Marshall has been sent back down to AAA".... "Sean Marshall will now be working out of the bullpen" would be worse. At least in AAA, Marshall would still be getting starts. I like this move. Marshall has already pitched a career high amount of innings. The season is lost, no sense in ruining the kids arm. Now Marmol, Guzman, and Hill can all get a chance to show what they can do, plenty of arms that can pick up the slack. I would also send Novoa down and bring back Wuertz to give Eyre and Howry a break. Marshall needs to get as many starts in the majors this year as possible. The guy can flat out pitch and is still very raw. One of the few positives regarding this season is that Marshall and Marmol are getting ample time to develop without worrying about mistakes or one bad inning (like last night). The games from here on out are meaningless from a standings standpoint, but not from a development standpoint. I would much rather let them taking their lumps against major league hitters than dominate AAA pitching. So you want Marshall to go from a career high of like 130 innings pitched to see if he can top 200 innings this year? I just don't think that will help his development at all, I think that is just begging for trouble. Marshall has gained plenty of experience and I like the fact he will remain on the big league club so he can still soak up as much as he can from Maddux. Finally a little forsight by management. Yes, I want him to prove tht he can pitch a full major league season, just the same that is expected of every major league pitcher. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that Marshall has some of the same problems as Wood, Prior, etc. I've never heard anybody complain about his mechanics and if I remember right, his injury last year had to do with his finger. As someone pointed out earlier, its not as if he is pitching 100+ pitches per game on a consistent basis.

You are comparing Apples and Oranges. Jones is overpaid and on the books for two more years after this, he is a corner outfielder so should have more HR's and RBI's. Todd Walker at a fraction of the the price is still a much better deal whether you think he is a malcontent or not. Exactly how many more HR's should he have? And how does the guy get more RBI's without anyone on base?

"And today it was announced that Sean Marshall has been sent back down to AAA".... "Sean Marshall will now be working out of the bullpen" would be worse. At least in AAA, Marshall would still be getting starts. I like this move. Marshall has already pitched a career high amount of innings. The season is lost, no sense in ruining the kids arm. Now Marmol, Guzman, and Hill can all get a chance to show what they can do, plenty of arms that can pick up the slack. I would also send Novoa down and bring back Wuertz to give Eyre and Howry a break. Marshall needs to get as many starts in the majors this year as possible. The guy can flat out pitch and is still very raw. One of the few positives regarding this season is that Marshall and Marmol are getting ample time to develop without worrying about mistakes or one bad inning (like last night). The games from here on out are meaningless from a standings standpoint, but not from a development standpoint. I would much rather let them taking their lumps against major league hitters than dominate AAA pitching.

I agree, thats why i recommend not discussing Todd Walker tonight. :lol:

Because the Cubs are still in the playoff race, and three rookies in the rotation would negatively affect Dusty's win %.

Tonight is probably the wrong night to state an opinion on Todd Walker. That was one of the worst games I have seen a player have in a long time.

Double and a triple. That's enough power for me from Theriot. As much as I'd like Theriot to play, if Neifi had hit that ball, the triple would be called what it actually was-a routine fly ball that the right fielder lost in the sun. Let's give him credit where credit is due-he played a very good game, with a double and a stolen base, and that's certainly good enough for me. Don't forget the BB. One thing I like about his approach is that he was making the pitcher work. Nice to see from the #2 hitter.

Jones, Walker, Cedeno all benched. Dusty is really taking control. :^o

Indirectly? His comments sounded direct to me. And that was another stupid thing Baker said/did. And that should explain Walker's angst and defensiveness. I don't know what kind of work you do, but put yourself in Walker's position. If my school had a poor performance score and in the newspaper my principal pointed the finger at me directly, I can almost guarantee you, I'm not going to humbly accept it. and yes, someone likely would be thrown under the bus when I'm asked about it. But don't we always complain about this organization's (including players)not holding themselves accountable? In my opinion, Walker was wrong for even bringing up Brenly's name. And, yes, had I been Walker I would've simply said I didn't bobble it and leave it at that. Our department is criticized a lot at my job. Do I "drop a dime" on my team to save me from criticism? Nope. As I've said, I have no problem with Walker denying he bobbled the ball or had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, but there was no reason for him to complain about Brenly's call or for calling out Cedeno. But Walker is not only being called out, he's feeling pushed out the door. In his mind, he's really not "part" of the team anymore so looking out for the team is no longer in his mindset. Walker's situation is much different than your analogy. For one, this isn't Walker's first "principal" that is looking to get rid of him or having problems with him. Two, to make your analogy fit better, you would have to include every administrator and prinicpal (i.e. GM and announcer) to the mix and believe that they were all out to get you by making negative comments about your performance.

Yes, his OPS has helped the Cubs immensely this year. Especially over June and July when he carried the club. Without Walker the Cubs would have never made it to the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 and if they trade him they might finish with 105 losses instead of 100. Wait huh? I was defending you Sorry for my poor use of sarcasm. :oops:

Vance, you may very well have a point and I don't disagree that Dusty needs to go. But-- Walker, Alou and Mercker are all grown men. Bob Brenly didn't make Walker's bad play on the field, just the same as Dusty doesn't make Walker talk too much.

Yes, his OPS has helped the Cubs immensely this year. Especially over June and July when he carried the club. Without Walker the Cubs would have never made it to the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 and if they trade him they might finish with 105 losses instead of 100.

That's a lazy argument for people who won't/can't find a legitimate reason why Walker isn't any good. As far as the rest of the season goes, it depends on if you want Walker around next year. Don't trade him if you want him in the mix for the 2B job next year. It is lazy to bury your head in the sand and act like there are no personality issues concerning Walker. It is not just with the media, the guy was not wanted by any team in baseball over the offseason. All you have to do is watch today's game to see why he his little value. Add his defense up with his .206 splits vs. LHP and you have little more than a 33 year old platoon player at 2B. Further, what would make you believe that there is even the slightest chance that Hendry would even consider bringing Walker back? He isn't mentioned in every article about players the Cubs are trying to trade, because Hendry has him in the Cubs plans next year.

Maybe Todd Walker is trying to talk himself into a quick exit off of the team. Talk about not being able to shut your mouth. Add Walker to the list of players I can't wait for the Cubs to get rid of. I know I hate me some productive players. Seriously though, a player's media interaction should not impact their status on the team. I know I hate me some people that are ignorant enough to believe that Walker's only problems are his "media interactions". The Cubs couldn't give him away over the off season and most teams don't want to even touch him. Add the fact that he rarely stays with a team longer than 1 -2 years and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what type of team player the guy is. Walker serves absolutely no purpose on the Cubs for the rest of the year.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060714cubsgamer,1,3619652.story?coll=cs-home-headlines Maybe Todd Walker is trying to talk himself into a quick exit off of the team. Talk about not being able to shut your mouth. Add Walker to the list of players I can't wait for the Cubs to get rid of.

I've also read reports that Lee called out his teammates once again, and said they were playing "flat." If this is true, Hendry has got to take control.

Its a good thing Hendry said last night that he is not policing the club, wouldn't want someone to actually take responsibility and prevent the Cubs from being the laughing stock of baseball. ](*,)

My thoughts exactly. I think we'll see some trades and very soon. Could you imagine the joy on this board if Neifi was actually traded?

it's glendon time! wooooooooooo Is Glendon taking his spot, or are they waiting until they need a pitcher before they call Hill up?

I was speaking from their perspective rather than my own. Also, there are plenty of guys out there with high averages and OBPs that are not much higher. The guy batting leadoff for the Cubs, for example. Like I pointed out in my other post, if you look up the top 40 OBP guys in the majors 37-38 of them are good hitters. Sure there are some good hitters that don't have high OBP, just as there are bad hitters that have outstanding OBP, but they tend to be the exception rather than the norm. Okay. Sure. So out of 40 in the MLB each team on average gets 1-2. Our one is DLee. The problem is guys that aren't good hitters hacking away at everything. Maybe their average would be better if they showed the pitcher they would take a walk and that he needed to throw strikes to get them out. You want the .280 hitter with a .400 OBP (like the historical Jim Thome) and not with a .320 OBP (like the historical Jacque Jones). Even the .260 guy can have a .360 OBP instead of a .298 OBP. I'd really like to see guys add .100 points to their OBP via walks. Look at Giambi this year - .260 Avg with a .415 OBP. But look at Matt Holliday - .337 Avg with a .387 OBP. Who do you think is having more of an impact. If you turn it around and look at the top 40 Avg guys they won't all be in the top 40 OBP. But that isn't who I'm worried about on this team it is the Murton's, the Jones', the Pierre's, the Cedeno's that irritate me. For instance Felipe Lopez(.268) and Royce Clayton(.269) have virtually the same Avg this year, but Lopez has a .356 OBP while Clayton has a .315. That's what I'm talking about. Only one of the top 40 BA guys has a less than .350 OBP. Actually I count 3 (Hillenbrand, J Jones, and Pudge) 14 of the top 40 OBP guys have avg less than .300 while the top 40 all have OBP above .380. 16 of the top AVG guys have a OBP less than .380. I'd rather have one of the 14 than one of the 16. But that's me and not Hendry.[/url] You are correct with Jones, Hillenbrand and Pudge. :oops: Hillenbrand is .346.

And how many of the top 40 in AVG have an OBP over .350? 39? You are changing Hendry's words to say "only the top hitters have the top OBP." He never said that and nobody in their right mind would argue that. Hendry said something to the effect that "if you look at the top OBP guys in the league they are also generally good hitters." If you disagree with his statement or think he was incorrect, please provide some stats that show that the top OBP are generally not good hitters? I agree with O_O to some extent, and he has a good point regarding comparing players. But right now I would be ecstatic if the Cubs even had a .300/.350 guy in the minors that would make an impact in the near future.

I was speaking from their perspective rather than my own. Also, there are plenty of guys out there with high averages and OBPs that are not much higher. The guy batting leadoff for the Cubs, for example. Like I pointed out in my other post, if you look up the top 40 OBP guys in the majors 37-38 of them are good hitters. Sure there are some good hitters that don't have high OBP, just as there are bad hitters that have outstanding OBP, but they tend to be the exception rather than the norm. Okay. Sure. So out of 40 in the MLB each team on average gets 1-2. Our one is DLee. The problem is guys that aren't good hitters hacking away at everything. Maybe their average would be better if they showed the pitcher they would take a walk and that he needed to throw strikes to get them out. You want the .280 hitter with a .400 OBP (like the historical Jim Thome) and not with a .320 OBP (like the historical Jacque Jones). Even the .260 guy can have a .360 OBP instead of a .298 OBP. I'd really like to see guys add .100 points to their OBP via walks. Look at Giambi this year - .260 Avg with a .415 OBP. But look at Matt Holliday - .337 Avg with a .387 OBP. Who do you think is having more of an impact. If you turn it around and look at the top 40 Avg guys they won't all be in the top 40 OBP. But that isn't who I'm worried about on this team it is the Murton's, the Jones', the Pierre's, the Cedeno's that irritate me. For instance Felipe Lopez(.268) and Royce Clayton(.269) have virtually the same Avg this year, but Lopez has a .356 OBP while Clayton has a .315. That's what I'm talking about. Only one of the top 40 BA guys has a less than .350 OBP.

I was speaking from their perspective rather than my own. Also, there are plenty of guys out there with high averages and OBPs that are not much higher. The guy batting leadoff for the Cubs, for example. Like I pointed out in my other post, if you look up the top 40 OBP guys in the majors 37-38 of them are good hitters. Sure there are some good hitters that don't have high OBP, just as there are bad hitters that have outstanding OBP, but they tend to be the exception rather than the norm. Now you've opened up a can of worms. What is a good hitter? How much better is a .310 hitter vs. a .285 hitter? A .300 hitter vs. a .270 hitter? I'd be willing to guess that the top OBP guys with the high averages you and Hendry addressed, have a high OBP and avg. because they are primarily in hitters' counts, which means having patience. I think you may be on to something. I'm just pointing out that alot of people are hearing only what they want to hear from Hendry. His statement tonight regarding OBP was positive for Cub's fans and was accurate. I don't see what the problem is with Hendry trying to tie OBP to hitting, as you pointed out they appear to be closely related. I also looked up the top 40 leaders in batting avg. in the majors and only 1 of them had an OBP of less than .350. The fact that he acknowledged that the Cubs were in fact trying to address the prior non emphasis on OBP is a positive.