CUBZ99

Any one who blames ARAM for the Cubs troubles this year is clueless. The Cubs problems don't stem from just one player or Dusty. However, to say that there is no measure to determine whether a player is "playing the game right", beside whether he is using a glove, and bat, is equally as clueless. Clearly ARAM does not hustle all of the time and at times has mental lapses, for instance throwing the ball home when he has no shot, instead of getting the easy double play and preventing the big inning. ARAM is lucky to have a coach like Baker, I can't imagine ARAM's lackidasical(sp?) attitude would be tolerated by many other managers.

I think Dusty may be telling the truth. Can't make a better denial than that. :lol:

Hendry is in a good position with Maddux. The Cubs don't need to trade him to get salary off the books, so any team that wants him is going to have to overpay or Maddux will simply stay put.

No need to take it personally either.

Total, or in that inning? You have to be aggressive to score runs. ](*,)

I held Rothschild in high regard too until 2005. Rothschild is the pitching coach and I think people give Baker too much credit by criticizing his use of the pitchers. I think Baker doesn't know jack about pitching and pretty much relies on Pole and Rothschild. Rothschild has had two opportunities to leave the Cubs with Baker at the helm and has chosen to stay twice. That should tell you something. I've yet to read, hear or see anything to show that he is powerless and is at odds with Baker. You mean after all these years you think he'd stay if he was in constant philosophical battles with Baker? Just to play devils advocate with you on this. Say he stayed because he had developed friendships, in some ways a father figure, to the pitching staff. Hendry being a good friend and what not from what I have read and heard. Say he decided to stay despite the differences with Baker because he wanted to try and protect the pitchers? I dont have proof and it is a gut feeling as well as reading body language but I have had the impression that Hendry and Rothschild dont get along. I would also say that Baker dosent let anything happen unless he says its ok. I can easily see Rothschild being told by Baker when and what Baker wants done. If your gut feeling is true, then why would Hendry say that Rothschild's job is safe and not use the perfect opportunity to get rid of him.

C'mon now. It was simply an attention getter and the bulk of the post implies it is the opinion of Stark. From the original thread: It is a message board not the NY Times. But, I'll make sure I hire an editor next time before hitting submit. Sorry, I thought this was NSBB and not Cubs.com or ESPN message boards. :roll:

Shouldn't this thread title have a question mark on it or (report)? I heard Jayson Starks saying basically the same thing yesterday morning on the Mike and Mike show and he stated that it was his opinion that Piniella wouldn't manage the Cubs. The title makes it appear as Piniella came out and said he wasn't interested or wouldn't take the job.

I think that pretty much says Baker is not being fired next week. As I pointed out earlier, Bruce's article today stated that Baker's job was safe for the moment also. :cry: Would Baker sacrifice his coaching staff to keep his job?

The latest from the Baker saga: Chicago Tribune:

Does Toronto have enough young talent to get Barrett? I have no idea who their top prospects are. If Hendry can get a great catching prospect and a couple of the Jays other top prospects I don't see why Hendry would not a least consider dealing Barrett. Barrett is a fine offensive player when he is on, but it would be nice to have a catcher that was avg. to above avg defensively. I found it amazing that this offseason with all of the talk about upgrading in the field, they went into the season defensively deficient at arguably the most important position.

No, it isn't your imagination. Though it isn't by too much, he has been inconsistent since returning to Des Moines the second time. I saw him pitch in Iowa a week or so ago and his velocity was way down (seemed like 83-88 range for the Fastball). He didn't touch above 88 on any of the pitches that I saw. It may have been possible that the gun was slow.

I was feeling pretty good about Dusty getting fired until I read this from Bruce's article this morning. Which made me think either Bruce meant that Dusty's job was safe until the All Star break or Sullivan and co. are exaggerating Hendy's statement. http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp

You are the topic of message boards. Aren't you a sophomore-to-be Cal wide receiver? They didn't get the real big names.They got the "budget" big names. The Yankees and Red Sox got the big ones.Its ridiculous if money was the issue with the top ones when you consider how much they gave to Huseby. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2508432 Sounds to me like the Cubs got the best available pitching prospect. I don't blame them for not signing a 16 year old catcher for $2M, when Catcher does not appear to be a big need for the team in the foreseeable future. What is the scouting report on this kid? You get the best players possible regardless of need.These players are probably 3 years away. 2 million is a risk .But for a potential franchise player its worth taking. They spend 1 mil each on injured guys like Dempster,Williamson,Dempster.hoping to get lucky. They spent 2 mil on Huseby whos coming off Tommy John surgery. 2 mil on the catcher seems the safer signing if he was willing to sign. The kid who signed at #1 was quoted as saying he wanted to sign with the Yankees. Lets face it sometimes it doesn't matter how much money the Cubs have, there are better teams that young people may want to play for. Its not like the Cubs are the only team trying to sign these guys.

The last replay showed him drag his foot on the bag as he was throwing to 1st. I'm watching on FSN SW so we got different replays I guess, the replays they showed had him throwing rather flat-footed and I never saw him drag his foot. The replay on the Astros network clearly showed that he did not touch the second base before or during his throw. The ump had that call right. Btw why does Dusty even come out and argue calls. It is rather embarrassing when he just stands out there with his head down looking like he is talking to the ground.

You are the topic of message boards. Aren't you a sophomore-to-be Cal wide receiver? They didn't get the real big names.They got the "budget" big names. The Yankees and Red Sox got the big ones.Its ridiculous if money was the issue with the top ones when you consider how much they gave to Huseby. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2508432 Sounds to me like the Cubs got the best available pitching prospect. I don't blame them for not signing a 16 year old catcher for $2M, when Catcher does not appear to be a big need for the team in the foreseeable future. What is the scouting report on this kid?

Do I need to? How about I just look at the stats of the core team I listed? What do you know, those look pretty good, outside of a slumping Ramirez and Dempster's recent struggles. The core you listed: Lee, Howry, Eyre, Cedeno, Barrett, Jones, Prior, Marshall Ramirez and Dempster you agreed were struggling. That's 8 out of 25 spots; in other words, 17 out of 25 need to be "tweaked." That's a heck of a tweaking... You forgot Z, and I would also include the other members of the bullpen. IMO the only glaring deficiencies are the bench and the OF. Add a LF that can produce some runs, a frontline starting pitcher and some bench players that can fill in once in awhile and the Cubs are looking alot better.

WAAAAY TOO MUCH FOR AROD. I can imagine a Aramis, Jones, Williamson and Hill trade for A-Rod

Todd Walker said essentially the same thing Wednesday before the game on the Radio Pre-game show. Sounds like dissention in the clubhouse.

This reaction only makes sense if there was a possiblity he would take it. If he wasn't interested, I don't think he'd have a problem going down there... Or am I reading too much into it? I thought the exact same thing when I read the quote this morning. :-k

He must have had a hell of a workout on May 26th and that other date in Mesa. I imagine his stuff is back - he supposedly has that FB that topped out at 93 mph, a curve, slider and change. He was on my list of most intriguing prospects after the 5th round (including Renshaw and Rundle)...but wowowowowowow is right. Hopefully the area guys know what they're doing. The Cubs always know what they are doing. Good to see them taking a chance on a guy with big time potential.

He says Sheesh alot and it sounds an awful lot like another S word. Ronny does keep it pretty clean though.

It is an artistic expression, as to how the crowd views the product that is being put on the field by the Cubs on a daily basis.

Explain. Someone earlier said that Rosenthal claimed Dusty would be gone if the Cubs continued to suck all weekend. Damn isnt Z pitching tomarrow? We might actually have a chance! :evil: too bad that he is pitching against Buerhle

No, he works for FOX and will be calling tomorrow's game. Ahh.... I guess that explains it. Wonder why he was there a day early though... Network crews get to the park a day early all the time. Nothing to read into this. How much worse does this team need to play to get a new manager? Seems that at this point Hendry doesn't care what happens with the rest of the season. (Hope that I'm wrong)