CUBZ99

If the Marlins are looking for an OF surely Todd Hollandsworth's numbers are equivalent or better than Stairs or Long.

Baker liked Greenburg in Spring Trainings so maybe that will benefit his playing time. Dusty generally doesn't say nice things about rookies.

Well that was a little out of left field? #-o

(Emphasis added). This was a nice article. The tone has officially changed with all of the beat writers. They must have some indication that Baker is close to being fired to all start piling on the guy after 2 1/2 years of being fairly deferential. Unfortunately, it took them a long time to start criticising Baker. Dusty has made it clear with the Stone fiasco that he does not take criticism well, wonder how he is going to react after the real first flood of articles squarely taking aim at his shortcomings?

Is Murton going to be LF and Greenburg CF then? Makes no sense to bring them up to play behind Hairston and Hollandsworth.

I don't understand why Dusty usually plays the forfeit lineup in the first game. Perez batting 2nd, Dubois 4th, Cedeno and Blanco. Its no wonder the Cubs only got 3 hits with that lineup. Is there a reasoning for forfeiting the first game with a bad lineup? Or just Dusty logic?

Firing Dusty would be a big start in the right direction. Firing Hendry and getting a GM that understands the importance of having quality players on a team would be a better start. Dusty is just an easy target, firing him is not going to make the players magically better. The new manager is still going to have to play the same players, is still going to have the horrible bench, and the pathetic bullpen, etc. etc. etc.

I would say, if you think keeping Dusty Baker is the answer, you're twice as delusional. Replacing Dusty is one of many answers. He's the wrong manager for the wrong team. I said it before he was hired and I haven't seen anything resembling evidence to the contrary. Let's see here, the team hits .213 with men on 3rd and less than 2 outs, yep it's the manager. This is becoming silly. The fact that you have to dig that deeply to find a number to exonerate Dusty actually makes him look worse, not better. And I assume you are aware that a fly ball scores a run with a man on 3rd and less than 2 outs, so BA is a pretty poor indicator of offensive effectiveness in that situation, particulary for a team that has a lot of fly ball hitters. The team is still a bad team with or without Baker. Baker deserves some of the credit for poor performance and Hendry deserves the rest for poorly putting together this team. There is no manager in baseball that could win with the talent and injuries the Cubs have had.

I'm not President of the Ben Grieve fan club. I'm just saying he's a better alternative than Macias. I would like to point out that you haven't claimed that I'm wrong about that. Do you really prefer having Macias and his .260 AVG with a .280 OBP and no power? BTW - I'm not sure the fact that Beane trades a player or lets him walk suggests that the player stinks. If I recall, Beane let Tejada walk a couple years ago. And I think he traded Mulder and Hudson too. I'm not saying Grieve is as good as, or close to as good as, these guys. I'm just saying Beane "dumps" players for reasons other than ability. If Grieve could play SS, 2B, 3B, CF, LF, RF, C and 1B u would be right he maybe a better option than Macias.

I'm guessing this post is directed at me. Thanks, tbird, I went ahead and checked the stats for both Dubois and Macias as pinch hitters. Dubois-OPS in 12 AB's is .667 Macias-OPS in 30 AB's is .591 Neither of them are any good but your argument that Dusty made the right decision is completely off base. not to mention that one has power and one doesn't, or that one hits flyballs (which would score a runner) while the other is a groundball machine. Or that one stikes out 3 times as much as the other. Give it up on Dubois already. He is not a better option than Macias as a PH in that situation. The guy hits .167 as a PH and has a huge problem making contact. Power is no good if you can't hit the ball. Dubois has never proven himself as a pinch hitter because he's never been a pinch hitter before this season. Macias is a career utility player and he still can't pitch hit well. I'll take Dubois .667 OPS pinch hitting over Macias .591 anyday. And I'll take Dubois .783 season OPS over Macias .613. I'll take my chances with Dubois in that situation last night even with his high strikeout rates and lowing pinch hitting batting average. There's no excuse to use Macias as the first pinch hitter off the bench. The Cubs needed contact in that situation. So Dusty could take player D who strikes out 1 out of every 3 times AB and was hitting .220 over the last 2 months or player M who stikes out 1 out of 10 times and was hitting .270+? Most people with common sense would take player M. For some reason Macias has drawn the ire of alot of posters on this board because they expect more out of a 25th man.

Just to put a disclaimer to my earlier statement. Starting Macias and batting him second is beyond ignorant.

I'm guessing this post is directed at me. Thanks, tbird, I went ahead and checked the stats for both Dubois and Macias as pinch hitters. Dubois-OPS in 12 AB's is .667 Macias-OPS in 30 AB's is .591 Neither of them are any good but your argument that Dusty made the right decision is completely off base. not to mention that one has power and one doesn't, or that one hits flyballs (which would score a runner) while the other is a groundball machine. Or that one stikes out 3 times as much as the other. Give it up on Dubois already. He is not a better option than Macias as a PH in that situation. The guy hits .167 as a PH and has a huge problem making contact. Power is no good if you can't hit the ball.

Did he say a trade was eminant within the next 2 days? :lol:

I doubt that. Peter plays close attention to the minor leagues and knows most teams' best prospects. He wrote about Pie and Murton a few times earlier this season. And if he was a GM I think he'd be very much willing to callup top prospects to fill needs. But I don't think the Cubs would have done that. Agreed. Peter Gammons knows his prospects alright, I just question his sources on this one. I doubt the Cubs would add Felix to the 40-man and call him unless it's September. There has been enough reported "speculation" that Pie or Murton may be called up, beside Gammons, to believe that it may have been possible. It may still be possible that Murton will be called up before Sept.

Perez at leadoff is a problem. Perez batting 8th is a good idea.

Sullivan has a nice article pointing out what is obvious to everyone but Dusty. Does anyone think that Dusty will ever get it? Or is he just stubborn? Hairston sounds like he is rather frustrated and will not be coming back next year. I don't blame him. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-050705cubsbits,1,5068416.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

Why can't the Cubs have injuries to players like Patterson, Perez or Hollandsworth? :x

The Trib is spending alot of money for this crap, and I doubt they are too happy. I'll go out on a limb and say that if the Cubs win less than 2 of the remaining games before the ASB, Dusty gets the axe. Based on the teams performance & the decisions being made by Dusty, boy I hope your right! Maybe the Cubs can salvage some of this season. Is there another Jack McKeon type manager out there? I never thought I'd see you write something like this TrueBlue. You know things are going bad when even the most optimistic fans are calling for Dusty's head. He needs to go already. Early in the season, I wasn't ready to completely right Dusty off, b/c of a few questionable decisions. I was willing to give him some time & the benefit of the doubt & remain optimistic that he could get the job done. Boy have I been wrong. It bothered me that some posters were so pessimistic so early in the season towards Dusty & JH. Bashing management or other Cubs players is something I felt Trolls do. Pessimism isn't something I like to pertake in. However, now I have changed my mind & realize Dusty getting the axe sooner than leter would be beneficial to the future of this orginization. I'm an optimist @ heart like most true Cub fans, but Dusty has driven me to the brink & I have had enough! Answer me this: Wasn't the Cubs bench in 03' a little more reliable than 04' or 05'? I know the Cubs had the likes of: Goodwin,Harris,Simon,Martinez & a platoon situation of Choi & Karros. Am I missing anyone? Thoughts?? I've never seen more stupidity by one person that I see daily with Dusty Baker. And the fact that seemingly the whole world sees the stupid mistakes that Dusty makes every day, but yet he is too stubborn to change his ways is just scary. I have a feeling he's going to be on his way out in the next few weeks. Or at least I hope so. The thing about our bench this year is that it really isn't as bad as it's shown. The problem is is Dusty decides to use Macias or E. Wilson instead of Dubois or Hairston in key situations just because they are more "experienced". Wilson had no right being on this team, but Macias isn't that bad if he was used properly. The fact that Hairston and Dubois still ride the pine while Macias, Wilson, and even Neifi early on in the season were used in critical situations is just another reason why Dusty needs to go immediately. Most on this board will disagree with me, but I'm actually fine with Macias as the 25th player on this team & the last option off the bench. During ST, I would have prefered Hansen b/c I thought he was as good of a PH you could have on your bench as there was available out there. I don't think Macias is as bad as some here say he is, but I don't think he's as good as JH & Baker make him out to be, either. I agree with you. While I don't like Macias very much, I am still interested to see where he rates as far as 25th men. He only has 70 AB's this year so it is hardly like Dusty is giving him tons of playing time. Also, he is one of the few if not the only guy on the bench that rarely strikes out and his defense is better than adequate at a few positions. I think he just makes an easy target.

Remember earlier in the season when Dubois was hitting everything in sight and Macias was still getting PH opportunities ahead of him? You see, it doesn't matter what the stats are, Macias would be getting those opportunities. If Jason were hitting .400, Macias would still be hitting ahead of him because of Dusty's misguided sense of loyalty, and everyone knows it. And what aboout Cedeno and Barett, who were sitting on the bench and both better options than either Macias or Dubois? Your assertion that Macias is the best PH is total BS, Dubois or no Dubois. You can't blame Hendry for Macias batting there, I'm sorry to say. Hendry is the one who wanted Macias and had the obsession with him in the first place. If you hear Hendry talk about Macias he has nothing but glowing things to say about his versatility and ability to pinch hit. I think Dusty and Hendry are in lock step on Macias.

The Trib is spending alot of money for this crap, and I doubt they are too happy. I'll go out on a limb and say that if the Cubs win less than 2 of the remaining games before the ASB, Dusty gets the axe. You think they would eat Dusty's $4M next year that fast? For some reason I think Hendry actually agrees with Dusty's managerial moves. He is the one that supplies Dusty with the players. If Dusty goes Hendry needs to get the Axe on the same day. Do you honestly think that Dusty doesn't have a big say in personnel decisions? He has almost all of the say in who gets called up/ sent down, and all of the say in who plays. Hendry is not without blame, but Dusty deserves the lion's share of it. It wasn't Dusty's fault that Hendry failed to fill big holes over the off season and left him with a less than avg. bench. Also, not Dusty's fault that Hendry made few improvements to the bullpen. Hendry should take as much blame as Dusty. But I would like to see both of them go.

Dubois is not a better option. The guy strikes out every third time at bat and has been hitting .225 since the end of April. I know he has high expectations but the reality is that he has been pretty bad. Hendry has no excuse for leaving Dusty with a pathetic bench. BTW I think Dusty is doint a bad job too, but the bench is not his problem. Macias makes more outs than Dubois, as is incontovertibly evidenced by his higher OPB. And Dusty even batted Macias ahead of Dubois earlier when Dubois was tearing it up, so you can't really say it's because Jason has been slumping. Barrett is a better option. Cedeno is a better option. There is ZERO excuse for Macias to be batting in a bases loaded PH situation with any of those guys sitting on the bench. Zero. Your only reason that Dubois is a better option is that his OBP is .10 pts higher than Macias? Give me a break. Dubois is hitting .167 as a PH and has been absolutely horrible latetly. My guess is that Dusty batted Macias in that situation because Macias makes contact, and didn't want to watch Dubois strike out again. I can't stand Macias, but every statistic (except OBP) warrants Dusty batting him over Dubois in that situation. Just illustrates how bad Dubois has been this year.

The Trib is spending alot of money for this crap, and I doubt they are too happy. I'll go out on a limb and say that if the Cubs win less than 2 of the remaining games before the ASB, Dusty gets the axe. You think they would eat Dusty's $4M next year that fast? For some reason I think Hendry actually agrees with Dusty's managerial moves. He is the one that supplies Dusty with the players. If Dusty goes Hendry needs to get the Axe on the same day.

Dubois is not a better option. The guy strikes out every third time at bat and has been hitting .225 since the end of April. I know he has high expectations but the reality is that he has been pretty bad. Hendry has no excuse for leaving Dusty with a pathetic bench. BTW I think Dusty is doint a bad job too, but the bench is not his problem.

Have you seen Dubois bat? He would have struck out faster than Macias, generally Macias at least makes contact. Still pretty pathetic that Dusty's best option in that situtation is Macias. Macias usually strikes out, too. The difference is that with Dubois, you have a chance for a GS, or the remote chance of a walk. Macias is a poor, poor hitter. That was terrible managing. Well the stats don't back up your argument. Dubois strikes out roughly 1 out of every 3 times at bat. Macias Strikes out 1 out of every 10. Dubois is a better hitter than Macias. With Jason, there is at least the threat of damage. He is? So far Dubois has shown nothing other than the propensity to strike out and the inability to hit a breaking pitch. At least Macias generally puts the ball in play. I'm not saying Macias is a good hitter, but makes more contact that Dubios. I can't believe that Hendry left Dusty with this team. When your best pinch hitter is Macias, you can't fault Dusty for having to use him.

If Lee is out for any extended period of time, a trade probably wouldn't help.