CUBZ99

He only came through when it didn't matter, and the team was going to lose anyways. :lol: :^o

Gee, I wonder how that happened? Perhaps we should go check where it seemd to get derailed. I'm pretty sure it is when people like you had nothing to add but continue to drag this on. It is what it is. This thread is entitled "Geovany Soto". If you have any insight at all about Geovany Soto this would be the place to add it. My guess that beside seeing him play on TV for a short period you don't. I would have thought that by now someone would come in and say "your way off base" Soto is a terrific guy. Instead, he has a bunch of groupies that have never met the guy defending him without any clue about him. If you don't think a person's personality is important fine. I'm guessing your old enough to make up your own mind. If you want to start a thread about the lack of importance personality or "how to properly judge personalilty", maybe you should start another thread. It is funny the posters that come out to defend a guy's personality. Forbid anyone make a negative comment on a catcher that hasn't even caught a full season at the major league level.

He seems to speak decent English and this thread has gotten way out of hand.

Alot of it has to do with the talent he is given to work with. For example, no hitting coach is going to turn Soriano into a patient, top of the order type hitter. Last year alot of us thought Rothschild should be fired. He got some decent and not so decent pitchers to work with and this year he had the Cubs staff 2nd in ERA.

that's just a stupid way to judge a guy's personality. having been to several spring trainings and i-cub games, i've seen a lot of those guys ignore fans, and i've seen plenty of cubs be jerks to fans. i saw pie interact with fans all the time during ST as if he were a superstar...same with patterson. but i've also seen them both be very nice to fans. plus, kids at baseball games are flat out annoying, and i'd probably get sick of them too. Personal interaction and observation are a stupid ways to judge a guy's personality? If you read all of the posts I'm not saying that he might not be a nice guy or that I may have gotten the wrong impression. You just tend to read the stuff that you can jump on and make pronouncements and ignore the rest.

Who? Someone had posted that as they were coming back from Arizona in the airport, they had heard that Ramierez and some others had already left on Sunday morning after the game 3 loss. Pretty quick departure. I don't hold it against any of em...but that post kind of opened my eyes. Is he supposed to sit around Chicago and sulk for a couple days before going home? Baseball has a long season, and I'm sure that some of the players are anxious to get back to their families after the season is over. I'm suprised that Rozner didn't hold his Sunday flight against him, too.

I doubt it. If Soto continues to produce like he did this year, I think Keener is right and it will never become an issue.

Did I miss something? It seems the knock on Ramirez has always been his defensive skills. Hasn't he worked pretty hard since joining the Cubs to not become a defensive liability? Rozner is way off base with that comment.

What do you mean? Anywhere near as good as he thinks he is? What makes you say that? Yea that was my question as well. Ive heard nothing but great things regarding Soto. Blanco, and even Kendall have praised him for asking questions and wanting to learn. If he was some cocky rookie like Cubz99 is trying to make him out to be, I doubt hed be asking those 2 guys questions. I was kind of hoping that some one else had met him and had a different opinion of him than I do. I've seen him a few times when he was at Iowa, this year and last year. Last year he was one of the biggest jerks that I have ever met at a minor league game. By jerk I don't mean to me or anything, just had seats right next to the dugout, and he was rude to the kids at the park and the fans in general. He came off that he was very high on himself. It wasn't like he was having a terrific year or anything like that either. This year I met him with my kids and had the same impression. I may be a little old fashioned and like rooting/pulling for good guys or at least players that treat the fans right. In the past the I Cubs have had some prospects that have been terrific in that regard. Pie, Murton, Hill, Gallagher, Theriot, EPatt, Cedeno, Fontenot, all were great. It is possible that evertime I saw the I Cubs he was having a bad day. Personally I could care less if he or anybody on the team is a jerk if they are putting up great numbers and winning baseball games. The 2004 team was comprised of what alot of people said were a bunch of jerks, and that team has won more games than any Cub team in recent history. That is your prerogative. If you like rooting for people that treat kids and fans like crap, all the power to you. Some other people have a win at all cost approach, cheat, steal, be a jerk, etc. I just don't fall into that camp. I think it is a sad day, when the only concern in life is winning at all costs. One of my favorite aspects of professional baseball, is that the game is very fan friendly. Once again, I have yet to hear from anyone else that has met the guy. He may be a wonderful person, and just had several bad days. It's not life. It's baseball. The only concern of baseball players, while they are playing, should be to win. I think Keener and yourself are trying to make this something bigger than it really is. I never meant to imply that baseball is everything in "life". I had the opportunity to meet Soto several times over the last couple of years and thought he was disrespectful and rude towards fans. Its as simple as that.

At this point do you really have any hope for the guy taking a walk? It may be time to see if he can pitch.

What do you mean? Anywhere near as good as he thinks he is? What makes you say that? Yea that was my question as well. Ive heard nothing but great things regarding Soto. Blanco, and even Kendall have praised him for asking questions and wanting to learn. If he was some cocky rookie like Cubz99 is trying to make him out to be, I doubt hed be asking those 2 guys questions. I was kind of hoping that some one else had met him and had a different opinion of him than I do. I've seen him a few times when he was at Iowa, this year and last year. Last year he was one of the biggest jerks that I have ever met at a minor league game. By jerk I don't mean to me or anything, just had seats right next to the dugout, and he was rude to the kids at the park and the fans in general. He came off that he was very high on himself. It wasn't like he was having a terrific year or anything like that either. This year I met him with my kids and had the same impression. I may be a little old fashioned and like rooting/pulling for good guys or at least players that treat the fans right. In the past the I Cubs have had some prospects that have been terrific in that regard. Pie, Murton, Hill, Gallagher, Theriot, EPatt, Cedeno, Fontenot, all were great. It is possible that evertime I saw the I Cubs he was having a bad day. Personally I could care less if he or anybody on the team is a jerk if they are putting up great numbers and winning baseball games. The 2004 team was comprised of what alot of people said were a bunch of jerks, and that team has won more games than any Cub team in recent history. That is your prerogative. If you like rooting for people that treat kids and fans like crap, all the power to you. Some other people have a win at all cost approach, cheat, steal, be a jerk, etc. I just don't fall into that camp. I think it is a sad day, when the only concern in life is winning at all costs. One of my favorite aspects of professional baseball, is that the game is very fan friendly. Once again, I have yet to hear from anyone else that has met the guy. He may be a wonderful person, and just had several bad days.

I wouldn't say it's my worst nightmare, but I do fear that happening. I more than fear it...I'm resigned to the FACT it will happen. And SD seems like a likely place. I still think he will be our #5 next year, though. The Cubs will non-tender him. Bruce Miles says otherwise, so, unless you have some sort of source, it'd be nice if you stopped stating this as though it were a fact. I think it is pretty clear that this is my opinion only. Miles certainly has access. But are his statements more than his opinion based on what he knows? Based on the numbers involved, I can't the see the Cubs tendering him a contract. They might try to get him to bite on an incentive-laden two-year deal, but, in my opinion, he would never take that from the Cubs. Did Bruce comment on the board that Prior was going to be tendered? If so, that is good news.

What do you mean? Anywhere near as good as he thinks he is? What makes you say that? Yea that was my question as well. Ive heard nothing but great things regarding Soto. Blanco, and even Kendall have praised him for asking questions and wanting to learn. If he was some cocky rookie like Cubz99 is trying to make him out to be, I doubt hed be asking those 2 guys questions. I was kind of hoping that some one else had met him and had a different opinion of him than I do. I've seen him a few times when he was at Iowa, this year and last year. Last year he was one of the biggest jerks that I have ever met at a minor league game. By jerk I don't mean to me or anything, just had seats right next to the dugout, and he was rude to the kids at the park and the fans in general. He came off that he was very high on himself. It wasn't like he was having a terrific year or anything like that either. This year I met him with my kids and had the same impression. I may be a little old fashioned and like rooting/pulling for good guys or at least players that treat the fans right. In the past the I Cubs have had some prospects that have been terrific in that regard. Pie, Murton, Hill, Gallagher, Theriot, EPatt, Cedeno, Fontenot, all were great. It is possible that evertime I saw the I Cubs he was having a bad day.

I think there is a chance that Hendry gauges interest for Marquis over the winter. With the year that Marquis had, there will be some team dumb enough to look at his overall performance and think his salary is worth the gamble that he will be an innings eater. They may even be willing to trade a useful SS or RF. Other than Gallagher and Hart, the Cubs don't have much in the minors to compete for the 5th starter position. Any chance that Shark or Veal get an opportunity to battle for the spot? You hit it on the head. Theriot would be a wonderful utility guy, but he is not a starter at the big league level. The Cubs are going to have to go outside of the organization to get a SS if they want to improve. I don't have any faith in Cedeno. Sure he has proven that he can hit in spurts, but he is the same free swinging no patience hitter that the team is filled with already. Can't really see Dempster moving back to starter. He has no control over his pitches. I'm hoping Hendry will trade him over the offseason, and utilize some of the young guys or Howry. If Marmol stays in the pen, the end of the bullpen is stacked. It was tough seeing Woody throw 97-98mph consistently last night. It would be wonderful to see him make another attempt at starting. Hopefully, Hendry is around long enough to get some incentive laden deal with Wood, based upon starts/saves, etc. This question is the easiest to answer. Soto has shown enough at AAA and in his short stint with the Cubs to deserve a shot at the starting job. However, with Hendry in charge who knows what he is thinking. Sometimes he makes moves that make no sense based upon a whim. He aquired Monroe, even though he already had Murton. He acquired Kendall, even though he already had Soto. He acquired Trachsel even though he already had Marshall. Lets hope that there are no gritty veteran Catchers available that Hendry can't keep his hands off. Pie has to get the opportunity to play next year. He will be an improvement on defense, and he is never going to adjust to big league pitching sitting on the bench all game. I hope your wrong. I don't want to see Floyd out in RF anymore. I'm not sure that Murton is the right guy, but I would rather give him an opportunity and see what he's got.

I agree with the tone of the post. There are winners and losers, and after all is said and done this year, the 2007 Cubs were losers. They looked terrible at the time of year when it mattered most.

Lou is just one of the many reasons that the Cubs one, you just choose to keep focusing on him. Your right the team sucked too. It was an overall organizational effort.

I have a strong feeling that Hendry will do his best this off-season to sign either T. Hunter or A. Jones to a 15 year/$1 billion contract. Wouldn't put it past him. The sooner he is gone the better.

Hahahaha, yeah. "Cursed." Cursed of bad players and bad ownership, maybe. And a manager that choked during the most important games of the season. How did he choke? He may have made some bad moves but does he pick up a bat or throw a ball? Lou got out managed by Bob "soap dropping" Melvin. Enough said.

Hahahaha, yeah. "Cursed." Cursed of bad players and bad ownership, maybe. And a manager that choked during the most important games of the season.

That was pitiful. The worse thing about this post season is that we are stuck watching this same pathetic team for the next 3-4 years at a minimum. Hendry spent a bundle of money on a mediocre team. We better hope that some of the minor leaguers really start to produce.

The Cubs are getting dominated. They haven't even made it interesting all series.

Yuck is that just a general comment on the entire cubs roster? if not ... what lineup would you suggest? Soto over Kendall? I think it's about the best we can throw out there, with not much of a difference between that and the ideal (soto in, jk out)... Id put Soto, Murton, and Cedeno in. Then we could have Quade manage and have a swell AAA team.

Has anyone on the board met Soto? If he is anywhere near as good as he thinks he is, he will be an all star.

Good point. I think that Hill is a little lacking in the mental department. I'm not saying he's an idiot or anything, but he just comes off as being a little... shaky. I would much rather have Soto starting, but hopefully Kendall's presence helps keep Rich calm and collected. soto was catching in hill's last start (the one-hitter) and he caught hill's first big league shutout. plus, i'm guessing he caught him a lot in iowa. if anything, hill would probably feel more comfortable with soto. Dude, Kendall is a veteran. Haven't you been watching how well all of the grizzled veteran's have been handling the pressure? I wonder how much blame went on Soto for calling last night's game? Lou is known to be real tough on his catchers, and he may have been upset with Soto's pitch selection.

Have there been any complaints regarding Soto's game calling abilities? Maybe some of the pitchers don't like throwing to him behind the plate. At least we will know that if the Cubs win Saturday's game that Soto was the problem all along. :lol: