vance_the_cubs_fan

That's an interesting choice. Personally I don't care if the new manager is an ex-Cub or not....I just want a good manager. Agreed. I'd also look at managers who have been part of a winning tradition. That's why I've very high on Fredi Gonzalez. I hope the Braves way of doing things has rubbed off on him.

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff. Just curious. Why Spier? I just don't see that as productive at all. Spier is the only one that wasn't a "Baker Boy." I don't think he's all that loyal to Baker so he likely would accept the postion. Secondly, he makes an easy person to promote. I'm not advocating giving him the job. On ther other hand, I don't think he'll do a horrible job and in reality, we're just letting him have the helm until the end of the season. I think he'd be easier to replace in the offseason than other people who you might have to promise a longer tenure to. Many candidates may not be available mid-season. By promoting Spier as interim, the Cubs give themselves the time to plan rather than reacting impulsively. Sure Brenly would take the job, but my guess is he'd want more than an interim title to step down from the booth into the dugout. Since I think we can do better than Brenly, I'd rather not hitch our wagon to that horse in such a situation.

He's worked with USA baseball. He's currently employed by the Nationals. I don't know if his arrangement with them allows him to interview for a managerial position. I have no idea if he wants to manage, but I'd sure ask him. For the right price, I'm sure he could be persuaded.

I hear the n word used far more frequently than the f word. not me. me either, but that's because I'm a frequent user of the f-word. I never use the n-word. (And if I did, it would cost me my job.)

Ramirez and Jones for Jared Weaver and Dallas McPherson.

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff. That plan works for me - I like it. Both Bruce Miles and Kiley are absolutely spot on with their respective articles today. The safe bet is Bob Brenly. Why go for the safe bet?

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff. What about the Cubs buying out Giardi's contract? What about Joey Cora who seems to be ready to manage a club. Davey Johnson? No thanks! Once again, I have to defend the choice of Johnson. . Johnson has a 564 career winning percentage. Seasons over .500: Johnson 12 (86%) Seasons over .600 Johnson 3 (21%) - very impressive. Seasons with 100+ win teams Johnson 2 (14%) World Series wins Johnson 1 First Place Finishes Johnson 4 (29%) Johnson also finished under 3rd or lower twice (14%). Those are also the only seasons he managed an under 500 team. Johnson wins. He has the ability to relate to players and talk the game in a language they understand, but he isn't opposed to using stats and computer print-outs, yet he isn't quite viewed as a "sabermetric" guy. Johnson would be an excellent choice as manager and probably better than most choices out there. It's a shame he's no longer available. Somehow, I have to wonder if people dislike the choice of Johnson because he managed the Mets. I really can't find any other reason not to like him as a choice of manager.

Doubtful. Here's my scenario. Fire Baker, Rothschild, Clines, Pole and Matthews. Promote Spier to interim manager. Promote Von Joshua as interim hitting coach. See if Billy Williams will serve as third base or bench coach for the interim. Promote other guys within the organization to serve in the other capaities. At the end of the season, interview Gonzalez, Dierker, and even Spier. Hopefully, Davey Johnson will be available for an interview as well. The new manager can select his own staff.

Once again, kudos to Bruce. He hit the nail on the head. The biggest problem this team has is its organizational philosophy.

Because I already have.

All of the above.

Any chance we can get three promising young arms for him?

I voted for Pierre. I don't want to trade Neifi or Bynum. Just DFA them and speed up the process.

:lol:

I've heard MacPhail would be in the running for commish, but I haven't heard Hendry being mentioned.

Clemens line- 5 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 100 pitches, 59 strikes. Not bad, but not overpowering. He's in line for the loss right now. I have no idea what the rest of the NL is going to do.

Ok...while it was nice to see the Thome homer, Hawk and DJ suddenly got very annoying afterwards.

WordupThome!

I say we all call everyone we know and tell them about it. We must put the jinx on! LOL

Mauer will get 12,546 hits this series. Santana is going to strike-out 25. The other two will be retired when Pierre goes 4-3.

How does anyone dare besmirch the namjavascript:emoticon(':club:') clube of Bea Arthur! :club:

But what would be left to upgrade the offense. We need offense upgrades more than anything. I'd like to use half that money on pitching, half on the offense.

Actually, Marmol's future might be as a closer. Marmol also could use some more development time in the minor leagues. I'd send Marmol to AAA and let Hill come up and start for a series of 5 or 6 starts and see what happens.

Grown Men Feuding Angrily About Sports

I concur. I wouldn't mind some spending on a FA pitcher if the plan is to trade surplus arms for the bat this team lacks. But if we're not trading for that bat, I too would prefer to try to find a rotation out of what we already have. On the other hand, assume we sign Schmidt or Zito, we could then package Prior (if he proves healthy...or maybe Marshall or Marmol) to the Phillies for Abreu or the Orioles for Tejada or some other possibly trade for a bat. I wouldn't include Miller on that list. He'll be a FA and unless he shows something the second half, there's no way we should be bidding to bring him back.