Bull

I did almost as bad. I forgot the legendary Todd Walker. I guess I had him and Derosa crossed. They're basically the same guy, right?

How would strikeouts affect UZR? More strikeouts = less opportunity to make outs in the field. Outs/9 innings is the basis of UZR. Maybe? I'm not pretending to be an expert, just throwing it out there.

And 25th in UZR. No kidding? Ouch. I wonder what on earth could cause that large of a disconnect. That defensive metrics are for [expletive] might have something to do with it. wouldn't the high number strikeouts by Cubs pitchers account for much of that discrepancy? ie fewer balls in play doesn't affect efficiency, but does affect UZR.

We've made the playoffs 3 times, with 2 near misses. They have the best player on the planet, a better coaching staff, and a better front office. Pretty easy to see why they have had more success. That's what I mean. We've seen all this FO has to show us. Unless Ricketts turns out to be another Wilpon, it's imperative he gets better baseball people. I didn't say I was ecstatic, I said "remember when we were?" This team doesn't suck as bad as many suggest. No, but it's not as good as others suggest, either. The next 2-3 years are critical with most of our key players in their primes right now. You gotta do something with Lee, Ramirez, Z, etc now or you never will. true. This was an off year. I believe the Cubs have positioned themselves to, with an average offseason, be favorites to win the division next year and several years into the future. I think the window was widest this year, with everyone favoring the Cubs entering the year. With the foundation you mention and inevitable rebound of Soriano and Soto (can they get worse?) in addition to the good core of young pitchers, there's no reason they won't contend for the next few years. As I said before, the window was the widest entering this year. Unfortunately the list is long of things that went wrong. the problem with the window being widest is that it can only get smaller from here. Time to reinvent. I stand by my original statement that this was a good team and that 2009 will be remembered as another year that could have been in a string of quality teams.

We've made the playoffs 3 times, with 2 near misses. They have the best player on the planet, a better coaching staff, and a better front office. Pretty easy to see why they have had more success. That's what I mean. We've seen all this FO has to show us. Unless Ricketts turns out to be another Wilpon, it's imperative he gets better baseball people. I didn't say I was ecstatic, I said "remember when we were?" This team doesn't suck as bad as many suggest.

For all the griping and complaining, this was very nearly a playoff team. In spite of the injuries, the drama, the disappointments, this will go down as a very decent, above .500, 2nd place team. The standard has been raised, and I'm genuinely disappointed with this team, but does anyone remember when we would have been ecstatic about three straight winning seasons?

they asked for it.....

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php

I kind of feel compelled to chime in on this thread (if you don't know why, don't worry about it), though I have nothing particularly compelling to add. I see this year as a necessary phase in the development of Soto. He rose so suddenly out of non-prospect status, that there was bound to be some recoil as the league figured him out. I really believe he'll rebound next year to be an above average (but not elite) offensive catcher. It is still possible that he is Jerome Williams, Rick Wilkins (whose career OPS+ was 100 BTW). I just don't believe this is all about conditioning. also: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/sotos/sotos.htm

Because he's a poor manager? "What are you talking about?!? He won us back to back division titles and won 97 games last season!" Seriously, Lou has gotten progressively worse since he's gotten here, and has been flat out BRUTAL this season. I'm not even saying he should or will be fired, but come on. There's a very good reason a lot of people want him gone. Stop looking at win/loss records to determine how good a manager is. Look at the moves he makes and what he does. If you do that, it's easy to see that he's been pretty awful. If Lou is terrible and should have won more games with the team he has, then Hendry must have put together a 100 win team. You can't hate Hendry AND Lou AND acknowledge that there have been a ridiculous number of injuries/under-performances. Lou is a great manager despite his flaws.

Just checking in. 23 LOB? Really!?!

Clearly Lou is just pissed that Zambrano hung them out to dry after refusing treatment before his last start. This is a "you won't do me like that again" DLing.

I hate to admit it, but there's a reason teams pay so much for closers -- consistency. While I think the save is an overrated stat and I think you should use your best reliever in the toughest situation, a shut-the-door closer is worth the paycheck.

this isnt a serious question is it? not really, i mean i know he's not owed anything. but he's only making the minimum, so you think one of the 8 figure guys or the organization could throw him a little extra. I give Hill credit and respect him for being out there every single day, but his production is barely worthy of the league minimum salary and I'm sure he is happy to be making that. so your saying that a player making league minimum should be given compensation for getting playing time? Ryan Theriots making near minumum. Randy Wells too. Not that I agree, but catching everyday is a different animal. That said, Hill is fortunate he's playing.

We'll go no worse than 17-9. I would consider 16-10 a success. A split with Houston and LA and 2-out-of-3 in 4 of the other 6 series puts them at 14-12. I think you have to consider anything better than that a success. Above .500 against a cumulative .500 opponent is above average. 16-10 is better than .600. That's darn good.

I don't think Baker is the second coming of Sandberg, but Baker has been injured most of the season and is just coming back. Let's give him a few more ABs before saying he's worthless. he didn't. He said he was better than freel.

he throws like a girl well there's two reasons for impeachment. Add in the fact that he's a Sox fan and we've got a legit case. And that's without mentioning the whole communism thing.

I just saw Eric Patterson go 1 for 4 with a double against the Fresno Grizzlies this weekend, so I doubt he'll get the chance to take Vazquez yard again. Hendry could always pull off a last second Miles for EPatt trade and get EPatt to Chicago on the first flight. But then who do you send down??...oops sorry, wrong thread.

The point is that every team would have the opportunity to keep him in the majors before he could be traded and sent to the minors. The whole point of the Rule 5 draft.

I post this in just about every cpat thread, but he WAS GOOD. Before his knee blew up he was good. I don't see him as a failed "five tool" prospect as much as the victim of a career ending (altering?) injury.

again?

I'd definitely do it. But would Cleveland? Also, money would likely be a hang up. Martinez is making $5.7 million this year with a club option for $7 million next year. Could we afford him? I don't trade Soto now. His value is at its lowest. the league has adjusted to him. He's actually doing better right now than I expected. I think over the rest of the year he makes adjustments of his own, and carries his significant weight. Now is not the time to trade him.

When's the last time ANYONE had three straight walkoffs?

The biggest change this team needs is Aramis Ramirez starting everyday. I think we'll be surprised how quickly an impotent offense overcomes its ED with Aramis back.

No you don't, b/c while you may know something about Perry, you appear to know nothing about Joshua. again the whole neo-dustianism was not a jab at Joshua, mostly an attempt at humor which was clearly lost on you. Perry did symbolize a shift in organizational philosophy. I said: The best he (Joshua) can do is more of the same (emphasizing patience and OBP) lighten up I'll grant you the benefit of the doubt here.... Wait, no I won't. Go look up the Sox teams that he coached in the late 90's and early 00's. He taught guys like Mags Ordonez, Carlos Lee and Paul Korneko how to hit and how to take a walk. Your argument that Joshua can do no better than Perry doesn't hold water. I've done my reading, thank you. Ordonez credits Joshua with helping him learn to go the other way. That's why I earlier mentioned He probably had a good effect on Theriot. FWIW in Joshua's first two years on the south side OBP went DOWN (only very slightly) and took a significant jump in the third year if I remember correctly. I don't know why I'm still here, and still awake. I've already made it clear that I'm not serious about this. You're trying to back me in a corner. I'll make my stand at this: Perry was the catalyst of a revolutionary change in hitting philosophy that made this team the offensive juggernaut it was last year and I think we should all recognize that before we throw him under the bus on this year. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't at all serious about this until you challenged me on it. I didn't have time for this argument tonight. Also, also, I'm not nearly as funny on message boards/to this crowd as I am in real life. Either that or my mother was just being nice laughing at m banter all these years. Curse you, mother. Or maybe you and a couple others here don't have a sense of humor. You choose, I'll go with whatever you say, in light of the fact that if I don't you'll keep me up the rest of the night arguing the point. Goodnight. This is probably my highest posts per day in the six years I've been posting here. I have a mysterious and ancient reputation to uphold and you're not helping. Goodnight all.