Bull

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.

clearly. Holy Crap. I guy tries to crack a joke, throw Perry a bone, and remind folks what he meant to this team, and ends up at the wrong end of a noose with a growing mob around him. Perry meant a change of philosophy in this organization. REVOLUTIONARY. That's the only thing I'm very serious about here. He rescued us from the evils of free-swinging, and to me will forever be a huge part of the championship teams of the last two years.

clearly. Holy Crap. I guy tries to crack a joke, throw Perry a bone, and remind folks what he meant to this team, and ends up at the wrong end of a noose with a growing mob around him. Perry meant a change of philosophy in this organization. REVOLUTIONARY. That's the only thing I'm very serious about here. He rescued us from the evils of free-swinging, and to me will forever be a huge part of the championship teams of the last two years.

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

Thus ended the "Patient Cubbies Era". Signal the birth of "Neo-Dustianism" aka "being aggressive" do you know what you are talking about? Von Joshua is very much about patience at the plate. so you're saying nothing changes? .......great I hold my original assessment. I don't care what Joshua teaches, he can't be nearly as effective at promoting patience as Perry has been his whole career. I'm not buying what your selling, and even if you're right, there's no improvement. lol you're saying things just to say things. just admit you shouldn't have talked about something you know nothing about Read a few of my posts and you'll see that most of what I say is for humor value. Where do you get off slamming me like that. Clearly I know the value of Gerald Perry and his track record. What's wrong with me questioning the move? I'll hold onto the fact that Perry represents a shift in emphasis to OBP. the best Joshua can do is more of the same. The worst is to move away from that. And I know what I'm talking about. Everywhere Perry has gone he has taught patience and increased OBP. With Seattle, with Oakland, and with the Cubs. took them from very impatient teams to very patient teams. the original statement was mostly humor, but the point behind it stands. Hopefully Joshua continues to emphasize patience. Clearly Perry did.

Thus ended the "Patient Cubbies Era". Signal the birth of "Neo-Dustianism" aka "being aggressive" do you know what you are talking about? Von Joshua is very much about patience at the plate. so you're saying nothing changes? .......great I hold my original assessment. I don't care what Joshua teaches, he can't be nearly as effective at promoting patience as Perry has been his whole career. I'm not buying what your selling, and even if you're right, there's no improvement. So you know absolutely nothing about Von Joshua, but just assume that he's going to come in and do a worse job? That's solid thinking. Von Joshua is a highly regarded hitting coach who has done wonderful things for some of our minor and major league hitters. I'm not saying I like the move, but you can't be so closed minded to think that a guy you know nothing about is automatically going to come in and do a worse job. Perhaps I'm not articulating my point well. I'm not talking about Joshua. I'm talking about Perry. Through his days with Oakland Perry has been Mr OBP, a veritable savior to many here. Now he's cast away as garbage thanks to an offensive offense. But the futility is over a relatively short period of time compared to the 2 years of miracles performed. He transformed a free swinging bunch of hackers into a premier offense over the last two years. Have you forgotten this?? Von Joshua will do fine. Especially with guys like Theriot, convincing them to go the other way, use the whole field, and be aggressive in the zone. Much of what Perry was already doing. Great. change for the sake of change. that always works out well. This symbolizes the end of the era of miracles.

everyone keeps talking about how bad the division is. There's no one outstanding team, but there's no terrible one either. The division is 6 games over .500. Nothing to write home about, but solid competition all around.

Thus ended the "Patient Cubbies Era". Signal the birth of "Neo-Dustianism" aka "being aggressive" do you know what you are talking about? Von Joshua is very much about patience at the plate. so you're saying nothing changes? .......great I hold my original assessment. I don't care what Joshua teaches, he can't be nearly as effective at promoting patience as Perry has been his whole career. I'm not buying what your selling, and even if you're right, there's no improvement.

Thus ended the "Patient Cubbies Era". Signal the birth of "Neo-Dustianism" aka "being aggressive"

Somehow I don't think firing the man who taught the Cubs to be a patient team (and has taught patience everywhere he went) is anything resembling a solution. Hopefully Joshua doesn't bring a return of Dusty's aggressiveness.

last night. 22.1 inning 7 runs in June. and the starters have been even better.

maybe the coaches were wrong.

So does the game of baseball in general. I really don't see the point in flipping out over someone using a corked bat when most players are doing every little thing they can to gain an advantage. It's part of baseball. Keeping someone out of the hall for that would be like keeping out one of the best pitchers of an era because he got caught once with sandpaper. Like I said, he got caught for the bat and was suspended. That shouldn't keep him out. Like it or not, nothing and nobody has come even remotely close to busting him when it comes to steroids. That doesn't mean he didn't use them, but for now he should be judged based on his performance. The corked bat should have negligable impact in that regard since use of them over his career would have been detrimental to his numbers. I just meant that the cork incident is relevant in the speculation of him using drugs because it shows that he has cheated before I don't think I'd feel comfortable indicting him for PED use based on corking... They don't seem to be of the same severity. Corking/spit-balling, just don't "feel" like they rise to the level of willful misconduct that PED use does. I know, it's inexact at best, but that's how I feel about it. You guys are going to think I'm nuts, but I still believe cork-gate was an accident. When they x-rayed all his bats (some in his possesion, some in the hall of fame) none were found to have cork except the "batting practice" bat. So either - he chose that one bat that one day to cheat (it was a black bat as opposed to the wood colored bats he usually used) or someone handed him the wrong bat and he didn't take the time to say "no not this one, its loaded" which would have brought speculation. someone with some video of how many times he used the bat would answer this question for us.

The maddening part is that everyone saw it coming months ago. But he needed to prove his genius. Season isn't over yet. 4 games out and at .500. *roll*

Actually I think the "spin-o-rama", as you put it, is part of the plan. The Japanese coach talked about him using his momentum. The same momentum that results in power when there's contact, results in spinning when there isn't.

The fairly strong possibility that Aramis's career is threatened by this injury (at least, his career as a very good everyday player, one of the top 3 or 4 at his position) wouldn't make you hesitant to let go your top prospect, who happens to be damn good and a 3B, in order to pick up a SP (or whatever other piece you'd theoretically and realistically be adding) who you probably don't even need to get into the playoffs? tough call. I'm leaning towards keeping Vitters. same here. If carroll is right about this possibly recurring and/or if it effects him the way Lee's wrist injury may/may not be effecting him...I'm hesitant.

Latest from cubs.com says fukudome's former coach (from Japan) is helping with his swing. I guess I don't care why he's hitting, but is there any way for this guy to be hired as Fuk's assistant or in some unofficial capacity to keep him around. If he's helping him, I want him helping as much as possible.

I'm Scottish. Is that like robotish?

yes, I know. ;) For what it's worth, he has a .265 BABIP. I know you put a disclaimer on it, but I'm not a big fan of BABIP as an excuse. He could deserve that BABIP for rolling over easy grounders. I guess a low BABIP with a high LD% might catch my attention.

yes, I know. ;)

what is DeRosa hitting these days?

I'm all for giving Guzman the start. I think they should have stretched him out in relief of Zambrano instead of using Marmol. I know he's brittle, but its not like they'd be asking him to throw 200 innings. Just a couple starts.