Bull

the opposite was true of derosa. coming off a career year, which he basically duplicated

where's the source of that quote? Bruce Levine wrote the article: http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7294530/chicago-cubs-sign-david-dejesus Considering the way many in the media butchered quotes we all heard in the press conferences I'm going to hope this is Levine, athough maybe it's just a stumble by Hoyer. nope. earlier in the article Levine notes that DeJesus hits left-handed.

if you can trade Soriano and clear $1 more than DeJesus' contract, you come out ahead IMO.

There are lot of media guys who seem to think that we're a lot more cash strapped than we are. We really only have 2 big contracts going right now, 1 of which will be up after this year. Ricketts even said that they have the money to spend on the right guy. Even if they were short on money, which they arent they could do some mild backloading. nothing wrong with appearing cash strapped so Boras can't use you to raise the price tag on every free agent.

people felt free to laugh at and dismiss me, but no one paid any attention to that I was talking about working hard at the right things. Like watching tape. Like learning how to improve your approach. I think this is the point. Its less laziness and more machismo and hubris. And yes, ridiculously talented people can have a level of success with less that flu effort. Andruw Jones. But again, that's not even the point. realizing you have something to learn and working hard to learn it. Remember, we're talking about an organization that placed so little emphasis on working (smart) on your approach that (industrious?) minor leaguers took matters into their own hands with cellphone videos. and to wrap it up, I'm not saying hard work is >>>> than stats/performance, I'm saying hard (smart) work leads to stats/performance/realizing your ceiling. This is why I think SO MANY of our prospects fizzled.

Is it possible that effort does matter and that it not only shows up in the statistics but also helps in development? The same guy that is lazy running out pop-ups, might be lazy in conditioning, and might be mentally lazy and lacking focus when trying to command the strike zone, or working a strategy in an at-bat. all this translates into stats, which tell us that Ramirez does work counts, but that Soriano flails at pitches two feet out of the zone. I think it particularly matters in development. Players need to work at these skills, and a lack of work ethic could keep a player from reaching their ceiling. That is, if their team had cameras so they could work at reviewing their performances.

Haha I had forgotten all about that ??

why should we sign this guy when we can just platoon six guys in cf who all put up wars up 0.5 last year and get a 3 win player? Ahhh, the Bobby Howry plan. I can't tell if that is supposed to say "Bobby Howry" or if that is still a word replacement. awesome. the revival of NSBB memes has me on this site three times a day these days. Or is it that the Cubs are finally worth following again?

either lock it or we'll start talking about Ryno!

I think Theo has decided to communicate with the Chicago sports media strictly in the language of baseball analogies. This is all but proof that they are talking down to the media and laughing about it later. I couldn't be happier about that. As long as its not fishing analogies, I am ok.

It's becoming an NSBB meme. I don't love it, but its better than other recent memes I find it to be pretty hot. I guess i asked for that.

It's becoming an NSBB meme. I don't love it, but its better than other recent memes

Now Wood's the Cubs historian? Theo may want to hear an accurate account of how Hendry had his little pets of non-performers. I'm starting to combine a st louis IP history with the tone of most all of these posts and connecting dots... please don't judge us by our geographical location, O Tim.

there's a post on another board...*ahem*... where Theo is quoted commenting about compensation. not that this is news, but its nice to hear Theo say it. ish

they did, however, win the world series. honestly, I don't see this all eggs in one year's basket as a bad thing for a team like the Marlins. Then you have a fire sale and stock the farm.

I'll add, "Will he use role players properly," between 2 and 3, and submit that I think the order of these is important.

why give up Cashner for Liriano when Cashner will probably have the better career moving forward? Liriano is just as likely to get hurt and Cashner will be cheap for a while. I don't know that I do this straight up let alone including Ha and Rusin. Cashner isn't going to net you anything near his real value this offseason.

This is all I got http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CD8QtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DICXbLipxFg4&ei=Uky7TsXZK6SpsAKY6t2hCA&usg=AFQjCNFSuQeOPTajgz3Z2PapD1G-Uv82Ng&sig2=1RImZ7RwIXKeswsXYmKQYQ

not to defend Kaplan, but just to be clear...you don't think Z is hot tempered and you don't think he reported out of shape? I think both of those are true. I think those are true of a lot of players, but the ones being pointed out share one characteristic. Then he is a bad example in the argument. Z is one of my favorite Cubs. I was at the game in Atlanta, and argued with the Braves fans around me that there's no way Z was throwing at Chipper based on the situation. Unfortunately sportscenter the next morning showed replays which made me a liar. I still think Z is awesome and should be brought back. But I also think he's at Andruw Jones level of, "man this guy could be so much more". We're establishing a pattern here. I do not, however, think there's any reason to believe that Zambrano is lazy. And more to the point, I believe that if Zambrano were white, then those same attributes would either be given a pass or lauded. I could make a list of Santo incidents and Zambrano incidents, scramble them up, and I bet the average non-Cubs baseball fan couldn't tell which ones belonged with which player. Yet Zambrano's incidents prove that he's an unacceptable, lazy clubhouse cancer, while Santo was a fiery competitor and beloved hero. Soriano gets ripped for taking Felix Pie clubbing. When Mark Grace led numerous young players into drunkenness, it's just part of his charm. I don't know where to start. I don't find Grace charming. His slumpbusting ways are disgusting. Santo was a great ballplayer, belongs in the Hall, but was never confused with a member of mensa, and was clearly not loved by the sportswriters or many of his peers (apparently because they hate white guys). He was what he was. Zambrano is an elite talent, and while I love his competitive nature on the mound, he makes Joaquin Andujar (sp?) look like Mohatma Gandhi.

not to defend Kaplan, but just to be clear...you don't think Z is hot tempered and you don't think he reported out of shape? I think both of those are true. I think those are true of a lot of players, but the ones being pointed out share one characteristic. Then he is a bad example in the argument. Z is one of my favorite Cubs. I was at the game in Atlanta, and argued with the Braves fans around me that there's no way Z was throwing at Chipper based on the situation. Unfortunately sportscenter the next morning showed replays which made me a liar. I still think Z is awesome and should be brought back. But I also think he's at Andruw Jones level of, "man this guy could be so much more".

not to defend Kaplan, but just to be clear...you don't think Z is hot tempered and you don't think he reported out of shape?

Completely fair. The primary use of WAR is to be able to compare the general value of players across different roles and positions. Regarding WAR with a pitcher, you have to wonder how useful offensive WAR is. Last year Dontrelle Willis had a combined WAR that was equivalent of Zambrano, and I sure the hell wouldn't want him in the rotation. Personally I would much rather prefer a pitcher that was good at pitching. Why is that your question about WAR with a pitcher? Offensive stats are almost certainly more trustworthy than pitching stats. please explain this. this reeks of "walks matter for pitchers but not for hitters". the total stats for all pitchers in a year match exactly the total stats for all hitters in a year. How is one more trustworthy or valuable than the other?

in general, I prefer catchers as field managers, but I think maddux would be SO good with the pitchers, and that the Cubs have a hitting coach who has enough respect with the hitters, that it could definitely work out.

His redeeming grace was the fact that he is unteachable!

video removed. sad. I missed it.