papabear58

I don't have a problem with it. One game and you say to your team that you expect them to give it all that they have. Good for him.

So what, were just going to bash the team until they start winning? I'd like to look at more positive things I guess. YES. this is a message board, people are going to react in an extreme way. Phew, wow, I guess I'd better get used to it then. people are going to react in an extreme way, but i think concerns about the offense and roster are legit. and when the cubs lose, people are more likely to point out the flaws. I guess it's been a long time since I've see so much extremism.

So what, were just going to bash the team until they start winning? I'd like to look at more positive things I guess. YES. this is a message board, people are going to react in an extreme way. Phew, wow, I guess I'd better get used to it then.

So what, were just going to bash the team until they start winning? I'd like to look at more positive things I guess.

You don't understand why some people aren't satisfied with the makeup of the roster? First off, you know it's flawed if Jim Hendry put it together. People want the Cubs to be the best team in baseball and win the world series. Their roster as it stands probably has them no better than a little above average, if all works out. What is there to understand? Why people are freaking out. Slows starts happen in baseball. It's part of the game. If this were two or three months in then it would be time to push the panic button with this winning percentage, but we could just as easily go on a five game tear at this point with an offensive explosion and be 8-5 and then things are looking up. It's just too damn early.

Why is it that many people here seem upset at the roster? It almost seems like people here want different players and are genuinly upset about our roster. I don't understand this mentality of, "You're a ballplayer, you get paid millions of dollars to do your job, I don't give a crap about what you think, go out and hit the ball." I'm no bleeding heart, but I can't believe that this is an effective way to run a ballclub. It's not the 1930's anymore and as much as we believe that should be the way it works, I don't think it is anymore. Many players today have more excuses then anything, and many feel that they are owed something. Is it right, no, is it true, yes. We do have to play and deal with it. If there is a mental block we need to sit a player or coach him to help him get past it. The fact is that you just can't go cutting players and finding new ones throughout the season. Say what you want about who the Cubs brought in this season, we need to make the most of what we have and I don't think the roster is that bad. It just seems like people are ready to fire a number of people on this team (Jones, Miller, Marquis, ect.), or shove them out of their position to the bench/pen because of a poor start. I guess I'm just shocked to see this kind of.... almost seeming anger at a not so uncommon start to an MLB season. It's only 8 games in, that means there are 154 games left to play. We aren't going to win them all, and in fact some of them will most likely be bad games that we get blown out of. Patience and rational calmness should be the order for the time being.

Ah-ha! Mr. Optimism has arrived :D it's not about optimism or pessimism.... juggling the lineup has little effect on the offensive output. If your team isn't scoring enough you need new players, not a new lineup. Just a friendly jab, no harm meant. I'm not sure I share your opinion 100% however. If someone is struggling it might be worth sitting them for a game to let them clear their head.

Ah-ha! Mr. Optimism has arrived :D

I hope you're wrong, but we shall have to see.

Cendeno seemed to be comming arround towards the end of spring. I'd like to see him get some AB's. As far as Murton over Derosa in the 2 hole, I think right now Derosa gives us the best chance to get deeper into the counts and to get after the pitcher early. I like Murton a lot, but he is being a little jumpy to start the season.

When you look at the actual mertis of his later part it bears some semblance of reality. We do not have a small ball team. We are hitting the ball up and trying to swing for homeruns (and then getting on top of the ball and driving it into ground outs). In this kind of weather, our team seems unable to adjust to a different style of baseball that is needed. Is this an inditement on a team who won't change their swing for the fences ideals, or on a manager who isn't forcing his team to adjust to the current circumstances?

That would leave Floyd and Jones off the bench when a right handed reliever comes in. Not bad options. Doesn't Derosa have more experience in playing RF then Theriot? I wonder if he'd "Take one for the team" and play there with Theriot playing second.

Well we're facing a left handed pitcher with a career 5.54 ERA who averages only 6.07 k/9 with a 1.58 k/bb rate. Add into that that his P/Inn. is 16.4 and it's concievable that we could do well today offensivly. I think the key is to go with a good contact lineup so that we can put the ball into play and force him to throw more pitches as it could lead to some walks. We might try: Soriano Derosa Lee A-Ram Barrett Murton Jones Isturis (Maybe Cedeno for rest of Isturis) Hill Any thoughts out there?

It's pretty disingenuous to compare complaining about this game with complaining about anything shy of a perfect game (several people did this). It's pretty disingenuous to pretend those three first inning runs were related to the defense instead of Marquis's not goodness. Yes, Marquis had a bad game, no it's not the end of the world, yes the errors cost him, no it's not all on the errors, yes if the offense had done better earlier in the game it might have changed strategies and had a different result.... we could go on forever. We all would have liked a better performance from him, but it's not ALL his fault as some people seem to be atributing it to. I don't see anybody saying it was all his fault. I've been the most vocal critic of him in this thread, and I've repeatedly said it was Marquis, Izturis and the lineup collectively. Multiple people have tried to absolve Marquis of any responsibility. Funny, I don't think anyones trying to say that he has no responsability at all, I think they are just saying that there was more to it then just Marquis pitching poorly.

It's pretty disingenuous to compare complaining about this game with complaining about anything shy of a perfect game (several people did this). It's pretty disingenuous to pretend those three first inning runs were related to the defense instead of Marquis's not goodness. Yes, Marquis had a bad game, no it's not the end of the world, yes the errors cost him, no it's not all on the errors, yes if the offense had done better earlier in the game it might have changed strategies and had a different result.... we could go on forever. We all would have liked a better performance from him, but it's not ALL his fault as some people seem to be atributing it to.