RyCubsFan

This off season, Hendry is going to be faced with a decision about what to do for Center Field next year. He could (1.) Re-sign Juan Pierre for a multi-year deal. (2.) Call up Felix Pie from AAA to play CF. Or, (3.) Give a third player a one year deal as a stopgap for Pie. Let's ignore the third option for now, and focus on the first two. 2006 Pierre .285 BA, .329 OBP, .385 SLG, .714 OPS Pie .282 BA, .340 OBP, .445 SLG, .785 OPS Pierre 537 AB, 153 Hits, 28 BB, 27 Dbls, 12 Triples, 1 HR, 28 RBI, 44 SB Pie 515 AB, 145 Hits, 45 BB, 31 Dbls, 7 Triples, 13 HR, 55 RBI, 15 SB POWER Pie has a lot more power than Juan Pierre. In less at bats, Pie has the same amount of doubles and triples as Pierre, but be has 12 more home runs. This reflects in their RBI totals. Though both have primarily hit leadoff, Pie has nearly doubled Pierre's RBI total. Advantage: PIE ABILITY TO GET ON BASE Pie and Pierre have nearly identical batting averages this year. Pie strikes out much more frequently than Pierre. Pie has 119k's to Pierre's 33k's this year. If Pie would make more contact, he might be able to beat out a few more ground balls, boosting his batting average. So, on batting average alone, I'd give the edge in 2007 to Pierre. However, Pie draws more walks than Pierre. This year, Pie has drawn 62% more walks than Pierre, not an insignificant amount. This has boosted Pie's OBP above Pierre's this year. For 2007, though...Advantage: LEAN'S PIERRE BASERUNNING: Both are very fast. Both have the ability to steal a lot of bases, and do so successfully. Pierre, however, has a lot more experience in baserunning than Pie does. Pie is making improvements in this area recently, and Pierre still gets caught stealing too frequently, but Pierre clearly has the advantage here. ADVANTAGE: PIERRE DEFENSE: Both are fast. Both cover a lot of ground. Pierre has more experience than Pie and probably get a little better jumps on the ball at this point. Pierre also probably takes better routes more frequently. However, Pie's throwing arm is vastly superior to Pierre's. Pie has numerous outfield assists at Iowa this year. His arm is strong and accurate. Pie has little or no arm strength. ADVANTAGE: PIE COST TO CUBS: Pierre will command a hefty salary. It's uncertain exactly how much though. Estimates widely vary from 5-6 million a year all the way to Furcal-esque figures of around 13 million a year. Pie would make league minimum (roughly around 300k). ADVANTAGE: PIE Conclusion: Felix and Juan have had strikingly similar years. In 2007, Pie would provide a lot more pop in the lineup than Pierre would; Pierre would steal more bases. They'd get on base at a similar rate, though I'd expect Pierre to have a slightly higher OBP. Pie would greatly improve the Cubs arms in the outfield. The tipping point when deciding between them is cost. Pierre does not simply bring enough of an advantage over Pie to justify spending 7-8 million more in salary. That salary would be better served being used to sign an impact bat like Soriano, Sheffield, or Lee, or a starting pitcher like Schmidt or Zito. The Cubs would be a better team in 2007 with Pie starting in CF, rather than Juan Pierre.

Such a close election! Fox and Pie play roles of spoilers.

Gallagher and Veal have really had EQUAL years. It really is a tie between them. I think Gallagher deserves the award then for two reasons: (1.) Younger at a higher level (2.) He arguably deserved the award last year too (Ya know how the Oscars often give the award to someone who deserved the year before?)

1. Gallagher 2. Veal GAP 3. Fox 4. Atkins 5. Pie What's not to love about Gallagher and Veal? Both have had simply tremendous years. In fact, their numbers show nearly a complete TIE. I'd argue for co-minor league players this year between them. ...but ifyou have to pick one, tie goes to the younger player at the higher level.... Gallahger!

Man oh man, is that ever a depressing list. Young, Weeks, Markakis, Quentin, Jackson, Billingsley, Milledge, Cordero and Wood just for starters. But hey, we have both Harvey and Aardsma! (puke) Hey, at least we have Murton! He was the 32nd pick in the first round (a supplemental).

No O'Malley?! :wink: I wonder if Marshall or Hill would have made any part of the list, had they less service time. I agree that Veal is ahead of Pawelek at this point. He's just more polished at the moment.

Now let's sweep the Cards again!

Last two days: Mateo > Clemens O'Malley > Pettite :shock: :shock: :shock:

That a boy Ryan!!

hehe me too! weeeeeeeeeeeeeee who the heck is starting tomorrow? Miller? Actually, I guess he could. He last started on Friday, right? He was due for a AAA start. At least his velocity hit 90 last time out...

hehe me too! weeeeeeeeeeeeeee who the heck is starting tomorrow? Miller?

MURTON is my fav player too. OK, maybe after big Z. Murton is my fav position player.

I'll have Pie near the top and possibly Patterson towards the bottom. Colvin might make it depending on the next month. Other than that...nobody is leaping to mind. Fox?

Boy, Ryan Zimmerman has really had a good year.

We're 10 games out dude. Gotta keep pushing for that Wild Card. I don't see those mathematics kicking in yet. We're only 10 games out?! Actually, 9.5 games now.

For once I'm not so sure Dusty is wrong. In an ideal universe Murton and Pagan would play as much as possible but Jones is the rightfielder and you can't just tell him to sit on the bench for long periods of time to give the kids more PT. Maybe you can sit him more in September, but I don't think there's any more Dusty can do. Couldn't Pagan be tried in Center Field? After all, he's really fast. I like his bat better than Pierre's at this point.

I hope he keeps it up. Having him with Howry and Eyre and the bullpen will be even better next year. He was lights out all year at Iowa as well. It was quite ridiculous that Wuertz was in the minors, while Novoa and Aardsma were getting spots in Chicago, not to mention Rusch.

My undoubtedly swayed BA voters. 8-) haha. tell the woman in plaid to get outta the way though!

Wuertz is pitching very well lately!

How hard does Mateo throw? As hard as Marmol? I'm impressed by Walker this year. He's been a very steady performer. I didn't know that his defense was rated so highly though. Does he have a strong arm?

It's time to really watch Pie. It seems he's heating up a bit lately. I think its very important for him to be strong until the rest of the year. The stronger he is, the less likely it is that Hendry resigns Pierre.

That will never beat my favorite pitching line, a combination of last year and this year, from former #10 pick overall Joe Torres: 3-14, 91.1 IP, 101 H, 102 ER, 6 HR, 150 BB, 77 K, 18 WP 10.05 ERA 2.75 WHIP 14.78 BB per 9 IP Truly spectacular Reminds me of Rich Hill a few years ago....though Rich always had more Ks.

Baker needs to write on a blackboard 1,000 times: "I will not bat people with low OBPs at or near the top of the lineup." Hendry needs to writ eon a blackboard 1,000 times: "I will try to acquire players with OBPs above .350."

So who's starting on Thursday? Mateo? I didn't know that a 3 or 4 hour plane ride is such a strain on an elite athlete. But what do I know...

A lot to be pleased about this evening. 1. 4 more Harvey hits... 2. A Pie bomb... 3. A Patterson bomb... 4. Colvin gets on base more and more... 5. Atkins continues to quietly impress... 6. Ryu is solid again... and 7. Hill had a great night for the Cubs... 8. Murton showed power tonight.... ...maybe things are looking up!