RyCubsFan

Nice to see Jones with a good day. If I had to choose only one of Pierre and Jones to play well, I would choose Jones. 1) He's signed for 3 years, as opposed to one for Pierre. But, 2) His power makes him a more dangerous hitter. Having him swing the bat well in the middle of the lineup could be very important to the cubs' success this year.

Fans don't get to vote for pitchers. I'm all about voting for Ronny.

296/358/676/1034 He looked downright overmatched at AAA when I got to see him last year. I don't think he's ready to provide offense, and I think that should be priority #1. Well, he's leading the Southern League (a pitchers league) in home runs, slugging percentage, total bases, and OPS. He didn't do that his first time aroud at Double A. Maybe he's learned something new...

Why would the Marlins want Z back? He'll be making the money that Willis will. So they would not necessarily be gaining salary wise. I wouldn't want to trade Z. He's on track to be a future HOFer.

I was thinking something along the same lines, Vance. With his control, poise, and brief success, Marshall could have a lot of trade value. He also might not be necessary for the Cubs, who would have Z, Prior, Wood, Maddux, Guzman, and Hill. And honestly I'd rather trade Marshall than Guzman. I like Sean, but Guzman has a higher upside than him.

Forgive me for not being clear. By "cheer" i meant "laud his praises," not the literal cheering at the ballpark. It's not my style to boo players and of course when at the ballpark I'll cheer for him as I will for any other player. My point was to say: "Look, I'm not anti-Pierre. I want him to succeed, just like all Cubs players. In fact, he's seems like a tremendous guy with a wonderful work ethic. I also really enjoy watching him on the basepaths. So I'm not criticizing his play for simply the sake of doing so. And when/if he turns it around I'll be the first to admit that I was mistaken about him." ...But in the meantime, isn't it okay to point out that he's really struggling? And isn't it okay to also point out that he's struggled now since 2004? And isn't it okay to express concern that maybe...just maybe...he is and will continue to be a liability for the team? Because he is right now. His play is hurting the Cubs. We really need him to play better if we are going to survive this time without Lee, Prior, and Wood. He needs to pick it up, and pick it up fast. If he doesn't, I would have no problem with a Pie callup to take his place. If Pierre doesn't get on base more frequently, he is a liability. He simply doesn't do anything else well enough to help the team in other ways.

JP is no Derek Lee. JP is a one-dimensional ballplayer who hasn't been valuable to a team since 2004. Sure, he's going to pick it up some. He has to, right? Right? (please say yes). The Cubs really need him to get on base at at least a .350 clip. We simply can't afford for him to continue to struggle. I'm concerned though b/c he hasn't looked good so far. The fact that he didn't look good for most of last year merely adds to that concern. B/c if JP isn't getting on base, he's really not that good of a baseball player. I'm a sucker for stolen bases as much as anyone. But are we all so blinded by his speed to see that he's a liability to the team if he doesn't get on base at an above average rate? He has no power. Baserunners run freelly off of him. In order to be valuable, JP has to get on base, and get on base often. So far, he hasn't done so. If/when his OBP is at or above .350, I'll be the first person to cheer him. I really do want him to do well. Until that happens so, it certainly is frustrating.

Three young players here to stay: 1) Sean Marshall = 21.1 IP, only 13 hits! That is impressive. He also has a WHIP below 1.00. 2) Matt Murton has a .377 OBP (despite struggling somewhat) and 15 RBI's. He's a joy to watch at the plate. Beautiful swing, oustanding plate discipline, focussed young hitter. 3) Ronny Cedeno is playing very well. He had superb range and hustle. He has a gun for an arm. And, surprisingly, he leads the team in extra base hits. Three more knocking on the door: 1) Guzman is healthy. He's now made his big league debut, and he was hitting 96 MPH on the radar gun. With a little more consistency in his location, he could be a mainstay in the rotation. 2) Felix Pie is tearing it up in Iowa. He's off to a hot start. Best of all, he already has 8 walks, which is helping alleviate fears about his plate discipline. Defensively, he's already thrown 3 runners out at the plate. 3) Rich Hill is dominating triple A in every sense of the word. He's leading the league in k's and is very tough to hit. It's only a matter of time before he's up with the club again.

Yes and yes. The question is how much are those going to rise from their current state. From the sound of things, they are only going to get worse. . . . . . .the end of the world is upon us. Who's saying they're going to get worse?? I think most of us expect that JP will pick it up a bit. We do wonder, however, if he will pick it up enough to have justified the trade... I'm hopeful...but doubtful.

How do you know that bringing him up now would hurt his development? Sure, some players are hurt by being brought along too quickly (i.e. Patterson perhaps). Others, however, are not (i.e. Cabrera). I happen to feel that its worth a shot on Pie since I believe he's clearly better than 2/3 of our current OF. I don't think it will hurt him. I don't know if it would hurt his development. It's a risk not worth taking though, especially when people have overrated his minor league numbers. I'm not 100% sold on him immediately being a productive major league outfielder. Just about every single person who has seen him play in the minors seems to be. I trust their opinion on the matter. I think we've all been jaded a bit by the CPatt experience. But Pie is def not Corey Patterson.

How do you know that bringing him up now would hurt his development? Sure, some players are hurt by being brought along too quickly (i.e. Patterson perhaps). Others, however, are not (i.e. Cabrera). I happen to feel that its worth a shot on Pie since I believe he's clearly better than 2/3 of our current OF. I don't think it will hurt him.

Runs are a team stat, unless you hit home runs (which Pierre does not). Batting average is not. He's not scoring because he's so great. He's scoring because he has people hitting well after him. A player playing in place of Pierre with a higher OBP would have scored more runs than Pierre has so far.

Pierre 3 walks Pie 8 walks Who needs to work on their plate discipline?

Juan Pierre. The Cubs shouldn't be rushing Pie to the majors. Next season? I'm open for Pie suggestions. Pie would outperform Pierre now. I don't think Pie's the type of player that would be hurt by being pushed.

Juan Pierre Offense: .256 / .282 / .339 Defense: 0 assists Cost: $5,750,000 and 3 young pitchers Felix Pie Offense: .320 / .391 / .520 Defense: 3 assists Cost: League Minimum You choose.

Get ready for disappointment. Guess how many qualified CFs in MLB have these stats? 3- Vernon Wells, Curtis Granderson, and Corey Sullivan. ESPN Players such as Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Jim Edmonds, and Johnny Damon all suck according to your standards. Hmmm...realistic standards? Last year the following CF had an OBP above .350 and an .OPS above 800: 1) Edmonds .385 / .918 2) Griffey .369 / .946 3) Damon .366 / .805 4) Winn .360 / .859 5) DeJesus .359 / .804 Sizemore, Jones, and Crisp JUST missed an OBP of .350, but all put up OPS's greater than .800. Brady Clark had an OBP of .372, but his OPS was .798. That's 9 CF's that were right about .350 / .800 or well above. Pierre btw had a .326 OBP and a .680 OPS. That is horrible.

Get ready for disappointment. Guess how many qualified CFs in MLB have these stats? 3- Vernon Wells, Curtis Granderson, and Corey Sullivan. ESPN Players such as Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Jim Edmonds, and Johnny Damon all suck according to your standards. Hmmm...realistic standards? I don't want Hunter on my team. Damon's defense does indeed suck, but he will certainly put up a .350 OBP and .800 OPS this year, as will Edmonds and Jones. Are you so certain that Pierre will? I find it highly unlikely.

From every position in the lineup, I look for at least a .350 OBP, an .800 OPS, and solid defense. That's a well balanced player. While they are at it that can solve world hunger, balance the budget, keep Iran from getting nukes, solve cancer, and on Saturdays teach everyone to read a foreign language. Lee, Walker, Cedeno, Ramirez, and Barett are have a good chance to provide that. Murton certainly does in the OF. That leaves two holes: Pierre and Jones. These two holes happen to be paid a whole lot.

That's great that you aren't worried, but it's an outright lie to claim he's not doing that bad. Why are expectations so high? Those who are against Pierre, what are your expectations from the leadoff/CF spot? From every position in the lineup, I look for at least a .350 OBP, an .800 OPS, and solid defense. That's a well balanced player. I'll be surprised if Pierre provides any of the 3. Meanwhile, we traded 3 young arms for him, we're paying him millions, and we have a CF in triple A who I believe would indeed provide all 3. Well, I think you expect too much. There wasn't a team in the major leagues that met your expectations last year just from an offensive standpoint. It's worth shooting for. And it would obtainable in CF by simply benching Pierre and calling up Pie. I certainly expect better than Pierre's current .275 OBP! It's absolutely terrible.

That's great that you aren't worried, but it's an outright lie to claim he's not doing that bad. Why are expectations so high? Those who are against Pierre, what are your expectations from the leadoff/CF spot? From every position in the lineup, I look for at least a .350 OBP, an .800 OPS, and solid defense. That's a well balanced player. I'll be surprised if Pierre provides any of the 3. Meanwhile, we traded 3 young arms for him, we're paying him millions, and we have a CF in triple A who I believe would indeed provide all 3.

So think of how many runs that someone with a decent OBP playing in place of Pierre would score! The number of runs he has scored is not convincing in the least. So he comes to bat with a man on base, hits into a force out, and ends of scoring. Should he be praised for scoring?

Don't forget that the leadoff man typically only leads off once in a game. Once! I think you're severely overrating that one at bat in a ballgame. Inevitably, the person who bats first in the lineup will come to bat with men on base too. It'd be nice if he could drive him in. So I like all the players to be balanced offensive weapons. If Pierre had some slugging in him, he could have tried it hit a home run in the 9th today when we were down by two and one man was on base. But this would be asking him the impossible. He has no power whatsoever. On his OBP: his approach to the plate has generally been horrible this year. He's not walking. I see no reason that this will change. After all, it didn't change all last year. In 2 of the last 4 years, his OBP has been .332 or less.

It's not a small amount of games. He was bad last year, bad this spring, and bad thru 20 games in the reg season. This is getting a little long to be a slump. It's starting to look like a decline. And his defense sucks. I thought spring numbers didn't matter. What about last year? Do you just excuse that? What about how lost he looks this year? Do you just write that off? I really hope that JP can turn it around and get his OBP up above .350. I'm skeptical he can do it though. I have a lot more confidence in Pie's abilities than Juan Pierre's. Of course, I'm also more confident in Pie than Jacques Jones as well. So no matter which guy Pie replaces, we're still stuck with a bad outfielder. Yeah, I write those off. It pales in comparison to all of his good years, and he too young to be washed up or declining. All his good years? He's never had an slugging percentage above .415. And that was in Colorado! His defense has always sucked. And 2 of the last 4 years, his OBP has been .332 or below. This track record inspires very little confidence in me.

It's not a small amount of games. He was bad last year, bad this spring, and bad thru 20 games in the reg season. This is getting a little long to be a slump. It's starting to look like a decline. And his defense sucks. I thought spring numbers didn't matter. What about last year? Do you just excuse that? What about how lost he looks this year? Do you just write that off? I really hope that JP can turn it around and get his OBP up above .350. I'm skeptical he can do it though. I have a lot more confidence in Pie's abilities than Juan Pierre's. Of course, I'm also more confident in Pie than Jacques Jones as well. So no matter which guy Pie replaces, we're still stuck with a bad outfielder.

Oh I like JP as a person...he seems nice. But as a ballplayer? Is it is .324 OBP last year that you like or his .354 sluggling? Or do you prefer his miserable numbers this year? Maybe you like his arm? FYI, Pie's OBPis .391. His slugging is .520. Oh yeah, he also has 3 or 4 assists this year. So we gave up 3 prospects for Pierre when we have better CF playing in Iowa.