CuseCubFan69

I still blame MLB for ignoring this issue too long in the first place. If they took some action right in the very beginning we wouldn't have been wondering who took what and when. Bonds and others saw a loophole and took it.

I'm not a weight lifter so I'm curious how you can put 20 pounds of muscle on in a 5 month period?

Murton's arm isn't horrid. Remember the guy who doubled off Encarnacion at 1B? Murton's throw to the plate in the AJ/Barrett collision was decent and right on line, it just didn't get there in time. Jones isn't blah defensively. He's actually very good, excepting the arm problems, which may have been caused by his shoulder woes. Soriano has a very nice arm. He was at least ML average in LF by the end of last season. That's pretty impressive. Basically, I'm not too worried about our OF defense. I think Jones will throw better, Murton will have a year's experience under his belt, and Soriano will improve each day. :D I really want to know where people get the idea that Murton's arm is horrible, because he keeps proving otherwise. Also, playing CF has its advantages in being able to pick up the angle the ball is coming off the bat at a lot more quickly, and getting a better jump. I think Soriano will do fine. I agree with you about Soriano but wait until he misjudges a flyball for the first time out there....will the press start the crap that they often do when someone is in a new position and struggle and will it effect Soriano? He may take over and steal the headlines of the Rameriz doesn't hustle theme. I don't think Lou will let that crap run on w/o coming to the defense of his player(s). I wouldn't want Lou pissed at me. I'm sure Lou will be smart about it but I'm also sure hacks like Sullivan will run with it.

Bringing it to the game will be just fine! Thanks man. I'll get the tickets out to you as soon as I recieve them from the Rangers. Vance, the banker from your Swiss Bank Account wants to know if you need another safety deposit box.

Do you Chicago people realize that your teams play in the worst conferences/leagues in pro sports, except for hockey? The Cubs in the NL, Bears in the NFC and the Bulls in the East?

Murton's arm isn't horrid. Remember the guy who doubled off Encarnacion at 1B? Murton's throw to the plate in the AJ/Barrett collision was decent and right on line, it just didn't get there in time. Jones isn't blah defensively. He's actually very good, excepting the arm problems, which may have been caused by his shoulder woes. Soriano has a very nice arm. He was at least ML average in LF by the end of last season. That's pretty impressive. Basically, I'm not too worried about our OF defense. I think Jones will throw better, Murton will have a year's experience under his belt, and Soriano will improve each day. :D I really want to know where people get the idea that Murton's arm is horrible, because he keeps proving otherwise. Also, playing CF has its advantages in being able to pick up the angle the ball is coming off the bat at a lot more quickly, and getting a better jump. I think Soriano will do fine. I agree with you about Soriano but wait until he misjudges a flyball for the first time out there....will the press start the crap that they often do when someone is in a new position and struggle and will it effect Soriano? He may take over and steal the headlines of the Rameriz doesn't hustle theme.

Well, I'm sure Phoenix and Dallas will meet sometime during the playoff series-that should be a great series. I still think the East has a decent chance in the finals, which is kind of sad considering that no team in the East is nearly as good as the top teams in the West-it's all about matchups though, and I think an Eastern team would have a reasonable chance (30-40 percent) of winning the Finals. I believe they (east) have a chance but I would like to have seen a Phoenix/Dallas Final. Heck, they might not even meet in the Western Final but I think it would have been one entertaining final for the NBA TV wise.

How quick does he get it to second?

I definitely agree with the first part of that. Murton looks pretty good coming in, but when he gets near the wall he gets a little lost back there. I would only classify Murton's arm as average (maybe a little below, but not too much)-it's accurate and much stronger than Pierre's, although still not quite the strength you'd want for a left fielder. Overall, I think he's a pretty average fielder. Soriano as you said is a huge question mark, and Jones is hard to judge because he is pretty good at fielding, sometimes good at throwing, and sometimes absolutely awful at throwing. When you combine those 3 with having Floyd out there in the OF for 300-400 PA's (who struggles now to play LF), you have a potentially bad situation defensively. I'm more afraid of seeing Floyd out there then anything. Soriano is a wildcard at this point and I hope he can play it at least play CF adequately enough to be effective. If he doesn't I wonder if the Cubs will push Jones out the door and pull up Pie.

I'm not an NBA fan but I would like to see a Phoenix/Dallas final instead of some cruddy eastern team verus one of the western teams. I might even watch that.

I think a lot of it is determined on what position we are talking about. Shortstop is an extreme example, where playing murton at SS may actually not be as much of a plus because of his limited defense and the amount of action generated by the position. Positions like LF and RF however can get away with putting a player with lesser abilities defensively. I see what you mean, and for some reason think of this example. Lets say we are looking to improve this offense at the trade deadline, and have the opportunity to pick up a third baseman (too early to think of an example). Would moving Aramis to RF, and picking up a good third baseman improve the team overall? Its a very interesting thought, if im on the right track of what your thinking :D Yeah you got the jist of it! I see a lot of posters disregard defense so why not just play the best hitters then? There has to be a certain point that you can't do this thus the +/- or another type of system to determine this. You're absolutely right that each postion is to be measured differently and you can "hide" guys in some postions better than others.

Yeah, he should formed a club with Schilling and Favre. They could call it "The Douchebags of Pro Sports." Couldnt' agree with you more. Clemens wants to play half of the time, but still get paid like he's gettin 30 starts a year. He's such a douchebag we gotta change the spelling.....DOOSH BAG!! His salary is PRORATED to how long he is on the roster. Say he signed for 20 million and was on the roster for 81 games, he gets 10 million. Why is this concept so difficult to understand? I didn't realize that it was prorated either. I still don't like the dude. 10 Mil is still a lot. Most pitchers wouldn't get that. He is still getting paid to be basically a starter but not play the full year. Oh I agree. I just didn't know he didn't get the whole shabang. I really want to know if he's ever been tested and for what.

So I take it everyone is ok if Floyd plays SS?

IMO, Perry may be better at recognizing different hitters strengths and not putting them into 2 pools, power hitter or slap hitter. I suppose this is my wishful thinking talking but I'm hoping he is capable of this. And you are so right about being articulate with the press and it also helps if you can be this way with hitters. If Perry can get his point across to all the hitters on what he expects and how to go about it I think the Cubs will be better off than the previous coaches who didn't work hard at anything. I agree Soriano and Jones have the most to gain but they are old dogs and I hope as I mentioned before that Perry can reach these guys and push them to a higher level. Imagine if the light goes on for Soriano like it did Sammy? If he gets 90-100 BB's a year this team would a force.

Yeah, he should formed a club with Schilling and Favre. They could call it "The Douchebags of Pro Sports." Couldnt' agree with you more. Clemens wants to play half of the time, but still get paid like he's gettin 30 starts a year. He's such a douchebag we gotta change the spelling.....DOOSH BAG!! His salary is PRORATED to how long he is on the roster. Say he signed for 20 million and was on the roster for 81 games, he gets 10 million. Why is this concept so difficult to understand? I didn't realize that it was prorated either. I still don't like the dude.

Personally I don't think Prior is going to be ready by June at the earliest and I still feel that way but I'm hoping I'm wrong. I like the fact that he said he doesn't care which slot he's in because once the season starts it doesn't really matter that much. I really don't like writers like Sullivan who just wants to start stupid little rumors and make controvesy. That guy should go write for the National Enquirer. Grow up and be a professional sports writer or change careers.

I think a lot of us are just anxious to get the games started. Besides, I like to have this happy pitch that you're talking about. Is this like your happy place with a scantly dressed woman, grandma dressed nice and a midget riding a bike?

While I can see that point, when we're talking about the majors, each pitcher is going to have that happen what, 4-5 times a year max? The worst SS make around 35 errors right? Each starter will be in for what, 1/6 or 1/7 of the total innings pitcher? That's gonna mean they get at most 6 of the SS's errors on the season, and while I have no idea what % of SS errors are balls that are booted vs. throwing errors, lets say all 6 are booted. A good SS will probably only make 10-15 errors at best, right? Simplying it down because it's nearly 4 a.m., that SS might only make 2 or 3 errors for that pitcher during a season. You're basically saying that 4 more errors over the course of 30+ games is that big of a deal to the pitcher's psyche? I just don't see it. Obviously a good SS is better than a bad one, but I have a hard time believing that a pitcher at the major league level can be effected that much by having a fielder behind him make 2-4 more errors than a good fielder at that position would have. (Yes, I know errors are a terrible way to evaluate fielders. But I feel my point still stands, the amount of non-errors of good vs. bad SS still will be very small coming for just one pitcher. Interesting point. I think it may depend on the pitchers style (groundball/flyball) and their mentality. I don't think you can look at the stats in a flat line like that and say each pitcher gets X. You're right that errors are not the best way to judge and when easy groundballs get through time and time again it wears on them.

This is exactly what we should be striving for on defense. Not spectacular, but not a problem. This is going to be a subject that gets completely overblown in the media because we don't have a proven OF and I've already read the opinion that we will have the worst OF in the league. Freaky...I say that to my kids all the time.

I agree Lou. Wow, a manager that actually knows what he's talking about.

Terrence Roberts should have been a hockey player as I've watched him almost all year playing on one leg and he fights and grits it out the whole time. If he was healthy we would have had a chance to win it all but with him hurt it isn't going to happen. It was a nice way to see the seniors go out in their last game at the Dome.

Me either and I never drink if my kids are with me.

Isn't that already the case? Aren't teams like the D-Rays, Royals, Pirates just basically farming up players for other teams to eventually pluck off their rosters? It's too bad they can't do it like the Marlins do. True, but the Marlins small-market tactics have only worked for 1 title. I think you have to count the 1997 title as really more of a big-market type strategy-they didn't go with what they currently do until after 97, and they've had 1 playoff appearance and one title since then-so they've been successful, but not that successful. I agree but they were more competitive than those teams mentioned in 2006. I think they'll be a force to reckon with if they continue along this path and make the right moves.

Right now I'm not far from looking like I have a keg in my gut so it wouldn't be that far off!

I brought a keg in when we went. I told the usher that it was a baby stroller.