CuseCubFan69

I just think it's a top of the order thing. The Cubs want a guy who could lead off and they thought the best choice is Patterson. Their one dimensional thinking led to this imo, not a dislike of Murton. If that were true, wouldn't you be happy with the guy with the career .365 OBP, currently sporting a .442 OBP in the minors over the guy whose OBP last year in AAA was .362 and this year is .282? There is no logical reason to add a 5th second basemen to this team when the starting LF goes down and Murton is available in AAA. Well look at it this way, it should give Pie more AB's! They have to be thinking that Patterson can play left, SS, CF along with 2B though. Murton is a LF guy only and serviceable in right on a good day. Again, I'm not saying I agree with it but it does add some depth to the bench that has only 13 guys. It may be possible that isn't thrilled with Cedeno/Theriot and wants to see if Patterson could fill one of their spots as well once Sori comes back. Patterson can't play SS so he can't take Theriot/Cedeno's spot, and we already have a whole damn team of utility infieldersman from Christmas Story> Good old Chicago Chipmunks. He played it a little during the spring and I'm sure he can go there in a pinch plus they might be comfortable getting Ward some time there as well. I'd like to hear what the Cubs have to say about this move.

I just think it's a top of the order thing. The Cubs want a guy who could lead off and they thought the best choice is Patterson. Their one dimensional thinking led to this imo, not a dislike of Murton. If that were true, wouldn't you be happy with the guy with the career .365 OBP, currently sporting a .442 OBP in the minors over the guy whose OBP last year in AAA was .362 and this year is .282? There is no logical reason to add a 5th second basemen to this team when the starting LF goes down and Murton is available in AAA. Well look at it this way, it should give Pie more AB's! They have to be thinking that Patterson can play left, SS, CF along with 2B though. Murton is a LF guy only and serviceable in right on a good day. Again, I'm not saying I agree with it but it does add some depth to the bench that has only 13 guys. It may be possible that isn't thrilled with Cedeno/Theriot and wants to see if Patterson could fill one of their spots as well once Sori comes back.

Somebody goes after Claude and he turtles like the coward he is.

I just think it's a top of the order thing. The Cubs want a guy who could lead off and they thought the best choice is Patterson. Their one dimensional thinking led to this imo, not a dislike of Murton.

For that to happen Crisp has to play well enough that Hendry still wants him, Pie has to play bad enough to be a legit bust and Murton has to continue to hit despite the symbollic football to the groin he just got from the org. Also everyone has to stay healthy. I don't believe Hendry will give up on Pie that soon. I also don't believe he was ever that high on Crisp. He may be a switch hitter but does he "play th game the right way?" He's a black CF who doesn't hit HRs. He's just what we need at the top of the order. Holy heck SSR, get away from the ledge and don't touch anything sharp today.

The fact that he wants Pie to bat 8th for Pie's benefit has an interesting piece of logic to it. It's sort of a trial by fire-Lou is going to change this part of Pie's game before Pie becomes set in his ways, even though Lou implies that he would have better production right now in another spot. I'm ok with that if Lou realizes that putting an extra learning curve on Pie by putting him there will take a little extra time for the adjustments, and he has to be patient with him. I agree that Pie should be hitting down in the order now. But I disagree with Lou regarding swinging at every strike. Unless you have 2 strikes, sometimes it's better to take a strike than swing at it. Some really good pitches are strikes that even really good hitters won't do much with (unless they get a lucky little blooper). Laying off great pitches that are strikes so that you can drive a ball you can handle is a much better approach than "swing at every pitch I think is a strike" which is stupid. If that means you strike out a few more times, rather than dribbling a soft grounder to 2nd, so be it. Oh, and Theriot should be hitting 8th regardless of where Pie is on his learning curve. Hit Pie 7th and Theriot 8th until Pie is ready to hit higher in the order. Interesting. You took that sentence completely differently then I did. When Lou said you have to swing at strikes, you took that to mean that there is an obligation to swing at every strike that comes up there. I put the emphasis on the other part of the sentence, which to me fits in with the rest of the quote better about working the count and being able to tell the difference between balls and strikes. You have to swing at strikes doesn't mean to me that you have to swing at all strikes, but it does mean that it is essential that you do not swing at balls. You have to swing at strikes instead of balls because if you're swinging at balls then it's too easy for pitchers to get you out. So I really don't think that Lou meant that you have to take a swing towards each and every strike that comes over the plate. That's what I got out of it too.

When Andy and Jim went about overhauling the organization in the mid 90's, they explicitly talked about focusing most of their developmental attention on pitchers, while trading for bats later. They thought that was the best way to emulate the Braves, ignoring how many quality position players that franchise developed. Quite frankly, I don't think any of us can really complain about the number of pitching prospects the Cubs have produced who have had some amount of success in the major leagues over the past ten years. Their plan worked. Off the top of my head, the following guys have pitched with varying degrees of success and exposure in the majors after spending some time in the Cubs' minor league system in the past ten years... Mark Prior Kerry Wood Carlos Zambrano Rich Hill Sean Marshall Jon Garland Carlos Marmol Dontrelle Willis Sergio Mitre Ricky Nolasco Renyel Pinto Carmen Pignatiello Michael Wuertz Ryan O'Malley John Koronka Todd Wellemeyer Will Ohman Andy Sisco Francis Beltran Sean Gallagher Juan Mateo That's just off the top of my head, to boot. Kyle Farnsworth and Michael Wuertz have had decent careers as relievers, and Juan Cruz had his moments. Was Borowski developed by the Cubs or traded for? He was a Yankee originally.

Who are the starting SS's in the minor league system?

Providence is a very difficult job, though. It is but it's also a very good stepping stone if you win.

He'll have a Sutcliffe 16-1 year now!

Wouldn't some of it be in site suggestions as well? :D

I vote for a Red Sox and Yankee forum. We could just name it ESPN.

I don't know what this means. What it means is that Baker appreciates this type of hitting and the less inside of Corey's head the better. Except Baker had a long-term lease inside Patterson's head for years. Indeed. The thing is Patterson is used to it and it's not something new. Dusty helped make him a worse hitter but I'm not sure Patterson sees it that way.

It seems like a beautiful baseball poem could be written of the value of Joe Crede.

To be fair, Adam Dunn will likely hit one so far, it might as well be counted as to. As you already know, "He's country strong." Dunn for Hill Has there ever been a Cubs vs Reds series where Dunn didn't hit a home run. It seems like he always hits at least one. Dunn and Burrell always seem to be able to cut through the wind when Cubs teams struggle to hit for power. That's funny. The wind is blowing in and they do seem to be able to put one in the seats. I sit back thinking no one on this day will put one out and boom, one of these two puts one in the seats.

So now we have to see Neifi in the thong to tie this all up?

I don't know what this means. What it means is that Baker appreciates this type of hitting and the less inside of Corey's head the better.

Miggy is a wisp of a woman now a days.

And Alou caught that foul ball too. :wink:

All 6 of these guys are on the 40-man roster: 1. Lieber 2. Marshall 3. Gallagher ---- Relievers who could be stretched out: 4. Hart 5. Mateo ---- Much further away but might be a plausible option by midseason: 6. Samardzija If I had my druthers, Marmol would be in the rotation. Well, where did you last see your druthers? We'll try to help you find it.

I can't see how the Tigers or Rangers would let him slip away and should try to make a deal for him.

Babe Ruth. For 100K and that production I can't lose. Plus, I could have him close. Chase "I'm free to do what I want any old time" Utley.

Or maybe it's too long. He should shave the left side and keep the other side long. I'd do it the other way around. the left side is facing the hitter when he's in the stretch and makes him look like a mean biker. then he comes with the pitch and the batter sees the other side and it's suddenly "OMG, FTH?" Good point. Plus, when he struggles he could say it was nice Kerry that had a bad game. Maybe talk to his pinky before each batter comes to the plate.

Or maybe it's too long. He should shave the left side and keep the other side long.

While I do not agree that Marquis and Dempster are better than Marshall, I agree this is a good problem to have. Some of you guys want to have it both ways. Marshall will be back after one of these guys gets moved, likely Marquis. I like how you say this like it's too much to expect to have rotation depth and have the best players in the rotation. All things being equal, yes. But, since the vets are due a lot of money it limits the options..