moorecg

In the month of June he hit .295/.326/.432. And it barely put a dent in his terrible season. He hit 2 of the 3 HR he's hit in 3 years during that month to inflate those numbers. We can't realistically expect him to hit even 1 the rest of the way. And I think there's very little hope of him even putting up a .300 OBP the rest of the way. Why do you insist on pretending people are only giving him 5-6 games? He's played 86 this year with well over 300 AB and his numbers have been absolutely atrocious. Not struggling. Not off. Absolutely freaking atrocious. Old guys disappear in baseball. How many times do you have to see marginal players finish their careers in a Cubs uniform before admitting they have an awful tendency of thinking guys have more left in the tank than they actually do? Jim Hendry pays far too little attention to the negatives involved in older players. He's convinced himself that guys peak in their 30s when all the evidence indicates it's well before that. Why is it so hard to imagine that he and his scouting friends were impressed by, and fooled by Kendall's 3/3 1HR day against the Yankees and therefore mistakenly thought he could help? I don't see why anybody would want to give the benefit of the doubt to an old catcher who is obviously nowhere near the player he once was and is going through not just a slump, but a completely terrible season. Because for the last week (hell, after his first game) there has been a ton of "See, he's awful"...and that has been over 5-6 games. His hitting coach from when he was pretty solid is our current hitting coach, I give some creedence to the idea that that could play a role...he also put up quite a bit better numbers on the road than he did in Oakland...so I take that into consideration, again his June was solid, he's much better against righties than lefties so if we play our switch hitting back up against lefties his overall numbers go up and he gets some of that rest you spoke of earlier, strangely enough, he's put up great numbers the 2nd time he sees a pitcher in a game so that tells me he has a pretty good approach at the plate... To be worth while he didn't need to be better than Johnny Bench, he needed to be better offensively than Koiye Hill. I'm willing to give him the chance to do that.

That's a short list. There aren't many. Also it should be noted that only IRod has been catching in the majors for as long as Kendall. JK has more innings behind the plate than all but IRod. He also doesn't have the DH to fall back on as a rest. And finally, all of those guys have something in their game that helps older plays stay relevent, a spot of power. Pudge is the one exception currently playing. Fisk is another from history. But very few catchers last as long as Kendall has, in terms of years of service and innings caught, without a steep decline. Kendall was a one dimensional player in recent years. It shouldn't shock anybody if a one dimensional player with a history of physical problems at a position like catcher could deteriorate quickly. I never suggested keeping him beyond this year, I think that woudl be a bad idea, but the month prior to the trade he hit .295; had a .330 OBP and a .750+ OPS (if you want to use that stat)...considering those numbers, what we had, and what we had to give up for him, I'm won't call Hendry out for making the deal, or say Kendall is going to suck the rest of the year just yet....if he does, well fine...he does, but I'm all for giving him more than 5-6 games to make that determination.

His best OBP month this year is .326. He's been sub .250 in April, May and July. It's not a 2 month bad streak. It's 3 months of complete suckitude. Not Neifi like .295 OBP suckitude, but new and improved suckitude the likes of which the Cubs don't even seen. Don't give me BS about "picking a stat". OPS matters. The fact that Kendall only provides one part of the package when he's going good, and that he hasn't even put up a good OBP in any month this year tells you he's worthless. I'm dead set on believing he's done because I'm dead set on not being naive enough to think the Cubs can coax the best out of an aging ballplayer. Catchers age quickly and disappear. Kendall is an old catcher with many miles on him and he has shown over the course of this entire season that he's done. Posada, I-Rod, Loduca, Veritek...and that's only off the top of my head a list of 4 catchers 35 or older who tend not to suck...Kendall just turned 33, its not like he's pushing 40.

Oh...we're in on this deal...They just got Lofton to replace Sizemore who they are trading to us for Pie, Eyre and Jones. :D :D

What seems crazy to me is pretending it's been just 4 games. This is like Dusty insisting he has to see somebody play for him before coming to any conclusions when there is plenty of data on a player suggesting just how good or bad he is. Which until this year, and actually including one month of this year, has shown Kendall to be a Catcher who gets on base more often than almost any other catcher in baseball. Except for the first 2 months of this year, the data says Kendall should get on base better than any other option we currently have. Except the whole season says he won't. The problem with waiting until a washed up player finishes a year before declaring him washed up is that you've given a washed up player a full year to suck. Catchers age fast. Kendall is old. Why is it so hard to imagine this isn't a fluke? 3 of 4 months he has a sub 500 OPS. He had a bad 2 months then a very solid 3rd month, considering his past, why are you so dead set on believing the first two were the "real" Kendall. OPS......he's never been an OPS guy, he's been an OBP guy, and that's what I've been talking about...Don't just pick a particular stat b/c it suits you. If he can put up an OBP of .350 he'll be an asset no matter what his OPS is.

What seems crazy to me is pretending it's been just 4 games. This is like Dusty insisting he has to see somebody play for him before coming to any conclusions when there is plenty of data on a player suggesting just how good or bad he is. Which until this year, and actually including one month of this year, has shown Kendall to be a Catcher who gets on base more often than almost any other catcher in baseball. Except for the first 2 months of this year, the data says Kendall should get on base better than any other option we currently have.

We are in a pennant race, so playing through slumps is out the door this year. You either produce or you don't play. As has been said before, if you bench a guy in a slump, you're not going to get the hot streak that will come in the future. I'm still waiting for Kendall hot streak. Or was that last night? What, two soft singles didn't do it for ya? One was a soft double. Isn't that Kendall's game though? As long as he gets on base, I could care less how he does it. That was kind of my point...I didn't mean to make it look like I was ripping on him, I'm kind of a Kendall appologist (at least until he proves he's going to suck for a month...killing him after 4 games seems crazy to me)....he got on twice last night...one was an XBH...if he can get his average up to .250 with a .350 OBP I think he'll be great.

We are in a pennant race, so playing through slumps is out the door this year. You either produce or you don't play. As has been said before, if you bench a guy in a slump, you're not going to get the hot streak that will come in the future. I'm still waiting for Kendall hot streak. Or was that last night? What, two soft singles didn't do it for ya? One was a soft double.

Hes a free agent after the season right? Twins are 9 games out, fadign fast, and chasing two very good teams. He doesn't solve any left handed hitting problems (but his numbers against lefties are outstanding) Even if we didn't resign him he'd have to be a Type A free agent. Would fall into the defensive catagory to shore up CF... What would you give?

last time he played RF was 2004, and it was for 7 games. He played 25 in the OF in 2003. Well...that doesn't really lead me to believe he'll be a gold glover....especially wonder why Tex didn't stick him out there in front of Sammy....eh...if he can hit I'll take it...Jones still in Center with Tex's bat ...not a bad lineup.

Agreed with that sentiment. We'd need to be confident we could resign Adam. Quick question, is there any chance this means absolutely nothing? No callup, no trade, nothing? Because that seems hard to believe. Barring the HIGHLY unlikely chance that both were injured, I would have to say no. This may be a very big night (or next day) for the cubs. PS- If it's Tex, I'm going to cry. Where would we play Tex? He's only a first base/DH right? He's played right field. When? (I didn't go past this year, but all his at bats were 1b and DH...not that I"m against it at all...just curious)

Agreed with that sentiment. We'd need to be confident we could resign Adam. Quick question, is there any chance this means absolutely nothing? No callup, no trade, nothing? Because that seems hard to believe. Barring the HIGHLY unlikely chance that both were injured, I would have to say no. This may be a very big night (or next day) for the cubs. PS- If it's Tex, I'm going to cry. Where would we play Tex? He's only a first base/DH right?

Just heard it on XM too...wow...that kills them...any chance they pack it in and trade Rowand?

Sadly...that game didn't deserve 2 pages.

that's awesome. 2 games back from the brew crew, and 1 game back in the wildcard right? It's just so great to actually be competitive and have something to root foor. I'm watching the cubs last night dismantle a bad cardinals teams, and i watched every pitch. I love to see us on the correct end of a butt whooping in Busch. Actually 1.5 behind the Brew Crew and .5 behind SD for the Wild Card. Tied for the WC in the loss column!

GO REDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn the Reds pen is awful. I'm, for the first time in my life, rooting hard for STL for the 4 games following tonight.....If St.L could win 3/4 against the crew that would be great.

No doubt rockin the Fabulous J-Marqe Jersey tonight...I taught my 3 year old son this morning when people ask him what he's going to do today to respond "Sweep!"

He's been outstanding recently.

That sort of deal needs to be stopped.... Why? Dye has been less than spectacular this year. So has the rest of the Sox lineup.... If he got slotted into the Brewers' lineup I just have a feeling he'd do pretty well.

That sort of deal needs to be stopped....

On a related note...does this make SanDiego worse THIS year? If so, that's also good for us.

XM just said the Rockies pitcher threw a complete game on 74 pitches? Was the line up comprised of 3 Neifi Perezs, 3 Jose Macias and 3 Corey Pattersons?

Me to...Which Bar? We need a big win tonight...6-7 runs...the close ones make my stomach hurt.

Oh good, the old, "if it was the right move the Cubs would have done it" theory. Nice to see that one back again. The results the Cubs are getting since the original move sure aren't too bad.