moorecg

From my understanding here are PECOTA's predicitons for the last two years. preseason 2004 NL Central RawW% SOS AdjW% AdjW AdjL AdjRS AdjRA Houston .568 .489 .578 93.7 68.3 808 680 Chicago .562 .492 .569 92.2 69.8 735 627 St. Louis .543 .494 .549 89.0 73.0 769 681 Cincinnati .469 .498 .471 76.4 85.6 760 804 Milwaukee .420 .505 .414 67.1 94.9 691 827 Pittsburgh .420 .506 .414 67.1 94.9 656 785 preseason 2005 W L PCT RS RA Cardinals 92 70 .569 818 708 Cubs 89 73 .550 773 696 Astros 80 82 .494 724 734 Reds 76 86 .472 789 836 Brewers 73 89 .453 707 781 Pirates 72 90 .444 700 788 By my understanding, the only thing its really "accuratly" predicted in the last two years was that Pittsuburgh would finish last and St. Louis would finish First, last year...(Gee...who woulda thunk it?)) (they may have got Cincy right one of the years...I can't remember) And I don't think anyone thinks all 6 teams will finish within 8 games of each other like predicted this year. So someone please tell me...why do we put ANY weight into this?

Yeah...but he even mentioned he like the Cubs....but was going with the Atlanta Braves theory that he's not picking against the Cards till they prove they can't win it.

Buck Martinez Picked the Cubs, also picked D-Lee to win the MVP Orestas Estrada Picked the Cubs Mark Patrick Picked the Cardinals Martinez pointed to a greatly improved Barrett...think he's basically got a man crush on anyone who played for him in the WBC...

2 of the 3 guys picked the Cubs to win the Central...the third picked the Cards....we all know preseason predictions are worth about as much as an Autographed Neifi Perez baseball card....but its a sign that a little bit of optimisim might be warranted.

If I remember correctly he got an outright release from colorado...How does a guy who couldn't make the Rockies get a 2 year deal with us?

At the risk of being flamed as I know how highly some people here think of "team chemistry" I wonder if there isn't something to it. The main reason I give it some weight is this. At the end of the day, baseball is the players job. Out of the many jobs I've had, and firms I've worked in, whether it be professional, or manual labor, the way I felt about the job, and attitude I had going in every day had a lot to do with the environment...If I hated my boss, or the people I worked with, it really doesn't matter how much I like the work, if you hate who you're working for or with I think performance suffers. In an office environment, if you've got a bunch of people who want to be there you usually get better results, and I'm never upset to see the more negative people leave cause it just makes life a little more livable....how do you measure it? Heck, I don't know, how many games is it worth? I don't know that either...but I'd agree with the pornography analogy...I think you know it when you see it and I think it has some effect. just my 2 cents.

Is that John's son? :D

This makes me happy. Wouldn't change a thing. With what they got, I wouldn't change a thing, but if I could, I'd still make some moves. I don't hate the thought of Hairston at 2nd...but given the choice, this is what I'd throw out there too...and likely in this exact order...unless/until Murton earns the 5 hole.

How do you figure ERA+ again?

This Aramis guy just might make the team.

I just want to know why Pagan is a career minor leaguer at age 24. Especially since he just tied the game with another HR!! (I know...it doesn't matter...these #s don't matter...although I'm beginning to think that maybe, at age 24, he's shown he deserves a little time in the bigs to see if he can produce)

thats what i thought too but his spring #'s are quite good. he must have regained some if not all of his lost velocity. williamson is a big risk imo and has pretty much said he wants to close again anyway so why not deal him? The D-Rays are in serious need of a closer....if we decied we HAD to move him I could see potential there. I don't see the Rays having as much interest as a team like the Braves might have. The Rays aren't going to have many games worth saving, while the lack of a closer could cause the Braves to lose their first division title since the Clinton administration. Was it the Clinton administration or the first Bush Administration? I thought it was since 1991, which would have been GB part I...I could be wrong though...just going off memory.

thats what i thought too but his spring #'s are quite good. he must have regained some if not all of his lost velocity. williamson is a big risk imo and has pretty much said he wants to close again anyway so why not deal him? The D-Rays are in serious need of a closer....if we decied we HAD to move him I could see potential there.

A similar guy that I think the Cubs gave up on a little too soon...especially considering some of the guys on our bench over the last 5 years. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=4080

One other reason to think that Pagan might be the guy to get the spot is that he's 2 years younger than Restovich so still has potential to just be coming into himself, and also, Cubs.com has Pagan on the 40 man roster where Restovich isn't.

Pagan is hitting .360 this spring, and according to Dusty is a switch hitter...I'm sure Restovich could be a solid player but my vote would be for Pagan at this point.

Listening to XM...he said...I can't say yes but lets just say that if he is not on the team there will be a LOT of unhappy people. BY BY Marquis?

Grissom didn't fly out, strike out, ground out, foul out, or line out...he MADE an out. That almost sounds intentional. I think he's conspiring against us. Sort of like playing small ball, the Cubs use players like Grissom, Neifi, and Enrique Wilson to "manufacture outs" Last year it was the North Sides' leading export. :D

Look on the bright side. Last year I would have given anything for a sac bunt with no outs...it would have meant two things...1. that our leadoff guy got on...and 2. that Neifi wasn't allowed to hit into a double play. :D

I'm much more embarassed about the way Cubs fans treated Corey than the Cubs. I totally agree but I also have to say Corey's refusal to play winter ball merits a few boos next time he plays at Wrigley, if he ever does. That actually did get me a little angry at him. Other than that I have no problem with him as a person. I guess I was lumping in Cubs fans with the Cubs in my question...That was basically my premise. I figure Eric might not think too much of Cubs Nation (I hate it when people say "Cubs" or "Sox" or whatever nation..oh well) after how his Big Brother was treated. I know I wouldn't.

not that it should...but does anyone think that Corey's not so glorious departure from Chicago will have a negative effect on how Eric Patterson views the Cubs?

Pretty much. Thats very encouraging. Compared to what was run out there on a daily basis last year its a big improvement...is it enough? who knows...but its an improvement. And I've got a strange feeling that Murton won't be in that 7 hole for long...I think he's going to work his way well up the line up before the year is over.

Yeah...I'm beginning to think hte 2nd base job is Hairson's to lose. And honestly, if he can put up a solid OBP and play good defense, I've got no problem with it...as long as Nefi is nothing more than a backup on this team I'm a happy camper, and if he's not starting, Walker is a little Left Handed pop off the bench, which is nice. Also, I just noticed that both A-ram and Murton are in the TOP FOUR of all of baseball in batting average this spring...that's a great sign.

Well...that does make me feel better...I missed the interview with Dusty...that may have been during my little "nap" from the 3rd till the 7th... :D Anyway. thanks,

That before yesterday's televised game Bob and Len said "Dusty's got the starting OF here to work together and the Starting Infield in the other split squad game...even during Split Squad games he likes to keep those Units together so they can continue to work on timing. Ok..that statement, by itself is fine, and make sense...what bothers me was that Ronny was playing SS in the game that had the "starting outfield" I know Bruce has told us many times, not to worry, Ronny's starting at SS but as a Cubs fan I'm inherently skeptical...did anyone else pick up on this yesterday?