YearofDaCubs

Agreed. I can't stand this man anymore. he has worn out his welcome as far as I'm concerned.

As a manager he should take responsibility for the players. If they are missing signs, you teach them. Just another reason to wish Dusty the heck out of here!

we were asked who we think should win, not who we think will. OK, smart ass the guy has been out half a year yet people think he should win? No way.

What do you all suppose the chances are that Burnitz is back next year? Hopefully zero because that will mean we havent done enough to upgrade the team.

I really doubt Williamson will be left to walk.

I really doubt Halladay gets any consideration. He has been hurt for a while and out for the season.

Thats what Neifi gets for swinging at that pitch. So agian Dusty decides to put Neifi in the lineup.

I think Colon has a very good chance to take it this year.

See this is BS. A good manager will make the best of his roster no matter what he has been given. Dusty can't do that and that just shows how inept he is.

I, unfortunately, do not share that opinion. I could easily see the Cubs go with Neifi, at least as a primary SS option. If Dusty has Neifi available to him, he will use him far more often than is reasonable. I think Walker is also doing his best to get shown the door. If so, you can bet, at the very least, Neifi will be at 2B or SS. It wouldn't surprise me if Neifi was the starting SS, and Cedeno and Walker platooned at 2B. Wow, if truly we are relying on Neifi to be our starter at any position I'm gone and I'm sure there will be others.

A washed up Nomar is still a lot better than Neifi. If Neifi is our starting SS next season, I don't think I'll be watching many Cubs games, especially if Giles is the only OF we aquire to make up for the lack of production. I doubt there is any way Neifi is the starter next year for this team, but I agree if something like that were to happen(anything is possible with this organization) I will be boycotting this team.

Who knows maybe Hendry feels that he is reponsible for the season being a disaster and I agree he is one reason why it is. Because he feels responsible maybe he feels that Dusty has been doing a good job and the team tanked because Hendry did not make the right personnel moves. Well, I will tell you that not only is Hendry responsible but so is Baker. He lost his clubhouse last year and did so yet again this year. How is it possible that we had a high turnover ratio from last year yet we still have the same problems in 2005? It's simple, it's Baker. I'm getting so sick of "Dusty quotes" the lack of playing the kids when we are officially out of the playoffs run and his mismanagement. Enough is enough with these clowns.

FINALLY a voice of reason! when i first started reading this thread i didnt even read the quote, 2 pages in i decided to go read the article in its entirety...WOW WAS I RELIEVED! this article is mere speculative crap, "contract matters...will be discussed in the spring" is McPhails canned answer for all contract questions. In fact there is NOT EVEN A DIRECT QUOTE FROM MacPhail IN THE ENTIRE ARTICLE. its too early to give up on '07 and '08....'06 maybe, unless dusty gets canned this offseason.... PERSONALLY I AM GOING TO CHOOSE TO INTERPRET MCPHAILS CANNED ANSWER TO READ, IM REALLY DISGUSTED WITH DUSTY BAKER BUT IM NOT GONNA HAMSTRING HIM WITH ONE MONTH LEFT IN THE SEASON....BUT BE SURE HE'S GONE IN THE OFFSEASON ok, im not really that optimistic, but i just dont see how one can take Andy's canned answer as "they will both be given extensions in the spring" Keep reading and find some of the posts which were written by Bruce. Then maybe you wont be so relieved.

Dusty would not be the manager here if this was any other organization and that is disturbing.

I usually do not agree with Mariotti because he is even morenegative than me, but I think he is right on with his article this morning. http://www.suntimes.com/output/mariotti/cst-spt-jay06.html

Dusty passes out pocket tvs to all the players for them to see how its them against the world. Haha.

Haha no way.

His numbers stand a good chance of improving in year 1 in a move from SD to Chicago just due to park factors. I'd sign him to a 4 year deal with the full intention of trading him after year 2. 4 may be a bit much. I'd go for 3. Offer him 3 and he'll sign with LA, SD or LA. In order to get him away from the coast, you're going to have to give the extra year. The key is to trade him before it bites you too badly. But he'd be huge for us in year 1 and is likely to still be very productive in year 2. Then you ship him out and it doesn't matter how many years he has left. Yeah, but considering the amount of money he will be receiving will he even be tradeable come year 3?

Bruce, Is there any talk about having a payroll less than 100mil?

Speier is the only coach that should stay in my opinion.

Pretty simple. Look @ what Prior and Wood did in 2003 compared to this year. There's more to it than that. Such as?? I'm not blaming either. It's just those two were great in 2003.. If this is 2003, the Cubs win 4-1 today. Here we go again: Poor coaching. Poor manager Terribel off-season which caused more holes on the roster. A regressed and unhealthy starting pitching A lack of good arms in the bullpen A lack of taking walks No patience at the plate Not starting/playing the best players on the team Injuries No solid day in/day out lineup. Poor manager and probably some more but that sums it up IMO. The Cub offense is better this year than 2003, and they have the same manager. That isnt saying much. What the heck does 2003 have to do with 2005? We won more games in 2004 than we did in 2003 yet we still didnt make the playoffs. THe trade for Lawton and Ramirez, and the fact that the Cards and Astros lost grip of the division made us go to the playoffs in 2003. Things are different now, and teams are better yet we are not.

Wow, this is surreal. The GM, the manager, and the players are not the same page. THere has to be some sort of lack of communication.

Agreed. If it was up to me I would fire the entire coaching staff. Let's see what Hendry does but something tells me we wont be happy.

Pretty simple. Look @ what Prior and Wood did in 2003 compared to this year. There's more to it than that. Such as?? I'm not blaming either. It's just those two were great in 2003.. If this is 2003, the Cubs win 4-1 today. Here we go again: Poor coaching. Poor manager Terrible off-season which caused more holes on the roster. A regressed and unhealthy starting pitching A lack of good arms in the bullpen A lack of taking walks No patience at the plate Not starting/playing the best players on the team Injuries No solid day in/day out lineup. Poor manager and probably some more but that sums it up IMO.

No. I'm not delusional. Just because you disagree with me doesn't make me delusional. If you have read my posts you would know that I have logic, reason and stats supporting all of my opinions. However, there is one difference between you and me. I regard my opinions as just that. I don't pretend to know the truth about much of anything. If you want to have a discussion about the facts in this case and begin to sift the hard facts from the twisted quotes and views of Baker moves from a certain point of view that are being treated as if they are hard facts, I would be happy to join you. I dont need to read Dusty's quotes to make a conclusion. I have watched almost every game this year and can tell you that Dusty has played the vets much more than the young players. He takes them out of situations to pinch-hit a vet which usually turns out to be ugly. When a player goes down he has preferred to go to a veteran off the bench and let them start over the players coming from the minors. Even with Murton lighting it up how many times did we see others start in LF over him? We are already out of the playoff race yet we still are not seeing a consistent lineup out there. If your opinion is that Baker does not discriminate so be it. My opinion is that he does indeed discriminate the young players and has been doing it all year.