YearofDaCubs

No way d I want to see Reuter here. He is from IL though, but he is washed up.

Pedro, Beltran, and Posada?

Good win, but I wont get too excited until we are at least 4 gb from the wild card.

How come we do good agains the good teams and cant do squat against the bad ones? No motivation?

I heard what he said on the radio and it sounded like he will evaluate himself during the offseason and go from there. I still dont htink he retires.

Although it woulod be nice for us if he did, I highly doubt that he will. Here's hoping that he does.

Wrigley would be a bad career move :)

LaRussa has admitted that he ordered pitches thrown in his book.

You have to admit. Nomar has been looking good ever since he has come back.

Patterson not looking bad at all.

Were both of those homers bombs?

Truthfully speaking he started slumping last year towards the end as well. At this point its not a stretch to think he can finish below .300.

Boy, that 3rd year option on Maddux was just a terrible move. Can you imagine how bad Maddux will be next year? Retire Maddux.

Maddux, do us all Cubs fans a favor and retire. Maddux is doing worse than Estes was.

Now you should. Pujols homer. ANother run in the first inning.

We picked him up to win the world series for us, dont you know? Waste of a prospect.

What a farce. Barnum and Bailey Cubs. Please somebody do us all a favor and fire this worthless manager. I;m pleading to anybody that can do it!! I can't take these lineups anymore!

We might have to find one of our future OFs through trade. I just dont see that many options this off-season. And no thank you to Burnitz and his overpriced option.

Agreed.

Sorry, but Jerome Williams is a starter in this league. Sure, he's not a 1 or 2 but he can fit perfectly as a bottom of the rotation guy. He is also young, and I'm expecting him to be even better next year. Hill on the other hand needs to go back and learn a bit. The talent is there, it's just what you do with it and expand what counts.

Agreed. They should all get fired.

The more I think about the situation, the more I get upset at Hendry. All he had to do last year was trade for a closer and he couldnt do that. This team is so bad right now that the 2003 Cubs would have creamed them all over the place. In 2003 we were only swept what once all season? Last year swept 3 times? And this year we have been swept at least 5 imes and mostly fromm mediocre teams. The fact is our pitching isnt good anymore, and that includes our starting pitching. Our offense? Wow, I wouldnt be surprised if the Royals and Devil Rays can score more runs. We were so close to the WS, and 2 years later we are so far away. Thanks Hendry and Baker for ruining the best opportunity we have had in years.

OMg this cant be serious!!?? Koronka? Talk about desparation.

I agree completely. One of Hendry's faults is that he lets the manager handle the day-by-day on field issues and he has said this many times. Everyone wanted Hendry to sign Beltran, Benitez, Percival, trade for Dunn, Wagner, Huff, etc. Every one of those players have been totally overpriced and wouldn't have made a difference this year. This year has been a disaster, but if anyone is going to get us out of this mess, I think it's Jim Hendry. I think there will be some settlement with Baker and he will leave to go to greener pastures with both the Cubs and Baker saying good things about each other. Of course, both sides will be glad that Baker is out of Chicago. I do think there will be a lot of changes during the offseason. I think the Cubs might reach some kind of settlement with Maddux for him to retire. I think Maddux has too much pride to hang around as a below-average #4 or #5 starter and tarnish his reputation. As you said, the real problem is Baker and his philosophy clashing with Hendry's. If Baker had given the kids a chance and used Dempster as closer from the beginning, our record might not be any better, but at least we would have a plan for next year. Unless Baker changes his philosophy, the Cubs go into next year with questions about 2B, SS, LF, CF, RF, #3,4,& 5 starters, bullpen, and Murton and Cedeno's ability to play in the majors. Reaching a settlement with Maddux and Baker would be two great things to happen to us.

I'm going to offer a dissent on the prevailing "Hendry is bad news" line here for the following reasons: 1. The lynchpins of the 2003 team - Wood, Patterson, Borowski, and Sosa - have cratered or at least may never return to previous form. Sosa is now off the juice. JoBo has reverted to pre-2002 form. Wood has been stubborn on his mechanics. Patterson has turned into Jerome Walton. All of this is hardly Hendry's fault. 2. Hendry has been smart avoiding overpriced, excessively long contracts for everyday players. The free agent market last year was awful. Way overpriced. A good GM avoids that market. Wasn't it Phil Rogers complaining that the Cubs should have signed Thome? How would you like the Cubs to have that albatross of a contract on our hands? 3. Hendry has been excellent at tactical trading, which is appropriate when you think you're close to be a winner. This team is clearly not a winning ballclub anymore. Let's see what Hendry does this offseason now that he has the time, money, and prospects to make some strategic decisions. 4. Hendry has been learning from his mistakes. No big contracts to middle relievers. Getting minor leaguers who control the strike zone (Murton, Moore). I will wait until next spring to see how the Cubs will be transformed before I jump on the "Out with Hendry" bandwagon. Tru, but when it is all said and done its getting into the playoffs that counts, and its going to be 2 years of not in it.