Bleed Cubbie Blue

I don't understand why Miles, Heilman, Freel, Patton, and others are on this roster.

They seem like band-aids. And I’m not even talking about Hoff and Scales (both of whom I like), but who probably shouldn’t be getting so much playing time on a major league roster.

Scales and Miles are redundant...

and Freel and Scales appear to be redundant. We’re carrying two guys who are almost certain to post sub-.700 OPS for the season in Freel and Miles, and a third who is pretty darn likely to be there as well.

Last year, we carried one of those guys (Cedeno) to fill the middle-infield backup role. This year, it’s three.

Heilman has good stuff, and did have an effective year or two with the Mets. So I understand his addition (even if it hasn’t looked great so far). But Patton makes no sense. He hasn’t looked good when he has pitched, and now Piniella refuses to pitch him. So we’re playing with a 24-man roster, and that includes 2 redundant weak-hit middle infield backups. Patton needs to be moved off the 25-man roster.

Exactly.

I would love to be able to unload Miles and DFA Freel, but to do that we have to acquire other bench players who can help us. It’s frustrating.

DGU - May 25, 2009 reply

Bench

While I mostly agree with Al, I wouldn’t say last year’s bench was all that wonderful, either. But certainly this year’s is a mess, and keeping a pitcher on the roster who never gets used makes no sense at all.

Last year's bench was friggin' great, I dunno what you're talking about.

Reed & LBR were great, and we had guys like Ward, Cedeno, and Blanco that provided either versatile defense or some offensive pop every once-in-a-while.

+1

and I remember an interleague game in Tampa where we had 4 good lefties come up and pinch hit in the 9th against their closer Percival. Granted, we lost, but we were in that game until the very last pitch because of our bench. Same game this year, we have Freel and Aaron Miles pinch hitting. Drastic difference.

Don't forget Jimmy Ballgame

I didn't include him because he started CF more than any other player last year. Essentially a bench player that became our starter.

Ward

was done in 2007, he was useless over all last season. He could not run, could not field a position, and had a horrific PH season. Otherwise our bench was strong

Cubbie-Tim - May 24, 2009 reply

Last season

I agree with Cubbie-Tim. Ward was pretty useless off the bench last year – that was a problem for the team (not much of one, of course, since they won 97 games). All I was saying was, things weren’t perfect.

I agree about Freel

what’s the point of him taking up a roster spot if he’s not going to play? Especially since his salary is so small. Drop him and Patton and suddenly two more players can come in and hopefully help us be a more complete team.

I agree with your earlier post to give Marmol a chance at being closer.

Ship Heilman away, and let Gregg take his place.. We seem to have a surplus of good starting pitching, when the staff is healthy, put the extra starter as a reliever. With our good backup catcher, give Soto more rest (by the way, I think his bat is coming around).

I agree.

and we essentially have 6 starters right now that are more than adequate, so Heilman is really hurting us in that aspect.

Yeah

in a park that actually carries, both those flies are probably out.

Don't give him rest -- Give him a treamill!

He looks like he’s drinking a chocolate milkshake every half inning.

Is treamill

related to Trammel?

"treadmill"

The Mets bullpen--which was HORRIBLE last year...

…didn’t even want Aaron Heilman. I cannot believe Hendry wanted him. Between Gregg, Heilman, Gathright, and Bradley, I think Jim Hendry constructed this year’s team while on a trip to the Joshua Tree with a bagful of shrooms and absinthe.

Anyone know how much the Indians would want for DeRosa?

This roster is completely mindboggling.

And I really miss Rami.

I understand the whole...

…“we need to get more left handed” thing but the ‘08 Cubs scored a hell of a lot of runs! The fact DeRosa was shipped out for Bradley perplexed me then, just as much as it does now. I gotta think that if the Cubs tried getting Dero back now, they’d pay a big price while being the laughing stock of MLB.

if it gets us winning again

i don’t care about being laughed at.

I'll bet Lou and Jimbo do!

And they're the ones that count :-)

Eh

Let ’em get over it. :-P

Hey, I like DeRo too.

Giving up DeRo and getting Miles was not a good move. I’m actually not second-guessing Jimbo on getting Gameboard, I think he will be productive.

I actually

understand why they traded DeRosa (33, career year, chance to get something for him)… but they didn’t have any way to replace what he gave (multiple positions, lou’s trust).

And I like Bradley. I just wish he’d start hitting.

What exactly do you like about Milton Bradley?

Just curious

I like the fact he's

a really good OF and that he’s a career .277 hitter with an OPS of .821

I just wish he’d start living up to his career numbers.

My problem with him is...

…with the exception of Texas, he’s been a cancerous tumor on every team he’s played for, and he’s had a laundry list of injuries.

Also, in his first Wrigley Field game, he threw a temper tantrum and was suspended. Instead of just excepting the ban (aka, take one for the TEAM), when he was already injured with a groin injury, he insisted on becoming a distraction to the team and appealed it “on principle”. Judging by his numbers through today, a few days on the bench probably would have done him some good.

The fact he appealed a bogus call

didn’t bother me. The fact the appeal dragged on for 10 days isn’t his fault, AFAIK. Most appeals I remember have been settled before that.

But you’re entitled to your opinion.

The called strike 3 may have been bogus...

…and an argument would have been ok — even an ejection would’ve been ok. But he made contact with an umpire(albeit, minor contact) so he gets suspended. Sit 2 games, you’re injured anyway, put it behind you, and move on. Unfortunately, Milton preferred to make a news story out of it

I don't have a problem with what Bradley did.

I do have a problem with him not hitting. He may be trying too hard, pressing; I have had this argument before, but playing in Chicago is so much more difficult than any other city he’s been in, including LA. The market SIZE isn’t the issue, it’s the high profile of the team.

I don’t think Milton really understood what pressures would bear on him as a Cub. So far, he doesn’t seem capable of handling them.

I understand the high profile of the team...

…but I gotta disagree with respect to LA. There is plenty of attention payed to the Dodgers and I imagine they were glad when MB left town after the fan incident. Just ask Andruw Jones about being a Dodger.

Point taken.

Still, MB did have a decent year there.

And he still has a chance to

have a decent year here.

Just time for him (and everyone else) to start getting it together.

+1

It would never happen. For Hendry to do that is an open admission that he screwed things up.

He doesn’t need that kind of advertisement when his contract comes due with the new ownership.

I think Hendry signed an extension over the offseason...

…but that still not a good first impression!

No more DeRomanticism

Will you stop that?

It has NOTHING to do with “romanticism”. It has everything to do with acquiring a versatile player who can help the Cubs in the absence of Aramis Ramirez.

Nothing more, nothing less.

OK, then give me some other options

instead of pining for this guy like he was the best player in history.

And as long as you or anybody else don’t, then no, I won’t stop it.

No, YOU give me some more options.

I’ve given you mine.

How about letting Freel play more than once a week?

Let’s see what he can do.

Here is what

Ryan Freel can do http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/freelry01.shtml

Career .270 hitter, 22 career home runs and 118 career RBI. DeRosa is a career .278 hitter and hit 21 homers last year. That isn’t romanticism, it’s looking at facts. Are you really that dense or do you just like to be a pain in the rear? DeRosa ain’t Mickey Mantle, but he is a hell of a lot better option than Ryan Freel.

qccub - May 24, 2009 reply

Who do you think you are?!

Do you realize that you are condescending not just to Al, but to the majority of the posters here? How can someone who is so consistently wrong be so bullheaded?

Your argument against DeRosa started out as “I refuse to criticize Hendry”. You laughed about dero’s early season struggles and said Fonty was better. Now, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you continue to say that Derosa would not help this team. Why? What do you gain? And if you’re going to spend all your time being so obviously wrong, why be so pigfish about it? Stop calling people idiots and saying things like “oh you cubs fans get what you deserve sometimes.” You are being a jerk, and need a site enforced time out. Failing that, reassess your situation, recognize that you don’t have any more allies, and change your tone.

Wrong?

Sorry, I’m not wrong about this. And I criticize Hendry when I see fit.

I think this love affair many of you have with DeRosa is pathetic in the extreme. Most of you have been whining since Opening Day about it, like a bunch of jilted lovers or a spoiled child who had his lollipop taken away. He was fine for what he was, but his absence isn’t the reason this team is having problems right now.

And frankly, if Al thinks DeRosa is more valuable to this team than Greg Maddux was to the Cubs in his prime, he deserves to be called on it, much as I love him and what he’s done with this site.

There are some things that can be done to improve this club right now. The front end of the bullpen and one more utility player can help. But most of the help for this team must come from within, from players eventually playing up to their capabilities.

I realize we live in a right-away society, but baseball is not a right-away type of game. If you don’t get that, you should go watch the Cavs and the Magic instead.

Al didn't say DeRosa was more valuable than Maddux...

this has been your repeated retort, and it is absurdly inaccurate. Is that really the best you can do?

DeRosa is better than Miles and Freel. He’s not an all-star, but getting him back would make the roster better. That’s the point. There is a middle ground between thinking DeRosa is an all-star and thinking DeRosa is useless to the team. Apparently you can’t understand that.

I realize you like to take the “wait and see” approach. That certainly applies with guys who have a track record of success. For example, I agree that we should wait and see on Bradley, Soto, and Lee. But Miles is not a good baseball player, and Freel hasn’t been right since his injury. They aren’t going to put up .750 OPS any time soon, and neither plays defense at 3B as well as DeRosa.

When did I ever say DeRosa was more valuable than Maddux?

That’s absurd, and I have never said it.

Not Bruce, you have been combative and insulting to other posters, myself included, on this issue. You have called people names. None of that is acceptable behavior.

Hey, I was agreeing with you, Al...

I’m guessing you meant this as a response to NBF, not me. Just wanted to make sure though.

That's correct.

I guess I threaded it wrong.

I give up

You guys are right and I’m wrong. Season’s over. And DeRosa is God.

Feel better now?

Again, you misrepresent people's viewpoints...

There is such thing as a gray area, man. Look into it. Discussing ways to improve the team doesn’t mean you think that the season is lost.

Well

No one has said this:

And DeRosa is God.

But confirm or deny: DeRosa is a major leaguer who plays more than secondbase at at least a league average.

Confirm or deny: We could use more versatility on our bench.

Now DeRosa is gone. The chances of him coming back to play in Cubbie blue are slim to nil. But to say that everyone who wishes he WOULD come back is “worshiping a minor cub” is ridiculous. And insulting.

And I’ve not seen anyone saying “fold up the tents, we’re finished”. If we don’t start playing better and winning more consistently soon: the playoffs are going to become increasingly unlikely.

And you’re not always wrong. But your tone is. And I’ve asked you before to change it. Talking people around to your point of view would be easier if you didn’t sound like a jerk.

Allie - May 25, 2009 reply

I just re-read most of my posts on this thread

And honestly, I don’t see much here that’s all that inflammatory. In fact, the responses are more inflammatory than the original posts.

You basically are saying that DeRosa is God. Not in those exact words, perhaps, but that’s what you’re saying.

And I’m sorry if you don’t care for my tone. I also don’t care for a lot of yours.

No one is saying DeRosa is god...

that’s an obnoxious suggestion. Saying that DeRosa is better than Miles/Freel is not the same thing as saying DeRosa is god.

It is perfectly reasonable to prefer to have DeRosa to Miles/Freel. The stats back it up.

There’s also a reasonable argument as to why DeRosa won’t (and maybe even shouldn’t) be regained.

There’s a big gap between what people are actually suggesting regarding DeRosa and what you’re accusing people of suggesting.

Perhaps your analysis

of the situation is more logical and measured than that of others, SC.

Exactly

Thank you.

Allie - May 25, 2009 reply

Maddux wouldn't have made a difference in 1993

And DeRosa would make a difference now. So in so many words, that’s exactly what you said.

Of course, you don’t know what effect Maddux would have had in ’93, nor in the 11 years from then until he returned.

Wildly poor logic there...

Extremely poor.

Now I know what he’s talking about. I did say that keeping Greg Maddux would probably not have made up the 13 games the Cubs finished out of first place in 1993. I’ve also said that getting DeRosa back (or not letting him go in the first place) might make the 2009 Cubs a better team.

How that morphed into “Al says letting DeRo go was worse than letting Maddux go” is beyond me.

Pretty easily, I think

And I’m not the only one who interpreted it that way.

I think you are.

However, I did NOT mean it that way — that’s patently ridiculous, and I do not believe that.

Let’s close this thread, because your hostility and attacks yesterday were completely uncalled for and I don’t want and will not tolerate a repeat.

Finally

Something we can agree on. (And judging from the replies to your Maddux/DeRo post, I think you’re mistaken.)

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

yeah Bruce

these are the NEW DeRomantics now… it’s a totally different movement…

seriously, I got really tired of hearing about DeRosa early in the season, too… but the talk about him now is much more about practicality than romanticizing a lost player… right now, people like Al are talking about him as a potential answer to some current problems, not as “The Savior of the Cubs”… so I think you should cut them some slack…

Nobody's being "romantic" here

We simply miss a versatile player who could be a HUGE help to us right now. I mean, some us us are actually bothered by the fact that this team is currently completely unable to score runs and we’d like to think that something could/should be done to change this.

The rest can continue to look through their delusional rose colored glasses and say that everything’s fine, the Cubs are great, no help needed, etc.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

That what I just said

Did you read my post before replying to it?

read it again but imagine the first line with a big blinking “SARCASM” after it… then read past the first line… thanks

It's been like this all season

Not just now. Not just in the last week.

Like I said, sometimes Cubs fans deserve all the criticism they get.

DeRosa is only half practical

He addresses the immediate need, but not the long-term need. We need a plus defender who can play both positions on the left side of the IF. DeRosa will only be able to play 3B under Lou. We don’t need DeRosa in the OF, either; he’s just a name we remember and a guy we liked.

DGU - May 24, 2009 reply

I've heard people make this point before...

and it doesn’t make any sense to me. The way Hendry gains job security is by winning. If he thinks that doubling back on a previous decision would achieve that, i find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t do it.

In other words, I really don’t think it has anything to do with a fear that somehow all of a sudden his bosses will go “wait, is he admitting that he screwed up?”.

The only consideration that I think is possible is that he doesn’t want to appear like he’s indecisive and timidly going for a mulligan. But you can avoid that by doubling back with confidence and making it known that you are acting with a plan. Or as a Military man might say, “you’re not retreating; you’re attacking in the other direction.”

(Btw, in saying this, I’m not supporting the idea of getting DeRo; I actually haven’t decided if i think it would be a good idea or not.)

I was just looking at the 2008 Cubs season book..

And became even more depressed. The guys looked so happy.

Milton's Gameboard - May 24, 2009 reply

Everbody is happy when your team wins 97 games.

DrCrawdad - May 24, 2009 reply

well...

at least until the playoffs start. :(

Heilman

I don’t see why Lou insists on bringing him in with inherited runners. Heilman has proven he can’t handle doing that in an inning. He proved that in 2007 and 2008.

Today we only scored two runs so it didn’t make a different but seriously Lou needs to recognize this with his bullpen.

ak123 - May 24, 2009 reply

Talk about blowing things up

When I read stuff like “make Marmol the closer,” sounds like you’re just blowing up more stuff. He’s fine where he is, and so is Gregg.

If I’m making changes right now, the biggest one is letting go of Patton and replacing him with either another reliever or another utility player. Give Hill a little more playing time. And that’s about it.

The answers to the Cubs’ current woes are right on their roster. The guys who have shown a history of producing need to live up to their records. If they do that, they’ll be fine.

Good thing the powers that be aren’t as panicky as the fans.

Couldn't you argue...

..“the powers that be” panicked a little bit after the NLDS?

rec'd

I don't think so

They needed to not be so righty-heavy. Perhaps you can get away with it during the regular season, but in a short series, it’s better to have some balance.

gotta get there first!

I agree

but regardless of handedness, get guys who can play.

And by guys who can play

I mean more than second base.

Why we have so many secondbasemen is beyond me.

Didn't we have this problem with too many outfelders a couple of years ago?

Sometimes I think Hendry forgets who he has on the team.

We've always had a glut of players...

with Baker it was too many 2B. Then, with Piniella at the beginning it was too many LF. Now, we’re back to too many 2B.

Note: I’m not attributing this to the managers – it’s just easier to present chronologically that way.

Hendry works with his managers to identify what they think they want, and then he develops an obsession with achieving it – usually to the point of excess.

A team that wins 97 games...

shouldn’t flop in the Playoffs!

Anything can happen in a short series.

Yep.

Tell that to the 100-win Angels from last year.

recommended!

I wouldn't say that all fans are panicky.

There are some of us that just see holes in the roster and have ideas to proactively correct some of them.

And some of those ideas

like making Marmol the closer, would make things worse.

care to elaborate?

Your highest stress situation

Doesn’t necessarily come in the ninth. You might need to get an out or two with two on base in the seventh. Or you might have the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth. Starting an inning with nobody on and no outs isn’t when you need someone with Marmol’s ability.

And incidentally...

… I said I agreed with a lot of the ideas in that post, not all of them. I do NOT agree with making Marmol the closer.

Gregg just gets hit way too hard

to be a closer. The 9th is when teams pull out all the stops to tie/win the game. Make Marmol the closer, and if Gregg gets a couple of guys on in the 8th, Marmol is more than capable of getting a 4 or 5 out save.

And you'll work him into submission

Marmol is fine for one inning. After that, he has problems. Leaving him in there for four- or five-out saves is asinine.

Are you saying

that Marmol can’t do what a generation of closers did before 1995 or so? Work 2 innings regularly for a save? I’ll bet guys like Lee Smith would laugh at posts like yours.

Yes, danimal, we know.

Every starting pitcher should throw a CG, and if they don’t, every closer should post 3-inning saves.

It’s a lovely nostalgia, but the reality is, pitchers today aren’t used that way.

That's not what I'm saying

Al – you’re twisting my words. I never said anything about CGs, nor do I think we should expect one every time. The game has indeed changed, and I acknowledge it. But asking a closer to get more than 3 outs at a time isn’t living in the past – Mariano Rivera does it quite often even now. And Marmol has proven he can handle more than an inning of work at a time.

Mariano Rivera.

The number of more than one inning appearances he has this year is one (out of 19).

The number of more than one inning appearances he had last year was 15 (out of 64).

He USED to do that quite a bit. But he is older now, and the Yankees don’t use him that way.

And Rivera is, after all, a future Hall of Famer. Kevin Gregg… isn’t.

exactly

and I for one think that Marmol has earned that role.

So basically your idea is to leave everything as it is

and eventually everybody will start hitting and everything will be fine?

Yeah, that’s realistic.

The problem is I have a bad feeling Hendry might agree with you,

I don't think that's what I said

The front end of the bullpen needs work, and one more utility bat would be nice.

Otherwise? No. That’s it.

Yeah, I agree about Marmol. Not that stats are that meaningful when you compare

pitching in the 8th to the 9th, but here’s some info:

Gregg ERA: 5.40
Cotts ERA: 5.40
Heilman ERA: 5.30
Marmol ERA: 3.60

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

you left out Fox

Fox ERA: 135.00

seriously… he better never come off the DL..

BTW, why is he still on the roster? Sometimes I just don't understand...

willie mays hayes' gloves - May 24, 2009 reply

The problem is not the fact that you need Marmol to get key outs in the eighth inning. There

are just as many key outs in the ninth as there are in the eighth. Most teams have there best reliever as their closer and they seem to be doing fine.Infact, we are looking up at them now. The problem is that the bullpen is weak.

Currently, we are trying to set the game up so that our best reliever can get those key outs. You are saying that they come in the eighth, but sometimes they come in the ninth. Marmol can’t pitch the seventh, eighth and the ninth innings. If he is in fact your best reliever, then he should be pitching in the ninth. Even if he gets those key outs in the eighth, the ninth still remains. You can’t hide the bad arms in that bullpen. Eventually, they will pitch and more often than not, they have given up runs. We need better performances out of the bullpen as a whole.

And if you lose the game in the eighth,

the ninth becomes irrelevant.

Marmol is fine where he is.

This is really depressing. It does feel like were 10 games under.

Believe it or not there is a bright side to this whole thing:

1.) We are still only 4 games out of first and we are still .500.

2.) We play the Pirates next series at Wrigley. I couldn’t ask for a better team to end a streak.

3.) This streak is happening in May and not August or September. Gives the Cubs plenty of time to make moves, get people healthy, and turn things around.

Bricks and Ivy - May 24, 2009 reply

Finally, I have just been fed up with this team

I remember telling my fellow Cub fan friends in the off season that this season was going to be mediocre. They laughed, but it looked like I was the only reasonable thinking one.

Jim Hendry essentially tried to relieve the salary room by trading away players for cheaper options that he hope would be just as serviceable. For example: Trading away Pie and then signing Gathright and signing Miles then trading DeRosa. The same philosophy goes for the bullpen as well. This experiment has utterly failed.

In addition, the Milton Bradley signing is looking dreadful everyday. I support the guy and would even love if he hit .300 with 30 HR, but he is sucking it up right now, in addition to Soto, Fontenot, Theriot, and pretty much every other Cub not named Fukudome.

One change I do like is Koyie Hill for Henry Blanco. The rest are garbage.

The Heilman deal is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Before the trade, we had Cedeno and Garrett Olsen. Had we still have Cedeno, he would look real nice at 3b right now. Or DeRosa, which every Cubs fan knew that trade would come back to bite us in the ass when Ramirez went down.

I liked Patton at first, but the General must go.

I liked it when Fontenot was declared the starting 2b, but he is horrifically slumping right now. The problem is we have no viable option at that position other than him.

The difference between this team and 2008 is simply defined as: the bench and the bullpen, both of which that are dead compared to the glorious 2008 season.

note: this may just be a rant

I had to turn of the TV just to keep me from punching a hole through it

Yep, it's a rant

and nothing more.

And the 2008 season didn’t end in a glorious way.

Well the 2008 team was more built for the playoffs than this team

n/t

Everything's easier

in hindsight, isn’t it?

yeah, thats why we should learn from last off season

and never follow that plan again..

Well, you really can't judge it

until the season has played out. Not after one-quarter of it.

So by your logic

You need not stop a car heading off a cliff until it has gone off the cliff?

Please feel free to follow your logic train off a cliff please.

You don't panic when your car goes out of control

you try to get out of the spin or whatever, don’t you?

Or would you panic and completely lose it? Panic gets you nowhere.

Maybe he does

That certainly would explain a lot.

Agreed but either way

you change the direction of the car.

How you do it is debatable.

Making changes does not necessarily equal panic...

Doing nothing does equal doing nothing.

You might be better suited trying to make the argument that the car is not out of control in this case.

I'm in favor of changes

But you can’t say everything from the offseason is a “never do again” move until more is known.

At least, thats how I’m reading this particular thread.

Allie - May 25, 2009 reply

I think there's a lot going on in this thread...

I think both the arguers (NBF and Prince of Darkness) are on opposite ends of the extremes here.

Funny how that works.

Some of us criticized these moves as they were happening. That’s called foresight.

Teams like last years come along rarely

97 wins. Lots of good guys. A no hitter from your ace in Sept.

Everything looked lined up. Then they turned back into the Cubs.

This season was doomed to be at the very least different than that. Time for this team to decide what its going to be: another disappointing Cub team or something more.

Good point

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

good post

why? because it has some perspective… the long view of a long-time Cubs fan..

It was great to have 2 good years in a row, and it’s still possible we can have 3 of them.

I certainly hope so, but I’m not going to give myself a coronary if it doesn’t work out that way.

Sorry, folks — but this is what it is to be a Cubs fan. You always hope for the best, but you’re going to have to get used to a lot of disappointment.

On the plus side, I do firmly believe that “someday we’ll go all the way” and when that day does come it will mean more to us long-suffering fans than any championship has ever meant to any fans anywhere.

well said

sue369 - May 24, 2009 reply

thank you, Sue

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I disagree

This time if we go into the playoffs they’re not going to think they are Superman. I truly think The Cubs and us as fans felt the team was invincible.

ak123 - May 24, 2009 reply

The other elephant in the room that I have yet to really investigate…is that many of our regulars from last year had career years in one way or another. I’m afraid of looking into that and seeing what I find.

So might have

many of the bench guys, too. Even the guy who’s apparently missed more by Cubs fans than Greg Maddux ever was.

You are caustic.

Outside of DeRosa

I don’t remember anyone having a career year last year.

Not that theres a huge book on guys like Theriot or Fontenot to know for sure.

Reed, DeRosa, Edmonds, Soto, Fontenot, Dempster, Marmol…like I said, I’ll look into it more, but that’s just off my head.

Okay, quick glance @ BR, did you know that out of every pitcher on the roster that threw more than 30 IP last year (starters and closers), only ONE had an ERA+ less than 99? Bobby Howry. That’s how good our pitchers were last year. Every starter was 99 or greater, and every major bullpen arm was, too. That blows my mind.

Edmonds had a career year?

2004 would like to have a word with you.

Meh, was that his MVP-like year?

I just was going off the top of my head. He was what, 38 or 39 last year with us? Pretty good for an old guy!

Soto - Rookie of the Year

JFCubFan - May 25, 2009 reply

I'd argue against that

Most players last year didn’t really seem to have that dominating season. Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano were all above average players. Soto had a career season definitely, but we don’t know if he could continue it. Last year’s efforts were more of a team effort than single seasons by a batter

We have no infield, that's the problem.

I’m not really worried about our starting pitching or our outfield.

Our outfield—Soriano, Dome, Bradley, Reed, Micah—have all been doing as they should, or exceeding expectations, sans Bradley. Soriano’s going through one of his typical droughts, and will likely carry us through June or another few months when he’s hot. Dome’s been himself circa pre-All-Star break 2008, and Micah’s been a great addition. I strongly dislike Bradley, but that’s for another post.

Our pitching isn’t really the problem. All 6 of our starters (Zambrano, Harden, Lilly, Wells, Marshall, Dempster) have ERA+ of 96 or greater, with 4 of them greater than 100. We lead the league in SO/BB/9IP, but we give up too many homers. Hell, even 3 of our 4 biggest bullpen arms aren’t as terrible as I thought: Heilman, Marmol, and Guzman are all over ERA+ of 100. Granted, there’s no confidence in the bullpen, but we are mostly a .500 team (when it feels like .350) because our arms have been pretty damn good. This is a good sign to me. If our arms are on, I believe that we are neither as good of an offensive team like 2008 (where we were #2 in MLB), but sure as shit aren’t an anemic (or bi-polar) offense as it appears this year.

Theriot and Fontenot are great guys to have on a team…if you need someone to spot-start every other day, come off the bench (like LBR was properly used last year), or have enough defensive and offensive players in the infield to compensate for their daily use. But considering both Mike & Ryan have very positive UZR/150s @ 2B and negligible or negative ratings at SS or 3B, their utility becomes strikingly similar. Riot’s OPS+ in 2009 is above his career average (but still alike last year’s performance of 93). Fontenot is down, which I’m assuming is because he’s not being used correctly. Miles just sucks. When the most consistent infield lineup includes Miles, Theriot, and Fontenot, I’m not confident that we can put a team on the field that can out-score the other.

I think you and I are on the same level with how we feel about this team right now

You mean an IF doesn't soley consist of 2nd base?

We’ve got that covered!

Good stats.

I'm confused about your comment on Theriot at SS.

Last I looked (about 3 days ago), Theriot has the 3rd highest UZR/150 in all of baseball at 16.2. Dat Cub Daver and I actually had a conversation about that on another thread as it were which is why I remember it.

You might argue that UZR doesn’t adequately capture defensive prowess, but you’re wrong if you’re saying that Theriot’s URZ and UZR/150 at shortstop are "negligible or negative ratings…). In actuality, according to that metric he’s one of the best defensive SS in the game right now.

Yeah, in 2009. Through 40 games. Great, a quarter of the season.

He’s a MUCH better defensive player at 2B – 21.7 At shortstop, however, he’s a career 4.3. Which is fine if the rest of our infield can produce offense. But they aren’t doing that, not at all. I either want a superior defensive shortstop with the other three positions producing offense, or a SS that can rake at the plate. I don’t think Riot is either of those. Our team BAbip is 5th in the NL, which means we are either a great defensive club (which we were last year), or we are getting pretty damn lucky. I think Theriot is benefiting from a great defense around him. I’m unclear how great he is at SS without his teammates.

I’m fine with Theriot producing as much as he can—I think we’ve seen his ceiling at near .360 OBP and lots of scraptastic singles to RF, no power, and a defense that is a handful of runs above league average—but it’s insufficient when no one else around him is doing much of anything. I’m not suggesting Theriot is the problem, but I do think the ability to move him (either to 2B or to another team) should be more than an option considering what those around him are and are not doing. He’s a decent player, but if there’s an opportunity to improve, I’m not tied to the guy at all.

Thanks for the clarification.

Most of that seems fair to me. I’m more sanguine about leaving him at SS, but do agree that under the right circumstances, I’d have no problem with shifting him—over provided his replacement offered a meaningful upgrade.

I think Randy Wells was right

Every team goes through this stuff, but because it’s the Cubs, everybody notices it more.

eh, I don't think so

Not once have I thought about THE GOAT or ONE CENTURY; this is such a horrific slump for a team with high expectations

The lack of patience by the fan base

probably is higher than any other franchise in baseball. I can undersand it. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Yankees

2 losses= Trade ’em all away.

Mike Martin - May 24, 2009 reply

Eh, not any more, I don't think

yeah, I'd agree with you to a certain extent with that

I think the Chicago fanbase for any local team is more impatience than other fan bases, but this is much more than just not being patient, I think..

More so than the Yankees???

Cubs fans haven’t won SHIT in over 60 years. Yet the fans continue to pour into Wrigley Field year after year, the Cubs draw some of the largest crowds on the road, and you think they’re not patient?

Not anymore

Like I said, I understand it. But I guarantee it will be an ugly scene tomorrow night at Wrigley.

If Soriano strikes out to lead off the game, the boos will be loud.

I’m not against booing, not at all. But I think Rick Morrissey might have it right — the atmosphere around that ballpark is so crushing, it’s going to be tough to win anything.

Good. BOO THE HELL OUTTA EM. They don’t deserve any cheers at this point. And I hope Milton complains about playing RF. He can’t even hit .190. Theriot is a better power hitter than him right now.

I've been patient for over thirty years

at some point, the patience starts to get used up.

That has nothing to do with the present

And I’ve got 10 years on you in the waiting department.

Then go cheer somewhere else

If your patience gets “used up” completely, then what? Why wait for that moment?

Mike Martin - May 24, 2009 reply

YEAH!

BOO THE HELL OUTTA THEM! That’ll get’em going!.. And cheering and encouraging will do what? Make them play worse?

Mike Martin - May 24, 2009 reply

Those SOBs are gonna get booed like crazy

and they deserve it. Boo them like crazy.

Yours is a sentiment...

that I will never understand. But to each his own I guess.

(Though I really don’t get how you feel justified calling them all sons of b****es….)

Without starting a should you boo or not debate

This team is paid to perform. They aren’t doing that, they are coming home on a seven game losing streak that has every fan but one or two really worried. If the fans who paid for their tickets want to boo people then they should do so.

I wish people would come to my job and boo me when I don’t perform. It would motivate me and make me try harder.

I have much worse words for the POS product the Cubs have trotted out the last week.

This is what I don't get.

It would motivate me and make me try harder

What could possibly make you think they’re not already trying?

Sigh. You’re sick of garbage play? Stop going to the games. Stop watching. You get bad service at a restaurant, you don’t go back. You don’t go in, get a seat, look at the menu and then heckle everyone on the wait staff.

At least I don’t.

I think I wrote that wrong

I didn’t mean to say they weren’t trying, rather that booing would make me try even harder.

I just don't see this as an effort problem

They are trying. Trying harder isn’t going to fix this.

At this point its a matter of doing.

IMO booing will

only make them hate the fans. Booing does not solve the problem. I believe they are trying but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of chemistry on this team and that could be some of the problem.

I wasn't really referring to booing

I’ve previously disagree with doing so, but as I said to each his own.

Mostly, I was commenting on your personal attacks on them. Even if they were hitting .042 as a team and spent each game spooning the catcher in the batter’s box, it doesn’t seem warrented to me to call them SOBs.

Agree with Al

Al, early in the season (I think) you listed the number of runs produced last year by DeRosa and Edmunds. You questioned where those runs were going to come from after the Cubs got rid of both of them. I think your question points to our current problem. I would hire both of them back if I were King.

wccubfan - May 24, 2009 reply

Good thing you aren't king

There are no White Knights who are going to ride in and save the Cubs.

Edmonds is Gary Gaetti all over again. DeRosa peaked last season and probably would be slumping along with everybody else were he here.

Get over it. Please.

How do you know Edmonds would have pulled a Gaetti?

You don’t.

And you don’t know that about DeRosa, either.

Edmonds was at the end of his rope

Wonder why nobody else has signed him?

And DeRosa is not going to be the savior of this team. Sorry, Al, but that’s the truth. If the guys on the current roster are playing up to capabilities, nobody says a word about … him.

No one is asking DeRosa to be a "savior".

However, we could use a third baseman for a few weeks. DeRosa could do that. After that he could be a super-sub, or platoon at 2B with Fontenot.

I have never once said he would be a “savior”. That’s your word, not mine.

The way you and some others are talking about him

That’s certainly the impression.

I think you get the wrong impression.

It's been that way

since Day One of the season.

If this whole thread is indicative...

You sure are quick to tell us all what it is we all think.

It’s only surpassed by the quickness with which you tell us in certainty that we’re all wrong and you know better.

If anything, it might be proof

The Cubs lead the league in bedwetting fans who lack any persepective.

Thank goodness...

Your Omnipotence is around to berate us into shape.

Sorry, but

the truth hurts.

BrewCrew'sPrinceofDarkness - May 25, 2009 reply

You have been Flagged

You are fascinating.

What kind of personal demons leads one to personally call out dozens of cubs fans on an Internet site…. Including the owner of said site?! Seriously, where do you get off giving your unfounded, unfactual speculation the force of law?!

BrewCrew'sPrinceofDarkness - May 25, 2009 reply

You have been flagged

is he a super sub or not?

you say he is and so have i. i got told I was wrong he is not a super sub by others.

(rolls eyes)

Cubbie-Tim - May 24, 2009 reply

He just thinks his speculations are facts.

My problem with that starts when he starts calling me an idiot for disagreeing.

Jake Fox

Let’s bring him up. I can not stand watching Fonty, Miles, and everyone else not hitting.

Did the ’08 team have a week like this (other then in the playoffs)?

Cub Fan Mike - May 24, 2009 reply

September was not a good month

Don’t have all the stats here, but …

Speaking without the facts seems to be your specialty

Go soak your head

Good God, are you an ass.

You have been flagged

Ya know, I haven't seen you around in a while...surprising.

Aug 30-Sept 5, 6 games

Got SO 2X and scored 14 runs during that span

As an aside

on May 26 last year we began a 9 game winnig streak. FWIW. But last year we we at least scoring runs.

At this point I don't give a shit what we do.

As long as something changes. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but you catch my drift.

The biggest problem I have with bringing Jake Fox up is that we essentially have another Micah Hoffpauir. A guy that can hit the ball…but nowhere to hide him in the field. If both these guys are playing we have either a horrible right side of the field (1B & RF), or a horrible right side of the field (1B & RF) AND a horrible left field if Soriano gets moved to 2B. I know, we need to score some damn runs, but I have just about 0% confidence in a team that includes Fox, Hoffpauir, Miles, Fontenot, and Theriot in a lineup. (shudders).

Dan

September

I think late August and into September we really stunk it up.

We were up 5 or so games but it felt like there was lingering cloud over the team and that the Brewers, Cards or Astros could come out and beat us. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

ak123 - May 24, 2009 reply

Getting swept on the 84 celebration weekend was bad...

having HWSNBN walking back and forth on the concourse behind us the entire game and seeing giggling female cubfans of ALL AGES lining up to get their picture with him was just depressing. My wife actually asked me if why anyone cares about a schmuck making noise like that CONSTANTLY.

The drunk Padre fan that found it humorous to “pretend” to bump into cub fans while pretending to use a push broom as we all were tying to leave the stadium was the cherry on top. I’m just sort of numb and don’t care right now. Maybe a good 3 game series with the Pirates is what we need.

santoswoodenlegs - May 24, 2009 reply

It’ll probably be the highlight of their season. Maybe even a 3-5 year period of seasons. Let ’em have it.

HWSNBN???

ronnie woo-woo

doofus cubs guy - May 24, 2009 reply

I guess you had to name him there.

But normally, he’s “HWSNBN” (He Who Shall Not Be Named).

We should start a list of "HWSBN"'s lol

or the HWWWWSNBN

He who we wish would shall not be named

or dump the hwsnbn altogether -

it is just giving him more acknowledgment – someone asks everytime and then the thread continues

doofus cubs guy - May 25, 2009 reply

A few here thought the Padres would solve our ills

and the Bucs are 6-4 in their last ten with a come from behind W vs, the Sux today. Easier said than done.

THIS SWEEP HURT ..

Like salt in the wound….Yes we could hear that person but could not see him….

cubs north - May 24, 2009 reply

Everyone just shut the hell up!

VERY well thought out

Ignore him.

All 90 of his posts contain one or more of the following words: idiot, retard, “shut the hell up”, or sucks.

Thank you.

I know everybody is unhappy/tense, but that is uncalled for.

Sorry, Im just a little upset with the play right now.

We all are.

It doesn’t mean you can use the language you have used in multiple posts here. Do NOT do it again.

sorry bcb readers

Look, I know it will be hard to hide Fox in the field but we have to start scoring.

His numbers are amazing. Our defense already sucks. Its bad when a .188 hitter is batting 4th.

See what I mean, calicubfan?

phillies record after 42 game last year

23-19 – Cubs are only 2 games back!

doofus cubs guy - May 24, 2009 reply

Jump now, folks

And no getting back on later, if circumstances warrant it.

should we sacrifice a small animal to sign the pact?

Plus, that's not a ledge, it's a bridge.

yep. and that looks like summertime fun

what we experience now is the Cub equivalent of waterboarding. It’s still early in the season, but it sure feels like we’re drowning.

Hey, Em! I'm jealous....at least you can sit around on the Chena river in daylight drinking an Alaskan Ale...

It's pretty sweet. Perfect Memorial Weekend weather... lots of late night barbeque, grilled salmon... life is good

so what are you going to say...

when the Cubs are 20 games under at the end of the season?

this particular Cub team doesn’t give us much hope.

Go away

I’m not predicting anything. But your prediction is asinine.

trend are trends

What trend do you see????

I see a .500 team

No more, no less.

Were you declaring them WS champs when they were hot last week? If not, shut the hell up.

Wow, you must have peaked at today's standings!

I said from the beginning of the season that this was a poorly constructed team and that it would eventually catch up to them. I wish it hadn’t, but looks like it has.

Really? You can tell that right now?

At the quarter pole? at .500?

Another brain stem.

Yep!

Crappy middle relief, crappy bench and crappy batting averages!

And at least one crappy fan.

Do you feel good now?

Better than ever.

I hope it was good for both of you....

Realist Larry - May 25, 2009 reply

NBF may have "peeked" at today's standings, but I hope he didn't "peak" at them

There’s a lot more pretty things that a guy can “peak” at than the NL Central standings. Hopefully, that’s not his fetish.

Oh, that's too funny

Good one, zev

I predict

you tell at least a dozen more people to “Go away and never come back”

Consider yourself

No. 13.

Actually

you have already told me before so I can be counted again.

Amazing though, here I am, still posting.

can't*

be counted again

Just shows

you don’t listen very well. Yet another character flaw.

One

of many I’m afraid.

We all have

our crosses to bear.

You have been flagged

You have been Flagged

So have you.

I have done nothing to warrent being flagged

You on the other hand. Well…

Following someone around a thread

solely to flag them.

What are we, 12?

NBF has been overly

hostile and I believe it should be pointed out. I also believe you should know who your accuser is thus I’m letting him know.

If you're overly idiotic

I’m overly hostile.

Just curious...

…can one flag one’s self? I think I’m gonna start flagging my own posts! Grow up children — Stop the bikkering and stick to baseball!

thank you, Cali, for bringing some --ahem-- adult perspective

Name calling is all you have sir.

It is sad and you make this place a sad place with your writing.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I like you NBF

you’ve been nice to me when I was new here…

I even happen to agree with most of your opions…

but right now… take a deep breath… it’s not worth it..

Back at you

and good points.

I’ll take your advice.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

good on ya, mate

I think

I will jump, get back on during a winning streak, jump again during a slump, get right back on again during a winning streak, repeat.

LOL

Everybody remember....

…the Brewers are losing to the Twins right now, and then the Cardinals start a 3 game set at the Brewers tomorrow.

thats good the brews are losing.

its weird we are coming out of this stretch only 4 games down.

Right.

No one is running away with the NL Central. Not on May 24, anyway.

I agree

but this last weeks makes you wonder if this is a “Playoff” team.

Anything can happen (I.E. 2006 Cards) but odds of this team playing .600 ball from here on out are looking very dim.

Did last week convince you

they were a WS champion? It must have. You have to be consistent.

If you aren’t, buzz off.

You have been Flagged

Right back at you

OH SNAP!

Bricks and Ivy - May 25, 2009 reply

I'm really

tired of your attitude about fans that share their disheartenment with team. Tell me, where does it say I can’t look at a 7 game losing streak where the offense was practically non-existent and get discouraged?

Panic, cliff/ledge jumping, whatever, it isn’t an inappropriate feeling to have about a sports team that is struggling. Kudos to you for your staunch, never panic, never worried attitude, but that doesn’t make you any better than anyone else so stop acting like it does.

Very well put.

+1.

I ask others who agree to rec as well.

You all can be miserable together

I’m not going to let a few pinheads ruin my summer.

Agreed!

If they were losing games 10-9, 9-8, 12-11, I would say “hey they’ll shake out of it once the weather warms up”, but when they average 1.5 runs a game, it’s hard to overcome that trend.

On the flip side

Everyone would be lining up on the ledge because our pitching staff was giving up way too many runs. I don’t know that I’d feel any better losing games like that.

As much as it pains me to say this, I would rather our SP be as good as it has been knowing that the offense can’t possibly continue to be this bad.

DMCub - May 25, 2009 reply

the bats just need to start waking up.

the starting pitching has been good. relievers are a little shaky though.

Agreed

As a matter of fact, before this slump began, most comments here addressed the bullpen. Heilman is beyond putrid, Gregg has shown almost ZERO consistency, Cotts is a crap shoot, Patton is, well, Patton. On the flip side, Marmol and Guzman have looked half-way decent.

Marmol and Gooze save that group from being

down right awful.

I have some faith in Ascaino being good

Idk why, but I feel like he could be a real nice piece to the pen.

My 2 Cents ---

Right now what the Cubs obviously need is some hitting — clutch hitting — and getting more men on base so when someone starts to hit in the clutch, runs will suddenly appear on the scoreboard.
Start by bringing up Fox — off the bench or somewhere in the lineup. For crying out loud, the guy’s hitting .425 with 50 RBIs. What more does he need to do?
Next — someone tell Lou and Gerald Perry that Theriot does not have to try to knock the ball out ot the park. When it ain’t broken, don’t go trying to fix it. The guy was hitting well over .300 this year after hitting over .300 last year and all of a sudden the manager and his hitting coach want him to become something he’s not.
Next — bring up Tony Thomas from Tennessee and give him a shot at 2B. None of the four guys the Cubs have put out there have proven that they are the answer. The kid can hit; give him a shot.
Freel — a body for Gathright. If Freel can’t be in the lineup now when we are getting absolutely zero production out of Fontenot and Miles, why on God’s green earth is this guy on the team. Find another body who Lou will at least put in the lineup.
Get rid of Patton, Heilman, and Cotts.
As for Patton — I thought the Cubs were contenders for the division title if not the favorites. The Cubs cannot afford to carry a pitcher who is doing absolutely nothing right now. Replace him with a bat.
Heilman — I’ve said enough about him. One last time — what you see is exactly what the Mets saw in ‘08 and exactly why the Mets got rid of him.
Cotts — He has been nothing short of useless since he came here from the South side.
What is he supposed to do? I would expect that most of us think of him as a situational lefty and mop-up. Well after hearing on the tube the other week that Lou was reluctant to use him against Prince Fielder because of Fielder’s stats against Cotts, I asked myelf — “Self — isn’t Prince a lefthander?” Then the other night Lou has him in against Adrian Gonzalez — another lefty? — what happens — another HR. Enough is enough — get his sorry butt out of the pen and off to Timbucktoo.
And one last shot for Lou — In the 6th today, Scales gets on base to lead off the inning. The Cubs are down by three. Why in the hell does he leave Lilly in to bat? I know ~~- Lou wants him to bunt to move him over. LOU -~~- !!! - we need to get an inning started somehow — use a pinch hitter for crying out loud !!!

ceegeewow - May 24, 2009 reply

Good points!

Maybe also DFA Miles and play Freel a little bit more to see what he might have left.

Wait, so you want FOUR or FIVE secondbasemen?

Riot, Fontenot, Miles, Scales, Thomas?

Does ANYONE want Miles? I don't think so.

LOL!

Miles has done the job he should be counted on to do.

He has hit LHP well. The problem is that he has been horrid v. RHP and Lou has given him too many ABs there. I could make use of Miles in limited doses.

DGU - May 24, 2009 reply

Six if you include The Fonz!

Blame it on the Winter Classic curse.

Rumor has it that Chris Chelios buried a Red Wing jersey in the center ivy.

Employee22 - May 24, 2009 reply

Last year week peaked too early

This year at least, we can’t say that. I hope.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I still have a little hope left in the tank

We all have hope...

or we wouldn’t still be Cub fans!

Amen.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

at least a few people here

… have very explicitly said that they have no hope.. that the season is over..

and by “here” I mean on BCB, not necessarily in this thread…

The Cubs...

…are on their way home. Man, I’ll bet you could here a pin drop on that flight!

I personally hope

they’re playing cards and not focusing on how they’re struggling.

The more they try to force something to happen the worse its going to get.

That is so true.

sue369 - May 24, 2009 reply

All the more reason for them to drink!

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I picked a bad week to stop drinking

LT - May 24, 2009 reply

yep

… looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

Maybe they can drop Heilman off the airplane when they fly over the Sonoran desert?

No one will be the wiser.

LMAO

Let Miles be his parachute.

I'm betting a lot of

alcohol is being consumed after this road trip!

PhillyCub - May 24, 2009 reply

Sometimes getting totally shi#-faced helps!!

Glad you use that link!

chilango2 - May 24, 2009 reply

Ur the one who showed it to me!

So THANKS AGAIN!!!!

they don't have their own Cubs plane?

forgive my ignorance but they fly United?

No, they have a charter deal with UAL

They fly on 757-200s and A320s all season.

chilango2 - May 24, 2009 reply

ah gotcha. thanks!

that makes more sense. Can’t quite see them shuffling through TSA.

Uncle Stanley McGoober - May 24, 2009 reply

I think only one person has been better this year than last year

and that is Angel Guzman. So, we may have lost all our hitters, but at least we have a new setup man!

Before this week...

…I would have argued for Soriano.

The whole "we're only XX games out" or "still .500" is kind of pointless

As Houston has shown in many recent seasons, you can be 5 GB, 9 GB, 12 GB, and get hot and make a run. What’s important isn’t being .500, it is do you have an offense that for some inexplicable reason is underperforming and an offense that, based on the law of averages, will eventually get hot and make a run? Unfortunately, you have multiple players in this lineup with a very thin (Soto, Fontenot, Fukudome, Theroit, Scales) or streaky (Soriano, Lee) track record. For that reason, it is hard to say these guys will collectively right the ship. Take Hoffpair out of today’s lineup and insert regular starter Lee and the highest BA was .265.

The Heliman hate is a little surprising. Coming into today if you take out that awful game against FLA where he gave up 5 ER without registering an out his season is 18 IP with 4 ER allowed. Now certainly he’s allowed a chunk of inherited runners to score but the large majority of his appearances he has not allowed a run.

BeltwayCubsFan - May 24, 2009 reply

I would rather have Cedeno back--and that's not saying much.

I don’t know why Jimbo gave Cedeno and Olsen up for Heilman.

Mets’ fans always knew Heilman to be one pitch away from disaster. Just like he was today with that pitch to Kuz. Just check this example out. Admittedly, one shouldn’t accept anything a Mets fan says, but they obviously have unpleasant memories of him also.

Player giveaways

Anyone have a time machine available? Would like to borrow one just long enough to keep DeRosa, Wood and Blanco. Kinda wonder where we’d be now if they they were still with us. I hated losing them in the first place and “I told you so,” just isn’t doing it.

uniquepat - May 24, 2009 reply

I don't think so

If this team goes nowhere because it didn’t have those three guys, it was no good in the first place.

But again, it’s like beating your head against a wall. Already told Canberra I was giving up, so I’m sticking to it.

Henry Blanco...

… has been terrible this year. He has 3 HR (2 in one game), and only 3 other hits, all singles.

The Koyie Hill decision has been, so far, the only one that looks good in 2009.

Wood, seriously?

Have you seen his ERA this year? I’m am completely satisfied NOT having him on this team for the salary the Indians are paying him.

DMCub - May 25, 2009 reply

two words

lou brock

doofus cubs guy - May 25, 2009 reply

Please note: I am NOT writing this comment to advocate getting Wood back.

However, I wish to point this out. Wood has made 17 appearances for the Indians and has 7 saves and 1 blown save.

He has not given up a run in 12 of the 17 appearances. In those 12 appearances he has pitched 10.2 innings, allowed nine hits, walked four and struck out 15.

He’s had five bad outings — four of those really bad ones, in fact, and the other one was his first one of the year, allowing one run in 1 IP in a game the Tribe was losing 11-8 when he came in. The Indians have been a pretty sucky team, so he’s often gone long stretches without a save opportunity, which doesn’t help a guy whose mentality is “close this game”.

He had two really bad outings in his first 17 last year, and two others where he allowed a run. After 17 appearances a year ago, his ERA was 4.50; this year it’s 7.20. Take away his worst outing this year and what’s his ERA? 4.80.

ERA is a truly bad indicator for closers; it can blow up with one or two really bad outings, which is what has happened to Wood this year.

In 2007 Joe Borowski had an ERA of 5.07 — but 45 saves and the Indians made the playoffs. He allowed 37 earned runs in 69 appearances. 14 of those runs came in THREE of those appearances. Take those outings out of his record and his 2007 ERA in the other 66 appearances was 3.23. Same thing with Ryan Dempster the last year he was a closer — he had three really bad outings in September (including one after the division had been clinched) — take those out and his ERA for his other 63 games is 3.52.

Similarly, Kevin Gregg’s ERA is currently 5.40. He has made 20 appearances, covering 18 innings. Take out his one REALLY bad outing, vs. Houston on May 16 where he allowed four runs without getting anyone out, and his ERA in the rest of his appearances is 3.44. I’m not a huge Gregg fan, but he has done a decent job most of the time.

Again, ERA is a really bad indicator for a closer.

I agree with your points on ERA

However, my main point was I do not want him on this team for the salary the Indians are paying him.

DMCub - May 26, 2009 reply

I will let Otis Rush say it for me, again:

in this video.

I can’t quit them, but but I have to put them down for a little while. They messed up my happy home. They built my hopes so high and they let me down.

chilango2 - May 24, 2009 reply

anyone who appreciates Otis Rush is welcome in my home any time

Otis Rush is great. So is Luther Allison. I love classic Chicago Blues.

Never could like Muddy Waters as much as everyone else..

blues fest is just around the corner... flights/hotels are cheap... grant park and summertime = grooving

Hendry messed this offseason up in an epic way.

Miles is one of the worst free-agent signings of the offseason. Trading two players to get that piece of shit Heilman was even worse. Trading Marquis was a good move, probably the only good one Hendry made.

Bradley doesn’t have the numbers now, but his history shows that he will come around. Lots of guys have major issues when they first get to Chicago (Soriano, Lee) and end up being good in the end. Milton should have been a luxury much like Rich Harden is. Keeping DeRosa would have allowed Bradley to be that luxury.

DeRosa wouldn’t have to hit that well, in fact I don’t think he would have put up great numbers this season, but he would have been able to fill in for Aramis/Milton and get some starts at second.

Hendry made big bets on Mike Fontenot being good and Aramis being healthy the whole season. Both bets have proved stupid so far, and while the season is still salvageable, the awfulness of this offseason won’t go away, it will be the people who were already here + Milton Bradley that lead us back to winning.

The season hangs in the balance

Yep. True. Not a “ledge jumper” comment, but a dose of reality. You can’t ignore the fundamental problems of this team any longer. Aramis Ramirez was the last person on this team we could afford to lose, and sure enough we lose him and thereby vividly expose the deep flaws of this team.

Starting pitching — Solid. Zambrano is always going to be an animated idiot, but 1 thru 5 the rotation is solid.

Bullpen — Clusterfuck. Marmol is the only one who instills healthy confidence, and even he is showing the affects of two years of heavy usage. Gregg is strictly okay and prone to fits of awfulness. Heilman is showing why New York couldn’t rate to be rid of him. Cotts is awful. Guzman is showing good things, but his history dictates caution. Patton is a wasted roster spot.

Defense — Spotty at best with not a whole lot of range at any position except when Bradley is feeling good in right field.

Bench — Clusterfuck.

Offense — Soriano remains a guess hitting hack who will forever be prone to streaks of unstoppability followed by weeks of nothing. Kosuke is a big fat question mark, but even if he does keep performing he still isn’t a run producer of any consequence. Lee is a broken down old man who is limited to slapping the ball around. Bradley has been an unmitigated disaster so far but you would think he should start hitting. Soto was a one-year wonder and/or an ex-juicer. Fontenot is a 200 at bat max player who should never face certain pitchers or lefties.

Where does this leave us — Struggling to stay at .500 for the year. Put my revised prediction down for 81 wins.

BLou - May 24, 2009 reply

Your repeated comments about Geovanny Soto on drugs are both tired and completely unfounded. It’s just as bad as that ass beat writer (I can’t remember whom at this point) suggesting Theriot use/d.

Dan

The Theriot comment was said by Rick Telander tongue n' cheek

My comment on Soto is not. Yes I am legitimately suspicious about Soto. And I could care less if you find that okay or not. Blame Bud Selig and the players’ union if you don’t like me speculating about a ballplayer who was a non-prospect prior to 2007, dropped weight and started to hit in 2007 and 2008, then proceeded to get as fat as a jelly donut and reverted back to his prior inability to do shit.

BLou - May 24, 2009 reply

I’m having a hard time finding a site that keeps records of players’ weights, but I’ve always been under the assumption—and we’ve discussed it here at BCB—that Geovanny’s weight has always been an issue for him.

Geovanny is in no way the only player to be having hitting problems. Perhaps the loss of a mentor—Blanco—has contributed to his lack of hitting ability. It must be difficult to manage such a head-strong rotation for the first time on his own. I have no idea about this, but then again, you have no idea if he used drugs, either.

willie mays hayes' gloves - May 24, 2009 reply

Why consider the facts when wild speculation is so much more salacious?

I for one am

sick to death of his damn speculations. He repeats the same crap over and over and over.

willie mays hayes' gloves - May 24, 2009 reply

What was your original prediction?

ol Pete - May 25, 2009 reply

Desperate times call for desperate measures

Dump David Patton and call up Jake Fox and let him split 1st base with Micah Hoffpauir.

Dump Ryan Freel or Bobby Scales and call up Tony Thomas to play 2nd base.

BLou - May 24, 2009 reply

And what do you do with Lee? Let him carry the sunflower seed bag?

What would Tony Thomas do

That Bobby Scales can’t?

Nothing.

Thought so

Change for the sake of change is stupid.

Yes, we can!

Wait. What?

LOL

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

Ha!

Shanghai Badger - May 24, 2009 reply

don't go there

heh

agreed

Chanman25 - May 25, 2009 reply

Except that you'd be benching our hottest hitter

If I were you, I’d go check out Derrek Lee’s stats for the month of May before recommending his benching. You’re about a month out of date on that argument.

What? You really

expect him to check out facts? His head might explode with actual facts.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

No runs Friday, one yesterday, two today.

Progress baby.

shoemile - May 24, 2009 reply

I pointed out yesterday

.. that at the rate of improvement, we’d be winning games 120-4 by the end of the season.

needless to say, I project no similar trends in runs allowed.. only runs scored…

This isn't all on Jim and Lou.

The guys held over from last year aren’t producing either. Theriot, Soriano, Lee, Soto, and Fontenot just haven’t produced very much.

Poloplaya14 - May 24, 2009 reply

True

But when there are so many players screwing up, people just tend to throw it at the feet of the gm and/or manager, whether deserved or not.

shoemile - May 24, 2009 reply

what an ugly week

The Cubs have the third largest payroll in baseball. Get it out of your head that they are going to spend more money this year. They got rid of Marquis, Wood, DeRosa and Blanco for salary reasons. They are not going to add salary unless they can unload someone.

Jim Hendry has always been good at assembling a talented group of individuals. What he has always been unable to do is form a “team.”

Patton—a deep championship type team can keep a guy like this. We can’t.

Soto. I have suggested this before—put him in the number 2 slot in the batting order where he can see a few more fasballs and hit to right more often. Not a permanent move. Just something to get him started. I mean, like this could mess up our offense right now?

Drop Lee to 6th in the batting order. His best years are behind him. He is going to hit like he did with the Marlins (he hit 6th or 7th with them). We got some very good years out of him.

Making Fontenot play 3rd base really screwed him up. Put him at second base and leave him there.

Miles, Scales, Freel—One of them has to go. They all bring the same things to the table.

Heilman. Great stuff, but just not a good pitcher. Long relief only for him.

Cotts and our closer need regular work.

Hill needs at least one start per week.

Pray that the Brewers and Cardinals pitchers pitch like they have historically.

Chin up. We haven’t played the Pirates yet.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I'm sure you're gonna get blasted now

because with so many recommendations you’re bound to have pissed off somebody. lol

But strangely enough, I actually agree with just about everything you say.

I might quibble with dropping Lee down right now. A few weeks ago sure, but right now he’s actually hitting better than anyone else in the lineup (over 1.000 OPS in May). But once (knock Wood) Bradley and others start hitting more to their ability then I could see moving Lee down the order a little if he reverts to his gradually declining ways.

Mostly, I thank you for posting something with an overall positive and constructive spin to it… Cheers! :)

Much thanks

I appreciate the comment.
Lee’s bat has slowed down. He can still be a help but he is not one of the better #3 hitters in the league right now.

willie mays hayes' gloves - May 25, 2009 reply

Lou doesn't bat him #3 anymore. Hadn't you noticed?

I know.

My point is that Lee needs to be in the 6 or 7 hole. He hasn’t batted third lately, but 4 or 5? My point is still the same.

PalatineRol - May 25, 2009 reply

Don't Panic on our Competition in the NL Central

Seriously, the Cardinals are trotting some guy out named Mitchell Boggs
Also, does anyone else think that Ronny Cedeno was a painful loss, not just because we got Heilman for him, because that guy was clutch and can hit, also a slick glove, could have really broken out with regular at-bats with Ramirez’s injury

OzzieTimmons - May 24, 2009 reply

The same guy

Every bitched about to high heaven last season, and a few seasons before that?

No, thanks.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

I agree

but the grass is always greener…

and ours is the only bullpen that’s full of inconsistent pitchers.. lol

Three years worth of decisions were made in one off season

DeRosa was traded to get Peavy. Didn’t happen. Won’t happen. The Cubs are poor. Marquis was traded to get Peavy. (See above) Miles, Bradley, Hoffpauir were all added to the mix because the Dodgers beat us and didnt use a Lefty the whole series. In addition to the fact that Bradley can bat left handed, he and his $20 million were added because after one season in the US, our $48 million dollar investment was labeled a flop. Our 2B options, along with our backup 3B, and backup SS positions were filled by Fontenot and Miles, two players that are practical role players, but not everyday 2B, and certainly not everyday 3B.

These decisions, which were made out of anger, envy, and disappointment, none of which are winning mentalities, along with a sale of this team which seems to never end, have hamstrung this team to death. I could go on with other mindbending mistakes such as No Trade clauses for football playing pitchers, backloading each and every contract for key players, but those effect our future years, not today.

Moving forward is not only difficult for us as fans, but I am sure that it is difficult for the Cubs players. DeRo and his shit eatin grin on every TV station, telling sportscasters that it is an uphill climb and a long season, would be welcomed right now, but he aint there. His sub 500 ballclub he is on now I am sure is enjoying those benefits. We need to find new leaders, new ball players. I hear no one on this team stepping out and saying. “we suck right now, but…..”, or “it is a long haul, but we have the talent, and we are going to ….”. I hear nothing. Leaders are not bought, they are made by making it through rough times like these.

My vote is for finding THIS year’s DeRo, not buying ourselves last year’s. Because throwing money at our problems is obviously not working.

Jim Hendry knows no other way

He must throw money at the problems.

I know

Our entire outfield, 4 out of 6 infielders, and 8 our of 12 pitchers from our opening day roster were either bought or paid for, along with each and every bench player. We have a SS, C, and 4 pitchers that made it through the Cubs system. That means a lot, which is why leaders are hard to come by. Now, DeRo was bought, paid for, and traded, but he was special. We all know that.

I have no problem with the strategy

Just make sure you spend the money on the right people.

We have a 200 million dollar outfield

With 20 hrs, 49 RBIs, and is batting about 0.260 COMBINED. Bad math. Our outfield has fewer RBI’s than Evan Longoria. Thoughts?

Two thoughts

1. That sucks
2. Evan Longoria is going to be one hell of a special player for a long time.

Reed

Reed Johnson is the only one I can think of that could be the person you are looking for.

He plays once every 10 days

true

Who can you come up with that is a stand up guy like DeRo was? I’m at a loss after Johnson.

No idea

Soto maybe, but he is sucking hind tit right now. I want Hill in there more often, so leaders from the bench are even harder to find. Silent leaders are great fun, and probably fun to pal around with, but pulling a team out of a funk is not their way. The funny part is that Scales would be an excellent leader, use the whole “it took me ten years to get here god damn it, im not gonna roll over and die” mentality, but who knows. In 2 months he is a bench player.

slightly off the subject

Ted Lilly seems to be another stand up guy who others listen to—yes, I know he only pitches about once a week.

Right now, anything would do.

CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) - May 24, 2009 reply

that may be the problem

they guys on the team now that seem to have the right attitude you’re looking for, don’t have the ability to back it up by playing everyday at the ML level…

Reed does come to mind.. and Bobby Scales sounds like an incredible guy every time I’ve heard him open his mouth.. and I think one or two of the starters could fit the bill, but again you kinda need somebody that plays everyday… or do you?

.. interesting…

One of the reasons Reed Johnson hasn't played...

… is that the Cubs have faced only five LH starters all year, fewest in baseball.

That will change this week.

It will be interesting to come back here in three months

and read these comments and see who looks smart and who look like idiots.

I have a pretty good feeling who will be on what sides.

Goodbye, all.

We are Cubs fans. We are disappointed, angry, and hurt

If this wasnt personal, we would have left 99 yrs ago. We have passion, heart, and when things go wrong, those things cause misguided thinking and unrealistic thoughts and statements. This isn’t Pirate’s nation, or Bleed Cincinnati Red, this is a bunch of Cubs fans who have waited longer than God intended, and want their fortune cookie now, so this never ending bad Chinese meal will end. In 3 months we will be here and so will you, because passion is amazing and it keeps us all going. In other words, chill. The Pirates are in town. If that aint the cure for what ails you, nothing will be. Maybe the Nationls.

louslovechild - May 25, 2009 reply

In other words

we’re all in need of psychotherapy.

I don’t know about you, but I turn to baseball to get away from my problems, not cause more of them.

I have a feeling that the Cubs will play better AND that DeRosa will be better...

than Miles/Freel/Scales, and MUCH better than Fontenot against LHP.

The evidence (both right now and over the past few years) supports this, so I’m pretty confident I’ll look smart.

JaKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKe - May 25, 2009 reply

(Tear)

dtpollitt - May 25, 2009 reply

I truly believe Jim Hendry's decisions were reasoned and thoughtful.

That’s what bothers me. His decision making process obviously is faulty. He has made far more poor personnel decisions than good ones. And the bottom line is that none of his decisions have produced a World Series winner, or participant, for that matter. I don’t care that they’ve gotten close. The goal is to get to the WS and they haven’t done it in his tenure. And now we’re stuck expecting him to make more player decisions. Why should I think he can all of a sudden be an effective general manager? Unfortunately, the team’s ownership status probably precludes any kind of change at the top, and no good GM would want to walk into this situation, anyway.

mattvegas - May 25, 2009 reply

A different point of view

History will likely look at how Lou and Hendry dealt with the 2007 and 2008 failures, and I guess I disagree with the overall premise here that they blew up a team and had an obsession with lefties. What fails to be mentioned is that pretty much every other team in the sport has some balance of lefties and righties. Not saying every line-up is R-L-R-L-R down the middle, but teams have a balance of batters that hit from either side of the plate. So to claim that Hendry and/or Lou has this obsession leaves out the fact that pretty much every other GM in the sport does too. I’m getting tired of this labeling of Lou and saying that he won’t let Hendry get anyone who can’t hit from the left side.

DeRosa’s trade was as much of a salary move as anything. Unfortunately what has happened was that the Cubs have now been playing with two middle infielders who are not major league starters. Their first baseman who started the season in the #3 spot is no longer a middle of the line-up hitter. Their rookie of the year catcher has absolutely fallen apart and Alfonso Soriano continues to be perhaps the most maddeningly inconsistent hitter in the game. Even if Aramis was healthy the fact that the other 3/4 of the infield are playing so poorly necessitates some changes.

Sorry, I don’t buy the decision to add some balance to the line-up. IMO it was needed big time. But Fontenot and Theriot aren’t every day players and Lee is not a middle of the line-up hitter anymore. The problem now is that the Cubs likely lack the financials much less the trade partner to land a key bat that will solve this team’s problems.

dmlichte - May 25, 2009 reply

I agree much of it is overblown

People are complaining about the moves made in the offseason that “blew up” this team when a lot of the guys struggling are guys here from last year.

Still, I will fault Hendry for all these second basemen or guys who apparently have no position. The lefty thing isn’t my problem; it’s the fact that we have too many one dimensional players at this juncture.

shoemile - May 25, 2009 reply

Tough Weekend Fans

It was 1984 all over again.

Hardly....

carmen_fanzone - May 25, 2009 reply

postseason

hey guys this is not the postseason you can start hitting anytime.just a week ago we were 21-14 and a game out. what happened???there is help out there. names being shopped around. uggla,matt cain,and some guy named derosa. once again the cubs are proving they cant handle the pressure.rumors are the brewers might go after peavy.

NOMAR - May 25, 2009 reply

I defended Hendry in many arguments before

But I am not going to do so anymore. Yea its early, and yea, I still think we will win this division, or at least the wild card… but… Hendry over reacted to last years playoff sweep. This topic has been beaten to death, but Hendry really is pissing me off, and here are a few reasons.

1. We paid Fukudome A LOT of money to play ball in Chicago. After 1 year, Hendry lost hope on him and decided he needed a replacement.. hence the acuisition of Gameboard. Bradley may improve, but there is nothing telling me he has gonna do what he did last year. Fukudome has gotten his act together and is one of the more consistent players on the Cubs, after 1 year in the league. People said dont acquire Bradley cause he is injury prone and has bad attitude: Well we have seen both this year, but minus the impressive offensive numbers. And Reed Johnson deserves more PT, great defender, and he works the count at the plate.

2. Bullpen problems. So after we molded Wood into a closer, we dump him. A guy who took salary cuts to be on the Cubs, a guy who will always consider himself a Cubs.. and did a good job in his first year as a closer. It seemed ok at first cause we have Marmol right? WRONG. We acqurie Gregg who sucks, case closed. Heilman, sucks. Patton, sucks. All new guys… good work Hendry and Piniella, we really made that better.

3. Peavy/Roberts. We have no backup infielders that are worth a damn. If we dumped a prospect or two and acquired Roberts, we would have a legit infield with legit backup players like Fontenot coming off the bench. Now, we don’t need starting pitcher so we say, but the Peavy deal almost getting done on the Southside goes to show that Hendry needs to pull the trigger faster and quit playing games, 101 years, no more games. Peavy could have been on this ballclub and got a few more wins under out belts. With Zambrano missing a couple starts, and now Harden on the DL, Peavy would have been a consistent Ace of the staff, and teams wouldnt know how to prepare for a 3 or 4 game series against the Cubs staff.

4. The Heart and Soul of this team are gone. Wood, a true Cub, DeRosa – enlisted a ton of energy and respect for this ball club and our fans, and Blanco – the veteran who was the glue of the battery whether he was playing or not.

Now I know I went on a rant, and there are plenty of things the team is not doing in order for success to be built around the Jim Hendry plan – like working the count, running the bases well (if we can even get on base in the first place), playing good defense, and using our scouting to its highest potential… but Hendry better make some moves soon, or else we will find ourselves the butt of all jokes once again, and Piniella wont be able to end his career with another WS under his belt.

SouthsideCUBSfan - May 25, 2009 reply

BRIAN ROBERTS

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

dtpollitt - May 25, 2009 reply

A few good points here

But mostly, unfounded stuff.

Incomplete offseason plan

1. The Cubs needed an OF. Now if Bradley can play and doesn’t hit better than he has so far, then log this in as an example of tough luck.
2. Getting Peavy would have made the bullpen incrementally better because I still think they would have kept Marshall in the bullpen.
3. If rumor that Harden only being paced is true, then I hope it is really necessary and not being done proactively. With the lack of offense the spotlight hasn’t been on the bullpen, but bullpen is still pretty bad and I think Marshall in relief and Wells starting is better than proactively resting Harden.
4. I don’t know what the options were to keep Hill in the minors and he’s done alright. They couldn’t have saved that much by letting Blanco go. I thought that was indication they wanted lefties off the bench real bad.

If the team doesn’t compete, I don’t think either Hendry or Lou would be fired. Lou might negotiate something and quit though.

AboutTheCubs - May 25, 2009 reply

I can't help but wonder...

How big of an effect Blanco had on Soto last year, and how big of an effect him not being there is having this year.

Well, people said the same thing

about Marshall and Maddux. Doesn’t look like Maddux’s departure has hurt Marshall any.

Soto can’t have his “security blanket” forever. And Blanco has not been any good with the Padres. Letting him go was a good move.

It's not about a security blanket...

It’s about having a vet to go to, and learn from, on a daily basis. Soto is now THE guy, he no longer has Blanco and his 12 years of experience to talk to. It’s basically figure it out on his own at this point. I don’t know how big of an effect it has, but I feel confident that there’s some effect there.

And Marshall/Maddux has nothing to do with Soto/Blanco.

Whatever

It’s like banging your head against a brick wall with some of you.

So only you're correct and everyone else is wrong?

Nice attitude.

No

But doesn’t pining for Henry Blanco strike you as being just a little bit silly? Not quite like pining for Lou Brock, for example.

I do understand...

… the idea that Blanco could have gotten on Soto’s butt and made him work harder.

For the offensive production between Blanco and Hill? Obviously, Hill was the better choice this year.

Perhaps

but at some point, you’ve got to make it on your own. I’d think the NL Rookie of the Year wouldn’t need hand-holding any longer. And it’s not worth keeping a .175 hitter on the roster specificially for that reason.

You're not good at reading.

Nowhere in my post did I say anything about wishing we still had Blanco. I simply brought up the idea that maybe his presence meant more than some of us suspected.

If you’re still unclear on what I’m saying, maybe have someone read it to you.

That's the implication

of what you wrote. Perhaps you should be better at writing.

"I can't help but wonder..."

Pretty clearly implies that I’m, you know, wondering about how Soto would do if Blanco were still here.

Again, if you don’t understand then either read slower, have someone read it to you, or just bow out of this discussion altogether.

Maybe you should

think about what you want to say and how you want to say it before you post something that has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

Let me know if you need someone to interpret this for you.

My God you're an annoying little twit.

“I can’t help but wonder how big of an effect Blanco had on Soto last year, and how big of an effect him not being there is having this year.”

It’s a pretty freaking straight-forward statement.

Ergo,

if Blanco still were here, Soto would be hitting better. That’s the logical progression of your post.

Not quite...

It is saying “I WONDER if Blanco were still here, would Soto be hitting better.”

Not, “If Blanco still were here, Soto would be hitting better.”

There’s a difference.

uggh, grammar...

replace “… would Soto be hitting better.” with “… would Soto be hitting better?”

A distinction without a difference

I don’t think the OP was being quite that nuanced.

There is a difference...

One is a question thought out loud, the other is a definitive statement.

I don’t presume to know for sure the exact intent of the original poster’s post, but I definitely read it as a question. The more I read it and the subsequent posts, the more I believe that to be true.

For example...

I can’t help but wonder, how much of an effect hanging out with friends had on me not becoming a doctor.

I don’t know what the effect was. It may well be that I never had it in me to be a doctor. But I can wonder. That’s the way I read the original post.

Except

it’s been pretty much a given that Blanco DID have an effect on Soto last year. He’s acknowledged that.

And there's evidence that studying harder...

would make me a better student. There’s no guarantee that studying harder would have made me a doctor, and there’s no guarantee that Blanco returning would make Soto better this year.

Regardless, that was just a simplistic example of the same type of statement that (I believe) the original poster made.

If you notice the OP's reply to my first post

he basically acknowledges that’s what he was getting at. Even though I didn’t directly say that’s what he was saying.

Aren’t semantics fun?

And it was an "I wonder"

not a definitive statement. Which was my point. There’s a difference.

From the guy

who said Maddux didn’t affect Marshall, therefore Blanco didn’t affect Soto.

ol Pete - May 25, 2009 reply

Huh?

I never said that. Maddux did affect Marshall. And Blanco did affect Soto.

But Maddux left, and Marshall still is pretty good.

Bingo

He’s making having a positive outlook the new negative outlook

LT - May 25, 2009 reply

Al is 100% right

Couldn’t have said it better AL

LarryCubFan - May 25, 2009 reply

Reacquire DeRosa?

That would be nice, but in doing so Hendry would have to admit to making a mistake. I don’t think he’s big on that.

Peoria Matt - May 25, 2009 reply

People keep saying this

but I don’t get the impression that Hendry is an overly proud or stubborn guy. I mean I know nothing really about him personally, so this is all in the impression-realm.

I actually think it’s more of an issue that Cleveland wouldn’t want to trade DeRosa back for less than they gave up to get him and with the way all 4 players have played, Cleveland shouldn’t get those three pitchers back for a DeRosa who now only has 3/4 of a season left on his contract. There are other suitors for DeRo and it will make sense for Cleveland to work a deal with those other suitors.

DGU - May 25, 2009 reply

Depends on what else Hendry would be willing to give up.

Oh, and fwiw,

I liked this overall post. There was stuff I disagreed with and stuff I agreed with, but it was well put and well measured.

DGU - May 25, 2009 reply

carpenter is perfect through 5 in milwaukee

and i don’t think gallardo’s given up a hit either.

infield single for the cards to lead off the sixth

carpenter looks unhittable and have thrown about 50 pitches.

perfect through 6.

This has been a great game

The question is, will the Cardinals be able to push across a run?

probably. i'm guessing a solo home run

also, gallardo won’t be able to finish the game, though i’m not sure carp will either unless he stays perfect. he’s on a 90 pitch limit according to the booth.

No-hitter is over

Counsell leads off the seventh with a single to right-center.

De Roe

I don’t think Jimmy Boy wants to eat crow and go begging to the Indians who probably are getting some good feelers for De Roe from the Cards & Brews.
Isn’t Bradley the new C Patterson ? And don’t look now but its Howry in Heilmans skin.
Lou is thinking ….. beach chair ….. Tampa Bay

nimblenikelfoos - May 25, 2009 reply

Talent

I think this team can come back and make the division title a competition, but the everyday lineup is severely overrated. Aram has always gotten hurt, and has to fall on the responsibility of Hendry for falling victim to Lou’s insistence to become more left-handed.

propheteer - May 25, 2009 reply

What do real baseball "experts"

think about the lefty-righty thing, I wonder? Not just fans talking through their hats, but people who really know baseball?

I dunno

Why don’t you go ahead and tell us?

LT - May 25, 2009 reply

Why don't you

have a nice day, you wonderful person, you???

NB, you know I

like you but seriously maybe you need a break from here. I’ve had to do that myself this past month.

I think you're right, Sue

Sadly, because you’re one of the good ones here, I think it’ll be permanent. This place is almost no better than cubs.com anymore.