With the size of his paycheck, Woody needs to be a starter. And I've heard the Graffanino rumors too. I guess he would be a 3B backup and utility man. But do the Cubs need another Judy hitting infielder? Methinks not.

What is yalls opinion of Michael barrett?

Barrett is solid. I have no concern at catcher. In his 2 years with the team he has hit .287 and .276 and has done a great job catching a very difficult staff to manage.

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Class of '99: Big 12 Football and Baseball Champions (Aggie Football in the BCS and Baseball in the CWS- THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!)

I like Barrett, but he still has a ways to go to be a solid MLB catcher. He just switched a few years ago, if I'm not mistaken. I think he can be an above average player and a team leader, but the staff E.R.A. has been significantly higher when Henry Blanco catches. That concerns me.

That's interesting, I always thought that Blanco was more of a defensive catcher that pitchers liked to have behind the plate. That's not to say that the pitchers don't like Barrett. I'd never actually seen any numbers to back that up that's just what I'd always heard on TV and such.

Barrett still is young and I think he's still has a lot more potential. It's nice to not have to worry about the catcher position.

Another player I've been thinking about is Murton in left. A lot of people have really been excited about him and up until recently I haven't. I wasn't really impressed in the games I saw him play but in hindsight he did well. He's not flashy at all but he had good nights. I read somewhere that his last month of last year was better than D-Lee's, granted Derrek did slow down a bit.

Here are the stats I came up with. Really Murton bettered Lee in AVG. and had fewer Strikeouts.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=chc§ion1=null&statSet1=null&sortByStat=AB&statType=1&timeFrame=1&timeSubFrame=2005&baseballScope=CH2&prevPage1=1&readBoxes=true&sitSplit=9&venueID=&teamPosCode=all&box4=XXXX117601chn3&box5=XXXX444875chnO&compare.x=22&compare.y=1

[This message has been edited by bluestainedivy (edited 2/7/2006 5:11p).]

You weren't pumped about Murton? My Cub loving friend and I were pumped about him from the start seeing as he was the only person on the team who could watch bad pitches toward the end of the year. I know he could turn out to be nothing, but he was good enough to get some starts to prove his worth at the beginning of this year.

ivy- I just re-read my post. I meant to say that the E.R.A. is significantly LOWER with Blanco catching. My bad.

If you've paid attention to my posts from last season, you'd know that I am a big Matt Murton fan. I can't wait to see him play every day.

I'm coming around on Murton. I've been reading some other people's thoughts on him and they all seem to have high hopes.

Another thing I've been considering is our batting lineup. Here's what I've considered:

Pierre
Walker
Lee
Ramirez
Jones
Murton
Barrett
Cedeno

I wasn't sure about Cedeno. I'm thinking he might be worthy of higher spot possibly replacing Walker as the season progresses. I think Walker will be a better option than Neifi and Jerry but I've got a better feeling about Ronnie. That would also change when Blanco is in the lineup. He'd be 8th and the others below would move up...That's how I would start things but after spring training things will most probably change.

Any thoughts?

Looks like a pretty potent lineup on paper. I can't wait to see how they perform during the season. By the way, I'm getting a password for the Astros presale on Thurday. I'm going to get tickets for the July 4th game as well as the other day games here in Houston. Should be a fun year.

[This message has been edited by Macpappy99 (edited 2/8/2006 7:58a).]

Sure would be nice to see one more big bat in there, preferably in RF. I guess that will come this summer when some team is trying to dump some salary. But all in all, it's not a bad lineup. I'm still holding my breath about Walker, though. I'll believe him starting every day when I see it.

Honestly, I don't have too much confidence in our lineup. We definitely need another bat and like Old Style mentioned the logical place would be right. Jacque does have some pop in his bat so I could be wrong.

Really, we just need one or two guys to perform above expectations.

Looks like the Nats have made a formal offer to Sosa. That could make Soriano expendable. Also, check out www.ChicagoSports.com for pics of the Wrigley Field expansion.

I think he would be good. We can lead the league in second basemen.

I would imagine that Soriano would be put in RF.

He only wants to play 2B. That's the reason for all the issues with the Nats. If the Cubs want him I would guess it would have to be a 3 way deal getting rid of Walker or other second baseman. Or just dealing one of them off to another team for a minor leaguer and then getting Soriano.

[This message has been edited by Macpappy99 (edited 2/9/2006 12:43p).]

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/daily-graphing-matt-murton-john-rodriguez/

Interesting stuff on our boy Murton.

Also, an interesting article on little Patterson:

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060202&content_id=1305398&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc&partnered=rss_chc

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Check out "Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order"
at tamu-and-baseball.com

Here's an article on our projected batting order and pitching rotation:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060209&content_id=1309024&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

There were a couple of things that stood out from the article...Apparently Maddux is projected to be the number two starter ahead of Prior. I think Maddux is a number 3 at best. It makes you wonder about Prior a bit. It sure would be nice to have either Woody or Wade Miller have a nice rebound season. That would make our starting rotation much more formidable.

...The other thing that really stood out was this:

quote:

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Somehow, the Cubs led the NL in hits in 2005 but ranked ninth in runs scored, which is almost impossible.

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Not only did we underperform but we underperformed when it counted most apparently.

quote:

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Needless to say, Murton is the batter I'm predicting will have a breakout season. His plate discipline is actually quite similar to the best power hitters in baseball.

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As for Eric Patterson, they might want to do an DNA check on him. Doesn't sound like him and Corey came from the same parents.

ivy- That stat illustrates just how little clutch hitting there was last year.

I liked this quote on Jacque Jones:

quote:

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Jones will finally be in a lineup with some big boppers and won't have to be the main guy. Plus, Wrigley Field may be perfect for him. He worked this winter with Tony Gwynn.

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don't take that Tony Gwynn stuff too seriously. Jimmie Rollins did the same thing before the '03 season and I was really excited about that (and the fact he would have Thome hitting behind him) so I grabbed him a little early in my fantasy league....

http://baseball-reference.com/r/rolliji01.shtml

I suppose he did improve but not spectacularly like I was anticipating.

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Check out "Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order"
at tamu-and-baseball.com

Damn you, Ryan. I am trying hard to approve of this signing and you're killing my optimism.

The Cubs and Zambrano have agreed to a one-year $6.5 Million deal. It's a little lower than the halfway point which makes me wonder if Hendry promised to give a little when new talks are dicussed. I know a new contract for Pierre will be in the works as well as an extension for Lee. Hendry likes to get that stuff done before the season and he has a pretty good record on following through with that.

Glad to see no arbitration hearings yet again. I'm sure a few long-term deals will be done before the season starts.

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2006/02/revisiting_hend.php

interesting look at Hendry's '05 moves

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Check out "Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order"
at tamu-and-baseball.com

I would somewhat agree with the article. I don't necessarily feel that Hendry should be on the hot seat. Hendry has done well enough in the not so distant past that he shouldn't be there. Dusty, however, should be. With all the moves that Hendry has pulled in the past we should've had more success than we've had. I want to say first Dusty goes, and if after a year that doesn't work then maybe Hendry goes (depending on performance, of course). I don't know if it would be fair to hire a coach and then a year later fire his GM. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I don't know much about Eyre and Howry but I have a feeling they will have a positive contribution to the pitching staff. We probably did pay them a little too much though.

Another thing I would add about this offseason is that there wasn't a whole lot of quality free agents out there. Sure we didn't get Furcal but he didn't have too great of a year last year and people have seemed to forget his several run-ins with the law making him a liability. We're not hurting for not having him. Pierre will be a better addition.

I don't expect awesome things from our team this year. But again I don't think the NL has improved much either except for a couple of teams like the Mets (we know the Mets won't go anywhere). There are a fair amount of ifs that will decide the outcome of our season but the biggest if is our starting pitching staff. If they are dominant, like they can be, we could be this year's astros.

That brings me to something I've been wondering about: our competition. St. Louis has probably taken a step back. I don't think Houston has done much to better it's team. To my knowledge Cinci's pitching staff is suspect. I don't think Pittsburgh will do much but I am worried about Milwuakee. They have a lot of young talent and a good pitching staff.

Simply put, the price got too high for Furcal. Hendry was smart not to go any higher than he did. I think that he's taking too much heat for the Howry and Eyre signings. They're pretty good relievers that eat up a LOT of innings. And their presence takes pressure off of some of the younger relievers, too. But Hendry has hitched his wagon to Dusty. If Dusty falls flat on his face again this year, they both will be gone. I'm not anxious to see Hendry go, but it will be his own fault if he gets fired. He is so insistent on sticking with Dusty, that I am afraid it will be his downfall.

In other news, looks like Sammy is actually considering retirement. I'd be surprised to see him quit just shy of 600 HR's, but his ego can't handle not being treated like a superstar. He is insulted that more teams aren't in a bidding war for his services. He really is a lunatic.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2328640

Telling numbers:

quote:

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The Cubs hit .258 with men in scoring position last season, which ranked 24th in the majors and was below the major-league average of .267. With nobody on base, the offense hit .267, which ranked fourth in the majors and was above the major-league average of .258.

Led by Derrek Lee, the Cubs' offense should have been a standout with a league-leading 1,506 hits. But there were two primary letdowns that contributed to them scoring only 703 runs, which ranked ninth in the league: They couldn't hit in clutch situations and refused to work pitchers for enough walks.

With runners in scoring position and two outs, the Cubs hit .228, which placed them 25th in the majors and below the major-league average of .246. The hitters also accepted the fewest bases on balls in the league at 419. Bad execution and poor decision-making combined to undercut a pretty good group of hitters.

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http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub12.html

Exactly why watching them last year made me want to pull out my hair. Guys like Pierre and Murton should help that. I think (hope) they are more selective hitters. Although, Jones and Walker will probably counteract that.

Don't forget that Lee and Aramis had a bunch of strike outs too. Fortunately, with Corey being shipped out we got rid of a lot of bad at-bats.

Pitchers and Catchers report in two days if I'm not mistaken.

I bet Mabry comes up big for you guys off of the bench. Good pick up.

I think he will be a good pick up. I'm not too thrilled with his pitching stats.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/stats_historical/mlb_player_locator_results.jsp?playerLocator=mabry

Pitchers & catchers report tomorrow!

It looks like our top three catchers will be in the WBC. That could be bad for us.

Top 3? Who is #3?

It's Geovany Soto although he probably won't go since he's essentially a back up in case someone gets injured.

In other news:

I know we've heard this before but apparently management seems to be excited about Woods progress. It would be so nice if Woody and Miller had surprise healthy seasons.