this is a .500 team

HEYHEY · #1 Apr 15th 2011, 8:47 pm

on to 2012. boooooooring

SKIPPER 11 · #2 Apr 15th 2011, 8:59 pm

From what Ive seen you are being generous. The Pirates, Stros, DBacks are pretty bad teams. The Crew is pretty good. 6-6 vs all 4.

No speed whatsoever. A number 3 hitter that will hit 15 hrs or less- not that I am knocking Byrd, he just isnt a 3 hitter. A 1B that wont hit .240 and will probably fan 33 percent of the time.

So that leaves our P which is currently dead last in starters era. Of course its early, but none of the top 3 have been very impressive and the other 2 are on the DL

Banks · #3 Apr 15th 2011, 10:13 pm

The early returns are ugly... But it's very early. The identity of this team has yet to surface.

As far fetched as it appears, I'd love to see the Cubs make a trade.

Aaron Hill?

James Shields?

Sell high on Marlon Byrd? Texas, a team who Byrd produced for in the past, just lost Josh Hamilton.

Attempt to pawn Carlos Zambrano onto a pitching starved team? The Yankess have the money, and the desperation, to do so.

Again, all of these scenario's are unlikely... Just wishfull thinking!

SKIPPER 11 · #4 Apr 15th 2011, 11:42 pm

Going into tonight, it was a surprise for me to see that we were ranked 7th through 10th in batting avg., ops, and ob %. 15th in runs . Unfortunately though we werent facing the Phillies pitching staff either. I agree it is very early. I still like our pitching- 1-5 when healthy and also the back 3. Mateo has looked pretty good at times too.

Bockstock · #5 Apr 16th 2011, 12:00 am

If anyone thought this was a 83+ win team going into the season they were idiots, anyway.

The Garza trade will be Hendry's dealth blow. Trading away 2 top #100 prospects for a marginal #2 pitcher who will likel cost $10 million the next couple of years.

SKIPPER 11 · #6 Apr 16th 2011, 8:25 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bockstock

If anyone thought this was a 83+ win team going into the season they were idiots, anyway.

The Garza trade will be Hendry's dealth blow. Trading away 2 top #100 prospects for a marginal #2 pitcher who will likel cost $10 million the next couple of years.

I would just like to be lurking around the deadline to see what moves might be made. 85 - 87 wins might get you in, who knows. I personally dont think the way this team has been constructed that is possible.

LeeEila's/rant · #7 Apr 16th 2011, 9:38 am

Why would any one expect anything different from last year ? What improvements were made won't show up this year. Castro and Barney have a way to go before we can expect too much. I have more faith in Barney turning into a complete baseball player sooner than Castro . His instincts are there and his foot work is much better right now. Everywhere else we have actually dropped power.

The whole signing of Garza and Pena was stupid. We gave up so much for little return. I know the self-appointed baseball genius will say Garza is a good sign because we have three year control over him. I tried to tell everyone that he was not what he looked like on paper. All you had to do is see him pitch last year , like I did. For those who don't understand what they see and only numbers , the home road splits tell you everything. It will be three years of disappointment and underachieving. He is so much like BigZ it is crazy. Just like how Z would insist on throwing hard stuff when a more deceptive pitch in the count would be a better call. All the possibilities but never fully utilized.

Pena the idea of a guy having a great year after a steady three year decline was very wishful thinking. All Pena is doing is taking away at bats for Colvin , who could have easily played first for what this team is going to do this year.

We would have been much better to have kept what we traded away and used them this year to showcase for trades next year , when we will have much more money and positions to fill. Fuld coming off the bench doing what he is doing now would look so attractive to teams next year.

This is so typical of Hendry , over spending for underachieving talent. Hell this is on Ricketts now. If we can see all these mistakes , why the hell can't he ? Or does he not care about the team and only cares about that building he fell in love with ?

LeeEila's/rant · #8 Apr 16th 2011, 9:42 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bockstock

If anyone thought this was a 83+ win team going into the season they were idiots, anyway.

The Garza trade will be Hendry's dealth blow. Trading away 2 top #100 prospects for a marginal #2 pitcher who will likel cost $10 million the next couple of years.

I tried telling you all he was a number 3 pitcher . He is just like Zambrano . He gets excited and over throws pitches , throws fastballs in the wrong counts , refuses to drop in a change up or curve , he is a pain in the ass pitcher.

Bockstock · #9 Apr 16th 2011, 12:16 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeEila's/rant

I tried telling you all he was a number 3 pitcher . He is just like Zambrano . He gets excited and over throws pitches , throws fastballs in the wrong counts , refuses to drop in a change up or curve , he is a pain in the ass pitcher.

You didn't have to tell me, I was happy going into the season with Z/Dempster/Wells/Gorz/Cashner.

I always said this is a 2-3 win improvement to a 75-80 win team, and I doubted Garza's success would translate to the NL Central for a variety of reasons, including being a flyball pitcher in a pithers park to playing in a hitters park and a division of hitter parks, and pitching in front of a far worse defense than he did in Tampa Bay.

That being said, his peripherals are still very good, so he has a good chance to turn things around.

Bockstock · #10 Apr 16th 2011, 2:50 pm

You also have to wonder about the Cubs approach at the plate for the game last night.

They were facing a team with an exhausted bullpen from a double header the day before and they go up to the plate more or less hacking and swinging at first and second pitches except for Soto and Pena. Not smart baseball.