There’s nothing like a nice leathered-up shoe being shovedshoved directly up my ass.

Fixed that for ya…

This is one of the things we don’t know about Lee – how much injuries have held him back. I have a hard time believing that a very fit man like Derrek Lee is in decline already. I think it is much more likely that he’s banged up and playing through it. He’s the anti-Bradley in this way.

It’s ironic, then, that you suggest he’s missing the point of his contract. I think there’s a middle ground between Lee and Bradley and the middle ground is that we need both playing as close to 100% in October as possible.

Personally, I’d rather have Lee’s attitude and a manager who stands up to that player and sits him down than a player like, say, Erik Bedard is rumored to be, who sits himself down and takes that choice away from the manager. On the other hand, you have players, like Franklin Morales, who try and play through the pain and don’t tell the club, who is then left wondering, “Why does this guy suddenly stink?”

sounds right to me!

….you have clarifed the thoughts that I have on this subject and didnt have the time or skill to put into words today!

…that 2004 team had a ton of flaws. Dusty basically letting the players run the team and allowing them to get “soft” (example, the pissing matches players had toward Chip and Steve because of criticism toward the team or praise toward opposing players).

You do make excellent points though, and frankly I’m nitpicking with the 2004 comment (I grew to absolutely despise that team at season’s end and don’t want to have to do that this year). So kudos to your post.

As far as Soriano’s remarks go, frankly I’m thrilled to see the guy taking over as the leading voice of this team because Lord knows Derrek Lee hasn’t been that voice in awhile. He DOES have Dusty in him to where he feels the need to defend the players and protect them, but when your team is 10-10 and got killed in two of the three games in their last series, something needs to be said, which Soriano did.

And if this were last year I wouldn’t be praising him like this because for the last two years I was a serious critic of his. But his bat is doing most of the talking this season and frankly, I’m thrilled to see this progress. He can’t be the only one hitting the ball out of the park though (or getting on base, for that matter). These guys need to step it up, I don’t care how early in the year it is. It’s too early to panic, but it’s never too early to become concerned and begin to wonder where this team is headed.

When it comes to Lee, I could care less what he’s done in the past. I respect the guy tremendously and tremendously admired his offensive abilities from 2004 up until halfway through 2007 when I noticed a decline. Since then, I’ve been a heavy critic of his, and for him to disagree with Soriano making a, to me, necessary comment to give the guys a bit of a kick in the ass, is a bit foolish if you ask me. Especially if he’s technically one of the guys Soriano’s talking about.

I never thought I’d cringe or expect Derrek Lee to be an out in the lineup, sadly that’s what’s come of the guy with me. Whether he’s playing hurt or he’s just lost it, I don’t know, but he’s the guy who’s going to have to fix it. As far as I’m concerned, the way he’s been playing so far this year, he’s not doing that.

We need a vocal leader, not a clubhouse leader. A clubhouse leader motivates the team on the inside, which is what Lee does, and he obviously was never one to openly criticize players. These guys need open criticism in the press and the news, and that’s what Soriano has just done. I hope we see more comments like that if the slump continues (which I’m hoping does not happen), and he keeps talking with the bat as well.

… never woulda expected this from Sori, which makes it all the more important and all the cooler IMHO.

I think that the Cubs expected Lee to produce somewhere between his pre-05 averages and his 2005 career year.

Of course, he has not only reverted to his career averages – he’s actually producing below them.

walls doesn’t make him a good ballplayer.

I’m not missing your point. I just fail to see the significance of it. Why is it when the team is winning and no one if “fiery”, no one says anything? Could it be that that trait is unnecessary to playing good winning baseball? You make it seem like the players don’t want to be successful or can’t be successful unless someone is running around the field screaming like a banshee. What does that have to do with hitting, pitching or playing good defense. The players aren’t stupid. They can see the score. They know they are playing like crap. They don’t need someone running around telling them that like they are in some kind of stupor.

I’d much rather see a well-pitched ball game, a consistent offensive output and some good defense. That is the formula for winning baseball. It’s simple. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. GOT IT!!!!

what I meant is that he seems to use as a measure of his success that he gets out there and plays everyday, period. that seems to be one measure of his success. I personally think that is selfish. This is just my opinion based on what I see. You can have your opinion too.

There are times a player needs to sit and heal and he in the long-run, can do his team more good. Sometimes, guys are insecure. No one acted this way more than Brett Favre—and he was a GREAT competitor but he was also selfish (I am a Packer fan so I know what I am talking about as I lived through those frustrations when Favre wouldn’t sit).

I also gave examples of where DLee seems to never like criticism of the team, period. I just think DLee is set in his ways. This may be DLee’s way of having quiet passion, but I also think he is not as young as he used to be and when injuries like this neck flare up, you are better to let it heal completely—take a few more days. Did you ever see him look as bad as he did yesterday in fielding that bunt? We need a healthy DLee out there if he is going to play. His is one position where we do have a decent (not great) fielding back up (Hoff) to fill in while he gets better.

So don’t accuse me of lying. I am only offering observations and opinions. Let’s relax.