Analyzing the Changes in the Cubs' Expected 2010 Offense (Edited with Comparison to the Cardinals)

I should have linked to this fanshot, which posted a lineup of
Dome
Riot
Lee
Rami
Byrd
Sori
Soto
Fonty

or Batting Average, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage.

Just wondering since “dead last” has no votes yet.

Where have I heard that before?

I guess the new word repeated by BlueLouNIUMike this upcoming season is “station to station”. Can we take a poll for how many times we hear that even before pitchers and catchers report? I guess 2,184 times.

Playing for the 3-run homer and being so insanely right-handed is a recipe for a below average offense.

2008 would like a word.

Corey Patterson? Didn’t work out

this is as much cuz of CPat being unwilling to work with coaches to improve. He told Sarge that he there was nothing Sarge could teach him for example. Cannot blame Hendry for CPat

Felix Pie? Didn’t work out.

Pie needed a different work environment. People (like BLou) are always saying we are/were in a win now mode, cannot do that with a rookie learning on the job

Tyler Colvin? Didn’t work out.

Maybe to date, but he is still in the organization and time will tell. This is jumping the gun

Jeremy Burnitz? Terrible

He was signed as much to be the anti-Sosa as he was to produce. It was a bad Cubs team before he signed, and was the same with him.

Jacque Jones? Terrible

Natural CF who had his best efforts as a CF for the Cubs before being traded. He was not horrible, but not great. Expectations were higher than results, thats about it

Alfonso Soriano? Absolutely horrific

He carried us to the playoffs in 2007 and is streaky. 2009 he was not healthy, and 2010 should be better

Kosuke Fukudome? $48 million for a So Taguchi clone

Better than Taguchi. People wanted him to be a 30+ HR hitter, when that is not who he is. People need to take into consideration that the PCL stadiums are about 20 feet shorter from home to wall and the walls are also shorter. He turned down large contracts to be a Cub and has earned his money.

Milton Bradley? Horrfic signing that now means two years of Carlos Silva

BLou loved the signing last season, now he blasts it without looking in the rear view mirror. It was a good idea that didnt work out, shit happens, stop harping about it. Time to move on. Silva was brought in not to be a big time contributor, but to out MB from the clubhouse. Like a back up catcher, any production is a plus.

Marlon Byrd??? 3 years tied up on a mid-30’s outfielder who weighs 245 pounds and hits from the wrong side of the plate.

He is 31, not mid 30’s. And I believe he swings from the correct side of the plate, I have never seen him with his butt to the plate swinging towards the dugout. Bieng a RH or LH bat is less important than if he can produce. No one here knows him as well as Rudy and I trust Rudy’s judgement and will see how this works out before judging it.

Alfonso Soriano took this team to the 2007 playoffs, and played a very large role in 2008.

And there’s no comparison between Dome and Toguchi, except for one thing, which has nothing to do with baseball.

Brett Jackson won’t be with the big league team till 2011 at the earliest.

Second, you forgot Todd Hollandsworth. But he does at least work as a Cubs analyst for CSN, so maybe that’s a reprieve. You could go back farther if you wanted – Damon Buford, Henry Rodriguez, etc. But not Moises Alou.

Yes, I think everyone agrees that the Cubs farm system appears incapable of drafting/developing a decent MLB Outfielder. Outfielder drafted by the Cubs says “Minor league death sentence. Maybe I can sell used cars.”

But I wouldn’t fear for Brett Jackson’s MLB playing time too soon. He had only 26 games at A ball in 2009. Not exactly on the cusp of a Hall of Fame career.

It’s doubtful that the Cubs could trade there top dollar contracts and get a reasonable return for them. There is an inverse relationship between the remaining cost of the player’s contract and the prospect value you can receive – More dollars left means lower value prospects. Unless you eat money in the deal. Non of the Cubs top dollar contracts are netting a Roy Halladay deal.

But the Cubs in 2010 are not a cluster. They are a baseball team competing in the NL Central. The NL Central is probably the most winnable division in MLB. With limited injuries, winning the division is a definite possibility. And then the playoffs are crap shoot.

20.

If the White Sox give Ankiel, say, 2/20, they can have him.

youd complain and call him a washed up roid monkey

Ankiel hits LH, but he strikes out LH, too. Giving a mulit-year contract to an OF who just put up a .231/.285/.387 season is a fair definition of the term “greater fool.” If Hendry gave Ankiel a 2-year deal, you would be all over him for squandering money on washed-up players.

Been there, heard that….

Are you purposely posting his age erroneously for effect because it really isn’t cute or funny.

… and Fukudome won’t be batting fifth.

Care to try this again?

I’ll bet you $100 per game above or below 75 wins for the Cubs next year. Put up or STFU!!

who is the bigger fool? The fool or the person debating the fool?

If he could bottle it, he’d probably make a lot of money.

I thought it was the gospel according to BlueMikeNIULou.

I’ll bet you $100 per game above or below 75 wins for the Cubs next year. Put up or STFU!!

joining Font on the bench. There needs to be a tweak maybe, but I dont see the overhaul that some are calling for

To be honest, they’re pretty sobering.

Oh, and in case anyone hasn’t visited Fangraphs in the last day or so, they’ve now added the CHONE projections to their player pages.

…and was thinking the same thing. He may be an option to consider. Where would you rank Byrnes in comparison to Branyan, Dye and Reed Johnson?