Changing my tune

I have a history of being a Bruce Weber fan, and I could even be classified as an apologist, probably most evident here. But watching the Illini this season, I've decided that it's time to become realistic. Bruce Weber is not such a great coach.

I'll base this off of a few different things. First, recruiting. Facts is facts folks. This team sucks. And these are largely Bruce Weber's players. Aside from the Eric Gordon debacle, which I've also covered in depth, and largely inaccurately here, he has made a number of recruiting failures. Some of these can probably be due to being strung along by Gordon, or other players having tepid interest yet receiving the bulk of attention. I don't know, I don't know recruiting. What I do know is that this team is Bruce's team. And this team blows. I'll come back to this in a second. But, I refuse to give Tracy Webster a pass in this whole situation. As the lead recruiter, he did a shit job of getting any serious recruits. Derrick Rose was at least open to the idea of coming to Illinois, even attending Midnight Madness. Could we have gotten him? Perhaps, with someone who wasn't inept at recruiting as our lead recruiter.

Next: Bruce sucks at player rotations. Why is he so resistant to playing freshmen that HE recruited and that HE refused to red shirt. There are 15 active players on the roster, and only like 8 see regular court time. Of those, two are seniors, a couple are juniors, there is an occasional spotting of Alexander (though he's battling injuries I guess) and like 3 freshman get court time. This is just retarded. If the players can't play, then they should have been redshirted. If they can play, then why aren't they? Especially now that the season is a wash, it makes absolutely no sense for the Illini to not play the kids. Let Semrau in a game. Give Holdren some SHOTS. He lit us up, we can't get him an open fucking shot? Let's see what Bill Cole can do.

Now I have an entire point based around Chester Frazier. I have no ill wishes againts Chester outside the basketball world. I hope his education gets him a great job, or it's possible he'll be following in the Jerrance Howard footsteps. Whatever. But my god does he suck at basketball.

The thing we all learned with Dee, Deron and Luther was that with a lot of gym time, and a lot of effort, the sky was the limit. Potential was untapped, but Deron turned himself into a lottery pick. Just unheard of. Not even Frank Williams could do that (and I could have sworn Frank had more talent, probably just more unrealized potential. But damn was he smooth). But, now with Chester Frazier, we're seeing a limit reached. I love his defensive intensity. But it's not consistent, and I think his basketball IQ is terrible.

As a coach, you want to put your players into a position where they will succeed. Why would you put Chester, a player with limited ball-handling skills, as the primary dribbler, and the initiator of the offense? I would say the evidence during the Purdue game was rather damning. Demetri at the point has us up big. Chester relieves him, and we spent 25 seconds dribbling and passing the ball around 35 feet from the basket. It would have been nice to sniff the 3 pt. line before 10 seconds left in the shot clock. Also as a coach, you want to have a guy who wants the ball in his hands at the end of the game to ice it with free throws. Chester shoots, what, 60%? Pruitt shoots slightly less, and I have no idea why he's in at the end of games either (although lately he's shown that he can make a free throw or two in the clutch). And Chester can't dribble his way out of a wet paper bag that has giant holes for dribbling through in it.

Asking Chester to do too much is not helping anyone. The offense becomes stagnant, especially when he's at the point. He holds the ball too much, doesn't reverse it enough, his passing is average at best (and I'd say that's rather optimistic). His defense on the ball is pretty good, his intensity and desire are amazing. But too often he's out of position, or he'll have a lapse. And off the ball he's probably only average at help defense.

Also, Dee Brown's tenure saw the introduction of Hustle stats or something. I think these should be done away with, because I can see Chester having a high number of Hustle stats or points or whatever they're called (that's how withdrawn I am from Illini basketball right now; it's sickening). He's always chasing down loose balls, getting rebounds (which other Illini players are normally around him while doing so), and he's fairly solid, again, on the ball defending. But does this take into consideration turnovers? Lack of motion in the motion offense? Refusal to fast break??

And what of Demetri McCamey. The kid's got ball skills, he can drive to the basket, he can actually make a shot so you're not playing 4 against 5. He's in while the Illini rack up the score (his defense isn't that poor, regardless of what Weber may say), and then he's on the bench as they lose it. Yet Bruce rails into Demetri. While Chester gets a free pass. Consistently.

So now we come to the final point, in game coaching. Bruce has just been outcoached basically all season. How do you come into halftime with a lead, or open up a big lead, only to lose it? Failure to make adjustments. Refusal to make adjustments. All Bruce seems to do is stand on the sidelines and yell at the kids rather than actually do anything. I read recently on Blogabull that yelling doesn't make a good coach. It can be effective, but if it doesn't elicit a noticeable change, then you're just wasting your breath and voice, and we all know Bruce has no voice to spare. And that's all Bruce does. Hell, it was only like 3 or 4 games ago where I actually saw us run a play designed to get a shot on an inbounds play and it worked!

So it's a combination of adjustments, strategies, and players. If the players in aren't doing the job, why would yelling make them change it? And what the hell do they do when they're at practice exactly? Miss free throws? Son of a bitch this team is just awful to watch.

This team has no identity. Wait, I'll take that back. Lack of offense is this team's identity. That and going long stretches without getting field goals. At least if the kids were playing, there would be some experience for next year. Remember how awful this team was when Cory Bradford ran the point? He was the only offense the team had that year. But then, when those guys were seniors, the team produced. Who the hell would have thought that Damir Krupalija would do anything effective? Or Archibald for that matter?

This team is tanking, and in the worst way, because there's nothing to gain from any of the losses we've had except we know that we need to make free throws, which we've known for two years but still can't do. I know Bruce has some great recruits coming in in a few years, but I'm really starting to wonder if he'll be around when they matriculate.

You are a retard

If you think the Bears got their ass kicked this weekend. You are also a retard if you think the Bears got their ass kicked in the Super Bowl by the Colts. In fact, you give me many reasons daily to think you are a retard. I give myself many reasons to think I am retarded also, so this isn't exclusive to just you. But you've forced me to get off-topic.

Listen, the Bears lost to the Chargers. But for anyone to say that Rex Grossman blows or that the Chargers absolutely manhandled the Bears this weekend is totally biased. Now, as a Bears fan, allow me to be unbiased as I break down the game.

Rex Grossman did not lose the game. Rex Grossman didn't even play a shitty game. He had some solid passes, and he had one mistake on a miscommunication play that lead to an interception. He was shaky early, but that definitely did not cost the Bears the game. What cost the Bears the game? Two things: turnovers and shitty play-calling. Again.

I'm not going to flip out about the Bears running backs not having a good game. The Chargers have a stout run defense. In fact, in the past, their pass defense has put up more average numbers than the run defense because they negate the run (and are winning a lot) forcing the other team to pass. And I'm not going to flip out about the fumbles because neither back is particularly fumble-prone. It's not like we have 4 Rashaan Salaam's on the depth chart. (Or three for that matter.)

But the play-calling was weak. Just like the Super Bowl. We couldn't run the ball, but we kept with it. Then when we would string together a couple plays, the momentum would be broken with a stop on a run play. Or, consider late in the game when Grossman completed passes (gasp! It happened!) and the Bears had 2nd and 2. Run, no gain. Run, no gain. 4th and 2. Run, 1 yard gain. You like to think your back could get those yards, but at the same time, asking him to get it again 7 guys in the box when blocking has been fairly weak all game is stupid. Play-calling was unoriginal and bland.

I would also like to point out how many 2 TE sets the Bears ran. I don't know if this was a product of the Bears practicing assuming Greg Olsen would play or not, but this to me seems like a product of playing to the Chargers defense rather than forcing them to adjust to your offense. The Bears have solid WR's. Mark Bradley is supposed to have a breakout year. And yet we barely run any 3WR sets, let alone 4. Run a quick slant with a spread offense. Force the Chargers to adjust their game plan. It's nice to beat them at their own game, but why not get creative?

Supposedly the punt that sucked hit the cable that carries the camera across the field. It blows, but both teams had to deal with it, so those are just the breaks. You know what else is the breaks? Missed calls. So fucking deal with it retard. Besides, there were a ton of missed holding calls (including when Lorenzo Neal clotheslined Mike Brown, which, coincidentally, was the play he was injured on) so it evens out. Even Troy Aikman pointed out that it should have been a penalty. Quit bitching.

So the Chargers get the ball and go 28 yards or whatever on 4 plays. But they score on a trick play. How does that show dominance? The fact that they had similar numbers in the first half? Yes, absolutely dominant. The only portion of the game that the Chargers dominated was time of possession in the 2nd half (due to always getting the ball on turnovers) and getting into the end zone.

So if it was the Colts or Patriots playing the Chargers and losing the game like this, does that mean that they're by far much worse teams than the Chargers? Why because it's an NFC team does it mean that the Bears, and the NFC, blow? The home team fucking won. It's not a foreign concept.

I'm not trying to say that the Chargers didn't beat the Bears, or that the Bears got screwed over. The Bears didn't execute, the Chargers did. But don't act like Grossman blew the game when he did all he was given with the weak playcalling. The Sex Cannon wasn't slinging laserwads to the Chargers all game. He saved them for all of the choice San Diego poon. And it's not the Bears fault that the refs missed the fucking neutral zone infraction, so cut the shit of calling them cheaters.

*Also, I was entirely sober for this game, so my memories are unclouded by alcohol.

Chicago sports roundup

Because I'm too lazy to really write about anything, I'm just going to make this one all-encompassing post on the Chicago sports scene in the past couple days. At least the relevant scene. Fuck the White Sox.

The Cubs just complete a 4-game series win over the Nationals, and even on scrub day. Jacque Jones gets two meaningless doubles, but can't do shit with men on base OR against lefties. If I were Jacque Jones, and I'd seen my playing time dissipate, I think I would probably try and, you know, improve on my weaknesses. Especially if they're being presented for the world to see on a nightly basis. But, hey, self-improvement is obviously overrated in some people's mind. And he's got about $4.5 million reasons to say fuck it this year, about about another $5 million reasons for next year. So I guess if he's content, then cool. But, you won't be content in Chicago. Dickface.

Also, Cesar Izturis did something last night. He didn't really field to well, and his inability to yield to the 3rd baseman (which is something you learn very early) could have caused serious injury to Ramirez. But, hey, it's not like Ramirez is important to the team at all. Cesar certainly is though. And, did anyone notice, that although Koyie Hill is hitting a stellar .151 (I'm not calling for a replacement, just noting that it's low) Izturis was still put BEHIND him in the order? That's not exactly a vote of confidence.

So those are the Cubs. On to the Bears, who have reopened negotiations with Lance Briggs. Why? Well, probably because Briggs's agent wants to get paid. And the Bears have done a pretty solid job of playing hardball. I mean, sure they're cheap. But this is one issue where I think they're legitimately being cheap. And, honestly, I don't really care any more. I'm sure we can get something solid for Briggs if we trade him, and I doubt we end up letting him sit out 10 games or whatever. Although, if we do, it's his own fucking fault, and I could care less.

Now, the Bulls. In keeping with moves that fuck with my mind, they actually re-signed Nocioni. Now I stated how drafting Noah was reasonable with the liability that was Nocioni on his way out anyways, and a sign and trade with Nocioni would allow Noah to move right in. So now we give Noce a fucking 5 year contract??? When MEMPHIS WANTS HIM. It's not like Memphis has any players we'd be interested in though. They don't have an inside scoring presence who would like to play for a contender and who was very nearly traded to the Bulls (according to rumors) last year. Nope. I'm glad. Because I would feel like that was a missed opportunity to get the superior player, and then we're stuck with the inferior one at a very, very shitty contract. For 5 years. When that inferior player missed a portion of this past year to do a recurring injury anyways. Phew, what a mistake that would have been.

I get that Nocioni for Gasol doesn't happen straight up. You know who else the Bulls don't really need? Ben Gordon. Hell, I think that gives the Grizz too much. There's no way the Bulls do a sign and trade with Nocioni now.

Also, it's not like I hate Nocioni terribly. But where does he fit on this roster when he's making that much? He's not better than Tyrus Thomas. Offensively, yes, but Ty is also, like, fucking 21. And, to repeat, we probably could have gotten Gasol in a trade. But, anyways, back to Nocioni. His +/- is terrible. When he's on the floor we give up points and leads. He'll take the occasional charge, which is probably closer to a flop (but whatever), I just think he is out of place. And he certainly should not be making that kind of money. You know who's definitely out though? Ben Gordon. They don't have the money to have so many untouchable players, yet also be able to extend these guys.

I'm still waiting to be wowed by what the Bulls are doing this summer. And you know what? I don't think I'm going to see it. We're basically taking in the exact same team we had last year. And if we're relying on experience to propel us forward, I think we've seen in the past (i.e. this year) that additional experience is only going to take us so far.

Maybe Luol Deng turns into Michael Jordan and the Bulls begin a dynasty? Yeah, I don't think so either. But, fucking shit, when there are players out there to be had and we just sit back and re-sign Nocioni, that just fucking bothers me. Come on Paxson, impress me here.

No. No. No no no no no.

Listen, I'm not one to rush decisions. I like to take my time with them. Kick them around a little bit. Like a baby. I mean, not like a baby, what is something you kick? No, I was right, a baby. Anyways, another thing I don't rush to is conclusions. And I especially try to hold out my conclusions about a team's draft, because it's going to take about three years for the players of said draft to come to fruition, unless they're in the top tier (and sometimes not even then).

But the Bulls fucking blew the draft last night. I missed all of the first 10 picks, except I did manage to see 2 seconds of them. Those two seconds? Joakim Noah wearing a fucking Bulls hat. Waste of a pick. Wait, I'll take that back.

Listen, I don't think Joakim Noah is a shitty player. He's just not what the Bulls need. No, I'll take that back too. I think he could be something the Bulls need, but it may take a little time. One thing he will never be, though, is a scorer. And that is one thing I hoped the Bulls could get with their #9 pick. Ok, I get it, there was none available for them to take. But what about shopping the pick? To the 76ers? Someone must have wanted Noah badly enough? Maybe? Did we really?

Here's what I expect from Noah. We need a young, athletic guy who can rebound and mix it up. I'd prefer he could also mix it up on the offensive end. But mixing it up in general is something I'll always get behind. We also have Nocioni, an undersized player who we don't really have the money (or desire) to keep. So Noah replaces Nocioni's role on the team of being the energy guy off the bench, but he provides better low-post defense and much better rebounding. We lose the offense of Nocioni, but then again, his +/- sucked at the end of the year anyways. Also, I think it will be interesting to see the pairing of Noah and Thomas down low. Not much offense (depending what Ty can add in the offseason) but high energy and tenacious defense. So, I guess I'm not as angry with this pick as I was at first. But just a note to Joakim Noah. Cut your hair, and don't be a fucking jackass. And please God shave. Thanks.

Now, on to the rest of the draft, or as I will call it, Shit Central.

Aaron Cook. I've seen this kind of player before. His name is every fucking other white center in the NBA who's failed in the past 20 years. Aaron Cook was constantly lauded for being such a great college center. And yet, his team has never won, and he always disappears in big games. And, two years ago his draft status wsa probably as high as it was going to be. There hasn't been any more improvement. He is a waste. Worthless. The Bulls should have drafted me. Because I also will never put on a uniform in the NBA. And I would not do it for less money. Aaron Cook. What a shite pick. Is Nick Smith unavailable that we needed to draft Aaron Cook?

And who's next? JamesOn Curry. First, what the hell is a JamesOn? There's probably some punchline to that joke, but I surely don't know it. Anyways, JamesOn went from being one of the top freshmen in the country to 3rd team All Conference last year. I didn't even know the Big 12 made a 3rd team. He's got no handle, no defense, and really his only skill is shooting the set shot, which he's not super awesome at either. Also, he's an undersized 2. Hmm, where else have I seen a team with an undersized 2. Shit, I just don't know. I'm glad we've got one though.

I get it, the end of the draft is a total crapshoot anyways and you're most likely never going to see anything from any of the players there. You're also going to take the best players available. And I don't really know what else was available. But I would much rather take a chance on a kid out of a small school (whatever happened to Harold "The Show" Arcineaux? Was that even his name?) than some player who I've seen a thousand times before and who used to (maybe once, on a fast break or something) impress me.

Also, John Paxson is a genius. Let's not discount that. I could be totally wrong, and it would be totally valid because John Paxson is bigger than Jesus. Well, I don't mean to say that he's bigger than Jesus, just a bigger deal. I would say Jesus was probably about 6'4".

So I could be totally wrong. And I would be fine with that. In fact, I suspect that I could be. While I don't like the Noah pick at first glance, it's actually pretty solid when you consider how easily he should be able to slide into his role. And really one pick is all you're going to get out of most drafts, so I'm guessing that Pax has a few ideas up his sleeve. If only we could rape the Knicks of a ton of draft picks again. Have they heard about the high ceiling on Ben Gordon?

Well that's a start

Obviously, trade rumors have been flying around quite a bit for the past week or so. Well, this morning it seems that finally the Cubs have made an actual trade, perhaps kicking off what could be a pretty active trading season in the MLB.

I read on MLB Trade Rumors that the Cubs have traded Michael Barrett to the Padres for Rob Bowen, a backup catcher. Also included in the deal was a minor league player. Now I've read conflicting things. ESPN sources say that the Cubs got an unnamed minor league pitcher. However, MLB Trade Rumors says the Cubs got an outfielder who was drafted 35th overall last year, showed good power in high school and has a solid right field arm. Sort of a low-risk possibly high-reward type of player, if he can show anything against professional pitching, which so far he has not. Perhaps I can scout him during a Chiefs game and give my two cents, since I obviously know many things about scouting players. And people care what I think. But, it looks like it has since been updated that the Cubs did in fact receive an unnamed pitcher, and perhaps Buster Olney (who broke the trade) was had wrong information. So perhaps I won't be scouting Tyler Burke (the player originally rumored to be in the trade).

So so long Michael Barrett. I can't say that I'm surprised your gone, and I also can't really say that I'm sad to see you go. But you've been relatively good to us, and while your numbers have been down this year, offensively you've been pretty damn solid in the past.

Rob Bowen. Well, he's a backup catcher, but he's hitting better than San Diego's starter, Josh Bard. He's only got 82 at-bats though. Does that mean he's bad at handling a staff, but he can hit? Because we kind of just had a guy like that. He'll definitely be cheaper though. I think I almost would have rather gone with Josh Bard. Just because he seems to be able to handle the staff--well--and that sort of relegates Barrett to backup. And he was just a starter. And he's not really a backup catcher. I don't know the Padres' motives, but hell, if they want him, fantastic.

So, now with Barrett gone, we've got Koyie Hill, who, while not hitting much, is doing a solid job with the staff, Henry Blanco when he gets healthy, and Rob Bowen, whom I still know nothing about. What else could we do?

I read one incredibly unfounded rumor that the Cubs and Reds were discussing a trade involving Ken Griffey Jr. The trade would be Jacque Jones and Sean Marshall to Cincinatti, and Griffey comes over.

Now, as I said, incredibly unfounded, probably not even true. But what would be the point in that if it is true? Sure, Griffey is performing pretty well, and he'd definitely provide power from the left side. And we could use lefties in the lineup. And we definitely need to be rid of Jacque Jones. I just don't see this trade being even. And we need another outfielder when we'd still have too many guys to get at bats? Throw in Cliff Floyd, and Matt Murton. We've got a surplus, and we don't need it.

In addition to that, I still want to be rid of Scott Eyre and Cesar Izturis. They both suck and are dragging this team down. Izturis has lost his job to Mike Fontenot (or Theriot), and we're still going to need to get both Theriot and DeRosa at bats when Aramis comes back. I actually would not be terribly surprised to see DeRosa get traded. If we hadn't just signed him to a 3-year deal he absolutely would be on the block. He seems like he needs to be in the lineup in order to produce, as he's shown by going on a tear since the Cubs were in San Diego.

I still see a ton of moves that can be made, so hopefully Hendry will continue to remain active.

I have so much hate to give. So much.

At times I can be a very hate-filled person. Like, there was the time that I was driving and I was cut off and then was forced to chase down the other person, follow them, then beat them senselessly. I can't remember if they lived or not. And I mean, I refuse to give Penny Dreadful a pass for sucking so horribly bad. The point is, I just have a lot of hate to give, but sometimes I wish I had even MORE outlets for it.

Anyways, with that being said, I would like to point out that I am always looking for new things to hate. Like, Li'l Bush. Hey, Comedy Central, why would you think allowing this show on the air would be a good idea? Remember your last failed George W. Bush show? No? You don't? That's a shame. Because it was horrible. I actually just puked a little thinking of how bad it was. But, yeah, maybe it will work the second time around, in animated form. That's going to work out great.

And now I've been forced to hate penguins as well. I mean, March of the Penguins was original or something. I get it. You know what isn't original? Like 8000 animated movies about penguins. I wonder what the next "It" animal will be? Giraffe's? Sandra Oh's? Camels? Oh, how about kangaroos? Maybe some sort of movie involving a rapping kangaroo would be fantastic. Get on that Hollywood.

So, now that I've gone off the topic I originally was missing anyways, let's just get to the list this week. Oh, also, it's great to be back. Venting my rage. To the list!

New this week:

America. Way to fucking go America, you're back on the list. And you know why? You chose to watch Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Why the fuck would you do something like that? Since when has Tyler Perry ever been the premier expert on anything funny? Oh, he dressed up like a fat old woman, that's, uh, original. But now this shitcom is making TBS a shitload of money, and I guarantee you it's so bad. I, of course, do not know, because I'm not a retard who would tune in to watch it. I made the mistake of watching about 5 minutes of an episode of My Boys when that was on. I then took out one of my kidneys as punishment. Without anesthesia, obviously. But, uh, anyways. House of Payne? "How about we make some sort of shitty family comedy with too many characters, weak plot lines, and an unoriginal background and slap Tyler Perry's name on it! People will love it! And the name can be suggestive! Suggestive!!" Fuck you TBS. And, come on America, I expect more out of you. The show was something like the highest rated sitcom on cable ever. This is only going to encourage both TBS and Tyler Perry, so for that America, you suck.

Bad Cubs. I was going to single out players, but I decided I could just lump them all into one category, and then call out the particular ones. First up: Jacque Jones. Dude, there's no room for you. Well, even if there was room, you wouldn't be playing, because you're about the 4th best option (currently, even with Murton in AAA) in the outfield as is. Actually, I would rather have Fontenot or Theriot out there in place of you as well. And you're complaining about playing time. Here's a hint: It would be easy to play you if you could hit and/or field well. Maybe if you knew how to hit a left-hander, or if you could hit with 2 strikes, you would play. But since you're insistent on not doing things well, it's no one's fault but your own. As for Cesar Izturis, you need to leave town. We do not want you. We certainly don't want you in the lineup. Fontenot/Theriot is a much better combination than anything you provide. I can appreciate your recent timely hitting, but still, you suck. If you could just get some sort of season ending injury so we could waive you, it would be greatly appreciated. So work on that, or I'll have to. And I don't think you want that.

Work. I hate work so much. I had the question posed to me this week, if I was doing this same exact job, but I was in Chicago, would I still hate it? I'm still not sure how to answer that question. I've done hours of soul-searching, I mean I would have if I had a soul, and I think I would have slightly more patience with this job, but I would still probably hate it. So I would probably still be looking for a new job regardless.

Heat. Speaking of this job, it's just so awesome. The a/c in our lab "works" really well. It's really great to come into work, and the temperature is set at 72, and when you leave at the end of the day, it's anywhere between 78-80. And that's actually good, because last year it would routinely get up above 88. So, that's bullshit. In addition, why does it have to be so fucking hot outside? I don't really enjoy working up a sweat by sitting in place. In fact, I despise it. Hey nature, go back to 75. Bitch.

Bachelor Parties. Man, I hate bachelor parties. Or, one in particular. Because things like gambling, and alcohol, and scantily clad women just don't mix at all. AT ALL.

Employers. Fuck you guys.

Peoria. You're really sucking the life out of me now Peoria. The heat, the isolation, the nothing to do. Hey, Cubs game tonight, want tickets? Oh, right, you live in Peoria. Damn. That sucks. You know what the best thing about living in Peoria is? I don't either.

Penny Dreadful. You better not be thinking I'll get over this, because I will not.

And what fell off:

Technology. My DVR is being a piece of shit, but I guess other than that, nothing ELSE has broken down on me recently, so I've got that going for me.

USPS. I found out this great new way to fuck over the USPS. It's called online bill pay. And, apparently, you can send money through a series of tubes to pay your bills, so you don't need to mail them. I have so many stamps left over that I've actually used them as currency to buy other collectible stamps.

TV Networks. I really can't justify taking any of these off of the last list. I think I'm just going to have to make a Dead To Me list also.

So that's all I've got. But there's oh so much more hate to give.

I still don't really get this

Ok, so the Cubs have been doing better, but they're still not doing great, and I'm confused about a couple of things.

Why can't Piniella stick with one batting order? The top three spots in the batting order, for the most part now that Pie is up, are set, and when Ramirez is healthy, the top 4 are set. But why would you move around all of the different hitters? And why would you bat Jacque Jones anywhere but 6th or 7th? Or even Michael Barrett for that matter? Neither of them are hitting as well as they should be, so why would you want to exploit that by putting them in the 4th spot? That spot should go to Cliff Floyd, who should be in the lineup rather than Jacque Jones, and that's how it should stay. And remember when Piniella hit Jones 2? What the hell was he thinking? I just get sick of seeing a new batting order every single day, and it's just baffling.

Now that Murton has been sent down, which still seems pretty illogical, that should make roles just a little bit clearer. Floyd, Pagan occasionally, and Jones will share time in right, but I would hope that Floyd and Pagan get the bulk of the time. Remember how everyone said that signing Cliff Floyd would be a mistake unless they moved Jacque Jones? Well, now it's completely come to fruition. Everyone is playing out of place in right, except for perhaps Jacque, but he's sucking the most of everyone. I still don't see why Floyd needed to be signed in the first place, since Murton proved he can handle playing everyday last year. Baahhh. Still upset at this situation.

But, anyways, why do we still have Jacque Jones? What are we possibly looking for in return? There's one area that we need help at, and it's bullpen. And even that hasn't been too bad of late. Maybe it just took two months for everyone to get into bullpen mindset. Everyone except Eyre or course, because fatty just sucks. Are we looking for another major league caliber position player? We definitely don't need another outfielder, and we have an excess of middle infielders as well. So what do we want? Catcher? First baseman? It seems like those guys would just be wasting a roster spot. So we have to trade for a minor leaguer. I would be fine if we took a risk on a young guy with a live arm, and possibly not a lot of potential, just so we could get rid of Jones. I mean, there you at least have a chance that the kid could turn into something good. With Jones you just have a lot of inadquate play, and there's really not space for it on this team.

Now, about that bullpen. What the hell is going on out there? Why do we need 13 pitchers? We should have traded Scott Eyre when we had the chance, assuming we did have the chance. Sean Marshall has been amazing, and Rich Hill has been solid too (he can't get run support), so we are obviously doing a better job of developing pitchers. Speaking of, Marmol is doing well out of the bullpen also. We need to waive Eyre or something, because if we're not going to use him, it's worthless to have him taking up a roster spot. But remember Neal Cotts? What the hell happened to him? Did I miss something?

Anyways, here's what I would like to see happen. We package Jacque Jones, Cesar Izturis (who is now out of a job) and Scott Eyre and send them to someone who will give us a reliever in return. I would also say that as much as I hate to do it, Murton should be traded. I would love to get Saltalamachhia from the Braves, and I think we may have something they want, although I'm not sure what it would be. Starting pitching? Murton/Jones? Bullpen guys we have no use for but they may be able to coach?

Also, back to another concern I have. Now, I'll admit, I'm too lazy to look up injuries or anything, but what happened to the guys we had up earlier in the year? I mentioned Neal Cotts before, but what about Ronnie Cedeno? He had a great spring. Is he really sucking in AAA? (Fine, I'll check.) Nope. No he's not. (Neal Cotts however, pretty much is.) He's not hitting to the tune of .389 like a certain other player recently recalled, or even .340 like a player who was also recently recalled, but he's hitting .319. There's really no spot for Ronnie on the roster, so why can't we package him in a deal also? He could easily have a spot on another team looking for a little infield depth, and we just don't have room for him, what with having 4 utility infielders as it is.

Anyways, I guess there's really no point to all of this, except to question whether or not this team really has any direction. Deals should be being made to solve the problems. I realize that with the sale of the team pending, the Cubs, regardless of what they may say, are probably pretty limited in spending, so they're not going to be able to take on much more salary. But if the Cubs are waiting to find the perfect deal for Jacque Jones, they're probably not going to find it. I would have found it, though, because my perfect deal for Jacque Jones is ANYTHING.

So there are players to be moved, and this is really the first time in a while that the Cubs can be sellers with their glut of reasonably talented players. Hopefully Hendry can get off his ass and do something, but that remains to be seen.