Cubs looking at Lugo?

[CYdTracked]

I hate to ruin your man crush on Milton Bradley but regardless if he's busting his *** or not he still is a below average defensive RF. There are guys in Iowa right now that aren't making $10 mil a year that I can say are busting their *** off too but it doesn't mean they are great players.

[TarHeelHawk]

I hate to ruin your man crush on Milton Bradley but regardless if he's busting his *** or not he still is a below average defensive RF. There are guys in Iowa right now that aren't making $10 mil a year that I can say are busting their *** off too but it doesn't mean they are great players.

So what's your solution, Jim? Bench him, move Kos-K over and start Reed in center full-time?

[PGreen ISU '92]

Short Stop is the least of the Cub's worries. The Riot is one of the few everyday position players that is producing -- 100 hits at the half-way mark; .299 average; 7 HRs; 32 RBIs; .351 On-Base Percentage; Not All-Star numbers but IMO he and Derrek Lee are the heart and soul of that team.

[Cyclonestate78]

And so ends one of Epstein's only failed experiments...I'm sure the Red Sox are willing to take on all the salary for some pretty raw prospects, since the alternative is taking on the salary for nothing.

Agreed. Lugo has been absolutely horrible in Boston. I hope the Cubs are dumb enough to take our garbage for a second time like they did with Nomar.

[CYdTracked]

So what's your solution, Jim? Bench him, move Kos-K over and start Reed in center full-time?

Well first off Hendry should be canned by the new ownership for the outfield mess alone. Overpaid and under producing at all 3 spots and all 3 have pretty much impossible contracts to trade so what can you really do? Fox and Hoffpauier would probably have put up better numbers than all of them had they started as many games there and surely both of them couldn't be that much worse with the glove as Soriano and Bradley have. That's the problem though, it's payroll politics. How do you justify benching 18 mil and 10 mil a year guys for 2 guys that both aren't making about a half a mil each this year.

I don't have a solution, it sucks because unfortunately the Cubs are stuck with the most overpaid and over rated OF in all of MLB right now but that doesn't mean I have to accept how **** poor they continue to play.

[mwitt]

Lugo was DFA'd. The only way he gets traded is if the Red Sox agree to pick up the remainder of his contract, for the most part. He'll probably be released and will be had for peanuts, similar to B.J. Ryan.

[rebecacy]

So what's your solution, Jim? Bench him, move Kos-K over and start Reed in center full-time?

Simple root for the cardinals

[CycloneErik]

So what's your solution, Jim? Bench him, move Kos-K over and start Reed in center full-time?

My answer is to play Fuld in left, Kosuke in center, and Fox in right.

We've won before with guys that weren't great defenders in RF, and the other two could make up enough of a difference to keep his bat in the lineup.

I agree that Bradley is hustling and working hard. I wasn't sure for a while, but I'm convinced now. I also agree that Soriano does not. He's just a power hitter at this point who will swing at anything. The closer to the dirt, the better.

[LeSchmick]

No he really does bust his ***. He's got issues, but that isn't one of them.

Nope. Milton probably plays the game harder than anyone on the team. The results might not be there, but he's busting his ***.

Anybody who tries harder to make a fashion statement (white sunglasses), act like a ******* (stand in the outfield acting all "cool" while there's still two outs) and throws temper tantrums in the dugout, is not busting his ***.

[sodakjoe]

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[TarHeelHawk]

Anybody who tries harder to make a fashion statement (white sunglasses), act like a ******* (stand in the outfield acting all "cool" while there's still two outs) and throws temper tantrums in the dugout, is not busting his ***.

Milton may not be the defensive outfielder in the game, but I would rather see a guy give it a good effort and actually show me that he cares every once in a while.

Milton hasn't thrown any temper tantrums in the dugout - that was Zambrano and Dempster who did that. Milton was smart enough to get out of camera view before he went off - and you know what, I'm cool with all that, cause at least it shows me that some of these guys give a ****.

Really, white sunglasses? Who cares what color shades he wears? He can wear fuschia out there as far as I'm concerned. I wasn't aware that the color pattern of one 's eyewear affected the way one plays the game.

[cyclonestate]

We already have a glut of horrible middle infielders. They don't need another one.

Lugo has been battling an injury and he's still hitting .284. I wouldn't call that horrible.

[TheCaptain]

I read yesterday he was going to sign with the Mets.

[Clark]

Well first off Hendry should be canned by the new ownership for the outfield mess alone. Overpaid and under producing at all 3 spots and all 3 have pretty much impossible contracts to trade so what can you really do? Fox and Hoffpauier would probably have put up better numbers than all of them had they started as many games there and surely both of them couldn't be that much worse with the glove as Soriano and Bradley have. That's the problem though, it's payroll politics. How do you justify benching 18 mil and 10 mil a year guys for 2 guys that both aren't making about a half a mil each this year.

I don't have a solution, it sucks because unfortunately the Cubs are stuck with the most overpaid and over rated OF in all of MLB right now but that doesn't mean I have to accept how **** poor they continue to play.

You mean the same Jim Hendry that got Aramis for 2 cents on the dollar (along with Lofton) and stole D-Lee from Florida?

He overpaid for Soriano, but the Cubs were horrible at the time and he had to overpay to get anyone. Fukudome was a great player in Japan. He still may end up as a decent player in the MLB because of his defense and on base percentage but he's not worth what he is making now but the contract isn't that long so it was an ok risk. Bradley has always been a great hitter (never really a power hitter) and I'd bet his Avg will be around .300 before the year is over. Take a look at his OBP. It's still pretty good. Just because he's not hitting 30 homers doesn't make him a bad player.

Everyone likes to point out the bad signings of a GM but they never look at the good ones. Signing Derosa was a brilliant move that not many fans liked. Picking up Dempster off the scrap heap turned out great. Ted Lilly has been great.

[Clark]

My answer is to play Fuld in left, Kosuke in center, and Fox in right.

We've won before with guys that weren't great defenders in RF, and the other two could make up enough of a difference to keep his bat in the lineup.

I agree that Bradley is hustling and working hard. I wasn't sure for a while, but I'm convinced now. I also agree that Soriano does not. He's just a power hitter at this point who will swing at anything. The closer to the dirt, the better.

Fox would make Sosa (the old fat one, not the young skinny one) look like a gold glover. It would be painful to watch. Actually the best defensive alignment using those three would be Fox in left, Fuld in center, and Fuku in right. But that's not going to happen because of the 18 million dollar man in left and Fuld probably can't hit enough to stay in the big leagues, not to mention Lou would strangle Fox after two weeks of watching him play the outfield.

On a different note, Fox hasn't played that bad a third. I'm almost impressed. He's far from a gold glover, and everytime someone hits it to him I cringe but it hasn't been too bad...so far. Regardless, he needs to stay on this team because him and Micah are the only two bats I trust off the bench. And if that piece of crap Miles takes Jakes spot, I'm going to blow up.