I listen to a lot of Cubs games in the car. This year Santo seems worse than before. In the past I could kind of tune him out and listen to Pat but any more it's hard to listen.

Helluva a game on the national feed last night. Starting pitching is a huge concern but strong bullpen, clutch long balls may make this an interesting season after all.

I read that the new bleacher seats may impact home runs to right on windy days. Anybody been yet that can comment on the new seats.

Are there any other ways the Tribune can squeeze a few more million out of the Cubs?

Jacque Jones looks like a good pick up. Hasn't been a decent right fielder out there since Keith Moreland. Well sorta...

Rick Reuschel wrote:Jacque Jones looks like a good pick up.

You are high.

The Moreland part was the joke.

Jones hit a three run homer to straight away center field and made more than one difficult catch over the weekend.

He covers more ground in right than the recent people playing that position and likely has a better arm.

My being high has nothing to do with this anyway. Hey, can you see me?

Jones did have a nice home run last night. He is also batting .125 with a .211 OBP. I wouldn't exactly call that "good."

If he hits career averages (.278, 23 HR, 80 RBI) and plays as he has in right I would say it's a good pick up. Defensively it's an upgrade in right. I didn't say he's going to win the division or eclipse Lee but I think it has the potential to be a good move overall. My concern is his K's historically are in excess of 100.

Can you really say he's not better than Burnitz and Sosa? I liked Burnitz a lot last year but he's 36 and doesn't have the range of Jones. Financially, the difference washes out.

Last year, Jacque Jones had an .OPS of .814 against righties. That's pretty good, I guess. For a catcher.

There are forty, 4 - 0, the number four with the number zero behind it, 40 outfielders in MLB that had a better .OPS against righties last year than Jacque Jones. Don't get me started about his numbers against lefties.

And range? It's Wrigley Field, not the goddamn Polo Grounds. Who cares about range in Wrigley? There is no range. That skill is negated by the park he's going to play half of his games in.

The Cubs had plenty of options that were better than this turd. Rondell White at half the money, Russ Branyon (who's younger) went to the Devil Rays for a minor league contract at a half a mil with an .OPS of .890 - I could rattle off potential deals all day. Deals that didn't require the Cubs to give up a draft pick to the Twins.

My point was that he may be an improvement over what has been in Wrigley.
I thought getting rid of Rondell White was a mistake many moons ago but I didn't see them bringing him back. I don't like Hendry or Baker but comparing the current occupant to the previous, in right field, it may be better. I have low expectations so they are easy to exceed.

Rick Reuschel wrote:My point was that he may be an improvement over what has been in Wrigley.

I agree with that, but the improvement came at great cost to the team's future.

All of this season's deals, not just the Jones one, are going to screw the Cubs for years. If I were a Cubs fan, I'd be banging my head into a wall.

vockins wrote:All of this season's deals, not just the Jones one, are going to screw the Cubs for years.

Such as this deal?

Wow. Today's crowd at Wrigley Field is very quiet. I've never heard a Wrigley Field crowd that was as quiet as this crowd.

Ron Santo, you have just sung "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the fabled Wrigley Field seventh inning stretch.

Sorry, Greg.

I just learned today that Dontrelle Willis came from the Cubs farm system, but was traded for Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca. Brilliant.