Besides I heard Hoffpauir beats his wife while giggling like a 12 year old schoolgirl.

Ok so April and 3 games in October he was good. Is that any reason to pay him 13 millon? He was a liabilty at the plate. If Lou doesnt pull him from the 3 spot this year, he needs his fucking head examined.

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Lee had one great season. Since he hurt his wrist in 2007, he has never been the same. He has no power and hit into 29 double plays last year. He should be declared a serial killer-he killed more rallies than anyone in Baseball, last year. Watch and count how many times he hits a goundout to the shortstop. Just keep mental note of the times. If you made a drinking game of how many times in a week he bats, then drink a beer for every standard groundout to short and a shot for every DP groundout, most weeks you would get hammered. Hoffpauir would be my choice over Lee, right now, even if both are on the roster and healthy. I would sit Lee's ass in favor of Micah right now.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Lee should bat no higher than 6th in the order. However, Lou seems to have forgotten how to properly construct a lineup.
I predict...we will be doing a lot of bitching about the batting order this year.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I don't necessarily disagree that Lee should be moved from the 3rd slot.

But not to replace him with a 29 YEAR OLD ROOKIE!

And I like Hoffpauir. AS A BACKUP!

Lee is the best 1st baseman on the roster. The Cubs are expected to win over 90 games this year. You do not risk it for a 29 year old rookie over a guy even who hits around 300 with 20 homeruns.

YES HE IS OVERPAID! But he is the better player.

Yes Hoffpauir put up great numbers in 2008. IN IOWA!

Some boob compared it to taking a chance on Soto last year.

A. The cubs didn't have any other options at catcher.

B. Soto was 25 not 29!

There's a reason Hendry has not used him before and in all those years Jim has never picked up the phone and gotten a call asking for Hoffpauir for the little someone would have to give up. I doubt Jim has held onto him because he thought he was great. He probably is a classic 4a player. Too good for triple A but not good enough to stick in the majors long term.

i have no problem with considering moving lee out of 3rd, although i personally wouldn't at this point. lee had what seems to some his worst season, and he somehow hit 290 with 90 rbi. i think he rebounds this year, although his days of 30 HR power are over. i can live with 20 hr out of that spot, if bradley stays healthy and ramirez, bradley and soto follow lee in the lineup. this team is being built around on-base percentage anyway, not derrek lee hitting 40 hr.

hoffpauir will be a great replacement for daryle ward, and a nice left-handed backup for lee. heck, if he gets off to a good start and builds on his mammoth career HR total (2 in 73 ab's, both in the same game), he may even be able to replace milton bradley and get some spot starts in right when he eventually goes down.

The only problem with that, is he is an awful outfielder. Judges fly balls poorly and does not have very good speed. He has only 1 position he could play well in the field-well, alright anyway, and thats first base. If there was a DH in the NL (not just for interleague games) he would make a great DH. For all those with the 29 year old rookie comments, the only reason he has not made his mark already in MLB, is due to injuries he sustained earlier in his career. Besides, I think he's just 28. In any case, I hope Lee rebounds and hits like he did last season in the first 2 months, but I hold out little hope that they will play Hoffpauir ahead of a guy making 13.5 million even if Lee continues to disappoint. But if they can give Micah 1 day a week at first base, one day a week playing in the outfield and let him DH for games against the AL clubs in their ballparks, he should get enough at bats combined with pinch hitting AB's to make a solid contribution. But I wouldn't rule out a trade either. Other teams that could use a young, productive first baseman or DH, could be very interested in Hoffpauir.

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Go Cubs!!!!

You're talking about Soriano, right?

*only* 28 years old! Well, lets just pencil him into the #3 spot, and give him 40 HRs and 120 RBIs then!

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No. He was talking about Dewayne Wise and Jermaine Dye.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Dye may be slow nowadays, but he still is ok at judging flyballs. If you're gonna take a shot, get it right.

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hoffpauir will be a nice bat off the bench, no more. he is not getting regular starts at any position unless there is a significant injury. and that is the way it should be.

this is what i laugh about. he is 28, has a grand total of 2 major league home runs, and know i read how he would be a "great" DH. to quote a famous chicago radio personality: "stop yourself".

Again, injuries sidelined him when he was younger. It's not as if he was a guy who struggled in the minors. He was just finally healthy again last season. Thats why he was so good. The guy is a legit major league hitter and a very good one at that,-as long as he can stay healthy. With Derek Lee, they thought they had no position open for him on the major league roster. But after the way Lee struggled last season, perhaps they re-think how often they give Lee a day off. He seemed to do better in September, after having a few days off. Maybe having Hoffpauir take over at 1st a day here and there, will be better for Lee, as well as getting Micah a chance to show further, what he can do there.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I still don't think Houffpauir (who turned 29 yesterday) makes the opening day roster. If they keep 12 pitchers that leaves 13 position players. They are talking about Koskie making the team because they need a back up 3B. Who does Hoffpauir knock off this list?

Soto
Bako
Lee
Fontenot
Theriot
Ramirez
Miles
Koskie/someone else whose brain isn't scrambled
Soriano
Johnson
Bradley
Fukudome
Gathright

I think Hoffpauir makes it ahead of Koskie anyway. But why you think they have 12 pitchers going North, is a good question. I am guessing it will be 11 pitchers.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Lou said he'd like to have a 12 man pitching staff (I'll try to find the article). If they keep 11 that leaves Samardzija, Guzman and Hart off the team. I also doubt they open up with only 4 players (Miles, Fontenot, Theriot, Ramirez) for 3 positions (2B, SS, 3B).

Zambrano
Dempster
Lilly
Marshall
Harden
Heilman
Gaudin
Cotts
Vizcaino
Gregg
Marmol

Well, Soriano has speed and poor tracking skills. You were just as wrong in your first completely unrelated shot too, dork.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Soriano has nowhere near the speed he used to.

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Micah Hoffpauir is a God amongst mortals. Not only should they bench Lee and play him everyday they should also Trade A-Ram and start playing Jake Fox and 3rd. Did you see him hit a home run the other day? Everybody knows that the most important thing is hitting in late Feburary to early March. Also Bradley is too hurt to contribute. They should just trade him now. Maybe see if Hoffpauir has a brother who we can have play right field. Nothing but talent in the Hoffpauir family. Maybe we can get Jason Dubois to play center. We need to get rid of .280+ hitters who routinely drive in over 90rbi's a year for more journeymen 30 year old career minor leaguers. Somebody get me Trinidad Hubbards phone number ASAP!!!!

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Frank, instead of arguing with you, I'll just go slam my head into a wall. It will have similar effects, but it won't take as long.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Phil you're forgetting Sam Fuld who could play left and we trade Soriano!

Hey look at the pitchers who threw a shutout against the Sox. Let's trade our entire rotation and put them in!

just want to make sure i got this straight: he is a legit major league hitter based on his career 73 at bats, 2 home runs, 8 rbi, and 24 strikeouts? just want to make sure i got it right for fantasy draft night.

Aramis Ramirez is one of the guys the Cubs can least afford an injury to. He is a consistant outstanding hitter and a decent fielder as well. Soto is probably the only other player that is close to A-Ram in terms of being indispensible. Bradley, will get hurt, it just remains to be seen how often and for how long. But when he's healthy, he should be a very good hitter, that brings back absolutely NO memories of Andre Dawson, in the field. But Lee....he is not in their class anymore as a hitter. Again, he had one great season, got hurt and has been pretty bad since. He started last season well, but tailed off quickly and had an awful overall year. I was touting Hoffpauir last year already. What I'm offering up now is not a result of any spring training home run tear. But his early spring success is no surprise. Lee is the ONLY guy I would think of replacing among the starters. It's based solely on the way each player produced last season, as well as Lee's overall decline over the past 3 seasons and the age of each player. Hoffpauir is just the better hitter at this time. I hope Lee bonces back and has a better year. But I believe that if Hoffpauir got the at bats, his numbers would be superior to Lee's.

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Go Cubs!!!!

you are making progress, steve, you are coming back to earth since your earlier, irrational statement:


to this valid, albeit unlikely, opinion:


you have made good progress today!

Steve, your man crush on Micah is getting scary.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Go to batting practice and just watch his swing. He has a beautiful swing. The ball just jumps off his bat too. The first time I saw him at Wrigley in batting practice, I felt sure he was going to be a good one. I'm not going to temper my enthusiasm. That wouldn't be my style, and everyone here knows that to be true.

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Go Cubs!!!!

So you are basing the Micah love off of 2 MLB homers, and batting practice.

You should become an MLB scout.

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It's official. This is a full on Man-Crush. I am just waiting for this to get made into a made for TV movie when Steve kidnaps Lee to get Hoffpauir playing time.

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Yeah the ball has been jumpin off his bat in the minors for 5 years

Steve.....what was your scouting report on Roosevelt Brown, Brooks Kieschnick and Hee Seop Choi? I will hang up and listen for my answer.

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