There is nothing wrong with giving a guy a day off to collect himself and get a different perspective while watching his teammates play. Its not like he is getting sent down or has been demoted to a utility guy.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I missed that. I think he needs 2-3 days off or even a week.

Starlin Castro is now the worst qualified player in MLB by fWAR -1.3
and the 4th worst by bWAR -1.4

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

I have no numbers or anything to base this on. But in just watching Castro the last 2-3 games he appears to be moving back to more of the free swinger who just goes up there and sees the ball and hits it. I hope that is correct.

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

Like I said a while ago, he'll be lucky to have the career Dunston did.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Shawon-o-meter

_________________

Could say that about virtually any young player

Not about Bryce Harper or Mike Trout.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Maybe not Machado either, but most

A year ago most Cub fans would have been disappointed if he didn't turn out to be Cal Ripken. I think when I suggested he might be as good as Dunston, that concept was met with derision. In fact, in this forum the prevailing wisdom also seems to be that Dunston was a worthless bum who was foolishly allowed to play in the majors for 18 years.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Yeah, people sometimes dont value longevity as much but Cub fans are not unique in projecting young players for greatness.


The only question is what's better? A 17 year mostly mediocre career or a short stint as a star?

Like who had a better career Jose Lind or Shawon?

Hyperbole. But whatever.

And this is not limited to the Cubs fan base. Every fan base does this. But keep doing what you do JORR.

Sox fans are expecting Chris Sale to be Randy Johnson after one great year

Cubs fans expected Cal Ripken after Two All Star seasons

No.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I'm sure you can find the threads right here if you really want to. It's far from hyperbole.

Every fan base doesn't do that. Cub fans regularly build a player up to unrealistic hopes and then when he's just a guy he becomes a reviled and appears on "most hated" lists. It happens all the time.

Let's get one on record right here. And I'll save the post for later. What do you think Almora will be? I think he'll be awesome if he's as good as David DeJesus.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Dunston was a much better player than Chico Lind. It's not even close.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Yes.

Nope.

Thats you watching through your Sox fans glasses that make Sox fans appear to be astute baseball observers and Cubs fans as moronic.

Its not reality

I should have said Jose Vidro

Nope. I don't think Sox fans are more astute. I just don't think they unrealistically pin hopes on players the same way Cub fans do. I think that's something that's really unique to Cub fans. Possibly because of the long World Series drought. "Hope" is part of the Cub fan psyche. Sox fans don't have that. They're negative. Waiting for the worst rather than hoping for the best.

Let's get Almora down here. I say if he's as good as DeJesus he's a success. Cub fans?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Chris Sale will be lucky if he approaches the sucess of Ryan Dempster's career

Vidro was better than Dunston. But Vidro was a really good player. I'm not sure the White Sox have had a second baseman as good as he was in my lifetime.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I disagree. I think he'll be lucky if he gets as many innings as Dempster has. But I don't think he'll be under .500 for his career.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Gordon Beckham.

JORR, what is your point?


That fans put unrealistic expectations on prospects and that sometimes they underrate solid MLBers in faovr of prospects?

Ok. Thats true across all sports and teams


Its not unique to Cub fans, that's a silly notion.


And there is at least one Sox fan on this board who has repeatedly compared Sale to Johnson. So dont pretend that doesnt exist.

I really don't think you're going to be happy if Almora is as good as Gordon Beckham. He still has a long way to go to get there too. I'm going to stick with DeJesus.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Your affinity for W-L not withstanding, the smart money is against Sale having 8 seasons with at least 10 wins

In two years, JORR is going to say Cub fans said they'd comitt suicide if Almora turned into DeJesus

He was comparing Sale to Johnson stylistically, not in expected results. You know that. Don't be disingenuous.

I just don't see how someone could think Castro was "we're set at short for the next ten years" one minute and "get that bum out of here" the next. Viciedo is really, really likely to be better than Jorge Soler and no Sox fan I know even mentions him. Move him. Keep him. Whatever. You'd like better but he's okay until that comes along.

But the Sox are in deep trouble while TheoandJed have the Cubs "set". It's ridiculous. And if it were flipped around and your team was almost always better but the media played it as if it were actually the other way around, I'm sure you'd be more annoyed than I am.

Let's get you down on Almora. Will you be disappointed if he's DeJesus?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

No, I won't. But none of you seem willing to state your expectations for Almora. I'm sure they're much higher than DeJesus.

We can do it for the Sox too. Tim Anderson? Although I don't think most Sox fans even think about Tim Anderson. If he turns out to be Dunston, I'd be ecstatic.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don