I had my scorecard ready and my big glass of water. I sat down at 7:30 and pulled the game up on Tivo only to be greeted by Len and Bob telling me that the game had been postponed till today. Grrrrrrr.
So, since the game is early in the day, I’ll throw a question out there for people to discuss instead.
If the Cubs had the option of using the DH down the stretch, would you rather have Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, or the recently waived Gary Sheffield? Why?
When I look at the choices, all seem to have their positives and negatives. Obvious to me, Bonds seems to be the highest risk and highest reward in the bunch. He hasn’t played all year, yet has the most offensive production potential with his presence and on base % alone. At the same time, bringing him into the clubhouse, with his attitude and his media hype, could kill the team’s momentum down the stretch.
Sammy Sosa would be a fun guy to bring back for some Cub fans, yet others would boo and spurn him due to a few small things late in his time with the Cubs. I’m not sure what he could provide offensively any more, but it might be fun to find out. I’m curious to see if he really will play in the World Baseball Classic like he mentioned a few months ago.
Gary Sheffield, who has actually been rumored to be going to Tampa Bay, would probably be the least drama infested of the three, but when you look at how bad Sheffield has been all year it may not be worth taking the chance on him. He seems to have dropped off the table completely offensively. It’s sad because his swing used to scare the mess out of me every time we faced him. If I was an infielder, I think I may have pee’d my pants seeing him wag that bat and then turning on the balls he turned out.
So who do you bring in if you have to choose one and play him at DH for the rest of the year?
It is not even close.
I would easily take Bonds over the other two. Bonds was the better hitter, and I am pretty convinced that he still would be the better hitter.
Micah Hoffpauir….. forget those other three bums
agree with ken. each of the three you mentioned comes with TOO MUCH baggage. i would rather go with the less expensive/higher upside hoffpauir than any of the three you listed. this team has bonded and has great chemistry. bonds, sosa, or sheffield would ruin what the cubs have worked so hard to create.
I also like Ken’s idea.
Chemistry is incredibly overrated.
IF the Cubs were looking for a DH (which they obviously are not, being that they play in the NL), then you want the best possible hitter, and Barry Bonds is that guy.
And FWIW… the money factor shouldn’t matter, especially in a playoff chase. If the Cubs were looking for a DH for the last 40 games of the season, you would only be paying 25% of a full year’s salary. And both Bonds and Sosa would come cheaply anyway.
And Hoffpauir has a higher upside than Bonds? Huh?
I’m with dave l. Maybe Hoffpauir has a higher upside in the sense that he will be better than Bonds in 2013, but not for the next two months.
And I don’t quite get the chemistry thing — Dempster, Zambrano, Lilly, Harden, Wood, Samardzija, and Marmol may break down, or they may not. But I don’t see how Bonds’ presence in the clubhouse would make a difference.
I’d also go with “None of the above”. If I’d want to airlift someone in and leave Hoffpauir out of the mix, I’d take Craig Munroe over the three mentioned.
Craig Monroe? Seriously?
Didn’t that experiment fail already?
Don’t know if the experiment was a “failure” or not, but if I had a choice I’d still take him over those other 3. “The Asterisk” would completely turn me off the Cubs. He’s got WAY too much baggage. Sosa is over the hill and off the juice, he’d just get in the way. And Sheffield has been horrible this year. Even if he were to get his bat going, he’s has been known to whine and complain when he doesn’t get to play a position. He’d only disrupt the clubhouse.
Hmm…
Sheffield, ‘08: .222/.323/.391 OPS+: 89
Monroe, ‘08: .202/.274/.405 OPS+: 82
Sheffield hasn’t been good. Monroe has been worse.