Cubs not happy with the Astros rotation

[TauPentaRei]

how about this from yesterday's (?) Houston paper: that hurts about missing the bonus, i bet he got some cash under the table...

Woody to bullpen

Righthander Woody Williams has agreed with the club's request to pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the season. He was scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Milwaukee, but will be replaced by rookie Felipe Paulino.

"We need to find out if these young guys are part of our future," interim manager Cecil Cooper said. "He showed me he was a real professional by doing that."

Williams, who is signed for next year, is 8-15 with a 5.04 ERA in 32 games (31 starts) and said he doesn't expect to pitch much the rest of the year.

"It's sad the season's come down to this, and it's sad we're doing as poorly as we are, but it's a good time to look at young kids to see what they can do and give them some experience," Williams said. "I'll always remember my first time in the big leagues and being a September call-up for them is something special."

Williams is 12 1/3 innings shy of reaching 200 innings pitched, which would give him a $250,000 bonus. He received a $150,000 bonus for reaching 180 innings pitched.

[Brian the Automator]

You should've seen the whining going on by SOME Cubs fans on nsbb.com last night. Their latest rant was how they would lose what little respect they had left for Ryan Braun if he played Saturday(Yom Kippur). Give me a break. Some were also whining about Hunter Pence not being in the lineup last night. Like he would've made the difference in a 9-1 game?? My favorite though was their comments on the Reds protest of the game Monday night, and how they wouldn't be surprised if Selig did something unprecedented and upheld the appeal because afterall, he is the former owner of the Brewers and wants to see them make the playoffs.

Paranoia is insanity's ugly cousin.

[StatPipes]

Woody Williams has been horrible this year, the reason the Astros have been horrible this year is due mostly to the pitching staff...Throwing some guys with some upside out there can't be any worse. In my opinion it is a coin flip anyway...There is a reason the Astros are in this position, they just aren't a good team

[areacodes]

"I don't think when we go to Cincinnati, they'll say, 'Hey, you all need to win, so we'll sit [Adam] Dunn, [Ken] Griffey and [Edwin] Encarnacion.'"

 

 

This is the quote by Floyd that I find interesting. There is a huge difference between replacing Williams with a youngster and the Reds dropping two of their starting OF's and their 3B. This is where he tries to make it sound as if the Astros are doing something wrong, by suggesting that it would be similar if the Reds removed some of their star players.

 

I'll admit that I get slightly upset when the Cubs get breaks that are beyond control, so I wouldn't be surprised for fans to have this reaction. A player should be able to look beyond that and should also know that each club has a responsibility to their own organization and not the Brewers or Cubs.

[wisconsinfan47]

The more I think about the story, the more absolutely ludicrous it is.

 

First of all, Matt Albers has been in the rotation for quite a while.

Secondly, Oswalt is gone on bereavement.

Third, Woody Williams stinks. The Cubs complaining about this is the equivalent of somebody complaining about Bears replacing Rex Grossman.

 

Not to mention when you are eliminated from contention, you tend to see how your rookies can handle the Bigs, not start the same mediocre pitchers as earlier in the year. Add on the fact that we are likely facing Hudson Smoltz, Young, and Peavy and Floyd and Co. are in no position to comment on this.

 

The Cubs should be completely embarrassed by the this. Urgh. One of the stupidest stories of the year.

[BCZF]

This whole business makes me cackle.. Conspiracies, excuses, ANYTHING but looking at themselves in the mirror. Cub fans who write, or worse let believe this stuff should be put on the short bus and taken to a nice room where they can draw nice pictures with their toes..

[Brewcrewin07]

This gets even better....Here is a link to NSBB.com's non Cubs IGT. This is a great read. Check out the thread title first of all.

 

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=44175

[SeriesFinale]

To go back to a point made on the first page, has anyone but Cliff Floyd complained?

 

Edit: Anyone affiliated with the Cubs. Of course there will be indignant messageboarders.

[SeriesFinale]

This gets even better....Here is a link to NSBB.com's non Cubs IGT. This is a great read. Check out the thread title first of all.

 

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=44175

Oh my God, there are dudes there that think Oswalt should have had his wife's labor delayed and induced after he pitched against the Brewers--and that the Astros were "unprofessional" for not "working around it."

 

I know we're all a little amped up right now, but get a freaking grip, Cubs Fan.

[pretendastronaut]

To go back to a point made on the first page, has anyone but Cliff Floyd complained?

 

Edit: Anyone affiliated with the Cubs. Of course there will be indignant messageboarders.

 

Well he did say, "ticks us off", not ticks me off. Take that for what you will.

[gregmag]

Look, the Cubs are obviously absolutely right about this. Veteran pitchers are simply, categorically, better than young pitchers. The Astros know that, and they're card-carrying members of the anti-Cubs conspiracy (a diabolically successful conspiracy, given how long and thoroughly the Cubs have sucked), so they deliberately impregnated Roy Oswalt's wife, then blatantly sat down Woody "the Intimidator" Williams in favor of a couple of kids whose best days are probably ahead of them. It's appalling, is what it is.

 

That's why I respect the Brewers organization so much for its character and sportsmanship. Doug Melvin and company said, weeks ago, "You know what? Teams like Houston are going to try to help us win by sitting their veteran aces, or distracting them with childbirth, and we don't want to win that way." So the Brewers dug deep into their guts and preemptively sacrificed veteran studs Chris Capuano and Claudio Vargas in favor of Yovanni Gallardo and Carlos Villanueva -- a couple of wet-behind-the-ears kids who, even now, have fewer than 30 MLB starts between them. Yes, we could have the veteran, and thus categorically better, tandem of Capuano and Vargas out there, sending batters weeping back to the dugout as they have all year; but we're made of stronger stuff. So we stood up tall, threw the inexperienced kids in front of the bus, and made this pennant race a whole lot tougher.

 

My heart goes out to the Cubs and their wonderful fans. I understand their disappointment and rage. Paragons of sportsmanship and professionalism like Cliff Floyd (and let us not even mention Carlos Zambrano, or I may tear up) deserve so much better. But I hope they understand that the Brewers, at least, are trying to do this the right way.

 

Greg.

[Brian the Automator]

Excuse me while I shed a tear for the team with the 40M payroll edge complaining about things that routinely happen to non-contending clubs in September. Surely the Pirates won't be focusing at all on player development in their series.

[drezdn]

gregmag1, that was a thing of beauty.

 

or in other words, we know why Aquino pitched in that one game against Houston now... We were trying to be fair.

[brewcrewkid14]

I love how after the complaining that Cliff Floyd did about the Brewers facing rookie pitchers and then goes 0-3 against a 30-year old rookie pitcher. Good job.

 

I know the Cubs very well may end up winning that game, but still.

[Diskono]

Clearly Brad Lidge is secretly a Brewers fan and wants them to win.

[jeffy]

Of course, the original conspiracy plan was to give Loretta his first major legue start. After discussing this with Selig, it was decided that this would be too obvious.