Piniella Not Happy With the Roster?

May 31, 2007 by cubsnet

The Daily Herald's Bruce Miles writes in today's paper that "there have been rumblings that Piniella is growing impatient with the roster given to him by Hendry." I'd be curious to know what Piniella wants.

The Cubs are currently 6th in the National League in runs scored, but there are certainly problems on offense. Three of the top four outfielders have slugging percentages below .400. Jacque Jones, Matt Murton, and Cliff Floyd have just four home runs between them. None of them have ever had slugging percentages that low over a full season, excepting Floyd's rookie year as a 21-year-old in 1994. Jones is hitting .245/.302/.335 as the starting centerfielder. Much more of that and the Cubs will be compelled to replace him with Felix Pie for good. The trouble is that Jones is signed through next season, and for $6.3M.

Murton had a 911 OPS after the All-Star break last season, but has opened this year with a 721 OPS.

The one outfielder with a slugging percentage above .400 -- Alfonso Soriano -- is playing much closer to his 2004-05 numbers than the 2006 numbers that got him a $136M contract.

A big culprit in the current 22-29 record, of course, is the Cubs' performance in close games. They are 2-12 in one-run games and 8-17 in games decided by two runs or less. The bullpen has been an issue, but there was little reason to expect Bob Howry and Scott Eyre would struggle like they have.

Thankfully, the Cubs play in the NL Central in a year in which the St. Louis Cardinals have the second-worst offense and the second-worst pitching in the league. There is still time to turn this around.

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