Q and A

Some interesting questions answered in this article...

Question: How might you treat the Sammy Sosa situation differently this year and not keep him high in the batting order if he doesn't deserve it?

Baker: No. 1, I've got to talk to Sammy first in person. As far as where Sammy hits in the order, I think he does deserve a certain amount of respect. I'm going to give him an opportunity to fail. If you don't succeed and you do fail for a period of time, then it's on you.

I am in the un-popular camp that it is Dusty Baker creating the team problems not Sammy Sosa. Baker is really talking out his ass regarding Sosa. He say's he will work with Sosa, he has respect for him and then in the next sentence he goes about tearing down Sosa.

If I was Sosa and saw that line about giving me an opportunity to fail, I would be livid. This automatically suggests that Sosa will fail. Normally you hear that a GM or manager will give a player every opportunity to succeed. This is just Baker's little way of taking shots at Sosa.

To the Sosa haters it is all Sosa's fault. And Baker is speaking the truth. This organization has had so much turmoil and controversy in the last 2 years, that it is hard to imagine Dusty Baker does not sit at the center of most of it. How does a manager coming off a World Series trip not even get a contract offer to return to the Giants? I think we as Cubs fans are understanding why.

Oh and to further prove a disaster in the making...

Who's in left? If the season started today, the Cubs would field a left-field platoon of veteran Todd Hollandsworth and rookie Jason Dubois. Dusty Baker made it clear Friday whom he prefers.

"It's Holly first," Baker said. "Even if I have a platoon situation, Holly is probably going to play 135-140 games. Holly gets the first shot."

This is the year Dusty Baker gets fired. Been saying it for three years. This team needs a real manager.