Why? For God's Sake WHY?!?!

Well the hapless Cubs just got swept by the slightly less hapless Nationals, and at this point I've almost all but given up on anything being changed on the management front. How, HOW?! can nobody in management be held accountable? This just blows my mind. All season its been the same broken record, "we've been mired with injuries", "we're just not getting the breaks", "my vagina hurts". Enough already! If Hendry, Dusty and his coaching staff are not going to be held accountable for this absolutely craptastic season, why bother having a staff at all? Lets just fill the dugout with a dozen chimpanzees. They'd be more lively and entertaining to watch manage the team and they wouldn't think twice before throwing their own feces at Roberto Novoa when he blows the game wide open. Oh, and a chimp would know that playing Neifi Perez is not a wise move, ever.

Which brings me to rant number two of this vitriol-fueled post. What did we do to deserve being repeatedly subjected to the constant mediocrity of Neifi? The day Dusty is gone will be doubly-satisfying for me in that I'll never have to see that pudgy bastard in Cubbie pinstripes again. And if he's still starting with the new manager, then we failed to bring in a competent replacement. At best, Neifi should only be used as a backup every now and then to spell your middle infielders. Instead under the Baker regime, he starts at 2B and bats second. SECOND!!! Logic would have it that you'd want someone with a good OBP in the 2-hole. Apparently to Dusty, Neifi's .260 OBP will suffice. Christ, I wouldn't want someone with a .260 AVG in the 2-hole. But with only 4 BB's this season, Neifi fits Dusty's profile of a model hitter, since he doesn't "clog the bases" with a bunch of walks. Why would Derrek Lee want someone on 1B, when he hits for extra bases? That's just stupid.

And the next person to say that Neifi plays not because of his hitting but because of his defense gets punched in the throat. While one would assume that if a middle infielder with terrible hitting is actually starting for a team he must have good defensive skills, that simply is not the case. Last week when Walker had those two errors, people wanted his head on a stick, and for good reason. But some people actually said that we'd be better off with Neifi than Walker on defense. Really? For those that feel the need to make such an ignorant statement, take a look at this. I rest my case. So is Walker the better option? Yes, but only because of his mildly better offense. The fact is, that both are below-par 2B and neither are worth a starting gig.

What's that you want more proof of Neifi's crappiness? Fine. Lets list all 2B who have started 25 or more games that have a better fielding percentage than Neifi.

1. Ty Wiggington
2. Mark Grudzielanek
3. Jamey Carroll
4. Mark Ellis
5. Jeff Kent
6. Kazuo Matsui
7. Mark DeRosa
8. Marco Scutaro
9. Craig Biggio
10. Mark Loretta
11. Brian Roberts
12. Marcus Giles
13. Tadahito Iguchi
14. Jose Vidro
15. Ray Durham
16. Aaron Hill
17. Hector Luna
18. Placido Polanco
19. Luis Castillo
20. Orlando Hudson
21. Josh Barfield
22. Jose Lopez
23. Jose Valentin
24. Ronnie Belliard
25. Brandon Phillips
26. Robinson Cano
27. Dan Uggla
28. Adam Kennedy
29. Ian Kinsler
30. Chase Utley
31. Jorge Cantu
32. Aaron Miles
33. Todd Walker
34. Jose Castillo
35. Neifi Perez

That's right. There are 34 major league players with 25+ starts at second base, with a FPCT better than Neifi's .966

Now if you're gonna be one of those statistical buttholes that will throw out the "You can't look at FPCT, you have to look at range factor" argument. Very well. Here's the same type of list but looking at range factor.

1. Jose Valentin
2. Jamey Carroll
3. Jeff Kent
4. Ian Kinsler
5. Mark DeRosa
6. Aaron Miles
7. Placido Polanco
8. Mark Grudzielanek
9. Orlando Hudson
10. Dan Uggla
11. Chase Utley
12. Mark Ellis
13. Robinson Cano
14. Jose Castillo
15. Kazuo Matsui
16. Ty Wigginton
17. Craig Biggio
18. Ronnie Belliard
19. Ray Durham
20. Rickie Weeks
21. Neifi Perez

Neifi fares a little better here, but 21st is far from stellar. Seeing this makes me pine for the days of Grudzy again.