Biographical

Derrek Lee 1BCubs

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Career Summary

Years	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	WARP
19	7963	.281	.365	.495	121	32.6

Birth Date	9-6-1975
Height	6' 5"
Weight	240 lbs

Age	49 years, 11 months, 13 days
Bats	R
Throws	R

WARP Summary

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MLB Statistics

YEAR	TEAM	AGE	G	PA	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	DRAA	BRR	FRAA	BWARP
1997	SDN	21	22	63	14	3	0	1	9	24	0	0	0	.259	.365	.370	82	-1.2	1.2	-0.8	0.0
1998	FLO	22	141	513	106	29	1	17	47	120	10	5	2	.233	.318	.414	96	-1.2	3.6	6.0	1.2
1999	FLO	23	70	236	45	9	1	5	17	70	0	2	1	.206	.263	.326	56	-12.9	0.1	4.5	-0.6
2000	FLO	24	158	546	134	18	3	28	63	123	4	0	3	.281	.368	.507	120	18.1	-5.9	-0.6	1.7
2001	FLO	25	158	625	158	37	4	21	50	126	8	4	2	.282	.346	.474	109	10.2	-0.4	1.3	1.8
2002	FLO	26	162	688	157	35	7	27	98	164	5	19	9	.270	.378	.494	127	26.5	-0.6	11.6	4.5
2003	FLO	27	155	643	146	31	2	31	88	131	10	21	8	.271	.379	.508	134	29.5	0.5	2.1	3.7
2004	CHN	28	161	688	168	39	1	32	68	128	8	12	5	.278	.356	.504	118	16.8	-4.4	1.8	2.1
2005	CHN	29	158	691	199	50	3	46	85	109	5	15	3	.335	.418	.662	167	56.1	-0.8	6.7	7.0
2006	CHN	30	50	204	50	9	0	8	25	41	0	8	4	.286	.368	.474	113	4.5	-0.8	1.1	0.7
2007	CHN	31	150	650	180	43	1	22	71	114	9	6	5	.317	.400	.513	128	25.8	-4.8	-8.1	2.0
2008	CHN	32	155	698	181	41	3	20	71	119	0	8	2	.291	.361	.462	113	13.0	-3.0	13.6	3.1
2009	CHN	33	141	615	163	36	2	35	76	109	3	1	0	.306	.393	.579	149	38.4	-0.1	-0.6	4.5
2010	ATL	34	39	151	37	14	0	3	21	33	0	0	0	.287	.384	.465	109	1.7	-1.3	-3.4	-0.1
2010	CHN	34	109	475	105	21	0	16	52	101	2	1	3	.251	.335	.416	106	3.9	0.2	4.2	1.4
2011	BAL	35	85	364	82	15	1	12	25	83	3	2	1	.246	.302	.404	109	4.3	-1.3	-6.6	0.0
2011	PIT	35	28	113	34	2	1	7	8	27	3	0	0	.337	.398	.584	108	1.1	-1.9	-0.9	-0.1
Career			1942	7963	1959	432	30	331	874	1622	70	104	48	.281	.365	.495	121	234.7	-19.7	32.2	32.6

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	LG	G	PA	oppAVG	oppOBP	oppSLG	BABIP	BPF	BRAA	repLVL	POS_ADJ	DRC+	DRC+ SD	FRAA	BRR	DRAA	BWARP
1993	RCU	A+	CLF	20	84	.000	.000	.000	.365			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1994	RCU	A+	CLF	126	497	.000	.000	.000	.324			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1995	RCU	A+	CLF	128	565	.000	.000	.000	.367			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1995	MEM	AA	SOU	2	9	.000	.000	.000	.143			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1996	MEM	AA	SOU	134	575	.000	.000	.000	.358			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1997	SDN	MLB	NL	22	63	.267	.339	.410	.448	95	0.9	1.7	-1.1	82	14	-0.8	1.2	-1.2	0.0
1997	LVG	AAA	PCL	0	532	.000	.000	.000	.408			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1998	FLO	MLB	NL	141	513	.262	.326	.410	.279	96	-2.5	13.3	-9.5	96	8	6.0	3.6	-1.2	1.2
1999	FLO	MLB	NL	70	236	.269	.336	.435	.278	94	-16.8	6.4	-4.6	56	11	4.5	0.1	-12.9	-0.6
1999	CLG	AAA	PCL	0	373	.000	.000	.000	.335			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
2000	FLO	MLB	NL	158	546	.263	.336	.427	.323	109	14.8	17.2	-10.8	120	10	-0.6	-5.9	18.1	1.7
2001	FLO	MLB	NL	158	625	.262	.326	.426	.326	98	14.8	18.6	-11.8	109	9	1.3	-0.4	10.2	1.8
2002	FLO	MLB	NL	162	688	.259	.328	.412	.330	99	26.1	19.8	-12.7	127	11	11.6	-0.6	26.5	4.5
2003	FLO	MLB	NL	155	643	.264	.330	.421	.300	98	29.1	16.9	-12.1	134	11	2.1	0.5	29.5	3.7
2004	CHN	MLB	NL	161	688	.265	.329	.430	.302	96	26.5	20.5	-13.1	118	8	1.8	-4.4	16.8	2.1
2005	CHN	MLB	NL	158	691	.262	.325	.416	.343	103	65.6	19.9	-12.8	167	9	6.7	-0.8	56.1	7.0
2006	CHN	MLB	NL	50	204	.269	.329	.425	.323	97	3.9	6.1	-3.9	113	14	1.1	-0.8	4.5	0.7
2006	IOW	AAA	PCL	1	4	.236	.324	.348	.250	95	-0.4	0.1	-0.1	81	0	0.0	0.0	-0.1	0.0
2007	CHN	MLB	NL	150	650	.274	.336	.435	.364	103	31.3	19.3	-12.3	128	8	-8.1	-4.8	25.8	2.0
2008	CHN	MLB	NL	155	698	.264	.329	.418	.330	103	9.6	20.2	-12.9	113	9	13.6	-3.0	13.0	3.1
2009	CHN	MLB	NL	141	615	.264	.332	.423	.327	98	50.1	17.7	-11.3	149	10	-0.6	-0.1	38.4	4.5
2010	ATL	MLB	NL	39	151	.254	.324	.394	.362	95	5.7	4.2	-2.6	109	9	-3.4	-1.3	1.7	-0.1
2010	CHN	MLB	NL	109	475	.263	.327	.412	.293	99	2	13.1	-8.4	106	9	4.2	0.2	3.9	1.4
2011	BAL	MLB	AL	85	364	.253	.319	.400	.290	106	-6.4	9.8	-6.3	109	9	-6.6	-1.3	4.3	0.0
2011	PIT	MLB	NL	28	113	.256	.315	.399	.397	96	9.2	3.0	-2	108	9	-0.9	-1.9	1.1	-0.1
2011	BOW	AA	EAS	1	4	.248	.297	.356	.667	78	1.4	0.1	-0.1	157	0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.0

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

Year	Team	lvl	LG	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	ISO	SF	SH
1993	RCU	A+	CLF	84	73	13	20	5	1	1	30	10	10	20	0	2	.274	.369	.411	.137	0	0
1994	RCU	A+	CLF	497	442	66	118	19	2	8	165	53	42	95	18	14	.267	.340	.373	.106	0	0
1995	RCU	A+	CLF	565	502	82	151	25	2	23	249	95	49	130	14	7	.301	.371	.496	.195	0	0
1995	MEM	AA	SOU	9	9	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	.111	.111	.111	.000	0	0
1996	MEM	AA	SOU	575	500	98	140	39	2	34	285	104	65	170	13	6	.280	.365	.570	.290	0	0
1997	LVG	AAA	PCL	532	472	86	153	29	2	13	225	64	60	116	17	3	.324	.400	.477	.153	0	0
1997	SDN	MLB	NL	63	54	9	14	3	0	1	20	4	9	24	0	0	.259	.365	.370	.111	0	0
1998	FLO	MLB	NL	513	454	62	106	29	1	17	188	74	47	120	5	2	.233	.318	.414	.181	2	0
1999	FLO	MLB	NL	236	218	21	45	9	1	5	71	20	17	70	2	1	.206	.263	.326	.119	1	0
1999	CLG	AAA	PCL	373	339	60	96	20	1	19	175	73	30	90	3	4	.283	.349	.516	.233	0	0
2000	FLO	MLB	NL	546	477	70	134	18	3	28	242	70	63	123	0	3	.281	.368	.507	.226	2	0
2001	FLO	MLB	NL	625	561	83	158	37	4	21	266	75	50	126	4	2	.282	.346	.474	.193	6	0
2002	FLO	MLB	NL	688	581	95	157	35	7	27	287	86	98	164	19	9	.270	.378	.494	.224	4	0
2003	FLO	MLB	NL	643	539	91	146	31	2	31	274	92	88	131	21	8	.271	.379	.508	.237	6	0
2004	CHN	MLB	NL	688	605	90	168	39	1	32	305	98	68	128	12	5	.278	.356	.504	.226	5	2
2005	CHN	MLB	NL	691	594	120	199	50	3	46	393	107	85	109	15	3	.335	.418	.662	.327	7	0
2006	CHN	MLB	NL	204	175	30	50	9	0	8	83	30	25	41	8	4	.286	.368	.474	.189	4	0
2006	IOW	AAA	PCL	4	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	.000	0	0
2007	CHN	MLB	NL	650	567	91	180	43	1	22	291	82	71	114	6	5	.317	.400	.513	.196	3	0
2008	CHN	MLB	NL	698	623	93	181	41	3	20	288	90	71	119	8	2	.291	.361	.462	.172	4	0
2009	CHN	MLB	NL	615	532	91	163	36	2	35	308	111	76	109	1	0	.306	.393	.579	.273	4	0
2010	ATL	MLB	NL	151	129	17	37	14	0	3	60	24	21	33	0	0	.287	.384	.465	.178	1	0
2010	CHN	MLB	NL	475	418	63	105	21	0	16	174	56	52	101	1	3	.251	.335	.416	.165	3	0
2011	BAL	MLB	AL	364	334	39	82	15	1	12	135	41	25	83	2	1	.246	.302	.404	.159	2	0
2011	PIT	MLB	NL	113	101	16	34	2	1	7	59	18	8	27	0	0	.337	.398	.584	.248	1	0
2011	BOW	AA	EAS	4	3	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	.667	.750	.667	.000	0	0

Plate Discipline

YEAR	Pits	Zone%	Swing%	Contact%	Z-Swing%	O-Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Contact%	SwStr%	CSAA
2008	2657	0.4934	0.4283	0.7812	0.6308	0.2311	0.8452	0.6109	0.2188	0.0034
2009	2345	0.5147	0.4299	0.7837	0.6056	0.2434	0.8427	0.6282	0.2163	0.0025
2010	2635	0.4979	0.4175	0.7709	0.5945	0.2419	0.8231	0.6438	0.2291	0.0016
2011	1939	0.4992	0.4358	0.7751	0.5971	0.2750	0.8443	0.6255	0.2249	0.0128
Career	9576	0.5010	0.4272	0.7777	0.6078	0.2460	0.8383	0.6271	0.2223	0.0046

Injury History — No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Severity	Surgery Date	Reaggravation
2011-08-10	2011-09-03	15-DL	24	23	Left	Wrist	Fracture	HBP 1 Week Ago	-	-
2011-08-04	2011-08-08	DTD	4	4	Left	Hand	Contusion	HBP	-	-
2011-05-17	2011-06-04	15-DL	18	15	Left	Abdomen	Strain	Oblique	-
2011-03-20	2011-03-22	Camp	2	0	Left	Foot	Contusion	Foul Ball	-
2011-03-04	2011-03-04	On-Alr	0	0	Right	Wrist	Soreness		-
2011-02-25	2011-03-19	Camp	22	0	Right	Thumb	Soreness		-
2010-11-05	2010-11-05	Off	0	0	Right	Thumb	Surgery	Torn Ligament	2010-11-05
2010-08-29	2010-08-30	DTD	1	1	Right	Trunk	Soreness		-
2010-08-22	2010-08-22	DTD	0	0	Right	Thumb	Sprain	Ligament	-
2010-08-15	2010-08-15	DTD	0	0		Low Back	Cartilage Injury		-
2010-06-27	2010-06-27	DTD	0	0		Back	Soreness		-
2010-06-02	2010-06-02	DTD	0	0	Right	Thigh	Strain	Hamstring	-
2010-04-13	2010-04-15	DTD	2	1	Right	Thumb	Sprain	Ligament	-
2010-03-25	2010-03-26	Camp	1	0		Low Back	Soreness		-
2010-03-11	2010-03-18	Camp	7	0	Left	Foot	Contusion	Foul Ball	-
2009-09-25	2009-09-29	DTD	4	3		Neck	Spasms		-
2009-07-26	2009-07-27	DTD	1	1		Neck	Spasms		-
2009-07-12	2009-07-16	DTD	4	2		Neck	Spasms		-
2009-05-06	2009-05-12	DTD	6	5		Neck	Cartilage Injury	Bulging Disc	-
2009-04-26	2009-04-29	DTD	3	3		Neck	Cartilage Injury	Bulging Disc	-
2009-03-17	2009-03-22	Camp	5	0		Thigh	Soreness	Quadriceps	-
2008-08-24	2008-08-25	DTD	1	1		Neck	Spasms		-
2007-09-13	2007-09-14	DTD	1	1	Right	Knee	Soreness		-
2007-07-18	2007-07-20	DTD	2	2	Left	Ankle	Contusion	Foul Ball	-
2007-05-14	2007-05-19	DTD	5	5		Neck	Spasms		-
2006-07-24	2006-08-28	15-DL	35	33	Right	Forearm	Soreness	Recovery From Fracture	-
2006-07-20	2006-07-22	DTD	2	2	Right	Forearm	Soreness	From Previous Fracture	-
2006-07-16	2006-07-18	DTD	2	1	Right	Forearm	Soreness	From Previous Fracture	-
2006-04-21	2006-06-25	60-DL	65	59	Right	Forearm	Fracture	Radius-ulna	-
2006-03-12	2006-03-23	Camp	11	0	Left	Shoulder	Soreness	Diving Catch	-
2006-02-26	2006-02-26	Camp	0	0	Right	Upper Arm	Strain	Triceps	-
2005-09-01	2005-09-03	DTD	2	1	Left	Foot	Contusion	Foul Ball	-
2005-07-06	2005-07-09	DTD	3	3	Left	Shoulder	Soreness	on a Swing	-
2005-03-24	2005-03-26	Camp	2	0		Neck	Stiffness		-
2004-04-27	2004-04-28	DTD	1	1		Foot	Contusion	Foul Ball	-
2003-08-07	2003-08-08	DTD	1	1	Right	Shoulder	Soreness	Residual From Subluxation	-
2003-07-29	2003-08-01	DTD	3	2	Right	Shoulder	Subluxation		-
2003-05-21	2003-05-21	DTD	0	0	Right	Wrist	Contusion	HBP	-

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary
2011	BAL	$7,250,000
2010	CHN	$13,000,000
2009	CHN	$13,250,000
2008	CHN	$13,250,000
2007	CHN	$13,250,000
2006	CHN	$9,416,667
2005	CHN	$7,666,667
2004	CHN	$6,166,667
2003	FLO	$4,250,000
2002	FLO	$2,700,000
2001	FLO	$375,000
2000	FLO	$225,000

Years	Description	Salary
12 yr	Previous	$90,800,001
12 yr	Total	$90,800,001

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status
13 y 125 d	Casey Close	1 year/$7.25M (2011)

Details

1 year/$7.25M (2011). Signed by Baltimore as a free agent 1/6/11. Performance bonuses: $0.25M each for 425, 450, 475, 525, 550, 575, 600 PAs. $0.5M each for 400, 500 PA. Acquired by Pittsburgh in trade from Baltimore 7/30/11.
5 years/$65M (2006-10). Signed extension with Chicago Cubs 4/06, replacing final year of previous deal. 06-10:$13M annually. Award bonus: $0.1M for All-Star selection. No trade protection.
3 years/$22.5M (2004-06). Re-signed 2/04 (avoided arbitration). $2M signing bonus (paid 2004-06). 04:$5.5M, 05:$7M, 06:$8M. Extension replaced 1 year/$6.9M deal for 2004 signed 1/04.
1 year/$4.25M (2003). Re-signed by Florida 1/03 (avoided arbitration). Acquired by Chicago Cubs in trade from Florida 11/03.
1 year/$2.7M (2002). Re-signed by Florida 1/02 (avoided arbitration).
1 year/$0.375M (2001).
1 year/$0.225M (2000).
1 year/$0.265M (1999).
1 year/$0.172M (1998).
Acquired by Florida in trade from San Diego 12/97.
Drafted by San Diego 1993 (1-14) (El Camino HS, Sacramento).

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	VORP	FRAA	WARP
Weighted Mean	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	0	0	?	?	.000	.000	.000	0	0.0	?	0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

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BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2011-06-02 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Rest of the season, AL only: Derrek Lee or Matt LaPorta? Declining Vet or Yet-to-establish-himself Youngin'? (Paul from Pennsylvania)	Close, but I'll take LaPorta in a tossup. I do kind of like Lee, though. (Derek Carty)
2010-12-07 13:00:00 (link to chat)	So you Red Sox joy counterbalances your Padres' sadness on the Gonzalez deal? (formersd from San Diego)	There really isn't any Padres' sadness, honestly. Here is my thinking. As great as Adrian Gonzalez is--and he's one of the top players in the game--he is one guy. The Padres had reason to believe the 2011 team could be a bit better, with an improved rotation, a full season of (healthy) Ryan Ludwick, Cameron Maybin possibly blossoming in center with another year in the majors, Kyle Blanks coming back from his TJ surgery, etc. If they acquire Brendan Ryan in a trade to man shortstop as is expected, and then sign someone like Derrek Lee to play first base, then you're talking about a team that could still win something like 82-85 games. Then, in 2012, you have Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, Simon Castro and maybe Drew Cumberland coming up if he continues to tear up the minors. That is an exciting roster all of a sudden, and it was brought about without fielding a terrible team. The Padres can trade Bell and Ludwick in July and still have a decent team, assuming Aaron Cunningham or Kyle Blanks can slot into Ludwick's place and they bump Mike Adams up to the role of closer. The gloom and doom mentality coming out of San Diego after the trade of Adrian Gonzalez is almost enough to make me start a Padres' blog in response. (Marc Normandin)
2010-08-17 14:45:00 (link to chat)	Skip Schumaker went OF to 2B. Soriano went the opposite way. Ty Wigginton plays every position on the diamond. In general, what is the difference in defensive performance between position players? Would a good defensive 1B like Derek Lee be the worst 3B/2B/SS in the league? Would Torii Hunter win Gold Gloves (and merit them) in his sleep at 1B? (GM Wannabe from The Front Office)	Not necessarily, because the positions require different skills. Hunter was so valuable because of his range and speed. That doesn't matter at 1B, so while he might be able to field grounders and make Ike Davis catches (the new term for catches where you look silly falling over a dugout rail) it's not like his OF prowess helps him at all. Similarly, Derrek Lee might be agile around the 1B bag, and good at scooping, but can you really see him making plays in the hole between SS and 3B? Certain players excel at certain positions because of what makes them valuable, which would be mitigated by certain defensive switches. Soriano was fast and had a good arm, so going from 2B to LF wasn't a stretch. (Eric Seidman)
2010-07-23 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hardest player name for you to spell? (dianagramr from NYC)	I can spell Doug Mientkiewicz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia with the best of them, and I know my Derrek Lee, my Derrick Turnbow and my Derek Jeter, to say nothing of my Jarrod Washburn and my Jered Weaver and my Jaret Wright. I was a spelling bee champ in sixth grade, and also finished second in fourth and third in fifth. The one that gets me is Mark Teahen. I ALWAYS spell it Teahan, and right now I just had to look again to see that I got it correct. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-07-29 16:30:00 (link to chat)	What was the statistical likelihood that Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee would both have 85 game collapses? Now that the real Aramis Ramirez has returned, can the real D. Lee be far behind? (Cousin Michael from Los Angeles)	Hi, Michael! Sorry about your Cubs...both of them were way below their 10th percentile projection so unless their collapses were not independent, so you know as well as I do there was less than a 1% chance that would happen. Of course, their rebounds are probably independent, too. I wouldn't count on a huge return from D. Lee...though he must be better than this, right? (Matt Swartz)
2010-05-11 16:30:00 (link to chat)	Have the Cubs exhausted most of their internal options for tinkering with this team? It seems like the whole is much less than the sum of the parts. (Matt from Chicago)	The Cubs took some risks with contracts in recent years. If they won a World Series, no one would mind, but right now they have a lot of expensive players. I don't think that the team is even less than the sum of its parts so much as they have a lot of aging guys with big contracts. They've been fortunate to have Soriano, Silva, and Fukudome playing so much better than expected, but unfortunate where Derrek Lee, Ramirez, and Zambrano have been concerned. They just are a .500 club right now, and moving Zambrano to the pen makes no sense to me as a magic solution. (Matt Swartz)
2010-04-16 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Everyone lauded Jack Z. for ripping off Jim Hendry and the Cubs by unloading Carlos Silva and getting Milton Bradley. What say you after two weeks? Looks like Milton is just waiting to explode and ruin the clubhouse. Maybe he just is not that good. Oh, let me remind you, Seattle gave the Cubs a few million on top of everything else. (Trey from San Diego)	They would have traded Bradley for a case of Old Style to whomever chipped in a little cash. Getting Silva is neither here nor there. Bradley had to go and there is no one in Chicago shedding any tears over his departure. That said, the Cubs' lineup is decidedly ordinary in the middle. When Derrek Lee sat out the other day, Xavier Nady batted cleanup--with a righty on the mound. I know clubs overrate chemistry and believe me, they spend a lot of time worrying about it. But Bradley is in a class all his own. For what its worth, I've always found Bradley to be articulate and polite, if not exactly outgoing. The guy just has no impulse control. (Bradford Doolittle)
2009-08-13 13:00:00 (link to chat)	If Hal Chase were to play today would he be as celebrated for his defense at first base? Has the first base position changed a lot from the times of Hal Chase? It feels strange to read so much praise for a first baseman's defensive play. I'm probaly just bitter I couldn't find a publisher for my poem about Derrek Lee. Also, have you read the article about Ernie Lombardi in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract? One of the best articles I have ever read. (Bonds Fan from Bay Area)	And with that mention of Hal Chase... Yes, the position has changed very dramatically in that the bunt is something that you have to worry about only rarely (in the AL) or a few times a game (in the NL). In Chase's day, the bunt was a possibility on every play, so the mobility of the first baseman was much more important. Keith Hernandez was deservedly celebrated for his defense in his day, as was Don Mattingly, and Doug Mientkiewicz has squeezed a few extra years out of his career out of being a gloveman, and I suppose Tony Muser could always get another job, so there's probably still room for a defensive star at the position... I have read the Lombardi essay, which was carried over from the original version of the book. I would love to know what Lom's line drive rates were. (Steven Goldman)
2009-04-28 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Any sense that if Derrek Lee's neck / health problems persist we may see Jake Fox in Chicago soon? (go-dills! from Chicago)	Possibly but Lou Piniella like Hoffpauir's bat and I think he would get first crack at first. (John Perrotto)
2008-11-03 13:30:00 (link to chat)	I have been getting a lot of bad news in a lot of areas lately. Not having a very good couple weeks. Would you be willing to say nice things about the Cubs, looking towards 09? no snarkiness please. (Johnny from Champaign, IL)	They are, in fact as well as on paper, the best team in the NL Central. Their big problem is a lineup that leans too heavily towards "thirtysomething" and "right-handed," and as we saw, that can create matchup problems. While fixing that by doing something in the outfield seems to be the favored topic of conversation, I'm much more concerned that Derrek Lee's days as a difference maker in a lineup are done. (Christina Kahrl)
2008-07-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hey Marc. Can D. Lee no longer turn on anything hard inner half? That's what it looks like to me, yet he still sees a ton of soft stuff away. Makes no sense to me. (Marty from Chicago)	I wrote about Derrek Lee for Heater Magazine the other day, basically saying that he hasn't hit well since April and hasn't hit outside of Wrigley. He has 3 homers to left field, and has barely put balls in play to his pull side besides a ton of grounders, so I'd say your assertion about being unable to turn on the ball is correct. He's going the other way more often than he's pulling it, at least with balls in the air, but he's got a lot of power to center field and has hit a lot of balls there too, so I'm not sure if his bat has slowed significantly. Maybe just enough to screw up his pull power. The league will catch up to this problem eventually, and we'll see Lee stop getting stuff he can knock the other way. (Marc Normandin)
2008-06-27 14:00:00 (link to chat)	SAT Question Time: The 2008 Chicago Cubs will end up looking the most like A) the 1907 Cubs B) the 1929 Cubs or C) the 1984 Cubs? (Ali Nagib from Chicago)	Hrm, interesting... in '29, Hack Wilson frightened people in the field; in '84, Keith Moreland frighened people in the field; and in '08, Soriano frightens people in the field. I'm inclined to go with '84. Just keep Derrek Lee's glove away from the Gatorade. (Christina Kahrl)
2008-05-23 13:00:00 (link to chat)	When people on baseball prospectus, ESPN, scouts inc, etc. have analyzed the cubs the last two years they haven't mentioned that the cubs Defensive Efficiency has been top notch. I think they ranked second last year and rank second this year as well. Is their defense really this good? And how do they make up for the gapping hole that Ryan Theriot leaves at shortstop defensively? (Pat from Chicago)	Interesting point. Derrek Lee is obviously a great first baseman, and Soriano has proven to be surprisingly strong in left, giving the team two strong corners with Fukudome in right. But center field is the issue--the Cubs defense is going to regress with Pie in Triple-A. Johnson is a marginal center fielder, and Edmonds has lost a good bit of range. I'm not sure about shortstop, but it's tough to pull Theriot out of the lineup as long as he has that .400 OBP, as far above his head as he's playing. (Caleb Peiffer)
2008-03-25 14:00:00 (link to chat)	Christina, will the power that James Loney flashed last year continue to develop? How is his glove compared to the rest of the league? (jasonbradleymill from Tucson, AZ)	For Loney, developing and retaining power is going to be key, because the "danger" is tht he becomes merely someone who fits into the Cecil Cooper/Chris Chambliss class of "Pretty good first basemen," and still a rung or two below the best at the position. It's not a bad thing if that's "all" he is, but given his youth and talent, it's hard to resist wishing for more. Afield, he's one of the better defenders in the NL, but keep in mind the league has a number of excellent-fielding first basemen (Adrian Gonzalez and Derrek Lee come to mind, and then there's that Pujols person). (Christina Kahrl)
2008-03-07 13:00:00 (link to chat)	PECOTA tends to underestimate playing time for durable players. Is that just the occasional major injury among their comps bringing down the average? (Evan from Vancouver, BC)	This is going to sound awfully combative/defensive, but on what basis does PECOTA underestimate playing time for those players? I would argue that the conventional wisdom tends to overestimate the extent to which playing time even for the more durable players is a certainty. As we see with the Albert Pujols question, for instance -- or as we saw with someone with Derrek Lee a couple of years ago, who was one of the most durable players around, or Derek Jeter in 2003 -- injuries are a fact of life, even for the most durable athlete. And this is especially true once a player enters his 30s. (Nate Silver)
2008-02-19 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Is there any chance we see the Derrek Lee of 2005 ago with 40 HR's, or have age and wrist injuries sapped that power? (JT from MKE)	I think it's possible, but not probable. I can't wait to see the PECOTA on him. (Will Carroll)

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