I just don't understand the hatred.  Hatred isn't too strong of a word either.  He's a decent complementary player.  He's not a star and he's paid comparable to his production.  He should be batting 6th but sometimes with injuries, the lineup gets juggled.  Let me post some reality from 2006:

RISP: .298
RISP w/ 2 outs: .277
Men on base: .314
Bases loaded: .385
Tie game: .297
Within 1 run: .307

Those were Jones' numbers in 2006.  Pretty solid to me.  Incidently, last season he hit best in the 6th spot with a .343 average.      

A diary for Day 2 rumors and such.  

The Washington Post this morning had more information on the rumored "shocking" trade that Jim Bowden mentioned yesterday and was posted in a diary here.  The big name is Manny and the Nationals could be involved in the 3 way deal including the Giants not the Cubs.  Felipe Lopez would be one of the players heading to Boston.  Washington would get prospects/young players with Manny heading to SF.  Noah Lowry was mentioned as one possibility for Washington.  It wouldn't surprise me if Jon Rauch was also included since his value won't be higher than right now after his performance last year.  In a separate note, the Nats are shopping Ryan Church so he could be included.  Seems he has aggravated the organization for the second straight year.      

Cleveland traded Bob Wickman to Atlanta for a Class A catcher.  While Wickman has struggled at times, he still has closed in the past.  He's definitely a better option than Williamson and you could argue Howry based on salary and the history of closing. Wickman might be a similar choice to Dempster except for the contract (Thanks Hendry).  It does show the current market price for relievers.  Not very high.    

The prospect, Maximiliano Ramirez, is hitting .285 with 9 homeruns.  He is a prospect but not on Atlanta's top 10 per BA.  

I'm sure this will result in a few flaming responses.  Everyone complains about Baker playing Neifi but what options does he have?  

Cedeno: Neifi is a better fielder and at least right now a better hitter.  If Baker's job is to win games (and maybe until recently it was), Neifi is a better choice then Ronny.  The minors is supposed to be where players learn and develop, right now Cedeno looks like he needs some development time.

Walker: Obviously Walker is a better hitter but if defense matters up the middle, Todd is a tough play.  It does say something that Hendry tried to trade Walker before the season and no one wants him.  Should Walker play over Neifi even with his defense, probably but after seeing last Sunday's game, I can see why Baker sometimes wants a more steady defender.

Womack: No discussion needed.  

Theriot: Probably the new favorite choice.  At this point, Ryan should play but earlier in the season, I can see not playing him.  I really doubt he'll amount to anything.  After all, 275 AB's and zero homeruns.  I can see it now, teams will call the outfielders in and pitchers will roll the ball to him and say hit it.  Unless he develops Pierre speed from the right hand side, he's never going to be a starter.    

Now I'm not going to say Neifi is a good player.  He isn't.  He should never bat second.  He's a terrible hitter.  In fact, in some seasons he was the worst offensive player in baseball but it's not like Dusty is sitting Ryne Sandberg for Neifi.  The Cubs roster is just bad.  Time for Fontenot now.            

In case you missed the report:

Iowa starter Angel Guzman struck out eight batters in 3.2 innings before leaving the game with cramps in his forearm. Iowa reliever Kerry Ligtenberg was tagged with the loss and fell to 2-3 on the year.

It's too early to tell anything but it's not a good sign.  He is still a year away from being useful at the major league level.  He should be slotted for Iowa for 2007.