What Happens to Hill if Everyone Is Healthy?

[CubsWin]

In all seriousness (as opposed to my trade rumor thread), I think Hill's fate is in his own hands. If he performs well enough to stay in the rotation, I don't think it will matter what else happens. There's not such an overload of pitchers (really there are 13 guys for 12 spots) that he'll be impossible to keep in the rotation if Prior comes back healthy. Miller would be the obvious candidate to get pushed to swingman if Prior is ready.

 

And as Craig likes to point out, the chances of everyone being healthy at one time are remote.

Couldn't have said it better.

[Mephistopheles]

Hendry's had a thing for Hill for the last two seasons. He's not going to sign someone to take his spot after Hill was our most reliable starter for two-thirds of the season. And by reliable I mean the best lefty in the league.

[abuck1220]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

[CubsWin]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

[abuck1220]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

[Rusch33]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

 

 

I think it was last year with Hill that Hendry could have netted Soriano from Texas for Hill, and said no.

 

Not sure if that deal was true or not.

[Jehrico]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

[Jehrico]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

 

Who was it then that he said he wouldn't trade Hill for straight up? It was someone of that caliber.

[soccer10k]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Hill was untouchable last offseason?

 

That aside, I'm willing to bet that if Hill comes to camp and pitches close to the level he did at the end of last year, he won't be left out of the rotation.

 

And if Prior is healthy it would be a HUGE mistake to trade him. If Prior is healthy, he and Z can match any other team's top 2 starters in the league. Add in Hill and we could have a playoff team on our hands.

 

I apologize for even writing that. I've been drinking. Heavily.

[Jon]

In all seriousness (as opposed to my trade rumor thread), I think Hill's fate is in his own hands. If he performs well enough to stay in the rotation, I don't think it will matter what else happens. There's not such an overload of pitchers (really there are 13 guys for 12 spots) that he'll be impossible to keep in the rotation if Prior comes back healthy. Miller would be the obvious candidate to get pushed to swingman if Prior is ready.

 

And as Craig likes to point out, the chances of everyone being healthy at one time are remote.

Jim was pretty darn reluctant to give Rich a spot in the rotation when they needed starting pitching and the season was already in the toilet. If Rich doesn't blow Miller away in Spring Training and Prior is ready to go, I'd imagine Hendry would be more likely to stick with the "proven veteran" than a guy who still has an option left.

[Bruno7481]

In all seriousness (as opposed to my trade rumor thread), I think Hill's fate is in his own hands. If he performs well enough to stay in the rotation, I don't think it will matter what else happens. There's not such an overload of pitchers (really there are 13 guys for 12 spots) that he'll be impossible to keep in the rotation if Prior comes back healthy. Miller would be the obvious candidate to get pushed to swingman if Prior is ready.

 

And as Craig likes to point out, the chances of everyone being healthy at one time are remote.

Jim was pretty darn reluctant to give Rich a spot in the rotation when they needed starting pitching and the season was already in the toilet. If Rich doesn't blow Miller away in Spring Training and Prior is ready to go, I'd imagine Hendry would be more likely to stick with the "proven veteran" than a guy who still has an option left.

 

Maybe his reluctance (which I don't 100% buy anyway) had more to do with Hill's previous abyssmal efforts at the major league level?

 

I think Hill has earned a spot, but I'm not as ga-ga over him as some has been. He had a great 2nd half last year, but I want to see a little more of it before I truly believe that is the "real" Rich Hill.

[illiniguy]

If they are all healthy I think we win the division. Z, '04-'05 Prior, Hill, Lilly, and Marquis(euw) is a good start.

[Shavo]

How do people actually think Hill wont be in the rotation? Thats extreme pessimism for you.

[David]

Seriously. I think the real question should be, "What happens to Wade Miller if everyone is healthy?"

 

I think the answer is, "Who cares?"

[Jon]

In all seriousness (as opposed to my trade rumor thread), I think Hill's fate is in his own hands. If he performs well enough to stay in the rotation, I don't think it will matter what else happens. There's not such an overload of pitchers (really there are 13 guys for 12 spots) that he'll be impossible to keep in the rotation if Prior comes back healthy. Miller would be the obvious candidate to get pushed to swingman if Prior is ready.

 

And as Craig likes to point out, the chances of everyone being healthy at one time are remote.

Jim was pretty darn reluctant to give Rich a spot in the rotation when they needed starting pitching and the season was already in the toilet. If Rich doesn't blow Miller away in Spring Training and Prior is ready to go, I'd imagine Hendry would be more likely to stick with the "proven veteran" than a guy who still has an option left.

 

Maybe his reluctance (which I don't 100% buy anyway) had more to do with Hill's previous abyssmal efforts at the major league level?

 

I think Hill has earned a spot, but I'm not as ga-ga over him as some has been. He had a great 2nd half last year, but I want to see a little more of it before I truly believe that is the "real" Rich Hill.

Jim had other young guys up who were certainly struggling and didn't have the AAA numbers that Hill had. The way they trashed him through the media over the Barrett/AJP situation was certainly telling. I certainly think that Hill was treated differently than everyone else, so I wouldn't be surprised if that hasn't changed.

[TB_11]

We have Zambrano.

 

We signed Lilly, Miller, and Marquis to major league contracts.

 

What if Miller and Prior are healthy when this team breaks camp.

 

Our second best pitcher behind Zambrano may not have a spot in the rotation.

 

What would we do with Zambrano, Lilly, Marquis, Miller, and Prior to make room for Hill?

 

Putting one in the bullpen isn't an answer since we have Dempster, Howry, Cotts, Ohman, Eyre, Wuertz, and Wood there who also cannot be optioned.

 

We may end up sending Hill down just because he has options....or does he?

 

Just another reason why signing Marquis to a 3/21 contract is a bad, bad, horribly bad idea.

 

If everyone is healthy and performs to their capabilities, the rotation should be Z, Prior, Hill, Lilly, Marquis. Miller moves to the bullpen for long relief, or as a fill-in starter when someone misses a start.

 

Ideally we would move Dempster, due to his contract and his shakiness last year. Howry and Eyre are scheduled to get similar pay, but they pitched well last year and should stay on.

 

Even though we just picked up Cotts, his performance suggests he should be the next to go if we wanted to drop to 11 pitchers.

 

Rotation: Z, Prior, Hill, Lilly, Marquis

Bullpen: Miller (long-relief), Ohman, Wuertz, Howry, Eyre, Wood (closer)

 

That's the ideal situation. The fact is that not everyone is going to be healthy, meaning Miller or Marshall/Mateo/Marmol may be competing for the fifth rotation spot, and Dempster and Cotts may be needed for relief work, especially if Piniella wants to keep 12 pitchers.

[Bruno7481]

In all seriousness (as opposed to my trade rumor thread), I think Hill's fate is in his own hands. If he performs well enough to stay in the rotation, I don't think it will matter what else happens. There's not such an overload of pitchers (really there are 13 guys for 12 spots) that he'll be impossible to keep in the rotation if Prior comes back healthy. Miller would be the obvious candidate to get pushed to swingman if Prior is ready.

 

And as Craig likes to point out, the chances of everyone being healthy at one time are remote.

Jim was pretty darn reluctant to give Rich a spot in the rotation when they needed starting pitching and the season was already in the toilet. If Rich doesn't blow Miller away in Spring Training and Prior is ready to go, I'd imagine Hendry would be more likely to stick with the "proven veteran" than a guy who still has an option left.

 

Maybe his reluctance (which I don't 100% buy anyway) had more to do with Hill's previous abyssmal efforts at the major league level?

 

I think Hill has earned a spot, but I'm not as ga-ga over him as some has been. He had a great 2nd half last year, but I want to see a little more of it before I truly believe that is the "real" Rich Hill.

Jim had other young guys up who were certainly struggling and didn't have the AAA numbers that Hill had. The way they trashed him through the media over the Barrett/AJP situation was certainly telling. I certainly think that Hill was treated differently than everyone else, so I wouldn't be surprised if that hasn't changed.

 

I just think his performance at the ML level was the biggest thing, despite how good his numbers were at AAA. He tanked, over and over again. I would have probably brought up some other guys form the minors to see what they could have done also.

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, but he wasn't just bad during the first part of the year...he was abysmal. And his previous, albeit brief, stints in the majors were pretty ugly, too. By the time of "the game" with the White Sox, Hill was potentially looking like a real royal "AAAA" bust. There wasn't a whole lot ot get excited about with him...yeah, his numbers in the minors were fantastic, but that just made it all the more frustrating that he was stinking it up SO bad every time he came up.

 

I'm not saying he was handled right or wrong...I'm just saying there wasn't a whole lot to get excited about with Rich Hill through the first half of last season. Yes, we all saw his minor league numbers...they weren't even coming close to translating over every time he came up for the show. If Hill was treated "differently," it's probably because he showed so much more potential than anyone around him and wasn't able to make anything happen for what seemed like the longest time. That can't help but be frustrating. The hindsight notion that Hill was being held back seems great now, but at the time there seemed very little hope he'd make it "click." I'm certainly not convinced that him staying up in the majors he would have turned it around. There's a pretty good chance that going back down and doing whatever he needed to do finally got him to step up. Hill NOT being sent back could have very easily resulted in a hideous and epic implosion.

[Backtobanks]

Basically you are asking us to rate the pitchers according to abilty (or chance of success). Again this is based on being healthy and reasonable expectation on recent past performance.

 

SP:

Zambrano

Prior

Hill (assuming he continues where he left off)

Lilly

Marquis- (assuming Rothschild can correct flaws)

Miller - most likely to be used as a swing man or in a trade. If Marquis struggles, Miller moves up and Marquis becomes swing man.

Marshall - Possible trade candidate

Marmol - sent to minors or traded

Mateo - sent to minors or traded

Ryu - sent to minors

 

Bullpen:

Cotts - middle relief lefty

Wuertz - middle relief righty

Ohman - LOOGY (Possible trade candidate)

Novoa - sent to minors

Dempster - Trade

Eyre - lefty set-up man (possible trade candidate)

Howry - righty set-up man (possible closer)

Wood - Closer (possible righty set-up man)

[abuck1220]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

 

Who was it then that he said he wouldn't trade Hill for straight up? It was someone of that caliber.

 

no it wasn't. hendry never publicly said that he wouldn't trade hill for anybody.

 

really, the most talking the organization has done about hill was when they publicly trashed him after the white sox game.

[AlwaysaCub]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

 

Who was it then that he said he wouldn't trade Hill for straight up? It was someone of that caliber.

 

no it wasn't. hendry never publicly said that he wouldn't trade hill for anybody.

 

really, the most talking the organization has done about hill was when they publicly trashed him after the white sox game.

 

Didn't Hendry refuse some kind of Hill for Adam Dunn offer?

[ltb]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

 

Who was it then that he said he wouldn't trade Hill for straight up? It was someone of that caliber.

 

this is one of my pet peeves on this board.

 

JIM HENDRY NEVER SAID HE WOULD NOT TRADE RICH HILL STRAIGHT UP FOR ADAM DUNN.

 

this was a statement made by bruce miles, i believe, to demonstrate to everyone how highly hendry valued hill in 2005. it was never a quote directly from hendry.

[abuck1220]

i don't really think hendry has had a thing for hill.

You keep saying that and you keep failing to provide anything other than your opinion. Do you have anything concrete or even anecdotal to back that up? If not, fire away, be my guest, but don't expect anyone with even half a head on their shoulders to agree with you.

 

umm...my argument that hendry doesn't have a thing for hill is based on a lack of him saying or doing things to indicate support of hill. therefore, it's kinda hard for me to point to his non-existent quotes of support.

 

since your claim is that he does support/like hill, you should be able to point to quotes or actions indicating such. but as you said, you're not a librarian.

Didn't Hendry state last year that he wouldn't trade Hill for Dunn straight up?

 

Nope.

 

Who was it then that he said he wouldn't trade Hill for straight up? It was someone of that caliber.

 

no it wasn't. hendry never publicly said that he wouldn't trade hill for anybody.

 

really, the most talking the organization has done about hill was when they publicly trashed him after the white sox game.

 

Didn't Hendry refuse some kind of Hill for Adam Dunn offer?

[Jehrico]

delete Edited December 10, 2006 by Jehrico