O' Samardzija, Where Art Thou? Updated: Called Up.

[jersey cubs fan]

The same bullpen that sucks this week can look awesome next week. Now is not the time to freak out.

 

we all knew our bullpen would suck before the season. should die hard nat fans not worry about their rotation after one week?

 

I'm actually not that concerned about our pen. Marmol and Gregg are obviously darn good. I'm a huge Heilman fan. If Gooz keeps his arm intact, I have no doubt that his performance will be fine... hell, even Vizcaino aint half bad, provided he never faces a lefty.

 

Patton is a gamble, and Cotts sucks. That's still a good deal better than most teams.

 

I don't get how Gregg is obviously darn good. He's a fairly questionable bullpen arm.

[Machina]

The same bullpen that sucks this week can look awesome next week. Now is not the time to freak out.

 

we all knew our bullpen would suck before the season. should die hard nat fans not worry about their rotation after one week?

 

I'm actually not that concerned about our pen. Marmol and Gregg are obviously darn good. I'm a huge Heilman fan. If Gooz keeps his arm intact, I have no doubt that his performance will be fine... hell, even Vizcaino aint half bad, provided he never faces a lefty.

 

Patton is a gamble, and Cotts sucks. That's still a good deal better than most teams.

 

I don't get how Gregg is obviously darn good. He's a fairly questionable bullpen arm.

 

I am worried about Gregg's ability to handle pressure. What we have seen of him in a Cubs uniform hasn't indicated he won't give in in August and September.

[Rob]

The same bullpen that sucks this week can look awesome next week. Now is not the time to freak out.

 

we all knew our bullpen would suck before the season. should die hard nat fans not worry about their rotation after one week?

 

I'm actually not that concerned about our pen. Marmol and Gregg are obviously darn good. I'm a huge Heilman fan. If Gooz keeps his arm intact, I have no doubt that his performance will be fine... hell, even Vizcaino aint half bad, provided he never faces a lefty.

 

Patton is a gamble, and Cotts sucks. That's still a good deal better than most teams.

 

I don't get how Gregg is obviously darn good. He's a fairly questionable bullpen arm.

 

I suppose that's the danger of using subjective terms... Gregg has shown an ability to be quite effective at the major league level, though whether his ballpark helped him keep all those flyballs from being home runs is something we'll be figuring out quickly.

 

Regardless, I have no issues with him having a spot on any major league roster at the moment... which to me is what defines him as darn good. His leverage, on the other hand... that's up for debate.

[jersey cubs fan]

Regardless, I have no issues with him having a spot on any major league roster at the moment... which to me is what defines him as darn good. His leverage, on the other hand... that's up for debate.

 

That's an interesting definition of darn good.

[Rob]

Regardless, I have no issues with him having a spot on any major league roster at the moment... which to me is what defines him as darn good. His leverage, on the other hand... that's up for debate.

 

That's an interesting definition of darn good.

 

The fact of the matter is that you just cant expect much from the average major league reliever. And I expect a good deal more out of Gregg...

[Guest]

The fact of the matter is that you just cant expect much from the average major league reliever. And I expect a good deal more out of Gregg...

 

And that's basically the point I was trying to make earlier. Sure, you can go out and spend money on a bullpen like the Mets did, but the Mets are probably going to see that their money was probably better spent finding some guys to start behind Santana.

 

If I had to trade the Cubs' bullpen for some other team's bullpen, there aren't many teams I'd trade with. Could the bullpen have been better. Most certainly.

 

But, come September, I'd probably take Marmol, Gregg, Heilman, Guzman, Samardzija and a roster deadline bullpen arm or 2 over just about any other pen in the league. Maybe even Cashner can contribute late in the season.

 

There just aren't that many sure thing bullpen arms from year to year. That's why you shouldn't spend big money on them or give them long term deals. As bad as Wuertz was last year, he's a perfect example of a guy who could very easily turn it around again this year. I would have kept him.

 

When all is said and done, I wouldn't be surprised if Vizcaino ends up with a relatively respectable season even though we all bash him on a daily basis.

 

I'm just not ready to call the bullpen a shambles at this point.

[twothousandfive]

Jeff's numbers thus far are not horrible, but not great in Iowa.

It was a 2-inning, 3 ER appearance in relief that was the problem. He's got two decent starts, though a bit short. Which is another reason it would be bad to add him to the pen -- he hasn't shown he's better than any of these guys, really, but he can learn and imporve as a starter in Iowa. How has Smardijia shown he's better than Ascanio, Hart, Eyre, Marquis or any of the other interchangeable bullpen/fifth starter candidates?

 

Looking at the pen, I still wonder what was going on late last year, when they released Eyre (is the guy they got from Phily still pitching?), but kept Cotts. I figured Cotts had more trade value, and Eyre has certainly been better so far this year.

[CubbieGager]

Well with Hendry announcing the callup of Shark, who's the odd man out? Patton or Vizcaino?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

It should be Patton, but my guess is Vizcaino.

[17 Seconds]

what is hendry doing to this bullpen

[NCCubFan]

My guess is Patton. Vizcaino has been good so far this year. Maybe nobody will claim Patton on waivers and the Cubs can arrange a trade to allow them to keep him and send him down.

[Mephistopheles]

Patton was a stupid move the entire time. Hendry knew we'd have an option crunch with our relievers without being forced to baby a rule 5 guy on the roster. It's his own damn fault. The Cubs really couldn't afford the lack of bullpen roster flexibility that came with keeping a guy like him around.

[Rob]

Patton was a stupid move the entire time. Hendry knew we'd have an option crunch with our relievers without being forced to baby a rule 5 guy on the roster. It's his own damn fault. The Cubs really couldn't afford the lack of bullpen roster flexibility that came with keeping a guy like him around.

 

Actually, I liked the move... but I was counting on us being able to sneak him through waivers and iron out a trade for his rights around this time. It was certainly better than keeping Gaudin around.

[Mephistopheles]

Not acquiring Kevin Gregg would have been the best move. Just as pointless. We would have been fine without him.

[Rob]

Not acquiring Kevin Gregg would have been the best move. Just as pointless. We would have been fine without him.

 

The only way acquiring Gregg worked out was if he had a season good enough to make other teams sign him after we offer him arbitration. That's pretty much shot now... all he had to do was start well and finish well. No GM would remember if this had happened in July.

 

As it stands now, yeah... I'd have been much, much happier to hold onto Ceda.

[CubColtPacer]

Not acquiring Kevin Gregg would have been the best move. Just as pointless. We would have been fine without him.

 

The only way acquiring Gregg worked out was if he had a season good enough to make other teams sign him after we offer him arbitration. That's pretty much shot now... all he had to do was start well and finish well. No GM would remember if this had happened in July.

 

As it stands now, yeah... I'd have been much, much happier to hold onto Ceda.

 

Although now Ceda's injury is nothing to sneeze at either. Shoulder stiffness that has come and gone for the last month does not portend good things for him. I'm not sure when he is expected to make his debut this year or if they even know.

[Guest]

I agree that it will be Patton that will get the noose. He's probably not ready for prime time to begin with, and needs more seasoning in the minors.

 

I don't think he's so special that we lose anything significant if he doesn't clear waivers.

[jersey cubs fan]

I agree that it will be Patton that will get the noose. He's probably not ready for prime time to begin with, and needs more seasoning in the minors.

 

I don't think he's so special that we lose anything significant if he doesn't clear waivers.

 

The beat writers all seem to think it's Vizcaino.

[CubColtPacer]

I agree that it will be Patton that will get the noose. He's probably not ready for prime time to begin with, and needs more seasoning in the minors.

 

I don't think he's so special that we lose anything significant if he doesn't clear waivers.

 

The beat writers all seem to think it's Vizcaino.

 

This quote from last night would seem to exclude Patton from the discussion:

 

"He'll help out in that sixth, seventh inning role to start with," Piniella said. "He's been starting,so he's built up his arm. I probably will use (David) Patton and (Angel) Guzman a little longer. Jeff will be one of my shorter people- not in heighth. Anyways, we'll use him an inning plus. He's not going to be pitching long. We'll use him like we're using Heilman.

 

That seems to rule out Patton unless Lou didn't know what the corresponding roster move was going to be, which seems unlikely.

[SouthSideRyan]

Why are people speculating on who's going? Everyone's reporting it's Vizcaino.

[jersey cubs fan]

Why are people speculating on who's going? Everyone's reporting it's Vizcaino.

 

Well, those reports seem to be speculation as well, although much more informed speculation.

[E.J.]

This doesn't seem like speculation:

 

The Cubs designated right-handed pitcher Luis Vizcaino for assignment. The Cubs were trying to trade Vizcaino before bringing up Jeff Samardzija from Class AAA Iowa.

 

General manager Jim Hendry tried to be creative with other teams, including the Washington Nationals, and tried to save some money before having to release Vizcaino.

 

It will take 72 hours for Vizcaino to go through waivers, and the Cubs will have seven days to either release him or trade him.

 

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog?name=levine

[NCCubFan]

Unless the Cubs can trade Vizcaino for something of value they in effect gave Marquis away for nothing and are still paying part of his salary. Unacceptable.

[jersey cubs fan]

Unless the Cubs can trade Vizcaino for something of value they in effect gave Marquis away for nothing and are still paying part of his salary. Unacceptable.

 

Complete misuse of assets, a Hendry trademark.

[Guest]

I don't understand this huge rush to get rid of him. Is his velocity that far off? Can he not throw strikes at all? Is he completely mismatched against major league hitters?

 

I also don't see a need to rush up Shark. Is Shark not first in line to be a starter if one of our starters needs a DL stint? Why not leave him in Iowa and let him stay stretched out? Is our starting rotation so stable that you can take all of your minor league starters and stick them in the Cubs bullpen?

 

If this was July or August and one ineffective bullpen arm could mean the difference in a win or a loss, I could understand it. If Vizcaino was pitching like Howry, I could probably understand that as well.

 

However, we don't even know what we have. This seems like Hendry just wanting to rid himself of any memory of Marquis ever being a Cub, and having Vizcaino off the roster just makes it that much easier for him.

 

Something must have been said or happened in the clubhouse to have generated such a quick roster move. Especially when your pen is really no better off with or without this move. Most of the pen still has no options, other than Marmol and Shark.