Guzman shut down

[Guest]

The bullpen is going to get severely worn down this year. This could be the worst starting pitching staff the Cubs have had in a real long time. I'd just as soon not put any money into the bullpen and use the Iowa shuttle most of the year.

[17 Seconds]

Baed on past success and how he was significantly better in the 2nd half last year after he became the closer.

 

he still wasn't good. he had a 1.46 whip in august/september.

 

That in no way made him a guarentee to be good again this year, and even if he was there would have pretty much been the guarentee of missing time due to injury looming over him. If he was supposed to be the cornerstone of this bullpen then the Cubs were [expletive] to begin with.

 

i agree, and this is aprt of the reason i was worried about the cubs bullpen even before guzman's injury.

 

i just don't like going into the season without a single who you can look at and say "yeah, we know he'll be good at least". marmol is the closest we have to that, and he has big question marks after last year.

[Sammy Sofa]

Baed on past success and how he was significantly better in the 2nd half last year after he became the closer.

 

he still wasn't good. he had a 1.46 whip in august/september.

 

He was significantly better. Ideal? No, but he knocked the walks down and kept the strikeouts up. Going on past history to this point it's more likely that the first half was the outlier. Is that a sure thing? Of course not, but he's a decent bet to be more effective this year. The most positive thing is that even with all of his trouble last year he was still incredibly difficult to hit. I'd be far more worried if his shitty season entailed both the walks and getting shelled.

 

That in no way made him a guarentee to be good again this year, and even if he was there would have pretty much been the guarentee of missing time due to injury looming over him. If he was supposed to be the cornerstone of this bullpen then the Cubs were [expletive] to begin with.

 

i agree, and this is aprt of the reason i was worried about the cubs bullpen even before guzman's injury.

 

i just don't like going into the season without a single who you can look at and say "yeah, we know he'll be good at least". marmol is the closest we have to that, and he has big question marks after last year.

 

So who was out there to get to be that person? It's a self-defeating argument. Someone like that either costs serious money or will take a significant trade. It seems silly to waste either when the Cubs have serious questions regarding the offense and the starting rotation. Spending those resources on the bullpen is completely ass-backwards. It's bad enough they wasted money on Grabow; God only knows how much more would have been wasted if Hendry was able to focus on the bullpen.

 

The bullpen should be way down on their list of areas to improve.

[UMFan83]

The bullpen is going to get severely worn down this year. This could be the worst starting pitching staff the Cubs have had in a real long time. I'd just as soon not put any money into the bullpen and use the Iowa shuttle most of the year.

 

I tend to agree, although I won't discount that it could be better than expected. However, there is no way the starting pitching staff will be worse than 2006's. Actually even 2005's wasn't all that great.

 

2006 was a mix and match of every but 2005's was Zambrano, Maddux, Prior (sometimes), Rusch, Jerome Williams

[inari]

I totally forgot Jerome Williams ever existed.

[Schwarber Fan]

nice career Guz, right up there with Prior

[NCCubFan]

Guzman seems to think that having the surgery is his only chance for pitching again, but he's still considering whether to have it.

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100307&content_id=8705722&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

[David]

nice career Guz, right up there with Prior

 

 

what losers they are

[Guest]

nice career Guz, right up there with Prior

I'm not quite sure why I find this statement so irritating that I just can't let it go without comment.

 

I'm willing to bet that you have no clue about how hard these guys have worked and how much pain they have suffered to come back from their various injuries. I hope you never have to go through such pain in your life. And I'd bet money that you never work quite so hard.

[Schwarber Fan]

nice career Guz, right up there with Prior

I'm not quite sure why I find this statement so irritating that I just can't let it go without comment.

 

I'm willing to bet that you have no clue about how hard these guys have worked and how much pain they have suffered to come back from their various injuries. I hope you never have to go through such pain in your life. And I'd bet money that you never work quite so hard.

 

heh, and I'm usually not one of the guys to make dick comments like that but the one time I do...

 

whatever, I know they work hard it's just frustrating as a fan, needless to say.

[David]

nice career Guz, right up there with Prior

I'm not quite sure why I find this statement so irritating that I just can't let it go without comment.

 

I'm willing to bet that you have no clue about how hard these guys have worked and how much pain they have suffered to come back from their various injuries. I hope you never have to go through such pain in your life. And I'd bet money that you never work quite so hard.

 

 

This is what I said, only in a much more explicit and less sarcastic manner.

[hardcorecubfan]

This is just another case of a super-kid disappointing Cub fans. I am sure h is too but it is our fault over-hyping any of these kids until they have had three productive years in the majors. What fun would it be if we didn't, the disappointment is such joy

[SouthSideRyan]

Exactly.

[Sammy Sofa]

This is just another case of a super-kid disappointing Cub fans. I am sure h is too but it is our fault over-hyping any of these kids until they have had three productive years in the majors. What fun would it be if we didn't, the disappointment is such joy

 

http://petersonstory.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/confused-full.jpg

[rocket]

This is just another case of a super-kid disappointing Cub fans. I am sure h is too but it is our fault over-hyping any of these kids until they have had three productive years in the majors. What fun would it be if we didn't, the disappointment is such joy

 

that's right rays fans. don't get excited about evan longoria just yet, he's only had 2 major league seasons.

[Brett]

Tough choice for the Cubs and Guzman with respect to surgery - rehab leads to a slightly higher likelihood of short-term viability, but perhaps more long-term problems. Surgery could lead to more long-term viability, but could also end his career. I can see why the Cubs are pushing for rehab. If Guzman gets the surgery, he's almost certainly going to be non-tendered at the end of the year - unless it's some kind of new miracle surgery that tells you whether the guy will be an effective pitcher the following year.

[Soul]

Our bullpen situation is........of concern.

[Sammy Sofa]

I have to ask all the people worried over the bullpen...how many of you view it as the Cubs' most pressing need or area of improvement?

[Guest]

This is just another case of a super-kid disappointing Cub fans. I am sure h is too but it is our fault over-hyping any of these kids until they have had three productive years in the majors. What fun would it be if we didn't, the disappointment is such joy

 

that's right rays fans. don't get excited about evan longoria just yet, he's only had 2 major league seasons.

Well, at least Giants fans finally know Lincecum is for real.

[Guest]

I have to ask all the people worried over the bullpen...how many of you view it as the Cubs' most pressing need or area of improvement?

I'll answer your question with a question. Just because there are bigger issues, why would you refuse to address a smaller problem if it can be done effectively and efficiently?

[Sammy Sofa]

I have to ask all the people worried over the bullpen...how many of you view it as the Cubs' most pressing need or area of improvement?

I'll answer your question with a question. Just because there are bigger issues, why would you refuse to address a smaller problem if it can be done effectively and efficiently?

 

Well, therein lies the catch: I simply do not see how the bullpen can be "fixed" effectively or efficiently at this point in time.

 

I look at it this way; the means for the Cubs to improve their bullpen are likely still going to be there a month or 2 months from now. He'll they'll probably be there until the deadline. Any true improvement to the bullpen is almost certainly going to have to involve a trade. Such a trade is always an uphill battle, regardless of whether they do it now or a couple months from now. I would prefer if they waited to see if the bullpen truly is in a bad way and whether or not the bullpen is even the main problem facing this team. If the offense is looking to be a crapfest again or the starting pitching is horrible after, say, the first month of the season, I'd really prefer if they didn't waste trade bait on the bullpen. If the rest of the team looks to be doing decently and the Cubs will be in the mix except for the bullpen, well, you gotta do what you gotta do. I just don't see the benefit of making such a trade now as opposed to at least a couple months from now. It's going to cost too damn much either way. Might as well wait to see if it's something the Cubs actually need to overpay for, and when there will probably more relievers available.

[Guest]

I have to ask all the people worried over the bullpen...how many of you view it as the Cubs' most pressing need or area of improvement?

I'll answer your question with a question. Just because there are bigger issues, why would you refuse to address a smaller problem if it can be done effectively and efficiently?

 

Well, therein lies the catch: I simply do not see how the bullpen can be "fixed" effectively or efficiently at this point in time.

 

I look at it this way; the means for the Cubs to improve their bullpen are likely still going to be there a month or 2 months from now. He'll they'll probably be there until the deadline. Any true improvement to the bullpen is almost certainly going to have to involve a trade. Such a trade is always an uphill battle, regardless of whether they do it now or a couple months from now. I would prefer if they waited to see if the bullpen truly is in a bad way and whether or not the bullpen is even the main problem facing this team. If the offense is looking to be a crapfest again or the starting pitching is horrible after, say, the first month of the season, I'd really prefer if they didn't waste trade bait on the bullpen. If the rest of the team looks to be doing decently and the Cubs will be in the mix except for the bullpen, well, you gotta do what you gotta do. I just don't see the benefit of making such a trade now as opposed to at least a couple months from now. It's going to cost too damn much either way. Might as well wait to see if it's something the Cubs actually need to overpay for, and when there will probably more relievers available.

Now that Calero has signed, I agree that there's no easy fix. However, I would definitely have rolled that dice on a one year deal. I understand the Cubs looked into it and didn't like the medical report, though, which is understandable.

 

At this point, I'd run with what we have. I'd keep an eye open, though. Teams often try to slide someone through waivers at the end of the spring that could be a useful arm for the pen. Anyone acquired this way wouldn't be a savior, but you might find one more useful option that way.

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh, I'm definitely not saying the Cubs should ignore anyone that becomes available that is typically a decent reliever. I just don't think there's anyone like that out there really available now given what a commodity they are.

[hardcorecubfan]

This is just another case of a super-kid disappointing Cub fans. I am sure h is too but it is our fault over-hyping any of these kids until they have had three productive years in the majors. What fun would it be if we didn't, the disappointment is such joy

 

that's right rays fans. don't get excited about evan longoria just yet, he's only had 2 major league seasons.

 

He blows out his acl or elbow and in five years you will go "Evan who"

[Sammy Sofa]

Or they'll say, "that kickass 3rd baseman for the Rays who blew out his [expletive] knee."