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Our pen(especially since we've already added Marmol which makes Guzman redundant) and Guzman are better than you're giving them credit for. Case in point... This argument I won't buy...The pen is utterly terrible and needs to be corrected. Maybe Marmol can be effective for us but he showed his obvious lack of control has not went anywhere with his appearance today. Bringing him in with men on base is asking for disaster. I will give the pen zero credit aside from Wuertz and Dempster in save situations. Dempster has been very good, Wuertz is good and should be the 8th inning guy, Ohman has continued to be effective as a LOOGY, Cotts has been better than expected, and Howry is better than his current production(his BABIP should be about .030 lower, a huge difference for a reliever). With the addition of Marmol, you have Howry, Cotts, and Marmol as options(who you have varying levels of comfort with) to get you through the 7th(plus Ohman as a lefty assassin), and pitch the 8th/9th occasionally in games with large deficits. It's far from a disaster. Oh wow. This is what I won't buy into anymore, I've listened to it all year and have said it myself. Ohman is getting better, yet still sucks. What did he do today? Let gritty Erstad on, got Uribe out I believe, then walked AJ. Small sample sure, but its getting old. Despite the struggle, he is a decent loogy career wise so hes not all bad. Howry has been a disgrace, his numbers indicate exactly how hes pitched. His BABIP might me lower if his fastball wasn't straighter then a arrow. Hes terrible, Dusty taxed him and the 07' Cubs are seeing this first hand. Hes no longer an 8th inning guy. We can't say Howry, Marmol and Cotts will get us through the 7th, how many times have we had to call in our best reliever Wuertz to get us out of those early situations? Do you want to see wild Marmol or Howry pitching with the bases loaded? The bullpen is a joke and should have no confidence in it until it manages to go a whole week without blowing holds and saves. Bullpen apologists be damned.

With everyone questioning Guzman's durability, I'd have to wonder why they won't question Marshall's. He has a long history of injuries (including one this year), has never thrown a lot of innings, and doesn't have the same fastball he used to.

He is showing that he could be a decent 4th OF instead of a 5th. He could have a decent career in the Jay Payton/Mark Kotsay mold. He's only had 23 AB in the majors this year, his career stats (as well as his numbers this year at AAA) scream 5th outfielder.

Guz isn't a dominant SP. . No, he's not dominant. Who's saying he's dominant? So he's more valuable if he's throwing less innings? He has pitched well so far. As a starter he has a 3.52 ERA with a 13/5 K/BB ratio.

Should have locked this thread after this post, sums up this situation well.

Because its not based on his small sample size this year. Its based on a solid minor league career and his high ceiling. I don't think anyone expects him to hold down a 3.15 ERA, but I expect him to be far better than Wade Miller and better than Sean Marshall.

Marshall isn't going to do better than Angel, and is more likely to do worse, while Angel isn't going to get consistent work out of the pen if Piniella continues to use the pen like he has. This isn't a hard concept. What is seemingly hard concept is that we need someone who doesn't suck in the bullpen. Our 5th starter need not be lights out. Guzman has the hard stuff to succeed in the bullpen. If we're not going to make a trade soon, why not give it a shot? Because a good starter is always more valuable than a good reliever.

I've really had a hard time understanding a lot of his decisions. Guzman should have started out the year in the rotation, and he should stay in it.

Apparently he didn't care much about Iowa's record

Wade Miller is coming back at the end of next week, beginning of the following week after one more rehab start. Someone has to come out of the rotation. My bet is they will move Guzman to closer, given his continual problems with cramping. Its not like he could do any worse than what we have down there. This is our best rotation right now, Wade Miller would only hurt this team in whatever role he would have coming back. No way he belongs on a major league team at this point.

He wasn't fired after last year, I'm not sure what it would take for Jim to lose his job.

Guzman always seems to be falling victim to the lucky soft hits

His OPS is hovering around the .700 mark, his OBP is still mediocre, and he hasn't been that great in the field so far this year. I will continue to hate him.

He's right though. No way at this point Theriot belongs on the all-star team, even at 2B. Could you justify him making the team over Kelly Johnson, Orlando Hudson, or Chase Utley? How about at SS over Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, JJ Hardy, or Hanley Ramirez? Don't get me wrong, I like what Theriot has done for the team so far. I hope he continues at this pace, although I'm not counting on it.

He's had 4 IBB

24 doesn't go into repeats

Why is it a push at catcher? Barrett put up a good OPS last year, and while he's struggled this year, I see him ending up way more valuable than Estrada. Estrada had a nice 2004 with the Braves, but hasn't been very good since then. Barrett has had 800+ OPS seasons every year since 2004, and Estrada doesn't make up that difference on defense.

Not to mention Sosa's been the best hitter in the Rangers lineup with the exception of Kinsler so far this year.

Health/team dependant. Average OPS+ over the last four years: Fonz: 117 Pods: 89 Much better choice than runs scored. The fact that there's an argument about who is a better leadoff man between the 2nd worst hitter in baseball (behind GRINDERSTAD) and Fons is a testament to how underwhelming Soriano has been. Hope he fares better, for your sake. Ozzie has fallen in love with Erstad just as much as Lou has fallen in love with Theriot. Fortunately for us, Theriot is a better hitter and plays a middle infield position, while Erstad clunkily plays outfield or first base. Oh and he's an injury concern. I think Erstad being injury prone could only help the White Sox.

His anemic .300 OBP is alarming, but hopefully with his slugging as high as it is he'll improve on that.

I think I'd rather have Rapada as a LOOGY over Walrond, even if he has struggled to start the year.

I am an NIU student packer fan, and I think it's actually kind of cool that he is going to play so close to home. Also he came to a party at my house once and paid with a ben frank, so that's cool. I really doubt he does much in the nfl though. I agree. Wolfe had an impressive college career, but his stature and overall tools might not translate to the NFL game. He's a lot shorter in person than I thought. I think the Bears were right in taking a player from Northern Illinois, but they took the wrong one.

This also doesn't help the Dispatch's reputation for having writers who are huge homers.

We should make decisions based on what's best for the team, it doesn't matter if the fanbase is frustrated or not.

why, do you not like winning? He doesnt like cheating. Cheating or not. I just don't like his attitude. Give me a 25 man roster full of jackasses that are good at baseball. Cardinals seemed to get by pretty well with that formula last year.