Illini Iceman

This kind of sums up my opinion of Hamilton: http://www.desipio.com/?p=1490 I know, heaven forbid I quote Disipio on nsbb, isn't it like blaspemy or something? Good for him he came back. But a lot of the media is making him into some kind of hero or something. He screwed his life up big time and now is back to where he would have been 5 years ago if he hadn't been stupid. Don't see why he gets more credit and attention than some guy that does it the right way and becomes a star without having to do the drug addict thing first. That's a pretty asinine way of looking at the situation, but if it makes you feel better about yourself. Feel free. Who said anything about how it makes me feel about myself? We are talking about how I feel about Josh Hamilton not being able to stay off drugs. Maybe if Grady Sizemore had spent most of his minor league career shooting heroin the media would be lining up to have interviews with him instead of the "heroic" Josh Hamilton. And thanks anyway for giving me the right to have my own opinion. Very big of you. Your post was dripping with the self-satisfaction of someone who is a better person than Hamilton. Whatever. Maybe you are, but only a self-absorbed prick couldn't get out of their head out of their own ass long enough to see what a good story Hamilton is. He gives hope to people everywhere. Jeff Allison is using Hamilton's example to try to get his own life straightened out. I guess he shouldn't be commended for trying to get straight either. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080306&content_id=2408668&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb I personally like the "story" of the guy that works hard, stays clean and makes it that way better than the "story" of a guy that does drugs, hurts a lot of people in the process, then later gets clean and makes it. But I guess that is only because I have the "self-satisfaction of someone who is a better person than Hamilton" and am a "self-absorbed prick". Since obviously neither of those descriptions apply to you I find it surprising you have to resort to name calling to make your point. But now that I think about it, it does sort of seem to be a trend in your posts.

This kind of sums up my opinion of Hamilton: http://www.desipio.com/?p=1490 I know, heaven forbid I quote Disipio on nsbb, isn't it like blaspemy or something? Good for him he came back. But a lot of the media is making him into some kind of hero or something. He screwed his life up big time and now is back to where he would have been 5 years ago if he hadn't been stupid. Don't see why he gets more credit and attention than some guy that does it the right way and becomes a star without having to do the drug addict thing first. That's a pretty asinine way of looking at the situation, but if it makes you feel better about yourself. Feel free. Who said anything about how it makes me feel about myself? We are talking about how I feel about Josh Hamilton not being able to stay off drugs. Maybe if Grady Sizemore had spent most of his minor league career shooting heroin the media would be lining up to have interviews with him instead of the "heroic" Josh Hamilton. And thanks anyway for giving me the right to have my own opinion. Very big of you.

sorry double post

This kind of sums up my opinion of Hamilton: http://www.desipio.com/?p=1490 I know, heaven forbid I quote Disipio on nsbb, isn't it like blaspemy or something? Good for him he came back. But a lot of the media is making him into some kind of hero or something. He screwed his life up big time and now is back to where he would have been 5 years ago if he hadn't been stupid. Don't see why he gets more credit and attention than some guy that does it the right way and becomes a star without having to do the drug addict thing first.

I would like to hear Hurdle try to explain why Wright is more deserving of taking Soriano's spot than Pat Burrell.

Year after year Sam Fuld was considered the most disciplined hitter in the Cubs Minor League system. For a team like Chicago, who until this season tended to be very aggressive at the plate, Fuld seemed to fill an obvious need. Combine that with quality defense at a position that demands it and I'd say that was enough to get excited about him. He's a 4th OF at best. He's pretty much been that way for a number of years now. The guy never had any power to speak of. And when does a Center Fielder or top of the order hitter need power to be acceptable in those roles? Seems to me Fuld's quality defense and plate discipline entering this season were more than enough to warrant all the hype he received. the problem with plate discipline and no power is that guys at the big league level will stop walking you. fuld's ceiling is about a 5th outfielder, but that's it. Just because Big League pitchers have better control doesn't mean Fuld still couldn't have maintained a quality OBP. He drew tons of Walks in the Minors because of excellent strike zone recognition. Facing better pitching wouldn't suddenly cause Fuld to be overly aggressive and swing at breaking pitches in the dirt or Fastballs way above the belt. I am not so sure about Fuld as a prospect, but I do agree that not having much power doesn't necessarily negate the possibility that a player can put up a high OBP in the majors.

I bet Wuertz is down til an injury or September. It was gonna be him once Eyre came up anyway, now Hart or Marshall will go down when we get rid of the assinine 13 man staff, and the other will go when Eyre comes back. Eyre comes back, Marshall goes down. Soriano comes back, Hart goes down. Both those things happen most likely within the next 6 games so I really don't see the big deal about Wuertz going down now instead of right after the ASB. Or maybe we should keep Wuertz around and DFA Marquis like a bunch of people have suggested recently. Since Marquis is such a useless starter. Oh, wait......

We'll see how it works out long term, but for now Murton's big "shot" will consist of a demotion to AAA.

I still think Hoffpauir is more likely. If Soriano wasn't close to coming back they might think about adding a RH hitter like Dubois to the 40 man but if he is going to be back right after the all star break it would be a waste to add someone just to sit on the bench for a few games. I agree it will probably be Hoffpauir even though it makes the bench a bit LH heavy. My guess is Hoffpauir in, Marshall (unfortunately) out for now. When Eyre comes back most likely Wuertz goes down since Lou seems to like having two lefties in the pen. When Soriano comes back Hoffpauir goes back down. Even if Marquis struggles Gaudin probably gets a shot at his rotation spot before Marshall with Marquis going to the bullpen unless they can find someone to dump him on. Hendry just doesn't have a history of DFA'ing guys who still have significant money left on their contracts.

Realistically what would it take to get Rich Harden? I assume Gallagher would have to be in the package but what other types of guys are we talking about needing to be included?

I'd like to ask you what tradeable player in our system offers what LaPorta can, since a middle of the order power bat is what Cleveland was obviously looking for. aramis ramirez Ryan Harvey :cool:

If Marshall can keep pitching like he did today that would be a big lift for the rotation. I was not that impressed with him last year but today he was very sharp and looks like he has improved his command.

They were wrong about Griffey which means their source was probably just guessing.

I think we got the idea after about the first 100 times you posted this same anti-Wilken sentiment.

It will not be Carrasco. He's right-handed and, more importantly, not on the 40-man roster. I think the most likely candidate is Piggy. He's a lefty (which I think the Cubs would definitely want to replace Eyre) and he's on the 40-man roster.Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I thought we only had 39 guys on the 40 man right now? If that's the case, then it wouldn't be an issue to add someone if needed for this kind of scenario. But, I agree, I doubt it'd be Carrasco.According to cubs.com the 40-man roster is full. I think there were 39 at one point, but one of the more recent moves (maybe the signing of Edmonds) put it back at 40. We have a handfull of guys one the 40 man who could be taken off and nobody would ever notice, like I dont know, this guy http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Adam%20Harben&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=448180 I suspect a number of guys on the 40-man could clear waivers. Harbden, Fuld, maybe Fox all could be removed. Easiest thing would be just to put Chad Fox on the 60 day DL.

Makes the most sense - Hoff and Ward are pretty redundant. If Patterson keeps showing he can hit he is going to put some pressure on the Cubs to send down Fontenot instead of him when Johnson and/or Soriano returns. Patterson and Fontenot also bring pretty much bring the same skill sets except Patterson can play OF which makes him a bit more valuable if they are equal offensively.

What, you don't want to bring up Luis Montanez in other completely unrelated news?

I apologize, and maybe that is what he meant, but when what I wrote is quoted and then he says what he says... it's hard for me to interpret in any other way than I did. But I post this question to all the Edmonds nay sayers. Would you rather win a World Series this year? or Make sure we don't have any former Cardinal standouts on our team? Leaving the political discussion completely aside, I don't see CUBS fans as the flip-floppers here. The only flip-flop was by Edmonds when he took off the red uniform and put on a blue one. I for one, always cheer and root for the guys in the blue uniforms. I've never wavered on that point. Given a short period for adjustment, I think nearly all CUBS fans follow the same linear logic. All that being said..... it still does feel a bit strange to cheer for Jim Edmonds.... but, whatever. There is that small segment of fans that when he was signed were making statements to the effect that they would never root for him and would boo every time he came to the plate and things of that nature. At this point they are probably wearing Edmonds jerseys to go with their racist Fukudome headbands so they are probably the "flip floppers" being mentioned. However, I have to say I don't really get the whole flip flop thing. They hated Edmonds because he sucked and had been negative toward the Cubs. Now he is good and helping the Cubs so they have changed their opinion of him. In this gotcha world people are supposed to have one opinion and stick with it forever I guess, even if the FACTS surrounding the original opinion have changed or been proven to be different than first known.

Interesting to see how that impacts the roster moves. You have Marshall and Ward ready to come up in the next 3-4 days. If Reed goes to the DL, what's the other roster move? It will be interesting to see if they feel that Patterson needs to be up, or do they keep Hoffpauir and feel comfortable with Fukudome and Cedeno as the two backups in CF to a slightly injured Jim Edmonds. Marshall up, Murton down. Ward activated, Johnson to DL. I don't see them sending Murton down if Johnson goes on the DL. It would leave them a very heavily left handed bench. If they did this they would have to start Edmonds against both LH and RH starters. Also, assuming they move DeRosa to LF against a LH starter they would then need need to use Cedeno to fill DeRosa's infield spot. That leaves them with a bench of Fontenot, Patterson, Ward and Hoffpauir from the left side and only Blanco from the right. As the only back up C it is doubtful Lou would want to use him as a PH late in games so for all intents and purposes they have no RH pinch hitters available. I don't know if Buehrle is due to come up in the Sox series next weekend, but if he is, then Lou also would then either need to start a LH hitter as a DH against him or use Blanco/Soto as the DH and have a completely LH bench. If they keep Murton then against LH starters they can either still have Edmonds play CF and at least have one RH bench player (Cedeno or Murton depending whether DeRosa is in RF or 2B) or choose to sit Edmonds and be LH heavy on the bench but have an extra RH hitter in the lineup by having Fukudome move to CF, DeRosa in RF, Murton in LF and Cedeno at 2B. Bottom line is that Murton gives them much more flexibility at the moment with Soriano and Johnson out. Based on that I think that either Patterson, Hoffpauir or Fontenot goes down. As unfair as it may be, my guess is that it would be Hoffpauir since he is the most redundant with Ward returning. Patterson stays for now, but probably either he or Murton goes back down when Johnson returns and then whichever one is left goes back to AAA when Soriano is healthy.

Hopefully he was wearing it in the bottom of the 4th. The foul smell at Wrigley today was from Contreras crapping himself on the mound while Guillen sat in the dugout watching him get destroyed and the game slipping away. Yeah Ozzie, we get it, you aren't impressed with Edmonds. Big deal, he only hit two solo HR's against you. On the other hand, how do you feel about ARam, who you again let beat you today. The 3 run homer was the dagger of the game and you gave it to him on a silver platter by letting him hit against a pitcher that was being rocked and clearly was out of gas. Seems to me that the Sox spend a lot of time complaining about things out of their control like the ballpark they are playing in, umpires, etc.

I'm surprised there aren't well-defined rules - there have been a few ambidextrous pitchers in pro ball, even at the MLB level. Greg Harris in 1995 for the Expos and this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Mullane 567 innings in 1884, even load balancing between two arms, is pretty amazing. The Reds should trade for this minor league guy and see if Dusty could manage to blow out both of his arms.

If it doesn't improve soon they probably retroactively DL him on Tuesday when Marshall needs to come up to make Z's start.

sham prospect

Just double checked in this morning's St Pete Times and they do have the game time for Thursday listed at 7:10 eastern.

It's a gamble either way. If you leave Marquis in, you will either use neither Marmol or Wood, or both of them. If Marquis gives up a hit to the 9 hitter, you likely end up using both. If he induces a double play, you don't really need to use either. When you put Marmol in, you're using him, but you're giving a much better chance that you won't use Wood. I can certainly understand the sentiment of wanting to give Marquis a chance to work out of his jam. It just depends on if you want to take the risk of having both pitch in order to potentially keep either one from pitching. Marquis looked to me like he was done. If Piniella leaves him in and he gives up a bases clearing double the Jays are right back in the game. I like the idea of bringing in Marmol and slamming the door right there. The Cubs are on such a hot streak right now that they are needing to use Wood and Marmol a lot because they have a lot of late leads. I think the usage will come down either because they will cool off a bit so there won't be as many late inning opportunities for Marmol or if they actually stay this good will have a huge lead by September and not need to use him much down the stretch.