RynoRules

If Marshall is indeed part of this deal, it explains why Lou came out and named him the 5th starter. Gives him a bit more perceived value, perhaps, than being thought of as a LOOGY or swing guy.

??? I think you're misreading the second quote or something. Where did I ever say anything about the reasoning for his struggles? I never did. Read it again. The other dude was citing IP totals for some reason, as though he was possibly implying that Wuertz is injury prone or something. I don't know. All I said was that a big reason his IP totals were low was that Lou never used him. I never said anything about that affecting his performance. And you are? I don't get why are being critical of Lou here, other than for the sake of being critical Don't you remember that stretch of the season where Wuertz was on the roster but never ever pitched, even in garbage time? I remember it being discussed plenty of here and the game threads being full of "is Wuertz dead?" posts every day for like 3 straight weeks. I'm not really even criticizing Lou for it, I was just pointing out that he was on the roster but wasn't be used. It was just a simple observation. Sure, I recall the discussions about Wuertz, but I also recall that many of his walks occurred while he was making more frequent appearences. Shortly after that he couldn't find the plate at all (which led to him being sent down), and much of the frustration centered around overusing Howry (who was already pretty bad) when Wuertz was still around. Based on your use of the word "hate", it seemed pretty clear that you were being critical of Lou's decision not to use him, even after his control went away. Guess not.

OK, I'll play along: Next: And you are? I don't get why are being critical of Lou here, other than for the sake of being critical.

If you're going to say that you preferred Nick Markakis over Ryan Harvey on June 3rd, 2003 you're a lying son of a gun. Everyone thought we got a steal with Ryan Harvey. Had he not shredded his leg, it might been 50/50 between him and Young for first overall pick. He 'fell' to the Cubs with the sixth pick. Ryan Harvey himself had better tools than Delmon Young at the time. He hasn't panned out, but to criticize the Cubs for selecting Harvey (or Dopirak) is foolish. If you want to bitch about Ryan Harvey you should be bitching about the player development of the organization, not the scouting. There's a very good chance had Nick Markakis gone to the Cubs, he would have never developed into the player that he has become today. That is an interesting point. You know quite a bit more about the minors than I: is Harvey's failure due to his injuries or the Cubs' inability to develop position players? Both?

Wuertz was used alot the first two months of the season, especially in April. In May he pitched in less games, but was used in the same amount of innings. Still 27 IP the first two months of the season was only a half inning less then Howry, and two innings less then Wood. June is when Lou started to lose faith in Wuertz, because Wuertz was sucking. His era says 2.08 and looks pretty impressive, but Wuertz was very lucky. In 6 of 12 games he pitched in he allowed more hits or walks then outs he got. So he often let other pitchers base runners score, or was bailed out by other pitchers when he left runners on base. So maybe Lou did give up on him too soon, but lets not forget the same manager that let Wuertz pitch in 73 games a year ago. So maybe all the blame shouldn't go on Lou, and alot of it was due to Wuertz sucking. It didn't help that when he got sent to Triple A he pitched kinda subpar, and thats why it took him until September to come back. i was just talking about the IP argument. wuertz would have as much work as gregg if he was actually used and lou didn't hate him. And his era would have probably been much higher if Lou used him in more innings. . Why? His career ERA is 3.57 in 262.1 IP. I don't know why we're talking so much about ERA for relievers though. Right. As noted by CF26, his peripherals weren't very good either. I like Wuertz, but to argue his struggles last year were because he was underutilized (not accurate) or because Lou hates him (completely made up) is baseless. IMO, stick to the facts.

I'd rather give him the minor league deal that So Taguchi got from us.

Who cares.

What makes you think people believe he's "worth so much." The "awful lot of talent" comment in the original quote. Of course, the author might have been referring to the total amount of talent between the three of them rather than their respective individual talent.

I dunno why people think Ronny is worth so much. He's pretty mych a utility IF'er at this point.

LoDuca hits righthanded.

Bruce, if no Peavy, is this the roster we are taking to ST in a month or so?

I don't think that will matter in the final analysis. He was dominant for ten years. I have made this argument before, I know, but I think Bernie Williams should get in. Perhaps not on the first ballot, but I think he should get in.

That is nuts. It is so far the only "more lefthanded" change they've made in the offseason of going left handed, and they didn't even save all that much money. A couple million this year but no more than a couple hundred thousand over the course of the contracts. I guess time will tell, but I still think you are dead wrong and just frustrated. Time will tell what? Dead wrong about what? Hendry stated a goal of getting more left handed. He replaced Jim Edmonds with a fragile Milton Bradley, that doesn't make them more left handed. He replaced Mark DeRosa with Aarond Miles, that does make them more left handed. He said the reason we did this was because we wanted to get more left handed. There's nothing to disagree with there. He got Miles to backfill DeRosa's utility role (arguably a bad idea, but whatever), not to be "more lefthanded". Miles is a switch hitter who hits slightly better right-handed. (Miles 2008 splits). If Hendry simply wanted a lefthanded MIF'er to replace DeRosa he could have easily acquired someone else (for example, Ray Durham, Craig Counsell, Luis Rivas, etc.) . The reason he signed Miles is that he can play several positions. Hendry next replaced DeRosa's offensive production with Bradley (lefthanded), thereby moving Fukudome into the platoon role formerly occupied by Edmonds. In so doing he freed up money either: a) to put in the new owner's pocket; or b) to use in obtaining another SP. I get that you don't agree, but to say there is nothing to argue about is a sure sign that you are just peeved at Hendry, which is fine, BTW.

That is nuts. It is so far the only "more lefthanded" change they've made in the offseason of going left handed, and they didn't even save all that much money. A couple million this year but no more than a couple hundred thousand over the course of the contracts. I guess time will tell, but I still think you are dead wrong and just frustrated.

He wants more lefties in the lineup and with Soto, Soriano, Lee, Aramis and Theriot entrenched at their positions, 2b is one of the few spots where he can do that. I'm not saying I agree with it, but that is his rationale. I could be hallucinating, but I seem to remember Hendry saying this exact thing, before Derosa was traded (or was it someone attributing it to Hendry?). So I was not in the least bit surprised when he was traded. It was guaranteed. He did say that, but the extra lefty in the lineup is Bradley in LF and Fontenot at 2B instead of DeRosa in LF and Fontenot at 2B. It has nothing to do with Miles. From everything I have seen Miles was brought here to play against RH, as an insurance policy in case Fontenot can't handle the more regular playing time and to replace some of the versatility DeRosa had in his ability to play so many different positions. Bradley is not an extra LH bat. The Cubs had Fukudome and Edmonds in the OF last year. They aren't anymore lefthanded by adding Bradley while losing Edmonds. And how much of an increase in PA do people think Fontenot is going to get? He was already up near 300 PA last year. I see very little chance for him to get past 400-450. Taking DeRosa out and adding Miles is what the Cubs have done to become more left handed than they were last year. Just want to chime in and say that I also completely disagree. They did it to save money, plain and simple. Now, whether that is a cost savings that is going towards the bottom-line or towards another SP is a different matter.

I have never heard anyone say Heilman has "marginal stuff" until reading some of the commentary in this thread. Quite the opposite is allegedly true. Has that assessment changed in recent years?

can we retroact it to before you copy and pasted two "front page articles" off of baseball america? http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/InSurfWeTrust17/PWNED.jpg

I'd give Lowe two years with a mutual option for a third. Not sure how much money I'd give him though.

I'm not sure how the Cubs signing these two guys to major league deals would have been good moves. Please explain.

Berras way too old to play for most teams, and the White Sox already have a catcher. Yeah, but his son was an MIF'er.

John Paxson is the worst GM in Chicago. The Bulls are embarassing - with all of the high draft picks and financial flexibility they have had over the last several years they should be a perenial contender in this awful Conference. Pax is lucky the Hawks have been as good as they have and the Bears were in it until the end. The press seems to have forgotten about him so far this season.

Woh! What's gotten into you??!! ;)

I was all for selling high on DeRosa. I didn't think that would mean trading for marginal relief prospects and signing Aaron Freaking Miles. I think BBB's point was that selling high on DeRosa (something I was also in favor of) was fine to the extent you don't "aggrevate" the loss by signing someone who is injury-prone to play in a spot that DeRosa could fill. So, had we signed Adam Dunn, for example, losing DeRosa wouldn't mean as much as it does. The only solace - which I have not seen brought up but might have missed - is that Fukudome can always play RF if and when Bradley is hurt. Johnson would then play full-time in CF, or platoon with Pie (assuming he is still here). Not great, but not horrendous either, IMO.

lol...quite the haul... I am not sure what you expected to fetch for a 34 yr old MIF'er who just had a career yr and has one yr left on his contract.

Oh well.