JeffH

Jim Hendry is a historically bad GM.

Any idea on what happens in the case where a team picks their own player in the rule 5 and does NOT keep him on the 25 man all year? I'm not certain, but I believe that every other team after us in the Rule 5 selection order would have a chance to take the player under the Rule 5 stipulations. If no one did, the player would simply be returned to the minor leagues at his pre-Rule 5-selection status.

The Cardinals will sign Berkman to play RF and he'll put up three consecutive .320/.450/.550 seasons.

December 9th.

That would be akin to the Lakers hiring Isiah Thomas.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20101119&content_id=16160556&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

Maybe we got a new GM and it wasn't reported! :D

Ben Wells is Billy Petrick - a nice pitcher. Let's hope he stays healthy.

To me, Carpenter is the baseball equivalent of a basketball "tweener". I think he has the profile to be an excellent relief pitcher, but I wonder if his arm would hold up to the rigors of pitching out of the bullpen.

Jay Jackson was overrated, but now he's underrated.

Whitenack.

Why do you find rehab assignments peculiar? I should have been more specific. I find it odd that a player on rehab assignment can participate in the league playoffs.

I find it peculiar that a player can be on the major league 60-day disabled list, yet still play at the minor league level.

No "$7.5 million for John Grabow!!!" chapter?

Yeah, he's got the harder fastball, but his control issues have hurt him. They improved a bit last season, so perhaps there's something to the fact that he was a starter and is now going full on bullpen that is working for him, but I feel safer going with youth, health and performance over what Mateo currently is bringing to the table. I honestly can't say I know much about Kyle's stuff and how it compares to Marcos's. All I have are their stats, so that's what I'm going on. As far as previous seasons, Mateo was a 21 and 22 year old in Rookie ball in the Reds organization who finally made A- by the age of 23 and pitched pretty well. Smit was an 18 year old drafted in the 5th round out of high school, did well in Rookie ball as a 19 year old (2.82 ERA, more Ks than IP, 3-to-1 K/BB ratio, good WHIP) and was promoted to A- later that year. He struggled to succeed being young for the MWL, but appears to have put it all together last year as a 22 year old in A+/AA. It just seems like the Cubs are likely to get more productive years out Smit than Mateo at this point. And Mateo's never had a season like Smit did this year. As a 25 year old last year at AA he put up a 4.07 ERA, a WHIP of 1.44, striking out just 70 while walking 43 in 97.1 innings. Smit easily beat that at the same level while being 2 1/2 years younger. The Cubs may have something in Kyle Smit. It would sting more if he got taken. Mateo may be closer to contributing at the major league level and have more overpowering stuff, but Dominican live arms with control issues who are way too old for their level aren't as rare as 5th round high schoolers who make good and put up a year like Smit did this year (10-4, 2.25, 1.64 GO/AO, 63 K/14 BB in 72 IP). Where did the Smit vs. Mateo question come from? Mateo's safe, IMO. Atkins, Berg, Gaub, Parker, Schlitter, and Stevens are all at greater risk than Mateo. Schlitter is awful. I was a big Berg supporter because of his Webbesque sinker, but he's just not a viable major league pitcher - poor command and a low K rate.

That seems highly unlikely, since Kosuke has 200 fewer plate appearances than Crawford.

Brad Snyder is also out of options. He's not likely to make the team next spring, so there's another spot. And Xavier Nady's spot will be taken by our new regular 1B.

Yes, we'll know on Chirinos in October.

I think Chirinos being protected is far from a sure thing. Get ready for the return of Koyie Hill. I fear that this woeful organization just loves him way too much to let him go. They may not pay him an arbitration-determined salary, but, even if they non-tender him, they may bring him back. If they intend to bring Hill back, Chirinos probably won't get added, unless they also intend to trade Castillo. Doubtful they keep four catchers on the 40-man.

Not bad, but strikes out more and probably has more power.

Nope; Memphis gets the playoff spot because of a better record in head-to-head play against Iowa. Iowa's season is over. I expect the Cubs to make some call-ups tomorrow. Chirinos, LaHair, Snyder, and Smith all deserve the call. As for Guyer, as far as current big league players, any idea what his ceiling is? He's not a current big league player, but I think a "realistic" ceiling for Guyer (as opposed to a "hit-the-lottery" ceiling) would be Eric Byrnes.

Unless someone just blows the Cubs away with an offer for him, he's obviously more valuable to the Cubs actually as a Cub and starting next year. Yeah, unless a team wants to take on all of his salary or give a really good return, I'd just as soon keep him. If he manages to reduce the length and severity of his inexplicable slumps, he's pretty valuable. When he's good, he's really good. It's too bad there isn't a RH platoon partner for him. Jeff Baker says hi.

Soft names make soft people. I'll bet you ten times out of ten, Nicky, Vinnie, and Tony would beat the [expletive] out of Todd, Kyle, and Tucker. While this is generally true, there is an exception to this. It's called "Mr. Farnsworth".

The one good thing about the 2010 Cubs is that we have an effective four-man outfield rotation. So, of course, Hendry is going to pay eight million bucks to break that up. Brilliant.

#6, no?