JeffH

Zambrano.

Steve is becoming a real tool. He was a big part of my childhood as I watch Cubs game, but I cannot believe this is the same guy. At this point, I think if I ever met Steve, I go Michael Barrett on him. You'll let him get by you and go to the backstop?

This ought to give Reed plenty of free time to cultivate some awesome facial hair.

Reed has a broken foot anyway.

Fuld, of course.

Go ahead and trade for Sanchez, but make them take Aaron Miles in the trade.

Get Arthur Rhodes (1st option) or Joe Beimel (2nd option). Stay away from Grabow.

Because he's bad at his job?

It's been years now, and his repressed ire for the Cubs is still quite apparent. It has become abundantly clear that when Steve Stone gets a grudge, it lasts for life. It's ironic that Steve Stone has pretty much become Milo Hamilton.

I wonder if Scott Downs could be the guy. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/yankees-looking-at-downs.html

Jonathan Sanchez in a deal involving Jake Fox?

I guess Victor Martinez is available after all. Of course, Hendry's too busy pulling it to get in on that.

Pie wasn't in the group. Here's off the top of my head who I remember us having. Corey Patterson-he flopped it happens. Mark Prior-I would say his '03 and '04 made him worth the hype. Bobby Hill-He turned into Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton. That worked out well for us. Hee Seop Choi-He turned into DLee. That worked out well for us. Carlos Zambrano Juan Cruz-we should have been more patient with him. David Kelton-He flopped it happens. Angel Guzman-having a great year, really wish he would have stayed healthy. So basically even though you claim that whole group of guys flopped, we actually got productive 3 and 4 hitters who play plus defense at the corners, an ace, and a great bullpen arm. While it's nice to be able to trade farm products for established major leaguers (Lee, Ramirez), it's much, much better to be able to actually grow your own. That way, you get the benefit of the productive, cheap years. If your system stinks at producing hitters, you'll always have to pay market price for guys, which usually involves paying them lots of money when they're no longer productive.

Jay Jackson would take issue with that. Cashner is a better prospect than Vitters.

Quit dicking around with the riff raff and make a big play for Victor Martinez. Let Soto be the backup for the remainder of this season and get healthy at his own pace. That would add the powerful LH bat that Lou wants without having to bench one of your salaried guys. It would also allow you to be patient with Bradley.

Unless the Rockies, Pirates, or maybe the marlins have a pitcher on the market. Then there may be some competition! A's.

Who from the farm system is going to replace Reed Johnson?

No.

Pass. Andy, you'll get Blake Parker and Tony Thomas. And you'll like it!

Who doesn't?

That's definitely tops. The next best would most likely be Hack Wilson from 1927-1930, when he posted a 1.051 OPS. His overall numbers in six years as a Cub are great with a line of .322/.412/.590 and an average of 31 HR, 108 R, and 128 RBI per season. Hack is problematic because his astronomical numbers were in large part due to the crazy offensive era in which he played. The ridiculous offensive numbers of the late 20's-early 30's stand as the only real rival to the steroid era as far as offensive production. Consider that in Hack's best year, 1930, the LEAGUE batting average was .303. Thus, one could (if they wanted to) quite convincingly dismiss Sosa (roids) and Hack (softball league stats) from their lists of greatest Cubs hitters. If one were to do that, I'd think the clear remaining choice is Billy Williams. Completely contrary to Hack, Billy put up the bulk of his numbers while playing during an era dominated by pitching. For example, take 1963 and see that the league BA was just .249. You have to go back to 1917 to find a league BA that low. So for Billy to hit a career .290 during an 18 year career when the league average was .254 over that same span is pretty impressive. His 133 career OPS+ over 18 seasons is pretty damn nice as well. I guess I've convinced myself in doing this research right now. I'm gonna go with Billy Williams. final answer. The thing is though, Wilson's OPS+ for his six years as a Cub was 155. Billy Williams' best six-year run was 141. Sosa's best six-year run was 162. So while Sosa and Wilson may have played in better offensive eras, their numbers are still better relative to their respective leagues. This certainly isn't a knock on Williams, who was a fantastic hitter. Isn't OPS+ adjusted for the league/era in which you played?

Cabrera.

Is there any doubt that, during the Futures Game, Vitters is going to slide into second base on a 4-6-3 double play attempt, tearing up Castro's knee and suffering a major shoulder injury of his own in the process?

Coste? A backup catcher with a .779 career OPS? Hendry will get fleeced.

Chad Moeller?