cubsclapp

They have been beating around the bush since last week and certainly the last few days. They are going to address this. They have to. Didn't Henry all but say on Twitter they would clarify where things stand tomorrow? Where? http://twitter.com/#!/john_w_henry

They have been beating around the bush since last week and certainly the last few days. They are going to address this. Front offices beat around the bush with the media almost always with situations like this. They'll address it... likely after the news comes out(Theo staying or leaving).

Well, when Francona was let go, ALL of them (Lucciano, Henry and Epstein) were present. I think it's signifigant. When it's Red Sox related, they are all usually joined at the hip. It's a radio interview. If any of you are expecting any valuable information in regards to Theo out of a radio interview with an owner, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Then why are the two top guys in the organization doing the radio interview if it's nothing signifigant? Look, you could be right but they need to address this as Boston and Chicago are basically hanging upside down here. They aren't going to address it on a radio show at 7AM. They are just going to beat around the bush with non-answers. That's how I see it, and usually how front office interviews go.

Well, when Francona was let go, ALL of them (Lucciano, Henry and Epstein) were present. I think it's signifigant. When it's Red Sox related, they are all usually joined at the hip. It's a radio interview. If any of you are expecting any valuable information in regards to Theo out of a radio interview with an owner, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. This would be quite a strange time for them to go on location to a radio show with nothing to say, that's for sure. It's unusual enough for an owner and president to be in studio for a radio interview as it is, much less at a time where there is rampant speculation about their GM leaving, a situation they need to resolve in order to get their managerial search done. I missed that Lucchino was also going to be present. That does make it more interesting I suppose. Still, I'm not expecting that there will be much to take out of it, and Theo's obviously going to be kept away from any interviews and whatnot until this whole situation is finalized.

Well, when Francona was let go, ALL of them (Lucciano, Henry and Epstein) were present. I think it's signifigant. When it's Red Sox related, they are all usually joined at the hip. It's a radio interview. If any of you are expecting any valuable information in regards to Theo out of a radio interview with an owner, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

He's right. Hill dominated in September '06 and April '07, but was just above average after that. When you're a two pitch starting pitcher, the league's going to figure you out eventually. Additionally, everybody and their mother that watched Hill pitch all these games could tell he lacked mental toughness.

Yeah I am watching that game on MLBTV and DeRosa looks like he put on a few lbs. Muscle or fat? It was hard to tell because the feed is pretty pixelated, but he def. looked bigger could have just been a crappy feed. But he looked 10-15lbs. heavier from about the thighs up. I would guess muscle, he doesn't seem like a guy who would let himself go and add that kind of weight without intending to do it. He looks the same to me. I'm watching on TV.

Then don't get Bradley. If you have to downgrade in one spot to moderately upgrade in another, it's not worth it. Pursue a Hermida or Scott or Sammy Sosa, but don't trade a valuable chip in order to moderately upgrade. Obviously he likes Fontenot and feels better trading DeRosa and taking a chance on Fontenot being able to make the leap from backup to starter than he feels about the chances of Fukudome or Hoff being able to put up respectable numbers in RF. I hope this all leads to Peavy, but even if it really is just a money thing I agree with the move. I would rather have Fontenot / Bradley / Fukudome at 2B/RF/CF than the alternative of DeRosa / Fukudome / Pie. It is just a bit of a shock to the system if that is the way it turns out because the Cubs have not done anything other than add payroll for the last couple years so a move like the DeRosa trade primarily to dump salary takes some getting used to. That's not the choice the Cubs would have likely gone with. The two options would have either been: Fontenot at 2nd, DeRosa at RF, Fukudome in CF or Fontenot at 2nd, Bradley+Johnson in RF (Johnson for the 40-80 games that Bradley doesn't play, Fukudome in CF Would you rather have DeRosa for 140 games in RF and Marquis in the 5th spot or Bradley for 100, Vizcaino in the bullpen, and 3 decent pitching prospects? Personally I think the Cubs are better off with the former. If the Cubs get another upgrade other than Bradley it makes more sense. But is Bradley really a more valuable RF than DeRosa this year? Plus if you kept DeRosa you could have kept an extra OF bat for the bench that could hit instead of having to pay Miles to be a backup IF (because DeRosa would essentially be your 2nd backup IF even while starting in the OF). So with DeRosa you have about the same offense over the course of the year, a better starting rotation, a better bench, and possibly a better bullpen (because it could be argued that Vizcaino hurts the pen more than helps it). Trading him should only have been done to get talent that could be used to upgrade somewhere else. Removing DeRosa's salary isn't much of a help because DeRosa was being underpaid so much. Cmon now, we are now counting the loss of Marquis from the rotation as a downgrade? And we are assuming DeRosa repeats his '08 career year but Bradley will be hurt for a significant portion? It is just as easy to say Marquis would wind up in long relief and DeRosa would wind up regressing and hurt overall RF production. I'm actually not assuming that DeRosa repeats his 08. I'm looking at around an .800 OPS next year for him (or somewhere between his 06 and 07). Yes, the loss of Marquis would hurt the rotation. 180-200 innings of mediocre pitching becomes more valuable the more injury prone the rest of your starting rotation is. If Marquis is gone, that means Marshall is starting. It is unlikely that Marshall throws over 150 innings between his injury history, a tendency to have a dead arm, and the fact that he's never done it before, not even in the minor leagues. Harden could throw anywhere between 50-160 innings (I see anything over 160 as unlikely as the Cubs are going to back up him at times, skip a couple starts, take him out early etc. to protect his arm). Those innings would go to Marshall but now have to go to somebody else. Then of course you have Z who has a decent shot of missing 2-3 starts over the season. So that's somewhere between 90-260 innings that you have to make up. The Cubs have options for starters behind Marshall, but the further you go the more you're both hurting the bullpen by taking them out of there, and also you have an increasing possibility they'll blow up and be absolutely terrible out of the rotation. It's just not as simple as comparing Marquis and Marshall. Marquis leaving pushes everybody a slot up and makes the rotation more injury prone while removing pitching depth from the system at the same time. That's a bad combination, and the depth would very likely not be sufficient. Bingo! Marquis' value to our team as it's currently constructed is so much higher than some people realize. We need 6 starting pitchers with Harden in the rotation, and as you said about Marshall, he's never thrown 150 innings at any level and he's not going to all of a sudden do that now. This would absolutely kill the bullpen. As for Harden, yeah, no way he throws 160 innings. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they just put him on the shelf until July, I'm serious. Our only concern should be getting him to October at 100%, and he certainly wasn't near that this past October. Great post.

Scarey made some great points, particularly about Dunn's struggles with RISP. If you think this isn't a very, very big deal, I'm just going to assume few of you watched the playoffs the last 2 years where we repeatedly struggled to execute with runners in scoring position. The last thing we need is another all or nothing hitter in October. How well has that worked out for Alf? I have little doubt this guy would be awful in the playoffs, as good pitchers bearing down in the playoffs will absolutely have their way with him, just like they do with Alf. Oh, and he's the worst defensive outfielder around, period. He makes Rosie O'Donnell look athletic. If you disagree, then you obviously haven't watched him play many games. Having him and Alf in the corners, with an average CF in Fukudome/Reed, would be an absolute disaster. But keep popping the OPS blah blah blah junk. Let's go get a guy that will hit .225 with runners in scoring position, strike out 190 times, can't get to anything in the outfield, and doesn't even enjoy playing baseball. That'll solve our problems. Championship drought over!

Absolutely not. The Cubs should've been favored, which they weren't last I checked. Dempster came in 3-0 with an ERA in the 2's against the Brewers this year, we hit CC hard last time, our hitters have great career numbers against CC, we swept the Brewers in Milwaukee, they're a mess right now, we're great at home, etc.

Lou's already said he wants Z out there and soon. He'll go either tomorrow or Monday, count on it.

Are you being serious?

I'll take E) All of the Above Last night, I'm not really sure why Edmonds didn't start. As for tonight, Reed's 4 for 10 vs. Wellemeyer, and Edmonds is 0 for 7. I remember Reed having a good game against Wellemeyer in St. Louis a couple months ago.

Based on BP or ESPN's stuff? BP I'd think that this late in the season, any day we go without losing ground should increase the odds. Because every other team in baseball is playing better? The team chasing us isn't.

So... Hoffpauir still can't hit that breaking ball down and in. They're going to give him a heavy dose of those in the bigs. You don't see breaking balls like that at AAA.

Get out of the effing box and run Aramis. This is a complete joke. The 1st and 3rd rundown is a play you work on nonstop in little league for chrissakes.

please tell me you're joking Yeah I'd hope so. I don't know who out there wants to take on 38 million over the next 3 years of a guy that will be 32 in April, and looks worse by the day. Also, CC and Demp would probably be 30 million per year combined for years. And... we don't even know how much if any money we'll be able to spend with the new ownership looming. Dreamland.

I thought Len's call was great.

He's right. Take a look around the league.

Yeah, it's incredibly frustrating to watch. But... I'm certainly not going to complain about our catcher situation now, just makes me furious Kendall couldn't have done that for us over the last couple months.

Do we have any top 50 prospects? So theyd essentially want 2 or 3 of Sean Marshall, Sean Gallagher, Donie Veal, Mitch Atkins, Kevin Hart, and Jeff Samardzjia and 2 or 3 of Wellington Castillo, Tyler Colvin, Felix Pie and Josh Vitters. Pass. He has a NTC.

I agree with the poster who said Hendry ought to ask for a 72-hour window to talk extension before parting with Cedeno, Gallagher, Vitters, plus one more top prospect. Sure it would be good idea to ask for it, but regardless, I'd take this deal in a heartbeat and do jumping jacks like I'm getting paid to.

Are there any realistic multi-team deals the Cubs could get in on to increase their chances? I don't know. It's not that the Brewers are better matched, they are just stacked in the minor leagues. The Cubs don't have a single prospect with the value of LaPorta and probably not one that comes close to Gamel either. If the Brewers decide to do whatever it takes, they will win this derby. Now, if the Brewers are hesitant to offer the top goods, the Cubs might outbid them. There might be other teams in this derby with more minor league resources than both Mil and the Cubs. That is true. I was just saying I didn't see the Cubs being able to outbid the Brewers. I'd think teams like the Rays, Rangers, and Braves could probably outbid the Cubs as well. A ton of teams can outbid the Cubs, but are they as desperate as us? That's how I see it, and I think the answer is no.

Nevermind, tightness in left calf. Len says it's not serious.

Anyone know the seriousness of the "tightness"? Hamstring Any word on how much time he'll miss? Is it a day to day thing or what? Nah, just saw that he's out due to hamstring tightness on BCB. I'd assume it's just a day to day thing.