Rob

I'm a little surprised not to see Colvin, Rundle, or Burke considering the paths their seasons took.

I've been a staunch Colvin supporter all season. The low BA and SLG didn't scare me when he started off terrible, and I was quite excited by the large boost in his discipline. But his splits are kinda scary. I am a bit wary of the fact that he only started having success again this season when he stopped walking, which reinforces all the wrong things. Next year is a very important year in his development... I'll be very interested to see just how patient he is next year.

I'm on an even keel... same as I have been all season.

So yeah... this sucks.

That's better than a bunt.

Brewers tie the game.

That's a perfectly valid opinion. With as hard as his arm has been worked, I'd be very worried about devoting a large chunk of the payroll to him. Still, I find myself drawn to the idea because that rotation is frighteningly good... when healthy.

Definitely let them walk: Blanco Ward Lieber Howry Fox Bring back if the price is right: Edmonds Dempster Wood Non-tender candidates: Johnson Gaudin Wuertz Cotts I don't see us as likely to non-tender Gaudin or Cotts... but I can see us non-tendering Wuertz (which would be a mistake). Johnson may be more expensive than his skill-set warrants... that'll depend on how we solve the CF situation. If Edmonds returns, or Pie gets another shot, I think we'll keep him around as a platoon-mate and backup plan. We do have some internal solutions that will help fill our roster nicely... I'd give real consideration to letting Edmonds, Dempster, and Wood all walk after this season. I'd also look into trading Lilly and Marquis for some salary relief. If we can scrounge up enough cash, our new owners can make a splash with a guy like CC Sabathia. C - Soto, K. Hill 1B - Lee, Hoffpaiur 2B - DeRosa, Fontenot SS - Theriot, Cedeno 3B - Ramirez LF - Soriano CF - Pie, Johnson RF - Fukudome SP1 - Zambrano SP2 - Sabathia SP3 - Harden SP4 - Marshall SP5 - Samardzija RP - Marmol RP - Guzman RP - Ceda RP - Gaudin RP - Wuertz RP - Cotts RP - Hart Our pitching depth would become a little bit thin... with only Ascanio ML-ready and on the 40 man in the high minors, and Hill a wild card. But we would be freeing up a few 40 man spots and could add guys like Wells and Atkins to the roster as back-end filler. And who knows? Maybe I overshot on how many players we'd really need to let walk to gain the cash necessary... maybe it could be done without trading Lilly. Either way, it's worth thinking about.

I assume you mean 60 day DL? Putting him on the 15 day does nothing. cubs.com has it as 15 day. Isn't that 41 guys on the 40 man? Or I can't count. Why bother putting Rich on the DL? http://cubs.scout.com/a.z?s=260&p=10&c=785571&refid=4781 Not sure. Could be to settle a grievance. If he feels he was injured at the major league level, that'd be worth a lot more money to him.

For what it's worth, the bleachers did sing Livin on a Prayer at yesterday's game... and they were very enthusiastic. Personally, when I'm looking to get pumped up, I throw this bad boy on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnUXZlatV6Y

Well, I just got back from the game. That sucked... not only the loss, but the weather. I've got a terrible sunburn.

Getting ready to leave for the game soon.

It depends on what you're using it for. If you're using it to establish the overall quality of the team from top to bottom, it's pretty useful. If you're using it to say which team is going to win in the playoffs, that's a bit different... it no longer matters that Jason Marquis is one of the best #5 starters in baseball, or that Sean Marshall is a pretty good swingman. So run differential is less useful than a head-to-head comparison of key players.

I'm perfectly happy just trying to trade off Marquis for some salary relief, and re-signing Demp and Wood (provided they give nice discounts). Pie can slide into CF with Johnson tendered a contract as a platoon-mate, Samardzija and Marshall duke it out over the #5 starter slot. Grab a backup catcher off the scrapheap and we're good to go.

Really good to see a solid outing from Russell. You'd hate to have his season end on the stretch he'd been in.

Goodness... our Latin program has problems.

Going into today...he has 53 hits as a Cub this year. 33 of those have gone for extra bases (62%) Other notable Cubs... Fontenot (49%) Soriano (44%) Soto (43%) Ramirez (39%) DeRosa (37%) Lee (35%) Johnson (31%) Fukudome (29%)

I'm gonna be there tomorrow, so I sure hope so.

That looked like a terrible call.

Go **** yourself. ****= love ?

This zone is terribly inconsistent.

Just as an added tidbit of information... the Brewers finished 2nd in the NL Central last year with 83 wins. It's only August, and we've already won enough games that we would have clinched last season.

1. Cubs (+193) 2. Phillies (+88) 3. Mets (+73) 4. Brewers (+72) 5. Cardinals (+55) 6. Diamondbacks (+34) 7. Dodgers (-2) 8. Braves (-22) 9. Marlins (-29) 10. Astros (-41) 11. Rockies (-56) 12. Giants (-103) 13. Reds (-108) 14. Padres (-110) 15. Pirates (-120) 16. Nationals (-159) I think the numbers speak for themselves.

http://www.fangraphs.com/lgraphs/280828116_Phillies_Cubs_108370058_lbig.png

I was offered Ryan Howard, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Denard Span, and Ty Wigginton for Ryan Braun, Rich Harden, and Corey Hart. Braun > Howard Harden > Matsuzaka Hart > Span Did he really think Ty Wigginton was enough to cover all of those gaps? Mind you, this is a 7 keeper league... so it'd be nailing me next year as well.