LoneStarCubFan

That deal sounds like a fair one. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was about Corey for DAVID Wells. My bad...

Juan Pierre = Neifi Perez Felix Pie = Ronny Cedeno

The Cubs are unbeaten in games they lead after nine innings.

It should have been a sweep. Playoff teams don't lie down like dogs against a rookie pitcher. I don't care who he is. The Cubs' advance scout needs to be taken outside and shot. The same thing happens every single time they face a guy the first time. 3 Game Sweeps are tough, 4 game sweeps in the ML are nearly impossible. I'd ask Fred to compile some stats on the percntage of times a team actually swept 4 games. I bet even amongst the great teams, they rarely did it. I know the Sox did it this weekend, but i don't remember how many other teams have done it. You're incredibly unrealistic if you get upset for losing one game out of every 4, even against the pirates. I'm upset at the WAY they lost it. There's no excuse for that. None. The fact that it happens just about every time they face a new pitcher points to horsecrap advance scouting.

It should have been a sweep. Playoff teams don't lie down like dogs against a rookie pitcher. I don't care who he is. The Cubs' advance scout needs to be taken outside and shot. The same thing happens every single time they face a guy the first time.

Unless he's coming up to start there's no reason to bring him up. Just because he's getting it done as a starter doesn't mean he'll get it done as a reliever. Mitre's a good example of this. So is Rusch.

Kyle Farnsworth is, pure and simple, a choking dog. Put him in a pressure situation and he'll fold up like a tent in a stiff wind. If he stays in Detroit long enough for the Tigers to actually appear in a pennant race the Kyle we saw in the 03 postseason and in 04 will be in evidence. Yeah the guy has remarkable stuff but he doesn't have the head, and probably not the heart, to use it effectively when it matters. Had he been with the Cubs to start this season I imagine he would have been about as effective as LaTroy was before Hendry found a GM dumb enough to take him off his hands.

From what I'm hearing/reading, Hendry wouldn't. What I am wondering is who he would consider dealing for Dunn? I'd think he'd deal Harvey or Dopirak, one of Hill/Nolasco/Pinto, and a major league ready starter like Mitre. Enough? Too much? Help me out here, do the Reds need a shortstop?

Hairston Walker Lee Ramirez Dunn Barrett Burnitz Garciaparra

I'm pretty sure Pudge was born in Puerto Rico. BTW, if ARod can play for the DR, I'm pretty sure Pujols could play for the U.S. He was born in the DR but I believe he grew up in the States. I know he played juco ball here.

'03 was Bernie Mac's fault.

JVB closed out the PCL win in the AAA game last night. Not a save situation though. First time I've seen him pitched. His mannerisms on the mound make him look like a right-handed Dontrelle Willis, minus the high kick.

They also just cleared a pretty decent amount of payroll. Couple that with the five million or so they had to play with before the season even started, and then they have space to make a pretty significant move if they so choose. Adam Dunn?

I've actually been thinking about this same idea lately -- Nomar at 2B might give you great production and stay healthy. The only problem is you still need a backup SS -- so say hello to a full year of Neifi starting and Cedeno rotting. My real hope in the above scenario, is Furcal signed to play SS and leadoff, Nomar shifted over to 2B, and Cedeno used to backup both. That said, I can't believe Nomar would it (except for massive Yankee cash). Nomar's not going to get massive cash from anybody this offseason so he may not have any choice. The Cubs will more than likely be negotiating from a position of strength with him.

The only flaw in Levine's thinking is that Atlanta isn't going to be the wildcard team. The Braves are going to win the East and Washington isn't going to make the playoffs. If the Cubs don't get Dunn, and he does get traded, I'd like to see him go to Atlanta. If he goes to Houston we can start counting down the days til the Bears open camp.

Jay Payton is the Poster Child for the Juiced Player Era.

Baseball America has been out in front on the coverage of this. They even broke down potential starting line-ups for each team. Note that this was done before it was announced that active MLB managers could not lead these teams so Felipe Alou, Ozzzie Guillen, etc. won't be managing their national teams. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/050711worldcup.html IMO, this would be a pretty good US Team: Catchers: Jason Varitek, Boston; Joe Maurer, Minnesota 1B: Derrek Lee, Chicago; Mark Texieria, Texas 2B: Brian Roberts, Baltimore 3B: Scott Rolen, St. Louis; Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees SS: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees; Michael Young, Texas (also 2B) LF: Adam Dunn, Cincinnati CF: Torii Hunter, Minnesota RF: Gary Sheffield, New York Yankees BUOF: Jim Edmonds, St. Louis; Lance Berkman, Houston DH: Texieria or Berkman Rotation: Roger Clemens, Houston; Dontrelle Willis, Florida; Greg Maddux, Chicago; Mark Mulder, St. Louis; Mark Prior, Chicago Bullpen: Roy Oswalt, Houston; Ben Sheets, Milwaukee; Mike Hampton, Atlanta; Mark Buehrle, White Sox; B.J. Ryan, Baltimore; Huston Street, Oakland; Brad Lidge, Houston; Billy Wagner, Philadelphia Line-up: Roberts, 2b Jeter, SS Lee, 1B Sheffield, RF Rolen, 3B Varitek, C Dunn, LF Hunter, CF Texieria, DH I left Bonds out because I don't think he'll play. If he does, drop Berkman and put Dunn on the bench.

If the Nationals aren't going to win the division, thus being relegated to the WC then you have to consider the gap as 8.5 (the games the Cubs are behind WAS) and not the 6 games they are behind the Braves. And a 38-36 record gets the Nationals to 90 wins which has been pretty much the minimum for the WC. Good point. But the flip side of that coin is if Washington does tank in the second half, the Cubs are 1.5 out right now. Do I think they'll tank that badly? Probably not. But I could see them go .500 (or slightly worse). That means 89-90 wins could take the WC. CFP Agreed. As silly as it sounds, the Cubs need to blow past Houston and put them away. We need Atlanta to dominate Washington and Florida and have the latter two beat up on each other the rest of the year. If all of that happens I think they're in.

I believe there is an exception in the five inning rule that allows the scorer to award the win to the starter if it's determined before the game that he will leave the game before five innings.

Why would Philly trade Abreu? Even for Z?

Plan is for next one to be played in 2009 then every four years after that.

Atlanta's going to win the East and Washington and Florida are going to beat each other up. The Cubs can do this if they win the majority of the games they are supposed to and play St. Louis like they did in '03. They also need to continue to play well against the West. They've got a bunch of games left with everybody but San Diego, which is a bit of a break. The team to worry about is Houston once again. If they pick up another bat and the Cubs don't, it's over.

Just as easily? No. You don't go all out in spring training games, or at least vets with guaranteed spots don't. Guys will have to work out earlier, and they will wear down sooner. Seasons will be ruined. This is a bad idea if you are a fan of a major league baseball team who will have players in the event. You don't have to go all out to get hurt in ST. Borowski was standing still when he broke his wrist. And Griffey's hamstring exploded because he WAS going all out in ST so your argument is flawed there. This is Chicken Little thinking.

I think the 25-man will look something like this come April: Barrett Lee Hairston Garciaparra Ramirez Mench Patterson Dunn Cedeno Hollandsworth Murton Lenny Harris (don't laugh) Blanco Prior Zambrano Wood Maddux Williams Dempster Wellmeyer Wuertz Ohman Novoa Overpriced veteran lefty TBA If Patterson doesn't get his act together Pie is in Chicago early next year whether he should be or not. Mench gets picked up in a trade that includes Mitre. Dunn gets picked up in a trade that incldues Hill. Can't think of any good corner IF guys for the bench off the top of my head. Fontenot would be the logical in-house guy but Dusty's head would explode if he had three kids on the bench as pinch hitters. A guy like Harris could make a reappearance. Wellmeyer is the set-up guy. Rothschild does not return. Dick Pole takes over as pitching coach.

A guy can get hurt in a spring training game just as easily as he can playing in the World Cup. Ask Joe Borowski, or Ken Griffey. Even if a guy WANTS to throw an extra inning, he's not going to be allowed to. What I do think is interesting, and yesterday was the first time I read this, is that active MLB managers cannot participate in this event. So who manages Team USA? Tommy Lasorda? Soon-to-be-out-of-work Lou Piniella? Dusty? I'm not a Selig fan but this is an outstanding idea. I just hope MLB doesn't find a way to screw it up. If any of the games are played down here I'm going.