mg420

kind of a strange position to try him at imo with guys like harvey & perhaps pie in the system. if he could handle it 3b would be a better position for him to get a chance. other than moore, i dont see many decent prospects in the cubs system at 3b. Keep Fox behind the plate a catcher that can hit is a huge asset to have. How bad is Foxs defense? his D is pretty bad from what i've heard. robinson (from the tigers via the nefi trade) has started out very hot in a ball and is supposed to be very good defensively.

doesnt look like pierre will be traded according tho these: Courier Post Online: "Rumors of Chicago's Juan Pierre soon joining the Phillies seem unlikely since general manager Pat Gillick said he doesn't expect any more moves until playoff rosters are set after Thursday's games. " Tribune: "The Cubs aren't interested in dealing Juan Pierre and have not spoken to Philadelphia or San Francisco, two teams looking for a center fielder for the stretch run." imo, it will be up to juan if he wants to resign with the cubs. hendry will almost certainly offer him a multi year deal sometime in Sept.

he would be a great platoon guy with jones and can pinch hit & play 1st. hopefully the new manager in 2007 will see the value he has and they won't get rid of him or let him rot back in iowa next year.

but lee is available and bay is not. and if bay were available he would cost the farm in prospects and lee would only cost $. Obviously that's true, but you're the one who said Bay "isn't much better than Lee". i guess i should qualify that statement. for what bay would cost in prospects, his .950 ops isnt much better than lee's .888. ie i would rather the cubs have lee, pie & their top 2 pitching prospects than bay.

he did have .891 in 04, & has .888 so far this year. not exactly .900 but close enough. he hits .300 with 30 hr & 100 rbi every year. not sure what he's worth but there aren't many guys out there available who put up those #'s and the cubs should have alot of cash to spend next year. i would rather see them over pay in salary than in prospects.

but lee is available and bay is not. and if bay were available he would cost the farm in prospects and lee would only cost $.

so instead of the cubs getting lee (who would only cost $), you would trade the farm for bay (who isn't that much better than lee)?? not a very good move imo. why not sign lee to play rf, trade jones and have an OF of murton, pie & lee. bay is very good but imo the cubs would be insane to trade pie & their 2 top pitching prospects for him (even if by some impossible chance he would be available).

I like Murton quite a bit, I hope he remains with the Cubs. Having said that, is he really the type of player that would haunt the Cubs for a long time? If so, I haven't seen it. I think he will be a sold ML player, but nothing near a superstar. he doesn't need to be a "superstar" to be a very valuable left fielder. if he can hit .300 with 25 hr's & an ops around .850 he would be putting up alou like #'s and they wouldn't be paying him 10 mil a year. he can also field and run the bases well unlike moses. he's going to make some mistakes but if they dont trade him i think he can play a fine LF for many years to come.

the cubs need offense imo. they have plenty of good young pitching already.

if they can trade jones i'd be all for it. they would come at a hefty price tag but adding lee & schmidt would work 4 me. a possible OF murton, pierre & lee in 2007?

I was one Hill's non-supporters. I'm eating crow now and have no problem doing so. He's looked like a ML pitcher out there the past month. The one postive today was the 2 k's and yet he got the job done. That has to bold well for his learning process and mental approach that he doesn't have to K guys to be effective. I hope he keeps it up. It'll be nice to know we have at least two pitchers (Z and Hill) to work with for next year. what about mateo, guzman & marshall? Gooz has only had 1 good start and he needs to stay healthy. He's not someone you can count on. Marshall is coming off a injury and Mateo needs more starts under his belt. We will see if they can step it up for the last month of the season... i agree but i think marshall & mateo at least will be in the mix. i really like what i've seen from both of them so far. the only ? 's about guz are his health & control. marmol should switch to closer imo.

kind of a strange position to try him at imo with guys like harvey & perhaps pie in the system. if he could handle it 3b would be a better position for him to get a chance. other than moore, i dont see many decent prospects in the cubs system at 3b.

i would MUCH rather keep hill as a starter than have the cubs get lilly. Agreed. Hill has been really good so far in August. He is 3-2, 3.38 through 34.2 IP with 28 Ks and 11 BBs. Since being recalled in June and then again in August, Angel Guzman has posted a 4.09 ERA in 22 IP with 24 Ks and 11 BBs. When you consider that, not coincidentally, both Guzman and Hill had poor outings in the thin air of Colorado, their recent performances become even more impressive. When we remove their Coors Field inflated numbers, Hill's August is 3-1, 2.10. In 30 non-Coors IPs, he has allowed just 21 hits while striking out 26 and walking only 6. Thats a Coors-free WHIP of 0.90. Since June 13th, the Gooz has thrown 19 1/3 non-Coors innings, allowing just 12 hits, striking out 23 and walking 9 with an ERA of 1.40 and a WHIP of 1.09. If Hill and Guzman can keep performing at that level, I am very comfortable with both of them in the rotation next season. Guzman's injury history coupled with Prior's recent injury problems means that the Cubs should still sign two FA pitchers, one top of the rotation and one veteran innings eater. I think Zito will be highly sought after by teams like the Yank-mes and Red Sox. So he won't come cheap. Even though he is getting past his prime, I would still overspend to get him. He is a better option than either Schmidt, Mulder or Lilly performance wise. And with Wood and Maddux no longer on the payroll, the money should be there. Someone like Padilla would be good as the innings eater if he comes cheaply enough. If Prior and the young guns are healthy and pitching well, then Padilla or whoever the veteran 5th starter innings eater would be could be moved to the bullpen or traded after June 15th. the big question again in 2007 will be prior. if the cubs could count on prior being healthy, they might be able to go with z, prior, hill, marshall, mateo/guzman. with prior being an unknown yet again, they will have to go after a zito or schmidt to go along with z leaving guz, mateo & marshall to fight it ou for the #5. it's nice for us hill supporters to see such good results. it just amazes me how some people who look at stats as gospel can ignore them when they feel like it. i can remember people here clamoring for the cubs to trade z for vazquez when he was with the expo's. sometimes the best trade is the one not made. now wood & prior on the other hand...

I was one Hill's non-supporters. I'm eating crow now and have no problem doing so. He's looked like a ML pitcher out there the past month. The one postive today was the 2 k's and yet he got the job done. That has to bold well for his learning process and mental approach that he doesn't have to K guys to be effective. I hope he keeps it up. It'll be nice to know we have at least two pitchers (Z and Hill) to work with for next year. what about mateo, guzman & marshall?

looks like walrond will be starting for the cubs tomorrow against the cards.

i would MUCH rather keep hill as a starter than have the cubs get lilly.

what position did jim leyland play?

snider should start writing his hall of fame speech soon.

he's played there the last few games in AA. is this a temporary switch or have they given up on him catching due to his lack of D? perhaps the tigers trade had something to do with it. if they are switching him, is his bat good enough to play rf? perhaps they will go after a good young catcher like kottaras in the off season.

of course a few days ago most people here thought the same thing about nefi and they actually got a good prospect for him. if hendry cant trade him, i look for him to be released before next year. there are too many talented young pitchers who deserve a shot for rusch to be taking up a 25 man spot.

imo, the cubs are giving cedeno the 1st shot at 2b in 2007. if he shows he cant handle it, hopefully epat will be ready. he seems to be tearing up aaa in his very limited stay there. i dont know why there seem to be alot of people here who are not high on him (k's/bb perhaps?) as he seems to have the ability to be a very good all around 2b. if not, maybe a riot/fontenot platoon would work.

if he can show he can still pitch the next few weeks according to this: http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-060821cubsbits,1,5592704.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines

what kind of production are oakland & the cardinals getting from lf, ss & 2b? Oakland is 25th in runs scored, St. Louis is 17th(7th in the NL). We don't have anyone as good as Pujols or Rolen have been this year. lee & aram???

Sandberg was 3+ years younger when he broke into the majors. There's much more precedent for improvement upon past numbers when the player was young for his minor league levels(like Sandberg was). but he didnt start hitting for power right away either. there was nothing in hi past to make you think he could hit 40 bombs in the majors either but he managed to do it (a a thin 180 lbs too-compared to murtons 215).

what kind of production are oakland & the cardinals getting from lf, ss & 2b?