rawaction

Not if you hate changeups.

I'll take Matt Schaub, if he's still on the board.

Devin Hester

I made an offer for Danks. Was hesitant to give up a lot though to a division foe.

I'm hanging out in Wrigleyville if the WS comes to the Northside of Chicago. I will open the bidding to Fred and Ping for my services as a houseguest!

The only team in the playoff hunt that could've claimed him before Arizona was LA. Dunn's a Free Agent after the year. Does the team have to be in the playoff hunt to claim him? I thought any team could claim him but the team with the worst record gets him. Anybody could claim him, but what's the point of the Pirates paying him the remainder of his contract this year to finish last?

Colvin is now 14 for his last 35, 8 of those hits have gone for extra bases (3 dbs, 2 tps, 3 HRs). In his last 8 games, he's hitting: .400/.417/.857 for an OPS of 1.274. With an August start like this, anything under an .850 OPS this month will be a disappointment. A good month to end the season can go a long way to salvaging this season for him. His ISOP is at .240 since the break. But his ISOD has been non-existant since then.

6-0, but should be 7-0, with 1 out and a RISP.

Ronny! Blowout is on!

Ron Villone probably shouldn't still be in the majors. The Cards deserve every run he gives up. Same with the Cubs when Chad Fox was up.

That's not bad.

YAY!

Jinx! Dempster will now give up 4 in the 7th. Thanks, a lot Fred.

I hate the sac bunt, but I'd probably do it as Fukudome hasn't looked too good vs. Carp.

Dempster for the 7th? I'd say so with 8-9-1 coming up. Have Marmol up for Pujols if it gets that far.

Dempster throwing the worst great game ever.

Shouldn't have been throwing it close to Edmonds anyway w/ 2 outs and 1B open.

3-0 swinging for that, Derrek?

The pitcher hitting 8th is stupid. I wonder if situations like last inning have happened more than Pujols having the 9-hitter on base. There's no way it's worth hitting the P 8th.

What's their record when they do and don't hit two SF's in the same inning??? Why is a flyball to move a runner from 2B to 3B not a sac fly?

Aramis Wheels Ramirez.

Cubs trade Felix Pie, Josh Vitters, Carlos Marmol, Rich Hill, and CASH to the Florida Marlins for Hanley Ramirez and Kevin Gregg.

D-Backs-Webb/Haren Cubs-Zambrano/Harden Brewers-Sabathia/Sheets Angels-Lackey/Santana (Lackey's a better pitcher than both, Saunders and E. Santana, I'd go Lackey/Santana as 1-2) Mets-Santana/Perez (took out Pedro and put in Ollie Perez) Red Sox-Beckett/Daisuke Cards-Carpenter/Wainwright In order, IMO. Top 3 are real close. D'Backs are #1 because Webb has been more consistent than Zambrano the last few years (mainly last year) and Haren has been healthier than Harden. Take out April, and Sabathia has been as good the last 3 years as any of them. Milwaukee is 3rd, because as amazing as it is, If I had those top 6 pitchers on my team, Ben Sheets would not be in the rotation. Also, just because they are not in playoff contention doesn't mean that Lincecum/Cain shouldn't be on this list. I'd rank them over any 2 you choose from the Angels. Also, if you include Santana and whoever (Great 1, slightly above average 2), you have to include Halladay and Marcum/Burnett from Toronto.

It's a waste throwing to the RB if you are not designing plays to get them the ball in space. Not including the last drive vs. the prevent defense, 4 of the 8 completions to RBs went for 4 yards or less, and two more went for less than 8. That's not even worth throwing. The WRs suck, but an offense moves the ball by getting it to their WRs down the field. I do agree that the ball needs to go to the TEs more, but it's going to have to be down the field to make any difference. considering the lack of a true #1 wr and development there of, they will have to use the RB more often. Again, that's not the point. The Chiefs of a few years ago were mentioned earlier as a team that threw to the TEs and RBs a lot and were successful. Well, those teams were able to get the ball to the RBs and TE (Tony Gonzalez) because they weren't afraid to throw the ball down the field some. Eddie Kennison average 17.5 per reception in 04. Johnnie Morton 14.5. Samie Parker only had 9 catches, but averaged over 15 yards per catch. Kennison and Parker got 16 and 15 ypc respectively the next season. San Diego last year, Gates and LT caught 135 balls between them. Their top 3 WRs caught a combined 96. But 2 of the 3 WRs averaged well over 15 ypc. Their 4th leading WR got 14 ypc. Not a #1 WR between the 2 teams. The Bears with Rex and Orton had 2 plays over 15 yards, one was due to Hester getting 16 with a RAC. Berrian was by far the Bears leading WR last year, and the closest thing they had to a #1, and averaged 13.4 per catch. That's not gonna get it done, especially now when you have to respect the WRs even less. Yeah, I don't think I remember anyone saying "don't throw downfield to receivers." For my part, all I said was I'd like to see the RB's and TE's get worked in more because there appears to be more talent there than in past years. That doesn't mean they shouldn't ever use the receivers, or ever throw deep to receivers. There are also ways to throw deep to RBs too, as you know. Or at least deeper. Agreed. I don't mind them throwing to the more talented people more often. My problem is the throws to RBs seem to be under 5 yard passes. The TE routes aren't very creative either. If you are gonna throw to these guys, you need to be able to spread the field out more to make them successful. A 5-yard pass to a back or TE is not going to move the ball well enough if the LBs and safeties are 10 yards back in coverage. If the Bears don't at least have the threat at WR on 15 yard + patterns, then the safeties can cheat up. The Bears do have Hester who will take some attention away with the threat of the deep ball, but you can cover him up top w/ a safety and still have the other 9 defenders pretty close to the line of scrimmage.

Welly has turned it back around since his rough stretch started in mid June. He had a 6 start stretch w/ a 7.55 ERA, but is at 2.64 in his last 3. Neither of his starts vs. the Cubs have been bad, but he's been doing a lot of damage control. That being said, he Cubs should be able to do some damage if they are patient with Welly. Wellemeyer has yet to face Jim Edmonds. The last time vs. the Cubs, there was no Soriano, Fukudome or Edmonds. The first game vs. Welly, the Cubs didn't have Ramirez in the lineup, who is 3-3 against him. I'd like to see a (logical) lineup of: Soriano Theriot Lee Ramirez Edmonds Soto Derosa- RF Fontenot Zambrano