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What was Randy Wells doing today? Holy crap!

Braves could have Smoltz as closer last year. I'd think Gonzalez could be pretty available. Mahay is really good. I don't think he will be available though.

I don't understand why anybody would take Zambrano's offense into account more than just icing on the cake. He's great with the bat, but he only has 54 ABs. Felix Pie has more than that and he hasn't been around in 2 months. I'd still put Zambrano in a close tie for 2nd with Ramirez, but it has to go to Soto. Soto is just 19 OPS points behind Ramirez for tops on the team. He doesn't get paid the money the money that Ramirez, Lee and Soriano do to put up those numbers. He's caught nearly everyday for one of the best pitching staffs in the National League. He's stabilized a lineup that needed a middle of the order bat.

Good luck with that. Sabathia vs. CIN: 6/27/08- 8 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K 6/10/07- 9 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K The Reds did have a little success against him before that, but still CC has a low 3's ERA vs. them over that time.

I'd like Cashner to start at the start. It's a lot easier to move him back to relief if he doesn't perform well as a starter.

18 for his last 42 for Felix Pie now.

That explains why he wasn't up in the 9th today (if it wasn't known already).

Lix hits one into the RF corner for a 2-out, 2-run triple! He also hit a ball hard to deep RF in the 1st. Pie is now 15 for his last 36, with 2 doubles, 2 triples, a HR, 2 BBs and 4 Ks. .417/.447/.667 in his last 8+ games.

Not as bad as Mark Holliman who followed with 5 ERs on 8 hits in 2 innings. Smokies down 10-0 after 5.

I'll take that if it results in a championship before then. Who wouldn't? But there is no way of knowing and just as many or more teams win championships who give out smart simple contracts than teams that stockup on backloaded contracts. Hendry has done a good job of not stacking them all together though. Got Howry, Eyre, Wood and Dempster contracts up after this year. Derosa, Marquis, Harden after 09. Lee and Lilly after 2010. Ramirez and Fukudome 2011. Zambrano in 2012. The Cubs do have a lot of money on the books for 2010 (I count $90M from Lee, Lilly, Z, Soriano, Fukudome and Ramirez), but that's the only, really bad looking season. And even then, the Cubs could be getting great production from pre-arbitration eligible guys like Hill, Marmol, Pie, Theriot and Soto....not to mention the number of prospects that could/should graduate to the majors by then.

Yeah, I said 09 early, but I meant 2010 which the context would suggest.

That's what I imagine would happen if they re-signed Dempster. Pay Marquis to finish out his contract elsewhere (aka trade him to a team needing an innings eater). But they won't get anyone to take all of Marquis' salary unless Littlefield gets another GM job. Also, for those worried about what re-signing Dempster would do to the ability to re-sign Harden, you can do the same thing with his contract with Lilly coming off the books after 09. I was thinking about this earlier. If Hill gets it all together, I wouldn't mind trying to move both Marquis and Lilly this offseason to free up some money and go with a rotation of Z, Harden, Hill, Dempster, and Marshall next year with Gaudin able to step in if needed. That would be ideal. It would be ideal to have 6 possible starters when 1 has been on the DL 6 times in 4 years, another is in the minors because of control issues, another has (including this year) been an above average ML starter for 1/2 a season of his life, and another just came off the DL and has been one of the most abused arms in baseball the last 5 years? I'd rather have as many options as possible. Harden will go on the DL. At least once in 2009, it's nearly a given. The other guys aren't likely to combine for 130 starts either.

He punched it up to 96, 97, 98 a few times, but it was his disgusting changeup that did the most damage. Ive seen him pitch a handful of times, but I apparently didn't pay enough attention, because that is a filthy pitch. Harden sat at 91, 92 for most of the game, but dialed it up when he went up in the zone. I have a feeling that his changeup being so untouchable allows him to not have to bring it 98 every time he throws a fastball. Since he still has the ability to ramp it up to 98 whenever he wants, though, it makes that pitch even more unhittable. A 98mph fastball will begin to look not as impressive after 90 pitches, but when you can run between 91-98 and then toss in an 81mph change that sweeps all the way across the plate, youve got a hell of a repetoire. Seriously, 5 1/3 innings and its easy to tell why this guy is undefeated in his career when his team scores 4 runs in a game. either len or bob mentioned that his fastball had a bigger range of velocities than most pitchers. like watching galllagher last night, almost all of his pitches were in the 92-94 range. i saw some fastballs from harden that were around 90-92, and then a few he dialed up into the 95-98 range. that's unusual. Really. As a batter, what do you do? Just guess? I mean, youre looking at a 20mph differential in three pitches that look exactly the same coming out of his hand. Could be 80, could be 91, could be 98 and you dont know until youve swung the bat. He struck out somebody swinging late on an 88 mph fastball. That's nuts. I haven't seen Harden pitch a lot, but man is his arm explosive.

I believe I read that also. Yost has said the Brewers will go Sabathia, Sheets, Parra, Bush or McClung, Suppan after the break. If everything remains, the big showdown series in Milwaukee to end July will be: Sabathia vs. Lilly Sheets vs. Zambrano Parra vs. Dempster Bush/McClung vs. Harden

That's what I imagine would happen if they re-signed Dempster. Pay Marquis to finish out his contract elsewhere (aka trade him to a team needing an innings eater). But they won't get anyone to take all of Marquis' salary unless Littlefield gets another GM job. Also, for those worried about what re-signing Dempster would do to the ability to re-sign Harden, you can do the same thing with his contract with Lilly coming off the books after 09.

At this point, it's time to call up Mark Riggins.

I think the Cubs will re-sign Dempster if he wants to be in Chicago. There's a couple ways to look at this. You could see it as the Cubs having a lot of money tied into the rotation with Zambrano, Harden, Lilly and Marquis, plus having a number of viable options (Hill, Marshall, Gaudin) ready to go at a moment's notice. Or you could see it as Marquis and Harden being in the last year of their contracts. If the Cubs think Dempster can truly continue to be a good starter, there's no reason they can't re-sign him. Hendry has been very good at getting players to sign backloaded deals to save money for the present season. Lilly, Marquis, Soriano, Zambrano, Lee and Ramirez all signed deals that were backloaded to help Hendry have room to maneuver in his budget. I could see Dempster getting essentially a 4/$40M contract. Give him a slight raise to $8Mil next year (making 7.3 this year), and backload the deal. I tend to dislike backloaded deals as you pay a guy the most for what will likely be his worst year, but it works well if are getting production at below market level elsewhere on the roster. Dempster also had the added value based on the fact that he is a proven closer also. So, if starting doesn't work out for the length of his next contract, he can conceivably go back to the pen and be successful again. I think the Cubs re-sign him without thinking to hard about it. Torn on whether they should or not.

I wouldn't imagine the travel issue would come into play, but Hill wouldn't have to leave the state of Arizona if he stayed in Mesa 1 more start. I'd rather him go to Iowa now. At this point, it's time to see what he does vs. more experienced hitters and once that pitch count goes over 75. I was wrong that it might take til September to get Rich back in the majors. He's turned it around right away, which I did not count on. The only issues now are repeating his performances in Iowa and how he gets back into the rotation if he does.

Wow, only 1 ball left the ground. Very impressive.

Murton had 2 RBI and a great running catch against the wall. Gallagher will do well in that park. I think Eric Patterson will be a real good fit for them too when he comes up.

Isn't AAA filled with retreads and guys wanting to be a coach or manager some day? I mean isn't there more talent in AA (albeit younger)? AA definitely has more talent. But it's not like AAA is devoid of talent. Only the truly elite prospects skip AAA. Plus, you have to take into account the Southern League (AA league Samardzija played in) has some national forest like parks and the Pacific Coast League has bandboxes in high altitudes.

Nate McLouth? Pirates should build around McLouth, Bay, Doumit, and McCutheon. Trade Nady, Wilson, Marte, and Snell. Get a serviceable 3B and about 3-4 solid arms, a couple of them fireball throwing RHs and compete in 2010.

It's 12 teams. Adrian Peterson is a keeper. It is Point per Reception.

2 outs, I stay with my dominant pitcher with a very friendly pitch count. If they walked Johnson, that's when I'd pinch hit. Bad move by Lou, IMO.

I inherited a keeper league team. (QB, 2RB, 3WR, TE, K, DEF) Actually got a pretty good situation. I get the 3rd pick of the draft and Michael Turner is my keeper and I lose just a 12th round pick. LT and Westbrook will go 1-2. I'm most likely going Steven Jackson and his contract year over Joseph Addai. With a star #1 RB, I don't need to have a great #2. My question is: Is Turner good enough as a #2 RB? If I don't keep Turner as a my #2, I probably wouldn't go RB til after picking 2 WRs in the 2nd and 3rd.