rawaction

Yeah, Eric will never be good enough defensively for CF. He has 0 value as a corner OF, because he won't hit for nearly enough power. Eric Patterson at 2B = good chance to be an above average 2B in the MLB. Eric Patterson in LF= good chance at a 10 year AAA career.

Yeah right. I can just see him now. Man 13 rows up wants a dog. Jacque throws it into the ground about 9 rows short.

So anybody have a list of bodies to fill the role? I'll nominate Chad Bradford. Jorge Julio, Jose Mesa, Darren Oliver, Elmer Dessens, John Wasdin, Mike McDougal, Scott Schoenweis, Roberto Hernandez, Ray King, Mike Stanton, Chris Reitsma.

Every year since 2000, there has been a team that was under .500 on Memorial Day that has made the playoffs. Last year, there were 2 with Minnesota and Oakland. Houston has done it a couple times, as I'm sure many of you remember.

How far away do you think Patterson is from being our 2nd baseman? He is already considered one of the oganizations best baserunners and plate disciplined hitter (I know, it's funny). I wonder about Chris Jackson, the outfielder, also. Lots of speed coming up. He seems pretty close. He's hitting .323/.380/.521 with a .901 ops and 6 homers in 167 AB's in AAA. I think he will get a Sept callup this year, but will be back in AAA to begin next year. He still has a long way to go. Still striking out in nearly 20% of his ABs. For a future top of the order hitter, he doesn't quite walk enough, though not bad.

FWIW, the Cubs have had managers much worse than Baker during my lifetime. Don Baylor was worse for one. Every manager between Frye and Riggleman was worse (except Zimmer, who was probably just barely better). Bruce Kimm was the worst manager ever to lead a professional sports team.

You know Hendry is gonna go hard after middle relief. Instead of seeing that the major problems in the pen are the guys making big money (Eyre, Howry), Hendry will get more veterans making big money to compensate. I could see him trading Marmol and Marshall, among others to get a couple mediocre relief pitchers.

5 games back in May and the season is lost? Umm... huh? 5 games back but four games under .500. That's not very good. If we were in any other division, we'd be 6 or more games out with at least 3 teams ahead of us. The point is they are not in another division, though. And that's why the Cubs are still contenders. And again, the Cards were not a good team last year, record-wise, but won it all. I don't care how it's done, just get into the playoffs and take your chances. The Cards were the exception and not the rule. If you go back to 1994, the strike year, after which the WC was implemented, only 1 other team won the WS after winning fewer than 90 games in a season. That team was the 2000 Yankees. The Braves won in 1995 with 90 and the Marlins in 2003 with 1991. Running the team to "just get in the playoffs" and hope isn't a good long-term strategy. The division won't be weak forever and even this season Milwaukee could still easily run away with it. They've lost what, 6 straight, and the Cubs have made up just a couple games. Again, that's not the point. I'm not talking about long-term. I'm talking about this year. The goal should be to win a WS. Can't do that without making the playoffs. The closest thing to a guaranteed playoff berth is 100 wins. So, a team should be built with the goal of winning 100 games, if you have a competitive payroll. If you aren't gonna win 100 as the Cubs obviously are not, then you just have to be better than your competition in the current year. If that means 80 wins, then that works. But I agree if you are shooting for 81-83 wins every year (which the Cubs have seemingly done forever), then there is a problem. 9 times out of 10 that's not gonna get it done.

Judging by the first day's results, my shake-up did little good. Oh darn! I was really pulling for you....or not.

How long ago did Barrett play IF? What makes anybody think he can do it again in his 30s, after being crouched for so many years. He's not nearly the athlete that Craig Biggio was/is. He can't do it. And just because he changes positions doesn't mean he will all of a sudden hit better.

5 games back in May and the season is lost? Umm... huh? 5 games back but four games under .500. That's not very good. If we were in any other division, we'd be 6 or more games out with at least 3 teams ahead of us. The point is they are not in another division, though. And that's why the Cubs are still contenders. And again, the Cards were not a good team last year, record-wise, but won it all. I don't care how it's done, just get into the playoffs and take your chances.

It sucks to be tied for 1st with the only 2 teams to beat me this year. I gotta win against both the 2nd time around or find a way to win the division by a full game. I'd love to have back that 4 point loss to HBC.

I need Mauer not to return to form ASAP. I've been red hot lately. But that worries me. My pitching has been overachieving for the most part all year. However, I have 2 starts from Johan this week, who to me, hasn't begun to dominate yet.

Rashard Lewis' game is very similar to Kevin Durant's. Similar size. The difference is Durant is younger and has shown he will likely be a little better at everything. I think in today's NBA there aren't true positions, so Lewis could play the 4. The problem is he doesn't help much in the way of inside scoring. He's still predominately a perimeter player.

Took out Tim and gonna get another high score for the week. I'm a Grady Sizemore HR away from taking a 100 point lead on the rest of this league.

I agree with all those dumb things. #1 set up the loss. And honestly, I think most managers would have made that move. But if you are gonna let Zambrano throw 125, because you are afraid of your bullpen's ability to get 6 outs....how can he justify taking Hill out with 66 pitches and making your pen get 9 outs? There were already 2 outs when Hill's spot in the order came up. The scoring chance was in Izturis' spot. I think this may be a spot where roster configuration hurt. I'm guessing Lou didn't pinch hit for Izturis because he didn't want Ramirez to have to play the field on his day off. But soon as Wuertz came into the game, I said to myself, now he should be in there until Dempster or Guzman comes on in the 9th.

OF defense would be a disaster, but a platoon of Pena/Floyd could really put up some power numbers. Floyd is already being platooned.....and he's not shown any power whatsoever.

FWIW, if the Cubs are out of it in a couple months, I would put any and everybody on the block. Soriano, would probably be untradeable. But I'd imagine both LA teams would give up an absolute fortune for either Lee or Ramirez, though I doubt I'd trade both. There would be a ton of teams after Zambrano, though I would have to be wowed to give him up. Barrett would garner a lot of interest. Oakland and Arizona are 2 teams with horrible C situations who are competing in balanced divisions. My poor attempts at trades would be: -Zambrano and Holliman to Texas for Teixeira and a P prospect -Aramis and Jones to the Angels for Ervin Santana and Brandon Wood -Lee and DeRosa to LA for Laroche, Billingsley, and Kemp -Barrett to Oakland for Marcus MacBeth (RP) -Also trade relievers (Dempster, Howry) for prospects, probably guys who won't make a difference. Team: 2B-Patterson 3B-LaRoche LF-Soriano 1B-Teixeira RF-Kemp SS-Wood CF-Pie C- FA signing Rotation: Hill, E Santana, Lilly, Marquis, Billingsley Bullpen: Wuertz, MacBeth, Ohman, Cherry, Rapada, Guzman-CL

This is a tough place to take over as GM. The Cubs are still in it. Milwaukee has shown their start may be a fluke as they have gone 3-10 in their last 13, and they have played the same schedule as the Cubs (exception being Minn for them, CWS for Cubs). Of course, the Cubs have only gone 4-7 against the same group. I think most of the problem with this team is putting people in the right places. The personnel is there, just not being used correctly. The Cubs have a starting CF in AAA who can easily outproduce the guy(s) starting in the majors. They have a backup catcher who can easily outproduce the current backup. They have a 5th hitter hitting leadoff. A top of the order hitter, batting 6th or on the bench. They have another one who hasn't played recently. They have an 6th man in the pen, who's the 5th best starting pitcher on the roster. Without making any trades, the Cubs could have a roster of: Lineup: SS-Theriot, RF-Murton, 1B-Lee, 3B-Ramirez, LF-Soriano, C-Barrett, 2B-Derosa, CF-Pie Bench: Floyd, Izturis, Ward, Fontenot (I hate having 1 backup IF and 12 pitchers), Soto, Pagan Rotation: Zambrano, Hill, Marquis, Lilly, Guzman Bullpen: Dempster (who's been good in the closer's role), Wuertz, Howry, Ohman, Cotts, Marmol Eyre, Jones, Blanco don't justify being on the roster when cheaper more productive options are around. You could even argue for Eric Patterson to start at 2B with Derosa on the bench.

That sucks. My players seem to have to score a lot of points in order for their teams to score. Morneau, Crawford, Sizemore.

Derek Lowe is one of the best groundball pitchers of all-time. Dodger Stadium is one of the toughest parks to hit a HR. Cubs try to uppercut sinkers all night and popup in the IF repeatedly.

Ichiro is only legendary in that he will probably get credited (fairly or not) for bringing a huge Japanese influence into the MLB. Sure the 2nd most hits thru 1000 games are nice, but his overall stat line looks weak. Mark Grace is nowhere near legendary and his numbers are much better than anything Ichiro has or will ever do. FWIW, I think there are some legendary young players in the making. Alex Gordon, Cameron Maybin, etc. And I don't know if I would call these guys "legends", but I think more people need to take notice of the careers that Chipper Jones, Randy Johnson, and John Smoltz.

Big night for me with Marquis and Owings combining for 16 innings and 2 ERs. Owings with a huge CG for me, totaling 58.10 points between the 2 pitchers. I have a 4-2 start disadvantage, assuming Tim makes the appropriate move, including my 2 pitchers facing the Yanks and Braves. But I do own a 90-point lead. Randy Johnson missing his start this week could prove to be huge for me, as I will have a 7-6 start advantage for the week. Gonna need some offense, boys!

I've heard several times that Wickman is a "proven closer". And that Suppan is a "winner". Sexson and Beltre aren't even thought of highly anymore, so they aren't really overrated.

Interesting offensive day for me today. 4-34, but with 3 solo HRs. Tim's 8-32. Overall this week, Tim is 17-85, I'm 17-88. Big difference is I have 5 HRs/12 RBIs to 1 HR/4 RBIs. Pitching isn't much prettier, when you take out deductions, Johan Santana's 25 point start yesterday is more than our other 4 starters combined.....with Capuano still pitching.