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Keep Liriano. Heilman won't be in the rotation, unless he gets traded. Liriano's a better prospect too.

I think the Cubs would be starting Rusch with or without Prior. They like Glendon. They like paying Glendon and they like playing Glendon. Why? I do not know, maybe Hendry and Baker's brains are as fragile as Prior. That's what's annoying. The Cubs demoted Williams for a bad spring, but never even considered the same for Rusch who was just as bad.

I agree - I haven't really enjoyed watching Aldridge as well. He's a very balanced player, but I don't see the intensity and fire as a Thomas or a Noah possess. But with that said, Aldridge does have the biggest body of those three players. Both Thomas and Noah are in the 220's, Aldridge has a good 20-30 pds on both guys. Not to say Thomas and Noah can't grow into their bodies, but it appears that Aldridge should have a leg up in guarding PF/C position immediately and in the future. For the Bulls, I'd personally wouldn't be psyched on any of these guys with a top 3 pick. But if I had to draft one and all three were available, it would be Noah. His intensity and smarts really make him a safe pick. You know he'll bring intense effort game in and game out. He'd fit in nicely with the Bulls. But for some reason, I can't see him being more than a Brian Grant. A guy who does 15 and 10 and brings hussle and intensity. That's why I'm starting to lean more toward Roy (probably an overdraft at 1-3 though) if the Bulls get the 4. He has the best shot at being a 20 ppg scorer. And there's a big dropoff at the 2G after him.

MNF isn't the big deal matchup anymore. Sunday Nights will be the featured NFL matchups of the week now. Still not sure why they would choose that game... Arizona got the Edge... I guess... :?: got a new stadium too Edge, a new stadium? Now all they need is a QB an O-line, a defense, and a new coaching staff.

The key to hitting is recognizing your own strengths. If you can't hit a ball hard, there's really no reason to swing with less than 2 strikes.

I'm betting that if Neifi has a good game, he will start tomorrow at SS for Cedeno.

And it starts again. After a year of Vlad turning his ankle at 3B, Clement getting hit by linedrives, constant starters leaving games early due to injury....it starts again. First Derek Lowe tries to pitch sick and gets bombed. Then Santana loses a QS with 1 out to go. Now, Noah Lowry leaves after 1 2/3 My starters have combined for -.1 so far this season. I have the 2nd lowest point total in the league, but only trail by 4. I've had Doumit and Kinsler get benched for lesser players for a combined 3 games this week. Wily Mo not get any PT. I haven't played with a full team all week.

I hate the network signs. The WGN acronym sign is just an easy way to get on TV. And most of them are stretches, adding extra words in to make a coherent though. Although, Walker Greater than Neifi is a great sign idea. Probably wouldn't make it on TV though.

4/$50M, with a 5th year mutual option.

Jemel Spearman with a forgettable 0-5, with 5 K game. Restovich 0-4, with 4 Ks. GOSH! Overall, Cubs minor league batters struck out 44 times on opening day, with 14 walks.

FWIW, Maddux pitched to Barrett the majority of the time last year. Blanco was Prior's personal catcher, and sometimes caught Zambrano when Dusty felt it was a game he may needed a calming force.

Yeah, he's just not playing. It doesn't matter really. I took a gamble that Jose Guillen would be DL'd, so I started Pena.

Who is Pena? Carlos? Tony? Wily Mo Coyote.

Maybe my math is a bit fuzzy, but by my calculations, Fielder struck out zero times "BETWEEN" AAA and the majors. :D No, I believe he k'd once on the plane and twice in the cab on his way to Miller Park.

I thought washburn was in Seattle? best minor league..sounds exxxxxcellant..... That's right. I don't even know where I got that from. I like Ervin Santana though. Put him in that place.

RF is not as strong of a position as it typically is made out to be. The only big time bats in RF are Vlad, Giles, Abreu, and Sheffield. Ichiro's good, but not a slugger. Tracy and Huff have moved to 3B. Gomes, Francouer, Lane, Mench, and Swisher aren't there yet. Alou, Drew, S. Green, and Ordonez aren't there anymore. After the top 4, Geoff Jenkins is the next best slugging RF.

Figgins-LF Pierre Lee Vlad Ramirez Anderson- DH Walker Barrett Wood (Brandon SS, I hate Cabrera) SP- Zambrano, Colon, Prior, Wood, Washburn Bench- Kotchman, McPherson, Best minor league system ever assembled.

To me, it depends on the situation. If a guy walks the bases loaded, you definitely take a strike. If he gives up 3 rocket singles and nobody is able to advance more than 1 base, maybe you should be a little more aggressive and look for a pitch to rifle also. In general, a hitter should not swing at the first pitch unless he can hit it hard.

You know, if the Bulls lose the lottery and get the #4 pick (from the Knicks), I'd almost rather take Brandon Roy with that pick. While the Bulls need a big man, badly, they also need a 2-guard with size, IMO. After Roy, there's not much 2-guard help in this draft. I think it basically becomes a question of Aldridge and Mardy Collins vs. Roy and a guy like Horford. I honestly don't know what combo I would pick, mainly because I don't like Collins too much.

Can I take Pena out of my lineup? I only started him because I thought Guillen was gonna start on the DL. It's cool if I can't.

A perfect 4th inning for Nolasco. K'd in his 1st ML AB.

I still don't understand how our young players are question marks while teams like the Brewers have all future stars. Murton looks like the real thing and Cedeno has been successful at every level. Jones makes too much money, but is an "adequate" OF. Murton does look like the real deal. I agree. However, Cedeno has not been successful at every level. Take a look at his stats: http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/ronny-cedeno.shtml Cedeno got his butt kicking in A ball, put up a mediocre showing in AA, and got it together for 245 AB in AAA. His VWL was two sided. His D was shoddy (that's putting it nicely) and his K/BB ratio was in the toilet. Then he had 80 AB in the bigs. Nice, but even Dubois did well in the beginning. It's not just a Dustyism to say that pitchers don't have the book on him. Cedeno is in for a rough season b/c he doesn't have plate discipline. He carries his offensive woes into the field and we'll be seeing Neifi every day by the ASB. Our guys are question marks b/c our organization has a very poor track record of developing successful position players. The Braves are the extreme opposite. Murton is less of a question mark, given his skillset. Cedeno had one good year. One. In his first two years he was 18 and 19 years old...and playing in Boise and Lansing...last time I checked both of those places are a LONG way from Carabobo (cool name for a town) Venezuela for a kid just out of high school...He hit damn near .280 by the time he turned 21 in AA. These stats aren't doing anything to convince me that he's crap. Just an update. Ronny was a crappy 2 for 3 with another run scored. Like I said before, wait until the book is out on him. I'm glad you can throw out 2 years of baseball, but then cite 3 AB as proof of your argument. Convinced me. Totally. Did you even read the post before it? No wonder why there's so much bickering on this board. Obviously I did read it as I referenced the 2 years he was talking about. :wink: I'm glad you felt the need to call me out on something you were guilty of. Brilliant! You completely missed the point that he was a teenager in those 2 years, which I don't believe he was throwing out the years, just pointing out the facts. Then he referenced his AA year, where he hit near .280. So obviously, he wasn't using just 3 ABs. I'm pretty sure his numbers last year have been mentioned in this thread too.

The Reds won by 2 runs today. The Freel run really didn't mean anything, other than the fact the Cubs were going to need at least 2 runs to tie. I never said that. I just don't like why this thread was started. Let's not mock other posters ideas. Speed, HR, OBP, and PICTHING is all important. And this team has all but the latter now. And we desperately need it, soon. He has a point. Let's not get into mocking others posts. It will only lead to more animosity here.

Nolasco just made his ML debut. Walked Ensberg, gave up a single to Wilson, then K'd Lane and Munson, before getting Everett to groundout. 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks

I still don't understand how our young players are question marks while teams like the Brewers have all future stars. Murton looks like the real thing and Cedeno has been successful at every level. Jones makes too much money, but is an "adequate" OF. Murton does look like the real deal. I agree. However, Cedeno has not been successful at every level. Take a look at his stats: http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/ronny-cedeno.shtml Cedeno got his butt kicking in A ball, put up a mediocre showing in AA, and got it together for 245 AB in AAA. His VWL was two sided. His D was shoddy (that's putting it nicely) and his K/BB ratio was in the toilet. Then he had 80 AB in the bigs. Nice, but even Dubois did well in the beginning. It's not just a Dustyism to say that pitchers don't have the book on him. Cedeno is in for a rough season b/c he doesn't have plate discipline. He carries his offensive woes into the field and we'll be seeing Neifi every day by the ASB. Our guys are question marks b/c our organization has a very poor track record of developing successful position players. The Braves are the extreme opposite. Murton is less of a question mark, given his skillset. Cedeno had one good year. One. In his first two years he was 18 and 19 years old...and playing in Boise and Lansing...last time I checked both of those places are a LONG way from Carabobo (cool name for a town) Venezuela for a kid just out of high school...He hit damn near .280 by the time he turned 21 in AA. These stats aren't doing anything to convince me that he's crap. Just an update. Ronny was a crappy 2 for 3 with another run scored. Like I said before, wait until the book is out on him. I'm glad you can throw out 2 years of baseball, but then cite 3 AB as proof of your argument. Convinced me. Totally. Did you even read the post before it? No wonder why there's so much bickering on this board.