rawaction

That would be the worst trade in Cubs history. Bad deal. Wood wouldn't accept it either.

It hasn't been a career trend though. His splits weren't that bad last year and were favorable on the road as a Yankee.

Carlos Marmol is better than a lot of other players. I didn't want him in AA, but he's shown he can handle it. He better be on the 40-man after this season.

If Pie is the starting CF next year, he won't be a good leadoff option. I think he will struggle at first and he doesn't have a great OBP to begin with.

BTW, I think this is Dusty's lineup if Soriano is a Cub. LF-Soriano SS-Nomar 1B-Lee CF-Burnitz 3B-Ramirez RF-Hollandsworth 2B-Walker C-Barrett "Man, Soriano was the leadoff hitter for the Yankees World Series teams, ya know." "We need his speed at the top of the lineup, ya know." "Gotta keep Holly in there, man. He's going thru some tough times, man, but ya know, he'll break out of it."

I hate the fact that Soriano doesn't walk much. But for some reason, I still love him as a hitter. He's a good ballplayer, despite his shortcomings. I agree that Soriano wouldn't solve any OBP issues this team has....but he's still better than who he would be replacing (Hollandsworth). I'd gladly welcome Soriano on this team, this year and for the future. The problem is, Soriano with Patterson and Perez in the same lineup (not to mention I'd like to see more OBP out of RF and/or CF) is a disaster waiting to happen.

I'll take 81 walks out of anyone over the course of a 162 game season. I think that's as spectacular a rate as you're gonna see from a top of the order hitter in the MLB. I'm not gonna argue with you on the Ks, though.

My feeble attempt at a 4-way: Cubs get: Manny Cubs give up: Hill, Mitre, Williams, Hollandsworth RSox get: Soriano, Burnett, Hollandsworth RSox give up: MRamirez, HRamirez, Lester Florida gets: Jerome Williams, Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester Fla gives up: Mota, Burnett Texas gets: Mitre, Mota, Hill, TX gives up: Soriano My only question is what do the Cubs do about our rotation then? Rusch and...? Yeah, sub out Hill or Mitre with Nolasco or Pinto makes it much easier. Yeah, I thought about that....but I still think Wood will be in the rotation again this season. Until then, Wellemeyer can start. Actually, maybe the Cubs could give up Pinto and add in Wuertz because either TX or Bos could use the relief help. Boston may be giving up too much, given that Burnett is a FA to be and Holla, well....sucks. It doesn't look like Weurtz would help anyone's bullpen right now - except for maybe the I-Cubs. Yeah, sadly though, Boston and Texas don't have much better down there right now.

My feeble attempt at a 4-way: Cubs get: Manny Cubs give up: Hill, Mitre, Williams, Hollandsworth RSox get: Soriano, Burnett, Hollandsworth RSox give up: MRamirez, HRamirez, Lester Florida gets: Jerome Williams, Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester Fla gives up: Mota, Burnett Texas gets: Mitre, Mota, Hill, TX gives up: Soriano My only question is what do the Cubs do about our rotation then? Rusch and...? Yeah, sub out Hill or Mitre with Nolasco or Pinto makes it much easier. Yeah, I thought about that....but I still think Wood will be in the rotation again this season. Until then, Wellemeyer can start. Actually, maybe the Cubs could give up Pinto and add in Wuertz because either TX or Bos could use the relief help. Boston may be giving up too much, given that Burnett is a FA to be and Holla, well....sucks.

You never hear minor leaguers' names in trade talks, because most people have no idea who they are. You hear about the big time prospects, but Jones, Harris, Beltran, and Murton were involved in the Nomar trade and all you heard were "minor leaguers" were involved.

My feeble attempt at a 4-way: Cubs get: Manny Cubs give up: Hill, Mitre, Williams, Hollandsworth RSox get: Soriano, Burnett, Hollandsworth RSox give up: MRamirez, HRamirez, Lester Florida gets: Jerome Williams, Hanley Ramirez, Jon Lester Fla gives up: Mota, Burnett Texas gets: Mitre, Mota, Hill, TX gives up: Soriano

I think that Walker loses his value if he's moved to LF. If he's at 2B he has some nice numbers but in LF he would be a below average LF IMO. Wouldn't the same be true of Soriano? If they are both on the team, they both need to be in the lineup with one of them playing LF. Either way the 2B is gonna be well above average and the LF slightly below. Still LF would be upgraded immensely. I always thought that Soriano had more power than Walker? I think Murton could give the same numbers as Walker in LF. That's not the point, though. What difference does it make if you are gonna have an above 2B and below average LF who plays where? You are still getting the same production. Obviously, I'd look to upgrade LF next year, with a league average or better producer, but if the Cubs can't get a LF this year and can only get Soriano....then they shouldn't pass it up because they will have a below average bat in LF (they already do). Also, I don't see Murton slugging .480 as Walker is, without hitting .330. He may get on base as much, but he won't hit for that much power. I don't see Murton as much more than an .800 OPS guy in the next couple years.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. One of the last places in the lineup you need walks out of is the 6th spot. The sixth spot needs to drive in your sluggers after they get on base with the base hits and doubles. If they walk, odds are the leadoff man isn't going to have a chance to drive them in - so you have to depend on your two worst hitters and your pitcher to drive Mr. 6 in. Walks are wasted in the 6,7 and 8 spots. However the 8 hitter needs to be patient enough to wait for his pitch or else get pitched around (ala Barrett) resulting in more walks. The only place you 'need' to get walks from is the 1 and 2 hitters in your lineup - anywhere else is a bonus. With all due respect, that is completely absurd. First off, how do you waste a walk? By not scoring the runner when he gets on base? Hitting w/runners on base or in scoring position is unpredictable. The more runners that get on base, the more runners will score. Simple math. At the least, a walk turns over the lineup. If the 6th hitter walks to lead off an inning and never moves, the team still leads off the next inning with the leadoff man instead of starting with what is likely to be 1-out if the non-Zambrano pitcher starts the inning. And finally, they way that lineup is constructed......Murton (so far) and Barrett aren't slouches. Those 2 combined with the pitching staff's ability to hit would mean the 6th hitter wouldn't be wasted all that much. Also, you say walks only are needed from the 1-2 hitters....well, don't you realize that a player doesn't become a good 3-4 hitter unless he walks? You are basically saying that Lee and Ramirez should hit 1-2 and Patterson and Neifi could hit 3-4, because their OBP doesn't matter. The reason Lee and Ramirez are 3-4 hitters is because they have the ability to drive in runs. They have the ability to drive in runs because they are sluggers. They have the ability to slug..........BECAUSE THEY ARE SELECTIVE HITTERS! Bottom line. Walks are important anywhere in the lineup. I didn't say your patient hitters (the walk guys) MUST hit 1,2. Nor did I say that walks are useless at any point in the lineup. I stated that its important to have a guy who can walk in the 8 hole - rather than be a sucker for bad pitches. My point was that you are better off having a guy who can hit doubles and homeruns - a slugger - in the sixth spot. This is so you can clean up when your big sluggers are on second base or don't get the homerun. Sorry, I misread a little what you said. But not by much. You can't just say walks are wasted. Because it's not true. I'd even argue that they are equally important everywhere in the lineup. And it's not that I'm all about walks. The point is to not make outs. A walk means the the guy didn't make an out, which means the team has a better chance to score. I think too many people around here tend to think that the Cubs need to play more small ball or need speed or need situational hitting to score. That's just not true. The team needs to get on base. Everyone in baseball will fail the vast majority of the time with runners on base. The key is to get those runners on in the first place to benefit from the 27% of the time the team actually does get a hit. A walk isn't wasted regardless of what happens to that player. If it brings up 1 more hitter with 1 more chance to score a run.....it was a great thing.

woah, slow down b4 you make statements like that, encarnacion plays gold glove defense, and gets on base at a pretty good clip this year (.364)and posted a pretty good july line 360/.417/.573 He must be in his free agent year. Look at the rest of his career. Encarnacion is not very good.

I think that Walker loses his value if he's moved to LF. If he's at 2B he has some nice numbers but in LF he would be a below average LF IMO. Wouldn't the same be true of Soriano? If they are both on the team, they both need to be in the lineup with one of them playing LF. Either way the 2B is gonna be well above average and the LF slightly below. Still LF would be upgraded immensely.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. One of the last places in the lineup you need walks out of is the 6th spot. The sixth spot needs to drive in your sluggers after they get on base with the base hits and doubles. If they walk, odds are the leadoff man isn't going to have a chance to drive them in - so you have to depend on your two worst hitters and your pitcher to drive Mr. 6 in. Walks are wasted in the 6,7 and 8 spots. However the 8 hitter needs to be patient enough to wait for his pitch or else get pitched around (ala Barrett) resulting in more walks. The only place you 'need' to get walks from is the 1 and 2 hitters in your lineup - anywhere else is a bonus. With all due respect, that is completely absurd. First off, how do you waste a walk? By not scoring the runner when he gets on base? Hitting w/runners on base or in scoring position is unpredictable. The more runners that get on base, the more runners will score. Simple math. At the least, a walk turns over the lineup. If the 6th hitter walks to lead off an inning and never moves, the team still leads off the next inning with the leadoff man instead of starting with what is likely to be 1-out if the non-Zambrano pitcher starts the inning. And finally, they way that lineup is constructed......Murton (so far) and Barrett aren't slouches. Those 2 combined with the pitching staff's ability to hit would mean the 6th hitter wouldn't be wasted all that much. Also, you say walks only are needed from the 1-2 hitters....well, don't you realize that a player doesn't become a good 3-4 hitter unless he walks? You are basically saying that Lee and Ramirez should hit 1-2 and Patterson and Neifi could hit 3-4, because their OBP doesn't matter. The reason Lee and Ramirez are 3-4 hitters is because they have the ability to drive in runs. They have the ability to drive in runs because they are sluggers. They have the ability to slug..........BECAUSE THEY ARE SELECTIVE HITTERS! Bottom line. Walks are important anywhere in the lineup.

What about Soriano at 2B and Walker in LF? And I understand his home/road splits, but I don't think they would be as pronounced as a Cub. His home numbers wouldn't be as high. But still would be pretty good. Meanwhile, I think his road numbers would be much better going from playing games in Oakland, Seattle, and Anaheim to playing in Minute Maid, Busch, GABP, Miller, and PNC. Like Hoops said, I'd miss Todd. But I'd give up Walker and pitching (Rusch, Mitre ish) for Soriano and Dellucci.

Woohoo! Raw will be thrilled too. It is extremely impressive that the Jaxx have gotten three Pitchers of the Week in a row, for three different pitchers. Raw is thrilled. Good thing Carlos can pitch, because he couldn't hit a lick as an OF. That's my Boy!

I agree with Poudre. Manny is well worth having in LF. I wouldn't even care if Boston didn't eat a dime. Manny is enough of an offensive producer, playing him at catcher would be worth having his bat in the lineup (slight exaggeration).

I figured that Delmon would be every bit as slow as Dmitri from the first look I got of him, but how wrong was I? He's shown good speed on the basepaths and could be a legit 30-30 guy within a couple years. The Devil Rays have some impressive young talent, BJ Upton, Delmon, Jonny Gomes, Bankston (1B right?), Joey Gathright, Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir...etc., it could be interesting to watch and see if they manage to screw it all up by not having enough pitching. That said, is BJ Upton destined to be the most physically talented DH ever? I mean really, the guy has been horrendous in the field. Delmon could be a 30-30 his rookie year if TB lets him run. He probably won't run all that much as a middle of the order hitter. Tampa could start 2006 with this lineup: LF-Crawford CF-Baldelli (don't forget about him) RF- Young 3b- Huff 1b- Gomes SS- Lugo 2B- Cantu C- Hall DH- Upton That's not too bad. I would probably try to trick somebody into trading a bunch for Crawford, because he's fast.

Thanks Mr. Dunn, for answering our questions. There was an earlier question about Hill and Marmol, but could you give us a quick scouting report on those 2, plus guys like Aardsma and Randy Wells? Velocity? Stuff? Any pitching patterns?

Thanks for giving us your valuable time, Mr. Parker. First, could you tell us about the position of Director of Player Development? What were your basic job duties? And how closely do you work with Oneri Fleita who has that capacity with the Cubs? Second, do you need an assistant? :D

Do you see him getting a chance in our outfield next year? Not at all. This is the Cubs. He'll be stuck behind Murton, who'll be stuck behind lackluster veterans and sitting the ML bench.

It was only a matter of time for my favorite catcher turned outfielder turned pitching prospect on Earth. He does need to learn how to pitch, but he has a very gifted arm. I think worst case scenario, he could be a Francis Beltran type reliever. I love the converted catchers - Randy Wells too! Carlos just needs to work on that control (29 K, 21 BB, 4 HBP). Carlos' AA ERA is down to 3.31. Ron just corrected himself (DJAXX, did you e-mail Ron?)...Carlos hit 2 batters today. I do like Wells too. He has a very lively arm. I'd like to see him close full-time at AA (with Aardsma in Chicago). Does Randy just throw 2 pitches? He's gone back to the rotation in Daytona with good results in two starts thus far. Not sure. But he was fastball/slider when I saw him for Lansing. I believe I saw him as a starter too.

This was the pivotal year for Sing. AA was gonna be his proving ground. He struggled in AA before the mono, and that really ate at him (from reading interviews). He is definitely a top 15 prospect. He reminds me of Jason Dubois. But he more athletic, and probably has even more power and a better arm. He's more patient and strikes out slightly less than JD did in the minors. Actually, Jonny Gomes looks like the player Sing could become. I would be very happy with that. His BB/100 instantly make him a factor.