bukie

OK, late '90's-present. Except the oldest signing you have on here is from 2001 (DeShields...who is a huge stretch to be called a star). The Cubs have done this for their entire history, players like Rick Aguilera in 1999 all the way back to guys like Rogers Hornsby and Dizzy Dean in the 30's.

I would think that would be a terrible trade for us. Indeed it would. Twas the point, really.

I would think the Giants would entertain an offer of Soto, Cedeno, Marshall and Hill for Lincecum.

What an awful euphemism to use for a pitching staff.

Lou Brock EDIT: And if not Brock, Jimmie Foxx, Tony Lazzeri, Dizzy Dean, Kiki Cuyler and Dennis Eckersley are up there for me, too.

I think it's serious revisionist history to blame the Cubs for not taking Hamilton 2 winters ago. He was on nobody's radar (except the Reds, apparently), and based on his body of work to that point in the minors, nobody really thought he could stick on a roster all year, anyway. The Reds took a flyer and it worked out for them. The Cubs were never in the picture.

Soto has a higher OBP and SLG, more HR/AB, and 10 more walks in 4 fewer games than Hamilton. Texas has a better offensive lineup than Houston. Hamilton has Milton Bradley protecting him, who has been actually better offensively than Hamilton.

Plays a premium defensive position and is a great CFer. 1st in slugging 1st in homers Has 50 RBI and it's May 20th. Top 5 in everything else other than Runs. He is the only reason Texas is not 15 games under .500 soto has a higher OPS at a tougher position lance berkman's OPS is almost a full 0.3 points higher One could arguably put together a full lineup of players better than Hamilton this year: Berkman Chipper Jones Furcal Uggla Soto McLouth Pujols Chase Utley Wow, that's a lot of NL guys. Not to take anything away from Hamilton, who has been fantastic. He just hasn't been the best player in baseball.

I'm thinking Hill + Pie + Cedeno + Marmol. Seriously. He's making no money and they just gave up Edinson Volquez for him and he's pretty much putting up MVP numbers. Between Hill, Pi, Cedeno, and Marmol, 1 of the 4 is absolutely untouchable. Go on, guess which. As for Hamilton, Im sure hes aquireable. I know hes making like league minimum, but with a team like the Rangers, who are in a constant rebuilding phase, theyd always be willing to work something out. It would cost us, but its not out of the question. Teams rebuild with cheap productivity. Hamilton IS cheap productivity. Sure, nobody is untouchable, but the sheer amount a team would have to overpay to get cheap productivity away from a rebuilding team makes any reasonable possibility of a trade not worth it.

Last I checked the Rule V draft was a transaction. EDIT: So was the $50K being traded to the Cubs for giving Cincy the right to pick first. Ok, it is the result of a transaction two years ago.

This also reminds me of the time the Cubs gave away Tim Lincecum for nothing in 2003, practically handing him to the Giants without any form of compensation. Wouldn't he look good on the Cubs this year.

Yeah, it's a crying shame that the Cubs spent all those years developing Hamilton only to have the Reds swoop in and steal him from them. EDIT: And in what way is this a transaction?

Looks like we have an answer to the "Why didn't Lou use Chad Fox in the ninth today?" question.

Carell would seem to be a perfect Maxwell Smart. If not for that, I would fully expect the movie to be as awful as the other sitcom-turned-movies of the last 5 years.

It would appear that the Pirate pitchers need to watch for inspiration.

I suppose the foolish progress backwards. They start in AAA and eventually work their way down to short-season independent ball.

If it makes it easier, you could treat Edmonds like all the MLB video games treat Bonds. Make up a hilarious fake name with the same number (I believe MLB games referred to Bonds as Reggie Stocker).

The Cubs have definitely been playing the best baseball in the division, if not in all baseball, and that even counts St. Louis and Houston playing above their heads to this point (and the Brewers playing below theirs). That last 3 weeks of the season, though, makes me nervous, what with 16 road games and 6 home games to close out the season. Who are those road game against? Houston, Cincy, St. Louis, Milwaukee and the NY Mets. Would be nice to lead the division by a good 10-15 games going into that stretch to put down any ideas of collapsing.

I think Zambrano is pitching tomorrow.

I don't think it's conspiracy so much as simply awful refereeing. Almost every official is completely affected by the home crowd.

What other relievers could use some work today? Eyre, Fox, Wuertz?

I'll take a guess... Offense: Runs/game - 1st OBP - 1st OPS - 1st Walks - 2nd (Cards) SB% - 15th Starting Pitching: ERA - 4th OBA - 3rd OPA - 5th WHIP - 3rd K rate - 9th Relief Pitching: ERA - 3rd OBA - 2nd OPA - 3rd WHIP - 2nd K rate - 4th

Somehow it'll be remembered as Edmonds' fault the ball bounced off the wall on two hops to the catcher, so that Ramirez was out. That 7th inning AB was a shame, though. i'll hope that the cubs can get something out of him, if they don't, i'll be the first to admit that he should be let go. i'm not going to hate on him for the 32 home runs he's hit off of us in 8 years, though. What I'd like to see happen is to give Edmonds a daily shot against RHs for, say, 3 weeks. In the meantime, let Pie work closely with Keller to improve his strike zone judgment and pitch recognition some, fix his weight distribution, and give him solid playing time every day against every kind of pitcher. If after 3 weeks Edmonds isn't working out (I'd say if Edmonds were performing the equivalent of Reed Johnson vs. righties), let him go, bring Pie up and play Pie against every righty the Cubs face the rest of the year. At least then the Cubs give Pie a chance to perfect the things they want him to work on, and at the end of the year they have a better idea of what they have going forward. If Edmonds seriously works out (say, a .275/.350/.450 line or better), then there's little harm in the acquisition anyway, and if you want to use Pie as a 5th OF or let Johnson walk, you have the flexibility to do that. Unfortunately, Hendry seems to value some very weird things in offensive players.

This disturbs me. Likewise. I'm not sure I want to know what's contained in a bottle of Alou.

Somehow it'll be remembered as Edmonds' fault the ball bounced off the wall on two hops to the catcher, so that Ramirez was out. That 7th inning AB was a shame, though.