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Yaahooo!!!!! Murton is starting!!!!!!!

All the hyperbole aside, I agree with the original post. Not that Murton is better now. I think he is closer than some think and alot less money. I truly believe that Murton will be a .820-.850 OPS guy in a couple of years. Which is where Soriano will probably be also. The money would have been more wisely spent somewhere else. Of course I think Hendry really believed that Soriano was going to play CF.

Are you sugggesting that Henderson is even close to a better player than Bonds? Depends? If we are using the numbers Bonds has put up the last 6 to 7 years than no. If we are going to use the Pre-Steriod Bonds than yes I would make an arguement that Rickey was as good. I also was just saying they could fight over who gets to play LF as the other would have to play right. Which from Ole Miss original team would leave Aaron as the Fourth OFer and Griffey off the team.

What I find funny about this whole thing is how similar Pods is to Juan Pierre as a player. No one in there right mind is going to come close to paying Podsednik what the Dodgers are paying Pierre. I get the feeling this isnt going to happen. If it does it will be for nothing and Podsednik will be a 5th OFer.

My all-time Black team would have Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds on it, with Mays in CF. Rickey and Barry could fight for Left.

Maybe this should be its own thread, but I was thinking about this when contemplating the addition of Shannon Stewart. Are the Cubs really that close to being a World Champion? I mean realistically I am not sure they are that much better than the White Sox. So if they are not an elite team(it would be hard to argue they are) they would either have to become an elite team, win the World Series by a fluke(Cardinals) or have several career years among mediocre players(White Sox). Since Career Year and Fluke are both achieved by luck to a certain degree the best way to win a World Series is to build and elite team. What do the Cubs need to become a elite team? It obviously aint happening this year so they should try for fluke. In that case may as well bring in Shannon Stewart. Starting next year what do the Cubs need to do to become a elite team? Knowing that if Z is resigned that will probably take away the ability to sign any other top tier free agent. If Z is not resigned the money would certainly have to go to a top free agent starter. I think for the Cubs to have a chance at being elite in the next couple of years 4 players are really going to have to step up. Hill, Soto, Murton and Pie. Hill is going to have to become a 2nd starter. Soto and Pie are going to have to solidify the defense and be better than automatic outs. Murton has got to get his OPS to 850. All this being said I think the Cubs would be better served to let Murton, Soto and Pie play down the stretch. Yes we may blow it because of them. It would give them valuable experience for the future though. So in this case I wouldnt get Stewart.

I dont think the Giants want him back. I may be wrong. So it may be up to another team to let him get it. I am not sure there would be a lot of teams looking for his services.

Not the NBA. MLB moniters this and will punish a team that the feel is abusing the DL. I also think Pagan could just be sent down, so why DL him.

The more I have thought about it the more I think it is one of 3 possible things. 1. Patterson down 2. Cedeno down 3. ARam dl I think both Pagan and Fontenot are safely on the team for now. Murton will not go down as long as Soriano is out. Hendry is way to conservative to move Jones with Soriano out, unless we were getting an OFer back, which then we wouldnt need Pie up

So is this your new "thing?" I would guess so. Get over Murton not playing, please. I agree. I think Murton should be getting most of the PT also. Lou obviously doesnt like him. Hopefully Murton will be traded this offseason to a place that appreciates his abilities. I think its time for us Murton fans to let it go.

I think the fact that a player can clear waivers is pretty much telling us that he sucks. If the player has another year on his contract alah Jacque Jones, he really sucks. I say this and then point out that Matt Murton would not clear waivers. So why are the Cubs struggling with what common sense should be screaming at them.

Really? ...really? What I mean is if most teams had the Catching situation that the Cubs had they would have given Soto a shot by now. I am not saying Soto is one of the better Catchers in the league now. As for the first part, I think this is pretty obvious. Aren't Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot position players from our system and under 30 years old? Sure, I'd like to see Soto up in place of K. Hill and would've been perfectly fine with sticking with Pie earlier this year, but to say we haven't had any position players from our system get a chance this year is wrong. And before you say Fontenot is not from our system - he was a throw-in in the Sammy deal and was a nothing prospect and our system developed him into legit major league material. Therefore I think he counts as a Cub prospect. Theriot is the only full time starter of the 2. I am willing to bet a donut that the Cubs will bring in a veteran SS this offseason. Even after his great September last season the Cubs brought in DeRossa to be the primary 2nd baseman. Also if Izturis was anywhere above really bad he would still be getting as much time at SS as Theriot. So he doesnt really count to counter my point. I dont think Fontenot will be anything but a part time player on the Cubs. He is already behind DeRossa when the Cubs get a full time RFer.

Last night during the game, Len made a point to mention one the the reasons Rich Hill's pitch counts were so high was because of the large amount of foul balls hit against him. Is there a place that tracks foul balls per AB or something like that. I am not trying to say that Len is wrong, He didnt have any stats to back it up that I saw. Announcers are legendary for saying something that is a preception, than it becoming fact in the audiences mind. I just wanted to see if it was true.

I like this a lot more than "he is on steriods, lets linch him". It is well explained and it is an advantage that numerous of other players are not getting to use. The trouble with this as with the steriods is how much help did it give. I think it is too convenient to just throw out a number. So same as I thought before, He set a personal record and I still think Babe Ruth is the best power hitter of all time.

Really? ...really? What I mean is if most teams had the Catching situation that the Cubs had they would have given Soto a shot by now. I am not saying Soto is one of the better Catchers in the league now. As for the first part, I think this is pretty obvious.

I dont think he is a future HOFer or anything but it is obvious that he couldnt do worse than what the Cubs are sending out there now. Sadly the Cubs have proven that they will not give position players from there organization a decent shot and will look for any over 30 name that they can come up with to be "insurance" for these guys. Soto is already starting C on most teams in this league.

I'm guessing he's coming up to play outfield since the Cubs don't seem to like his defense at 2b and we have 15 second basemen on the team already. I am guessing that Derossa is going to be primarly an OFer the next few weeks

Score is saying that Patterson is coming up.

Is there a realistic option that is better than Murton?

Since we are on mental blunders of players. Lost in the Soriano injury is the fact that it would have been a close play at third if he didnt get hurt. Again a Cub was risking making the 3rd out at Third. A blunder Pagan has made at least twice this year.

If Lou would pencil Murton in the lineup everyday with Soriano out he will produce enough to offset Soriano's loss.

Zup? http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/9/8/4/f_ruthm_dae597a.jpg 1921, age 26: .378 Batting Average, 59 Home Runs, 171 RBI, 177 Runs, .846 Slg. %, .512 OBP, 457 Total Bases, 44 Doubles, 16 Triples, 17 Stolen Bases, 145 BB, 1.359 OPS oh ya, I have a career ERA of 2.28 and WHIP of 1.16 in 148 games started. Stick Barry back in 1921 and, barring a hate-crime, he would put up numbers that would have had him burned at the stake for witchcraft. Back in 1921 he wouldn't have had the cream and the clear to assist his body recovery time, his lounge chair and plasma TV in the clubhouse or his body armor to protect him from inside pitches. Not to mention that the rules of the game back then were much more favorable to pitchers (lower mound, doctoring of baseballs allowed, etc). What Ruth did as a comparison to his peers is mindboggling, much more dominant than even Bonds has been to other current players. ruth also used a 50 some ounce bat. That is unthinkable to me.

Jose Contreras and Jack Morris?

I also think that the Cubs are going to trade Murton. Then struggle to find a RFer for 3 million or less a year that could outproduce Murton for the next couple of years.

This should be interesting. Stoney is not a defend at all cost homer. I see some clashes coming.