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May be a nice source of talent for the Cubs. I'm in.

If I was to draft a team of players from my lifetime, I would take Rickey #1. Awesome player and real fun to have around.

The thing that I really hope is that the league sees that Young is not going to have any punishment, and reduces Lee's suspension to 3 instead of 4 that they normally would do.

I think Murton and Cedeno got in Lou's doghouse and are going to have a long haul to get out. I dont think Cedeno alone nets us anything we could use for this season. Couple him with a pitcher and maybe.

I agree. Murton, Cedeno, or Soto (in that order). man, you know the awesome thing about those kids? they can all be called up! and...with the benefit of dumping... jones, izturis, and eyre! rawk! too bad this will never happen Do you want a better team or a more cost efficient team?

If Murton were to be called up, he'd probably get about the same time as he did before. All of the left-handers, and a few of the right-handers for about 50% of the at-bats. It's going to take quite a bit for him to get noticed down there though-right now, he is just a slightly above average Iowa hitter in the hitters paradise that is the 2007 PCL. I certainly hope he can play well though, because the Cubs could really use his bat against left-handers. It might not be a matter of him being noticed as much as it may be Angel Pagan becoming Angel Pagan. I think most reasonable people knew he would come back to earth. Now that he is and probably will still come down some more will the Cubs come to their senses and bring up the BETTER hitter. The Cubs still need a CF to play against LH's though. Murton cannot, Pagan can. RF is less urgent with DeRosa heading out there. The Cubs need to find another option for a RH CF through a trade though because Pagan is not going to be that good either. Since Pagans biggest downfall is LHed pitching I dont think this makes a difference. He can also stay up. Might as well send Pie down since he isnt playing. Pagan is only up here in the first place to play against LH's. That's exactly why he was called up, and that's been the majority of his playing time in the majors. He may not be good against LH's, but he's a lot better than Pie or Jones in that area. Plus, Pie already will have to be sent down when the Cubs go to 12 pitchers. It's going to be really hard for Murton to get a spot on the roster the way it is currently. You start with 12 pitchers, so that leaves 13 position players. Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, DeRosa, Floyd, and Ward get 6 spots, so there's 7 left. You need 2 SS's, so Theriot and Izturis get spots. You need 2 CF's, so 2 of Jones/Pie/Pagan have to stay up. Add 2 catchers in, and there's only 1 spot left. That goes to 1 of 2 people: Fontenot, or Murton. Basically the only way Murton can get his way back onto the roster is if Fontenot starts slumping to the point that his bat is not useful anymore. It's not a good situation (because Murton could still help the team), but unless DeRosa starts getting a lot more time at SS I don't see how anybody else could possibly go to the minors (except of course for an upgrade at that position, like exchanging Soto for Hill). So basically the redundancy of Floyd, Ward and Jones is probably costing the Cubs from having a hitter capable of .800 ops, who would also help against LHers.

If Murton were to be called up, he'd probably get about the same time as he did before. All of the left-handers, and a few of the right-handers for about 50% of the at-bats. It's going to take quite a bit for him to get noticed down there though-right now, he is just a slightly above average Iowa hitter in the hitters paradise that is the 2007 PCL. I certainly hope he can play well though, because the Cubs could really use his bat against left-handers. It might not be a matter of him being noticed as much as it may be Angel Pagan becoming Angel Pagan. I think most reasonable people knew he would come back to earth. Now that he is and probably will still come down some more will the Cubs come to their senses and bring up the BETTER hitter. The Cubs still need a CF to play against LH's though. Murton cannot, Pagan can. RF is less urgent with DeRosa heading out there. The Cubs need to find another option for a RH CF through a trade though because Pagan is not going to be that good either. Since Pagans biggest downfall is LHed pitching I dont think this makes a difference. He can also stay up. Might as well send Pie down since he isnt playing.

If Murton were to be called up, he'd probably get about the same time as he did before. All of the left-handers, and a few of the right-handers for about 50% of the at-bats. It's going to take quite a bit for him to get noticed down there though-right now, he is just a slightly above average Iowa hitter in the hitters paradise that is the 2007 PCL. I certainly hope he can play well though, because the Cubs could really use his bat against left-handers. It might not be a matter of him being noticed as much as it may be Angel Pagan becoming Angel Pagan. I think most reasonable people knew he would come back to earth. Now that he is and probably will still come down some more will the Cubs come to their senses and bring up the BETTER hitter.

After a slow start Murton is really starting to hit well in Iowa, with some power. I still dont want him up if he is just going to get the Pie treatment though.

I was for adding Nady last year when he still was a Met. I am sure we could have gotten him for Maddux. Hit lefties real well. I would rather have Murton also.

Wow you can use past performance to get Jacque Jones in the lineup but past performance wasnt good enough for Matt Murton. I actually agree with you to a point. It is that since Jones will not be traded unless the Cubs eat a good portion of the salary, I think it would be a worthwhile gamble to start playing him against RHers. He will be a better hitter than Pagan. If he produces than I would trade him the minute you can not have to pay over half of his remaining salary. If he doesnt than just bite the bullet and either DFA him or trade him for whatever meaningless prospect you can get. Also it is one thing to say that Jones had a higher OPS than all those players currently have. You didnt figure in defense in one of the 3 most important defensive positions.

I was looking over a list of potential players that may be available. One that kind of stuck out to me a little is Torii Hunter. I would be against any kind of long term deal for him but as a rental I would be fully in favor of. He is having a good year this year. He has always hit over .900 ops against LHers(a serious need on the Cubs). Would allow Pie to go back down. I am guessing that Minnesota isnt going to give him away. That plus being a rental makes it a longshot. I think he would be a good rental though.

I recall 2 or 3 games like this when the CUBS were on the losing end to the Phillies. Mike Schmidt. nuff said

Do greenies make your rump grow unusually big compared to the rest of your body.

What a douche. A couple weeks before he's going to break the record and in his home park. Go out there and hit a couple into the water for the fans. I think sometimes people are going out of their way to knock Bonds. Who cares if he doesnt want to do the HR derby. Exactly, no one said anything about Griffey declining it. Look at what happened to Wright and Abreu after they did it, they weren't the same after. And Bonds' reasoning is understandable. He said he was drained completely after he did it in '96, and that's when it was only 2 rounds. Now it's three, and he's older. I know it's his home stadium, but that doesn't mean he HAS to do it. That's the reason people are ripping him. If the ASG was being held it any other park (with the exception of Oakland, maybe) it wouldn't matter at all which is why nobody is complaining that Griffey isn't doing it. But if the game were being held in Cincinnati and Griffey declined, people would be ripping him instead of Bonds. Maybe not as much but Griffey isn't about to break the biggest record in baseball. No they wouldnt. Most would be very understanding if Griffey didnt want to do it. If Bonds did do the HR derby he would be called a douche by many, If he doesnt he is going to get called a douche. Its just Bonds, most will criticize everything he does. Yeah right. Sosa would get lambasted if it was 1998 and he didn't participate @ Wrigley. Sosa was also not 40 something at the time. Truth is if he did it there would be people who say he is a glory hound and may be hurting his team by doing a HR derby. Its Bonds no matter what he does it is going to draw criticism. Its like some people magically think that if Bonds was eliminated from baseball all of the "cheating" will be fixed and the game would be "pure" again.

What a douche. A couple weeks before he's going to break the record and in his home park. Go out there and hit a couple into the water for the fans. I think sometimes people are going out of their way to knock Bonds. Who cares if he doesnt want to do the HR derby. Exactly, no one said anything about Griffey declining it. Look at what happened to Wright and Abreu after they did it, they weren't the same after. And Bonds' reasoning is understandable. He said he was drained completely after he did it in '96, and that's when it was only 2 rounds. Now it's three, and he's older. I know it's his home stadium, but that doesn't mean he HAS to do it. That's the reason people are ripping him. If the ASG was being held it any other park (with the exception of Oakland, maybe) it wouldn't matter at all which is why nobody is complaining that Griffey isn't doing it. But if the game were being held in Cincinnati and Griffey declined, people would be ripping him instead of Bonds. Maybe not as much but Griffey isn't about to break the biggest record in baseball. No they wouldnt. Most would be very understanding if Griffey didnt want to do it. If Bonds did do the HR derby he would be called a douche by many, If he doesnt he is going to get called a douche. Its just Bonds, most will criticize everything he does.

What a douche. A couple weeks before he's going to break the record and in his home park. Go out there and hit a couple into the water for the fans. I think sometimes people are going out of their way to knock Bonds. Who cares if he doesnt want to do the HR derby.

Cruz Crushes lefties(until this year). They would be taking Jones contract. The Cubs have a player blocking Murton for 8 years. I am as big of a Murton fan as any, but this is the kind of move that is going to have to be made to get rid of Jones. I do believe that Cruz has a very small contract as well.

Ok seriously. Why did the Cub organization not teach him a 3rd pitch while coming up?

I think he ought to throw RHed somtimes!!

Baseball is littered with RH hitting corner outfielders who can hit LHers real well. Several can be had for less than 2 million a year. The Cubs instead got Cliff Floyd who was redundant to what the team already had.

There is an large number of players in baseball right now doing some incredible stuff at ages that would be considered over less than 10 years ago. I am not naive enough to believe all of them are clean. I just think that there is more to this than performance enhancing drugs. Its not just baseball either. Chris Chelios is 45 and is playing a very effective defense for the Red Wings. Evander Holyfield looks pretty sharp(I know not as good as he did 15 yrs ago). I couple this with the fact that pitchers have been caught more than position players so far. I dont like Bonds, I just dont get that bent out of shape that he is going to overtake the HR record. Also I am not saying that Aaron took anything, but it is not like baseball was pure up until 1998. Sandy Koufax took a pain killer that is illegal to prescribe now. Speed has been prevelant in the game for years. I think 2 things that are not as discussed as much that should be are these. Bonds is playing in a era that the pitching has been watered way down by expansion. Also I dont know how big of a bat that Aaron used but I am guessing it had to be at least 34 ounces. Today they have bats that are as light as 26 ounces. Again I dont think that Bonds is clean. I just think that there is more to this than we want to admit. Also baseball turned a blind eye back in 98 and got burned. Now they are going overboard to take save some face on this.

I do think people are down on Murton because of his poor play this season. Truth is he did put up a .800 ops in his first full season. That is pretty good. I still think he will put up a better ops than Soriano in a couple of years. As for the trade idea, I think Texas would just skip us and get Saltalamachia for Texiera.

I married a nun nun in the morning nun in the afternoon and nun at night

If the Cubs are not willing to pay a substantial amount of Jone's salary, I dont see him getting traded. Truth is it may be a better gamble to hope he breaks out the 2nd half and comes back to just being below average. The person who is not on the major league roster because Jones is here is Murton. Truth is I would rather he stayed in Iowa than be a part timer with the Cubs. As for Izturis, he will be easier to trade. I kind of would like to see Cedeno come back. He is hitting unworldly down in AAA.