kroth1342

Because the local program manager likely made the decision to show BOS/NYY Probably not, but there is this wonderful thing called a chain of command, and it's sometimes more effective to start at the bottom; those at the top dont always get a chance to check their email... ..who craped in your cornflakes? crapped in my cornflakes? good one

Because the local program manager likely made the decision to show BOS/NYY

Take this somewhere else - Rich Hill beats him by .02 points of ERA.

Zambrano sucks right now what else is there to say

The question is, would the Cubs be willing to keep Prior on the 40-man for a couple more years without seeing him pitch?

Been there since the beginning viewtopic.php?t=36235 Some interesting comments in that thread - I know its early, but some people wanted Weaver (wow), Suppan, and Schmidt ahead of Lilly. So far its worked out well for us (hope it continues).

^^^should never be allowed to post "facts' again

Right - and when you combine being 6 games behind in April with the number of teams they would have to leapfrog to make it to first --> they've dug themselves a substantial, early hole. Of course there's time to make it back to the top of the standings, but it will take a correction of all problems I first described back in the original post.

I don't know how ridiculous and free-wheeling this criticism is. Last night on Baseball Tonight, Steve Phillips was breaking down tape comparing 2006 and 2007 Zambrano. 2007 Z brings his leg kick farther away from his body as opposed to directly straight up, is opening his hips up earlier, throwing with a flatter arm angle and not following through straight to the mound. It was a pretty clear explanation of flatter pitches with less downward movement. I'm talking about the idea that his career is over and we should just toss him on the pile. That's what's ridiculous. ok

I don't know how ridiculous and free-wheeling this criticism is. Last night on Baseball Tonight, Steve Phillips was breaking down tape comparing 2006 and 2007 Zambrano. 2007 Z brings his leg kick farther away from his body as opposed to directly straight up, is opening his hips up earlier, throwing with a flatter arm angle and not following through straight to the mound. It was a pretty clear explanation of flatter pitches with less downward movement.

I believe Cabrera wants to be a 3rd Baseman though and not an outfielder... Nuts. Maybe a gigantic pile of money could change his mind, a la Soriano. While I'd love to have a shot at Cabrera, I think its a total pipe dream to even consider. I think that other teams could totally circumvent us and acquire him directly with better prospects.

Zambrano won't bring one can't miss prospect, let alone two I find it hard to believe that teams won't part with a top player who would cost them $350K+ for the next 3-5 years in exchange for a player who could cost them $125 MILLION+ on the open market. So, I disagree that Zambrano couldn't bring at least one can't miss prospect. And before you BP-stans jump on my back, I am familiar with the concept of MORP.

While I'm not taking as pessimistic a view as synergy in his/her "the Season is already over" thread, I believe this team is in dire straits right now and needs a fairly significant shake-up to have any chance of competing this season. The organization (Hendry, Piniella, everyone) needs to be aware and take action on the following problems: 1) Dude, Where's My HRs? - very simply put, if Soriano and Lee don't start hitting HRs, then this team has no chance. As the Cubs were constructed, with above average (on the optimistic side) to slightly below average (on the pessimistic side) pitching, it is critical that our low-OBP offense be a high-SLG offense. While currently 6th in runs, we are 11th in OBP and 7th in SLG. To counter that OBP (which also needs to go up), we need to be a top-5, and probably top-3, slugging club. 2) Cut ties with Wade Miller - while I congratulate Wade Miller for trying to come back from injuries, and while I thought acquiring him was a good low-risk, potentially high-reward action, the reward has been less than nothing. Simply put, we all know that a pitcher with a 10.54 ERA and a WHIP above 2.00 who throws 79-84 MPH deserves no spot on the team. Guzman gets my vote to be the new 5th starter but in all honestly, if you can't pull a pitcher from AAA to give you a 5.00 ERA in the 5th spot at a moment's notice, just close up shop. 3) Fix the OF situation - just another counterproductive facet of the team, the OF situation needs to be rectified immediately. As excited as I got seeing Pie throw out that guy at home a few games ago, he currently has no spot on the major league roster, especially if he isn't playing everyday. We need to play Jones to establish some/any trade value. Send Pie down and install Murton as the primary RF. While Matt Murton will never be a world-beater at a corner spot, Piniella needs to explain to him he will play every 4/5 or 5/6 games or so, and hopefully this allows Murton to relax some (seems like he's been pressing this year), and put up .290/.360/.460 numbers in right because Floyd's .261/.277/.370 ain't doing it for me. 4) A return to discipline - what happened to that strange Cubs team in spring training, taking those walks and working the strike zone so well? Answer me that, Gerald Perry, instead of yelling at umpires. Fact of the matter is, I saw two different Cubs hitters swing at ball 4 on 3-0 counts last night; and while Ramirez drove a runner in on a sac fly, Barrett did not. This team needs all the baserunners it can get in order to score runs when the HRs aren't coming. Just another reason for Murton over Floyd. On a similar note, hopefully Cesar Izturis' days are numbered. Simply put, he is an offensive black hole with nowhere near the defensive abilities to make up for his [tremendous] offensive shortcomings. What's that? Theriot was taking balls at SS before Mon. night's game? Mike Fontenot (.766, .807, .825 OPS from 04-06) played SS for Iowa last night? Interesting. 5) Your best relievers aren't always your most expensive relievers - Scott Eyre is a worse Wade Miller pitching in higher leverage innings. Sad, but true. An ERA of 13.50 and a WHIP of almost 3.00 does no one any good. If he's hurt, DL him; if he needs to work on mechanics, let him do it on Iowa's time - not ours. While Bob Howry has not been as bad and IMO is more salvageable, I do fear he may have been Dustied (translation = overworked for no discernible reason on a last place team which negative ramifications to next year's performance). I don't think Lou and Jim are complete idiots, so I'm guessing they already know that Michael Wuertz IS THEIR BEST RELIEVER, and while he can't pitch every bullpen inning, there has to be a way to get him pitching in the most critical situations, and not Eyre/Howry (for now). I'm glad Rocky Cherry and his 12/0 K/BB ratio is now with the club, maybe Marmol (24/4) should join in? Maybe the struggles of our multi-year contract relievers over the past two seasons will show Jim the problems with signing RP (the most variable of performers, to multi-million dollar contracts). Maybe a Jones trade will yield us a SS prospect and a cheap, electric arm that needs some work (Larry, you can ask Don Cooper for some tips). If all else fails, the Cubs are still struggling/treading water/not doing great by July, then one thing must happen: trade Carlos Zambrano. Now let's get all those Zambrano for A-rod swaps out of our heads, because those aren't happening now. However, if this team is still scuffling in a couple months, it won't be one Zambrano away from being a division winner/WS contender this year or even the next couple of years. The smarter, more forward looking, and slightly riskier move is to move Carlos and reap the potential bounty of moving one of the ten best pitchers of the last few years. Receiving cheaper, longer term solutions to longstanding problems at SS, OF, and SP could outweigh the pain of losing Z. Before anyone calls me out for panicking or not having heart to stick with it, I think we can all admit we've seen similar iterations of these problems before and we know how they turn out. There is a lot of talent on this club, but also have problems that can outweigh that talent.

While this may be true, there is absolutely, positively no reason Wade Miller should pitch in another game for this team. 10.54 ERA after today, 2.33 WHIP coming into today - you need to release him immediately.

does anyone have Miller's update ERA as of this moment - or a link to to his up to the minute stats?

he was asking too much. the truth is, despite jones' numbers last season, there aren't a lot of modern GM's in the market for an undisciplined hitter. Well, I think a "modern" GM, or any GM for that matter, who finds himself in need of an additional OF, maybe to complement a younger RH bat in a platoon or to solve an injury problem, can appreciate a player who can: *play a capable CF *.850 OPS against RH *under reasonable contract terms for this year and the next Before last year he hadn't put up an .850 OPS against RH since 2002. Hendry worked hard to deal him during the off-season and he couldn't. Ok, my mistake. His 2004-06 three year split against RH is an .826 OPS http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/splits?statsId=6246&type=batting3

We really don't know yet, Pie, Guzman, a trade acquisition, maybe no one?

he was asking too much. the truth is, despite jones' numbers last season, there aren't a lot of modern GM's in the market for an undisciplined hitter. Well, I think a "modern" GM, or any GM for that matter, who finds himself in need of an additional OF, maybe to complement a younger RH bat in a platoon or to solve an injury problem, can appreciate a player who can: *play a capable CF *.850 OPS against RH *under reasonable contract terms for this year and the next

Yep, I was just as surprised. I was waiting for him to say, "Abreu's gotta be looking to hit a fastball anywhere on that 3-1 count - don't get to two strikes dude!"

It seems awfully difficult, if not impossible, to add qualitative information to make what are wholly quantitative predictions. The player comments in the BP annual often take into account scouting reports like you want. Use the PECOTAs and the annual together.

That's a good point, but the one thing I like about this year's club is that if Jones was traded and Floyd went down with an injury, we have two OF replacements in Theriot and DeRosa, and then could bring up Moore to fill our IF needs.

I'd rather keep Cedeno than acquire Aybar, as I don't see a lot of difference between the two. Blanton would be nice, but I don't think our OBP-depleted lineup can afford to lose Murton. If minor league numbers mean anything, Aybar will be the superior offensive player. Cedeno: .265/.316/.376/.692 (1924 AB) Aybar: .311/.356/.454/.810 (2216 AB) Ok, didn't have all those in front of me when I posted. I also checked BP2007 and they described Aybar's great defensive ability. Although we'd need to spin Izturis on someone if this trade was made.

I'd rather keep Cedeno than acquire Aybar, as I don't see a lot of difference between the two. Blanton would be nice, but I don't think our OBP-depleted lineup can afford to lose Murton.

From today's BP Unfiltered: http://baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=333 (subscription required) Silver comes up with 5 trade ideas to unclog the Cubs OF rotation: 1) Jones to CWS for Mike MacDougal 2) Jones to PHI for Jon Lieber 3) Jones to LAA for Erick Aybar 4) Floyd to NYY for Kyle Farnsworth 5) Murton to OAK for Joe Blanton Its tough to say which choice I prefer. Although I desperately want Guzman to replace Miller in the rotation, I would like the insurance Lieber could provide for the rest of the staff. While it would be nice to add some power arms to our bullpen, I can't imagine Farnsworth coming back and I wouldn't want MacDougal to revert to his old form w/o Don Cooper. How about Jones/Miller for Blanton?

haven't we been skeptical of bruce levine in the past?