jaxxradio

A very deperate move by a very desperate organization..he should have been sent to Triple-A to gauge his progress against more seasoned players.

I'm gonna throw this out there since nobody has thought of it.. could this horrible move have been made by Mr. Ricketts himself? The guy is the owner and he can basically do whatever the heck he wants to do.. I doubt this is the case, but since nobody has thrown it out there...

Why would anyone think this kid is good enough to play for the Cubs right now? He hasn't hit a home run above A ball, has 31 games of experience above A-ball and didn't exactly set the world on fire with his defense in 2009 ( 39 errors total, .950 in Double-A, .933 in High-A). Don't get me wrong, Castro is going to be a good player, but he needs to start the season in the minors, preferably in Double-A where he can take advantage of the warmer weather..put up great numbers there and move up to Triple-A.

I beg to differ..it has everything to do with fundamentals. I agree that the timing is bizarre, but the Cubs player development philosophy over the last eight years or so has been to get every player fundamentally sound (that includes the art of bunting). You also have to understand that wins and losses mean very little in the minors, which is probably why he has/had his cleanup hitters laying down bunts every now and then. The other thing everyone needs to understand is the fact that Sandberg wouldn't be managing this way in the majors. His managerial style would be alot different..I can guarantee you that Lee or Ramirez wouldn't be laying down a bunt with guys on base. So then if you admit they wouldn't do it in the majors, why would they be working on it in the minors? I will admit Lee or Ramirez won't be bunting anytime soon.. but there isn't a player in the Cubs system that comes remotely close to Lee or Ramirez offensively, so I won't admit that anybody else other than these two wouldn't work on bunting in the majors.

I beg to differ..it has everything to do with fundamentals. I agree that the timing is bizarre, but the Cubs player development philosophy over the last eight years or so has been to get every player fundamentally sound (that includes the art of bunting). You also have to understand that wins and losses mean very little in the minors, which is probably why he has/had his cleanup hitters laying down bunts every now and then. The other thing everyone needs to understand is the fact that Sandberg wouldn't be managing this way in the majors. His managerial style would be alot different..I can guarantee you that Lee or Ramirez wouldn't be laying down a bunt with guys on base.

I'm on the fence with this one, but I will say this: Sandberg isn't interested in winning games as a minor league manager, he's interested in getting his players ready for the majors. Like it or not, bunting is part of the game (albeit a very small part, pardon the pun) and getting his players to consistently lay down a bunt is part of the process of becoming a more complete major league player. It used to drive me nuts to see it when I was in West Tenn, but quickly realized that wins and losses in the minors mean nothing compared to getting players fundamentally ready for the majors.

It's about time Von got to the big leagues again.. He will do a solid job for the club.. alot of the guys had him in the minors and love his laid-back approach, which is in complete contrast with Perry's aggressive attitude over the last month and change..

IMB..I can believe it. I did alot of HS play-by-play a while back and saw a number of kids meltdown after a playoff game. It's even more emotional when the team is playing for someone like the coach you mentioned. You don't see many of the pro athletes "lose it" on the field after a game..but I remeber seeing Wade Boggs and Marty Barrett cry in the dugout when the Mets beat Boston in the 1986 World Series.

I hate going into a clubhouse after a loss that ends the season. It's like going to a funeral for a family member. Tom Hanks was full of crap when he said there's no crying in baseball. I've been known to shed a few tears myself..I knew I shouldn't have watched Oprah last off-season..

Just because Soriano is smiling three days after his team got eliminated from post-season in no way, shape or form makes him someone who doesn't care about his job. I know 99% of you don't get the priviledge to go into a clubhouse after a game..if you did..you would see the anger felt when a team gets eliminated from post-season. You would see grown men crying because they didn't get the opportunity to win a championship. Please don't take what I am saying as "There goes Ron again rubbing it in our faces that he gets to do this." That's not why I am posting. What pisses me off more than anything else as a broadcaster is when a "fan" starts talking crap about a players lack of commitment or lack of emotion..they show it in the clubhouse..they show it in the privacy of their own home..but they DON'T show it in front of you fans for whatever reason. Maybe they don't show it in front of the fans as a message that its okay.. life will go on..honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that I have seen my share of tears shed in a clubhouse when a team's season ends abruptly. It ain't pretty.

David.. I'm not saying he would "retire" everybody if he didn't show emotion.. I'm just saying that Zambrano needs to be better poised on the mound when things don't go his way.

South Side.. I am not talking about just unearned runs.. this isn't a black and white issue. I am talking about prolonging an inning because of emotion. Z does that more than any other pitcher in the game. Unearned runs are the result of poor defense. The Cubs played pretty solid defense this season, so Z probably didn't give up a ton of unearned runs.. but I will guarantee you that he prolonged a number of innings when the defense made an error.. because he can't forget about the mistake and concentrate on getting the next batter out.

A pitcher is supposed to be able to keep his cool and get out of trouble when his infield or outfield has screwed up. Now I will admit that Zambrano had horrible defense behind him in game two, but he had an opportunity to get out of trouble and couldn't do it because he let his emotions get the best of him. Z's emotions have always gotten the better of him when things don't go as planned in the field, and as a result the inning gets longer and more runs score.

David..it's called picking your team up..he doesn't do it..having said that, I wouldn't trade him unless I got good value in return. I'd deal him for Peavy without blinking twice..as well as Hamels, Billingsley, Beckett and Webb.

I'm not throwing him under the bus..I'm just stating fact..when was the last time you saw Z get out of a jam that included poor defensive plays?? In game two, it was Z that gave up the run scoring double to Martin. I realize the guys on base were as the result of poor defense.. but again..a pitcher has to prevent the snowball from turning into an avalanche..he didn't do it in game two and has rarely, if ever, shown the ability TO do it.