katway

On board... Rusch has only really had two good pitching years in the last 10. It always amazes me how long some lefthanders can stay in the league with subpar stuff. I'd much rather have a better righthander pitcher out there. In this case, Rusch hasn't set the bar too high.

Barretts heroics kind of overshadowed Marshall's performance. Marshall had an extremely impressive first outing in a playoff type atmosphere. He looks like a keeper for the rotation -- big left hander, good stuff, throws strikes, etc. My only concern is his stamina for a full major league season. However, I'd much rather have him in the rotation than Rusch or Williams. If he begins to run out of gas mid-year, I hope Miller, Guzman, and/or Hill are ready.

Fair deal. Cubs get Lee for $13M when the Yanks and others would have offered more this offseason. Lee gets an extra $3.5M this year. Essentially, it is a 4 year $55.5M deal. It's more than Ortiz is getting, but Lee is also excellent defensively with a little speed as well.

Currently, Rolen is the better player. But, considering their ages and Rolen's shoulder issues, I'd have to go with Aram since he has a bigger upside and has greater trade value long term.

He wouldn't have gone from sub 40 to 73 that's for sure. I am talking about over the course of his career. He may not have hit 73 but he probably could have averaged 40/yr. Look how many at-bats he has missed since the 73 and how many HR he missed because he was hurt. We do not know how much steroids contributed to his injuries but there is a good chance that it was substantial. And he might still be going strong had he not taken steriods. So what would the asterick mean by his name - that he hit more HR than he should have or that he hit less HR than he should have? :-s Who is to say Barry Bond's father, Bobby Bonds, would have had to retire at 36 if he had taken steroids? A guy retires at the same age that his son is hitting his peak.... get the feeling that roids have more to do with Barry Bonds being on the field than off the field.

The Wall Street journal article was a bit more detailed and indicated that the Tribune was not thinking about selling the Cubs because they are profitable. A 3% investor is growing impatient, but didn't mention selling the Cubs. That investor spoke of selling some of the broadcasting operations and taking the company private. In any event, here's some of what was mention in the article with respect to the Cubs:

Team chemistry is hard to measure. Good team chemistry can result in teams winning games. But, good team chemistry can also be the result of teams winning games. Nevertheless, there seems to be something to the notion of team chemistry. When given two equally talented teams, I will always pick the team that I perceive as having the greater team chemistry.

Brandon Watson outplayed Church this spring and deserved to start. Church was sent to the minors rather than other players because he has options left and really needs the at bats to find his hitting stroke. Church was hitting .200 with one double and one homer in 55 at bats. Watson was hitting .311 with a .368 on-base percentage and had 7 steals in 8 attempts. But why should Church have had to prove himself this spring? His major league track record shoudl weigh more than spring at bats. Church's spring numbers look eerily similar to spring stats that Ryno and Bagwell used to put up during the spring in their primes. Teams place way too much emphasis on the at bats a player gets in the spring when he is trying to get himself into shape. Church doesn't have nearly enough major league experience to be considered a lock. Watson looks like he might bring as much or more (speed) to the table, so I wouldn't fault the Nationals in starting Watson. There's nothing preventing them from recalling Church is Watson doesn't work out. Church will have time rediscover his stroke at AAA.

Brandon Watson outplayed Church this spring and deserved to start. Church was sent to the minors rather than other players because he has options left and really needs the at bats to find his hitting stroke. Church was hitting .200 with one double and one homer in 55 at bats. Watson was hitting .311 with a .368 on-base percentage and had 7 steals in 8 attempts.

Lincoln Holdzkom has intrigueing numbers as well as an intrigueing history see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Holdzkom if Wikipedia is to be believed...

I certainly wouldn't mind seeing that happen. Marshall appears to have been very consistent with good stuff. While I have some concern with respect to his durability to pitch a full major league season at this point, he's earned the shot and has the advatage of being lefthanded. Guzman, when healthy, is a major league pitcher IMO. So, if he is healthy, give him a spot in the rotation. With respect to Williams, he has lost some weight, but is really getting tagged this spring. Simply doesn't look like he is pitching well enough to get a spot in the rotation. Hill has that great curve, but still needs to season his other pitches. I don't like him in relief because he still walks to many and can give up the long ball. Would rather seem him start at AAA to work on his control and other pitches. Rusch is probably the pitcher best suited for the long-relief and spot starting. Rather have him in that role than as a starter.

Not at all conerned. They were able to train and play against good players through their WBC experience. In addition, Lee has a shoulder that needs a little time to get healthy, so I'd rather see him take a little time off at this point.

He's not nearly as good as Pierre. Pierre is a proven leadoff hitter that knows his job. Gathright is still working on it and can easily become another failed prospect. In any event, gotta admit Pierre has impressed me thus far with his work ethic and clubhouse value; there are very few players that can bring that kind of value to a team.

I expect his power numbers to be up in hitter friendly Camden yards.

While I wouldn't trade him -- Zambrano easily has the highest trade value on the club. He's a starter that hasn't had injury problems, isn't overpaid, and has the best stuff on the staff when he is on. In addition, he has pitched over 200 innings in each of the last 3 years, is only 24, and continues to improve.

The thing anyone should infer about him not suing for libel is that he has good legal advice. Give this man/woman a star. Even if he won, he'd spend millions and be in for a very nasty battle, not to mention drawing further attention to the issue. I frequently advise clients on unfair competition issues (which has some similar implications and issues), and tell them exactly the same thing. He's not bringing a suit that is as difficult to prove; but, he is sueing nonetheless. So, he is drawing further attention to the whole matter. Case in point -- we're talking about it right now because of his suit.

Aside from physical characteristics and home run totals, the one thing that leads me to lean in the Sammy was on the juice camp is that he also was low enough to use a corked bat. Using a corked bat was clearly against the rules, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was on the juice.

Defense is getting greater emphasis now days. Defense holds a lot of value because even when a player is having a bad day at the plate, he can contribute defensively. If guys like Walker or Wilson are having bad days at the plate, they really don't have much value to the team on that given day. In Walker's case, second base is generally considered a defense first position where defense is strongly valued. Soriano is exhibit number 1 for this proposition.

Marshall has looked good, but it's a real small sample. One bad game and he no longer looks like the best thing since sliced bread. Looks like he needs at least one more quality start before anyone can seriously refer to his performances as "earning" anything other than a closer look.

Good idea, but the O's still don't do the trade unless the Cubs pay the salary difference.

Soriano is already a much better fielder in left than he was at second... :shock:

Maybe because people expect the manager of a baseball team to construct lineups and make in-game decisions in a way that gives his team the best chance to win. Dusty just doesn't do that: 1. When Derrek Lee was tearing the cover off the ball in the first half of the season, Dusty was the only guy that could stop him. Dusty wasted Lee's amazing performance by having Corey and Neifi hitting in front of Lee at the top of the order. It doesn't take much to imagine the other players on the club who would have gotten on base more often than Corey and Neifi. 2. The whole LaTroy Hawkins as closer debacle. Dusty shouldn't have tried to use Hawkins as closer at all following 2004. Hendry wanted Dempster to close, but, instead, Dusty had him starting. And why put Rusch in the bullpen and Dempster in the rotation when Rusch was so good as a starter for the Cubs last year and Dempster is returning from Tommy John? It just doesn't make sense. 3. Dusty makes poor field decisions as far as double switches, replacement fielders, righty lefty matchups where he would bring in Remlinger to face lefties when Remlinger's career stats always indicated he was not good for the role and better against right handed batters. 4. Dusty has a real problem letting the rookies play. Given the Cubs situation with injuries, it would be nice to see what the younger players can do rather than Perez and/or Macias daily. At least playing the rookies would give the Cubs organization an idea about what they'd have the next year and beyond. 5. In addition, Dusty, who was known as a players manager when he came to the Cubs, has done a poor job in many situations -- such as sosa, Walker, etc... He also plays favorites with who he will protect and who he will call out in the press. As far as the assertion that Dusty is a winner just below Cobby Cox, I don't agree. A winning manager is able to win regardless of injuries because he knows how to put people in the right situation for success. The Braves have had to deal with many, many injuries this season and in years past, but every year they end up at the top of the division. I think that makes Bobby Cox a winner. Dusty Baker has had some good teams, but when it comes time to make decisions about replacing injured players or helping a slumping player he fails. At the heart of it all, it just doesn't seem that Dusty Baker is giving them the best chance to win. That's all people ask. Put the best lineup on the field. To some extent, Hendry's job has become to Dusty proof the lineup. It shouldn't work that way.

The Nats asked for permission from the Rangers to speak with Soriano prior to the trade. Permission was denied. I wonder if this was because Texas knew Washington wanted to make him an OF, and Texas already knew he didn't want to do that... Everyone in baseball knew he didn't want to move to the outfield. He didn't want a position change with the Yankees. He said no when inquiries were made by the Cubs and Astros and Washington acknowledged his stance when they made the trade. So, yes, the Nationals did anticipate that there could be a problem, but may not have thought Soriano would not honor his contract. Soriano should just play the outfield and make his wishes known everyday to the media. Then, Washington couldn't refuse to pay him and he can showcase his skills to other teams.

The Cubs, like nearly every team, only had interest in Soriano as an outfielder in light of his league leading errors at second. Really don't see the club changing that preference.

Not happening. Cubs know how bad a fielder Soriano is and their only interested in him as an outfielder. See September 25th Chicago Tribune.