davell

I was just coming here to post that article. Wow. I'm glad Selig turned down the Fox deal, but good lord, this could get messy beyond belief. McCourt makes a living out sueing folks and my guess is he'll have no issue taking MLB to court. The Dodgers and their fans certainly deserve better than this. And by the looks of things, I could see this thing dragging on for a VERY long time.

What are some opinions on Carpenter? I love that he can light it up, but he doesn't seem to have had a lot of recent success. I imagine that him being up with the Cubs is to see what he's got before the decision on him sticking on the 40 man. Any thoughts on him? He's kind of struggled ever since the Cubs put him in the pen, but I think it was the right move for him. He certainly can amp up the velo more now and seeing him for a much shorter period also helps out some with his command issues. For him to become an elite bullpen arm, that's going to be the hurdle he needs to jump. That said, I'm not all that worried about what his numbers looked like down in the minors this year. For all we know, the Cubs had told him to work on certain things, results be damned. The eye test tells me that he's not overmatched at the highest level though and we need all the help we can get. I think it's mainly just him getting comfortable in this role and then he'll be fine. I think he could wind up as a very nice setup guy for us longterm.

It's kind of the million dollar question really......I'm a big fan of Soto, but I'm not going to delude myself into thinking he's a true longterm answer for us either, because of both his age and his good year-bad year deal he evidently has going on, I kind of hope we DO trade him before he hits FA anyway, because I really don't feel comfortable giving him a 3-4 year deal that takes him into his mid 30's........That said, I'm not sure his trade value is where we think it should be either, so trading him now is certainly a risk, unless we get a damn good return and I'm not holding my breath there...... I'm not sure what to think about Castillo though either. I'd put it at 50-50 as to whether he's a starting catcher for a formidable big league club. I've heard "lazy" more than once when talking about his defensive abaility and his pitch calling. Probably not the guy pitchers love to see back there.(different question entirely though, as to whether or not that really matters, but Koyie Hill has stuck around much longer than anyone ever thought he could evidently by being "that guy". My guess is Castillo can be a .250/.300/.420ish type guy that provides adequate defense. Is that worthy of being our starter? I'm not sure, but if it's not him, I don't see anyone else in our system that's going to be ready for 3 years or so(Gibbs) and then I'm not sure he'll even be able to approach THOSE offensive numbers.

He's been good much more than he's been bad, I just chalk it up to the old "not having it today" addage...... On a side note though, I like that we've got some relievers in place that look like they're about ready to become major league fixtures for us. Between him, Rhoderick, and Kurcz, surely we wind up with 2 solid bullpen arms. Especially if you add Zych to that mix. If we can have a period where we've got 3-5 cheap, cost effective bullpen arms, it should help us immensely rounding out the major league squad without the Hendry specials like Grabow, Hawkins, etc......

I agree that Szczur and Ha have better than "average major leaguer" potential, to go along with B Jax, Vitters and McNutt.......I'm not going to include any of the recent draftees(although, It'll be fun to look at how many possibilities from this draft class COULD make this list.) That said, I'm OK with going ahead and labeling Struck in this category of average starter(body type being the issue for me, which may not even be a good enough reason honestly). I can even understand Whitenack, if for nothing else, the injury is going to impede his progress for sure. But Beeler? I'm not seeing anything yet out of him that doesn't have me very excited. Big guy, very solid velo, and very solid control. Is he just a two pitch guy? Or is there something else I'm missing on him? Because he appears to have just about everything we were gushing about last year with McNutt. Right?

I tend to think today is an aberration control-wise for Kim. AZPhil said earlier that he throws TOO MANY strikes and has commented about what good control he has.

It's considered a pitchers league. But, the field quality in Daytona has been mentioned as one of the worst in all the minors.

Just curious, but am I the only one relatively surprised that Szczur has 5 homers already this year? I didn't think he'd get that many all season, even hearing how he had power potential down the line. I'm actually starting to think he has more upside than Brett possibly.(not a knock on Brett either, since I can see a .350 OBP type who is near 20-20 every year with him) Can Szczur become a slightly better average hitter, with less walks(but a decent amount) less K's, close to the same power with more speed than Brett? Part of me is starting to think this may be the case and we could very well have a VERY exciting OF in mid 2013 or so.......

I guess it's possible that the longer he stays in a situation(even the majors) he could continue to get better. We've only seen a struggle period, followed by solid(but certainly not spectacular) success. So, I guess it's at least conceivable that he'll struggle in the majors, followed by being decent, with the POSSIBILITY of becoming more equipped and becoming dominant...... That said, I expect he'll wind up as a mid to upper 700's OPS guy in LF. Just can't see him sticking at 3B and I figure we'll try him in LF before 1B with the hopeful acquisition of a bigtime 1B this offseason blocking him by the time he's ready for the show. There's value in that though, as it's at least more than I was thinking for him longterm even heading into this season.

Defensively, Montero is a question mark, but his bat is ready right now.

As cool as it is to see Vitters "getting it" the best news tonight is Wells' velo reports. Gotta hand it to Toonster, he was first on this bandwagon by a longshot and it's cool to see he's got some serious potential from the early looks of things......

Yeah, that'd be really helpful. If I remember with the latin American guys last year, one of Penalver or Canderario got 550,000 and the other got 500,000. Sanchez and Baez each got 350,000. Mineo got 225,000 and I think we spread out a mill or so to about 5-6 other July 2nd signees, including Abreu, Santana, and Gonzalez......

What other choice do we have though?(I'm asking this with the assumption Z IS dealt obviously) I'm not seeing anyone else out there that's a possibility. Now, if you're asking this rhetorically as if to say we shouldn't trade Z, I can see that argument for sure. But, I think that if we COULD get one of the Yankee catchers or Betances then I'd probably be talked into moving Z and giving this type of longterm plan a shot Because of the upside we'd be getting back. On the other hand, if he'd moved for a Ted Lilly type package, I'd pass. He's of more use to us and our possibilities over the 2012 season than adding some middling guys who probably won't contribute a ton either. Z isn't a 17 mill type of pitcher at this point, but he's certainly got value. Basically, if it's me, we need to get something very solid in return, or just keep him and hope for the best with whatever type additions we can make over the offseason.

If you trade him for prospects, you're probably looking at signing Chris Carpenter on a short term deal and then going all out for one of Liriano/Marcum/Greinke/Weaver in 2013. Question becomes this: How much better are we with this, than what we are now....... C Soto 1B Fielder 2B Barney or LeMahieu SS Castro 3B Vitters or stopgap guy LF Soriano CF B Jackson RF Colvin or FA signee that's probably not a ton of money SP Greinke or Liriano Garza Wells McNutt Cashner, Struck, Whitenack or FA signee Bullpen Marmol Marshall Our Carpenter Shark Beliveau Rhoderick or Kurcz If Jackson and McNutt become a quality OBP, decent power/speed combo CF and a middle rotation starter respectively, we've got a solid squad here for somewhere around 100 mill.......

Yeah, I doubt he'd even be in my top 30, but it doesn't change the fact(unless there's stuff we aren't privy to) I'd put him on the 40 man this offseason. In fact, if he strings together 2-3 decent outings in a row, I'd call him up and see if he builds on it. Can't hurt, with the state of our current 40 man anyway. Lots of throwaway spots as it is.......

Fitzgerald was demoted, doubt he's around much longer, especially with the influx of players from the draft. The guy who's got 4 homers in the DSL is Xavier Batista, who was also demoted from Arizona.

I'd love to get one of the Yanks good catching prospects or one of their elite young arms. I hope the Cubs are ready to eat a ton of his contract in order to do this, because dealing him strictly for salary relief isn't what I have in mind. Just don't see how it's going to wind up worth it.

It definitely appears we've made Cuba a priority.

Keith Law was asked on Twitter about Maples and said it'd take 2 mill to sign him and he expects he'll go to UNC.......Doubt Law is plugged into the Cubs all that well, but the 2 mill figure is low enough(if true) that I can see the Cubs getting him.

I'd definitely keep Jay Jackson. To me, he's the guy we'd regret leaving off. I know he's struggled the last year and all, but I still think he's got mid rotation or setup type potential. Just have to get him back on track somehow. With Carpenter getting a promotion the way he did though, I think this one will take care of itself and we'll see him get an audition later on this season anyway, deserving or not.

Ricketts just said he's got 100% confidence in Jim and Quade going forward. He sees Jim as someone who can lead us into the future. They'll maybe reassess things in the offseason. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-ricketts-says-hendry-and-quade-are-safe-20110615,0,2356555.story

It's what we've all basically asked for, gotta be thrilled with the effort here honestly...... As far as what Toonster asked: Damn good question too and I'm not totally sure what I'd really prefer. I was one of the guys wanting Maples in the 2nd round(love Vogelbach though), so I like him ALOT. Is he worth that trio of guys? Dunno. But, I think the numbers you mentioned are probably dead on. 6 mill for those 3, or 6 mill for Baez, Vogelbach, Dunston, Jacquez, and Jensen? I think the odds favor taking the 3 guys over Maples, I guess. But Jacquez' size makes him a reliever right off the bat, right? It's not like the majors are screaming with 5'9 starters anyway. In a perfect world, I'd do my damndest to find a way to make it work with Maples and get Jensen somehow too. Lose out on Dunston and Jacquez......

Penalver and Candelario each went 1-5 today. No walks.

They could try something like that. They also might just bump Wilken all the way up to GM... which I'd be less happy about. Not impossible, but the jump to GM would probably be unlikely because there's so much he hasn't been actively involved with in a long time (I believe he held some other front office role in Tampa as well, not clear off the top). I do like the rumors of Cherington and Hale. I still sort of like Quade, but he's been disappointing, even when accounting for the talent deficiency. I half wonder if, since Hendry seems to have a good relationship with Ricketts as well, if Hendry may get the bump to some sort of President role. :lol: I just asked the same damn thing over in a different section. He's given the Cubs 16 years, I find it hard to believe they can him......

We have club options for the next 2 seasons on him at around 3 mill per season. Is he worth that, if he continues his current season? I can't say that I know what I'd do next year if I were the Cubs.......