davell

That's how I looked at it, and although I'm not thrilled about it I do understand at least. I don't understand it and I don't think that's the case either. What value could their be in letting the hitters see the pitcher you've dubbed as your new late inning weapon? Lou used him because Lou locks into certain decisions and sticks with them, like using Marmol, Wood, and now Samardzija, in blowouts. The reasonable thing to do would be to save him for today, when you may actually need him. Without looking whatsoever(and honestly playing devil's advocate here, since while I said I figure this is what Lou was probably trying to accomplish, not necessarily agreeing with it either) how many times has he misused Wood this year? I can't seem to remember any personally at least. I'm sure he's pitched in a few non-save situations obviously, but I can't remember even once thinking "this is a misuse of him". Marmol? Yeah, he was overworked some for sure, but I'd also at least like to think that it was in ballgames where he was perceived to be needed, not just being pitched for the hell of it.......If him or Wood has been used in games where we're up or down more than 3 or so more than a few times, I'd be fairly surprised. I know Lou loves his pen and only has confidence in a very select few, but I'd be a little surprised if either of those two have been put in spots where you really question it at that exact time more than a handful.......Like I said though, playing devil's advocate more than anything here, mainly because I'm too lazt to look this stuff up and wouldn't mind seeing the stats for leads or deficits when they pitched. :D

Is he going to be a type A free agent? If he is and we could get him for Veal and something else less, I think I'd do it......I really like his bat, because as much as I have enjoyed Edmonds' production to this point, I just can't think it'll continue throughout the season. And if he gets hurt for an extended period, we're down to Johnson playing CF fulltime(because I really don't see Lou giving Pie another shot this year) Get Ibanez, play him in RF 40ish games or so, Soriano will get 5-8 games off the rest of the year and Fukudome will as well, which would then leave Edmonds and Johnson 25-30 games left to split starts between them. Plus, having Edmonds as our top pinch hitter is worlds better than Ward at this point.

I think the reason Lou used Shark last night was to let him face Fielder and the heart of their order in a less pressured atmosphere. And yes, Shark took his foot off the pedal, but he can learn from that hopefully. Probably won't be the last time he's asked to do that this year.

Furcal says he'll be back this year actually. Of course he would say that though, since he's a FA at the end of the year and wants to prove he's healthy.

Nelson Perez hit another homer tonight and Antigua pitched 3.2 innings of hitless/walkless baseball with 3 K's.......I'm sure Perez will turn into Pedro Cerrano trying to hit a curveball at higher levels, but he's interesting for sure at this point anyway. Antigua seems like a guy ready to break out and become a "known name" within a year or so. It'd be really nice to see him make Peoria next year.

With Adam Everett getting DFA'd today, my guess is the Dodgers wind up with him.

Cashner walked 4 in 1.2 innings and gave up an unearned run in the process. No idea if he came out due to pitch count or for some other reason though.

I thought that was pretty much confirmed, wasn't it? Or was it just rumor? At any rate, I guess I could be thinking about when he got sent from Iowa to Arizona for that day or two.

Dunn is an interesting guy for the offseason as far as money goes. My guess is he's thought of as a DH through baseball circles at this point. Depending possibly on whether or not what Ricciardi said about him actually holds any weight with other GM's, it COULD very well have a serious impact on what he gets this offseason. What's he worth though? JD Drew money possibly? Sounds about right to me anyway. I wonder if 5-70 is too long of an obligation for someone like him though IF GM's think the same way Ricciardi evidently does. Only reason I even bring it up is because you'd think he'd be highly sought after right now, with the trade deadline looming, but it really appears that he's not. In the end, I think 14-15 mill per year sounds right, but maybe no one would want to go more than 3-4 years at that figure? No matter what though, I don't see the Cubs getting involved, with the only OF spot possibly in need being CF and doubtful that Fukudome would be asked to change spots.

Will Eyre net us a comp pick, by any slight chance?

I figure we'll open next year with Soriano in left, Puie/Johnson in center, and Fukudome in right. Mainly, because I doubt we'll have much to do in free agency with most likely not having ownership in place. If Pie starts off badly, we'll go out and get someone fairly early on., or at least as soon as someone comes available...... I'd like to see Fukudome in CF and add more of a power bat for RF myself.

For Vitters to wind up in next year's BA top 10, I'd venture to say he'd need to get promoted to Peoria and then still hit .300ish or so once he got there.

I think that what we had heard HAS to be correct with Shark. The reason for low K totals was because he was working on different pitches.

He turned 19 in June.

I saw an article where it said Hendry appears done unless we have an injury. I agree with Hall though, adding an OFer would be what I'd do too. What would Texas want for Bradley and either of Francisco or Guardado? Would a package of Pie/Veal/Wuertz get it done?

Veal didn't make it out of the 3rd.

I'm extremely interested in seeing what Samardzija can do against major league hitters personally. My only concern with this is wondering if putting him in the pen would affect the groove and comfortability he seems to be enjoying right now as a starter? I had kind of given up on him as a starter longterm, but right now, it's hard not to be excited about his potential. Is he an ace or a 3/4 guy? Obviously, it's up in the air, but the fact that he's even being debated about in these terms is a great thing to me anyway.

Pie came in as a defensive replacement in the 8th yesterday and had an at bat.

Has there been any word on Flaherty at all?

I think Dempster will be back, assuming he has a "decent" second half. If he comes in with a 4ish ERA over the 2nd half of the season and stays healthy, I'd expect him to be back with a 3-30ish type contract with it being backloaded most likely, maybe 6-12-12 or something like that(maybe a mill less per with a signing bonus). Get rid of Marquis and go into next year with everyone else with Z/Harden/Lilly/Demp all having guaranteed spots in the rotation. Of course, it's possible that he could have a much better second half than that and price himself higher as well. I do think that the ownership situation COULD wind up being the only way this doesn't happen, but to this point, it hasn't been an issue at all. I guess the other slight possibility would be if we DO have an owner in place by the offseason, I guess they could want to make a splash and go after Sabathia or Sheets possibly, also leaving Demp out of the equation.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but what kind of reportoire does Chen have? He seems like a guy to definitely keep an eye on anyway.

Olney talked about how this literally came together in a day, evidently not thinking anyone outside of Chicago would be able to hear Hendry say this was worked on for a month and got serious in the last 10 days. He also talked about how this is a risky move for the Cubs. He's got serious egg on his face right now, at any rate.

While the Cubs system is probably one of the 10 worst in the majors, if you count guys who have "graduated" from minor league status, I think we can compete for just about anyone. (CC excluded, as what Bruce said makes sense to me, sometimes there's just not a fit). The guys I'm figuring are available for the right player are as follows: Cedeno, Murton, Patterson, Pie, Colvin, Hoffpauir, Castillo Gallagher, Marshall, Veal, Ceda, Wuertz Could some of last year's class be available as well? Thomas or Vitters? Maybe Russell or Smith? I think it's possible, but Vitters would be the only one who has solid value and you're still trading him too early to maximize his value longterm as well. I figure Colvin has very little value at this point with his poor season. Murton has little value to other teams since he's still on our team as it is. I thought he'd be gone long before now anyway. Cedeno and Patterson both probably have more value than Murton, assuming teams see Patterson as an infielder anyway. Hoffpauir is a huge question mark. Career minor leaguer, putting up huge numbers everywhere he's been this year. While probably not sought after by any means, I'm thinking he does have SOME sort of value, more than just a total throwin. Castillo seems like a guy that if he continues doing what he's been doing, we could see him start showing up on top 100 lists fairly soon. After the success of Soto, maybe teams look at him as a nice chip. Pie is a huge question mark as well, my guess is value varies wildly from club to club. Gallagher seems like a guy who would be in the top 50ish range of prospects at this point, if he hadn't graduated already. Our most valuable trade piece, unless some teams are ready to pay up for Vitters at this stage of his development. Veal has been better his second time around AA, certainly helping increae his value some from where it was at the beginning of the year. Probably in the 100-125ish range as far as all prospects go? Marshall is fairly established at the major league level now, is cheap too, so he has solid value if you ask me. Moreso than Veal anyway, I would think. Ceda probably is included in a lot of top 100 lists at this point, solid value to a lot of teams. I'm including Wuertz strictly because other teams probably are interested in relief help at the major league level and he could become a setup guy for a lot of teams(Ours possibly, assuming we let Howry walk after the season) Bottom line though, while our actual top 10 prospects doesn't seem like much right now, I do think we have the pieces to go get a true impact guy, just probably not CC, because of the fit. Even with that being the probem though, if Hendry goes "all-in" at the last minute, it'd probably make the Indians think twice.

I keep looking for someone else who's not really on the radar for us to snag, but can't find anyone. Assuming we don't have the goods to get CC, we're not interested in Burnett(which I hope isn't the case) and Harden doesn't go anywhere because they're in the race, does anyone else see ANYONE out there who can actually UPGRADE the rotation from where it is right now?

I read somewhere this morning that IF Seattle were to trade Bedard, they'd want the same type package they gave up for him. Is he worth that much, especially right now? Nah, not really. Would he be worth that much to the Cubs and their postseason hopes? Honestly, it's hard for me to say. Without looking to see exactly what all they gave up for him, I know Jones, Tillman, and Sherrill were in the deal, along with a few others too, if I remember correctly. Jones had/has more value than Pie. Honestly, I figure most GM's would be thinking of trying to steal him from us at this point, instead of using him as a main piece in a trade. I'd say Gallagher and Tillman are probably equal values at this point. Sean's value has certainly gone up since the winter anyway. Sherrill would have more value than someone like a Wuertz, but not as much as someone like a Ceda most likely. Would Pie/Gallagher/Ceda be enough or too much to get Bedard? I'm partially asking this because I also read somewhere this morning that it would take a Haren-esque package to pry Harden away from the A's.