Andy

There is no chance Pierre would accept arbitration. There is still a team stupid enough to give him a multiyear deal out there.

In the same lineup with Pujols + Cardinal magic = Carlos Lee becoming best NL OF for the next 5 years if he joins STL

It appears that way. Of course we haven't seen the catastrophic injuries followed by pitching at 50 percent like all the other Cubs prodigies.

Truer words are rarely spoken.

Makes more sense just to do away with pitchers' W-L records. Should've happened long ago. Then how would they figure out who gets the Cy Young? Actual merit? That's ridiculous.

The Trib said "if the Cubs sign him quickly, as expected" in their article...looks like he'll probably pitch at Class A Boise this summer before returning to ND for football.

Yes. I see. Seems like something the NCAA would be all up in arms about. There's only a problem with endorsements, I believe. I'm fairly sure that the reason Samardzija can play pro baseball is because it has nothing to do with his football play. As long as he is not making money off of his football abilities, the NCAA will let you do it. It's the same rationale that allows Tom Zbikowski to box at Madison Square Garden.

Bias is awesome. I'm just repeating what I've heard a billion times from national media outlets like SI.com and ESPN.com since the college FB season ended...

Since he didn't actually lose, Treeman is still the thread starter. That issue came up earlier this season and I believe that was the rule.

I'm giving him an 8. 10 would be DLee 05 performance, 9 would be Aramis 05 performance, Jones rates as a solid 8.

He's also a nothing rookie. The bad mojo counteracts the good.

Lovin' Marmol

Busey? Indiana. Gary Busey is more worthwhile than Gary, Indiana. Or Indiana period for that matter. I resent this (obviously). :-P

Seconded

Everything I've heard has him in the 10-20 range of the first round. If he drops into the 2nd round, Mark Bradley got about $2 million in guarantees. If he gets taken in the first 20 picks of the NFL draft, I will piss my pants. He's far and away the No. 1 WR in the draft right now, so I'd have to think he'll be a top-20 pick. He's not really fast, but could be a very good possession receiver a la Keyshawn in the League. There is no way that he can or will play NFL and MLB at the same time. It's simply impossible for a pitcher. And no, I haven't heard anything about his ultimate choice either, but my gut feeling is he sticks with football. We'll see though. It'd be exciting to have my favorite college baseball player with the Cubs.

I'm on a 3-thread losing streak, so there's a chance. My favorite 3 things about this thing, in order: 1. Marmol 2. Hearing that the Cubs drafted my all-time favorite two-sport athlete Jeff Samardzija (even though there's no guarantee he will ever play pro baseball). 3. Seeing Blanco hit a baseball again. Speaking of substitute thread-makers, where's Treeman?

When we were kids and had nothing better to do, my friend and I would stand up, arms extended up, when the Cubs had the other team down to their last out. If the Cubs were down to their last out, we would stand up and extend a middle finger at the TV. Boy, were we strange...

I think he'd eat one of the rookies in celebration. Bynum plz

Juan Pierre is in his contract year, and that hasn't worked out so well for us...:-P

Busey? Indiana.

A .317 OBP is absolutely terrible. Jacque is doing just as much, if not more, than should have been expected out of him. Currently he's on pace to post his highest BA since 2003, his highest SLG since 2002 and his highest OPS since 2002. Like srbin84 brought up, if he ends up with the 31 HR, and 95 RBI's he's on pace to put up, both of those will be career highs. You want to complain about OBP, complain about Ronny Cedeno who is walking even less that Jones this year and isn't even close to Jones in the power numbers. There are bigger fish to fry here goony. Ronny Cedeno makes the minimum and is playing a position where offensive success is a bonus. Jones is making $15M over 3 years and plays a position where above average offense is essential. His long term presence hamstrings us in any attempts to upgrade the offense because he takes up a position where helpful talent is much more readily available. Cedeno needs to be held accountable, for sure, but not so much as Jones does, as the Cubs have much more to lose if Jones tanks than if Cedeno does. We were discussing OBP not salaries. Goony criticized Jones's OBP and I stated that Ronny was worse. That's all. Why the need to bring up salary? I don't know what MLB you are watching, but shortstops are expected to contribute more than they used to. I'm not saying that all shortstops need to put up Tejada numbers but Ronny isn't doing anything at the plate. Right now Ronny is ranked 13th out of 26 MLB SS with a .733 OPS, ahead of players like Jose Reyes, Rafael Furcal, Bobby Crosby, and Jimmy Rollins. He could definitely learn to take a walk more, but in his first full season in the majors he's doing a very decent job. I'd say he's doing better than you're giving him credit for. Wow. That's outstanding for a player of Ronny's experience level.

It's 3 in the morning (CT) and no game thread, so I'm putting one up. Here's hoping Woody pulls a Z. And maybe we won't have to wait 7 games for his next start after this one either. But that might be pushing it. Oh, and don't forget, THE OHMAN, starring superstar Cubs reliever Will Ohman, hits theaters today, on 6/6/06. Scary huh? http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/players/mugshot/ph_349193.jpg

I showed up in the 5th and he was just electric. He had a few flashes of super-walk Z but every time he fell behind a hitter he just fired that wicked slide piece and would get the grounder or the K. It was a beautiful thing to watch. Let's see if he can keep it up...

Z's homer was a line shot into the right-center field bullpen and definitely was not a cheapie. Re the last comment: close. Pierre has 5 RBI.

A 34-year-old second baseman is probably not getting a multiyear offer so if the Cubs offer him a contract it'll probably be the best one. Hope they do.