Sammy Sofa

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Is it really necessary for the Cubs to be desperately dumping salary? If they move Fukduome and don't have to pay all of his salary to do so, and then with Lee and Lilly coming off the books that's a lot of money they're clearing. Sure, Soriano's got an ugly contract, but it's not like it's something that is crippling the team, nor is there even a very good FA market coming up that the Cubs need a lot of money to spend on. Besides, the teams that can or will choose to afford to take on Soriano's contract without the Cubs picking much or any of it typically aren't teams that make "desperate" moves like that.

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Exactly which salaries are you expecting to be "dumped" besides possible Fukudome's? The only other two significant names making significant money that have cropped up in trade talk are Lilly and Lee, and they're gone after this year anywhere. Sure, they could move Byrd, too, but it's hardly like he has a contract that's hindering the team. I still think Silva might be a possibility to move, but that'd be about it as far as moving salaries. I think passing on trading Lilly because we might have an outside shot would be a mistake too, I think. Agreed. Lilly should be in demand, and they'd be fools to pass that up, especially since they can ultimately plug Zambrano back into the starting rotation to replace him.

Exactly which salaries are you expecting to be "dumped" besides possible Fukudome's? The only other two significant names making significant money that have cropped up in trade talk are Lilly and Lee, and they're gone after this year anyway. Sure, they could move Byrd, too, but it's hardly like he has a contract that's hindering the team.

I don't think it's that sad really. Colvin has spent most of his time in the top of the order while Castro has been at the bottom most of the time. Colvin has probably provided more wow moments that stick into fan's heads with how long his home runs have gone. And it's not like Colvin is Ryan O'Malley out there...he is a legitimate prospect having a very good season. Obviously Castro is the one to be more excited about because of age and position, but I don't think it's a problem if any fan wanted to say Colvin. They are both good prospects who have shown both good tools and good production while in the major leagues. Neither one has had a whole lot of extra luck in the majors. To ask people to dig into minor league numbers to find out which one might have a better chance of sustaining their play is IMO unrealistic. I dont see why we cant be excited about both of them. Theres really no need to pick sides, this isnt Jacob vs. whatver the other guys name is(trying to work in a Twilight reference, but Ive never seen the movies, only the Burger King commercials) To be honest, I think that Castro has the tools to become an elite type player, but I still think that Colvin can be a very good player. These 2, along with Soto, Byrd, and Soriano are the core that they will be building around for the next few years, and as Ive said before, if we could get one big bopper, be it a full season of a productive Aramis Ramirez or an FA or trade we should have a very good team next year. Not if Colvin is starting for the Cubs.

Still an average OPS. For a 20 year old rookie SS? Of the 40 SS's with at least 100 PA's, Castro has the 5th best BA, 6th best OBP, 7th best SLG, and the 5th best OPS. He is 70 points of OPS above the NL average at SS and 79 points over the MLB average. STILL AN AVERAGE OPS. Sadly, I'd bet that if the average Cubs fan was polled as to who they were excited more, Colvin or Castro, Colvin would probably have the lead.

Nice way to start the second half. Keep it up, jerks.

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Ugh, I had to go grab my radio for PbP. Morgan is especially unbearable tonight.

Game. Enjoy. You.

This is swell.

I'm willing to give him a shot over Theriot at this point. Wouldn't it make much more sense to have Fukudome leading off instead of either them? Especially against a pitcher like Halladay.

So you're completely full of [expletive]. There's absolutely no way to you can prove that Hill should get anything other than scattered starts to give Soto the necessary time off when one sits down and compares their offensive and defensive capabilities. And don't try and wiggle out by saying you're simply saying that Hill is a better defensive catcher than Soto; that can easily be true but only at a marginal level. Unless you're arguing that Hill poses a significantly better option defensively than Soto then you're continually repeating something meaningless.

Actually, I wouldn't disagree that Hill is likely a better defensive catcher. The point, again, is that he's not better defensively enough to justify him getting extra starts or AB's or even coming in as defensive replacement over Soto. The defensive difference between the two is relatively very minor.

Nah. PH anyone for Soto then is inexcusable. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So then why/how are you so sure that Hill is a significant improvement over Soto when it comes to defense? We're not talking about whether Hill is technically better or not; he needs to be MUCH better to justify putting his near-useless bat in the lineup over Soto's.

Well, at least dumped Theriot down to where he belongs...but he still decides to start Colvin over Fukudome AND lead him off.

Where Lou's grandparents are from?

Uh, no it doesn't. Lou, uh, unnecessarily, like, threw Soto under the, uhm, bus and stuff yesterday and made the, uh, very stupid decision to pinch hit, uh, er, Hill for Soto. Uh, that is what people are, uh, like, blaming Lou for. And how nice that you won't debate Hill vs. Soto on defense after you make the ridiculous declaration that Hill is a significantly better defensive catcher.

Exhibit one billion as to the stupidity of the Cubs, your honor.

Cubs win, 8-4.

Uh, no. Hill is marginally better on defense at best, and nowhere near being better enough to justify all the times Soto's been switched out for him during a game.

Brad Miller always struck me as being my dad if my dad went insane and decided he wanted to be an NBA player.

You do if your top player is LeBron, Kobe, or Wade. Rose is not the type of player who will be the man on a championship winning team. He is a great player, but not good enough to do that. Welp, he might as well give up now. Already peaked at 21.

Not much else to talk about.