Sammy Sofa

Eh not really. Hoff plays OF and so can Fox. You seem to be hung up on this Fuld thing. The only thing I'm "hung up" on is the idea that Fuld should get regular playing time for any kind of indeifnite stretch. Hoff and Fox are indeed guys who should be considered for such play and room made for them before Sam Fuld even enters the discussion. Fukudome isn't really a full time player either at this point in his MLB career, yet he's out there. Milton Bradley seems to be a part time player too, yet he is anointed RF. Fukudome has shown sustained stretches where is an excellent player. He also has the history of being an excellent player over in Japan. Granted, that's the Japanese league, but he's shown he's been able to translate that success over here. His dropoff is frustrating, but at least this year he is showing he is still of value if he is able to stick to his awing adjustments. That's likely something it's going to take all year for him to get used to, but he's still showing he can do it. Keep him in a platoon with Johnson and CF is fine. As for Bradley, again, the answer seems simple with his drastic splits: bat him RH and drop him in the order for the time being. He has shown he can produce at all-star levels over his career so I'm all for trying something different that ideally takes the pressure off and he starts hitting. The point with both Bradley and Fukudome is that they have recent track records of success that you want to try and still capitalize on. Trying different spots in the order or platooning them for the time being with other players with certain value and some sustained success at some level (Johnson, Hoff, even Fox) makes sense: benching them indefinitely to give playing time to Sam Fuld does not. Some would say doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is foolish. Which I'm not suggesting in the post you replied to. What's even more foolish is giving indefinite starts to a very mediocre at best minor leaguer as opposed to looking for smarter options for the time being with better players (Johnson, Hoff, Fox) There's really not much reason to play Fuku any more at all really. He should be the first Cubs outfielder to go. That's simply not true. He's clearly seeing, swinging and hitting better over the last 10 games or so. Get him in a platoon with Johnson and the CF production is fine. Makes sense but he'll probably injure himself soon anyway. He needs to be moved to 5th/6th and stay there for good. Personally, I'd prefer him to be where he's shown he has the most success once he's able to hit again. That's about right. No he shouldn't. Soriano hitting as he should does what you ideally want a leadoff hitter to do: generate a LOT of runs. That's the bottom line. For whatever reason, he performs at his best from the leadoff spot and at his best he's a worldbeater. Hey that looks like the lineup that hasn't worked all year. When have we ever seen that lineup? And I presented that lineup as ideal only AFTER certain guys start hitting consistently (Bradley and Soriano). Neither is watching your team go down the drain while doing nothing. Who suggested doing nothing? Did your girlfriend cheat on you with a gritty guy? It's simply common sense to realize that Sam Fuld to this point has not been a good baseball player for any significant stretch of time and it's extremely unlikely that he suddenly "figures it out" in the bigs with essentially no minor league success.

Whoops.

I didn't say that, I said I much rather have the bad player with a cheaper contract over the equally bad player with the dumbarse contract. Sam Fuld-ugly contract>Aaron Miles+stupid contract. It's a moot point since they play different roles on the team. If you're talking about Blanco over Miles, fine, but Fuld isn't going to replace Miles.

I totally agree with this. I hope Lou uses Johnson/Fuld in CF, and Fukudome/Bradley in RF. The latter would be pretty expensive for a platoon - but wins are the name of the game. But the idea of "fresh faces" simply for the sake of something different rings pretty hollow when "fresh faces" means Sam Fuld and...well, basically just Sam Fuld. It's fun seeing what Fuld did in his first 2 games back this season and hopefully he can have a few more flukes along those lines before all is said and done but he needs to be looked at realistically: Fuld is not a good fulltime player. He's a 5th OFer/late inning defensive replacement/pinch runner kind of guy. Look at his minor league numbers. He's simply not good. That is not, however, "excusing" or accepting what the Cubs' OF has largely produced so far this year but replacing any of those players with someone like Sam Fuld is foolish. Fukudome is clearly well past his hot start, but he's shown at times since then that he can still drive the ball so long as he doesn't revert back to his old spinning ways (largely by not planting his front foot before he swings). It is indeed frustrating that he can't consistently do this, but he's shown he can still pull it off and hopefully the visist with his hitting coach will help as it seemingly did earlier this year. Play him in a strict platoon with Reed Johnson getting the starts and AB's against lefties and the CF production should at least be acceptable. With Bradley the asnwer seems even more simple: bat him RH. He's hit righty far less than lefty this season, but the disparity between his numbers from either side of the plate simply cannot be ignored. There very likely could be issues of him simply not being apt to dealing with big market pressure, but so long as his RH numbers are staring this team in the face there's really no excuse to not bat him more from the right side. Yes, the Cubs are infatuated with having those LH bats, but the time has come to try and get what you can any way you can from Milton. Bat him almost always RH and drop him to 6th in the order and focus on him just getting on base for at least a couple weeks and see what happens. Soriano is obviously a huge question mark. He's never been cold for this long in his career so it raises the question of whether or not he's hurt. I've wanted him to get a DL stint with some confidence-boosting rehab games for a while now but it doesn't seem likely unless he hurts himself even more. I'm welcoming the drop in the lineup. Personally, I'd like to see him dropped to 5th as opposed to 6th. On days when they're facing pitchers he has a poor history against or who don't typically play to his strengths I'd like to see Fox get the start in LF. When Aramis comes back I'd like to be seeing something like this: Theriot Fukudome/Johnson Lee Aramis Soriano/Fox Bradley Soto Blanco/Baker/Fonteot (whichever combo remains after Monday) Pitcher If Bradley shows some serious turnaround after a couple weeks of batting RH and lower in the order I'd want to consider hitting him #2. If Soriano finally busts out of his funk he should go back to leadoff. Soriano Bradley Lee Aramis Fukudome/Johnson Soto Theriot Baker/Fontenot/Blanco (same as above) Pitcher I'd much rather see them try and get creative in terms of getting these guys to start performing at least near what they've shown they're capable of. Sitting them for indeifnite periods for vastly inferior players like Sam Fuld is not the answer. Work with what you have and try to maximize your investments instead of just giving up, because playing Sam Fuld for an extended period of time is basically giving up.

*JOY*

I'm all for Lou and Hendry being fired now if somehow they could be replaced by an amazing Little Lord Fontenot / Arnold Layne tandem.

Not me. Wait. You would take a guy who got sent down from AAA to AA last year because he wasn't that good to a guy who's been on a MLB roster for quite a while now? I hate Miles but at this point he's better than Fuld. I hope I'm wrong and Fuld continues to play well but odds are that he will be pretty bad eventually. Miles isn't even ML caliber, much less be starting in the lineup. I'm not saying Fuld is, but at least his contract is easier to justify then Miles. That doesn't make him any less of a bad player just because he's cheaper.

perhaps Sam Fuld is wearing the hat Lou kicked..... Don't be ridiculous. Sam Fuld can only wear clothes crafted from the blankets that protected him inside of the rocket that carried him to Earth.

The gaping hole is in the offense, not the bullpen. Trading offense for a "veteran" middle reliever will do nothing for this team. A backup who will get a pinch hit appearance every third day once Ramirez comes back. Ramirez returning will help the offense. Our bullpen is awful. What do you propose we deal that would get us an upgrade in offense? The only thing we have that is expendable that other teams would be interested in, is starting pitching. Being that our great starting pitching is the only thing that is keeping us in contention in the division, getting rid of a starter for offense would be a draw at best. Getting a better relief pitcher for a prospect is much more likely, and our bullpen (especially in the middle) is awful. The bullpen really hasn't been "awful" for over a month. Guzman is about to come back. Marshall is always there if Lou wakes up and realizes he can use him for more than 1 batter. Heilman has had stretches where he's been fine. Marmol is looking better. Gregg, for the most part, gets it done. We haven't really seen what Shark can do this time around if he stays, plus there's the other rotating options up now or in the minors. The bullpen is not a "gaping hole" at this point. Sure, it could be improved, but it's not the most pressing need. Aramis is no kind of a lock to come back and be a difference maker given the nature of his injury. It would be much smarter to to look to upgrade the offense at 2nd or even SS if possible or if need be in the OF.

Fuld as in the guy that isn't a good hitter? I'd say that makes him a bad candidate. Fuld as in the hot hand. Besides, we all know it will only last a few games, so why not experiment. Because it's a bad idea. Because Sorianos .292 OBP has been working out so well for us at leadoff. The answer would not be to put a mediocre career minor leaguer there instead. I'd rather flip-flop Fukudome and Soriano in terms of realistic options.

Yes, especially if they let him bat RH.

You're all fools. It's clearly the hat.

THANK GOD FOR SHITTY UMPIRES!

For me that just makes his year even more frustrating. He's got the reputation for a reason.

Alright, Milton: focus. It's redemption time.

Aw, Lee, that 1-0 pitch was your joint.

Dammit, I wanted Clutchiano.

Then you take your chances with Hill up, the bases loaded and one out. Fuld hit that on the button. That's almost always a single short of what happened happening: the infielder making a perfect leaping stab at it. You can't gamble like that's likely to happen when a single is the far more likely outcome whenever a ball is hit like that in that direction.

OUTSTANDING work by Gregg today.

How is Fontenot at fault? Basically anyone is going to get doubled off at 2B with the way that went down.

Well, if they can keep it tied they'll be coming up with Soriano, who has somehow managed to be Mr. Clutch several times during his prolonged slump.

He keeps finding new ways to prove that he belongs in iowa. You're kidding on this one, right? That was a fantastic catch at the just the right spot.

If Fuld wins this I will submit and crown him Baseball Jesus.

I take it back.

Why the [expletive] is Soto not hitting for Hill?!?