VanceJergins

If he stays healthy, then Sabathia's got nothing on Rich.

I want to kick every Cub not named Harden right in the balls.

Holy crap, our patience is terrible.

It has Johnson in the mid-80's, correct?

awesome

Hopefully they grit their way into another 10+ innings.

Looks like we might have extras in St.Louis. That's probably the best possible outcome.

I didn't come to a baseball message board to get evangelized to!

Just like Randy Johnson. I love watching them get owned by a 45 year old turd.

I'm really liking this Harden guy

Awesome, I had no idea about this. I could kiss you right now...but I won't

You can't just take Soto's overall minor league numbers. He had a break out season at age 24, which is not uncommon for catchers. He OPS'ed 1.076. This year he is OPS'ing .866, over .200 lower than his break out minor league season. Schumaker didn't have a breakout minor league season, he was extremely mediocre his entire minor league career. Do you seriously not see a difference? There are 3 years and a whole lot of production in between them.

Theriot is a much much better comparison. Soto figured it out at age 24, which isn't uncommon for a catcher and he was the MVP of his league his last year in the minors. Schumaker was a crappy minor leaguer until the age of 27 and even then didn't have near the success that Soto did. I'm very surprised at how well Theriot is doing, but that's one guy compared to the majority of your team. I disagree. I'm not really sure what you consider crappy and success to mean in this instance. First, the reason I compared the two was because both were taken in the 2001 draft and both are in their first full season in the majors (although Schumaker played in 90 games last year). In the minors Schumaker had a .290 average and a .729 OPS. I wouldn't call those great, but I wouldn't call it crappy. Soto on the other hand had a .270 average and a .786 OPS. You can't say one player is crappy and one is a success based on those numbers. Schumaker had no power, Soto had average power. Fast forward to this year, Schumaker has a .783 OPS, and Soto has a .866 OPS. Both have seen an increase in their OPS with Soto having the bigger jump and showing more power in the majors. Schumaker is playing closer to his minor league numbers, and is actually playing worse than last year. I just don't see how you can claim Schumaker is overachieving while ignoring what Soto is doing. Both are probably playing at the level they will for the next 4 or 5 years at least. So, Soto was 3 years younger and had .57 higher OPS in the minors, but you can't say that Soto was better? And like I said, its not uncommon for catchers to find their bat a bit later, and Soto had a .652 SLG with 26 home runs at age 24 in AAA. So he had power. At age 24, Schumaker put up a .808 OPS in AA. So at a lower level, Schumaker's OPS was .268 lower than Soto's at the same age. They are not comparable players.

It might not be a bad idea to look at a DeRosa/ Fontenot platoon for awhile.

Dang, I didn't realize it'd been that tough. Good job looking all that up.

Theriot is a much much better comparison. Soto figured it out at age 24, which isn't uncommon for a catcher and he was the MVP of his league his last year in the minors. Schumaker was a crappy minor leaguer until the age of 27 and even then didn't have near the success that Soto did. I'm very surprised at how well Theriot is doing, but that's one guy compared to the majority of your team.

Zambrano and ? Dempster or Harden.....either way neither is a "huge drop off". Zambrano and harden. I do not respect one year wonders like Dempster. He was nowhere near this good ever, nor did he ever show signs. A complete fluke. Same reason I have no respect for how well Lohse pitches. No matter how well either pitch, I will have no fear of them shutting down a team in a post-season game. Can it happen? Of course. But they are not world beaters. They are both mediocre talents having exceptional half-seasons. The problem is alot of fans feel their team is better than it really is. I mean, the Cubs roster is not that talented. There are some very good players, and there are some really awful players, and some overachievers like any other team. The way Cub fans act, you'd swear they have a world-beater at every position, with 5 aces, and a Rivera closing out games. I understand good Cub teams is a rarity so you have to overcompensate when they finally are good, but some posters take it overboard. They act as if the Cubs are some unbeatable powerhouse, when sorry, they are far from it. Yeah...Dempster...pssshhh! How many times was he an all-star before this year, like once? lol! To have a solid rotation, you need proven commodities like Looper and Wellemeyer.

Also, Lilly is over-achieving with his lower than career average season.

That's a very creative way to look at it. Besides Pujols and Glaus, the Cardinals just have a bunch of over-achieving turds. Glaus is nowhere near the baseball player Ramirez is. OPS the past 3 seasons: Ramirez: .926 .912 .915 Glaus: .885 .868 .839 Not to mention Ramirez is better defensively.

Lincecum doesn't feel like pitching good today.

I think that joke went over my head.

Given the team, the park and the minor bullpen struggles lately, I give Demp the 8th. I'd let Marshall finish it out.

I'm hoping they take Dempster out. If we use him and Harden carefully and keep them strong, we're going to be fierce in the playoffs.

I'd take Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Hill.

So let me get this straight...you're more interested in enjoying yourself than committing what some people might think is a faux pas? Now I've seen everything.