RegulusBlue

Marquis is a douchebag. I can't wait for him to be left off the playoff roster.

This season may be referred to in the same hushed tones as 2004 pretty soon. Also, that Bulls highlight is the best thing I've seen today.

I'm not suggesting any lineup changes or any sort of move, but Lee and Aramis need to get it back together or this team is quite mortal. I guess I'm looking over my shoulder and seeing the Brewers/Cardinals fogging up the rear window.

no, not really. yeah, in the beginning of the season, people wanted to see cedeno get the majority of the playing time. is anyone still beating that drum though? i think everyone here wants theriot to have the majority of the playing time. i think some of you just make things up. That's sugar coating the amount of hatred and vitriol Ryan Theriot recieved on a daily basis as little as 2 months ago. http://www.northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47570&hilit=theriot Theriot still has a short fuse with many on this board (I've been lurking for years), and when he makes a fielding error he's still skewered and blamed for Cub lossdom. LOL that was me. He's played a lot better since then.

Quote for truth. I want a guy who can tell when he's finished. We get in lots of trouble when our guys walk a dude and give up a hit as they run out of gas in the 7th or whatever. Bedard actually sounds like a dude I would like. I could care less about this ridiculous "will to win" garbage. Even if he doesn't care, winning ballgames is winning ballgames.

I'm tired of this crap from Marmol. Admit you're hurt or just go away. This is the worst cubs game all season thanks to his BS.

I was happy we nearly took the game, but Blanco should NEVER bat in a tight situation. No excuse for that ever.

There are few players that are available that have teams beating down the door to get them. However, there is a large number of players that teams could use, and would include in package deals. Murton has some value as a marginal regular player or bench guy, and would add value to a deal on our side.

I guess Id have to agree. refer to the startrs of Angel Pagans 2007 start, as wel as Mike Fontenot, Matt Murton, and Felix Pies big league starts. Even Cedeno started off pretty good when he first came up. We'll see if E-Patt and Hoff are the real deal. Watch your mouth. Murton has a track record as a legit MLB player after 850+ ABs. Pie and Pagan do not belong anywhere near him as of yet. .296/.364/.451 is respectable and should command some trade value to a team short on OFs like ours, given the managers have a brain, unlike ours.

Remember this statement if Dempster fades badly in August.

Its really not. Most of these players have been part of a terrible offensive lineup for more than a couple of years, and I thought it was more irrational to think they'd all become OBP machines for a whole season after decades of not knowing what the acronym meant. Soto and Fukudome. Ramirez is the only one of the "old" guys who has shown markedly better patience. The team is still working pitchers very well and there's no reason (up till now) to think that it's going to stop anytime soon. The way they worked Kazmir out of the game despite not being able to hit him was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, that game just didn't work out for us. I have a feeling the panic around here would be a lot more subdued had Carlos Marmol not thought that home plate was a foot to the left of where it was yesterday. The whole Z thing obviously is looming over us, though. You're right...watching them v. Kazmir was incredible. I enjoyed watching that as much as I do watching them rough up a pitcher. And, yes, Z's injury, Mamol's complete meltdown, and the 3 game sweep have things looking worse than they probably are. Unless Z has a Prior injury and Marmol is two weeks behind him while the offense just dies. Then we'll wonder what we were ever excited about.

That's bizarre. On MLB.tv I totally have Len and Bob.

Why? We're usually down, that's easy to deal with. Being up is unusual, and it makes us nervous. Valid...makes sense. But to me it's more like, "Wow, we're actually pretty good." I'm more relaxed this year and find myself looking at the big picture a lot more. Not me. I'm more fired up this year than ever. I am pissed even if we're only up by a run or two. I guess I just feel that this is the closest we're ever going to get to having a WS-caliber team, and this is our only chance for another 20 years or so. Why, we don't have any pending FA departures and we're still a young ballclub. If anything we'll be even better next season as our young talent develops and we add a pitcher or two. I don't think our team is very young. Lee is getting older, Aramis is past peak now, Soriano is in the same spot, but only with young player skills at his disposal, which will decline eventually. Edmonds is older than the hills, Kosuke is 30, and we're talking about selling the farm for an ace. We have Soto, Gallagher, Zambrano, Marmol, and Theriot as our young players, which is not that impressive. I actually think we're going for broke this year, win or lose. Eventually Sori's contract will be brutal, and we'll have little to show for this team. Remember how Alou was the only player on both the 2005 and 2003 squads? Hendry doesn't even know how to spell continuity.

Its really not. Most of these players have been part of a terrible offensive lineup for more than a couple of years, and I thought it was more irrational to think they'd all become OBP machines for a whole season after decades of not knowing what the acronym meant.

Why? We're usually down, that's easy to deal with. Being up is unusual, and it makes us nervous. Valid...makes sense. But to me it's more like, "Wow, we're actually pretty good." I'm more relaxed this year and find myself looking at the big picture a lot more. Not me. I'm more fired up this year than ever. I am pissed even if we're only up by a run or two. I guess I just feel that this is the closest we're ever going to get to having a WS-caliber team, and this is our only chance for another 20 years or so.

JUSTICE.

Well, at least now we know we have to keep him sharper.

The music video is... something else.

As we can all see, this season has one of the best Cub teams we've ever seen. It may be the best in the majors, and it may be the best Cub team for a decade or more. The offense is cooking, the defense is passable to good, and the pitching has been a great surprise. The only apparent chinks in the armor are replacing Soriano for six weeks, doubt about the longevity of our pen due to overuse, and the near inevitable explosion of Dempster and Marquis(and possibly Gallagher). The Cubs are real good right now, but a trade could bring home something very special in October. This begs the question: Would you make a blockbuster trade for a starter or another star player if it cost our farm system quite a few prospects? Would you risk it all to potentially win it all?

I'll start with: The Cubs won a really exciting game. Yeah, but leaving Z in to hit, then walk one man before a yanking was weak.

EPatt is garbage.

This game is pissing me off badly.

If this weekend hadnt happened, Id give Edmonds until Ward returned, tops. However, since it did happen, its going to buy him some time. If he can produce, he wont go anywhere. He can still field, and he looks like enjoys being out there. As Ive said since we first got him, if he can give us anywhere near what he been capable of in the past, he'll be ahuge asset to this team. I don't know what is happening to me, but Edmonds becomes less hated every time he puts a ball off/over the wall or makes a wondrous catch.

That's why when he was traded to Washington he agreed to switch from 2B to LF, no? Good call, its the Cubs preventing him from playing that position, although he's Weeksian at 2B. I have heard he refuses to play CF now, though.

I'm not sure how many grit points you get for nearly killing the pitcher with a laser.