weis21

pull rich now lou

I don't think you could get byrnes anyway.

theres that 1-2-3 I was hoping for, good job Rich!

I'd like a have a few beers with brenly, he's a funny character to me.

how many pitches is that now?

Come on Rammy, lets get some redemption!

I don't mind because he's giving that pitch to Rich too oh ok, i haven't seen any of the game except for about an inning. thanks.

wow, the plate must have just grown 4 inches

that was ball 3 blue :roll:

Ron's attire is pimped out

He thinks he's Barry Bonds at the plate. I've got a new line when rich comes to bat i see

rich hill's AB is taking more pitches than the cubs last inning.

rich looks like such a slugger at the plate 8-)

owings beard looks dumb as hell.

*whew*, hopefully rich can pull it together and get a nice quick 1-2-3 next inning.

come on rich, lets get another DP!

sorry, guess i didn't look that high up on estes career stats. He never had an ERA under 4 after the age of 25. I'm not going to argue the Marquis thing again. He's been very bad at times, very good at times. IMO, most fifth starters are. The cubs could add a more reliable starter, but it would be very expensive. They have other needs that probably need to be addressed first in my opinion.

Maybe he was hanging around Floyd too much? Don't get me wrong both with great avg., but the power outage is weird.

Well see, Shawn Estes had a 5.73 ERA with the cubs that year and never had an ERA under 4 for a year. Which gets back to my point, he's not a solid No. 2 or 3 pitcher, but he's pretty solid for a no. 5.

to be fair, his ERA is under 4.00 again after today, but yeah, he's not exactly a world champion 3rd starter Well to be even more fair, he's never been asked to be a No. 3 starter. He's been a pretty good number 5 guy IMO. Some days he gets rocked, some days he's OK, some days like today he's really good. Take a look at most teams fifth starter, not too many have an ERA under 4. Again, I'm not betting anything on any of his starts, but for a fifth starter he's been pretty good. how many teams have their 5 starter locked up for 3 years/21 mil it's sad to say but that will be the norm really soon for a fifth starter. Contracts are getting really out of control. e.g. Meche 11M per year Problem is, Meche has earned his 11M for this year, without a doubt. Meche earned his 11M (v. 7M Marquis salary), but Marquis hasn't? Meche: ERA: 3.69 WHIP: 1.32 Marquis: ERA: 3.92 WHIP: 1.27 I won't mention Wins and Losses because they aren't really relevant. The thing is though, Royals fans don't really give a you know what about ERA's and WHIP as of this point. They are happy that they have a decent pitcher for a change, unlike the jokers that the Royals sent out last year. And I wasn't even mentioning Wins and Losses, not becuase they aren't really relevant, but also that Meche couldn't even get any run support from the Royals offense, especially before July. Meche has had the third-worst run support in the American League. But let's break down that support (or lack thereof) another way. You've heard of quality starts, right? (That's the stat that measures how many times a pitcher gives his team a chance to win a game.) Anyone who's actually watched the Royals knows Gil has performed as a $11 million man. And you gotta keep in mind that the Royals are a small-market team, and to get that kind of production from that money is pretty good. Let me get this straight, and i'm not trying to single you out. But, since the since the Royals have been so terrible in recent memory that Meche has earned his 11M, but since Marquis is the 5th starter on a good team that he hasn't earned his 7M? I'm by no mean saying that 7M for Marquis is a steal, but for the price and market and production, he's been pretty darn good. The nit-picking is understood seeing as how he has either been up or down this year, but overall IMO he has been worth it.

It had a small pic with lou and jones below it, so i'm going to assume it had to do with jones lack of playing time and probably izturis as well. If eyre is bitching, he'll be gone too!

Details? Oh yeah, don't suck Cubs. I don't even know what it feels like to lose anymore. Sporting News Magazine, Week of July 16: Lou Piniella isn't winning popularity contests with his players. But with the cubs on a 12-4 run hearding into the break, I don't think he cares.

What do we need another SP for? Every single one has done his job. Looking into a Playoff Rotation are you comfortable with anyone we have as our #3 starter. Zambrano is great, Lilly is solid, but after that I am little uncertain. Hill could easily run away with it with a solid August and September, but right now its anyone guess. I wouldn't pay a lot for another reliever unless the Reds demand Marshall in the Griffey or Dunn trades. Otherwise I'm fine with a Z, Lilly, Hill for the top three and then if Hill shows any sign of struggling, you've got Marquis and Marshall available in the pen. I'd say any of those three would be dependable for three innings or so. If we got a starter handed to us on a silver platter, though, I'd definitely be very interested. :D Won't happen... doesn't look like any good ones are going to be available. Mike Maroth just might be one of the best SP's dealt this year. What we have is better than what's going to be better. Yeah, I haven't heard of any really good starters available. I'm happy enough with the starters we have right now. So long as the offense keeps performing like it's capable, the pitchers won't have to be dominant every time out. Hopefully they'll at least be able to pick up the offense in low scoring games though. Good starters available? scouts have been following contreras and trachsel around for the last two weeks. theres your market ladies and gentleman! I remember thinking steve trachsel was terrible when i was 15, ten years ago.

While that would be funny to this board, i'm fairly certain that wouldn't go over well with the brass, much less the bullpen. PS- they say "lets get some runs" in honor of Harry, since he said that every time the cubs were down at the stretch.

on a related note: my sporting news magazine says that Lou isn't winning any popularity contests. Too bad, I hate the fact that players actually have to be held accountable.