Banedon

That sounds like a t-shirt idea.

I'd be hesitant to include Murton in a package for Griffey because we need insurance, should Griffey get injured. The braves won't give up Escobar or Salty for sure, and from quotes it sounds like they are really high on Reyes. They might be getting tired of Davies though and send him. He has a slightly more impressive minor league career than Marshall, but hasn't been able to hit the strike zone and has gotten hammered in 150 ML innings. I'm thinking Davies and Marshall have similar value given the fact that Davies has a bit of a better minor league career and is younger, but has had a bit of a rougher ML experience. You'd still have Pagan and Floyd...Murton isn't in the majors now, and you aren't giving up any outfielders that are currently in the majors...so if Griffey gets injured, you're not really worse off than you are now.

I have no issue with the yell, as playing sports for many years, I have yelled to distract in baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. The slap is pretty cheap and un-defendable however. Then you are bush league too. You don't do that, period. Come on...they TEACH that to kids...what do you think "Swing batter batter swing batter better" is about?

I would bet Pie is the center piece in the deal. This is a salary dump they're probably not wanting to take Jones back. I can see Pie and Marshall for Griffey. And I would do that in a heartbeat. Griffey is old. He's not going to be an outfielder of the future or anything, so it benefits the Cubs to keep Pie, and the Reds need pitching anyway...something the Cubs always seem to have.

Let's tone down this thread a little everyone...

KGJ might be a good guy to have around to kind of take Pie under his wing....

Yeah, I noticed this too. But would the Sox really be buyers at this point?

Please direct me to the quote where someone affiliated with the Cubs has said this.

Apparently the Yankees are now considering giving A-Rod an extension... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/07/11/arod.yankees/index.html?cnn=yes

Actually that was a little bit of poor editing on my part. Those two quotes are from two different CNNsi writers...sorry for the confusion.

Some quotes from CNNsi.com: I think this "abysmal offseason" is getting overplayed. Tank hurts some...but Briggs may play. We've added strength at safety with Archuleta and a healthy Mike Brown...we got a TE upgrade...we've got Hester on offense...there's an awful lot of positives that are being overlooked by the national media just because Tank and Briggs were so ever-present in the spotlight. Greatly?

Yeah, Snell should've been the Pirate to go...

Steve Stone doesn't guess. Steve Stone knows. He will tell you what is going to happen in the future, and if it doesn't happen that way, it's because the universe messed up, not Steve Stone.

Just curious how the playoffs work...I don't remember. How many teams get in? Is being in the tougher division gonna hurt me?

No he would not have appealed it. He dropped it because he wouldn't really miss a start with the way the schedule was set up. I didn't realize that. Still...if he would've had to miss the ASG, the argument can be made that D-Lee should too.

Ok, so if Chris Young can't play in the ASG while on suspension, then he'd have just followed D-Lee's lead and appealed until after the game. He'd have played either way.

I thought I would throw this in again - who besides Murton would they be looking at? While Soto is RH, his splits are significantly better against RHP. The Cubs have enough RH bats that can't hit lefties. Cedeno would be another possibility.

That's just hilarious to me. I'm sure all that productivity is really hampering the teams ability to win a World Series.

Jones has been pushing for a trade pretty hard too though. He hasn't wanted to be in Chicago for quite some time now, and I think it's affected his play and his attitude. If Jacque wanted to be here, they may take a different approach.

As of yesterday, he wouldn't discuss his future.... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/sports/baseball/10base.html

It's speculation I'm sure. There's no reason for him to announce that in the middle of the season. It only alienates him.

Exactly. I have no faith in Hendry in any situation...at least if they're buyers, there's a chance he could get lucky like the Ramirez trade or Lee trade.

They realize Murton is sitting in AAA right now, right? But you're not likely to get great numbers from anyone that doesn't get consistent playing time. Exactly. I want to feel excited about the possibility of Murton (and maybe Soto or Cedeno) getting the call, but honestly we all know what'll happen if they do. Arrive at Wrigley, wait 3 days before getting a start, going 0/4 with 2 Ks, banished to the bench for spot duty for a 2-3 week period before being sent down again. Newsflash, Baker isn't here anymore. I think Lou has been good about playing guys that have just been brought up. Also, I think he has shown the willingness to play those who produce, or who have earned more playing time. You are free to think what you like. It's America. I love the idea of earning playing time as if there should be a 1:1 correspondence from each AB to the amount of time one gets to play. Huh? I'm just trying to compare what I've seen between Lou and Dusty. I don't think you would have seen Fontenot get a chance to succeed under Dusty. Lou put him out there and was even willing to try him out of position in order to get him in the lineup. That's fine and all, but Murton, a guy who had already had some major league success never got the benefit of the doubt from Lou. He was jerked around with Floyd and JJ. The infielders (Theriot and Fontenot) got shots because Izturis was terrible, and Aramis was out for a while. They managed to perform well quickly. Now that they're coming back down to earth, they have already established themselves and earned Lou's respect. Meanwhile Pie is called up, it's said that he will be up for the long haul and get his chance in CF, he struggles some, and rides the bench with Angel Pagan getting his playing time. I think Lou is open to the idea of young guys, as long as they perform QUICKLY. I think Murton and Pie may take some time and patience. Yes, Lou is better than Dusty. But lets not act like Lou is some epiphany. He's just not as dense as Dusty.

The question is, are the Phillies so desperate to get rid of him that they'd eat some of his salary?

I don't watch a lot of Twins baseball, but I did see him completely OLE! a ball the other night that led to some runs scoring. I think it was the same night he got ejected after coming back out after his AB to argue with the ump.