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Waddels gone, Im starting to trust Heilman again, and we know what Marmols capable of. As for Patton, that little experiment needs to come to an end. Im sure hed have no problem making it through waivers and if they really want him that bad, a deal could probably be worked out. If not, oh well. Why does it need to come to an end though? It's not like they are desperate for BP arms right now. They are desperate for roster spots for people who can hit the baseball. What happens when Freel is activated. Does Fox get sent down again because they insist on using 12 roster spots for pitchers without using 12 pitchers? I really will be surprised if Freel wears a Chicago Cubs uniform again. I doubt they give up on him until at least Ramirez comes back. Freel also is showing that his legs are in a little better shape at AAA right now (.385/.529/.538 line in 13 AB's and 3 stolen bases already). I believe he'll get hurt again in just a few weeks, but for right now I don't know why they would be rehabbing him in AAA if he wasn't going to come up the majors in a few days.

I don't see any way they let Fox play regularly against right-handers at third base. But the Cubs are in much worse shape at those two positions against left-handers (2B and 3B) so maybe Fox can win the job against them. It will be interesting to see who they put at second. It shouldn't be Fontenot. Miles is the logical choice with Blanco batting left-handed all the time, but Lou just replaced Miles in the lineup yesterday (and had Fontenot batting ahead of Miles against the last left-hander), so it will be interesting to see if he goes back to him today.

Doesn't it get old comparing a deal for Teahen to a deal for Teixiera, ARod, Ruth, Bay, and Beckett? I see outlandish trade proposals that aren't going to happen all the time on this site: trade DLee (NTC), get Adrian Gonzalez, etc. None of us (including the "experts") know what value a GM places on his team's talents or needs especially in this economy. The Harden and Garciaparra deals were both deals that nobody saw happening. The bottom line is that Teahen is a decent role player (not star) with an immediate replacement at 3B (Gordon) and the Royals have a big hole at SS which eliminates them from competing until it's filled. I think the main point is, we could probably get Teahen without getting fancy. Sure, Beimals a good lefty, but with the Cubs finances they way they are, theres no reason to go after too much. We could probably afford the remaining 2 mil or whatever on Teahens contract, and even if we couldnt, the Royals might be inclined to pay it if we were willing to overpay a bit in terms of prospects. Im not talking Vitters or Jackson, but a bit more than the normal market for a guy like Teahen, which would be like Kevin Hart+ 1 or 2 PTBNL or lower level prospects. Why would the Royals want to give up a guy who hits, isn't super expensive, can play 6 positions, and they have under control for a bit longer? Especially for some prospects that aren't very good? Because hes on a 1 year deal and a FA next year, and not a type A. Hes very versatile and has a decent bat, so he could cost more than the Royals want to spend next year, especially for a "super sub" so why not get a few prospects in return for him now. As Tiger said earlier in the thread, Teahen is not a free agent after the year. He still will be in his arbitration years.

/posted on Indians board before this weekend's series Our pen really hasnt been that bad lately. Sure, Marmol blew yesterday, but even in those extra inning games, one of the pens was bound to give up a run eventually, and since our offense had no intention of scoring, our pen got tagged with the L. The pen definitely has been a whole lot better. Adding Ascanio and Marshall has helped. Gregg has been great for most of the past 2 months and Heilman has settled down. Their June numbers: Ascanio: 6 2/3 IP, 1.35 ERA, 1.20 WHIP Gregg: 8 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0.75 WHIP (and no walks) Guzman: 7 2/3 IP, 2.35 ERA, 1.7 WHIP Heilman: 6 1/3 IP, 2.84 ERA, 1.26 WHIP Marshall: 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP Patton: 2 IP, 4.50 ERA, 1.5 WHIP Marmol: 8 IP, 5.63 ERA, 1.63 WHIP If you went back into late May, you would find more evidence of the same transformation. The Cubs bullpen really isn't a bad bullpen anymore with all of the roster shuffling. They aren't as good as they have pitched recently, but they have 4-5 good guys to turn to at any given time. The Cubs even have enough depth at this point to go without Marmol for a little while and still be decent, although obviously Marmol when he's on makes this bullpen quite a bit better.

Colvin hit his 2nd home run of the day in the bottom of the 12th to give Tennessee a 7-6 win in game 1 of their doubleheader.

I would have taken the out with Fontenot there and saved Fox for the 9th. Now you have to put the pitcher in the 6 spot, Miles in the 9 spot. Your defense is better but your offense will have Fukudome, Blanco, Miles up next inning.

For all the questions about Soto's arm this season, he's now thrown out a higher percentage of baserunners this year than last year. It's also really nice to see Bradley hitting a variety of pitches to all fields.

He gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 13th.

Bruce reported in his blog that the early news is that Soriano will lead off today. Blanco will replace Miles at second base. And Fox was taking grounders again, but there didn't seem to be any intimation that he'd get a look at third. http://blogs.dailyherald.com/blog/18

Andrew Clark seems like he's intimating that he wants somewhere between 1st round and 3rd round money (the only thing we know for sure is that he wants more than he could get in the 6th or 7th): http://www.indystar.com/article/20090617/SPORTS0204/90617040/1004/SPORTS/New+Pal+player+holds+off+signing+with+Cubs

Haha, what? Haven't they won a couple in a row? The makings of a hot streak. They aren't great teams but they do get hot and cold like everyone else. They've (the Cardinals) won 1 in a row. They have won 4 out of their last 6, but that followed a 5 game losing streak, and they've alternated winning and losing for the last 5 games. The Brewers have won 2 in a row but lost 6 of their previous 7 before that.

The 2008 Cubs. They are going to make the playoffs everytime. The '06 Cards usually won't. The Cardinals made the playoffs and then won the world series, and you would take the 2008 Cubs, a team that failed to show up for even one inning and went home with the title "division winner"? That's some very strong kool aid there. Here's the question. If the ump calls Dave Roberts out at 2B in game 4 of the ALCS on a close play (which certainly could happen and is something completely out of their control) are the Red Sox a choking team? They would have been swept by their rivals and would have lost in the ALCS two years in a row. How can you say that the best teams always advance when they rely on an umpires call of a bang bang play to not get swept?

Not much chance of the big inning with the 8th hitter up and 1 man out. It makes sense to play the infield in there (and that would have been the case even if it hadn't worked).

Less pressure? He also didn't miss by a ton with many of his pitches in the majors and his pitches had movement on them. Maybe AAA hitters are just having a hard time laying off the somewhat close pitches while many major league hitters do not. And we know Cotts can be effective when he either is throwing strikes or hitters are chasing his pitches. His stuff is certainly good enough.

He's talked about it, but he hasn't done it prior to this year. He's gotten riled up before this year. Not to umpires though (which is where people are clamoring most for him to show passion). The only time he really did was that game in 2007, and he admitted afterward that he planned to blow up beforehand, which is quite a different thing from getting riled up. He's gotten riled up at relievers before this year, but he also has done so this year (Cotts for example). I don't see a big change in Lou from past years to this year.

What's his status as a prospect? He's 21 in A ball doing fairly well. But it's his 3rd season in A ball, even if he's always been relatively young for his level. Is he somewhat similar to the guy they just drafted in the first round? Talented CF with contact issues and little power? Sort of. Burke was a supplemental round pick where he was supposed to have above average power (that was supposed to be his greatest asset). He does have serious contact issues (although he's decently patient at the plate as well) but the home run power hasn't shown itself like it did his senior year of high school. The hope is that he turns some of that doubles power into more home run power. He does have a frame that can do that and he has shown it before, so it is possible. I'm just happy right now that his K rate is at the lowest its been throughout his career. He's still an upside type of prospect. He has quite a bit of potential and time to develop it. It is encouraging to see him take steps of development over the past year, but he needs to take a few more. When is time going to start working against him? Does he need to earn a promotion this season, or by next season, to the FSL? Do they have a couple years before they need to add him to the 40-man? If he is going to amount to anything, I'd have to imagine we'd need to see him doing something positive in AA by 2011, when he'll be 23. I'm not the best at timetables for the minor leagues yet, but I'll try to give you as best as I know. The timetable for adding him to the 40 man should be after the 2010 season. It would really be a disappointment if he wasn't at least at Daytona at the start of next year. I don't see him as a guy the Cubs will be real aggressive with as he has gotten overwhelmed with levels that are too high for his development stage in the past. I think he could struggle the first half of the year in AA in 2011 and still be ok as long as he had a positive year in Daytona in 2010 and did well the second half of the year in 2011. But I do agree that there needs to be some success had in AA in 2011, even if he ends up starting there again in 2012.

What's his status as a prospect? He's 21 in A ball doing fairly well. But it's his 3rd season in A ball, even if he's always been relatively young for his level. Is he somewhat similar to the guy they just drafted in the first round? Talented CF with contact issues and little power? Sort of. Burke was a supplemental round pick where he was supposed to have above average power (that was supposed to be his greatest asset). He does have serious contact issues (although he's decently patient at the plate as well) but the home run power hasn't shown itself like it did his senior year of high school. The hope is that he turns some of that doubles power into more home run power. He does have a frame that can do that and he has shown it before, so it is possible. I'm just happy right now that his K rate is at the lowest its been throughout his career. He's still an upside type of prospect. He has quite a bit of potential and time to develop it. It is encouraging to see him take steps of development over the past year, but he needs to take a few more.

The top 5 offenses last year when scoring 1 run or less: Texas: 18 games overall, 2-16 record Cubs: 17 games (it might be 18 and I miscounted) 0-17 Boston: 19 games, 2-17 Minnesota: 20 games, 0-20 Detroit: 22 games, 0-22 The one run number means nothing because it's so absolutely normal. The Cubs did not have any more troubles with consistency than anybody else. Being barely over .500 on the road ended up being the 3rd best road record in the whole major leagues. Besides, the team who was easily best on the road (the Angels) got bounced in just 1 more game than the Cubs. As for the record against .500 or better teams, I'll have to check later but I doubt the Cubs were sufficiently worse at that than most teams. It's a very strange team that builds up a good record by beating up on the good teams and struggling against the bad ones..normally it's the other way around. I can sort of understand the thought that as the probability of runs goes down that the percentage of small ball needs to go up. At the same time, I don't see any evidence that the Cubs were trying to play for the home run with RISP the whole time. And you know who struck out at a higher rate than the Cubs with RISP last year? Both the Phillies and the Rays struck out a greater percentage of the time, and it didn't seem to affect them in the playoffs. As others have shown, 16-50 is also in the normal range although on the high side of normal. It certainly isn't atrocious.

Wow. So many mixed feelings about this one. I don't think Perry deserved to be fired for a month of problems. But anytime you're the hitting/pitching coach, you know that you might get fired just to try to shake up the team and so I can't feel too bad for him. By the same token, my wish would be that Joshua would stay down in the minors where he can teach all the kids his wonderful ways. But if anyone deserves to get a coaching job in the major leagues it is him so I am very happy for him.

I seem to remember people saying that he likely would have normal splits but not be a terrible hitter against LHP. I think Lou trusts Kosuke more than the other Cubs left-handers against LHP. You can see it by who he pinch-hits for more often in that situation. But Kosuke is going to have a hard time starting against many LHP because the Cubs have three OF's who all normally hit left-handers very, very well.

The Cubs pitching staff has been 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the NL each of the last 3 years. That's the main reason Rothschild has stayed-his pitching staff has been consistently excellent.

Maybe...but even the old Theriot hit lots of fly ball outs to right field. He tended to ground out more to the left side and fly out to the right side. About that particular spot shows up a bunch on his hit chart from last year.

Gregg has now had 15 out of his last 17 scoreless outings. He has really settled down from the beginning of the year.

It's probably only for a day or two until Freel is ready. With Harden on a strict pitch count tomorrow and Wells going short today, they want to have enough arms for tomorrow. Of course as soon as I say that the other corresponding roster move will be done before tomorrow's game, but we'll see. I'm a little sad that it was Scales. For what we're planning to use the 2nd backup MI for over the next couple weeks, he would have fit better than Blanco on the team.

I really think Freel is just about done in the majors. His legs just continue to get worse and worse. Remember that he went on the DL it was just because the Cubs needed a roster spot and he was only supposed to be out 4-6 days. Instead, he can't make it back when he's eligible (I haven't heard why, but I would assume because he isn't completely 100%). Freel played the game so hard for a few years that it has obviously taken a toll on his body. Between the leg injuries and the concussions, I just can't see him staying healthy very long or playing at a high level when he is moderately healthy.