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Dr. Andrews has done stories and interviews before. I've read at least one of them. For example, this is a very long article all about Andrews, with plenty of quotes and a few stories spread in there: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3024046

Shocking! That was expected, and there probably were at least 10 Cubs that cleared trade waivers. That doesn't mean they'd clear release waivers.

Theriot is actually a big DP candidate because of hit tendency to hit ground balls. He hits into a DP a greater percentage of his available opportunities than any other Cub. Higher than DLee? As careless said, yes. I still wouldn't have had Theriot bunt there though, especially not with Harden on 2nd. You have a decent shot of Harden being thrown out at 3rd or being doubled off on a bad bunt. And then when Theriot got ahead on the count, there's no way I bunt at that point.

Theriot is actually a big DP candidate because of hit tendency to hit ground balls. He hits into a DP a greater percentage of his available opportunities than any other Cub.

He probably has. Those are revocable waivers though and most players can get through those. It's a lot different to be able to get through waivers when the Cubs don't have the option of pulling him back, which will be the case the next time he goes through the waiver process.

I'm gonna quibble with you here. Hill hadn't pitched a full season yet when Marquis was signed. Marquis pitched the 3rd game of the season last year. Hill pitched 4th. The only reason Hill pitched the 4th game is because Lou wanted to split up the left-handers. When Marquis was signed, every article and quote had him as the 4th starter behind those 3, with 1 of Prior/Miller/Guzman filling the 5th spot.

I think you have to use the DFA method and expose him to waivers in order to get him to the minors. Eyre will be traded, probably for a PTBNL in the next 10 days. If not, somebody will claim him in the waiver process. Zero chance anyone claims Scott Eyre off waivers. Why? A left-handed pitcher with 2 months left on his deal, and has possibilities of helping a ballclub. There are several bullpen starved teams who would make a claim. There's very little risk in that move for them.

Marquis was signed to be the #4 behind Z, Lilly, and Hill. I agree with you that Marquis is not going to get any better. The concern with Marshall is you automatically need a pitcher who's ready to step in for when Marshall gets hurt, and Marshall's history has shown that it will happen during the season. That's the one thing that Marquis gives you is stability, something that Marshall hasn't been able to do in his career. As for the contract, comparing him to an arbitration pitcher like Harden is comparing apples and oranges. But I do agree that the Cubs are in a pretty good position for pitching in 09, and so dumping Marquis and his contract would probably be a good move. It was like the Eyre move that the Cubs did today. It's not necessarily the fact that Marquis hasn't done the job is the reason the Cubs should want to get rid of him. It's just that the Cubs have the luxury with how they've built their team of getting rid of mediocrity, and that is quite a luxury to have.

I think you have to use the DFA method and expose him to waivers in order to get him to the minors. Eyre will be traded, probably for a PTBNL in the next 10 days. If not, somebody will claim him in the waiver process.

In the particular game you mentioned, the Cubs took the lead in the top of the inning before the rain came. So it was unfair that the Cubs could take the lead in the top of a particular inning and the home team didn't get a chance to match that. That's why the rules call for that game to be resumed at a later time. In this situation, the Astros top of the 8th didn't matter. It didn't change the game in any way. So it was simply erased from existence, and the game was called after 7 innings. The only times that a game will be resumed later is if either 1) it is after the 5th inning and tied when the rain comes or 2) the visiting team either ties the game or takes the lead in the top of the inning, and the inning isn't finished before the rain comes.

The storm seems to be slowing down. Thank God the game started at 6 instead of 7 otherwise this one might be over already. yeah but this game wouldn't be official. Yeah it would have.... the bottom of the 5th just ended when the game was called. The Cubs stand to lose this game if its called. If the game had started at 7 central, they wouldn't have gotten through more than 2 or so before the rain came.

If the game is called, it will be an Astros win.

Yeah. He'll likely be going up against St. Clair. Which of course means whoever wins the QB battle has earned the right to be carted off the field in an ambulance on opening day. "Congtratulations, you won the starting job! We will pray for you and your family." LOL. I wouldn't be so concerned about Freeney. I'm not sure he'll be quite ready for game action by then. I believe he'll play, but I don't have high expectations for him in week 1 or 2. His best use for the Colts right now is to just step on the field. If he does that, then the Bears will probably doubleteam him, which should leave the incredibly productive Mathis 1 on 1. I didn't know Freeney was hurting, but he could probably beat St. Clair at far less than 100%. Freeney is still recovering from the foot surgery that took him out for the last half of the season/playoffs last year. There really hasn't been a clear indication of how he's progressing yet, but that's true for about half the Colts stars right now. Colts fans are trying to wait patiently because this is simply the way the team operates, but it's hard not knowing if names like Manning, Harrison, Freeney, Sanders are going to play week 1. They are all "supposed to", but people like Harrison and Sanders have not come back when they were supposed to before. So let's just say I wouldn't be shocked if one of those names doesn't end up taking the field for the Colts Week 1. I'm not sure who it will be, other then I assume that Manning will find a way to be there.

The only issue I have is the timing issue. If I could be promised to swap them, I'd almost certainly do it and pick up the extra prospects. However, if one side falls through, I either have 2 expensive first baseman, or a big hole at first base. It's a massive risk that I'm not sure can be mitigated enough to be worth the benefit.

Yeah. He'll likely be going up against St. Clair. Which of course means whoever wins the QB battle has earned the right to be carted off the field in an ambulance on opening day. "Congtratulations, you won the starting job! We will pray for you and your family." LOL. I wouldn't be so concerned about Freeney. I'm not sure he'll be quite ready for game action by then. I believe he'll play, but I don't have high expectations for him in week 1 or 2. His best use for the Colts right now is to just step on the field. If he does that, then the Bears will probably doubleteam him, which should leave the incredibly productive Mathis 1 on 1.

Actually the Cubs couldn't offer him arbitration in that case since they'd no longer hold his rights. But the effect is the same; it would be assumed that the Cubs would have offered him arbitration.[/nitpick] Interesting. It's always said that the team then goes ahead and "offers" him arbitration, so I always thought they had to go through the formal paperwork anyway, even though it would be an automatic decline. Thanks for the clarification on that.

I'm not sure if he was actually playing defense at the time of his removal, but he did start in center field today. Gameday said he was replaced for a pinch-hitter, so he must have either developed the cramping in the dugout or he managed to finish the inning with it. He did have one ball come to him the previous half inning that resulted in a triple.

Misread your post..thought you were talking about why they moved him from CF in the past, not now. Speaking of Griffey, he is day to day after leaving the game due to cramping in his leg.

When is the last time we had an outfielder, not named Sosa, put up an OPS as high as the reject that is Ludwick? Hack Wilson? He isn't quite up to Ludwick's numbers, but here is the Cubs version: Jerry Mumphrey. He never had higher than an .813 OPS in any season over a long major league career, and then suddenly busted out to the tune of a .934 OPS. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mumphje01.shtml The only other OF I saw match Ludwick's numbers (besides Sosa) from 1987-present was Glenallen Hill over the final 2 months in 1998. Leon Durham put up a 151 OPS+ (Ludwick's is 155) for the Cubs in 1982. To find a person who actually beat Ludwick in straight OPS, you'd have to go back to Billy Williams and 1972. He had a 1.004 OPS and a 172 OPS+.

First off, the Brewers series was all of a day and a half ago. Second, they drew 7 walks yesterday. Their approach today certainly isn't what I would call horrible, and has gotten good results. I don't see where the problem is in their approach. They didn't hit the ball well yesterday, but that's a completely different argument.

I would call it more of frequent days off rather than a platoon. Lou thought that Fukudome was wearing down a little bit. Fukudome is still starting against about half the left-handers.

Yesterday.

I can't get quite to that stat, but: the Cubs are 10th out of 16 against the 9 spot in BA. 7th out of 16 in OBP, and 11th out of 16 in OPS. That of course includes pinch-hitters, but gives you a pretty good idea of how the Cubs are in facing pitchers this year.

This is one of the only pitchers who I will say this about. I like the all-RH lineup against Maholm though. He has massive splits: 2006 left-handers-.646 OPS right-handers-.870 OPS 2007 left-handers-.623 OPS right-handers-.820 OPS 2008 left-handers-.496 OPS right-handers-.755 OPS Even though normally I wouldn't be happy about Cedeno getting the start due to Fukudome being better than Cedeno against left-handers, Maholm is just nasty against left-handed hitters. So it becomes at worst a toss up, and anytime you have a tossup you might as well give Fukudome the day off to continue to stay fresh over a longer season than he's accustomed to.

It won't matter. The chances the Cubs offer Edmonds arbitration are next to none. And I think even "next to" none is on the high side. There's no way they'll offer him arbitration; I think there would be a fairly high likelihood he'd accept it if offered. Next to none probably covers the chance that Edmonds signed before December 1st. If he did that, the Cubs would absolutely offer him arbitration (if he managed to qualify as a B). But that's really the only scenario I can see where they would. At the same time, I don't see how Edmonds would get any compensation being lumped in with all OF's. He missed the cut last year by a little bit, and replacing his 2006 with his 2008 numbers probably won't help him at all unless he absolutely kills the ball over the next 2 months.