CubColtPacer

To be honest, I still don't understand why a split would be the best thing. I've been rooting for a sweep the whole time, and while I preferred a Cardinals sweep, a Brewers sweep isn't too bad either.

Let me preface this by saying that Wuertz should be brought back up ASAP. But he was sent down in large part because he hadn't pitched well since the middle of May. At some points in there, he had some strange usage patterns, and at other points he didn't. But he was pretty bad for about a 40 day stretch and his last 15 appearances in the majors or so. How has he done in comparison to Howry in that stretch though? Howry's allowed a lot less baserunners. Wuertz has the much better ERA. Howry has been very good at coming in with runners on. Haven't found how Wuertz has done in those spots. Wuertz's ERA is really good because other people have come in and done a great job of getting out of his innings where he has let the first couple runners on. The last 17 outings he had in the majors, he was allowing over 2 baserunners an inning. You can't survive long as a relief pitcher doing that.

Let me preface this by saying that Wuertz should be brought back up ASAP. But he was sent down in large part because he hadn't pitched well since the middle of May. At some points in there, he had some strange usage patterns, and at other points he didn't. But he was pretty bad for about a 40 day stretch and his last 15 appearances in the majors or so.

Edmonds did not have less than a .375 OPS when the Cubs picked him up.

You're absolutely right. You honestly believe that? Would you have anymore satisfaction as a fan if the Cubs had managed to pull one out in 69 or 75 or 84 or any other year? Who the hell cares? I was commenting more on the bolded part... that at the end of the year, it doesn't mean anything to win your division if you don't win the World Series. That's a little depressing. Surely there must be enjoyment in a good year over a bad year, right? I'd much rather get there and lose every year than be out of it in mid-August. I think it still means a lot to win your division. It means something, but the goal of every single team is obviously to win the World Series. If you don't win it, you failed your goal. The Cubs have failed since 1908. True, that's the ultimate goal of the team. But the ultimate goal of the fans is to be able to enjoy the team the most. Obviously, winning a world title is the best way to do that, but playing consistently good baseball from year to year has to be a close second, even if it comes with disappointment at the end of the year. 2003 for example was a great year to be a fan..so many good times and great games in that year. Last year was another great year. This year has been a whole lot of fun, and that's not going to change if the Cubs bomb out in the playoffs (although if they collapse the next two months, the opinion of the year probably does change).

You're absolutely right. You honestly believe that? Would you have anymore satisfaction as a fan if the Cubs had managed to pull one out in 69 or 75 or 84 or any other year? Who the hell cares? I was commenting more on the bolded part... that at the end of the year, it doesn't mean anything to win your division if you don't win the World Series. That's a little depressing. Surely there must be enjoyment in a good year over a bad year, right? I'd much rather get there and lose every year than be out of it in mid-August. I think it still means a lot to win your division.

So, let me see if I have my math right. Daytona has rained out 3 times out of 99 total games. Mesa has only rained out once right? So 1 out of 25. So that's 4 times out of 124 games. And Rich Hill has been the scheduled starting pitcher for 3 of those 4 games. MILB.com only has Hill listed for 3 official appearances with Mesa. For some reason, I thought it was 4, but I'll run with the 3 number for now. So Hill has been rained out in 3 of his 4 starts that he has tried to take the mound for his 2 teams (I'm counting each game for one-if they have to reschedule it, the 2nd time doesn't count), while the other pitchers have been rained out 1 out of 120 times. So Rich Hill is 9000 percent more likely to get rained out than any other pitcher on those two squads. It's purely a random luck driven stat with a tiny sample size, but it's still pretty improbable.

Probably my favorite night in my sports watching life (conference championship night) edging out IU coming back against Duke and a couple memorable Pacers games along the way (with so many last second shots, it's hard to choose). The Cubs have had some awesome moments, but haven't quite had that one absolutely memorable one quite yet (and it doesn't necessarily have to come in the WS, as the others on my list show). Sorry, I'm off track reminiscing. I came in to say good luck to the Bears this year. I hope to be there for the Bears-Colts game in a month. Until then, let's not have the injury bug hit either one of our squads more than it already has. If your team is mediocre or climbs back into excellence, try to enjoy the ride. You have a lot of players that are very fun to watch.

No more drafting from Notre Dame imo. (ok this has a little to do with the fact that I hate the place) Well, our opinions are turning around to the positive on our biggest investment into a Notre Dame product lately. But this one I think the Cubs have developed more than their program did.

I think we're going to see the Ward-Fukudome-Hoffpauir outfield this inning by the way Ward acted right before the break. So hopefully we bring in a ground ball pitcher.

It unfortunately smells like an Edmonds injury. You certainly don't doubleswitch a pitcher to bat 2nd next inning for that purpose.

Get a pitch right over the middle of the plate and hit it hard? It's too bad it was another groundout, but Lee's approach was fine there.

Marquis actually has excellent numbers against the Diamondback hitters, even after you factor in that Chris Young has hit 3 HR in 6 at-bats off of him. He has a decent shot of having another good outing tonight. Petit doesn't have much of a history against this Cubs team. He pitched pretty well against the Cubs last year, but half of the lineup has changed since then.

I would argue no. There are more ground ball base hits that are hit into LF than RF. Coming to the plate, Soriano's arm is more valuable where there are more chances to throw out players who are trying to score from 2nd. The only other big difference is that your RF having a strong arm can prevent a runner or two from going to first to third. You don't see that many runners taking that chance anymore though, and you're not going to get many assists at third base. It will be more about prevention than actually getting outs from your arm. The big reason why I would say LF is that third base coaches are a lot more cautious in bringing runners to third base than sending them home. That enthusiasm in waving runners in needs to be countered by having the best arm in LF. At the same time, I think athletically you want your best athletic corner OF to be in RF (less damage in misplayed balls in LF than right), so that's why I would move Soriano to RF anyway if Dunn came aboard.

I'm hoping for a sweep in the Cards-Brewers series just because of the WC issue. If all 3 teams were fighting for 1 spot, I'd hope for a split. But all 3 teams could very well be fighting for 2 spots (unless 2 NL East teams keep playing better than the NL central teams and pass them). So if 1 of these teams sweeps, the Cubs will have a more significant lead on getting a playoff spot than if a split happens.

Is it really a good idea? Remember what happened last time he was rushed back. Didnt start off so well. Too bad were not playing the Giants or the Badres. If we were, that could have been considered his rehab assignment. It depends on how he felt today. And with the Cubs having 2 of their next 3 games against left-handers, as long as Soriano can field his position (and every indication says that there should be no problem with that) he likely won't be a downgrade to whoever else the Cubs would throw out in that spot. I don't think the Cubs should have real high expectations for him the next 3 days, but I don't mind if they throw him out there in the majors instead of the minors. As long as there isn't a high chance of having a setback (which isn't common with this type of injury, and it doesn't sound likely in this case) then Soriano working on his timing at the plate is more upside with little downside for the major league team.

That actually makes a lot of sense to me. He's a switch-hitting OF with power and Texas needs pitching. Marquis would look really good in a Texas uniform as the veteran pitcher in the deal. We'd probably have to send at least one prospect back to Texas if they take Marquis. Who would be a fair offer? Let's just say this. Texas asked for Gallagher and Murton for Marlon Byrd in the winter. Bradley should have a lot higher value to them, especially since he'll get at least one draft pick for Texas when he becomes a free agent. The price would likely be very high.

I don't know how they handle players who change positions, so I can't be sure. If he keeps a nearly 150 ERA+ this year though, I think it's hard to imagine him not being Type A since he wasn't terrible as a reliever. That was my thinking as well. If hes labled a Type A, Id love to get 2 picks for him, and odds are somebody will want to sign him quick if he hits the market. This has actually been a point of (for lack of better terms) 'anticipated minor controversy' with the FA typing, because they have no prescribed formula to measure guys that shift from either starter to reliever or reliever to starter. It's the type of topic that will fill a writer's blog for a day or a 90 second spot on PTI. The concern is on the side of the departing club getting short-changed because the typing looks at a 3-year spread, with one exceptional year not necessarily swaying the value. For starters there is consideration for number of starts or innings, and for closers the number of saves. A guy like Dempster isn't going to look great in either when considering 3-year averages because he doesn't have 3 years of either, though he certainly looks stellar in just per year averages. But the typing doesn't want to use per year, because you're back to having one excellent year sway the value. Unfortunately for Dempster, his 2006 and 2007 closer numbers are not type A numbers. So the real question is; how much will 2008 starter numbers weigh, despite being 1/3 of the sample, given he will be signed as a starter by whomever picks him up? Is it 3 years? I thought it was 2. It is 2 seasons now. I can't remember if it was 3 under an older CBA or not.

I was thinking this as well. I just don't see how this works with the ballclub. If you add Dunn in LF, suddenly you have to move Soriano to RF. So you've downgraded defensively in both LF and RF. Then Edmonds is benched (even though he's hitting better than Fukudome at the moment, Kouske wouldn't be benched long-term in the 1st year of a long-term deal). Also, 1 of the 2 of Edmonds or Ward would have to be released. So in effect you've substituted the Edmonds/Johnson platoon for Dunn's. That is an increase offensively (how much of one is a serious debate, since the Edmonds/Johnson platoon is hard to get a read on for how productive they will be the last 3 months). The cons are increased salary obligations and the fact that your OF is now horrible defensively. If we could have him for free, would Dunn be worth it for the offensive upgrade even with all the other issues? Absolutely. But he isn't going to come anywhere near free, and the Cubs are going to have to pay the market value of a team who really has a need for a player like Dunn, not a team that has to rearrange half of its parts to fit him in. Fair value for Dunn in the Cubs case is simply not worth it.

That is correct for these months where everybody else is on DST. So another 4 hours approximately until the Mesa game starts from now.

What do you mean raw? He had a pinch-hitting appearance today after starting the first two games after the break.

Thankfully Randy Johnson is not quite Randy Johnson anymore. Lee and Ramirez have had 39 official at-bats against Johnson. In those at-bats, they've struck out in 25 of them. Johnson's still a high K guy, but he's much more hittable than he's used to be. And the biggest problem for him now is that he gives up a ton of HR's. I know the Cubs won't do this, but this is one day I'd like to see Edmonds start. He has had decent success against Johnson during his career (of course, neither are the same players anymore). Since I don't really see Cedeno hitting Randy well, I'd be fine with Edmonds in center, Johnson in left, and DeRosa at 2nd.

The Redskins trade for Jason Taylor. I guess if none of your players ever develop to be stars, and you trade all of your draft picks away, you can still afford high priced players even after the first 30 million of them. The Dolphins got what they wanted all along. A second this year and a 6th the year after that. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3497625

If we're going to throw out Soto, we have to throw out Ankiel as well. Personally, I don't think either of them should be thrown out. They both developed quite a bit in a short amount of time, and became much better players than they were expected to be. To be honest IMO, Soto was much more of a surprise than Ankiel overall. Ankiel always had his prodigious power to fall back on, and was just a manner of continuing to slide up that OBP for him to become an impact player. His numbers have continued to slowly slide up as he continues to develop. The surprise came that he was somehow able to move his OBP up as he transitioned to the MLB level. Soto's pluses were defense and walks. His average and power were both low until he suddenly burst out. He really hadn't shown that much development that would even lead you to believe that a sudden breakout was possible. It was a wonderful unexpected surprise. Now, for the Cardinals team, I would say there are more surprises overall. Part of that is simply due to how they operate though. They love to do these little risk pick ups, give them PT, and see what happens. The Cubs have started to do that more, and when you do that enough you're going to have some diamonds come out (for the Cubs, that's the Johnson/Edmonds platoon). The Cardinals have had some hits and misses, but when they hit they stick around for quite a while, so it seems like they hit more than they do. For example, turning it around, do you think the average Cardinals fan is going to think..look at Pagan and Monroe. The Cubs struggle with getting guys off the trash heap. Probably not IMO. They're not going to remember those guys at all, because they don't follow this team everyday. They'll remember guys like Edmonds/Johnson though who help win a game over their team, which gives them the illusion that the Cubs organization is better at getting lucky with talent than what is actually there. The same is true the other way.

It might have been your initial reaction before seeing the replay, so I'm sorry if it was. But I didn't see anything wrong with what Theriot did there. He threw it to the only base he possibly had a play at, and where his teammate was pointing.