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We are in a pennant race, so playing through slumps is out the door this year. You either produce or you don't play. Floyd's July line of .324/.343/.667 suggests Lou doesn't really buy into that. Nor does the fact that JJ's terrible 3 months bought him a lot of time in July (though he's produced during that time). Lou & JH seem to allow veterans to attempt to play their way out of slumps whereas young kids get shipped to AAA. Floyd's July line? 35 AB's-and now they are bringing up Murton to possibly take away some of his at-bats. That's similar to how Pie struggled for 50 AB's and they replaced him, Izturis had about the same, about the same for Theriot, etc. Jones has only got so many chances because he has been "the other guy" many times. Pie struggles in his first callup, Jones becomes "the other guy". Jones struggles, and Pie gets called up again. Pie struggles, and Jones takes it again. So what's the difference between the two?

:? That's not awful. If they are willing to give Murton a good chance, then it is better than trading for somebody like Dye. Obviously not as good as somebody like Griffey or Dunn, but both of those would be very expensive to acquire. If Murton plays like he did last year, this offense becomes a lot more stable.

That's exactly what Ron Santo was saying last night. He said in his last outing, he got back to his breaking stuff (which is why he was successful), and then in the 5th inning you could hear him shaking his head after every pitch and saying "another fastball..come on Marquis, throw that breaking ball!" Ron thinks Marquis is more wild with his fastball, and when he tries to depend on it too much that's what causes his walk problems.

I'm sure it did. There were some things that were caused by range/arm problems, but many of his mistakes was Murton just taking awful angles to balls. As he got more experience out there, most of that is probably gone at this point. Murton should start against all left-handers and start at least 45-50 percent overall. I think he'll get the start tonight against Arroyo with Floyd getting the day off. Of course, if he continues to swing the bat well my expectations for how much Lou should play him will continue to go way up, and my hope is that Lou will give him 70-75 percent of the at-bats immediately.

As far as I know, there is no connection between Lovie and Simeon. Lovie was the linebackers coach in TB from 1996-2000 before he left for St. Louis, and Simeon didn't arrive in TB until 2001.

I don't think it's a big deal. He's not actually wasting a roster spot because he's not on the 25 man or the 40 man roster right now. As long as they don't try to put him on either of those rosters, he will just fade away after another month.

Not really. They were facing a team with the second worst pitching in the PCL (5.20 ERA) had a man on first with two outs in the 4th and a 7-2 ballgame when Pie got pinch-hit for. That's not a situation where you would suddenly pull your starter because it was a blowout.

Well, at least Kendall is 5/10 off Looper in his career. I also think Kendall is probably the right choice to catch Marquis if they are going to alternate the two catchers (because Z already has Hill and Marquis is the other quality hitting pitcher).

Jesus, that's about as bad as you can get :puke: LOL-this lineup was tied for the most games by any Cubs lineup last year: Pierre Theriot Ramirez Murton Jones Blanco Cedeno Soto When that's tied for your most common lineup, you know you have problems.

Why does Lou deserve credit? Unless he suggested something to JJ that changed his approach or something, I think the credit goes to JJ for having a great month. Of course, if I'm going to tell JJ "great job in July" I also get to tell him "you sucked hard in June...and May...and you were bad in April too." To be fair, Lou supposedly changed Jacque's swing near the end of June, so there potentially could be credit to Lou for that. Jacque still needs the power to come around, but I really like what I am seeing in other areas of his game. Some sharp hits to the opposite field, walks, and not looking completely helpless against the left-handed relievers he has been facing recently. He still does his ground it to first or second a lot, but the shortening of his swing may have helped cause his strikeouts to go down (4 in 45 AB's this month, and 6 BB's). I don't think it's just luck that has propelled him into this streak-it's a definite change in his approach (although he lapses back at times and has some pretty bad swings, he was doing that every swing earlier in the year). I have absolutely no idea if he'll go right back to what he was doing whenever he struggles though, so I'm not sure if he can sustain this production or not.

I found that to be an interesting exchange with all that has been talked about with the old regime/new regime and pitch counts. http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070725&content_id=2109020&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

That's very true about Dunn, but if the Cubs got his second best month out of the 9 (.847 OPS) for the next two months, Dunn probably wouldn't be worth the amount it would take to get him. He would have to be better than that-which is certainly possible, but the question then becomes how likely it would be.

I believe they will resign Grossman if he has a good season. And I believe there will be money to sign him if he has a great season. A great season by Grossman virtually assures them of at least an NFC Championship appearance, and probably the Super Bowl. They have always been good about maintaing a smart cap. There will be space, or they will make the space. Besides, when was the last time a marque QB (and under this scenario RG would be marquee) actually signed as a free agent with a new team? If he fails to improve from last season, I think they will either try and get him back on the cheap or let him walk. Drew Brees was probably the last "marquee" QB (under your definition) to be signed by another team just 1 season ago. His team had a different guy that they wanted to promote, and he was coming off injury. Plus, he took a bit of a step back. I'm talking about a QB coming off a great season whose team wants to keep him. It's not like baseball, where stud pitchers routinely do to free agency and leave. If a team finds a QB, they typically keep him, unless they already have his replacement on board. Agreed, although Grossman is sort of an unusual case in that respect. Usually QB's get signed for pretty long deals out of college, and by the time they hit free agency the team knows if they are going to sink or swim. Grossman got that type of contract as well, but because of all the injuries a lot of the decision making will have to be based off of this year alone (because if he has a good year this year, last year can simply be chalked up to growing pains). I do agree with you that the Bears won't let him go if he has a good year, although that might mean that his top receivers this year will be cap casualties.

I believe they will resign Grossman if he has a good season. And I believe there will be money to sign him if he has a great season. A great season by Grossman virtually assures them of at least an NFC Championship appearance, and probably the Super Bowl. They have always been good about maintaing a smart cap. There will be space, or they will make the space. Besides, when was the last time a marque QB (and under this scenario RG would be marquee) actually signed as a free agent with a new team? If he fails to improve from last season, I think they will either try and get him back on the cheap or let him walk. Drew Brees was probably the last "marquee" QB (under your definition) to be signed by another team just 1 season ago.

I didn't realize the Braves were playing Franco that much. He's 48 (49 in a couple weeks) and has an OPS under .600, and the Braves pick him up and start him everyday in the easiest position to play on the entire field? That's just a strange move, and if the Braves use Franco in order to justify trading Salty it will be even stranger.

The Cubs didn't face a LH starter last night-Kip Wells is a right-hander.

No-he had a scoreless inning on Saturday.

Lou said as soon as there is a LH on the mound Fox will get a start.

The decision to go could very well have been at least as much Theriot's as Lou's. On a pregame show after a hit and run that proved to win it for the Cubs, Theriot said it wasn't a called hit and run, he just always had the green light and happened to choose that one to run. Then Theriot needs to use his damn head and let his 3 4 5 guys do some damage instead of running into outs With that CS, Theriot's SB percentage is at 84.2% this year. The value of him stealing is still worth it even with his occasional CS like tonight.

Lee was 6 out of his last 10 with 2 HR (10 out of his last 25) when he was suspended. He's not doing anything like that in his first two at bats.

Yup-101 AB's, .386/.456/.653.

How are things working out for him in San Diego? It looks like he is still battling his temper. Any complaints from the pitching staff yet? I haven't heard much about how he's working with the pitchers. He has been struggling mightily with the bat, putting up a .268/.268/.324 line up in 71 at-bats.

Wow, you can't possibly be serious. He looked very good at times during his callup last year. You consider a 5+ ERA and a 1.62 WHIP very good? He said at times. Mateo wasn't ready for the major leagues last year, but then again neither were any of the other starters (for example, look at the difference between Marshall this year and Marshall last year). He is 24 years old and has been pretty good at every level he's been at besides his callup to the majors. Either this year or next year, he probably will be ready to contribute to a major league team as either a back of the rotation starter or a good bullpen pitcher.

I think draft pick compensation was ended in the latest CBA. The requirements were made tougher for each class of FA's in the latest CBA, but draft pick compensation is still there.

I'm not sure why the Cubs would want Garland. If you put his numbers so far this season on the Cubs, he'd be the 6th best starter for the Cubs. He's been a mid 4's ERA guy for most of his career besides 1 year. He is certainly no better than Lilly or Hill. He probably is a little better than Marquis, but that's not nearly worth what it would take in talent and salary to acquire him.