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I'd have to say Lilly. He already has 4 average or above seasons in the book (I'm counting his 98 ERA+ as an average), and if Marshall hits a cold streak this year, who knows if he'll be even allowed to start in 5 years for a major league squad. Lilly also could put up more good years over the next 4 when he will continue to get to start. I like Marshall's potential, but I believe the answer has to be Lilly right now.

You know what.....until Murton can prove he can do anything besides beat out infiield singles against right handers, I'd rather stick with Jones to see if he can start to pound righties like he has like clockwork for his entire career. Against lefties, obviously Murton should be in there every day, and Jones shouldn't be let within a country mile of the field. Well, if you're going to have Jones, you might as well put Floyd in instead-who has hit right-handers better than Jones has in the past, and has hit right-handers better than either Murton or Jones this year. I'd be batting Floyd against most right-handers, Murton with the left-handers, and Jones against the occasional right-hander that he's had success with.

Given how far (and quickly) Theriot has fallen, I'd hit him 7th or 8th and let Murton lead off. He's shown the ability to get on base at a .350-.360 clip, which is solid. All those concerned with his lack of power should have those concerns eased b/c he'd be hitting 1st, where power is less important. And Murton should be starting every day in RF anyway. Actually, I'd start Murton every day in LF and put Soriano in RF, but that's a discussion for a different day. No telling what effect a move to RF and out of the top spot would have on our $136m egg-shelled-psyche star. BTW - how does Soriano not wanting to move to the OF last year, then putting up career best #s, fit with your suggestion that his performance hinges on comfort? If his comfort dictated his offensive output, would he really have started last season with a .921 OPS in April and .977 in May? I don't know how to explain that exactly other than to say that he adjusted a lot better to being an OF than to moving down in the order. That's why he insisted on being a leadoff hitter, and he insisted on being an OF when he signed. He may have been reluctant to go to the OF originally (probably because it was something he had never done before), but he was on board with it quickly when he experienced it. He spent a full season at both the #3 and #5 spots in the order-so the chance of him changing his mind after he got to be in those spots is already gone. As far as Murton playing everday, the loss of production that the team is going to get by playing him over Floyd everyday (at least right now while Floyd has been much better than him) would make it a lateral move overall.

I don't know. I think I'd rather see him promoted. When it does catch up to him, a little failure will help him work harder on changing his ways. Also then when he does adjust, he'll be adjusted to AA or AAA pitching rather than single A pitching. I just think it's a hard sell to a guy who's having success like he's having to suddenly start being more selective with his pitches.

Yes. Pitching to Andruw Jones was something he never should have done. The interesting thing is Andruw was not getting good swings every time against Marquis. Several balls that he fouled off he just barely got a piece of. When he put it fair though, they were rockets. Marquis just struggled finding the zone last night. Combine that with 1 hitter who just torches him, and an error by Marquis, and it led to disaster.

For those who want Soriano moved, the other big question becomes-who does the team bat leadoff? Theriot only has a .330 OBP overall, and since May 3rd has put up a line of .228/.296/.307 (114 AB's)-that's certainly not a player you want at the top of the order. Murton would be an ok option-he's putting up a .261/.341/.348 line. He's only going to play half the time though anyway, especially when he's still 100 points in OPS behind Floyd. Floyd would be a decent option as well-he's put up a .306/.364/.423 line. The same thing applies though-he's only going to play half the time, and who knows if that OBP/SLG combo is going to stay the way it is, or if it is going to start to shift towards SLG as the year goes along. DeRosa and Pie are also options, but Pie is better served where he is right now (taking some of the pressure away) and DeRosa's OBP is falling. Even if Soriano's numbers don't drop while moving him down in the order (which is doubtful, considering that he's a person who relies on comfort-look at his change both in leadoff and when Pie is on the team, and also his better numbers when he moved back to LF, along with not wanting to be an outfielder last year and then declaring that he doesn't want to be an infielder anymore now that he's used to outfield now), even if that's the case, the loss of production that the Cubs will have with losing at-bats by Soriano and by an inferior hitter taking more at-bats will counteract any more runs driven in by him in a lower spot. There simply is not much to gain and too much to lose by moving him. At best, you get a balanced effect, and at worst, Soriano's production drops and its a disaster. Plus, the Cubs promised him he would bat leadoff, and they should stick to that promise unless there's a clear reason why they would be better moving him. Here, there's not.

Barrett on 2nd and Jones on 1st with 1 out-Fontenot hits a ball to 2nd-he goes to 2nd for 1, Fontenot beats the throw to 1st, and Barrett tries to score. He gets only about 1/3 of the way down the line before they throw home and get him caught in a rundown to end the inning.

If both teams long relievers happen to get thrown out of the game in the next inning or two (by hitting a batter) this game could get really wild. You'd probably see position players in to pitch by the end of it.

This is exactly why Gallagher did not pitch last night. Ok Marquis, you had your give up lots of runners and get out of lots of jams outing. Now you've had your absolutely horrible outing. Now the question becomes how you respond in the next outing, if you spiral down or if you pick it back up.

Come on Cubs-you have to be favored tomorrow night now, and you're not that big of an underdog tonight. You have to go ahead and grab 1 of these 2 and take the season series from the Braves.

And I'll be right there with you unfortunately. Keep in mind, even if they win, they will still be 4 games under .500. I'm saving any optimism until they at least reach 500 again. The way the Brewers are going, by the time the Cubs hit .500 they might be leading the division :D I've definitely moved into the cautiously optimistic stage and possibly slightly more than that. Many of the question marks are disappearing. The rotation appears solid-Z might be starting to come back, and Marquis hasn't slipped too much yet (the jury's still out on Marshall, although 4 consecutive good starts is a reason for hope). The bullpen is starting to come together. Dempster is on his way for a very good season, and so is Wuertz. Howry's increased velocity the last 5-6 outings has led to much better pitching out of him and Marmol has been solid as well. Ohman and Gallagher are question marks, while Eyre is a lost cause, but with 4 pitchers pitching well that should set up the bullpen nicely for most close games. The lineup is also starting to come together. Pie up for good makes the starting 8 better, both offensively and defensively. The big hole is still at SS (if Theriot or Izturis is starting there, albeit worse with Izturis), but 1 big hole can be accounted for. C is the big key-if Barrett can start to play at all like he has the last couple seasons, the offense will be pretty good. There's still plenty of things that can go wrong with this team, but I think many of the questions and turmoil surrounding who should be in what spot that was here a few weeks ago have gone a long way to being answered, and that should be a big help to the Cubs going forward.

Yeah, Lou pretty much tries to put the wrong relievers in, it's the only logical explanation. I was just going to post something about Gallagher not pitching. He's been up a couple days now, and hasn't pitched in quite some time since his last start. Why not let him get his feet wet in a blowout? Don't understand it at all. The only thing that makes sense is with Marquis and Lilly going the next 2 days, Lou wanted a long man just in case. Both of them last time out struggled so I think hes just covering his ass. Marquis didn't. You must not have watched him pitch. Marquis was in big trouble in the first and 2nd, and was saved by great defensive plays. He only lasted 5 innings I believe also, because of high pitch total. If thats not called struggleing then I dont know what is. I believe Marquis struggled as well because he kept having runners on, but the defense didn't help him nearly as much as you implied. Yes, the Ramirez play in the 2nd was amazing. However, the two double plays in the first and 2nd were routine (and 1 of them was started by Marquis). Also, Jones let a ball he should have caught go for a double which caused most of the trouble in the 2nd, and the infield let a pop fly drop between them for a hit which didn't help either. For the most part, Marquis just did a good job of pitching out of jams (some that he created) all night long until he had to come out because of his pitch count.

I would've used Eyre and have an excuse not to use him tomorrow if it's a close game. I would have used Eyre as well. Gallagher is not being used because he is the long man, and they want to save him for a situation where he would have to go a few innings-at least that's what I think is why it is.

Am I safe to assume this also includes tonight? Yes, it does.

Soriano with Pie Note-the OBP is only hits+walks. I didn't include HBP or drop sacs if he has any during those times. 86 AB's, .430/.443/.837 Wow.

Soriano's on fire, and Pie doesn't even have any RBIs to show for it. Send him back down. Anybody feel like calculating Soriano's #'s with Pie on the big league squad? .800 42 home runs 70 rbi .800 on base .24000 slugging. roughly. Sounds about right. Pie came up April 17th, went down May 10th, and came back up June 3rd... anybody feel like doing the math, or should we wait for a sportswriter to put it together for an article? I will-give me a minute on that.

There were at least a couple other teams that were offering 100 million, and Carlos Lee, who most teams saw as an inferior player, signed for 6 years, 100 million, and was actually offered a 6 year, 112 million contract by somebody. Soriano was not going to sign for less than 120 million.

How does that work? Is there a certain number of days or can Floyd come back at any time? Floyd can come back whenever he's ready to. Prayers are with Floyd and his family.

Lineups Cubs A. Soriano lf F. Pie cf D. Lee 1b C. Floyd rf M. DeRosa 3b M. Barrett c R. Theriot 2b C. Izturis ss S. Marshall p Atlanta K. Johnson 2b Y. Escobar 3b E. Renteria ss A. Jones cf J. Francoeur rf M. Diaz lf J. Saltalamacchia c S. Thorman 1b L. Cormier p

The question is simply this-who do you want, Jones on the Cubs and Pagan in Triple A, or Pagan on the Cubs and Jones released? Here are the pros for both: Pagan pros better defense at all 3 positions better start to the season Jones bigger chance at good production better backup plan for the organization (if Jones is released, and then an outfielder goes down, who is the OF that comes up to replace them? If Pagan goes down, then he can come up when one of the OF's is hurt). It's a close call, but I'd rather have Jones in the majors and Pagan at Triple A. If Jones can get traded and next year's salary goes away, then certainly do that. As far as a release though, I'd rather see Fontenot up, Pagan down.

From a guy who watches them several times a year, their problems are the QB's and coaching staff. The WR's aren't special, but they are about average. The line and backs are good, and so is the defense. With their heavy emphasis on the running game though, Jacksonville doesn't have all that many possessions, and the QB's are simply not efficient enough to win consistently. Also, their coaching causes problems because Del Rio lets his players run wild. I don't know how many times I've seen the Jaguars lose games because of 15 yard penalties at the worst time because they can't control their emotions. He also doesn't have the team ready to play every week, which is how the Jaguars can beat Dallas, Pittsburgh, Philadelpia, Giants and Indianapolis and yet lose to Washington, Houston twice, and Buffalo.

I think it's still a bit premature for that. There's nobody who is going to replace him now who is going to be significantly better, whether that ends up being Pagan (I know, he's up right now, but Ward will probably replace him when he comes back), Cedeno, or Fontenot. Jones isn't necessarily completely washed up yet-trade him for absolutely anything you can get, but just releasing him doesn't really help the Cubs right now without a great option to replace him on the roster. Right now, he can be a pinch hitter and backup CF.

Day is a somewhat interesting one: .315/.401/.465, 11 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 10/11 SB, 48K/29BB. He played both catcher and outfield for Michigan State this year, but more catcher. He's only a sophomore, and he is a switch hitter.

04-05. They overruled him on Townsend. But I believe he nabbed guys like Niemann, Brignac, Davis and McGee in 04 (damn, what a haul that was). not to mention Sonnanstine, in the 13th round. His 05 draft was pretty uninspiring, as stupid as it is to judge a draft after two years. Two of his higher picks from that draft are in our organization doing next to nothing(Reinhard and Lopez). It seems in TB his drafts were a lot more high school oriented. What years did he play a major role in Toronto? I think something like 89 to 00 was when he had the most impact (could be off by a couple years)-here's a list of people that Wilken had a major impact on: http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20061204&content_id=1749967&vkey=pr_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

I would not be surprised if DeRosa is complaining some. He's probably sat more than he would like and supposedly Hendry told him he'd be the starter. I'd be a little shocked by that. DeRosa has been in and out of the lineup most of his career, and he's also been hurt 6 or 7 games this year-he really hasn't sat all that much. I'd be especially shocked if any complaints were registered lately, as he's been playing just about everyday (as he should right now).