noisesquared

This. Rizzo has been extremely young for every league he's played in. Repeating AAA won't hurt him a bit. I'm fine with Rizzo and Jackson playing at AAA for as long as they need to, if it helps their development. I'm just not convinced that Rizzo has much to prove at AAA.

Actually Castro should still be in the minors. He should've played at least full seasons in AA and AAA, before maybe getting a cup of coffee with the ML team this year. You wouldn't want to start that arby/FA clock too soon :roll:

No change is going to be a tough sell to Cubs fandom if by mid May (or sooner) LaHair is proving he's not capable of being an everyday ML 1B, and Rizzo is tearing up AAA(again). While I understand the reasoning behind trying to delay the costs associated with arb and FA, I prefer the management brings the kids up and lets them play when they're ready. I'd rather have Rizzo and Jackson get their ML growing pains over sooner than later. The whole future costs problem is predicated on the players actually coming up and producing. I'm hoping Jackson and Rizzo come up and produce well enough that their future costs are an issue - that's the problem the Cubs should want to have.

Didn't see it elsewhere yet - ESPN reports Cubs and Garza avoid arb, agree to 1yr/$9.5mil contract... http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/7536437/chicago-cubs-matt-garza-agree-95-million-deal

I'm still waiting for concrete evidence that we're 'doing a rebuild'. NOTHING has came from Theo/Jed/Ricketts to say that a 'rebuild' is in place. The media also knows nothing - the new regime is so tight lipped it really has to be frustrating the Chicago media, who are not used to the business being ran that way. And not signing Pujols/Wilson/Darvish does not in any way imply to me that the Cubs are rebuilding. The moves the Cubs have made - DeJesus was a nice value sign which would make no sense for a rebuilding team (give that playing time to Jackson or Campana if you're throwing 2012), and Stewart, well someone has to play 3rd next year, and it might as well be a guy with some upside. The Cubs could still sign Fielder, Cespedes, and Kuroda, trade Garza, Byrd, and Marshall for some quality packages, and not only be in good position to compete in the division this year, but in great position for 2013 onward.

Pretty much what I was thinking. I initially thought the Sox would be crazy to entertain this trade, but if they're at all concerned that Dunn may not rebound, this could be a chance to move him for something useful. Soriano as a DH in a hitter friendly park may be appealing to a team like the Sox.

Just an idea - What about Soriano for Dunn? I believe both have 3 yrs left at comparable $. Soriano as DH at the Cell could be productive, and buying low on Dunn seems like the type of move the Cubs need to make. I'm not sure what the consensus is these days on Dunn's miserable 11 season though - was it an isolated instance, or the start of a horrible decline in production?

What part of 17 baserunners allowed in the 6IP since returning from injury indicates this would be a knee-jerk reaction? He's been terrible since coming back. The way Dempster's pitched since coming off the DL, he's lucky he's made it this long without this type of a blowup.

The Frontier League actually has an age limit - 25 or 26, if I remember correctly. I have a cousin who pitched for Windy City after being released from the Cubs organization a few years ago, and went to several games myself. They've got a pretty nice stadium in Crestwood, and the team and league appeared to be pretty well run.

But here's the issue: Is the slice you get off a right-handed bat to rightfield inherently different than the hook you get off a left-handed bat to rightfield? Seems to me that in each instance the bat will impart clockwise sidespin on the ball, causing it to tail toward the foulline. By the same token, both LH and RH hitters impart counterclockwise sidespin on balls they hit to LF. If I'm right about all of this, then there's no differentiating LF from RF on the basis of ball trajectory issues. Conversely, if hooking (pulled) balls behave differently (less tailing action, to be specific) than slicing (opposite field) balls, then your theory's got legs. Just a general observation, but I think everytime a LH batter hits a ball the spin will be counter clockwise, and RH batters will always generate a clockwise spin. A pulled, hard hit would generate less spin, but not a reverse spin. I could be wrong, but I can't picture a situation where a RH batter hits a ball that generates counterclockwise spin.

PLAYER SALARY (US$) 1. Derrek Lee 13,250,000 2. Carlos Zambrano 12,400,000 3. Alfonso Soriano 10,000,000 4. Aramis Ramirez 9,000,000 5. Ted Lilly 6,000,000 6. Jacque Jones 5,633,333 7. Ryan Dempster 5,333,333 8. Jason Marquis 4,750,000 9. Michael Barrett 4,533,333 10. Bob Howry 4,500,000 11. Cesar Izturis 4,250,000 12. Scott Eyre 4,000,000 13. Cliff Floyd 3,000,000 14. Mark DeRosa 2,750,000 15. Henry Blanco 1,775,000 16. Kerry Wood 1,750,000 17. Wade Miller 1,500,000 18. Daryle Ward 1,000,000 19. Will Ohman 900,000 20. Neal Cotts 825,000 21. Michael Wuertz 415,000 22. Matt Murton 415,000 23. Ronny Cedeno 400,000 24. Rich Hill 400,000 25. Ryan Theriot 390,000 26. Angel Guzman 384,000 27. Juan Mateo 383,000 Total Team Salary: 99,936,999 Actually....... it's approcahing $100m !! Actually if you count a certain dl'd minor-league pitcher, the payroll would be over 103 mil, but who's counting :D

Again, it's a pattern: $4.15 to Izturis $4.5 to DeRosa $3.25 to Rusch $2.5 to Blanco It's $14.4 million. It's not the "littlest thing" You're assuming that those four positions on the team would be adequately filled by people making $0. You have to assume that the people there are at least making something. 4 players at an average of $400,000 each, combines to $1.6m. Make one of those guys a millionaire veteran and the total cost is $2.2 million, leaving $12.2 million on the table for somebody, or somebodies, who can actually help the team get better. So you're going with Cedeno, one of the worst hitters in all of baseball, over Izturis next year. And you're going with Theriot, very possibly a one-year wonder, over DeRosa. The same argument could be made that the Cubs are going with Izturis, one of the worst hitters in baseball, and with DeRosa, very possibly a one-year wonder. I'll take my chances w/ Cedeno and Theriot and the extra $7 million over Izturis and DeRosa.

Maybe in your world. Not in the baseball community... The baseball community is second only to politics in taking reputation over substance. Exactly. So even if you assume he has no value actually, he has perceived value, and therefore would be worth something in another trade. He was worth no more than a washed up pitcher this year, not sure how his perceived value has improved. You could get a player for him, but probably just another worthless player. Again, reputation over substance. Maddux was viewed as far more than a washed up pitcher. I'd say Maddux's 6-3 record in 12 starts with LA (with a 3.30ERA/1.08 WHIP) is a little bit more than 'reputation'. That looks like 'substance' to me. Considering Maddux helped LA get to the post-season, I think they got all they hoped to get from Maddux in that deal.

You haven't heard Battery, but are just assuming the Beatles are hands-down the better band without having heard Metallica's best work? Just because the Beatles were great musicians, songwriters, and trendsetters, does not mean that another band could actually come along and be better musicians, songwriters, and equally original.

Not as much as the Beatles or Led Zeppelin... I don't know what your thoughts are, I'm just putting it out there. You must be joking. If Cliff Burton-era Metallica can be called over-rated, than so can the Beatles and Zeppelin. I'll agree 90's and later Metallica is nothing special, but the first Metallica 3 records are as much masterpieces as any Zep or Beatles recordings.