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Yeah and don't forget about that incredible error he had against in the playoffs against the whitesox last year. That was one of the most non-clutch performances this side of Alex Gonzalez. Then next game, in boston, the fans cheered him. Right then at that moment, somewhere in the continental united states, Bill Buckner put his foot through a tv set.

I'd take this guy if it meant we had a better chance to land japanese start Diasuke Matsuzaka? but seeing that it is going to be a silent auction just to gain the right to negotiate with him and Scott Boras, it probably won't happen.

Yeah the best part about that article is that it was placed directly beneath the article that mentions blanco missing the squeeze sign. I didn't see the game but I saw that Hill pitched well giving up 2 runs in seven innings for the n.d. was Blanco talking about him? Because if so I wish all of our rookies were know it alls'

Will Work for Food: the Glendon Rusch Story By Glendon Rusch with a poignant forward by Cecil Fielder [/i]

Eh, I'd take him if he could throw again. Haven't seen him lately but I remember after he had his surgery that he couldn't hit the cut off man to save his life. His fielding % is way up though since 2004. Someone please enlighten me to his ability to field these days. Also I think that it is crazy that he has 50 doubles and only 71 rbi's is no one getting on base in front of him? where in the order does he usually bat?

The more I look at his stats in comparison to his league the more I think he does deserve to be one of our top prospects. In the NW League he is tied for third in home runs, tied for second in rbi's, in the top ten for slugging, in the top ten for ops, in the top ten for hits, third in runs scored, and from all of the accounts I've read he plays some really good defense. All the while he played a full college season and wasn't exactly fresh going in to the North West league. Sure you would like to see him walk more and strike out less but I actually think he's been quite a surprise for someone who BA projected as low as 170th best prospect in the draft. I'm looking forward to what he can do in a full season. I also want to see more of Canzler because he has shown some impressive power.

The Royals took Hochevar this year and tampa took Delmon Young in 03 so I don't think that they would neccessarily avoid the big money guys. The pirates would be stupid to do so because there franchise is such a mess and it would be another bad PR move in string of many.

never mind he already has two errors. Good to see him get a double though

whoa shortstop? Has he ever played short? or is it just because Iowa is low on infielders? If he can play short with the offensive numbers he put up that makes him alot more interesting.

check them out on http://www.dominicansummerleague.com Second Baseman Elvis Lara 19 righty .325 (in the top ten in the league for batting average) 46 rbi's (3rd in the league) 2hrs (the league lead is 9) .357 .439 .796 Pitcher Alberto Cabrera 17 6'4" righty 71 inning 55 k's 18 bb's 2.27 era in 71innings Pitcher Harol Tolentino 17 6'4" Lefty 42k's 17'bbs 3.25 era in 52.2 innings Pitcher Junniol Lami 18 6'1" righty 41k's 18bb's 3.68 era in 44 innings Pitcher Edilmar Infante 18 6'3" righty 2.78era 10bb's 21 k's in 55 inning Pitcher Gregorio Rodriguez 17 6'2" 15k's 2bb's 2.91 era in 34 inning pitched

Matthews, Jr - a lifetime .333 OBP / .415 SLG having a fluke career year at age 31? Edmonds - 37 years old next year, injury risk, SLG has gone from .643-.533-.475 from 2004-06? Cameron - an above-average CF, but that's about it; what will he cost on the open market? NO THANKS The problem is that this Cubs team has deeper problems than finding a CF with good OBP and SLG. I consider that more of a luxury, something that would have pushed the 2004 team over the top, not this team. While different teams have different needs (more power, more defense, etc.), defense is the number one skill of my ideal CF, followed by OBP. SLG is a nice bonus. so do you or do you not want to play pie? All I've been saying is play him because has the defense a decent slg % and hopefully will get better in the obp department. Plus he is so cheap it gives us flexibility to go get a zito or schmidt.

In my previous post I said that we need a Cf'er with a good arm obp, slg %. I really don't want any of those guys but I wont complain if we get one and a starting pitcher. Anyways, Kroth 1342 thought it would be hard to find a guy like that and I was simply showing him they are out there to be had and trying to make my previous point in that Pie can fill those voids more than pierre can for alot cheaper than any free agent.

"Because those are so easy to find" Mike Cameron, Gary Matthews Jr, a healthy Jim Edmonds all of which are free agents at the end of this season. My original point though was that Pie will fill those voids better than Pierre can especially on slugging% and defense, the obp still leaves something to be desired.

Yes. Please trade pierre now. I'm sick of watching other teams run on our outfield. We need a center fielder with an arm and an obp and a slg %. Also I don't want hendry to be tempted to blow a bunch of money on him. So if we get something decent, a prospect who already has good numbers, not one of those high cieling low performance guys, I say do it. Save money and throw Pie in center and with improve defense and money to spend on zito or schmidt and we'll be in a much better positon for next year.

well we can cross radke off the list what with all the retirement talk his strained/torn labrum.

I'll take Pie for his arm and the fact that he is cheap. i also like the idea of more pop in the outfield. 40 hrs 130 rbi are numbers I would like to see out of a single cubs player not out of three combined. So if we can bring up Pie and sign a Schmidt or Zito and possible make a secondary trade I am all for it.

wow his obp has taken quite a hit since coming to the southern league. .383 vs 302. Fox is having a break out year but I can't help but wonder if the fact that he was old for a High A player helped him pad his stats.

Whats the point in bringing up Coats? We already have Murton Pierre Jones Bynum Mabry and Pagan for the outfield. And in the infield we have Ramirez, Cedeno, Theriot, Nevin, Mabry, and Bynum. This guy is just going to sit even though he can play outfield and infield. It would be one thing if he were tearing it up or was some great talent but seem noting more than a mediocre sub which we already have too many of.

Well when we got the Blue Jays scouting guy, whose name escapes me, he said he wanted to pay more attention to the international prospects. To me that means signing guys like that Larry Suarez for $900,000. I really doubt that we will be players for Diasuke if only because you have to blow 20-30 million just to negotiate with him. Knowing the tribune that won't happen. When we traded sosa they immediately held a stockholders meeting to address the fact that they ate 18 million or whatever it was I can't remember exactly. But in any event that shows this will always be about the bottom line for them. And despite the revenue that they may gain from having a prominent international talent on their team, They wont do it because there is too much risk involved with that kind of money. In my oppinion they don't have the balls or the foresight.

Exactly. Lackey has been really good this year with the exception of his last couple of starts. I particularly like that he isn't giving up the long ball as much.

Meche has a 7 something era since the allstar break but I wouldn't be opposed to him if he is not our primary signing. He is only 28 and I think it was mentioned last winter that the cubs were trying to get him. That said if we don't get zito or schmidt this offseason is probably going to be a failure. The Mariners are looking for pitching and Schmidt is from there. The Philies unloaded all of their big contracts to go after pitching this off season, the cardinals have 4 free agent pitchers so they'll be in the mix, throw in boston, the yankees, the giants and whoever else and we will be overpaying greatly for one of those two guys. Like I said I would love for Jim to pull off a trade that nobody saw coming. If we could trade to get a #2 guy getting a #3 or 4 guy isn't that big of a deal because their are alot of those guys this year. The last thing we need to do is sign a fifth starter with all of the you guys that we have.

Well this isn't about the cubs but the Espn Deportes is reporting that the Giants just signed 16 year old dominican Angel Villalona to a 2.1 million dollar signing bonus. I think he's a hitter because they keep comparing him to Adrian Beltre in the story. Apparently this is the seond largest bonus ever given to a dominican prospect. The first being when the Yankees gave Willy Mo Pena 2.3 million. Never knew the yankees had him. If you can read spanish here is the link. I know spanish pretty well I just don't know any baseball terminology. They say that he is 200lbs and is 1.9 meters roughly 6' 2". Has good hands, tremendous ability, etc. But the most interesting this that it says is that the giants didn't have the biggest offer. http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story?id=470745

I've seen alot of people post about this years free agent pitchers because I think that most people can agree that is the biggest hole on the team. Anyways I found this site mlb4u.com and a pretty complete list of next years free agents and you can search by position too, which is pretty cool. I personally could live with an outfield of Murton, Pierre, Jones and possibly Pie if we got some really good pitching. But given the demand for pitchers, the relatively few difference makers who are free agents, and the two to three starters that we need; jim hendry may have to do some wheeling and dealing to make us playoff bound again. So heres the list of starting pitchers. discuss. Right Handed Starting Pitchers Player Team Position Roster Service Agent Age Option Tony Armas Jr. Washington Nationals RHSP 25-man 6 Diego Bentz 28 Pedro Astacio Washington Nationals RHSP 25-man 12 Steve Schnieder 36 Miguel Batista Arizona Diamondbacks RHSP 25-man 8 Martin Arburua 35 Roger Clemens Houston Astros RHSP 25-man 20 Randy and Alan Hendricks 44 Adam Eaton Texas Rangers RHSP 25-man 5 Jim Lindell 28 Scott Erickson New York Yankees RHSP FA 15.031 38 Rick Helling Milwaukee Brewers RHSP 25-man 8 35 Orlando Hernandez New York Mets RHSP 25-man 7 Greg Genske 36 Jason Johnson Boston Red Sox RHSP DFA 7 Tommy Tanzer, Alan Nero 32 M Byung-Hyun Kim Colorado Rockies RHSP 25-man 6 Greg Genske, Victor Lee 27 T Cory Lidle New York Yankees RHSP Bereavement list 8.1 Jordan Feagan 34 Jose Lima New York Mets RHSP Minors 9 Joe Klein 33 Greg Maddux Los Angeles Dodgers RHSP 25-man 19 Scott Boras 40 Jason Marquis St. Louis Cardinals RHSP 25-man 5 27 Joe Mays Cincinnati Reds RHSP Minors 6 Steve Hilliard, Joe Urbon 30 Gil Meche Seattle Mariners RHSP 25-man 5 Greg Landry 27 Brian Moehler Florida Marlins RHSP 25-man 8 Lonnie Cooper 34 Mike Mussina New York Yankees RHSP 25-man 14.066 Arn Tellem 37 T Tomo Ohka Milwaukee Brewers RHSP 25-man 5 Jim Masteralexis 30 Ramon Ortiz Washington Nationals RHSP 25-man 5 Pat Roache 33 Vicente Padilla Texas Rangers RHSP 25-man 5 28 Chan Ho Park San Diego Padres RHSP 25-man 10 Scott Boras 33 Sidney Ponson New York Yankees RHSP DFA 7.152 Barry Praver 29 Brad Radke Minnesota Twins RHSP 25-man 11 Ron Simon 33 Jason Schmidt San Francisco Giants RHSP 25-man 10 Randy and Alan Hendricks 33 Aaron Sele Los Angeles Dodgers RHSP 25-man 12 Adam Katz 36 John Smoltz Atlanta Braves RHSP 25-man 17 Lonnie Cooper 39 T Jeff Suppan St. Louis Cardinals RHSP 25-man 8 Scott Leventhal and Damon Lapa (fired agent Jeff Borris of agency BHSC) 31 John Thomson Atlanta Braves RHSP 15-Day 8 Chris Arnold 32 Steve Trachsel New York Mets RHSP 25-man 12 Sam and Seth Levinson 35 Tim Wakefield Boston Red Sox RHSP 15-Day 12 Barry Meister 40 T John Wasdin Texas Rangers RHSP FA 7 34 Jeff Weaver St. Louis Cardinals RHSP 25-man 6 Scott Boras 29 Kip Wells Texas Rangers RHSP 15-Day 5 29 Woody Williams San Diego Padres RHSP 25-man 12 Barry Meister 40 Paul Wilson Cincinnati Reds RHSP 60-Day 8 Randy and Alan Hendricks 33 T Kerry Wood Chicago Cubs RHSP 15-Day 7 Pat Rooney, Greg Landry (SFX) 29 M Jamey Wright San Francisco Giants RHSP 25-man 7 Casey Close 31 Left Handed Starting Pitchers For options, T signifies team option, P signifies player option, M signifies mutual option and T/P signifies team and player option available. Player Team Position Roster Service Agent Age Option Mark Buerhle Chicago White Sox LHSP 25-man 5 Jeff Berry 27 T Bruce Chen Baltimore Orioles LHSP 25-man 5 Scott Boras 29 Shawn Estes San Diego Padres LHSP 15-Day 9 Dave Meier 33 Tom Glavine New York Mets LHSP 25-man 18 Gregg Clifton 40 T/P Ted Lilly Toronto Blue Jays LHSP 25-man 5 30 Jamie Moyer Philadelphia Phillies LHSP 25-man 17.126 Himself 43 Mark Mulder St. Louis Cardinals LHSP 15-Day 5 Gregg Clifton and Octagon Sports Mgt. 29 Andy Pettitte Houston Astros LHSP 25-man 11 Randy and Alan Hendricks 34 Mark Redman Kansas City Royals LHSP 25-man 6 Casey Close 32 David Wells Boston Red Sox LHSP 25-man 18 Gregg Clifton and Wells' wife, Nina 43 Randy Wolf Philadelphia Phillies LHSP 25-man 6 29 Barry Zito Oakland Athletics LHSP 25-man 5 Scott Boras 28

I believe The Cubs beef with Sisco was the fact that he came to spring training way out of shape something like 30 lbs over what he had been. I'm sure there is more that I don't remember about him but about clanton, after reading that article it seems that the cubs really didn't do their homework on the guy. If he was already hurting and losing velocity than why draft him? (and why draft Brownlie after him?) his college coach said that he had told a number of teams about his arm soarness but that the Cubs never called to find out. Add in the character flaws and you've got a recipe for disaster.

I'v seen people post about the 2002 draft on numerous ocassions but still can't find anything out about our second pick Clanton. So what ever happened to him? Was he ever any good at all or was he one of those phantom first round picks to avoid paying the big bucks i.e Luis Montanez? Is he still under contract by the cubs? Any info would be great as I've been wondering about this for a long time.