RichHillIsABeast

AZ Phil over at the Cub Reporter says "Cesar Izturis looked like Ozzie Smith Redux in the 30-minute extended infield practice yesterday morning."

He's not constructing the Cubs lineup. He's putting together a very highly paid team that won't be great. Soriano in LF makes perfect sense for such an endeavor. Well let's just move Todd Walker to SS and Carlos Lee to CF while we're at it.

Please do, and I'm offering no babies. Cheapskate! Homewrecker.

Soriano in LF? Some quality research went into this article.

Remind me again how people are able to get jobs in sports broadcasting despite not knowing about baseball? Why would he becoming back here? :?

C'mon c'mon! Hurry up, clock.

I'm absolutely sure the balls are being hit from home plate. It wouldn't be much good having fielding practice hitting the ball from 3B, would it? lol Anyway, Soriano's first moves were wrong 90% of the time. He's not reading the ball well off the bat. That can definitely be taught, but right now it looks like he has a long way to go.

I was really optimistic about Soriano being able to handle CF, but this makes me have some serious doubts: http://cubsaz.podcastspot.com/episodes/8C9592 Hopefully Alfonso improves quickly, b/c that crap isn't going to cut it.

Against Marquis? :lol:

I disagree. Gooz needs to log innings, not just get a few ML innings. His stuff will translate to the major leagues. It's just too good not to. He needs to show he can handle the workload of a starting pitcher (last year was the first step). You don't waste a pitcher with 3+ above average pitches in the pen, especially when you have a pen loaded with arms as the Cubs 'pen is.

Nice.

On of his agents met with the Cards, but one Cardinal official put it at a 1 million-to-1 chance that Roger would be a Cardinal (per ESPN News). I think it was Duncan that said that, IIRC.

If not jones then who? Where's Freddie Bynum when you need him?

That's probably why Barrett is hitting in front of Jones. edit: dang, 'cuse beat me.

omg so excited!

:( Don't tease me.

I'd rather have the groundout on 1-3 pitches than the K or BB in 7. Hopefully Z figures that out.

Guys also get plunked in the back/thigh nowadays instead of getting earholed. Not all HBP are created equal.

Well, I don't think Santo is the greatest. Schmidt has that title by a long way. But, I could easily place Santo in the top five and maybe top four. Top three seems like a stretch. Based on the numbers, I'd probably go Schmidt, Brett, Matthews, Boggs, and then Santo. Some might argue that Robinson's defense places him right above Santo. Add to that the fact that Santo did this with Diabetes. He might have been right there with Schmidt if he hadnt had to battle that too. Morgan wants to know why you're making excuses. If Santo deserved to be in there, the intellectual giants who comprise the VC would have put him in the Hall already. :roll:

I'm pretty mad about this, but Santo must just be sad. Hopefully the Cubs start out hot. That'll help.

Is there really any doubt he roided it up? Great player before the roids. Huge cheater.

Who are these jerks who aren't voting for him? They need a good pummeling.

Hmmm, I'd like to include Prior in my list, but if goes down with an injury, you're done. Maybe you could ask if you could include Prior until he goes down with an injury and switch to Lilly from that point on. :lol: Zambrano (for ERA, W, and Ks) Hill (Ks aplenty) Lilly (mediocre ERA, decent W, good Ks) I think the Cubs starters will do very well in terms of wins thanks to the run support they'll get this year. They might actually be able to give up 4-5 runs and still get the W. The Red Sox are facing good offenses in their division and throughout the AL, so I think you have a decent advantage here. If you can include Prior, I think you've got it made. Z/Prior/Hill will dominate Ks.

Murton's arm isn't horrid. Remember the guy who doubled off Encarnacion at 1B? Murton's throw to the plate in the AJ/Barrett collision was decent and right on line, it just didn't get there in time. Jones isn't blah defensively. He's actually very good, excepting the arm problems, which may have been caused by his shoulder woes. Soriano has a very nice arm. He was at least ML average in LF by the end of last season. That's pretty impressive. Basically, I'm not too worried about our OF defense. I think Jones will throw better, Murton will have a year's experience under his belt, and Soriano will improve each day. :D I really want to know where people get the idea that Murton's arm is horrible, because he keeps proving otherwise. Also, playing CF has its advantages in being able to pick up the angle the ball is coming off the bat at a lot more quickly, and getting a better jump. I think Soriano will do fine. I agree with you about Soriano but wait until he misjudges a flyball for the first time out there....will the press start the crap that they often do when someone is in a new position and struggle and will it effect Soriano? He may take over and steal the headlines of the Rameriz doesn't hustle theme. I don't think Lou will let that crap run on w/o coming to the defense of his player(s). I wouldn't want Lou pissed at me.

Murton's arm isn't horrid. Remember the guy who doubled off Encarnacion at 1B? Murton's throw to the plate in the AJ/Barrett collision was decent and right on line, it just didn't get there in time. Jones isn't blah defensively. He's actually very good, excepting the arm problems, which may have been caused by his shoulder woes. Soriano has a very nice arm. He was at least ML average in LF by the end of last season. That's pretty impressive. Basically, I'm not too worried about our OF defense. I think Jones will throw better, Murton will have a year's experience under his belt, and Soriano will improve each day. :D