RichHillIsABeast

Murton hitting cleanup? Why, I thought he didn't have any power. :roll:

Wood can close. His stint in the pen a while back showed that he can be dominant in short outtings. It's pitching on back to back days, or even 4-5 days in a row that is scary. Good thing we have Howry and Eyre, who can pick up the slack.

Keep up the good work, Rich!

This behind the back bs the Marlins baseball department is pulling looks very bad. Any manager coming in has to think twice about that organization. Whatever in game decisions are made, you're going to be held accountable in a very public venue. That's not how baseball should be. Girardi may have his problems, but we're only hearing one side of the story through the media.

I hope the A's win the WS. Then we can listen to the newest excuses from Morgan and Company.

Cedeno is AAAA. I have absolutely no fear of eating crow b/c of that statement either. He showed absolutely no ability to adjust to ML pitching. If anything, all defenses did was shift over towards the RF line and take away all those bloop doubles he was getting down the line. It's pretty sad when something that simple nabs you of so many XBH.

Giles, please. Solid offense and defense. The injuries do worry me though.

What upside? Cedeno can't hit a lick and seemingly can't do anything but play SS. Even that he doesn't do remarkably well. Great range. Poor glovework, footwork, and throws. I'd rather have Neifi. Yeah, I said it.

Hendry was right. It will only take about 5 moves to bring the team back to contention. Does DFAing Rusch, Jones, and Dempster only count as one move? :? Sure let's designate them and loose $14 mil. Are you sure you don't want to try to trade them first? Why? I'd rather put Hendry under the gun w/ 10 days to do something (i.e. trade). DFAing somebody doesn't mean you aren't trading them. I'll take a bullproof cup in exchange for the 3 of them. At least we'd get something of use. If we had to throw in a couple million (like with Nevin) to get a decent prospect in return, that's fine too, but just getting rid of them (and their salaries) is the main thing. We'd just be freeing up space on the 40 man while buying us time to do something with those 3. I must admit I don't know the rules of DFA. But I agree I'd try to get rid of those guys. Don't forget the likes of Blanco, Maybry, and Bynum. Who you could replace with very cheap and very good rookies like Scott Moore, Cedeno, Theroit, and Soto. . Out of your 3 guys though, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to unload Jones. It creates another hole. We need to get CF, 2B, and a SP. Jones puts up decent #'s and can be a productive peice in a contending team. Contending teams need that veteran bench, don't ya know? lol Blanco and Mabry should be allowed to walk. Bynum and Cedeno should be left alongside the curb on the next roadtrip. Moore should be in the minors next season and not rotting on the bench. Soto...well, he helps Rich Hill, so he can stay. I just hate Jones. That's all. We're pretty much stuck with him unless we get real creative.

Hendry was right. It will only take about 5 moves to bring the team back to contention. Does DFAing Rusch, Jones, and Dempster only count as one move? :? Sure let's designate them and loose $14 mil. Are you sure you don't want to try to trade them first? Why? I'd rather put Hendry under the gun w/ 10 days to do something (i.e. trade). DFAing somebody doesn't mean you aren't trading them. I'll take a bullproof cup in exchange for the 3 of them. At least we'd get something of use. If we had to throw in a couple million (like with Nevin) to get a decent prospect in return, that's fine too, but just getting rid of them (and their salaries) is the main thing. We'd just be freeing up space on the 40 man while buying us time to do something with those 3.

Hendry was right. It will only take about 5 moves to bring the team back to contention. Does DFAing Rusch, Jones, and Dempster only count as one move? :?

Have you seen Wells's stats? Fluke season alert.

ARod needs to grow a pair and face down Giambi, Jeter, and the NY fans. He doesn't need to be friends with the other ladies in that clubhouse to do his job. He doesn't need to put stuff in the media (which he didn't, that was all Giambi and other "anonymous" sources). Rip them a new orifice in the clubhouse and continue raking on the field.

Hahahaha, here's to another sub .500 season!! ](*,)

If it wasn't for Rich Hill, we'd have the #1 pick by now. :x

Getting Castillo is a good choice if we can answer the lack of slugging somewhere else. If we trade for A. Jones, then signing Castillo makes a lot of sense. If we bring back Pierre, getting Castillo would likely not be a good move. We're ranked 11 out of 16 in SLG (10th in HR) and dead last in OBP in the NL. I don't think slugging is the most pressing problem.

Pierre = offensive black hole

Murton's June: .212/.257/.227 (66 AB) It's pretty bad when your SLG < OBP.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp I like the bolded part. We waited how long on CPat? Murton is the real deal. He isn't going to tank on you. Dude can hit for average and get on base. He'll zone the plate better with experience and the power will come (if his second half is indicative of the future).

I hope y'all like crow.

ARod isn't getting moved. The author of that article was just on ESPN and flat out said it wouldn't happen. It's nice to dream, but it isn't going to happen.

C Barrett 1B Lee 2B Marcus Giles (trade) SS Julio Lugo (FA) 3B Ramirez (FA) LF Murton CF Alfonso Soriano (FA) RF Jones / Craig Wilson (FA) #1 Zambrano #2 Prior (#2 on ability, not health) #3 Hill #4 ?? Scrub FA #5 Miller I don't think our rotation is fixable this season. I'd like to concentrate on offense. Zambrano and Hill give you chances to win and FA like Zito and Schmidt are going to get ridiculous contracts. We have lefthanded pitching coming up the pipeline anyway with Veal, Pawelek, and Marshall. Not to mention Hill is already here. This organization doesn't develop position prospects. How do you fix that? FA or trade. Bullpen: Howry Eyre Wuertz Ohman Aardsma Wood (if he dominates, he can close) Bench: Theriot Pagan Branyan Soto Restovich or ST stud We need a long reliever, but I'm not sure what to do about that. I'd rather not do the 12 man pitching staff, but Guzman or Novoa are OK.

How do you know who the Reds will want. Maybe they think like you do and do really believe he's all that good. Maybe Hendry doesn't think all that much of him and won't trade him away for much. Either way, it is worth exploring. New ownership signed him to an 2/18.5M extension with a 13M option for 2008. I think they value him plenty. I love the "how do you know how much Team X values him" arguement. That's not the point. Other teams value OBP and SLG plenty. That sets the market, b/c they are the ones who determine what they will pay / how much they need a certain commodity. The Reds willingness to trade Dunn is set by the Reds own perception of his worth, but you can rest assured they know what others are willing to pay for him. It's simple economics.

I think the Cubs will elect to go with pitching and defense, but there are rumors (Rosenthal?) that we're interested in Soriano for CF. We certainly seem to be willing to go outside the box in some areas. I think the Cubs will go with strong MIF defense (Izturis and Giles maybe). I think Cedeno has really worn out his welcome and the job was his to lose. Zambrano / FA / Hill / FA / Prior will probably be our rotation, with Prior not being the linchpin in our plans. Wood will be back in the pen. Dempster has really exposed the need for another dominant arm there. If Wuertz stays a full year in the bigs, we should have a very good pen, assuming Dempster isn't given a prominent role. Murton would remain if Soriano will accept the move to CF, although we're really going to have to pay out the backside for him. The Cubs really could be good next season, and it wouldn't take a complete front office mindset change to do it.

I don't mean to suggest that Dunn sucks. Far from it. But, getting him at this stage of the game, and from a division rival no less, will cost us substantially in prospects. Giving up someone like Veal, Pawelek, Hill, or Pie is a no-no for a non-elite player. I wouldn't mind nabbing him in FA in a few years, even if his D is below average for his position. All he costs us then is $.