98navigator

Callis said in his chat that he just forgot to add him. It was a mistake. That explains it...

Good catch. I disagree with that assessment because Rich has been good on every level he's pitched and, until he shows me that his overall numbers last season were fluky, I have no reason to believe otherwise. I think they're just high on these upcoming prospects. Even if Rich Hill is merely mediocre, I could see Lilly being moved by 2010 before him.

Samardzija as closer is interesting as well.

I've already made a case against that in this thread but I couldn't resist saying, again, that this is ridiculous! Kerry Wood has always been better than Miller. That doesn't mean Wade can't be decent but I don't understand the comparison... No comparasion. Wood is better. Not true. A healthy Wade Miller is almost every bit as good as a healthy Kerry Wood. How so? We all know about Kerry's inability to stay healthy but even with his problems he's started more games and pitched more innings than Wade Miller. All things being equal about health, Wood has a better career ERA, WHIP, H/9, K/9, shutouts, and complete games (just to name a few). The only thing Wade Miller has, over Wood, is a history of better control as evidenced by his fewer walks. Miller's higher winning precentage, I think, has more to do with the team's he's pitched for than his own abilities... Kerry Wood: Baseball-Reference Wade Miller Baseball-Reference

Baseball America, by way of the Chicago Suntimes, projects the Cubs' 2010 team: Apparently, BA doesn't project Matt Murton into the Cubs' longterm plans (at least not as a starter).

BTW, I couldn't find it online but the Suntimes print edition says Miller topped out at 86 mph. It's listed in the "Cubs in the desert" section on page 71A.

Here's the Suntimes' take on the order of the rotation. On the outside chance Cotts makes the rotation, above Miller or Prior, he will pitch in the 5th spot and Marquis in the 3rd spot (because Cott's is a Lefty). Either Prior or Miller will pitch in the 3 spot. Link

I've already made a case against that in this thread but I couldn't resist saying, again, that this is ridiculous! Kerry Wood has always been better than Miller. That doesn't mean Wade can't be decent but I don't understand the comparison...

Most likely it's a mistake because 96 sounds very optimistic. However, I think the Sox claim Jenks' slider (or some other offspeed pitch) is in the mid 90's.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/f2/fullj.getty-73447740lb009_chicago_cubs__10_39_00_pm.jpg Miller http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/0d/fullj.getty-73447740lb008_chicago_cubs__10_38_50_pm.jpg Jones http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/9d/fullj.getty-73447740lb007_chicago_cubs__10_38_39_pm.jpg Daryle Ward http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/15/fullj.getty-73447740lb012_chicago_cubs__10_38_12_pm.jpg Tomas Perez http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/sp/getty/bc/fullj.getty-73447740lb004_chicago_cubs__10_05_58_pm.jpg Ward

Roids or some other enhancing supliment. 8-) LOL, let's hope not.

Typically I agree about boasting, but was he maybe saying this tongue-in-cheek. No, he was completely serious. I like that he has the confidence to say it but I think tact is in order. The Cubs are going to be a target this year because of the money they spent. There's no reason to start getting too mouthy... Lou thought he should back off those comments (and actually he did back off the WS talk a bit). Daily Herald

Looks like Jeff is throwing a lot harder than he once did. Link

He's all for advocating DirecTV's high bid to woo exclusive rights to MLB Extra Innings but he admonishes individual teams for outbidding other teams for players? That seems hypocritical.

:lol:

I just don't see it. The Cubs are committed to Lilly and Marquis for the foreseeable future. I'm not going to get too excited one way or the other at this point but, if I were going to be prematurely exuberant, it would be about the outing Marquis had. He's definitely going to be on this staff so we have to hope that he rectifies his fly ball problems and starts throwing his sinker more. If his first start is any indication, it looks like, the tweaking he and Rothschild did was a success. He pitched two efficient (20 pitch) innings and got mostly ground balls. maybe i just have some unfounded man love for Miller, but i only see him becoming more valuable, to trade him prematuraly is a mistake in my eyes...i was in texas from 2000-2005 so i got a real good look at miller, not so much with lilly and marquis, if wade comes back 3/4 to his earlier self, he is gonna do good things for this team(even if just as a trade piece) trading him early will be a mistake though I agree with you that trading him early would be a mistake. I don't think Hendry will trade him until Prior proves he is healthy (by pitching effectively a few times through the rotation). If all goes well, I could see Miller being traded by May. If everyone is healthy, Prior should get the last spot in the rotation over Miller. That means Wuertz, most likely, is headed back to AAA with Novoa. I can see the Cubs sticking Miller in the bullpen as insurance until the rotation looks stable. Miller and Cotts would both fill a longman role (they'd have to keep Cotts stretched out as insurance for when Miller is moved...) If Prior has a setback Miller will start.

I just don't see it. The Cubs are committed to Lilly and Marquis for the foreseeable future. I'm not going to get too excited one way or the other at this point but, if I were going to be prematurely exuberant, it would be about the outing Marquis had. He's definitely going to be on this staff so we have to hope that he rectifies his fly ball problems and starts throwing his sinker more. If his first start is any indication, it looks like, the tweaking he and Rothschild did was a success. He pitched two efficient innings (20 total pitches) and got mostly ground balls.

Huh, did you watch/listen to the games? Seriously, it's early in ST and wins and losses right now aren't that important (especially when most of the regulars aren't playing more than a couple of innings). In both losses, the lead was relinquished by players with very little shot of making the 25 man club. In today's tie, it was O'Malley and Marmol that each gave away a lead (to be fair, most of the starters today weren't regulars). This team can't be evaluated until the roster is thinned and the regulars are playing 9 innings.

Yeah but Lou claims he didn't realize Rich was on the mound during the Barrett/AJ game. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know the ties with the other guys either. Garland, Aardsma, and Sisco seems like a no brainer slap in the face to me. Or, possibly, he views it as flaunting what we gave up... I know it's constantly mentioned here that the Cubs were dumb to trade Garland... There's no way I could root for any one player over the Cubs. Edit; In fact Lou said today that had he known/remembered about Rich pitching in that game last year he would have scheduled another pitcher.

Len and Bob :)

What have they done to deserve that? I know they play for the White Sox now, but aren't we being a little harsh? No, I don't think I'm being harsh at all. They all play for an opposing organization. I nolonger root for them to do well and especially not against the Cubs. The only reason Guillen is pitching them against the Cubs is because he's hoping that they will take an extra chip on their shoulders to the mound. Garland pitched in Thursday's game, after Buehrle, and even though he only pitched a couple of innings, I'm surprised that he was also scheduled to start tomorrow. I guess winning against the Cubs is more important than getting his arm ready to pitch under normal rotation rest...

Uh, that's actually one thing that I thought Dusty did say a great deal. I don't really think so. Dusty would, more often than not, find a way to deflect blame for why they didn't get the job done and he certainly never came out and said play was unacceptable. I also don't recall Dusty, publically, challenging guys; telling them to step up their collective game if they expect to play. I guess we have different memories then. Dusty would deflect it some of the time, but he said all of that plenty of times. He also challenged people to step up their game-Rich Hill is a perfect example of somebody who he said had to step up if he expected to play. I thought that Dusty talked about execution in the way Piniella is there most of the time when addressing what was wrong with his team. In fact, he was widely criticized for blaming it on simply not executing in that way. I agree on the Hill memory but the difference, as I see it, is Lou is challenging the entire team without singling out (or possibly alienating) a particular player. I think his mantra, thus far, has been for the whole team to execute. He's not just talking about the young guys here because Jacque also left a runner in scoring position... Well, the question is, does he consider somebody like Jacque to be one of his boppers? That's the thing-he is excusing some of the people in that quote and only focusing on some. I think he does consider Jones to be one of his boppers. I took from that quote that he was unhappy with the overall lack of production with RISP (in this game more of the nonbopper types came up in those situations). Plus, I think he's reminding them that it's ST and he's looking for certain things from guys seeking to make the final 25. While listening to the game, I thought Theriot was a bit too aggressive with his at bats. I hope he's been reading some of the things Lou's been saying about patience at the plate with a potential base stealer aboard... There was at least one time (possibly two) during the game when Pie was on the move and Theriot was hacking. If you are to believe Lou's quotes, he's not going to be using the hit-and-run as much as advocating stolen bases. Additionally, Lou's said he's looking for a patient batter behind a speedy runner (and if the 4 stolen bases today are any indication, guys will be on the move alot). Having read that, I thought Theriot shouldn't have swung at the first or second pitch with Pie trying to steal a base. My feeling is it's this kind of lack of execution that Lou is referring to.

I hope all of those former Cubs prospects get blasted all over the park! There's no coincidence in that pitching setup...

Uh, that's actually one thing that I thought Dusty did say a great deal. I don't really think so. Dusty would, more often than not, find a way to deflect blame for why they didn't get the job done and he certainly never came out and said play was unacceptable. I also don't recall Dusty, publically, challenging guys; telling them to step up their collective game if they expect to play. I guess we have different memories then. Dusty would deflect it some of the time, but he said all of that plenty of times. He also challenged people to step up their game-Rich Hill is a perfect example of somebody who he said had to step up if he expected to play. I thought that Dusty talked about execution in the way Piniella is there most of the time when addressing what was wrong with his team. In fact, he was widely criticized for blaming it on simply not executing in that way. I agree on the Hill memory but the difference, as I see it, is Lou is challenging the entire team without singling out (or possibly alienating) a particular player. I think his mantra, thus far, has been for the whole team to execute. He's not just talking about the young guys here because Jacque also left a runner in scoring position...

I hear ya but ANY kind of World Series winner for the Cubs (this year, next year, 2009, etc) would be nice. 8-)