Backtobanks

That's the bigger issue to me. I think Go Cubs Go is pointless but harmless (especially since I usually turn the TV off once the game ends anyway). But the guest conductors (especially the interviews following the stretch) need to go. What do you have against Barry Weiss of Storage Wars? The follow up interview with him was riveting and very informative.

No idea how that moron keeps his job. Assuming the plan was to let Aramis walk at the end of the year, Id definitely take Morel in a trade for him despite his offensive struggles in the bigs, but I dont see why we want broken down Jake Peavy over Matt Garza. Morel plus a lot more for ARam. We would want Peavy to take over the #1 spot in the rotation.

Phil Rogers suggests trading ARam to the White Sox so he will not have to move his family. The ridiculous suggestion included ideas like getting Morel in return and possibly finding a way to make the money work so that they could include Peavy allowing Hendry to trade Garza. :-k What an idiot.

To be useful next year, Baker wouldn't have to be an everyday starter. He'd just have to be the right handed side of a platoon at either 2nd or 3rd (isn't Flaherty a lefty?). That's his best role and one he could thrive in. Also, I'm not sold that Baker would garner that much interest in trade. A team with a pressing need for right handed power might overpay, but it was just a couple of years ago that we got Baker for Al Albuqerque, a nice reliever now but a lightly regarded prospect at the time. Baker's done more since the Cubs acquired him, but he's still the same basic player he was then - a power bat against lefties, bad against righties and a couple years older. Right, WSR is again vastly overrating a Cubs player when it comes to what they're likely get in return for a trade. Obviously, if there's a good offer out there, go for it, but Baker has relatively limited use that arguably is more valuable for the Cubs next year than shipping him off. Re-signing Aramis is a big if, and just assuming that it'll get done is foolish. Baker certainly wouldn't get us much especially since Kepppinger is being actively shopped.

Developing our own players is going to take a long time with the improvements in scouting and the minor leagues. It's a lot like the economy, everybody expects an immediate answer to a problem that took decades to develop. I think the balance has to come by making trades for younger players with some experience (Garza, Chris Davis?, Upton?, etc.), developing our own prospects (Castro, Flaherty/LeMahieu, Cashner, Jackson, McNutt,etc.), and mixing in an overpaid FA (Fielder) when necessary. This team can contend next year and be in contention for the foreseeable future with a decent trade or two, a wise FA signing or two, and a little luck with some of our prospects.

Holy crap, please stop. WE'RE NOT GOING DOWN ANY ROAD "AGAIN." Pujols and Fielder are not Soriano, no many times you attempt to compare signing them to signing him. And you never know what any FA will be 6 years after you sign them. You're going to be signing big name FA who are pushing 30 (or past it) unless you develop them internally. Well, the Cubs have absolutely nobody even close to that on the horizon, thus they need to go out and spend. When you sign big names you've got to pay. The key, again, is overpaying for the right guys, and yes, you WILL be overpaying for players like that. Always. And the Cubs are a big market with lots of money to spend, so I don't know why you want them to just automatically not spend money on big contracts unless it's on a player they developed themselves. They have the money to make these kind of signings and SHOULD make them. Yes, I wish the Cubs would develop players like Fielder and Pujols...but they haven't and they won't any time soon. In the meantime they need to sign good FA to go along with more and more players they hopefully develop from within who can be useful everyday players. I actually don't think we're that far apart. I just think we should take our pain for a little while, develop our system, and then re-engage in the free agent market because I think it would result in shorter, relatively lower-cost deals. I don't know how long you've been a Cub fan, but the pain is over 100 years old and counting.

From MLBTR: If The Rays Become Buyers By Tim Dierkes [July 11 at 12:26pm CST] The Rays are five games out in the wild card and six out in the AL East. With less than three weeks remaining until the trade deadline, they're currently sitting on the uncomfortable borderline of contention. The Rays rank eighth among the 14 AL teams with 4.22 runs scored per game. They're eleventh in OBP and seventh in SLG. Evan Longoria missed most of April with an oblique strain, so just having him for the entire second half would provide a boost. On the flip side, Matt Joyce may be unable to reproduce his strong first half. How might the Rays go about improving the offense? •Catcher: John Jaso and Kelly Shoppach have struggled offensively. Some names on which the Rays could kick the tires: Ramon Hernandez, Chris Iannetta, Ryan Doumit (when healthy), Ronny Paulino, and Geovany Soto. •Shortstop: Out of Reid Brignac, Elliot Johnson, and Sean Rodriguez, Rodriguez has the most useful bat. The Rays might not be able to beat his .223/.308/.408 line on the trade market, with Jose Reyes, J.J. Hardy, and Hanley Ramirez unlikely to be dealt. Rafael Furcal could be worth a look, if the Dodgers pick up most of the tab. •Left field: As I mentioned today, possible reasonably-priced trade candidates include Josh Willingham, Ryan Ludwick, David DeJesus, and Luke Scott (when healthy). Desmond Jennings and Brandon Guyer could be considerations from the Rays' Triple-A team. Who would hang up first? Byrd, Soto, and Baker for Upton, Niemann, and Brignac. (Baker plays 2B and Zobrist moves to SS)

And that is why some of us are pretty optimistic about 2012 assuming we spend money wisely.

Top 100 is a broad spectrum. Depending on which end of the Top 100 were talking, that could very well be worth it. I highly doubt we could get a top 25 guy, but if we could get someone in the top 26-50, Id definitely listen, maybe even top 75. If guys like Belevieu, Rhoderick, Dolis, and Batista are the real deal, and Carpenter and Shark can keep doing what theyve done for the most part, we could have a decent crop of back of the pen guys to go along with Marmol. I would think that when somebody mentions a top 100 prospect, it probably means someone in the 76-100 range. If the prospect was 26-50, they would have said top 50.

http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/07/06/the-complete-2011-chicago-cubs-trade-candidates-and-rumors-cheat-sheet/

Which if true might make him better than some of those "better options waiting in the minors". This is especially true when you consider the Cubs' record on developing position players. Right now, I imagine Ryan Flaherty could top Darwin Barney and his post-April .600 OPS. We'll have to wait and see whether Flaherty and/or the other prospects take over 2B next year. As I stated before, he won the job this year and has managed to keep Baker and DeWitt on the bench as utility players.

Which if true might make him better than some of those "better options waiting in the minors". This is especially true when you consider the Cubs' record on developing position players.

Right about now, Barney is getting the same love that Theriot was at the height of his popularity. I try telling people that there are better options waiting in the minors, but they'll hear none of it. However,even the most casual of fans seem to be taking notice of Vintage Aramis. Theres also a lot of Campana love out there, but then again, Cubs fans always love their small, white players. While I don't think Barney is amazing, he is doing a decent job at the major league level. As for the "better options waiting in the minors", let's see how they develop before deciding they can handle a full-time position in the majors.

There goes our chances of winning the NL Central. :lol:

From MLBTR: Cubs Sign Enrique Acosta By Zach Links [July 2 at 12:57pm CST] The Cubs have signed Dominican shortstop Enrique Acosta, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. Acosta's signing bonus is said to be worth $1.1MM. Acosta, at 6-foot-1 and 180-pounds, is considered to have one of the top bats this year in Latin America. It seems likely that the right-handed hitter will move from shortstop; possibly to a corner outfield spot or third base.

While nobody in their right mind really picked the Cubs to contend, I don't think it's too outrageous to use injuries as an excuse for this team to be a borderline .500 team. The #4 & #5 starters are something like 8-24 since Wells and Cashner went down.

Since I posted, Hendry has said Marshall won't be traded. That's good news.

From MLBTR Chat: Rumors here in DFW today that the Rangers may be talking with the Cubs, Chris Davis and Julio Borbon to CHI for Sean Marshall and Marlon Byrd. Have you heard anything?? Wednesday June 29, 2011 2:26 Georgio D 2:27 I have not, though the idea of the Cubs and Davis has come up before. Not sure whether they want to leave 1B open for a potential FA though. Although Davis can play some other positions and they do not have a 3B after this year. I would hope Marshall isn't in any trade talks, but I'd love to get Davis.

I think Hendry really wants to wait for everyone to get off the DL to see how the team performs before making any deals. Also, I agree with N&G that he's not going to announce a fire sale. When the time comes he will listen to offers, but not make a public spectacle of it.

ZiPS must not have thought much of Cashner/Wells/Garza if they expected them to put a ~7.00 ERA in limited innings during their missed starts. I think the point is more that they have been so freaking bad that even having those guys miss no time doesn't make up the difference. Plus, a lot of other teams have missed a lot more, and better, players. ZIPS has to be kidding. The injuries to Wells, Cashner, Byrd, Wood, etc. haven't cost this team some wins??????????? Especially when they have been replaced by the likes of Davis, Lopez, Coleman, Campana, etc. Nobody is saying that it would have made the 2011 Cubs into contenders, but I would think the regulars would have accounted for 4 or 5 more wins at this point. The Cubs are not the only team who have missed guys. Much better players from around the league have missed considerable time. The Cubs may not be the only team with injuries, but nobody can convince me that the Cubs' record would be the same with the injuries they have suffered and the replacements they have used.

ZiPS must not have thought much of Cashner/Wells/Garza if they expected them to put a ~7.00 ERA in limited innings during their missed starts. I think the point is more that they have been so freaking bad that even having those guys miss no time doesn't make up the difference. Plus, a lot of other teams have missed a lot more, and better, players. ZIPS has to be kidding. The injuries to Wells, Cashner, Byrd, Wood, etc. haven't cost this team some wins??????????? Especially when they have been replaced by the likes of Davis, Lopez, Coleman, Campana, etc. Nobody is saying that it would have made the 2011 Cubs into contenders, but I would think the regulars would have accounted for 4 or 5 more wins at this point.

Your right he doesn't "quit" on a ball 20 feet from a wall, he just slows down to a slow trot on anything hit toward a wall so he doesn't get there to crash into the wall and plays it after it hits the ground or the wall. Sure, why not? You are confused about why an OF would want to try hard to catch a batted ball on the fly? Not at all. Any player is going to avoid crashing into a wall if they can. And BtB description is ridiculous because he's trying to make it sound like Soriano is acting like he's on the verge of slamming into the wall left and right instead of, y'know, playing a ball off the wall like everyone else does. It's just indicative of the irrational hatred the guy gets; if he's not slamming into the wall or diving for balls every other game he's worthless and a coward. I certainly don't hate Soriano, but he is what he is. He's not a great defensive player except for his arm. Other posters have agreed that he has a problem with balls near the wall and a tendency to not always hustle after balls hit in the gap. I guess none of this is too surprising since he's basically a DH that's been forced to play the field.

Your right he doesn't "quit" on a ball 20 feet from a wall, he just slows down to a slow trot on anything hit toward a wall so he doesn't get there to crash into the wall and plays it after it hits the ground or the wall.

I understand not wanting to leap or run into a brick wall, but you don't quit on a ball that's 20 feet away from the wall.

don't confuse making an occasional diving catch for being good defensively. I like Johnson but could go either way on him coming back as a back up. I think he is the type of player that the wrong manager would way over use and always scares me. Playing next to Soriano in left might make me look good defensively and I'm old with bad knees. :yahoo: i'd wager that soriano would be 10x the superior defender than you would I'm sure you're correct, but I'll play for 1% of Soriano's contract to make up for my lack of defensive skills. At least I'm not allergic to brick walls like he is.