Backtobanks

It would be nice to use one of them in appropriate situations when your starter is clearly gassed and the other team's best hitter is coming up. He's saving the lefties to face Pujols in a game situation.

Somebody ought to insist that ARam start working with Jaramillo or spend some time on the bench. I understand these ML hitters think they can work it out themselves, but it certainly wouldn't hurt at this point to start taking some advice. ARam is working with Rudy. Seems the media that jumped all over that story about Aramis refusing help was, well, dead wrong. The story in the Tribune made it sound like Jaramillo was protecting ARam. Rudy took the high road by saying he has to convince established hitters to come to him because they think they can work it out by themselves. Jaramillo even said in the article "he has to win him over". That doesn't sound like ARam is really working full time with Jaramillo like he should be.

Somebody ought to insist that ARam start working with Jaramillo or spend some time on the bench. I understand these ML hitters think they can work it out themselves, but it certainly wouldn't hurt at this point to start taking some advice.

Aren't you glad that we have 3 lefties in the pen now to face the likes of Votto, Fielder, etc.? (Okay really 2 1/2 lefties)

I think it's safe to say that Sam Fuld will never be the starting CF on a regular basis for the Cubs. If Colvin continues to hit he could end up starting in RF.

Let's hope he's the real deal. Get him some playing time as the 4th OF and if he's for real trade Fukudome next offseason.

It could be worse - Hawk Harrelson.

But then we wouldn't be doing our jobs. Our job is to go crazy after every loss and blame Hendry, Lou, Z, Soriano, etc. and to predict a World series after every win.

Let's be happy for now, just like we were depressed last week. It's way to early to start making predictions based on 19 games.

I guess it's a matter of semantics. Adams has done a decent job, Wuertz did fine until he got in Lou's doghouse, Rauch was a decent pitcher, Capps did a good job, etc. Let's turn the discussion around: I think Sean Marshall is a good reliable reliever, what do you think another team would offer for him? My guess is a mid-level and a low-level prospect. What we need to find is a RH Sean Marshall.

I haven't checked on the possible availability this year of the type of pitcher that I'm talking about, but in previous years you could have acquired Chad Qualls, Jon Rauch, Mike Adams, Mike Wuertz, Matt Thornton, Nick Masset, Juan Cruz, Matt Capps, etc. for mid-level or lower prospects. Of course now that some of these guys are closers their price has increased.

I guess our definitions of a decent, dependable reliever are different.

A trade for a decent reliever doesn't have to mean you're overpaying. I realize that you would have to overpay for someone like Bell, but there are other relievers out there that might be available. 1 or 2 mid to low-level prospect(s) for a relief pitcher that could settle down the pen situation isn't overpaying. Any of our top 10 prospects for a reliever is overpaying.

You certainly implied it. Why else bring up the Edmonds move, which had a significant impact on the team? You seem to be implying that there's a good chance that the Cubs would get similar results out of a reliever if they pick one up off the scrap heap or buy low. That's tremendously unlikely. Adding a dependable reliever would help, not fix the team. I agree getting one from the scrap heap won't help the team. Actually, their "track record" indicates that this could very easily be a very long year. Just last year we went through a similar streaky/feast or famine style of offense, and the team has changed little and it's old core group of players has only gotten older. DLee and ARam have been two very consistent hitters throughout their careers and both are well below career averages. ARam is at .127/.188/.302/.490 while is career averages are .284/.342/.500/.843, so expecting a turnaround is not out of the question. What a ridiculous conclusion. This bullpen largely doesn't have much of a track record because of how many young pitchers are a part of it and likely will be a part of it from the minors. With the addition of a dependable reliever, the young pitchers could have a better understanding of their role in the bullpen and settle into that role. The Cubs would have to overpay to get a dependable reliever. There's no way around that. You're deluding yourself if you think they're going to somehow sneak a good reliever away from another team without having to overpay, and the guys available right now are out there because they're NOT dependable. Picking up any bullpen FA's right now would be a crap shoot, just like actually seeing what you have in-house. Getting a bullpen FA wouldn't be a huge deal, but if you're counting on them to make a "big difference" you're almost certainly going to be very disappointed. One of the worst things Hendry could do right now is trade for a reliever. If he wants to take a gamble on an unsigned or released one, hey, great, but trading for a reliever right now is not smart at all. My point is that the bullpen is a problem and getting a decent, dependable reliever without overpaying would help in solving part of the problem with the team. Cruz (with some Rothschild pixie dust) could be an option. Another poster mentioned Adams from the Padres who wouldn't cost you top prospects. Also, while nobody has given up on the season yet, there are rumblings in certain cities about changes that need to be made.

If you read my post, I never said that adding a reliever was going to fix the team. The offense is slumping now, but their track record says they will rebound. That's not true about the bullpen. Getting a dependable reliever and setting up the roles in the bullpen could make a big difference. Obviously if ARam and DLee hit under .250 with reduced production all year, we're screwed. Also, I never wrote anything about overpaying for a reliever.

The Cubs are not in a rebuilding mode when you have 8 regular players with contracts ending somewhere between 2011-2014 (plus DLee and Lilly may get extensions). Also, we have discussed that many of these contracts are almost untradeable. Slowly mixing in Castro, Vitters, Cashner, etc. will help, but I don't expect the Cubs to be in a complete rebuilding mode in the forseeable future. Out of all those contracts, Soriano's is likely the only one that's completely untradeable. I agree. Plus, I don't expect them to ever be in "full" rebuild mode. What I'm thinking about is, don't trade a really good young prospect for a bandaid. I want the Cubs to atleast beable to keep from doing that. What I mean by rebuild mode is focus on keeping your top young talent, let the bad contracts die out, and make the team better slowly each year. Make a big move when you have the money, and the player is a can't miss superstar. Basically spent smart. And this current rumor is not smart at all. Contrary to popular opinion, I don't think Hendry is an idiot. I think he understands what he has in Castro, Vitters, Cashner, etc. and is not about to trade them for some mediocre role player. Of course, the others GMs aren't idiots either and will positively asks for one of those players in a trade. The bottom line is that you never know what will happen after acquiring a player. A trade for someone like Bell could turn the whole season around assuming the offense wakes up. Look at what happened when Hendry added Edmonds two years ago.

In Lous defense, Colvin was 2-5 and Hill 2-4 and Tracy did what Ramirez probably wouldn have done anyway. I really wish there was a way to keep Colvin in the lineup, but as long as Sorianos hot, Byrds productive, and Kosukes not a black hole, hes a 4th or 5th outfielder. As for Hill, as far as backup catchers go, hes pretty good. I dont mind the occasional start, but Geos our starting catcher and should start 4 out of every 5 games. Be careful what you wish for. I like Colvin, but I'm not sure he's an everyday starter in the ML.

He sure looks lost at the plate right now.

I don't see anything idiotic about that take on the White Sox and their chances of contending in a weak AL Central. My point is that both Central divisions are weak and to say that the Cubs awful start is reality while the White Sox awful start is an illusion is idiotic. The WS have a strong starting rotation with a lineup that is close to being terrible. The Cubs have a very good rotation with a much stronger lineup (that is slumping). While the Cards are better than the Twins, I think the talent gap between the WS and Twins is greater than the gap between the Cards and Cubs.

Another example of the "experts" (aka idiots) weighing in. He writes that the Cubs really are that bad, but look at his comments about the White Sox: White Sox (5-10, last place in AL Central) Rating: Illusion We don't see the White Sox winning this division. But they're not this bad. They might have the best bullpen in baseball (1.89 opponent average, 65 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings), for one thing. And any rotation with Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle, John Danks and Gavin Floyd in it isn't going to have a 5.13 ERA all season. But this is an aging lineup, and one that currently has five regulars hitting under .229. And that's not as big an illusion as it appears. "The record is an illusion, at least because of the division they play in," one scout said. "With the bullpen and rotation they run out there, they've got enough to stay in this race. But they may not be able to score enough runs to win it if they don't make a move someplace. They're going to need a bopper. A left-handed power bat is what they need. I'm not sure where they find that guy. But [GM] Kenny [Williams] always seems to come up with some kind of move." This is a team counting on an everyday lineup including Juan Pierre, Mark Teahen,Mark Kotsay, Andruw Jones, Alexi Ramirez, and Alex Rios to show enough offense to contend.

I think the Rangers need to throw in a pack of Topps too. I don't want to scare them off. Maybe we can ask for a PTNL (pack to be named later) :yahoo:

From MLBTR: Rangers In Need Of Bullpen Help? By Luke Adams [April 21 at 7:28pm CST] The Rangers have identified two needs in their bullpen, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. The club would like to find a left-handed reliever to complement Darren Oliver, and a power right-handed arm for the 8th inning. Grabow + Samardzija for a bag of balls and a box of chewing gum.

The Cubs are not in a rebuilding mode when you have 8 regular players with contracts ending somewhere between 2011-2014 (plus DLee and Lilly may get extensions). Also, we have discussed that many of these contracts are almost untradeable. Slowly mixing in Castro, Vitters, Cashner, etc. will help, but I don't expect the Cubs to be in a complete rebuilding mode in the forseeable future. Out of all those contracts, Soriano's is likely the only one that's completely untradeable. I agree that Soriano's might be the only one thats completely untradeable, but most of those other big contracts won't get anywhere near equal value in return without eating a portion of the contract. We could trade Zambrano, Dempster, or ARam, but what team is going to give us "sure-thing" prospects while picking up $14-$19 million per year. In this economy there's only a handful of clubs that can afford those kind of numbers. Also we've seen this year that the "big spenders" have cut back and are putting more value in their own prospects.

There's no way another team is going to pick up the rest of that contract, even if he looks like he's fixed. Getting a team to pick up half of that contract would be miraculous. Depends on how long he has success. If it's coming down to the wire at the deadline and he's been on the comeback trail since April you could likely move him without having to pay any of the money. The question is how many opportunities will he get to prove he's fixed after Lilly comes back.

The Cubs are not in a rebuilding mode when you have 8 regular players with contracts ending somewhere between 2011-2014 (plus DLee and Lilly may get extensions). Also, we have discussed that many of these contracts are almost untradeable. Slowly mixing in Castro, Vitters, Cashner, etc. will help, but I don't expect the Cubs to be in a complete rebuilding mode in the forseeable future.