jersey cubs fan

I would love to trade Soriano, and wouldn't mind trading Zambrano. But giving Z away would be incredibly stupid.

Why should there be? He committed a crime that the legal system deemed punishable with significant time in prison. The NFL had no say in that matter. I don't see the reasoning for saying guys who don't get jail time should be suspended but guys who do get jail time should not.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-burressvick062909&prov=yhoo&type=lgns I can understand Plaxico being suspended because his case hasn't taken its course through the justice system yet but suspending Vick just seems like Goodell being a power tripping douche. Yeah, it's awful but he did his time and if some team wants to give him a shot they should be able to pursue him without the threat of a suspension. Agreed. What's the point of suspending Vick? Because he hasn't been suspended by the league yet. He missed time due to his own legal problems, but the league has yet to punish him. Likewise, Plaxico missed time because he shot himself and was unable to play anyway, his team gave out punishment, but the team did not. If Plaxico's injury forced him to miss this year as well, the team could feel free to suspend him next year, when he returns.

Harvey is old and his numbers aren't that good, I'm not sure that his decision was all that wise.

Reed Johnson is not good. And I'm not sure how people have not noticed that Soto has been very productive this month. He was abysmal in April but was at least right around average in May and very good in June.

I don't get what's so fun about trash talking and saying ridiculous things a 12-year old would enjoy. I don't get people who like WWE either.

On NBC in NY right now Ellen is on. Murray's match is on ESPN2 though.

I like him a little, jsut for the entertainment value. I wouldn't want him as my manager...though like you, I think there's worse managers out there. I don't understand finding entertainment in having your team's manager act like a total ass at all times and repeat childish insults about other fans bases. I mean, I wouldn't find it entertaining if Lou criticized Milwaukee or Stl. He's a crap manager who gets all sorts of nonsensical praise for making things happen all because he managed the Sox in a season when their starting pitchers were healthy and at their best and their hitters nailed a bunch of big homeruns. They haven't done crap since then but it doesn't matter because he knows how baseball is supposed to be played, and he swears a lot. Well he's entertainment because he's someone else's manager acting like a total ass...not my team's. I was mostly responding to the bolded statement.

I like him a little, jsut for the entertainment value. I wouldn't want him as my manager...though like you, I think there's worse managers out there. I don't understand finding entertainment in having your team's manager act like a total ass at all times and repeat childish insults about other fans bases. I mean, I wouldn't find it entertaining if Lou criticized Milwaukee or Stl. He's a crap manager who gets all sorts of nonsensical praise for making things happen all because he managed the Sox in a season when their starting pitchers were healthy and at their best and their hitters nailed a bunch of big homeruns. They haven't done crap since then but it doesn't matter because he knows how baseball is supposed to be played, and he swears a lot.

So you are giving credit to the Cubs because they have players the Cubs deem worthy or a promotion within a week system? They drafted a ton of college players the last few years. I don't see the value in awarding them for having guys who can get to AA relatively quickly.

The Mets offense is at least average, whereas the Cubs are at or near the bottom. Plus they have multiple guys injured who they would hope could come back. They are weak in starting pitching as their rotation is quite thin.

Um, how is the Cubs talent level rising fast in the minors? I don't really see how they have been doing "just fine" in the draft. They may have plugged the dike, but they aren't exactly thriving down there.

There is?? Sure there's a chance. Not a good one, but a chance nonetheless. After Pit they play MIL, ATL and STL. If they get swept by the Brewers that's 7.5 games back, and if they lose 2 of 3 in each of the next 2 series, while MIL wins 2 of 3, that's 9.5, and that would mean you'd need to see MIL outplay the Cubs by one more game in this week's series against NYM and PIT, respectively. I don't see that happening. If the Cubs win at least one game against MIL and managed 4 of 9 against the other three teams, they will probably be within 6.5 or better.

I really hope Gregg isn't a part of the team next year (he'll be way overpaid just because he's got saves on his resume) and I have real doubts that Harden will still be around. I don't think those guys necessarily have value to next years team. As for Lee, I'm not sure Fox and Hoffpauir won't be able to platoon similar numbers than Lee at that spot next year for far less money. And since it will be nearly impossible to trade Soriano or Bradley, and because Ramirez will in all likelihood be at third, they may need that money and be very limited in where they can use Hoff/Fox.

Why? The Pirates are actually playing decent ball, and had won 4 in a row before today. And they lost 5 in a row before that. So then wouldn't it have been better to start the series on day one of that 5 game losing streak?

You can't be boom or bust without any chance of having the boom. There's no way he'll ever be anything like Jim Edmonds in his prime. He might someday be good enough to not hurt you starting in CF. He has nice athletic ability, but that doesn't mean a damn thing. Boom or bust candidates are five tool players with a flaw or two that may be exposed by pros, not a guy with questions about every aspect of his game and a defect in just about every tool. He's not going to hit for average. He's not going to hit for power. It's debatable about whether he can stick in CF. Just having a very high chance of failing doens't mean he's boom or bust.

That's my assumption. He's going to be 23 years old at the end of this season, and probably won't yet have 100 professional innings. Combined with his 2008 college season he'll have maybe 150 IP over a 2 year period. This team has been obsessed with finding bullpen help for several years, and after going through this extremely disappointing season from the bullpen, I'd have to think they will be looking anywhere they can for help, including Cashner. It's tough enough for guys to make it as major league starters when they've built up plenty of starting experience in college and the minors, but it's got to be even tougher when you have basically no history of throwing 6 innings in the same game.

just like guillen planned it! Guillen let Zambrano throw to first? Is there another option? Like telling the ump you will no longer allow that to happen?

Actually there's a lot wrong with heckling. It's stupid, not funny and immature. And it annoys the heck out of the people seated around the immature heckler who thinks he's finally found the bestest of all heckles.

Wait, are you saying there's something wrong with having a beer in your hand at a baseball game?

So what exactly could he have done? The Cubs team doesn't have somebody comparable to Chris Perez. . Who's responsible for that? So Hendry should have had the foresight to stack the major league roster with players that might have been good trade bait for DeRosa somewhere down the line should the Indians season go into the tank? Criticize Hendry for trading DeRosa in the first place? Sure. Criticize him for signing off-injured Milton Bradley? Understandable. Criticize him for not being able to nix this trade? That doesn't make sense. But excusing him for not making the team better now because his previous moves made it nearly impossible to improve the team, that does make sense?

Ugh. No, he didn't. "Sold high" implies that you got max value for the guy. Hendry oculdn't even get a major league reliever for DeRosa. He did not sell high. The Indians just got a better package for him than the Cubs got. Umm, no. Sold high doesn't mean that at all. Sold high means that he traded that player when that player's value was higher than it's ever previously been. YOUR perceived value of DeRosa doesn't mean anything. Especially when we have evidence of what his actual value was -- three marginal prosects, and then a few months later, one fairly decent prospect. Okay, so if "selling high" can include things like selling a player for an unimpressive package when he's at his peak value, then why is "selling high" so good in this situation? At least the Indians got a guy who is helping the major league team right now. Plus the Cards traded for 3 months of him. The Indians traded for 6 months of him when they got him from the Cubs. The key to selling high is making sure you get appropriate value. DeRosa was sold high when we traded him for three decent prospects with high upside. The problem is, I think he was worth more to this team than those three prospects were. And you can't just consider one player the best and thus the package is better. If all three of Archer, Gaub and Stevens become close to the talent level of Perez, the Cubs got the better deal by a longshot. You have to consider the entire package, not just increments of it. You also can't ignore the desperation factor. The Cardinals were just trading for 3 months of DeRo, but the Indians had the ability to play off the need much more in the middle of the season than were it the offseason. Need most definitely plays a factor in the return for a deal and need is highest when a team is fighting for a playoff spot. Or need may be higher when a GM that spends like a drunken sailor panics during an offseason when nobody was spending money and he wanted left handed bats and to save a couple bucks.

Aside from the fact that in all likelihood Colvin would be completely overmatched and play like crap if he was called up, and that he needs regular playing time in order to get better, something he can only do in the minors, a call up would nearly destroy any hope of having the Cubs ever benefit from having him on the roster. The longer they wait to put him on the roster, the longer it will be before he has to stay on the major league roster without the option of stashing him in the minors. If Colvin ever pans out, it's going to take a while. But if they call him up now, it will delay his improvement and make it much more likely that he will be gone from the Cubs before he ever accomplishes anything.

Except Cashner and Samardzija are future relievers.

i thought fontenot would be fine, and i still thought it was a stupid move. fontenot doesn't hit lefties, so even if you used a strict platoon, derosa would start about a quarter of the time. you're also going to a 2B who doesn't hit well again power RHP, so derosa could start again them. then you have an aging roster with a 3B, LF and RF who are good bets to miss at least some time due to injury. a proven bat who can fill in capably at all those positions becomes invaluable. and in case fontenot can't be an everyday player, derosa gives you insurance there. instead they trade him for three marginal prospects and sign aaron miles, saving the relatively small sum of $3M to bring in a guy who cannot hit. great move. In a way they didn't even save $3m since they are on the hook for next year as well with Miles (not to mention the theory that it allowed them to overspend on Bradley for 3 years).