jersey cubs fan

He's the 5th starter right now, unless you think Samardzija/Hart/Gaudin beats him out. if you had to construct a rotation today, then yes he'd be the 5th starter. i strongly believe that another starter will be acquired though, whether that be peavy or someone else, making marshall the swingman. But the point is, it would be better to have Peavy as the 5th guy than to have Marshall as the swingman.

FYI... Fukudome was middle of the pack in this regard in RF. Wasn't he out there for like 2/3 of the season? Were they just rounding, or did he get in inordinately low amount of opportunities for some reason?

RANK PLAYER POS. ORGANIZATION '08 RANK #AGE 98 Jay Jackson RHP Chicago Cubs TOP '08 LEVEL: A (Daytona) IE 21 Call this one a hunch. Jackson may end up a starter, but if the Cubs choose to leave him in the pen, he could shoot to the majors this year or early next year. Jackson was the No. 1 starter at Furman last spring while also playing the outfield, leading the Paladins in slugging percentage, and earned notice in the spring with a 91-94 mph fastball and a potential out-pitch slider in the mid-80s with good tilt and a very sharp, late break. The consensus on him before the draft was that he was a reliever in pro ball, which allowed the Cubs to grab him in the ninth round, but that is already looking like grand larceny. Jackson does throw a curve and changeup if he's left in the rotation, but neither is an average pitch and his height (maybe 6-1) means he doesn't get any downhill plane on his fastball, which may make him too homer-prone to be a starter. If he can improve his fastball command just a little bit, however, he has a chance to be a dominant short reliever in the majors.

RANK PLAYER POS. ORGANIZATION '08 RANK #AGE 38 Pedro Alvarez 3B/1B Pittsburgh Pirates TOP '08 LEVEL: N/A IE 21 Alvarez needs to consider hiring a publicist, as just about every story about him over the past seven months has been unflattering, from the minor scandal when he and his agent, Scott Boras, called the Pirates out for violating the terms of the CBA and then settled for a $250,000 dollar increase in Alvarez's signing bonus to recent reports that he was out of shape in the Pirates' mini-camp and is already experiencing tendinitis in his knees. Conditioning has always been an issue for Alvarez dating back to his freshman summer with Team USA, and it's the main reason he's likely to end up at first base. At the plate, Alvarez is strong and has a high-effort swing that produces big power and lots of hard contact, mostly to right and right-center, but he has struggled with left-handers. In general, he didn't make enough contact in the SEC after coming back from a broken hamate (hand) bone. His setup, with an extremely wide base that doesn't give him much chance to adjust to offspeed stuff, isn't helping, but it's fixable. Plus, you can't teach the kind of raw power Alvarez has. The bonus kerfuffle cost him any chance to play in 2008, even in winter ball, so all we have now are year-old scouting reports and questions about his conditioning and commitment. He could be in the top 10 next year with a full, healthy season in which he addresses concerns about his ability to make contact.

He was a tough sign, wasn't he? Yeah, if memory serves. What I was trying to say is that we got him signed when there was reasonable doubt that he wouldn't. Bobby Hill?

John Canning was the favorite from day 1, but that was many days ago.

He was a tough sign, wasn't he?

Do the chefs have a coaching staff yet? No idea who the Chefs are, but the Chiefs have yet to officially terminate Herm Edwards. :wink: That said, the rumors are flying that he'll go either this year or next.

Do the chefs have a coaching staff yet?

jets

I have to disagree. First off, his presence doesn't mean less Joe Morgan. It probably means more totals words spoken by broadcasters, but it doesn't mean less Joe Morgan. Joe has gone through prolonged periods of silence before on broadcasts. My guess is he'll do the same stuff and speak just as often.

So a small portion of the audience (people who pay very close attention to the Cubs, and are therefore far more likely to be interested in watching an ASG in the first place) had an increased interest in watching this year. But that doesn't mean having home field advantage determined by this game has increased interest in the game. It's a stupid gimmick game that draws little interest and should have no baring on anything. i agree that it's a terrible way to determine HFA. but to suggest that a "small portion of the audience" had an increased interest seems silly. think about it. fans of every team in contention at the ASB (which is probably 75% of the teams) have a vested interest in seeing one league win. would i have watched all 13 innings (or whatever it was) last year if the end result meant nothing? no. but knowing that it was going to hopefully have an effect on the cubs, i stayed up watching. i think a lot of people did the same thing. certainly enough to say that there was increased interest. Others said the Cubs being in the race made it more interesting to people on this board, people who already spend an inordinate amount of time following baseball and the Cubs. That's a small minority of the overall television viewing audience. But the HFA story is years old. Why would it suddenly increase interest this year?

So a small portion of the audience (people who pay very close attention to the Cubs, and are therefore far more likely to be interested in watching an ASG in the first place) had an increased interest in watching this year. But that doesn't mean having home field advantage determined by this game has increased interest in the game. It's a stupid gimmick game that draws little interest and should have no baring on anything.

How can you assume it was more watched because of the HFA thing? You did catch me there. I only have anecdotal evidence to back that up. I know many people including myself who have admitted they wouldn't have stayed up until 1:30 in the morning to watch an All-Star game without the allure of seeing which league won HFA. The interest on this site's game thread was incredible to the point where that is still the longest game thread on file even beating all the Cubs playoff games and Opening days (the site's archives go back 4 years). There was even a hatred of Dan Uggla that came out of the game that shows how many people were emotionally invested in the game, and that is something that was not happening for the most part in the 90's. Yeah, but you're talking about one game. They've been doing this for years, how is increased interest in last year's game indicative of HFA being the difference maker?

Can Hendry have contact with a new owner even if he has not been approved by MLB. I don't see why not.

This plus the curling. I want to learn how to curl. Think about it, average looking men in the rest of the country are like Brad Pitt in ND. Lots ops for good women id imagine. Hell if i hated it i could still blow my brains out after trying it. yeah but average looking women are also angelina jolie in ND. If I can convince myself I'm with Angelina Jolie*, all the better. *Actually, I never understood the infatuation Jolie. She's not that hot and has been with her brother and Billy Bob Thornton. Take away the fame and she's just a skinny chick.

i didn't know he was from dunedin high...quite close to where i live I worked at the Winn-Dixie on Drew between Clearwater and Dunedin several years ago. Cubs scouts never noticed me. They like players with tools, not people who are tools.

So am I. I thought the Cubs were going with somebody else because of cost.

How can you assume it was more watched because of the HFA thing?

Obviously not. The goal isn't, or wasn't, average though. It was reasonable to expect much more than average from him. If he spends his Cubs career providing nothing but average production, it will definitely be a disappointment. But it wouldn't necessarily cripple the team.

Or make a bigger forture by blackmailing those he filmed.

uhhhh, what? You can't expect the Cubs to field a team that's made up entirely out of star players. If Fuku plays average next year, he'll be more than adequate for us in CF. Not every player needs to be super awesome. If Fuku plays average, he's still better than some of the crap we've put out there in recent years. There is no way any player on the current roster reproduces the numbers put up in CF last year. That's an awful lot of money for average. Is Fukudome Japanese for "Marquis"? In an organization with nothing in the pipeline to fill the position, and a horrible history of developing their own position players, that could suffice. The thing that held back the Cubs for so many years was well below average production at multiple positions. They'd have a couple stars, or near stars, but teamed up with bums at other spots they still finished in the bottom half, or at the bottom, of run production. If your least productive positions are still average, you can be very good. And there's still room for upside with the guy.

Weren't there some strange quotes about him wanting to leave the game or something and having his brother and/or dad talk him into staying? And wasn't there also a weight/health question about him? Or am I making this all up? He's the Hawaiian with the necklace right?

I don't think that's accurate.

Well, he's on the wrong side of 30, already past his prime, and his health suggests a decline could come sooner than hoped. It would be much more foolish to discount the value of a prospect who is years away from hitting the majors just because a 30 year old vet is currently at his position. If he voids his contract after 2010, it would be nice to have a replacement so they don't feel pressured to foolishly sign him to an extension through his mid-30's that will likely see him produce a heck of a lot less than he has to date. Isn't there an opt out clause in Aramis' contract, also? I'm not sure of the exact language, but that's what I was referring to in the bolded section. Aramis can choose to be a free agent after 2010. I would hate to sign him to a long extension for his age 33-37/38 seasons if we don't have to.