jersey cubs fan

I'm certain he did.

Hopefully he knocks a few big HR against some lefties, avoids nearly all righties, and comes up with a big hit or two in the playoffs. Then let him walk after the season.

It's always fun to have a guy who is a legit threat to hit a HR off the bench, and nothing more. But he hasn't been able to do anything against RHP this year. Need to keep his playing time very limited.

byebye Fox. Better not be for anybody good.

FYI, playoff schedule NLDS A Game 1 Wed., Oct. 3 TBS NLDS B Game 1 Wed., Oct. 3 TBS ALDS B Game 1 Wed., Oct. 3 TBS NLDS A Game 2 Thurs., Oct. 4 TBS NLDS B Game 2 Thurs., Oct. 4 TBS Game 161 is Sep. 29, leaving 3 off days before either NLDS game 1, which presumably leaves Z for game 2 in your scenario. However, have the Cubs gone 6 weeks using the same rotation ever over this season? I know they've had mostly the same 5 guys, but it seems to me that things have changed around at least once a month. One thing to keep in mind is the likelihood of a Marshall and/or Lilly missed start, given each of their histories with high innings pitched. If you go through the games and keep Z on 4 days rest, I have him starting game 159 @ Florida, leaving him with plenty (or more than enough) rest to start game 1.

I think great is probably out. He might be effective. If they tender him what will it cost the Cubs? I am guessing the payroll is getting pretty tight already and the need for another OFer is more important than a questionable starter/reliever. When you routinely waste $2-3m on guys like Blanco, Rusch, Eyre, etc., I'd hate to make up for it by letting Prior go. I don't think great is necessarily out. HOF great, probably. But it would not be out of the question to get a fairly significant resurgent year out of him, something like 180 innnigs of 120 or more ERA+ type pitching.

It's going to depend a lot on ownership, but I'm fairly certain the current management group has all but given up on Prior and will strongly consider non-tendering him. It would be incredibly stupid, given the amount of millions they are willing to waste on guys you know are going to be terrible, to refuse to risk a few million on a guy who might be great. But if I had to bet, I'd say he's non-tendered.

same guy

Alright, somebody edit this already.

I think that's way too harsh. It's obviously a big concern and it has to be improved at some point, but it doesn't completely negate everything else. He can't hit that at the majors, and if he won't take a walk pitchers will prey on that. It doesn't negate everything, but it negates a lot. It doesn't negate everything else, but it's not like everything else is all that impressive. It would be one thing if he was hitting .350/.375/.560 with that terrible K/BB ratio and extremely low walk rate. But he's hitting just .302/.325/.489 in the minors this year. He's not a league leader with a flaw. We're talking about a guy with decent numbers and a huge red flag flaw here.

Is that right? Outstanding. As soon as he's "healthy" and pitching well, trade him before the duct tape and bailing wire break. Or the Cubs could decide if they want him as a RP or a SP and not jerk him around. The Cubs do plenty of things wrong, but you are really stretching to blame them for Guzman's fragility. I'm not blaiming them at all. But let me run this by you and see what you think. A GM of a team has a talented but frequently injured young pitcher. He has been injury free for a while. The GM decides break camp with him as a reliever for the MLB club, then after approximately three weeks of inconsistent and infrequent use he decides he wants him to start so he send him back down to AAA to "stretch" his arm. He gets three starts in AAA then he gets sent back to the MLB club. Then from May 6 to May 17 he gets 3 starts in the majors. He doesn't do bad but cannot get out of the 5th inning. Then the GM and manager decide they want him in the bullpen where he is used approximately every two days until he comes up with an injury about a month later. Would you say this is a good plan for a "fragile" young pitcher? The Cubs always seem to take the "if he's going to get hurt, he's going to get hurt" approach to dealing with young arms.

I would take the under on 24 wins, but 88 should win the division with plenty of room to spare.

What guy doesn't want a poorly rendered illustration of his wife removing her panties PERMANENTLY TATTOOED to his arm? I'm sure his kids won't be embarrassed when he takes them to the beach. What makes you so sure that's a poorly rendered illustration?

I definitely think he's got more of a chance to be a solid everyday CF, defensively. But there's still a chance he'll be pushed to a corner, where his productivity wouldn't be as special.

Does anyone know of any good outfield bats coming into free agency this year? Sulley's a big Andruw fan. He give up on Edmonds yet?

I get annoyed when people purposefully cause conflict by purposefully twisting words. Come on goony. You know that prefering Murton over Floyd = thinking Murton is a perennial all-star, MVP candidate whom you worship in the shrine to him that was once your living room. Admit it. Oh that's absolutely true, I was just letting him know what I get annoyed about.

I get annoyed when people purposefully cause conflict by purposefully twisting words.

Does anyone know of any good outfield bats coming into free agency this year? Abreu might be.

You were one of the few. I'm pretty sure most here wanted Murton to play the outfield full-time (including me). I'd say it's a fair wager Murton would have been much better early in the season had he not been playing for his job every time he actually did play, which wasn't often. I expected Floyd to be better than he's been (the fact that he has a lower IsoP than Pierre last year is cause for his immediate dismissal), but I still thought it was a redundant/pointless signing. I thought he was redundent, but I didn't have a big problem with the signing. I wasn't gung-ho for it, but I've always liked Cliff and was hoping for a comeback season. I was hoping it would be Murton in Left 75% of the time though, with Jones in center and Soriano in right.

Anderson is a name to keep in mind when thinking about Tyler Colvin's future. His best year in the minors was age 22 in AAA. He hit .321/.356/.499 with 93 K and 28 BB in 505 AB. His career minor league line was .291/.329/.399 with 428 K and 122 BB in 2130 AB. He was a regular in the majors by age 23 and hit for average from Day 1. Power came with time, as he peaked in the 28-38 HR range in his late 20's and early 30's. Anderson was a year ahead of Colvin, as his only AA time was half of his age 20 season, and he played a full year of AAA at age 21. Colvin's got a bit more power already, but that may be partially offset by him being a little older. Colvin's got a significantly worse K/BB ratio. But he's got a similar good (but not fantastic) average, terrible patience, and marginal power. I believe Colvin is significantly more athletic, as Anderson has never possesed any significant SB potential, but both were kind of tweeners between CF and a corner spot. If Colvin were to mirror Anderson's career, it would be viewed as a success story, and he could provide value to the team. But they'd have to cut bait long before he signs a free agent sized contract.

Fine...so playing Murton won't help this year...but it might help next...or the year after that. I guess I feel like we're getting on some crappy plane, and there's only two seats left. They're both just as semi-comfortable...both recline only half of about what they should...but one is newer and has some better upholstry. When all else is the same, why would you sit in the older, beat up, and maybe slightly lumpier chair? You should have checked in on-line 24 hours in advance and gotten a better seat.

Why the hell are you breaking out splits? Murton was productive last year. Floyd was not. It's freaking simple. There's no need for clarification......................... So you'd agree that Jacque Jones was productive last year and there's no need to break out splits? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING Good Lord. We should either be mindful of splits or we shouldn't. But you can't have it both ways. What in the bright orange squeaky hell are you talking about? The statement you're calling into question is that Murton has been productive recently and is more likely to perform productively in the futire, and that Floyd isn't. That has absolutely nothing to do with splits. Floyd is 1.8 bajilion years old. his power is gone, he's injury prone, and he's not very valuable. Murton has struggled, but he put up a .800+ OPS in close to a full season last year, and he's in his prime years. That's the point. Splits have jack to do with that, yet for some reason you keep bringing up splits. Have you even read anything you're responding to? And then you bring up Jacque Jones. Why did I even ask? Of course you're not actually reading what people are saying. I think it's you that's not reading what's being posted. Please see my enumerate point No. 1 above. I'm calling into question how anyone can say with a straight face that Murton has been productive over the last two years against RHP but Floyd has not. NOBODY SAID THAT. THAT'S MY POINT. Holy crap. Nobody said exactly that, but it was strongly implied via the statement that Murton has been productive and Floyd has not. I don't think that the splits bear that out. It wasn't strongly implied. It's just a fact. Murton has been productive in the recent past, and Floyd has not. It's freaking stupid to bring up splits vs RHP when we are talking about overall performance. It has nothing to do with the conversation.

Why the hell are you breaking out splits? Murton was productive last year. Floyd was not. It's freaking simple. There's no need for clarification.........................

I went to bed just as the 8th ended. I was able to keep opening my eyes for each pitch in the top of the 9th, until the Cubs actually took the lead. Then I decided not to fight the sleep and just watch the rest of the 9th on DVR this morning.

Actually, it wasn't. I'm pretty sure after Piggy's 1 pitch outing on Saturday Eyre said that he had an outing where he threw exactly 0 pitches. He came in, picked the guy off of second to end the inning, and then his team hit a home run to win the game the next inning. Yeah, I think he said it was in college, so technically, that wasn't during his career. :D