jersey cubs fan

He's no Jack Wilson

All that other stuff aside...I'm just saying we should take his scoops with the same grain of salt we'd take anyone else's. All of those guys are just as reliable as one another. Just because he reports something as being imminent doesn't make it any less likely to happen than if someone else had reported it, IMO. I think it does. The only thing I know of Levine is what he does on comcast. He seems like a Sam Smith, throw everything to the wall and see what sticks, kind of guy. He's awful when analyzing what's wrong with the team, falling back on the crutch of them needing to be more clutch and needing chemistry and stuff like that. If Bruce Miles starts to talk about a potential deal, I'll perk up. But if Levine doesn, I really don't have any confidence in it.

Nah. With Izturis likely on his way out, the Cubs would be short middle infielders if they sent Fontenot down. I suppose they could call up Cedeno, however, which they already should have done. True, if Izturis is on his way out. But that's hardly a foregone conclusion.

Lou was quoted talking about Fontenot's struggles, and I've noticed in the past a couple times that guys have been sent down or lost jobs when Lou starts talking about their struggles in the paper.

Yeah, Murton's call-up will occur when they are ready to give him steady playing time. They are looking for a short-term fix here, and a guy like Fox, with his 1B experience, better fits the bill. Plus why use up Murt's options when you know he is headed back down soon? The option was already burned when he went down. It doesn't matter how many times he goes back and forth this year, it's gone.

Yeah, Murton's call-up will occur when they are ready to give him steady playing time. They are looking for a short-term fix here, and a guy like Fox, with his 1B experience, better fits the bill.

Novoa is already on 60 day, so a release won't help here. Dopirak is most deserving of being taken off the roster, while Cotts is doing fine, but doesn't really seem to have a spot.

Don't think so. Cubs.com has 44 names on the 40-man with 4 guys on the 60-day DL. Unless Guzman or Blanco are moved to the 40-man, than somebody has to be removed, possibly Buck Coats.

Very good point. Probably makes the most sense, unless a miracle happened with the other guys. A 12 man staff means you only have 5 bench players, and Lee's suspension means it's only 4. Gallagher is unavailable today and probably tomorrow. Fox may just be here for a day or two. But how will he be added to the 40-man?

Except they have 12, so who is the other unused arm? I do agree that he's a complete waste of roster spot if he can't even be used in blowouts. He's gone 3 times in July after just 7 appearances in June. I really wonder what sort of plan they have for him.

42% expecting at least a 2 year extension, 42% expecting he won't be back. The remainder thinks somes of 1 year deal.

No he's not. I'd definitely prefer to have my pinky toe cut off than my entire leg. Wait, so you would prefer that the Cubs get rid of Pagan before getting rid of Jones? No. I don't want either my leg or my toes to be amputated. I prefer that neither happen just as I prefer that niether Jones nor Pagan were on the team. I definitely think you take your Pagan hatred to the unnecessary extreme. He's a decent 5th OF. As the primary backup CF and occasional pinch runner, defensive replacement, pinch hitter, he's fine. Pretty much every team has guys that are similar or worse, and most have guys that are much worse. As an example, the Mets seems to have 4-5 guys who keep rotating around their roster putting up a low .300 OBP with a SLG in the high 300s or low 400s. Pagan is currently at .278/.320/.461, above his career line of .258/.311/.417. His current OPS+ is 100 (85 career). Certainly he's not a great bench player. But he's not a Neifi/Macias type of complete waste either. He makes minimum wage and plays to the level you would expect a 5th OF to play.

oh, well that's different.

It all depends on what he defines as plays well. I would imagine that as long as the pitchers perform, and the rest of the lineup is good enough to keep them in contention, that it wouldn't take a whole hell of a lot from Kendall to please the powers that be. He could improve enough on his first half numbers (45 OPS+) to make them happy and still royally suck.

Not necessarily. If Kendall struggles the rest of the season and somebody else steps up then Kendall may not be re-signed even with Hendry in charge. Hill has suddenly caught fire since the trade was announced. I don't expect that to continue, but IF it does that may influence the decision. He's had a couple good games. That's not likely to last. My point is I don't see anybody in the system who could possibly emerge to change their mind. What more could Soto have done to date to earn a shot? So you don't see anyone in the system who could emerge, and you don't want Kendall being resigned. Tell us, what exactly DO you want Hendry to do regarding the catching situation? I see Soto as a guy who has emerged. But he hasn't done enough to earn a chance yet, in their eyes, and I don't see him doing anything more than he already has. After the Barrett trade I'd have been fine living with a Soto/Bowen platoon and putting more money into solving other problems.

Here's my reasoning: 1) Hendry has a history of extending older veterans for no good reason. 2) Hendry went out of his way to make this announcement on the television broadcast, similar to how the Yankees announced Clemens resigning, almost as if they think of him as a savior. 3) Hendry has really talked up Kendall both in terms of his real abilities, and leadership/intangible/nonsense. 4) The Cubs have no other real candidates. They've shown very little interest in giving Soto a chance. Blanco is a backup. And Hill is filler. Once Barrett was traded, Bowen was 1st in line for potential 2008 starter. Now that he's gone, there's really nobody else. Do you see them going with Soto/Blanco? Blanco/Hill? 5) Hendry simply does not believe in the concept of peak years occuring between 25-29. As long as Kendall shows the least bit of improvement from his 1st half, and the Cubs stay in the race, this will be seen as a smart move by many, and Hendry won't hesitate to pat his baseball people on the back for a job well done. I said that if Hendry is gone before November, then perhaps this won't happen. But I'm basing this on the fact that Hendry is signed through 2008, and it looks like the front office is likely to stay status quo until new ownership is in place. When new ownership is in place is anybody's guess. It's a long process, especially with the approval by MLB being necessary. It's possible they could close by the end of the World Series. Or, it might not happen until January or February. In the meantime, they are likely to stick with business as usual. And as long as Hendry/Hughes are making decisions come November, I'm betting Kendall gets resigned.

yeah, this sort of rule is quite absurd. If a guy is scheduled to get a spot start but is only eligible as a reliever it's completely unfair to force somebody to remove him from his lineup.

Not necessarily. If Kendall struggles the rest of the season and somebody else steps up then Kendall may not be re-signed even with Hendry in charge. Hill has suddenly caught fire since the trade was announced. I don't expect that to continue, but IF it does that may influence the decision. He's had a couple good games. That's not likely to last. My point is I don't see anybody in the system who could possibly emerge to change their mind. What more could Soto have done to date to earn a shot?

It's going to depend on whether or not Jim Hendry is still GM in November. If Jim and Gary are in love with a guy, they'll extend him regardless of how he performs down the stretch. Prior to the deal, it appeared the most likely catching scenario was Bowen/Soto. But they've shown no interest in giving Soto a shot. Now that Bowen is gone, they don't really have anybody you could even pass off as a starting candidate for 2008. If Kendall shows even the slightest improvement from his first half stats (and really, it would be hard to not improve upon a 45 OPS+), Hendry will look at it as a success. Considering the enthusiasm that Jim has shown for the deal (announcing it on TV as if it's akin to the Yankees signing Roger), and the enthusiasm Kendall has shown for being on the team, it would be a tremendous upset if the two don't try and stay together in 2008 and likely, beyond. The only thing I see getting in the way of this is Kendall getting injured or Hendry getting fired before he gets the chance to make the move.

:-s 3+ innings of relief to end the game is a save, no matter the lead. Isn't up to scorekeeper's discretion? 3+ innings means you can get a save without the same rules as most saves, but it doesn't guarantee a save, right? If you come into a 12-8 game in the 6th and finish the game and it's still 12-8, you will get a save. But a 9-0 lead may or may not give you a save.

One game among many in a terrible season for a catcher whose career began fading years ago and is probably very close to the end. yes, i just don't like pinning this loss solely on him. let's not make him the whipping day less than 24 hours after he's arrived Jim Hendry is the whipping boy on this one. How about attributing the loss to the dope that walked in the winning run? That's simply inexcusable. I'm talking about the fact that Kendall is on the team, not that particular game. I was out of town and didn't even see the game. I just come back to see the Cubs catchers are now Koyie Hill and Jason Kendall, and I'm not the least bit happy. It's pretty much a guarantee Hendry is going to extend Kendall. They've shown no willingness to give Soto a shot, and Bowen was the only thing resembling a regular catcher on the roster. 2008 is going to be Kendall and Blanco behind the plate. Beautiful.

Do you consider .281 BA .341 OBP for a SS and .297 BA .370 OBP for a RF, well below average? Perhaps your standards are a bit high? Look at the numbers. The Cubs are at or near the bottom of the league at C, RF, SS and CF in terms of OPS. It has nothing to do with high standards, it's a straight up comparison to every other team in the NL.

He really wrote that they have no needs? They are on pace for just 84 wins. They are getting well below average production out of C, RF, SS and CF, and they can't use any help?

thanks for the update, I thought gameday froze and didn't notice the injury delay.

was that a potential Jacque Jones special, 4-3?