Little Slide Rooter

Doubt that will happend. The 2nd part, anyway.

Have to wonder if the fact that Hayden Simpson's not there is a sign that we've seen the last of him.

That's a good question. There's the age factor, his knees, and the fact that whatever he's done in the OF this year, people are very skeptical about his defense. He'd be competing with Young, Cabrera, Victorino, and to a lesser extent, Hairston and Pagan each of whom are younger than he. There's also Upton and Swisher, though i think they'll be looking at bigger deals in terms of length. I don't think he'd get 2/10, but perhaps 1/10 or 2/15, perhaps with an option of some sort.

Between '04-'05, Wily Mo Pena and Austin Kearns seemed to double or homer every other at bat vs. The Cubs.

Oh, you mean like every trade ever? Thanks for clarifying. But every trade ever hasn't involved eating somewhere between 25-35MM worth of salary and a player who will be 37 years old next season. So yeah, it's likely that our side will be asking for a significant player return to make it worthwhile and the other side to be cautious about what they give up regardless of how much money is being absorbed.

6 hours until game time and Chris Sabo, Reggie Sanders, and Sean Casey have already homered off Germano.

On that note, has Soriano played his way into having actual value? At the beginning of the season, teams were willing to take him for free. Moving forward, is an offseason trade at all likely? We've heard reports since the spring that the Cubs are willing to eat anywhere from 75-95% of his remaining salary. What we don't know is what type of player return we're asking for if we eat said salary. If we do pick up 90-95% and ask for a reasonable return, I can't imagine someone not showing interest, especially with the weak FA class. I suppose it depends on what our guys feel is a reasonable return vs. what other teams do. There's also the matter of his NTC.

According to Cubs, probably 25,000 I was short.....33,017 So about that of a White Sox playoff game.

There have been times when I didn't know that an afternoon game had been played until that evening, but this marks the first time that I didn't know that a game had been played until the next morning. No surprise that the Bucs won, as the game meant everything to them and the Cubs probably just wanted to get to bed. Not sure why Sveum even bothered with the regulars here though. Sappelt LF, Jackson CF, Cardenas SS, Valbuena 2B, LaHair 1B, Vitters 3B, Campana, Recker would have sufficed. Nice game by Wood though. I see no reason why he shouldn't be our 4 guy next year.

But what we need is a good middle of the rotation starter. The fact is that front end guys rarely become available anymore, so guys like Edwin Jackson and Anibal Sanchez are going to be more in demand and thus, more expensive. I'm not saying that we should go nuts, but guys like that are likely to get at least 4/48 type deals, and I don't think that McCarthy or Marcum would be much cheaper. The alternative could be Jake Peavy at a shorter term, higher base salary contract.

We face righties for each of the next 7 games, at least. Mather has expired. Why all the Mather hate? He's slugging .575. Oh wait, that's his OPS. Who or what we're facing is irrelevant. As long as Jackson, Sappelt, and even Campana are available, Joe Mather should not be taking up playing time.

Offseason plan: build a team that scores more runs than the other guys more often then they don't.

How do we not have pitching? If Garza's comes back healthy and Shark can improve on or at least repeat what he did this season that's a solid 1-2. Neither is a "number 1" by the standards of the experts, but if you ask them, there's like 10-12 of those in the entire league. Wood's been as good as most 4s, mostly, and if they dont see Volstad, Rally, Rusin, or Germano as a 5, they can look into finding another Maholm. If they're willing to spend for Jackson, Sanchez, or Marcum, I really like the rotation. It's by no means 2003 or 2008, but it's not like the NL Central is stacked with pitching.

I'm still pulling for the Pirates to stop the bleeding and spoil the Cardinals, and now the Brewers party. Go Bucs!

I'd think that they'd wait and see if this current Frankenstein's Monster of a team doesn't blow up in his face as so many things have before, but hey, it's LA and star power's more important than results.

Yes, you did list 10 guys. Of the bunch, Hamilton is elite. Bourn, Upton, and Swisher are very good, but are going to be expensive. You missed Delmon Young, who might belong in this group. From what I hear, Torii Hunter's choices are the Angels or bust. Teams interested in these guys arent likely to be swayed by Soriano's availability. As for the rest, Pagan, Victorino and Ross are all guys that if you're a contender in search for a decent OF bat, they'd be good, reasonably priced options. To a lesser extend, Hairston, though I still see him as more of a 4th OF. Cabrera is in a different class all together. The weak market could still press someone into giving him a 3+ year deal, though nothing close to the 5/60-75 he could have gotten. Then again, he could be looking at a 1 year deal because A. Nobody's willing to give him more or B. a gamble on himself ratherthan taking a longer deal at a lower base salary. Depending on the team, and their needs it's really not out of the question for someone to sign any one of these guys and trade for Soriano. I get [expletive] on for bringing up guys like Michael Taylor and Wade Davis, but these seem to be the types of reclamations that Epstein covets. Domonic Brown and Brian Matusz might not be too far from that catagory. If we could get a guy like that, plus 1-2 lottery tickets, it might be in our best interests to take it and run. Soriano isn't getting any younger, and it could be our last chance to get anything for him. Then again, if they decide that they want to win next year, I'm all for keeping him. IMHO if we keep Garza, and sign another SP as well as Upton, Young, or Swisher, we could very much contend. I also see Ian Stewart as a big X-factor. Do you really think the Cubs can contend if they sign just 1 starting pitcher and 1 of the hitters you mentioned?? I think they are more like 5 or 6 good players away from contending. I've seen enough of Ian Stewart to know that I don't need to see any more of him..... I really want to see 1 more year of Ian Stewart assuming that his wrist heals. The rotation of Garza, Shark, 1 of the FAs, Wood, Volstad/filler/reclamation/Vizcaino in a perfect but unrealistc world may not be 90s Braves, but it's as good as any in the division. As for the lineup, basically, it would be full of X Factors from top to bottom. 1. DeJesus or Jackson, 2. Castro 3. Rizzo 4. Soriano 5. Upton/Young/Cabrera 6. Castillo 7. Vitters or Stewart 8. Barney could be very good, very bad, or anywhere in between. We could certainly use a better 4 hitter, but I think they'd have a shot, though full of X Factors. And to be honest, if all we'd get for Soriano and Marmol, even with eating the bulk of their salaries is a handful of fringe prospects and big league filler, I'd much rather go with that lineup. If we're contending in July, you never know what will become available via trade. I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but I just don't see them being a whole lot better than this year. I'm concerned about the Garza injury, who knows how bad it really is. They may have lost their chance of getting a good return for him, but I was fine with extending him too, before the injury happened. I'm fine with letting Vitters and Stewart compete for the 3rd base job. Maybe we end up with a decent platoon. As for the X-Factors you mentioned, how many times does that work out? Not very many. Especially when you are counting on 3 or 4 of those situations to pan out. I think there's a chance. Going forward, we have 3 probable impact players, Castro, Rizzo, and Shark. Garza to if we keep him. Other than that, we're at the mercy of those x factors. Even if we were to sign Upton , one of Jackson/Marcum/Sanchez at, and maybe another pitcher, and things didn't work out, we wouldn't be jeopardizing the future unless we ended up grossly overpaying for one of them, which they wouldn't do anyway. The fact is, they have the money, and there's no reason not to spend at least some of it on the right players while they wait and see what we really have in those lower level prospects.

Yes, you did list 10 guys. Of the bunch, Hamilton is elite. Bourn, Upton, and Swisher are very good, but are going to be expensive. You missed Delmon Young, who might belong in this group. From what I hear, Torii Hunter's choices are the Angels or bust. Teams interested in these guys arent likely to be swayed by Soriano's availability. As for the rest, Pagan, Victorino and Ross are all guys that if you're a contender in search for a decent OF bat, they'd be good, reasonably priced options. To a lesser extend, Hairston, though I still see him as more of a 4th OF. Cabrera is in a different class all together. The weak market could still press someone into giving him a 3+ year deal, though nothing close to the 5/60-75 he could have gotten. Then again, he could be looking at a 1 year deal because A. Nobody's willing to give him more or B. a gamble on himself ratherthan taking a longer deal at a lower base salary. Depending on the team, and their needs it's really not out of the question for someone to sign any one of these guys and trade for Soriano. I get [expletive] on for bringing up guys like Michael Taylor and Wade Davis, but these seem to be the types of reclamations that Epstein covets. Domonic Brown and Brian Matusz might not be too far from that catagory. If we could get a guy like that, plus 1-2 lottery tickets, it might be in our best interests to take it and run. Soriano isn't getting any younger, and it could be our last chance to get anything for him. Then again, if they decide that they want to win next year, I'm all for keeping him. IMHO if we keep Garza, and sign another SP as well as Upton, Young, or Swisher, we could very much contend. I also see Ian Stewart as a big X-factor. Do you really think the Cubs can contend if they sign just 1 starting pitcher and 1 of the hitters you mentioned?? I think they are more like 5 or 6 good players away from contending. I've seen enough of Ian Stewart to know that I don't need to see any more of him..... I really want to see 1 more year of Ian Stewart assuming that his wrist heals. The rotation of Garza, Shark, 1 of the FAs, Wood, Volstad/filler/reclamation/Vizcaino in a perfect but unrealistc world may not be 90s Braves, but it's as good as any in the division. As for the lineup, basically, it would be full of X Factors from top to bottom. 1. DeJesus or Jackson, 2. Castro 3. Rizzo 4. Soriano 5. Upton/Young/Cabrera 6. Castillo 7. Vitters or Stewart 8. Barney could be very good, very bad, or anywhere in between. We could certainly use a better 4 hitter, but I think they'd have a shot, though full of X Factors. And to be honest, if all we'd get for Soriano and Marmol, even with eating the bulk of their salaries is a handful of fringe prospects and big league filler, I'd much rather go with that lineup. If we're contending in July, you never know what will become available via trade.

Reading those posts, it did give off the vibe that it was the same guy making them.

yes, let's try to resurrect the career of that guy with a 2.18 ERA right now Would be a good sell high candidate for TB, who seem to be perennially stacked with young pitching.

Yes, you did list 10 guys. Of the bunch, Hamilton is elite. Bourn, Upton, and Swisher are very good, but are going to be expensive. You missed Delmon Young, who might belong in this group. From what I hear, Torii Hunter's choices are the Angels or bust. Teams interested in these guys arent likely to be swayed by Soriano's availability. As for the rest, Pagan, Victorino and Ross are all guys that if you're a contender in search for a decent OF bat, they'd be good, reasonably priced options. To a lesser extend, Hairston, though I still see him as more of a 4th OF. Cabrera is in a different class all together. The weak market could still press someone into giving him a 3+ year deal, though nothing close to the 5/60-75 he could have gotten. Then again, he could be looking at a 1 year deal because A. Nobody's willing to give him more or B. a gamble on himself ratherthan taking a longer deal at a lower base salary. Depending on the team, and their needs it's really not out of the question for someone to sign any one of these guys and trade for Soriano. I get [expletive] on for bringing up guys like Michael Taylor and Wade Davis, but these seem to be the types of reclamations that Epstein covets. Domonic Brown and Brian Matusz might not be too far from that catagory. If we could get a guy like that, plus 1-2 lottery tickets, it might be in our best interests to take it and run. Soriano isn't getting any younger, and it could be our last chance to get anything for him. Then again, if they decide that they want to win next year, I'm all for keeping him. IMHO if we keep Garza, and sign another SP as well as Upton, Young, or Swisher, we could very much contend. I also see Ian Stewart as a big X-factor.

Hamilton will be very expensive, and most experts have him back to the Rangers. There are some quality options in Bourn, Upton, and Swisher, but the weak FA class is likely to drive up their prices as well. Guys like Hairston, Pagan, and now Melky are more of a threat to Soriano's trade value because they may be coming off great seasons, but don't have the track records to land a multi year deal, and teams looking for something like that are more likely to be interested in trading for most expenses paid Soriano rather than one willing to pay big money for Bourn or Upton. Of course it depends on how much of Soriano's salary our guys are really willing to take on.

I'm wondering if the Phillies would be a good fit for Soriano, and if they could make a deal, like now. Phillies traded two starting OFs, thinking that they were cooked. They now have an OF consisting of Juan Pierre, John Mayberry, and Domonic Brown. All of the sudden, they're 3 games back for that 2nd WC, and they certainly have the tools that if they did back door their way in with that kind of momentum behind them, they could take it and run all the way to another World Series. Obviously, Soriano coulnd't play in the post season, but they could certainly use another potent bat in that lineup for the stretch, and it's not like he'd be a 3 week rental. With the aging roster they have, and lack of free agent options for next season, Sori could be a good fit in left for them while their window's open.

And this thread has given it more traffic than it's had since 2008.

I vaguely remember Meph as a poster, and knew he wasn't well liked. but didn't realize that he had the whole bat [expletive] crazy thing going on. I thought that he was just one of us run of the mil unpopular folks.

Interesting stuff. And by that, I mean somewhat frightening. While there's at least one message board dedicated to pretty much anything you can think of, I don't know of too many message boards dedicated to another message board out there, so there's that.