Little Slide Rooter

I know that people talk about there being no need to rush him, but could the opposite be true? I know that people won't hesitate to tell me if this is a stupid concern, but the more time he spends feasting on PCL pitching in PCL ballparks, isn't he more likely to approach big league pitching the same way, which isn't going to work out for him? Really, just a way of saying that now that service time is no longer an issue, wouldn't it be in everyone's best interests to start exposing him to big league pitching, and if he struggles, this is the season to be patient and let him learn.

Yet he still somehow has a swinging K Only 1? Impressive.

Whitenack with his best outting so far. 5 IP 0 R 3 H 3 K 0 BB.

this is mostly baseless speculation, right? Is it? Theo's kind of said we won't be spending on major free agents until we have enough pieces around them and has said he knew this would take a while to fix the right way. I guess it's me speculating, but I also kind of think the writing's on the wall somewhat. Sveum also said something along the lines of he knows that we have a lot of holes to fill, and ,most can't be filled from within and something along the lines of evaluating the free agents to be. I don't expect a Hendry-esque off season, but at the right price I could certainly see them in on guys like Upton, Ethier, McCarthy, and Sanchez at the right price. Hopefully Hamels as well, though I expect the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers to be all over him as well. And yes, I think that Jackson and Vitters both could be building blocks, but not corner stones.

Yes they can. ROTFL all you want, but if you glance over most 4th outfielders in the league, I assure you that a lot teams would prefer Reed Johnson over theirs. It's not going to get teams to jump on the deal, but it could add a dash of sweetener to the pot. I still don't get why they signed Reed, at least for the amount that they did and highly doubt that whatever he brings back, if anything,will be worth what we paid for him, but since what's done is done, I'll take whatever we get in return.

castro's lack of offensive progress this year has been disheartening. Even if he ends up a .300 ish high .700s OPS guy, he'll be a valuable part of the team going forward, especially at SS. Personally, I've always seen him as a 2 hitter. Assuming Rizzo is the real deal, Jackson and Vitters pan out as solid bats for the 5-7 spots, sprinkle in another middle of the order type bat, and we're in business. Easier said then done, but that's why we bought a FO dream team instead of high priced free agents last fall. Come on, think about what you're posting; the odds of a successful Cubs team made up of internal players in every spot except 1, 4 and 8 aren't very good when you're including guys like Vitters. Assuming Castro's 2, Rizzo 4, and Jackson and Vitters between 5-7, or even Brett as 1 assuming he can get on base enough. I think they could then fill in the blanks. Maybe Barney at 8.

They're not going to trade him for complete trash. One of the strengths of a strong FO is talent evaluation, so I suspect that if any teams are interested, they'll carefully evaluate their lower levels for guys that they feel could be useful down the road and/or higher level reclamation types. Soriono's going to be 37 this time next year, his legs don't work as well as they used to. Even if he finishes the season at his current pace, he's a lot more likely to regress next season. I'd much rather get a fist full of lottery tickets now than watch him have a rebound now when it doesn't really matter and then cut him next spring or fall when they decide to waive him in favor of the LF version of Ian Stewart.

3-4 straight so-so/bad starts in his first full year of being a major league starter. He probably needs a little break, he's almost hit the amount of innings he threw all last season. He still has the stuff to be the real deal though. He's never been a full time big league starter, so there will be some growing pains. Sure, some guys can become instant aces, but that doesn't mean that everyone will. It seems as though Shark has been back and forthed between the rotation and pen the past few years, so it could be that he's running out of gas, or going through a dead arm period as they say. If ever there's a year to give a guy some in the job training, it's now. Even if he becomes more of a 3 starter than a 1-2, I'll take it.

castro's lack of offensive progress this year has been disheartening. Even if he ends up a .300 ish high .700s OPS guy, he'll be a valuable part of the team going forward, especially at SS. Personally, I've always seen him as a 2 hitter. Assuming Rizzo is the real deal, Jackson and Vitters pan out as solid bats for the 5-7 spots, sprinkle in another middle of the order type bat, and we're in business. Easier said then done, but that's why we bought a FO dream team instead of high priced free agents last fall.

Will he be using a Segway?

Hard not to get excited about out infield of the future. Between Castro, Lake, Vitters, Baez, Candelrerio, Amaya, Hernandez, Torreyes, and to a lesser extent, Alcantara, and DeVoss, I can't imagine not being able to put together something awesome.

Rizzo, Jackson, Vitters and the filler up 10-0 after a 7 run 4th.

Anyone else somewhat interested by what the corresponding move will be if/when Rizzo gets the call? Cardenas and Valbuena are both out of options, I'm pretty sure anyway. They could try and shop Johnson, Baker, or Mather, and maybe that's what's holding things up a bit. Campana's the only one with options left and Sveum loves the little rascal. I suppose if they really wanted they could send down Wells, Coleman, or Maine and then call up another interchangeable mop up guy when they find a taker for one of the other guys or cut one.

To be honest, I think that he might be at the point where he's sick and tired of getting pissed on by everyone from the media to the announcers every opportunity they get and wants out and just isn't the type of guy to make a public issue out of it. Say what you will about him, but he's taken a lot of crap over the past few years and hasn't fired back, not publically anyway.

Hmm, aside from Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates get minimal offensive production from their outfield. If the Cubs are willing to eat the bulk of the salary, the Pirates could be a very good fit for Soriano, although Quentin might be a better one. I'm pretty sure that the Pirates have a pretty deep farm system, so this might be our best bet at a solid return. What exactly is your idea of a "solid return?" As always, I go back to the DeRosa return. DeRosa may have been a more valuable player at the time, but he was a 1 year rental and a salary dump. With Soriano, we should be taking on as much salary as we can to get that type of return. And we'll happily throw in their pick of Johnson, Camp, Mather, and Baker if helps.

@PeoChiefsGame: Chiefs Roster Moves: Kyler Burke promoted to Daytona, OF Taiwan Easterling to DL retroactive to 6/14. Add RHP Zach Cates (starts Monday) In addition to the other moves, the DL just got a whole lot sexier.

It seems that a lot of the time when celebs are broke, it means that they're down to their last few million. If they truely are flat broke, if you had 50-75mm in the bank at any time in your life, there's no excuse not have 2.5MM give or take set aside for a rainy day. I know that these guys are used to a lavish lifestyle, but say they're down to their last 2.5 mil, there's no excuse for them not to be able to live out the rest of their life quite comfortably.To put it into perspective, to an average Amerian making $75K, which is well above an average income. 2.5 mil is just over 33 years worth of 9-5ing.

Hmm, aside from Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates get minimal offensive production from their outfield. If the Cubs are willing to eat the bulk of the salary, the Pirates could be a very good fit for Soriano, although Quentin might be a better one. I'm pretty sure that the Pirates have a pretty deep farm system, so this might be our best bet at a solid return.

Petition to add 21 year old CF Kelvin Encarnacion to the highlighted DSL players. Last year, in 223 AB he was .296/.396/.426 with 1 HR. This season, 43 AB he's .349/.525/.605 with 3 HR, seemingly adding a bit of power to his game. While he is older, could he be this years Candelerio? There's a reason I haven't been including him - he's 20 (not 21) and still in the DSL and in his 3rd year in the DSL. Candelario was 17 and in his first year in the DSL. They're not comparable. But he seems to have made legit strides in each of his first 3 years, so that should be worth something. In 2010, he was a non entitiy at .233/.366/.295, and boosted himself to a respectable .822 OPS the following year. Considering his age, it could be interesting to push him to up a level. Dunston has CF in Boise, and I don't know if they want to cast him all the way to Peoria, although he is age appropriate. Again, I'm aware that it's just 13 games, so I'm talking a bit down the road. Whatever strides he has made are inconsequential when he didn't even make Mesa's roster (he was given the opportunity to stay in the U.S. and got sent back to the Dominican). Encarnacion is repeating the level - the lowest level in the minors - for a 3rd consecutive year and beating up on pitchers 2-4 years younger than him. Just skimming over the 2 DSL rosters, there are several 19-20 year old in their 2nd or 3rd season who havn't improved much at all. There's one such who has 5 HR and a 1.040 OPS in 39 AB, but also has 18 K in those 39 AB. Encarnacion has 8 K and 15 BB in his 43 AB. I just think that it's worth acknowledging the improvements, and wouldn't refer to them as inconsequential. On a similar note, is there a ballpark figure on the percentage of DSL players who even make it to the next level?

Petition to add 21 year old CF Kelvin Encarnacion to the highlighted DSL players. Last year, in 223 AB he was .296/.396/.426 with 1 HR. This season, 43 AB he's .349/.525/.605 with 3 HR, seemingly adding a bit of power to his game. While he is older, could he be this years Candelerio? There's a reason I haven't been including him - he's 20 (not 21) and still in the DSL and in his 3rd year in the DSL. Candelario was 17 and in his first year in the DSL. They're not comparable. But he seems to have made legit strides in each of his first 3 years, so that should be worth something. In 2010, he was a non entitiy at .233/.366/.295, and boosted himself to a respectable .822 OPS the following year. Considering his age, it could be interesting to push him to up a level. Dunston has CF in Boise, and I don't know if they want to cast him all the way to Peoria, although he is age appropriate. Again, I'm aware that it's just 13 games, so I'm talking a bit down the road.

Petition to add 21 year old CF Kelvin Encarnacion to the highlighted DSL players. Last year, in 223 AB he was .296/.396/.426 with 1 HR. This season, 43 AB he's .349/.525/.605 with 3 HR, seemingly adding a bit of power to his game. While he is older, could he be this years Candelerio?

The same could probably be said for Rebel Ridling, especially now that we have Rizzo and LaHair as well as Bour now in front of him, not to mention Vogelsbach and Shoulders, he really doesn't stand a chance.

Crap, we're a Soto or Clevenger injury away from being forced to pry you know who back from the Nationals.

All I care about is a Shark rebound, Castro going 3-5, and getting a day closer to Rizzo being called up.

And how is Volstad as high as he is? Do they really by into the whole he's decent aside from his one horrible inning shennanigans.