Little Slide Rooter

Understatement much?

Garza will end up making at least 12 mil. More if extended. The only others I can see getting significant raises are Castro and Shark. I'd love to give Castro something nice and team friendly to the tune of 8/100. Is 5/60 too much/too little for Shark, assuming he keeps doing what he's done thus far the rest of the way?

The best one was: I think this guy has him beat, unless it's the same guy. @Kevin_Goldstein: John in Chicago: "Theo hasn't made one good trade! Colvin is hitting .306 for Colorado!"

Kevin Goldstein was tweeting some of the more...notable Cubs post game calls, and simply put these guys make me embarrassed to be a Cubs fan. They'd make NSBB's meatiest blush in shame.

You're the worst. No, really...give us another list of the valuable offensive assets that the Cubs have that they'll part ways with and make them so much worse. The few good players they have they need to hold on to and the rest are garbage. Dempster is the main exception, but who knows if he'll accept a trade. DeJesus is about the only other one who could possibly net some value, but the argument could be made they'll need him back, y'know, unless next year is going to be another "oh, we're going to tank because you gotta be worst before you can the best" fun fest. The valueable offensive assets are Castro and DeJesus, one of which isn't going anywhere, the other I wouldn't expect to. As for the rest, even if there was a mass exodus of guys like Mather, Johnson, and Baker, they'd likely be replaced with guys like Sappelt, Valbuana, and maybe Rizzo. Dempster would be replaced by Volstad, Coleman, or Wells, which may sound like a downgrade, but when the offense isn't going to score anyway, it doesn't make a difference if you have Walter Johnson or Les Walrond on the mound. WHOOOOOOOSH I got nothing. Hopefully the suckage doesn't last longer than another season. And while our garbage is far from valuable, they could be of minor value to contenders, and Theo and Co. should be able to dig deep enough into teams farm systems that they should be able to get the best PTBNL value for crap like Baker, Johnson, Camp, and Mather.

Why would they possibly do that? To "save the season"? If anything it makes it less likely. They're not going to do anything to save the season. If anything, they might do something to save dwindling revenue. Even if every single empty seat were already paid for, empty seats don't buy over priced beer, nachos, and bison dogs.

You're the worst. No, really...give us another list of the valuable offensive assets that the Cubs have that they'll part ways with and make them so much worse. The few good players they have they need to hold on to and the rest are garbage. Dempster is the main exception, but who knows if he'll accept a trade. DeJesus is about the only other one who could possibly net some value, but the argument could be made they'll need him back, y'know, unless next year is going to be another "oh, we're going to tank because you gotta be worst before you can the best" fun fest. The valueable offensive assets are Castro and DeJesus, one of which isn't going anywhere, the other I wouldn't expect to. As for the rest, even if there was a mass exodus of guys like Mather, Johnson, and Baker, they'd likely be replaced with guys like Sappelt, Valbuana, and maybe Rizzo. Dempster would be replaced by Volstad, Coleman, or Wells, which may sound like a downgrade, but when the offense isn't going to score anyway, it doesn't make a difference if you have Walter Johnson or Les Walrond on the mound.

So if Russell is to be moved to the closer role, won't they have to call up another lefty? Do they have another in it already? I've lost track of which horrible junk ballers are up at this point. Maine has been back and forth so far this year, currently in Iowa, I believe. Beliveau is also on the 40-man but he has some talent and it's his first year at AAA so we probably won't see him for awhile. Beliveau is on the Iowa DL with a left shoulder strain. A. When did this happen? B. are they going to promote Rhoderick or Cabrera or see what Chad Fox is up to these days?

You're the worst.

So if Russell is to be moved to the closer role, won't they have to call up another lefty? Do they have another in it already? I've lost track of which horrible junk ballers are up at this point.

FFS, my only hopes for this game were at least 7 strong innings from Garza and for Castro and DeJesus to get a few hits a piece and then for all I care Bowden and Wells could combine to give up 13 runs the rest of the way.

Come on, pitch 3 to McCutchen wasn't even almost a ball and 4 was borderline at worst. When will they start replacing home plate umps with something better like robots or mildly [expletive] chimps?

.... or left handed Why can't it be all three?

Remember all the [expletive] they gave you back when you dared suggest that this could be a 100 loss team? Remember the actual reasons why? Because the team is pretty much devoid of good players (with a few exceptions?) Ironclad logic. They're a lock to join the plethora of 100-loss seasons. I don't think anyone ever said they were a lock to lose 100, just that they have a decent shot especially if they back up the truck sooner than later.

It's going to suck if he's the odd man out with Baez coming. DeVoss has 2nd most likely. Maybe Darvill gets the hook. His offensive line isn't special obviously, but I noticed tonight he already has NINETEEN errors. Holy [expletive]. Theres no way they'd let a guy with Hernandez' ceiling be the odd man out. He's still one of our top prospects and Darvill is nowhere near. If Hernandez loses playing time, he's better off going down to Mesa for 3 weeks and then up to Boise. While that's being the odd man out in Peoria, that demotion would indeed be a nod to his level as a prospect and his ceiling. Might it be a touch demoralizing to get demoted just as he's seemingly been pulling things together lately?

Bingo. He might as well have a no-trade clause in his contract. A no trade clause he's already said he would waive if it helps...at least I read that here. He recently stated that he knew that he was going to be shopped and they'd cross that bridge when they get to it. You'd think he'd want off the Titanic. I don't get why guys on expiring contracts wouldn't want off a bad team. I get the family thing, and as a rent a player, there's a good chance he'd be on the move again next season, but it's just 3-4 months, and you're only in the home town half the time anyway.

Ward doesn't belong on this list. Yes he does. Ward was an absolute monster in 2007 (when I assume this happened). No he doesn't. All those other names are worse than Mather hitting 3rd excepting maybe Fontenot. Ward was a monster as a part time player in 2007, as was Fontenot in '08. I'm pretty sure that every team has at some point had that guy who puts up those kind of numbers as a part timer and the fans clamor to make them a full time guy. What matters is that the managers and GMs know better. Joe Mather has been that guy lately. In Sveum's defense, he doesn't exactly have a lot of options.

It's going to suck if he's the odd man out with Baez coming. DeVoss has 2nd most likely. Maybe Darvill gets the hook. His offensive line isn't special obviously, but I noticed tonight he already has NINETEEN errors. Holy [expletive]. Theres no way they'd let a guy with Hernandez' ceiling be the odd man out. He's still one of our top prospects and Darvill is nowhere near.

Christ, then he's a [expletive] moron and I'm sorry they ever got him. "Built this team to bottom out?" Shooting for the #1 pick like this is basketball or football? What the [expletive]? This is how we've come to rationalize things? This is baseball; if you've got good scouting/a good front office/good talent evaluation you can easily make later draft picks work and then some. Of course I didn't expect them to be world beaters, but to try and justify like they want/tolerate/tried/whatever to be the worst team in baseball is ridiculous. Are you sure you're not talking Rachel Phelps? Even if he were to build a team to "bottom out", on paper the roster isn't that bad and there's no way he would have expected it to be worse than the Astros, Padres, and Twins to name a few. I think he hasn't spent yet simply because he wants to wait and see where the spending will be needed when he feels ready -exodus of the older players that are not a part of the plan through trade or letting contracts expire. This will be mostly complete by next year. Makes the Johnson and Wood signings make even less sense, but I guess bodies are needed on the field and rather than waste service time of prospects, sign guys like this as well as Mather, Camp, and Corpas to keep roster spots warm and maybe build a bit of trade value. -allow some of the younger guys who may or may not be part of his future plan to prove that they can be: Samardzjia, Barney, DeWitt, Campana, LaHair, Wells. Each he decides to keep represents a hole that won't need to be filled. The only ones with no need to prove themselves are Castro and Garza, who he'd trade only if he could sucker someone into grossly overpaying with at least 3 top prospects. -acquire as many young players who have or had high ceilings as he can get his hands on and hope as many as possible pan out, again, each that does represents a hole that doesnt need to be filled: Stewart, T. Wood, Maholm, Volstad, Cardenas, Sappelt, Bowden, Sonnenstine, Bianchi, Valbuena, and of course, Rizzo. Im thinking there will be more of these to come between whenever they start selling and next offseason. My bet is in addition to whatever Dempster brings back, Soto, Marmol, and Soriano will be shipped off for whatever he can get. Could be this summer, could be next winter. -hope for as much help from the farm as possible -by the 2013-2014 offseason, the smoke should have cleared enough to know what we have and what we need at which time he can start spending to fill the holes. The less holes there are, the more can be spent on each. My guess is we'll need 1 big bat (corner outfielder), a 2B with a decent bat unless Cardenas ends up that, and 1 front end starter. 2 if we trade Garza. The guy that doesn't seem to fit into this is DeJesus. I really think he was signed before this plan was finalized and he just saw a good player at a great value coming off of a down season.

Yeah, it's not like he had the ability to try and improve the team or anything. Poor, poor Theo. The only relevance that this season has to Theo's ultimate plan is the fact that Marmol, Soto, and Byrd were supposed to be useful trade chips, and their suckage threw a wrench in those plans. other than that, pretty much everyone that can be considered a part of the future has done as expected, with the exception of Volstad. Keep suckling. So far, all Theo's done is refused to let himself get sucked into insane bidding wars for Pujols and Fielder. My main problem with sitting out on them despite the supposed available funds is the fact that he didn't use some of it for an all in bid on Darvish and maybe Cespedes, two guys who seemed to epitomize the type of players he was looking for. As for this debacle of a team, he can't be blamed for awful relievers inability to throw strikes and the hitters refusal to bat each other in. I know I sound like one of those religious nuts I've spent my life ridiculing, but we may have to suffer through some [expletive] we don't quite understand, but while I may bitch and moan anout it, I have a ton of faith that these guys are leading us in the right direction.

No, that's almost exactly what you're saying. I've heard they're all friends as well, and I still don't see that being a legit reason to pay someone 6 million dollars. 3 cheers for pretending to care what the portly cello player has to say in an effort to get close to her hot friend.

Already linked a pre-draft look...You would think for a guy you claim has #3 SP upside at the ML level that he'd be able to dominate A/A+ hitters with this slider. His K rates are nothing to brag about, and you would expect that from a 23 year old in High A for the second time with a supposed above average to plus ML pitch. Soooooo...I'm calling bs. Wait all you want, but I expect you'll be disappointed with your claims. It's not an aside. Yes, I would go with 93-96 which is not 93-94. That...person is very easily amused. I would say that about somebody in the majors, maybe, since 95+ consistently is no joke at that level (no innings limits, not as severe with the pitch counts, best competition, etc). I'm not defining anything, but I know a pitcher who can be a mid-rotation starter when I read/see one. Matt Loosen is not that. I have never lied to myself about Nick Struck either. OTOH, if I was to bet money on which one becomes a #3 starter at the highest level between Struck and Loosen, it would be Struck by miles and miles. Struck, to me, was a guy who they liked how he was throwing, saw him performing well, Cubs figured he could handle moves/had good makeup/maturity, and the Cubs also figured they could use the press of a 21 year old arm making it to AAA so quickly. Right place, right time, and the abilities to make the situation work out well enough that nobody complained. I have no clue what makes you think Concepcion needs his mechanics overhauled. The guy hasn't even been stateside for two full months yet. Is there just a thing for short RH starters pitching below their age level with what, in the majors, is non-exceptional stuff? Is this their weekend or something? Francescon is almost a non-entity to me as far as long term rotation options in this minor league systems go. I guess the reason there is hope for some of these untouted prospects is that when it comes to later round picks turned stars, aside from fans of their team that follow the minors closely, most fans never hear of them until they reach top 100 status. For example, Tommy Hanson was a 22nd rounder in 2006, and in 2009, he debut as the 4th overall prospect. I'm just saying, it's hard to tell where guys like that come from. Why can't it be one of our guys?

Yeah, it's not like he had the ability to try and improve the team or anything. Poor, poor Theo. The only relevance that this season has to Theo's ultimate plan is the fact that Marmol, Soto, and Byrd were supposed to be useful trade chips, and their suckage threw a wrench in those plans. other than that, pretty much everyone that can be considered a part of the future has done as expected, with the exception of Volstad.

Sweet Lou's Offseason 2013 Objective: Relievers that can throw strikes.

Walk Off HBP FTW