Little Slide Rooter

I'm sure I could find a post-clinch lineup from '08 that is worse, along with tons of lineups from '06 in about 5 minutes but why bother? Say what you will about the '06 team, but they had 4 regulars: A Ram, Jones, Murton, and Barrett with OPS well above .800. We have one, and he's out of the lineup.

.... and if frogs just had wings, they wouldn't bump their little butts on the ground !!! If my wife had balls, the GOP would have opposed our marriage.

Now that I've taken my first look at the Cub's lineup, it's no exaggeration that it is the single worst that I've ever seen. And I'm talking ever.

Then it sound like the injury delay on game day isn't Castro or Samardzjia, so I don't care.

At first glance, low-A looked like Iowa, and I was skeptical but intrigued.

Looks like the Cubs' losing streak, coupled with Hamilton's ridiculous hot streak, means the Cubs should overpay for Hamilton. The fact that we're starved for offense kind of enters into it.

We have to win eventually. Theoretically. I just hope Samardjzia keeps rolling and doesn't get tagged with an undeserved L.

Rizzo 2-4 with his league leading 16th HR Vitters and Jackson each have a hit. Raley's AAA debut did not go very well That is all

I don't know how I feel about a high school short stop. We already have Castro, Lake, Alcantara, Hernadez, and Amaya. We're pretty well stocked in that department. I know it's a valuable position, but perhaps we should try to fill one of the other holes, like say every other position besides MI, toolsy center fielders, back end starting pitchers/swingmen, and future AAAA first base sluggers.

Prospect packages are always going to be a gamble. You could end up with Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller or you could end up with Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez. This is why such trades tend to be judged in hindsight, which isn't necessarily fair to the GMs who make them. Even the great Billy Beane got the shaft when he traded Car Go and Street for a few months of Matt Holliday which ultimately translated to a guy who's still in AAA. For all of the players the Pirates have traded for prospect packages, how many of those prospects have turned out? It's like a who's who of top prospect failures. An argument for the those who feel that Castro should be untouchable is that those types of trades make good sense for a small market team with no chance of retaining the payer long term, but for a big market team low on talent, they better be getting some sure things in return.

After these past 8 games, it's time for me to re think my answer. I stand by some of it, but while I like the low risk/high reward guys, they should be supplementary. We have money and we have a big market team with a rabid fan base, and the main reason for assembling a front office like we did was so we can win now and in the long term. So for 2013 and beyind, what we have is: The Core Impact players: -Anthony Rizzo 1B -Starlin Castro SS -Matt Garza SP: if we were to go the small market rout, I'd say trade him. Even if we were to win now, if we could get a package like Turner, Castalannos, and Porcello, I'd take it. If not we keep him and lock him up. -Jeff Samardjzia SP: still on the fence as to whether he'll end up from end or mid but still valuable. Next tier: -Brett Jackson OF: the fact that he's striking out as much as he is and his overall performance lately makes me wonder if he'll be able to contribute as soon as we'd like. If he doesn't fix things he'll need another year or half a year in Iowa. I still have faith that he can be either a Chris Young type or worst case scenerio a productive 4th OF until the time he becomes too expensive. -David DeJeus: I like him a lot. If someone wants to overpay for him, go for it. If not, he's a great block to build with. -Travis Wood: 4-5 SP. again, if someone wants to overpay... And then: -Ian Stewart: unless Vitters or Lake emerge as big league options, there's no reason to go out of the way to fill 3B, especially if May is the real Stewart. However, if April is the real Stewart we might want to see what a year or 2 of Kevin Youklis would cost. -Wellington Castillo/Geo Soto C: if we can't trade Soto between now and spring other doesn't rebound then let him battle it out with Castillo in ST. If he can rebound, either we sell or keep him around until he hits free agency. -Josh Vitters: I really don't know what to make of this one. Could be the future 3B. Could try to work him into a trade for Dempster or Soriano and hope for the best from Stewart. One thing's for sure, I don't want to wake up one day to he's only 27 and starting to figure out AAA pitching. -between Maholm, McNutt, and Rusin, no reason to go after another starter unless an offer we can't refuse presents itself. Maholm might be worth a little something in trade in July. Role Players: spots that the old regime would have filled with free agents despite having internal options: -Darwin Barney: 2B/utility IF: if nothing better comes along, we could do worse. Whatever becomes of his bat, his glove seperates him from Ryan Theriot by several miles. -Adrian Cardenas: I'd love to see his bat develope and his defense improve to the point where he can turn Barney from an average at best starter to a well above average utility IF. -Steve Clevenger: backup C. -Tony Campana/Dave Sappelt/Bryan LaHair: there should be room for 2 of them. Despite his struggles this season Sappelt might get a spot by default, otherwise going by my plan we'd have 5 LH outfielders. -Luis Valbuena: spare IF - Junior Lake: probably more likely 2014 than '14, but he should be able to contribute at some capacity. The bullpen: figured they need their own category: -Carlos Marmol: if we can get any trade value, take it. If not, I'd rather hope he can be a serviceable 7-8 inning guy or even middle relief than eat 9.5MM for no reason -James Russell: he's been great. Still not sold on him as an 8th inning guy, but I could be wrong. -between Beliveau, Dolis, Cabrera, Parker, Bowden, and Batista, I like our chances at middle relief going forward. Trade chips: -Dempster should fetch something decent this summer. -Maholm: teams tend to look for serviceable back end staters come summer. -Wells, Baker, Johnson, Volstad, and Camp might bring us something minor. If not, whatever. -Bryan LaHair: despite his recent struggles, I think that he still stabilizes somewhere between Jack Cust and Russ Branyan. Great to have if you're an AL team, but for an NL team he should probably be shopped, especially considering what looks to be a lefty heavy future -Soriano: either get what we can or see how his knee surgery goes and give him one last run at LF if Jackson isn't ready or a very expensive platoon LF. Wish list -big bat. A. Josh Hamilton: warts and all, hes the one avaialbe bat that should be able to really help turn our offense around. We have the resources, and id worse comes to worse we can afford one bad contract so long as we dont make a habit of it. big gap B. Andre Ethier: I know most prefer Upton C. B.J. Upton Big Arm: A. Cole Hamels B. Zack Greinke Big gap C. Brandon McCarthy D. Anibal Sanchez Huge gap E. Francisco Liriano: only of we miss out on A-D and he comes at a low risk price. F. "Hello, Mr. Sheets, we understand that you were once a very good professional baseball pitcher. Do you still perform those types of duties?" Big bullpen arm: Michael Adams: not sure why he's never been a closer but I'd love to give him the chance. Additomal bullpen arm: As I said before, someone like Bobby Jenks or Pete Moylan would make for a great low risk/high reward acquisition. Ex top prospect type: Perhaps the respective teams are willing to part with Travis Snider, Colby Rasmus, or Michael Taylor for a reasonable price. There's also Dom Brown but I can't see him coming that cheap regardless of how 2012 goes. So when all is said and done, if it were up to me 2013 opening day roster would look something like: DeJesus RF Cardenas 2B Hamilton CF Rizzo 1B Castro SS Jackson LF Castillo C Stewart 3B SP Hamels SP Garza SP Shark SP Wood SP Rusin-if nothing else to keep the spot warm for McNutt CL Adams BP Marmol BP Russel BP Moylan BP Dolis BP Beliveau BP Cabrera Bench Clevenger Bench Barney Bench Snider Bench Sappelt Bench Valbuena

Grit, hustle, white guys, and playing the game the right way. But mostly grit. More so due to the fact that since Morneau's back and seemingly healthy, the heart of their lineup is really good.

Good point. In the last four pages of the Castro thread, walks were mentioned once. Lots of discussion going on. Tons of concern being expressed. Oh wait. I bet that's the wrong place to look too. Call MR a rapist!! hey southside, how's Trumbo looking? Yes let's inject more bizarre tangents into this thread. Ted Lilly is 5-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.

So is Zunino still the favorite in the draft?

I'm guessing Starlin is younger than a large percentage of the current top 100. Glancing at BA's top 100 quickly, the only team with two "prospects" that might make it worth it is the Rangers (Darvish and Profar) I wouldn't exactly tell the Orioles to take a hike if they offered Bundy and Machado.

She'd probably stand a better chance of fighting back than the 2012 Cubs.

Well that was fun. At least they didn't bother us with a fake rally. Man, this season is just the gift that keeps on giving. Reasons for me to start drinking heavily.

He's trying to say that bad players are better than good players he refuses to admit that he's wrong or even simply walk away. he's criticized others for failure to comprehend the incomprehensible his posts either contradict each other or logic in general. He's turned two threads into his own live chats of insanity He's been downright condescending toward those pointing out the obvious flaws in his arguments

Golden sombrero baby! Woot!

Junior Lake is 2-4 with a HR tonight.

Despite a lack of home run power, he always had a great bat. He's only 24, so there's still room for him to improve on his 2B defense, and for this reason he should be given as many opportunites to play the position as they can and use Barney as a utility guy which pretty much everyone knows he'll ultimately end up.

That was a money thing. Is it wrong to wonder why a bad offensive team would just give up on a 24 year old former 1st round pick? I don't know. Maybe it was options, maybe he had a bonus coming. Maybe he slept with someones wife. It just makes me wonder, which I think is pretty sensible. It doesn't mean I thinks it's dumb, It doesn't mean I think it's a sure failure, just gives me cause to question it- not the pick up but why they would cut him. I don't think there's anything wrong with wondering why the A's cut him. I also don't think there's anything wrong with letting him get a couple PA while he's on the team. Cardenas is 24 and has a career minor league line of .303/.368/.417. Barney is 26 with a career minor league line of .287/.335/.376. Cardenas was DFAs due to his defense and the A's need for his spot on the 40 man. He should be given as much PT as we can give him, especially in a lost season.

The inning of doom lives on.

The I Cubs are pummeling someone to the tune of 11-1 in the bottom of the 5th. Rizzo hit his 15th HR, a solo shot. Valbuena has a 2 run shot and Amezaga a 2B, but no other extra base hits. Volstad has 6 K 2 BB 3 H 1 ER, so he hasn't run into his inning of doom yet.