Little Slide Rooter

Hey, what do ya know, there trying to come back. Meanwhile Aramis Ramirez is doing his best to slug his way off this [expletive] hole of a team.

Hes a perfect player to help them to continue to spoon feed the AL Central to the White Sox.

They'll still win. They own the Rates. Its now just a 10-7 lead with 1 on and 0 out for the Brewers. The Pirates have already gone to their pen, however, theres no reason to believe that Dave Bush is done giving up runs for the night either.

I really have to say, Im all for getting rid of our expiring contracts, as well as non expiring ones like Fukudome or even Z if possible, but it should be for the right reasons. Whatever money is left on these guys deals, especially Lee and Lilly isnt going to make or break anything, and if they move them, they should be trying to get the best prospects they can, not save a few bucks. Especially after hearing Ricketts talk about his focus on the farm system, this should be a great opportunity to add some pieces.

The main story behind the failure of the 2010 Cubs isnt just offense or bullpen or defense, its been the inability to take care of business in their own divison, the good teams or the bad. You can beat good teams like the Phillies or bad teams like the D Backs all you want, but if you keep getting beat by your own divison, its not going to be a good season.

Fixed.

Good thing our bullpen is loaded with amateures.

Archers final line: 5.1 IP 2R 0 ER 7 H 1 BB 6 K

Thomas Diamond having a simlarly nightmarish outting to Carlos Silvas so far: 2 IP 5 H 7 ER 2 BB 1 K Chris Archer, on the other hand: 5 IP 5 H 0 ER 1 BB 6 K

Fat ass crashed right through the ground too.

So much for selling high on Silva.

I don't think it's that sad really. Colvin has spent most of his time in the top of the order while Castro has been at the bottom most of the time. Colvin has probably provided more wow moments that stick into fan's heads with how long his home runs have gone. And it's not like Colvin is Ryan O'Malley out there...he is a legitimate prospect having a very good season. Obviously Castro is the one to be more excited about because of age and position, but I don't think it's a problem if any fan wanted to say Colvin. They are both good prospects who have shown both good tools and good production while in the major leagues. Neither one has had a whole lot of extra luck in the majors. To ask people to dig into minor league numbers to find out which one might have a better chance of sustaining their play is IMO unrealistic. I dont see why we cant be excited about both of them. Theres really no need to pick sides, this isnt Jacob vs. whatver the other guys name is(trying to work in a Twilight reference, but Ive never seen the movies, only the Burger King commercials) To be honest, I think that Castro has the tools to become an elite type player, but I still think that Colvin can be a very good player. These 2, along with Soto, Byrd, and Soriano are the core that they will be building around for the next few years, and as Ive said before, if we could get one big bopper, be it a full season of a productive Aramis Ramirez or an FA or trade we should have a very good team next year.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda had a 4 game sweep of the Phillies. Oh well. If the Cubs can keep playing like this, it will be an enjoyable 2nd half even if contention isnt likely. However, watching Castro, Colvin, and Soto playing well gives hope that we can really contend in 2011, even if we arent considered "the favorites". Im not gonna lie though, it is good to see a 10 page game thread again.

Nice play by Tyler Colvin

This guy has no Gorzalanny love.

Where have these guys been when we were getting beat up on by the Astros and Pirates?

WTF, did we just score 4 runs of Roy Halladay in 2 innings? Did Tyler Colvin just steal home?

Robinson Chirinos with another home run today. And LOL at JR Mathes line: 3.1 IP 13 H 9 ER 3 BB. He must be a hell of mentor to the younger guys, because otherwise, theres would be no reason to keep this guy around.

And Fukudome and Zambrano. But for some reason Theriot, Lee, Hill, Howry, and countless others are allowed to suck consistently with no recourse. All foreigners. Coincidence? Soto's from Puerto Rico, which is part of the US. Tell that to Lou. Lou to Geo: Make a....a....a.....a.....another error, and.....Ill.....Illl...Ill....Illl send ya back ta Spain.

All I know is if it were a bad play at 1st or 3rd that cost the game, I doubt that Ramirez or Lee would have been thrown under the bus like that.

And Fukudome and Zambrano. But for some reason Theriot, Lee, Hill, Howry, and countless others are allowed to suck consistently with no recourse. Fukudome wasnt so much punished as he was replaced by a player that they saw as the RF of the future, although I dont agree with the $10 million 5th outfielder, but what can you do. I know Colvins come down to earth, though still productive, so youd think that theyd at least share playing time at this point. The player Soto is replaced by a much lesser player in every sense and its a punishment, not because they have a better option. If Soto was playing poorly, and they were trying to see what Chirinos could do, then that would be a comparable situation to the Colvin/Fuku one. Z was a different story all together, and a very mismanaged situation at that.

I think its Eddie Murray during his stint with the short lived Chicago Short Shorts franchise.

In the right situation, I would very much like to see what Snyder, Diamond, and Chirinos could do, and to a lesser extent, Castillo and LaHair. Problem is, all of these guys are very well blocked. Chirinos has the best chance next year. Theres no reason to keep Koyie Hill around when we could use Chirinos or Castillo as backup catcher. I dont know why we keep messing around with Chris Robinson instead of promoting Chirinos to Iowa. Snyder and LaHair are basically the same guy. Former top prospects and left handed outfielders in their late 20s who beat up on AAA pitching. Theres really nowhere to put them though. Theres no reason to take Colvin out of RF, and Soriano isnt going anywhere. Nadys will likely be traded, and If we could find a taker for Fukudome as well, Id think that Snyder would deserve the shot, although stupid Lou would probably bring in scrappy Sam Fuld. If we could trade Lilly and/or Silva, theres really no reason not to bring up Diamond, another former top prospect. Cashner has the higher ceiling by far, but hes been in the pen too long, and if he goes back to starting, it will be next year, I hope. Darwin Barney, though not an old guy is another one Id like to see. Mike Fontenot is by no means a backup short stop. Darwin Barney is. Between Font, Theriot, and Baker, we dont need all 3. My list of September callups would be: Snyder Chirinos and/or Castillo Barney Fuld Hoffpauir Diamond maybe LaHair maybe Dubois maybe Samardzjia whoever from the carousel of AAA relievers that arent already up at the time. I guess it all depends on how many open 40 man spots we have by then.

I fully expect Lou to put Geo on punishment again, at least for a few games. For some reason, Geos the only one on the team whose not allowed to make mistakes.

Do NTCs apply to waiver claims, though? I was thinking about that too. Id think theyd have to, otherwise, it would be a pretty easy loophole for GMs to work around with guys with NTCs.