Little Slide Rooter

Just dont hit into a double play.

This is awesome.

Gotta love the lefty pinch hit squad.

Cash must be a top 25 prospect by now. If he keeps it up, they need to make room for him in next years rotation.

Cubs lineup Theriot 2B Castro SS Lee 1B Byrd CF Ramirez DH Soriano LF Nady RF Soto C Baker 3B

I wouldnt worry about that hapening for the same reason I wouldnt worry about him going to the Cards. Unless the Stros want to completely alienate their fan base for years to come, they wont send their ace and long time fan fav to a division rival. That and Drayton McClane is going to want a lot more than he will get for him. The Astros fan base already sucks so I wouldn't worry about that. Yeah, but if they were to trade Oswalt to the Cubs or Cards, it might not be long before they become the Indianapolis/Charlotte/Portland/wherever Astros.

I'm not sure Ricketts is willing to wait for 2012, especially since your scenario is based on a bunch of prospects becoming solid ML starters. Counting on Colvin, Vitters, Jackson, Cashner, Diamond, Coleman, Stevens, Parker, Gaub, and a return of Guzman to be contributors in 2012 is really optimistic. Also, let's not forget the PR war going on in Chicago with a possible Stanley Cup, an improved Bear team, and possibly a Lebron James/Derrick Rose combo for the Bulls. Judging by the 2011 FA class, I hope hes patient. The big names are Carl Crawford and Victor Martinez, and after them you have a bunch of old guys in Lance Berkman, Paul Konerko, Derrek Lee, Miguel Tejada, Vlad, Papi, and Mariano Rivera. Carlos Pena or Jorge Cantu might be solid pickups at the right price. Theres also highly injury prone aces Cliff Lee and Brandon Webb. Of course theres the of chance the Albert Pujols leaves the Cards, but there really isnt. Id love Crawford, but again, that would probably involve moving Kosuke first. And for the record, I really dont think that whatever happens with the Bulls, Bears, or Blackhawks has any bearing whatsoever on Ricketts offseason plans. Granted, a Labron/D Rose combo would get me back into the NBA for the first time since the Jordan era, but it would have no effect on how I feel about the Cubs. Thats a pretty big if. I really cant see Aramis staying quite this bad. Even if he can end up with an average in the .260s-.270s with an OPS in the low .800s or even high .700s he might very well end up with a 3-4 year deal do to the slim pickens in the FA pool, especially when it comes to 3Bs, and if he does opt out, I really hope that Hendry, if hes still around doesnt throw him a fresh 3-5 year deal. at 15 mil a pop.

Cashner/Carpenter Day!

Looks like it's Mets - Yanks for me. Its probably for the best.

I wouldnt worry about that hapening for the same reason I wouldnt worry about him going to the Cards. Unless the Stros want to completely alienate their fan base for years to come, they wont send their ace and long time fan fav to a division rival.

Regardless, I think Kosuke should be the guy to sell. next year, Lee and Lilly are gone, and Id be surprised to see Aramis not opt out of his contract at the end of the year. I dont know the exact numbers, but thats a lot of money off the books, and if we could add a sold chunk of Kosukes contract to that, this organization could be in business. The key is being patient until after 2011 and go after Prince or Adrian and not let Hendry, if hes still around let all that money burn a hole in his pocket. Maybe see if we could get Jorge Cantu for a reasonable price. However, if we really want Adrian, it will lilely require a trade because someones going to empty out their farm system for him in either June or next winter and they'll likely sign him to a massive contract. In 2011, we could have a solid mix of young players like Castro, Colvin, and Soto and vetrans Byrd and Soriano. Theriot will likely be around for a bit as well unless something better falls into our lap. Hopefully Vitters and Brett jackson arent too far behind. As for the post 2011 pitching situation, I hope we hang on to Marmol and Marshall, and at least as few of Stevens, Parker, Gaub, etc. end up as serviceable middle relievers with Guzman making a come back. As for starting pitching, I dont know the exact length of Zs deal, but I think we have him for a while. 2012 will be Demps las year, and Randy Wells is around for a while, I dont know about Gorzo. Also, by then the Bradley/Silva moneys off the books, with Cashner and Jackson ready to jump into the rotation, maybe Diamond and Coleman depending on what the future holds for them. If we could aquire Adrian or Fielder to go along, we can open a brand new window in 2012 if were just patient and accepting with a mediocre at best 2011 team.

The sad thing is we could have won a 1-0 game if it werent for Fontenot and Theriot teaming up for that Benny Hill misplay off Kinslers bat in the 5th or 6th or whenever the hell it was. Maybe not, but you never know.

I'm stunned by the level of apathy already this season. I know the team has been bad, but I can't ever remember everyone giving up so early. I think its the fact that we know the problems, have available solutions, but our manager is too dumb or stubborn to make the necessary changes, and the higher ups are too dumb or stubborn to fire the manager.

Great game, losers.

Wow, 2 page game thread. I guess thats all it deserves.

I d bet on him opening 2011 as Geos backup. And J Jax perfect again with 3 Ks. Has he given up a run since going to the pen?

The guy hasn't stopped hitting since day 1. This being said, he strikes me as being Sam Fuld II. If he were in an organization like the Royals or Pirates, he might have a shot, but with The Cubs, I don't see it

Anyone know why McNutt was pulled after 4.2? He gave up 1 ER on 1 H and 3 BB with 4 K. In other news, we have a lot of guys having good games including Vitters 2-3 2B, Burke Grand Slam(thats 9 RBI in the past 2 games), Campana 3-3 w/2 2B, B Jax 1 HR, Wellington Castillo with a Grand Slam, Coleman 5 IP 1ER 3 BB 5 K, Barney 2-4.

I still say that Grabow was worse, but I respect you arguement for Miles being worse. Still the lesson to be learned is that when it comes to those kind of role players, your better off either promoting from within or waiting until later in the offseason when similar players become available either as unsigned FAs or other teams DFAng them or trying to trade them. for a lot cheaper instead of pouncing on them like their some kind of crown jewel.

Who gives a [expletive]? FWIW, Grabow hasn't come close to doing as much damage as Miles did. He'll need another two or three months. Yeah, that was the point I made to WSR earlier, but didn't here because it's such an asinine, pointless debate to rehash again. He keeps saying Grabow was just a backup infielder, but thanks to Aramis' injury and Fontenot sucking he played WAAAAAAAY more than someone in that role ideally would. Lou doesn't actually have to use Grabow whereas the Cubs were pretty much S.O.L. with Miles since it was essentially him or Scales. But that doesnt really have as much to due with Miles as a signing. You make it sound as though Aramis getting hurt and Fontenot being bad were the fault of Aaron Miles, the player or the contract. MIles should have been a utility middle infielder, nothing more. In a similar sense, Grabow is where he is because of the Guzman injury. Now the Guzman injury was of no fault to John Grabows bad pitching or bad contract, however, it forced Lou to use Grabow as a set up man. Grabow was signed as a 7th inning guy, which makes the $8 million contract even worse. No, Lou doesnt have to use Grabow, but on the other hand, there were other oprions than Aaron Miles, for instance, Ray Durham may very well have happily signed for fairly cheap.

Even after out modest 3 game win streak vs. the Pirates and Rockies, there was no part of me that expected to go into Philly and pull of a 2 game sweep vs. the best team in the NL. Still when you lose a game as frusteratingly as this one, its hard to swallow. First off, Lou has to realize that Grabow belongs in no high leverage situations. If Lou is a lab rat, then Grabow is an electrically charged hunk of cheese. Hes going to get shocked every time, and if hes smart, he'll stop going after it. If hes not smart, he'll keep getting shocked. Secondly, the fake rally was awful. great ABs from Soriano and Fontenot, follwed 3 of the worst ABs by Castro, Ramirez, and Soto. OK, the Ramirez AB was pretty good until he swung at a pitch that was 7 feet outside. This team is definitely looking better this past week, even this game was good until the end, but still you cant lose these types of games. And is there anyone left who wants to argue that Aaron Miles was a worse signing than Grabow? Miles may have been comically inept, but as a utility infielder, theres only so much damage he can do. Grabow, on the other hand can single handedly lose games, and hes damn good at it, something very difficult for even the most inept utility infielder to do.

I didnt realize that Bob had a respectable year last year with a 3.49 ERA and 1.147 WHIP. Still, Chad Gaudin would have been a better option. Better yet would have been giving Jeff Stevens the chance.

This could be the time to sell high on Gorzo. Surely if nothing else we could get a less bad reliever than Grabow or Howry for him. There are a lot of teams out there who could use another solid starter, adn even if Silva falls off a cliff, we still have Diamond, Cashner, and Jax all waiting in the wings. Just stop. You're way to eager to either overpay for unavailable relievers or overpay for medicore relievers. You just said yourself they have 3 guys waiting for a turn in the bullpen. Why the [expletive] would you advocating wasting Gorzelanny like that? I suppose your right. Teams arent likely to trade star set up men at least at this point in the season. What we really need to do is pool all of our tradeble assets and go after Adrian in the offseason. Obviously Gorzo isnt going to be the highlight of any package, but he could be a piece.

This could be the time to sell high on Gorzo. Surely if nothing else we could get a less bad reliever than Grabow or Howry for him. There are a lot of teams out there who could use another solid starter, adn even if Silva falls off a cliff, we still have Diamond, Cashner, and Jax all waiting in the wings.

Wow, Marmol looked like he had every intention of completing that meltdown, but much to the fat kid in the left field stands dismay, it just didnt happen. Tune in tomorrow for the return of Bullet Bob Howry to the Chicago Cubs. This should be fun.