Little Slide Rooter

Lets face it, this isnt the year, but who knows, maybe we can get somethig out of it. Its time to put Lee back in the rotation. Demp and Wells will both be in our rotation for at least the next 2 years. Despite Silvas solid start to the year, no teams going to be fooled into forgetting that hes Carlos Silva. Even if Tom Gorzelanny turns into a pumpkin, we have Cashner and J Jax, who may very well be in the big league bullpen by weeks end ready to take over. This leaves us with a valuable trade chip. Texas, Detroit, and even Dusty Bakers Reds strike me as legit contender who could really use another front of the rotation starter, and Ted Lilly could fit there bill. Is it too early to sell Ted? Heck, maybe even the surprising Nationals are feeling froggy. Does he have a NTC like everyone else on the team?

Brett Jackson back in Daytonas lineup today at DH. Nothing else of much interest going on on the farm today.

catcher bats 8th dude. Lets just be greatful the he seems to have realized that Soto an Hill are not a platoon.

The way Chad Tracy is owning the PCL circuit, it may be time to call him up. He could do what he was supposed to all along and spell Derrek and Aramis from time to time, and maybe be a 1 year stop gap option at 1st next year before we hopefully land Adrian or Prince in the '11-'12 off season.

I agree with you, but I also understand while people nare more frusterated the past 2 years than in the past. Throughout my years as a Cubs fan, Ive blindly followed teams that were built to simply get by, and I accepted it. It was an organization that was interested in making money and winning took a far back seat. However, since 2003. weve had a taste of winning in our mouth, and this kind of crap isnt as acceptable as it once was. That and the fact that were working with a $140 million team now that doesnt have an excuse to suck.

If we lose this game, I officially lose all respect for the team. If we lose this game, and Lou keeps his job, I officially lose all respect for the organization.

Well, now that our starting pitchers are turning back into pumpkins 1 by 1, we got nothin. Yeah, yeah, Demster was great after the 1st inning, but heres a thought, dont get rocked by a bad team in the first inning when you know you have an inept offense behind you. This game was far from Dempsters fault completely, but giving up 3 in the 1st is just as bad as giving up 3 in the 4th or 5th. Maybe a sub .400 team and dwindling attendence numbers is what we need for Rickets and company to see that Lou needs to go far, far away.

To be honest, I wouldnt be surprised if Jax is called up before tomorrows game. Caridads has good stuff but awful control, and his inning today was the kind that causes Lou to send the guy away never to be heard from again. Just ask Rich Hill. Im all for it at this point. I just hope that if it doesnt work out for Jax up here they have the sense to send him back to Iowas rotation and not Lous stupid doghouse.

Every team is awesome when they play the CUBS !!!! How pathetic is it that we have a losing record and we've played teams like the Pirates, Nationals, Astros, and Diamondbacks? We haven't even played actual good teams yet. We'll be lucky if we win 70 games this year. With Lee and Aramis being terrible and Lou's screwy lineups the Cubs are little better, if at all, than those teams. Talent wise, The Cubs are worlds ahead of those teams, they're just grossly mismanaged.. When you have Soriano, Soto, Kosuke, and Byrd, OPSing well over .900, as well as Castro and Colvin in limited appearences, but he has Lee, Ramirez, and Nady in the heart of the lineup, with Lee OPSing under .700 and the other 2 around the .600 mark. Also, your 1 good reliever other than your closer is grossly misused, and he wonders why these other corn holes keep blowing games. Right now, this teams failure can be blamed mostly on Lou. Trey Hillman gets fired with a joke of ateam, but Lou is grossly mishandling a $140million dollar team, and they wont consider sending him on his way. If we sent out a lineup everyday of Kosuke Castro Byrd Soto Soriano Lee Ramirez Theriot/Fontenot P wed be winning a lot more games. When Lee and Ramirez start hitting consistantly, they can be moved back towar the middle.

As Lou would say what can you do. You have aside from Marmol, we have 1 other good reliever in Sean Marshall, and Lou continuously ignores it. I dont know if anyone else caught Lous post game, but his sentiment is Zambrano is our 8th inning guy. Some reportwer asked what if he continues to struggly, Lous reponse was hes still our 8th inning guy. As long as Lou is our manager, were screwed. The guy has no clue.

This must be it. Theres no other reason to put one of your 2 best pitching prospects in the pen to move Mitch [expletive] Atkins into the rotation and even if they really wanted Atkins in the rotation for some reaon, they could just move Crash Davis to the pen.

Wasnt Thomas Diamonds best night. Gave up 4 ER in 5 IP, but only walked 1 with 3Ks. With 92 pitches, IM guessing his nights over, but you never know.

Im more for Fontenot being traded. the Castro/Theriot MI makes him irrelevant, because hes really not a backup shortstop, and aside from a lefty bat off the bench, theres really not much use for him. I agree that Colvin, who I believe will be our RF once Kosukes contract is up could benefit from regular ABs in Iowa as well. Also, Nady isnt 100%, and it shows. As far as Im concerned, 1 of Fontenot or Baker could be traded and call up Tracy. In addition, either DL Nady or send Colvin to Iowa for his own good and call up Darwin Barney as a backup SS, as Ive heard hes pretty good defensively, although his offensive ceiling is somewhere between Andres Blanco and present day Omar Vizquel.

Booooo Much rather a minor foot injury that something worse. Too bad about Mateo, but I dont care either way about Parisi.

Chad Tracys been a man on a mission since being sent to Iowa. 3-3 with a 2B and 3 RBI so far tonight. Now that Starlin and Theriot are our full time middle infield, it could be time to move Fontenot or Baker and bring Tracy back, especially if Aramis continues to suck. He had that 1 good game when he started, and then he was sent down not too long after.

Is 2008 2nd rounder Aaron Schafer worth following? He wasnt anything to get excited about as a starter last year, but hes been pretty dominant as a reliever for Daytona so far this year. Any scouting report on him?

Any manager who cant make a winner out of the steller talent that is the Kansas City Royals has no business managing in the big leagues.

If anyone cares, Corey went 2-4 with a HR and 2B. Good for him. Keep it up.

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100512&content_id=9999656&notebook_id=10003164&vkey=notebook_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal Look like Old C Patt got called up to the O's today, with Reimhold sent down and former would be Cub Brian Roberts sent to the 60 day DL. The O's now need a full time second basman. I have heard rumors that Fontenots on the trade block. Would the have interest in their former 1st rounder? If it came down to it, from a defensive standpoint, Darwin Barney would surely be a better back up SS than Font.

Jay Jackson has proven he has the control needed for Lou, but he is not striking out enough guys as a starter to be considered dominant (although he has limited the base hits nicely). I say there is very little risk involved with this little experiment. If his velocity doesn't increase enough in the pen, he will likely be moved back to the rotation where he will be a solid 3rd or 4th starter. If his velocity sits around 94-96, then he can kick off his major league career in a few weeks! Im torn on this. I understand that it would likely be at least 2 years before a rotation spot opening up for him. Z and Demp are likely our 1 and 2 starters for at least the next 2 years, assuming our next manager isnt a complete imbecile and returns Z to the rotation. Wells will likely be our 3 or 4 for a few years to come. Silvas probably our 5 next year, unless we trade him an then hes gone. Gorz could be a 4 for a few years, and as Ive said before, Im a believer in him, at least as a back of the rotation starter. However, he could also be traded, although the return would be far from spectacular, most likely a middle reliever or a few prospects. This leaves limited opportunites for starters on the big league club, and Cashner likely has 1st dibs when a spot open up, and the next one between Jackson, Coleman, and Diamond. Maybe Jacksons best shot at the bigs could be as a reliever to start. Hed be far from the first guy to start his big league career as a reliever and go on to a successful career as a stater. I just hope he doesnt get rocked and lose confidence, but from what Ive heard about him, hes not the type of guy who would let it get to him. If he makes another relief appearence for Iowa, then they're probably prepping him up for a call up. Otherwise, it makes no sense to use him in Iowas pen. Its not like they're opening a spot for someone else, and even if they were, just move JR Mathes whose been mediocre minor league pitcher since he entered the organization in the late 1980's.

Speaking of Jacksons, this is Bretts 2nd game off in a row. Anyone know whats the deal is with him?

If it was late in the game and the rest of the pen had been used, that would be the obvious choice, but he was used I believe in the 4th or 5th and was the 3rd pitcher(2nd reliever) of the night.

The only reason that J Jax would be moved to the pen is if they are watching him for a few games to see if he could be worth a look as a reliever on the big league team. I really dont like the move at all either way. As far as Im concerned, the Cubs arent nearly as bad as theyve looked lately, but they just dont seem like a playoff team either. For this reaon, Id prefer Jackson stay in Iowa all season as a starter. Cashner, Jackson, Diamond, and Coleman make up a very nice rotation down there, one worth tracking 4 of every 5 of their games. We have Gaub, Parker, and Stevens in Iowa if they need a reliever, so I dont see the poin in tampering with what could be our rotation of the future. I could really see Cashner as a number 1-2 starter, Jackson as a 2-3, and Diamond and Coleman as 3-5 guys in a big league rotation.I mean what manager in any league would be dumb enoug to send their best starting pitcher to the bullpen?

http://ladyfi.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/fail-owned-playground-fail.jpg

The highlight of today was all in Daytona Brooks Raley 5IP 4H 0ER 2BB 5K Aaron Schafer 2IP, 0H 0ER 0BB 0K Brett Jackson 2-3 2B, BB Ryan Flaherty 3-4 2B, 3B