Little Slide Rooter

Problem then is the deal becomes a hell of a lot more expensive money wise, really limiting the potantial suiters. If that is the case, you can consider the Cardinals and Brewers out of the hunt.

LOL at Ted Lilly being the only one booed by the white trash locals. I could be wrong, but I think that Ryan Braun may have got a few boos his way too, but Ted was the obvious one.

You really cant blame Cardinals fans for being so passionate. all they really have is the Cardinals, a big, hideous arch, and....um, yeah.

If we can get Geo back in 15-20 days, that would be steller.

And the team will pick up everything we shed and pump em full of pixie dust.

OK, OK Im wrong. Just dont wine next time Fontenot or Baker strike out on 4 pitches in a crucial situation, because they're clearly better than any affordable option.

I guess this is a good thing. Again, as tempting as an easy out from Sorianos contract would be, it wouldnt be at all worth the bridges that would be burned with the players association, MLB in general, no to mention our own players.

It would absolutely torch their relationship with the players association and every agent in the league. The question is, do the current owners who want out give a damn about that if it makes the sale easier?

They lost by 15. So close, they were just 4 grand slams away from a comeback.

why do you want to bring in more terrible players? if we got any of those guys you'd be screaming for hendry to get rid of them after they have one bad game anyways. Kennedy and Cabrera are not horrible players. they're horrible hitters, yea. seriously, adam kennedy? unreal. you know a guy sucks when he's having an unexpectedly good season so far and he still has an ops under .800. before this season he had 4 straight seasons of an OPS of .724 or lower. he has a career ops of .721 and has never had a season with an ops over .795. yeah, he sucks. and cabrera is even worse. he's at .643 this season and was at .705 last season. he's had an OPS of .742 or greater exactly one time in the last 7 seasons, and that was in 2004. the only thing he's good at is defense, and we could just use blanco if we wanted that. they suck. you want to waste prospects on crap just because they play for a different team. like i said, you'd call for hendry's head the second one of them had a bad day. then you'd make a new thread asking for more crappy players. If your one of those people who feel that every player should OPS .800 or above, then yes, but whe nit comes to number 8 hitters, Ill take an avg. in the .280s and an OPS in the .700s. Kennedy has done this his whole career aside from an off 2007 when he was injured. Cabrera has been on and off his whole career, maybe hes washed up, maybe its an off season for him. Even last year, he hit .281 with a .705 OPS, which is as god as you can expect from a number 8 hitter.

But if we do that, we look an awful lot like the Cardinals with a solid 1-4 and a load of easy out following them. Again, Id rather split it up so we have those guys at the top of the order, at least as long as Fawld can stay hot and then a gauntlet of Lee, Ramirez, Bradley, Soriano, and Soto when hes back to follow, but thats just a difference of opinion, no wrong, no right. Yes they can hit better than Fuld, but Soriano and Kosuke havnt been, Who knows, maybe his minors numbers are what hes capable of. With some guys it is, some guys it isnt, but as long as the other options arent producing, Id like to give him that chance.

I was listening to WSCR this morning, and they had a legal expert on. They were discussing the possible bankruptcy of the Cubs and what it would man as far as players go. He said it could enable them to dump any tainted assets, which could include executory contracts, including player contracts. What would the mean for Soriano, Bradley, Fukudome, Zambrano, Dempster, and Ramirez? Can they just pick and chose the ones they want to, and what would this mean for out relationship with the players union? I cant imagine it would be good at all, and if they were to dump say Soriano and Bradley or Fukudome from the books, I cant imagine either the courts, banks, or major league baseball allowing the Cubs to just take that money and spend it on more players. It would be to pay off the debts. IMHO, its in the Cubs best interests to just suck it up and keep these guys around through the duration of their contracts, as tempting as an easy way out might be.

we have a lot to go off of. Fuld has a long career in the minors and has proven he can't hit. His career minor league line is .287/.370/.404. I wouldnt call that proving he cant hit. While its nice to have the high OPS guys at the heart of your lineup Id prefer the high avg. guys at the top of it. Ryan Theriots career minor league line was .271/.355/.337, and like him or hate him, he is becoming a very solid major league hitter despite the fact that hes not the high OPS type. Assuming what weve seen from Fuld is the real deal, a Fuld-Theriot 1-2 is more of a traditional top of the order with the big boppers coming up behind them. Am I saying that what weve seen from Sam Fuld is what we can expect in the future? Maybe, maybe not, but Id sure like to give him a chance and find out, especially while Kosuke isnt exactly smoking the ball. If I recall correctly those career minor league numbers are inflated from the lower minors, and his numbers at higher levels are not good. I may be wrong, but I seem to remember that. You are correct. Fuld at low A: .300/.377/.433/.810 44:50 K:BB Fuld at high A: .300/.378/.422/.801 54:40 K:BB Fuld at AA/AA year one: .287/.376/.395/.771 43:50 K:BB Fuld at AA/AAA year two: .264/.358/.371/.728 52:58 K:BB Fuld at AAA this year: .286/.359/.397/.755 22:33 K:BB Aside from AA/AAA year 2, the numbers are still respectable for a leadoff hitter.\, and even his off year wasnt horrible. Look, Im not calling him a savior, Im just saying ride it out and see how far it can go. Hes great in the outfield, and cant be much worst than what weve been getting at leadoff for most of the season.

we have a lot to go off of. Fuld has a long career in the minors and has proven he can't hit. His career minor league line is .287/.370/.404. I wouldnt call that proving he cant hit. While its nice to have the high OPS guys at the heart of your lineup Id prefer the high avg. guys at the top of it. Ryan Theriots career minor league line was .271/.355/.337, and like him or hate him, he is becoming a very solid major league hitter despite the fact that hes not the high OPS type. Assuming what weve seen from Fuld is the real deal, a Fuld-Theriot 1-2 is more of a traditional top of the order with the big boppers coming up behind them. Am I saying that what weve seen from Sam Fuld is what we can expect in the future? Maybe, maybe not, but Id sure like to give him a chance and find out, especially while Kosuke isnt exactly smoking the ball.

With the lack of Cubs, and Lilly likely to get an inning at most, whose giving an evening to it?

Seriously, Im all about riding Fuld as long as we can and see how it goes.

If the Pirates get Fuld, they'll just end up with the number 31 pick each year, so it wouldnt be wort it.

Players union would never allow that. Its more likely for the banks to take over Wrigley.

Any chance of the Cubs getting in on this guy or are they just more comfortable with the overpriced veterans?

Again, we have to wait for the Ricketts to take over, which reportedly could happen in the next few hours-days-weeks-months.

http://www.scribd.com/full/17307814?access_key=key-b51zwnu6cmptu1y7vn6 Ill be the first to admit that I have no idea how these really work, but they rank every player, by position from 1-last in the league. We have 2 guys who are number 1 in the NL in their respective postion in Geovany Soto and Carlos Marmol, both which really surprised me, at least if were going by 2009. Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Dempster, and Ted Lilly are both in the top 10, and then Z and Harden are 11 and 12 in NL starting pitchers behind Lilly whose ranked as number 10. edit: Oh, I see their ranked in a 2 year period which makes more sense

Hart was tagged for 2 runs on a 2 run homer in the 1st, but has shut em down since.

There's no evidence Cabrera would be a clear upgrade over Fontenot alone, much less a Fontenot/Baker platoon. A clear upgrade is a player who is - right now - better, and usually significantly so, than the current player. Cabrera has not been better than Fontenot this year, so he is not a clear upgrade over Fontenot. Why is Cabrera very nice in the 7 or 8 spot in the lineup with a .643 OPS, but Fontenot is not with a .665 OPS? And if there's a glimmer of hope that a 34-year-old Cabrera will be good for us, why is there not a glimmer of hope that a 29-year-old Fontenot will be good the rest of the way? Its about taking a chance on a guy with a history of major league sucess. Hes usually an OK average guy ranging between the .270s and .280s and has a bit of power which is all most teams can expect from an 8 hitter. Fontenots been given half a season to right himself.

I knew youd be just around the corner with such a comment. Everyone wants to add players, we dont have the money at this time for a big name, and nobody wants to give up a lot of prospects. Therefore, the options are A. other teams crap B. our own crap. If those are the only options, then B is by far the best option. No reason to give up prospects for guys who aren't very likely to be better than the guys we have. When a GM makes a trade, it should be for a clear upgrade - or someone who can be a clear upgrade - at a position. If we could get Kennedy or Cabrera for cheap, Id be all about it. I think thyed be clear upgrades over ours. They're far from game changers, but both would be very nice in the 7 or 8 spot. Ellis or Crosbly would be iffier, but could worth the risk, again if were not giving up a lot for them. If your crap isnt doing the job and shows no signs of improving, theres at least the glimmer of hope that the new crap will be better for a new team.

Too bad this isnt the old west where a mans handshake was as good as cash.