Little Slide Rooter

They're all trash. Just get Aurilia, Durham, or Edmonds depending if you want an infielder or outfielder and when whoever they replace is back, you have a nice bat off the bench.

Brad Snyder would be the best bet to replace him, but since hes on the DL, Taguchi San woudl probably get the nod because of his experience. I can hardly wait. That might be the last straw for me. It would be between Taguchi, Fuld, and DuBois, and Fulds lefty edge might give him the edge. They don't necessarily have to call up an OF. They would still have 5 OF's even with Bradley gone. They really could use another backup IF who can play 2nd and 3rd (since they're back down to 1 with all the roster moves) but I don't know if there is anybody else that can realistically be picked. They probably would call up an OF for a few days until Freel's 15 days is up and then send that OF down at that time. And who would that be? The great Doug Deeds?

Neither Fulds .244/.308/.352 nor Taguchis .235/.350/.265 are anythign to get excited about, so it depends if the go with the lefty Fuld or the major league experienced Taguchi. Then again, they could go with The Creature or JFG. Either way, they'll be a 5th outfielder behinf Hoff whoever it is.

Brad Snyder would be the best bet to replace him, but since hes on the DL, Taguchi San woudl probably get the nod because of his experience. I can hardly wait. That might be the last straw for me. It would be between Taguchi, Fuld, and DuBois, and Fulds lefty edge might give him the edge. If Bradley has to miss significant time, they may be forced to make a trade or sign Jim Edmonds for the outfield or Ray Durham for the infield.

Doesn anyone know if hes anywhere near a return from the DL? If MB needs to be DLd, hed be the logical choice to replace him. Otherwise, So Taguchi would likely get the call.

Brad Snyder would be the best bet to replace him, but since hes on the DL, Taguchi San woudl probably get the nod because of his experience. I can hardly wait.

This would be good.

Thats a homely looking lineup. Were not winning this one. We better win tomorrow and go at least 4-2 through Cincy and Houston.

Remember we did recently give up on a 22 year old former 1st rounder of our own. There was some kind of issue going on with him, but Id be all for giving this guy a shot.

Ive never heard of the guy, but a 22 year old former top prospect seems like a very low risk. I say grab him.

Did JR Mathes get hurt? I notice he left after the 2nd after giving up 1 Er on 3 hits and a BB with 29 pitches.

Snipped from MLBTR

He is a good hitter...for a pitcher. He is an ok guy to use as a PH in like the 4th or 5th inning of a game. Pinch hitters need to do something well. Zambrano makes a ton of outs, but his isolated power is fairly significant, and since entering his prime as a hitter he's got a significant SLG. I think all the talk of putting him in the lineup every game is just joking around, but he is a good hitting pitcher and could be considered a decent pinch hitting option as well. Hes 1 of those guys who takes a powerful cut at every pitch, which will usually result in a K, but if he gets ahold of 1, its likely to leave the yard.

Aurilia hasn't done much of anything since 2006. Gaetti had at least been decent before landing with the Cubs. For prorated league minumum, I cant see any harm on taking out a flier on Aurilia. He cant be any worse than what we have now. In fact Id be shocked if he was dumoed and Hendry didnt sign him.

The Astros never consider themselves out until their E# is 0. That being said, especially within the division half a season of Tejada would cost us an arm and a leg.

I think there's a good chance payroll stays right around where it's been. I don't think Ricketts will bump it up much, but I don't think the Trib would have either. We're getting really close to the luxury tax, I believe. Im not worried about the bump in payroll, just the cut. If they plan on letting Jim spend is usual, we'll be ok for the future and not worry about going back to a 90's Cubs team. As for the off season, we'll probably be taking the salarys of Harden and Gregg as well as whatever were still paying DeRosa and Marquis off the books. Also, probably Reed Johnson. Im not quite sure how much that is, but if they focus on the pen, we should be able to get some solid relievers out of that money and then some. The in 2011, Lee and Lilly will both be free, and that will free up a lot of dough. Then again, if Bradley keeps getting hurt and is eligible to let the Cubs out of the contract, Id be all for cutting him and going back to the drawing board to fill RF. Did Dunn get a 1 or 2 year deal from the Nats? I don't see any reason why Ricketts would buy the team and then slash payroll significantly. It'll probably stay roughly where it is now. As for the payroll we're losing after this year, I figured up roughly $24 million freed up after the year. Harden ($7M), Gregg ($4.2M), Reed ($3M), Vizcaino ($3.18M), Gaudin ($2M), Heilman ($1.62M), Cotts ($1.1M), and then Marquis ($875,000), Gathright ($700,000) and Bako ($178,000). The only raises of significance that I saw were Soriano up $2M, Dempster up $4.5M and Kosuke up $1.5M. So that puts up somewhere in the $16 million range to fill next year's needs if we don't shave further salary elsewhere. Lee and Lilly both departing after the 2010 season would net us around $25 million ($13 for Lee and $12 for Lilly). Obviously some of those players have a chance to return (Reed and Harden especially). I really dont see Reed or Harden returning. Yeah, Reeds a great 4th outfielder, but between Snyder and Fuld, we can have 1 for a fraction of a price. I could also see a smaller market team offering him a starting job in center. As for Harden, hes great when healthy, but relistically, with the amount were paying Z, Demp, and Lilly, Id just assume go with 2 of Shark/Marshall/Wells. Harden may very well want a multi year deal, and I wouldnt want to put that kind of money into it knowing that hes always goign to be 1 of those guys who needs his DL time.

From everything Ive heard, last year Henry Blanco was a mentor to Soto and was the one who kept him in shape.

Wow, Dunn is the only one I would've preferred over Bradley. I don't think anyone could've predicted anything close to this out of Ibanez this season. And as bad as Bradley's been he's not too far behind Abreu number wise so far. But Ibanez is always consistent. Bradley was a headcase with a slightly above average bat (save for last season) who only played more than 110 games TWICE in nine seasons. Sign me up. Ill admit, Id never been high on Bradley in th past, but a lot of posters on this board hyped him way up, and I jumped on the band wagon even though in the past Id have easily taken Dunn or Abreu over him, and maybe even Ibanez.

I think there's a good chance payroll stays right around where it's been. I don't think Ricketts will bump it up much, but I don't think the Trib would have either. We're getting really close to the luxury tax, I believe. Im not worried about the bump in payroll, just the cut. If they plan on letting Jim spend is usual, we'll be ok for the future and not worry about going back to a 90's Cubs team. As for the off season, we'll probably be taking the salarys of Harden and Gregg as well as whatever were still paying DeRosa and Marquis off the books. Also, probably Reed Johnson. Im not quite sure how much that is, but if they focus on the pen, we should be able to get some solid relievers out of that money and then some. The in 2011, Lee and Lilly will both be free, and that will free up a lot of dough. Then again, if Bradley keeps getting hurt and is eligible to let the Cubs out of the contract, Id be all for cutting him and going back to the drawing board to fill RF. Did Dunn get a 1 or 2 year deal from the Nats?

In the next few years, we'll see the real Jim Hendry. Hes had the tribunes money backing him to offer massive contracts to players, but take that money away, and we'll see what hes capable of. Hes pulled 3 rabbits out of hats in Aramis, Nomar, and Harden, aquiring al 3 for next to nothing. Ill give him that. I dont know how much of a pay roll Ricketts will be able to afford, but it wont be the Trib. Will he be willing to take chances on bargain binners like Josh Hamilton, Carlos Quentin, and Russell Branyan?

Id really love to see Micah Hoffpauir or Jake Fox be able to take it over, but I dont know if either is capable defensively. Brad Snyder is a dark horse. Adam Dunn would have been nice.

Im surprised nobodys wondeirng if Sotos hurt, at least slightly. It really made no snese pulling Soto, who had a respectable May for Bobby Scales to bunt especially when you have light hitting Blanco and the pitchers spot due up next, and predictably, it blew up in Lous face.

The thing is that I wonder if he'll still be as hot as he was after all he hasn't swung a bat for ages. There were 2 opportunites to pinch him last night. Unfortunately, having Bobby Scales bunt seemed like a better idea at the time. Silly Lou.

Just put him on the damn DL already. He could use a break. It really would have made so much more sense to get Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu on a 2 year deal than Bradley. We kne Bradley would play 100 games at most, but for some reason, Hendry and Lou prefered the flashier troubled Bradley. Its like the Taming of the Shrew of baseball.

Since we love dealing with Baltimore so much we should go after Dennys Baez or Jim Johnson.