Little Slide Rooter

...with 3 nd's which iirc easily could have been wins if not for the bullpen and their kerosene tanks and matches or the bats not showing up. wells has pitched really well in 3 games and left either tied 0-0 or with a lead. woosh When your bullpen hates you, thats just not good enough. You need to pitch a complete game every time.

eyre is/was bad. His World Series ring is in his ear so he can't hear you that's nice, adam eaton got one too, maybe we should have traded for him. Sure, just ignore the Eyre stats that I posted. But, you're right, Piniella is God and Hendry should have gotten rid of Eyre last year. Even if we didnt trade Eyre last year, its more than doubfull that we re sign him this year, so its a moot point.

Mike Wuertz 2.59 ERA/0.945 WHIP Luis Vizcaino 2,25 ERA/1.256 WHIP David Patton 6.46 ERA/1.76 WHIP Aaron Heilman 5.09 ERA/1.35 WHIP

He finishes the season 0-6 with a sub 2.00 ERA

For what its worth, Iowas done. Their lineup has been picked apart with Fox, Scales, and Blanco in the bigs and Brad Snyer on the DL. Anyone know when Snyders do back? He should be a September call up along with Chris Robinson.

Dont get me wrong, Im not calling this season off by any means, but IM just wondering how 2010 looks. Very curious to see how the era begins. If its Ricketts, he seems like he really cares about the team and wants it to win. If some faceles investment group takes over, it could get ugly, and look like a 1990's team once the big contracts run out, but thats looking a few years ahead. Im going guess that the starting lineup looks identical to this years. Maybe they find a 2nd base upgrade maybe not. Mayb they find a taker for Lee to free salary, maybe not 1B Lee/Hoffpauir 2B Font/??? SS Theriot 3B Ramirez RF Bradley CF Fuku LF Soriano C Soto Bench-I doubt Reed Johnson is with us. He may look elswhere for a starting job, or else at least a multi year deal. I also assume that Jake Fox will be traded to fill some hole this year, be it a bat or reliever. I dont see any reason to pay for a 5th outfielder when Fuld or Snyder could be brought up,, but IM sure they'll shop around anyway. Hoffpauir/??? if Lee is traded Miles Koyie Hill/Chris Robinson Andres Blanco Free agent or perhaps Sam Fuld or Brad Snyder Rotation-I really dont see Rich Harden re signed, especially with the new ownership, and Wells and Marshall doing well and Shark in the wings. Lilly might be traded to free salary, but it would be more likely at the deadline if were out of it. Zambrano Lilly Dempster 2 of Wells, Marshall, Shark Pen-heres where I would like to see a few aqusitions, as they did in 2005 when the pen was the only real upgrade made. Ascanio Guz Marmol Stevens 1 of Marshall, Wells, Shark new guy new guy

One of those games where I wish Zambrano had made his scheduled start. Granted the game would have gone down the same way, but at least we wouldnt have Gregg and Heilman to worry about anymore.

We dont need the guy to be our savior, just some offense until Aramis comes back. Then that .780 OPS will be just fine off the bench.

http://northsidebaseball.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54406 IBL

Thats how a Cubs season is supposed to be. None of that 97 win mumbo jumbo.

I'd feel good about getting Branyan and a good reliever by the deadline. There's a chance Fox could be the "centerpiece" of the deal, but I think it would take more than just Hart to go with him after how well Branyan has been doing. The thing about Branyan is hes Russel Branyan and teams know that. Theyre not going to give up top prospects for him. Fox and Hart would probably be selling high on him. Hart is a guy who if he has a future in the majors it will be as a number 5 starter for a bad team, and Fox is a guy who the Mariners could try out at 1st base and see how it works, if not, he could be a DH for years to come. Branyan is 1 of those guys who will probably never spend more than more than 1 year on 1 team. hes a journeyman. If Aramis wasnt injured, Id have no interest in him, but at this time, hed be exactly the kind of stop gap we need. If they want another fringe prospect, so be it. I just feel that Branyan is not only the ideal guy for the situation the Cubs are in at this moment, but hes someone we could conceivably aquire sooner than later rather than waiting until the deadline for someone like Huff or Blalock who we hopefuly wouldnt need much longer. A quality reliever would likely cost more than Branyan, as that is what most teams are really looking for down the stretch. I would be interested in Branyan even if Aramis was healthy. He's a very good bat off the bench. And I don't think Fox/Hart is buying high on him. I'd even be willing to go Fox/Wells for him and I don't think that's really buying high. It's also why I think the Ms would hold out for more from another team if that were our offer. He's a valuable piece that will give you better than an .800 OPS from any corner spot. That's not worth a top prospect, but we're not coming close to a top prospect with either deal I've mentioned. When the dealine rolls around, theres a good chance guys like Huff, Blalock, DeRosa and maybe even Holliday and Dunn will be available, and teams looking to fill holes will be going after those types of players, and they could conceivably net top prospects. If Seattle were to try moving Branyan sooner, they could get a better return for him than if they waited until more desireable players become available. Also, its doubtfull that Seattle is going anywhere this year, so wouldnt they rather have guy like Fox, who could not only potentially put up the same kind of numbers as Branyan, but also is under team control for the next few years? Theres also the chance that theyd prefer Hoffpauir whose a lefty and plays better defense, who again, could potentially put up similar numbers.

I'd feel good about getting Branyan and a good reliever by the deadline. There's a chance Fox could be the "centerpiece" of the deal, but I think it would take more than just Hart to go with him after how well Branyan has been doing. The thing about Branyan is hes Russel Branyan and teams know that. Theyre not going to give up top prospects for him. Fox and Hart would probably be selling high on him. Hart is a guy who if he has a future in the majors it will be as a number 5 starter for a bad team, and Fox is a guy who the Mariners could try out at 1st base and see how it works, if not, he could be a DH for years to come. Branyan is 1 of those guys who will probably never spend more than more than 1 year on 1 team. hes a journeyman. If Aramis wasnt injured, Id have no interest in him, but at this time, hed be exactly the kind of stop gap we need. If they want another fringe prospect, so be it. I just feel that Branyan is not only the ideal guy for the situation the Cubs are in at this moment, but hes someone we could conceivably aquire sooner than later rather than waiting until the deadline for someone like Huff or Blalock who we hopefuly wouldnt need much longer. A quality reliever would likely cost more than Branyan, as that is what most teams are really looking for down the stretch.

Yes hendry has but everything ive read is that his hands are tied by the sale so even if he could, he very well might not be able to Bullpen arms generally aren't that expensive. And there might be payroll he can shed somewhere if he needs it for a certain player. Right now, Hendry just needs to think like a GM without and endless pit of money. Go after Russel Branyan. Go after a solid reliever. Thats what we need right now. Id like to see a move like that done sooner than later. I honestly think that Jake Fox and Kevin Hart could land Branyan.

First of all, I never said I'm giving up. I'm stating the obvious, which is that this team is not very good and will have to make multiple serious trades if they want any chance of winning a world series this season. Second of all, YOU are the one who during the losing streak was constantly saying that this team was done and that the season is over, so don't even start with that garbage. I don't really see how you're writing off the Braves either. If they trade for a big outfield bat (and they have the prospects leftover from the non-peavy trade to do it) that team looks pretty solid. Medlen and Hanson are legit, and if they come up and do anything at all this season, that rotation is looking really solid... def the best in that division. Their bullpen looks pretty nice with Gonzalez and Soriano at the end also. yes, I was the only one saying the season over during the game threads. Its one thing to be over the top during the game, but a new thread like this doesnt need to be started after every tough loss.

Is Ron Gant injured? Lilly needs to focus on keeping the ball in the park, and the Cubs need to focus on not trying to drive every pitch out of the park. Lowe is beatable, but not if you try to play home run ball.

Then pack up and wait until next season. Seriosuly, were 4 games out of first still. Brewers and Cardinals have not been spectacular lately. were 4 games out of the Wild Card, which I assure you will come down to a dog fight betwen the Cubs/Cards/Brewers, whichever 2 dont the division and the Mets and Phils, whoever doesnt take thay division. When the time comes, the meanest most awfullest evilest GM in the world will fill the holes he needs to.

If we can stay up until Ramirez comes back, we'll be a favorite in the wild card race. When it comes down to it, any team above .500 has a shot there.

I dont know how it translates to the bigs, but Hart has been great as a starter in Iowa, but was brutal out of the pen. Maybe we can trade him for something though. At this point, Id be for giving Stevens a shot though.

Maybe if theyd try to fix bigger problems than what time Zambrano gets to Georgia they can fix this team while were still in the race.

The way Wells is pitching I think that'd be kinda foolish. We already have a solid rotaion. With Marshall in the pen, hes probably a loogy. Wells could be a solid 2 inning guy, which is what we need more than another starter at this point.

Is it out of the question to keep Marshall in the rotation and try Wells in the pen? He was pretty solid there last season before he got hurt.

what a way to start a new month

die Kevin Gregg, preferably slowly and painfully.

yeah, were not winning this one.

great ab ryan.