Little Slide Rooter

What davell is referencing: Would it be uncommon to pull a guy mid game for a promotion? If it were for a big league promotion, perhaps. But Low A to A, doubtful.

Saw Galindo was replaced after 1 AB, and got real interested, on the heels of the Jinenez thing, before realizing that this was a continuation of a 7/5 game.

At this moment, we are a very manageable 2.5 games behind that 2nd WC, and the team ahead of us is red hot. But we have 4 games against them next week, which follow 3 games vs. the team that we're 6 games behind for the other WC. This crucial stretch begins 3 days after the deadline. On one hand, this would be the time to make that big trade. But on the other, it would suck to go all in on a rental and then end up being swept or going 3-4 against the Giants, knocking us out of contention for all intents and purpose. But the bottom line is that we need to string together some wins leading up to it, or it might not matter.

Scandalous. He makes sense as a trading chip in a Tyson Ross or Cole Hamels deal. Pretty much has to be something trade related. Was after a swinging K, so only other possibility is that he was tossed for arguing a check swing. Or maybe got into it with the manager for asking him what the hell he was swinging at. Or maybe they just wanted to [expletive] with Twitter.

Suddenly it's all clear: http://i.imgur.com/nUKDrKR.jpg

He has his millions of dollars. I HAVE NOTHING! Other people feeling pain is the most approximate feeling i know to happiness. And this is why capitalism still exists as an economic system Does this mean that you're not an actual Scrub MD?

He's been pretty bad since he's been back. Velocity is down. Oh God...Schlitter.

Wait, was that for real? I thought it was a bad joke. He was in AA when we traded him like 4 years ago. If he's really still hung up over it, that's just weird. Err pretty sure he spent some time on the Cubs before he was dealt I guess he was. Goes to show how proficiently I've blocked out 2011.

Wait, was that for real? I thought it was a bad joke. He was in AA when we traded him like 4 years ago. If he's really still hung up over it, that's just weird.

lol, the first two pictures are of his family/children, then a few rows down he's hanging out at a children's hospital. Yeah, but it was in the douchy kids wing.

Can you confirm if his dog has actually died? That might help a little bit. dead dogs are not funny dude I didn't say funny, you illiterate buttwipe. I said it would make me feel a little better if I knew Castro was feeling genuine emotional pain. He's a young man far, far away from home; the fans who once welckmed him with open arms and treated him like the second coming of Jesus have turned on him, and quite viciously. If that's not emotional pain enough for you, then I'll make it a point to stay on your good side.

Waivers ?? OMG, waivers !!! You can't put the guy on waivers, some other team might claim him !!!! Yikes! Just asking a question. Don't know what they can do other than releasing him. Wow. Just wow. Just...wow. Wow. Wow.

If some schmuck came to your house for a week, pissed in the sink, scratched up your DVDs and Blurays, and ate up all your Lunchables, would you give him a hug when his stay came to a merciful end?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. This is good snark. Truthfully, it's pent up frustration toward people- not posters, but the living, breathing, whining human beings I encounter in my day to day life (believe it or not, I have one, kind of,) who have the same woeful attitude toward this team going into the home stretch as they did when we had Justin [expletive] Germano at the front of our rotation. We may not look like champions at this time, but that doesn't mean that folks have to act like a bunch of pissy emo kids who refuse to let themselves enjoy the ground floor of what could be one hell of an era. And if that means gamble away a decent prospect or two for a rental, then I'm ok with it. And I trust that our FO won't go overboard. Man, trust me, you don't have to explain it; most Cubs fans are awful. The vacation I was on was a family reunion of sorts and most of the family members there are Cubs fans and I love them but holy hell, most of them are the absolute worst when it comes to the Cubs. Everything is all doom and gloom and fan self-hatred. Not so much self hatred as it is bi-polar. everything's feast or famine with no in-between. And it changes at the drop of a hat. As I've said before, I envy these kids who can watch a baseball game without thinking of its attached implications.

Speaking of guys that should me moved up a level, Wilson Contreres 3-4 with a 2B and a granny.

Javy-Bomb #2! Someone get this man on a bus.

I know, that's kind of the point; when this many things go wrong it seems like it's either throwing up our hands and saying, "oh those Cobs" or something's not working. I'm not saying they're hopeless, this season or going forward. It's just very, very frustrating. Look at it this way: there's nothing uncommon about a 22-23 year old rookie being called up and playing everyday. More often than not, they're going to have their ups and downs; a learning experience. We have 4 of those in our everyday lineup. So yeah, there's a whole lot of learning going on. And it's painful to watch. But it's infinitely more valuable than sending them to Iowa to tee-off against a bunch of junk ballers. As for the established veterans, Fowler's been breaking out of his slump lately and Coghlan's been mostly consistant. Then there's Castro, who's pretty much trying to survive a dead season, and Rizzo's who's stuck in a major slump. And I know it's easy forget when you look at their lofty credentials, but these guys are both at an age when most guys are just staring to establish themselves in the league, so they too are going to experience growing pains.

Well Rizzo was an all star last year so you'd expect that to continue only he has been sub replacement level for 5 weeks running, castro was an all star last year and had his best hitting season you shouldn't reasonably expect he'd turn into a bottom 5 hitter in all of baseball. Bryant mashed everything in the minors, Soler crushed the ball in the minors and with the Cubs last September, russell was crushing it in the minors. They just all randomly stopped hitting when they spend a prolonged period under Cubs major league coaching. It's failure, plain and simple. It's not just bad luck or "hey, they're a bunch of kids!" It's poor, overly simplistic team construction. Explain? They constructed a team expected to hit for a ton of power and get on base at least an average amount. I guess you could say that it was too prone for low batting average and too any strikeout prone hitters but I don't see what they have done so wrong. They made their long term strategy to build a farm system full of highly regarded power hitters, everyone marveled at them, and so far they haven't hit for power but whether you like it not, they weren't supposed to be a well oiled machine at this point. Heck guys like Russell and Schwarber weren't even supposed to be up yet. I know no one wants to hear the "they're just kids they'll get better" excuse but there's really no better way to put it. This was the plan that we all were on board with. If it doesn't happen this year, the expectations and pressure amp up significantly next year. Huh? How could you possibly say that? Have you blocked out NSBB for the past 4 years? Are you denying it? This is the year we were supposed to "contend." And we're contending. From here, it gets better. In theory. It's been the plan, and for the most part, people have been on board with it. Granted, some did a little more kicking and a lot more stomping along the way, but they knew what was happening.

2015 Chicago Cubs Baseball, brought to you by Zoloft: keeping the heads of neglected, upper-middle class housewives out of the oven since 1991.

He did come in at 11. Personally, I'm not at all surprised that Almora continues to get the benefit of the doubt due to his age, level, and pedigree. Especially with nothing clear cut beyond the top 5. But Edwards has gone from front end stud to a DL stint away from McNutt-esque prospect limbo in a hurry.

Seeing as Wood's probably going to end up with the lions share of pretty much every Beeler start, may as well just give him back his old gig. Can't be much worse than the rest of the options.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. This is good snark. Truthfully, it's pent up frustration toward people- not posters, but the living, breathing, whining human beings I encounter in my day to day life (believe it or not, I have one, kind of,) who have the same woeful attitude toward this team going into the home stretch as they did when we had Justin [expletive] Germano at the front of our rotation. We may not look like champions at this time, but that doesn't mean that folks have to act like a bunch of pissy emo kids who refuse to let themselves enjoy the ground floor of what could be one hell of an era. And if that means gamble away a decent prospect or two for a rental, then I'm ok with it. And I trust that our FO won't go overboard.

We should probably close the book on the whole Dallas Beeler: big league pitcher thing.

What I should enjoy is if CarGo would start exchanging hugs and handshakes with his former team mates and trot on over to our dugout.

I wouldn't pick up Joe Blanton if he were face down in my driveway with a "Free Joe Blanton" sign sticking out of his ass.