RedFlash

Not this again. ](*,) You and me both.

Marquis usually does give us 5 good innings. The problem is, theres usually 1 horrible inning in between. I said 5 decent innings, not 4 good ones, and a severly bad inning that cause the the Cubs to lose. :wink:

Best case scenerio: The Twins keep Santana, and are surprising in the division hunt. No trade, and lose him for a couple of draft picks. Worst case scenerio: The Twins kept Santana, and fall out of the race, and trade Santana for less then what they eventually got. (Very few teams would have traded the farm for a half season of Johan). Or they could hold onto him, provided they didn't get the offer they liked, and end up with 2 draft picks. So you're looking at either getting 4 good prospects (without a bidding war, mind you) or two low draft picks. Sorry, I don't buy that the Twins got "Screwed' out of the deal. Could they have gotten a better deal, sure. (I would've demanded Pelfrey instead of Humber) Should they perhaps waited till the Bedard trade takes place? Sure. But the facts are simply this....they got three good young arms, and IMO a future star in CF with Gomez. And I remember when people freaking beat down Shapiro when he dealt Bartolo Colon to the then Expos for Lee Stevens and 3 prospects. And what you remember the prospects? That's right....Brandon Phillips (Indians trading Phillips to the Reds is a sotry for another day) Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore. And the Indians have done alright since then. The Twins will be fine, and I believe people are going to like this deal better in 3 yrs, then they do right now.

What the Cubs need to do is jump on Dumatrait for about 100 bajillion runs, and PRAY TO THEIR FAVE DEITY that Jason Marquis doesn't give it back the next inning. If Marquis can give the Cubs 5 decent innings, the Cubs should win tomorrow.

The game was tied going into the ninth, so it wasn't a save situation.

This loss sucks, but the Cubs had a 10 game winning streak against the Pirates, so you figure the Pirates were due for a win sooner or later. Win despite Marquis tomorrow, and all will be good again. I don't want to end the homestand with a loss...

I have no logic or reasoning behind it, but the Cubs will finish the homestand with a win over the Pirates tomorrow. Besides I like being 10 games or more over .500, so the Cubs better not disappoint. I believe Marquis is going to stave off ejection from the rotation for one start, by having a quality start tomorrow. Cubs will win tomorrow, 7-1.

I guess the Pirates were due for a win against the Cubs, but dang......... I hate losing, but I hate losing with Z on the mound, and now we have to hope that Marquis is non-crappy enough for the Cubs not to lose the series to the Pirates. I don't want to end the homestand/begin the road trip on a sour note, so I hope Piniella has Marquis on a short leash.

The way I look at trades is this..........if you are giving up the best player in the trade, and NOT getting the best player, then it's not a trade worthwhile. And while I like Jose Reyes/Francsico Rodriguez portion of the trade, but McClouth/Saunders of the deal is not so tempting. McClouth and Saunders are players you can easily replace. So yeah, Raw, you made a wise decision. You never give up the best player in a trade.

GEOVANY SOTO Soto would be a good start. Rich Hill and Sean Gallagher would also likely be involved (assuming Hill's injury was not serious). Some A-ball level prospects with high ceilings would also probably be in the deal (Ceda and Donaldson maybe?). In other words, it would take a lot. I like Lincecum, but I wouldn't trade for him. Not because he isn't good, but because what the Giants would ask for, is not what the Cubs should give up. Now, if the Giants would take Gallagher/Ceda and a low level solid prospect for Cain, that's a different story. But for Lincecum, you have to give up the farm, and I am not sold on giving up the farm for a pitcher. Which is why I wasn't a fan of the Johan Santana or Erik Bedard trades. The Twins and O's made out like bandits. The Twins did not make out like bandits for Johan Santana. Anyone who thinks otherwise is severely misguided. But anybody who thinks they gave Johan away is misguided. They got a good deal---they could have done better, but without the Yanks/Red Sox they had nobody to try and start a bidding war for Johan---and I believe people look back, and actually say they got a better deal they at first glanced. With that said, pitchers are not worth giving up the farm for. I would give up 3 good prospects for Lincecum, but nothing more.

Why do people do this? "What would could have had" scenerio? Because that's a slippery slope, that leads to endless debates. Sure the Cubs could have had those kids over Harvey, but guess what...............we could have had Stephen Drew, DJ Houlton or Sean Gamble over Geovany Soto in 2001. We could have had Ariel Prieto, Chad Hermansen, Mark Redman or Reggie Taylor over Kerry Wood in 1995. Or we could have had Dewon Brazelton, Kenny Baugh, Josh Karp, Colt Griffin or John Van Benschoten over Mark Prior. To me this "what we could have had" scenerio is just wishful thinking. It goes to show that drafting players is a crap shoot. Instead of looking at the players the Cubs could have had, how about enjoying the good players they did draft.

GEOVANY SOTO Soto would be a good start. Rich Hill and Sean Gallagher would also likely be involved (assuming Hill's injury was not serious). Some A-ball level prospects with high ceilings would also probably be in the deal (Ceda and Donaldson maybe?). In other words, it would take a lot. I like Lincecum, but I wouldn't trade for him. Not because he isn't good, but because what the Giants would ask for, is not what the Cubs should give up. Now, if the Giants would take Gallagher/Ceda and a low level solid prospect for Cain, that's a different story. But for Lincecum, you have to give up the farm, and I am not sold on giving up the farm for a pitcher. Which is why I wasn't a fan of the Johan Santana or Erik Bedard trades. The Twins and O's made out like bandits.

Len said during the broadcast that it hasn't happened since the '90s...the 1890s. Crazy, huh? Wow. I don't mean to be annoying, but when was the last time (other than now, of course) that we beat any team 10 consecutive times? Does beating themselves count? Cause the Cubs beat themselves 14, 15 times in a row in 1997.

Something tells me, that Z is absolutely going to own Jason Bay (something like 0-4 with 3 k's, would do) and the Pirates. I could also see Zambrano hitting let's say a 2 run homerun tomorrow.

You mean behind the Cubs, right?

Outside of the Cubs/DBacks/Marlins and the Rays, the rest of baseball, has basically been hit-or-miss. But I like the fact that the Cubs could be argued that they are the best team in baseball. That may have been more improbable then Jim Edmonds joining the Cubs.

I think Zambrano is pitching tomorrow. Z is going tomorrow, and Marquis on Sunday. But I am torned, if the Cubs have a chance to sweep the Pirates on Sunday they should go for it. But I also want Marquis out of the rotation. What to do, what to do, what to do?

Yeah, well he DID give us that ONE incredibly unlikely start against Cincy. He had the going for him, I think.

I can't decide what has been a bigger upgrade: Fukudome over Jones or Soto over Kendall. Doesn't matter, Soto/Fuku are both significant upgrades over Kendall/Jones.

Does it count that we had dinner with him mom to celebrate her birthday when the Cards were in Chicago five years ago? No, not kidding. Bottom line, you cannot rely on what the beat writers say because try as they might, they cannot separate their personal feelings from it all no more than anyone else can. Plus their time in the clubhouse is limited and the players try to watch their "Ps & Qs" more when there are eyes and ears around in the clubhouse. They base their opinions sometimes on how willing the guy is to give an interview and how that guy treats the media. There was a player who played at one time for both the Sox and the Cubs. When he was with the Sox, he was grumpy and mean and would only give you the time of day if you had a TV camera. When he was with the Cubs, he was a joy to be around and accomdated any interview request. A friend of mine who is a writer told me this story...just really disliked this player as a Sox but really got to like the guy as a Cub. I'll take Scott Eyre for $1000, Alex. Or was that Bob Howry?

He might have me on ignore. That's for me to know: Davis_RH starter McGee_LH starter Houser_LH starter Jaso, Townsend, and Morlan have been struggling, Rhyne Hughes is a bit of a sleeper at 1B. Thanks, if in fact you are reading this. The ballpark is really nice and they support the Biscuits well. Too bad I'm going to miss the Shark pitch though. True story....A couple of yrs ago, when Birmginham Barons came into town (a Barons team that had Michael Morse on it) to take on the Biscuits. So I went, got a good seat (3rd row, seat 16 behind the Biscuits dugout, prime foul ball territory, and was waiting patiently for the game to start. All of a sudden this flat out gorgeous girl sat down to me, and she starting asking me questions about who I like, and the whatnot. So we get to chit-chatting about baseball. She asks me what players on the Biscuits should be good autographs? Remember this was a Biscuits team that had Brignac, Upton, Banston, Shields, Gauthright on it. And I told her BJ Upton was a good bet. So she asked me for my ticket, and I was thinking she's was getting an autograph for herself. A few minutes later, low and behold, she brought back a personalize BJ Upton autograph ticket (with my name on it) and I was stunned that she would do something like that for a guy she hardly knew. To make a longer story short..........we are going to get married later this season, after the baseball season. So yeah, I have extremely good fond memories of the Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. And I hope you have a good time. But make sure, you do the Chicken Dance with Big Mo, cause it's alot of fun, looking like an idiot.

The simple truth is.....I don't hate (I may not like some players, but hate i too strong, and this world has too much hate, as is) any player in the Majors. I recognize the fact that while he was an incredibly annoying/obnoxious player for the Cards, he was also a great player. And I know this poart is a longshot right now, but if Edmonds helps the Cubs to the World Series, and helps win the series, he will, along with the rest of the Cubs, be revered by me, for the rest of my life. IDC what he did as a Cards, he's a Cub now, and I will support him, until e is no longer a Cub.

3 of 4 from those surprisingly pesky Padres, is not bad, not bad at all. Can go to work on a good note.

You know what they say.........All Braun and no brains..

You know what else would make him a friend in alot of people books.......if he is actually productive on the field. Otheriwse, we're looking at a possible white Jacques Jones situation.....