RedFlash

I was the person who mentioned it. If Pie starts hitting, then the Cubs don't need Crisp.

Agreed.

Carlos Marmol or Joba Chamberlain? The homerism in me, and my anti-Yankees disdain would obviously make me pick Carlos Marmol. But since his been called up, Joba has been as good as Marmol, in perhaps a tougher division and league. I prolly still go Marmol, because hs secondary pitch (The Slider) is prolly better then Joba's secondary pitches. But dang, that would be hard to chose from.

When you're rattling off a list of the team's talents, and the 3rd name on your list is Rick Ankiel(the hitting version) then there's not a lot of talent out there. he's on track for 34 homers, and is still only 28. he's also obviously got a cannon arm in RF. And he's on pace to hit below .260, and have an OBP under .300. So, he is essentially Pedro Feliz of the OFer. And besides, Ankiel is a CF, not a RF.

I am not worried about Fuku lack of power, right now, because of Ichiro, H. Matsui and Johjima: Career numbers in Japan Ichiro:-----.353/.421/.522 Fuku:------.305/.397/.543 Godzilla:----.304/.413/.582 Johjima:---- .299/.360/.517 Career in MLB: Ichiro-------.332/.378/.435 Johjima-----.284 .323/.432 H. Matsui---.295/.371/.486 You can see those three great Japanese players power dropped coming from Japan, but IMO, it's not that unusual. They dropped because: A. The fields are bigger in the MLB and B. The pitchers are better. In other words, Fukudome is fine. His slg will be somewhere in the .430 or higher before the end of the yr.

Are you kidding me? The Cubs are going to be the 2nd team to 10,000 Career Franchise wins? But I'm sure ESPN would downplay that, behind the lifestory or Joba Chamberlain, and why he could kill Han Solo.

What do Matt Morris and Paris Hilton have in common? Men love to go deep on them. O snap..............

And if Pie can start rolling offensively , we can prolly tell Peter Gammons to knock off that talk of Crisp to Chicago. Cause Pie/Johnson > Crisp.

Agreed. It would 2010 at the earliest, for the Cubs to have a new Gm. Good to see some rationale on this topic. Whatever your feeleings on Hendry, he and Lou and Randy Bush for that matter seem to be moving in the right direction and if they win the pennant Jim is safe for awhile. I only agreed with the fact that Hendry isn't going to be fired anytime soon. I've been a Hendry supporter for the past 5 yrs or so. I was agreeing with raw that the Cubs won't be thinking about a change of GMs till 2010, at the earliest. Not that I believe Hendry will be moved at all, anytime soon.

The only concern about later today is this.....the Mets are like 8-1 against lefties this yr...................So if there is one team that is hitting lefites better then the Cubs, it would be the Mets. So my advice for the offense, would be to score early and score often.

Like people here have already mentioned, watching Pie hit the homerun, and rounding the bases, is why I love baseball. I know baseball is a business, but when you see a young guy like Felix, who had been---for the lack of a stronger word---struggling to even put the bat on the ball, to see him come up and clinch the game with 3 run bomb, it's poetry at it's finest. It's why I still watch baseball from the pros to the little guys (t-ballers). And watching Pie celebrate in the OF with (loud thunderous voice) FUKUDOME and Johnson carrying a smile and youthful exuberance, was simply outstanding. Hopefully this game, will help Pie to "figure it out" as a major leaguer, and he get rolling as a hitter. And OMIGOD to Ronny Cedeno......Anybody here remember when this guy was as lost at the plate as Felix had been? The maturation of Cedeno, gives me hope that Pie will become a star CF for the Cubs. The Cubs need Soriano to "Get off the bus" hitting, when he comes off the DL. But my lone concern right now......is getting Lilly and Hill back on track.

Agreed. It would 2010 at the earliest, for the Cubs to have a new Gm.

A lot of it could be attributed to Fukudome and Johnson. Lee has always seen a lot of pitches. Lee + Fukudome + Johnson = seeing a lot more pitches. And Soto. And DeRosa.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AhIiM_USbSusyMP0F2vW__cEvLYF?slug=theworldseriesthecubsmay&prov=tsn&type=lgns I don't know rather to lol, or LMAO at this suggestion.

I know it's revisionist, but I honestly believe, the Brewers know Prince's future is NOT in Milwaukee. They are looking at getting alot of bang for the buck in terms of $$$ for his projected numbers, and in his WALK YR, they'll look to move him, for a boatload and continue on there way. I think this is the main reason why they drafted La Porta. In three yrs, La Porta should be ready to play for Milwaukee (rather it's at first, in LF with Braun moving to 1b), after they move Fielder, for major young talent. I know some will argue that they draft La Porta for trade value, but I believe they drafted him, knowing he'll be the replacement for Fielder in a few yrs.

Cedeno is definately a COMPLETE different hitter then the one we saw in 2006 and 07. THAT Cedeno had BA and OBP under .300 for both yrs, and was a combine 127:20, K:BB ratio. THIS Cedeno has a BA and OBP over .300 (with OBP over .400) and a K:BB ratio of 3:2. Is it a small sample size? Sure. But if you compare his current numbers, to the numbers he put up in AAA, then there not that far off, excluding slg. Has Cedeno "figured it out", or is this a product of a small sample size?" The optimis in me says Cedeno has started to figure it out. So I am going with that feeling. But seeing Cedeno starting to develop as a hitter, along with the "The Soto" development as a hitter, gives me some serious hope that Pie in time will turn it around. If Reed continues to play as he currently is, I have no problem with keeping Pie as the 4th OF/defensive replacement, and let him continue to work with Piniella/Perry. Sending him down to AAA does nothing. Keeping Pie up, if for nothing else, his defensive abilities, will keep his confidence up. I could live with Johnson as leadoff/CF for the time being. Which brings me to: When Soriano returns, I think the Cubs have to hit him 6th. I honestly believe, unless it's broke, a lineup of Johnson/Theriot/Lee/ARam/Fukudome/Soriano/DeRosa/Soto is the best lineup the Cubs will have. (Sprink in starts by Fontenot and Cedeno) So, until it's proves it's broken, I think that's the lineup the Cubs should go with, upon Soriano's return.

Pujols. He needs more seasoning at AAA.

Holy snikes that's a tough question. I'd have to give it to Baker b/c of the love of the double switch. IDK, Yost likes to double switch out his 2nd best hitter in Bruan, quite a bit. I have yet to see Baker double switch one of his better hitters. So, it's a tossup, but I go with Yost, atleast Baker can claim he has "TRACK RECORD" as a manager.

I'm not Fred but I'm pretty sure they were 6-10. Fixed....

I don't think the Pirates pitching is "that bad", if that tells you anything. When you can beat, Snell, Gorzalanny (sp?), and Duke, that's a damn fine good weekend of work.

And the Cubs haven't had constant good production from Soriano and ARam from the offensive standpoint, or consistant starting pitching from Lilly/Hill and Marquis, and yet the Cubs are 11-6, right now. The Brewers are playing despite a few key players are playing well, as are the Cubs. Should be a fun and nervewrecking race.

Then does that mean, that the Yankees are close to trading Jack Elliot (Tom Sellack) to the Chunchi Dragons?

The Bears do have 3 7th rd comp picks. Perhaps a WR the Bears likes drops that far. But if not a guy like Steve Johnson, Kenneth Moore, or Mark Bradford could be a decent pick up in 6/7th rds.

I gave up on him, to acquire Mark Buehrle, after the first week.

People in this thread needs to stay out Snoop Dogg's personal stash.