RedFlash

How about the fact that both Vaughn and Clemens was as popular in Boston, as KW and Sosa is/was? Picking up Ortiz, eventually lead Boston to move Shea "Idiot" Hillenbrand, which open up the DH for Ortiz, and boom.......And you're comparing Ortiz to Dempster? [-X . Fact is...letting Clemens and Vaughn were risks, and the connection to Pie, is the Cubs not allowing Pie to play to his ability is highly risky.

To give Lou a little credit, NOT ALOT MIND YOU, but a little, once he did see Soto was the better player, he played Soto more. Plain and simple. Maybe Piniella wants Pie to show him he is better then Johnson, and Pie hasn't be up for the challenge. Now I understand the lack of playing, I really do, but there is more the "rising to the challenge" then what is on the field. Pie has to show he can play, so maybe the Cubs see something Pie they don't like, and are trying to correct the problem. Same goes with Hill. I'd love to ask him why Jason effing Kendall started Game 3 last year. Or why he pull Z an inning to soon in Game 1?

One problem with this point of view. They traded those guys for Josh Beckett in 2005 (along with Harvey Garcia and Jesus Delgado), the year after they won the World Series. In 2004, Ramirez mostly split time between A+ and AA and had zero chance of being called up to the team in 2004. Anibal Sanchez pitched 76 innings in short season ball in 2004. There was even less of a chance to see him get called up to the majors that season than Ramirez. Shh.............don't blow holes in arguement. How dare ya? :D My point is this, for yrs, the Red Sox made deals that were considered risky, and desparate. Picking up pre MVP candidate David Ortiz. Letting Mo Vaughn and Roger Clemens leave. Looking back, it was great decisions to let them leave, but 20/20 at the time, it was considered risky, and they took heat. That's where the Cubs are....at the "risky and desparate" stage. I don't want them to trade Pie, but if they are not going to play him, let him go.

What sucks, Moyer is the kind of lefty that Pie can get confidence hitting wise. I'm almost tempted to say to Piniella, give Soriano the "day off", and put Johnson in LF, Pie in CF, and Fukudome in RF.

To give Lou a little credit, NOT ALOT MIND YOU, but a little, once he did see Soto was the better player, he played Soto more. Plain and simple. Maybe Piniella wants Pie to show him he is better then Johnson, and Pie hasn't be up for the challenge. Now I understand the lack of playing, I really do, but there is more the "rising to the challenge" then what is on the field. Pie has to show he can play, so maybe the Cubs see something Pie they don't like, and are trying to correct the problem. Same goes with Hill.

Are you talking about the casual Cub fan (ones who think Felix Pie is an alias for Corey Patterson) or the ACTUAL Cubs fans? The actual Cubs fans, I would agree, but there are, IMO, alot more casual fans, who don't how badly the Cubs have handle Pie, then there are the Cubs how actually know? I get this point, and I agree with it. Francona is basically BEGGING the Red Sox to move Coca Crisp, because he knows Ellsbury is the better CF. He's playing Crisp more the Ellsbury so that Crisp can add value for a possible trade. And the moment the Red Sox find a sucker for Crisp they will part with Crisp, and move the better player into CF. But the biggest knock on your point is this.....2 World Champions in the last 4 yrs. BoSox no longer has the monkey on their back to WIN at all cost. Don't get wrong, Boston has no intentions are going another 90 yrs without winning a World Series title, but they have time to be patient with guys like Pedroia and Ellsbury, whereas the Cubs don't. And the Yankees are going through an organization thinking change. Cashman has been pushing for developing players from their system, to compensate the high price salaries on the Yankees. Neither team will back off from going after the title, but both teams don't have the pressure of trying to end a much maligned, and full RECOGNIZABLE curse. In fact, BoSox was basically in our position, the immediate yrs before the 04 Championship. What I mean is, there were desparate to end the curse, and win a world series, and get the monkey off their city and franchise backs. They had no time to developed young players, which means, they gave up talented young guys like Hanley Ramirez (Ramirez or Lugo at SS?), and Anibal Sanchez to reach their goals. I get your point, that Boston and NY are in yrly win-mode, but there pressure is different, in that, it's a professional rivalry/jealousy thing between the two. They want to "one up" each other, moreso than having to win one to end a curse. And if Piniella wants that "Curse killing" World Championship, it is my fear they will sacrifice the future to get it, which means, it wouldn't surprise me if they do decide to trade Felix. I agree. But the Cubs are definately feeling the heat. Having Felix Pie developed in Chicago, instead of someplace else, would be big. I just wish Piniella would put Pie back in CF, and let his talent surface. If Pie is as a "talented" as Piniella, Oneiri and Hendry have claimed for yrs, then his talent should surface. But sitting, almost acknowledges that maybe the Cubs have been trying to sell something that wasn't there. Just play Pie, let him prove he is ML caliber or not.

Well I might get tired of it once it happens... Let me ask it again, were you tired of it, last yr? Because it looks like they are going to fall back into that "Cub tradition" or playing just above medocrity, to tease fans.

What's the Cubs version of Ben Gordon?

Who else is tired of seeing the Cubs win 3, lose 2, win 1, lose 3, type crap? The Cubs won 5 in a row, now watch they'll lose 5in a row. I am pretty sure, that if Lou would go with this lineup: Sori/Fuku/Lee/ARam/Soto/DeRo/Pie/Cedeno, this team could take off as a dang good team. I think Bruce Miles needs to get the concept of "giving your best hitters more at-bats then your crappy hitters" across to Lou. The Phils are a good team, but we should be kicking the crap out of them, not the other way around. Nairb Strebor

Because Theriot was here first? That's the only thing I got. How much longer does Cedeno to wait before he gets to replace Theriot? Don't know about anyboyd else, but Cedeno has outplayed Theriot so far. IMO, the best players should play, not manager's pets..

Wasn't it Clay Rapada? Yep... So I believe all the "ptbnl" the Cubs had outstanding, are now completed. (The Cubs recieved cash to complete the Izturis trade, and Deeds for Monroe.)

He will be, trust me. A couple of yrs back, when he was called up from I believe Bakersfield to Montgomery, his arrival essentially led the Biscuits to the first of two AA Championships. A great comp for Longoria, would be Ryan Braun. Won't be AS good offensively (won't be signifiicantly worse with the bat), but will be significantly better defensively then Braun. Since the Rays AA team moved from Orlando to Montgomery, I thought there's been one better 3rd base prospect then Longoria, and that was Andy Marte. And yes I still believe Marte will be one heck of a 3rd baseman.

What I find HI------larious is that the Cubs are quick to get Hill out of the rotation, but when it comes to "Franchise Pitcher" Jason Marquis, they won' tdare to step on his ego and move him to the pen. Truth be told, Marquis needs to be moved out of the rotation before Hill does. But hey, when the Cubs favorite game is "Confuse the Cubs fans", you can't expect the sharpest tools in the shed.

The problem with your logic is that Reed Johnson is strictly a short-term option. Big market teams NEEDS cheap players to produce. I love Reed Johnson, he's a gamer and a nice platoon talent, but the fact is....the Cubs really need Felix Pie to succeed. And to sit him, and give him sporadic at-bats does serveral things: 1. It convinces the fan base, that the organization has no clue on how to development players. 2: Is lowers Pie's confidence. 3: It forces the Cubs to have to consider going outside of the org, and use resources to acquire a lefty hitting OF to platoon with Reed. This is the time of the yr, that Felix Pie NEEDS THE ATBATS. There isn't much pressure in April, as it will be in May, June, July, and August. Let him work out the mistakes NOW at the major league level. Sending Pie down to AAA does nothing to help anybody. The bottom line is this: if Pie is as talented as the Cubs claim, then that talent will rise to the occasion, if not, then move on. And sproadic at-bats, proves nothing. Not to mention you claim the Cubs have a replacement in CF, but not at SS. Hello, did you look over the roster? The Cubs have a better SS option on the roster in Ronny Cedeno. Heck, even Fontenot is a better short-term option at SS then Theriot. The Cubs offense and defense would be better with Fontenot or Cedeno and Pie, over Theriot and Johnson. Again, LET Felix Pie play. Giving up on young players, because they don't hit like Pujols or Upton or Braun (and let me remind you, two of those players played college ball, and Felix Pie didn't pick up a ball till 14 yrs old) once they reach the majors, is ridiculous. Sometimes it takes hitters a little bit longer adust to major league pitching, then pitchers to major league hitting. Again, let Pie play, let him prove one way or another, as to if he is the star baseball player, or the next Corey Patterson. Sitting him down, and or sending him down to AAA, will always leave doubt.

I still maintain Felix Pie will be a dang good CF in his own right. The problem is...the Cubs are prolly not the best place for Pie. The Cubs are in a "win now" mode, and Felix is prolly still atleast another yr or two away from giving the Cubs (or any team) major offensive contributions. But I could leave with Pie's "offense" in CF, if Cedeno or some kind of upgrade at SS would happen. Because having Pie and Theriot in the lineup, essentially puts the Cubs in a disadvantage. And seeing as Pie is a much better defender in CF, then Theriot is at SS, means the upgrade has to come at SS.

:cry: Why won't anybody take Mark Gottfried from Alabama? If he runs off any more players from the BB team, people will think he has a deal with the Triple K's. Why won't Mal Moore FIRED Mark Gottfried..... :x

I don't kow trading Marmol this past offseason would have been wise, to be honest. Remember, Wuertz is a fine 6th/7th inning guy, Howry's a FA at the end of the yr (I'd take the pick and NOT re-sign Howry, to be honest) and Wood is the closer. What would have happen if Kerry couldn't/can't handle the closer's job? Are you confident that Wuertz and/or Howry could handle the job, cause I'm not. Not to mention KW is a FA this offseason, I believe, and Wuertz is prolly going to get a raise in ARBY, which means the Cubs may have to fill out the bullpen again in 2009. What better what to start by having Marmol?

The Brewers took LaPorta even tho 1B/LF/RF/DH were already manned by young players like Fielder/Braun and Hart. It seem to reason that the LaPorta pick was stupid, but on 2nd thought, a very good to monster yr in the minors, and his value goes MILE HIGH. And the Brewers could either move Hart for a pitcher behind Gallardi (or however you spell his name) or use LaPorta in a package for another top end starting pitcher (someone like Burnett or Kazmir if the need arises). Wieters could have been the same value trading chip. But water under the bridge.

That bum.Doesn't Crow know that if he wants to be the #1 pick, he CANNOT give up homeruns when the wind is blowing out. Now's he's lucky to be a Top 25 Rd pick, after tonight's performance.That bum.............

Well, let's see. The National League average starter put up a 4.65 ERA last year. The average National League reliever put up a 4.06 ERA. So 200 innings of 3.75 and 80 innings of 4.06 gets you a 3.84 ERA out of both players combined. 80 innings of 2.00 and 200 innings of 4.65 gets you a 3.89 ERA overall. Of course, having those good innings all come in close games does give an extra benefit to the setup guy. At the same time, you have to add in that an average reliever costs you probably 1 million dollars and can easily be replaced if something goes wrong, while an average starter is going to cost you 3-6 million dollars at least and if they bust, they're much harder to find a replacement for. If I could lock in either of those two choices, I'd go for the starter. There is so much more flexibility in a bullpen to find a few good players and use them in all the important situations. In the Cubs case for example, Marmol going into the rotation moves Howry into Marmol's sport, Wuertz's into Howry's, and Eyre into Wuertz's. The guy who would replace Marmol wouldn't even have to be that good, because he'd be getting most of the mop up innings anyway. Of course, I have my doubts that Marmol could produce that much as either a starter or do it again as a reliever, but that's another discussion entirely. I'd take him as a reliever, simply because he's comfortable as a reliever. And if I am mistaken, he was developed a s a reliever in the minors. Which means, even if the Cubs wanted to move Marmol into the rotation, they'd prolly have to send him down to AAA for about a month or so, to stretch out his arm, and fine tune his mechanics. So nothing only would the Cubs be down an outstanding bullpen arm, but an outstanding arm all together for atleast a month. At this point, I much rather have Marshall/Gallagher/Veal/Smardz have the shot at starter in front of Marmol. Middle of the season is not a good idea to experiment. If the Cubs believe Marmol can be an outstanding starter, then let him make the transistion to starter in the OFFSEASON, not the middle of the season. Nonetheless, Piniella absolutely trusts Marmol in his current role, and thus is NOT about to move Marmol out of that spot. He was a starter in the minors. You're not going to make him a starter right now, but it's something I wish they would have done in the offseason. I'm not trying to be a butt, as I really want to know, was a "Starter" in the minors, or an arm who needed as many innings as possible for his development? The reason why I ask, is that both Billy Wagner and Mo Rivera were both "starters" in the minors, also. Don't bust the Cubs (base)balls about not turning Marmol into a starter this offseason. With Z/Hill/Marquis/Dempster/Lilly in the rotation, and guys like Lieber/Hart/Gallagher/Marshall at AAA in the bullpen, there was no need to create a hole in the bullpen, when there was other options for starts. Now granted, as a starter, Marmol would prolly be better then Dempster/Lieber/and Marquis, but the fact is the Cubs were not in desparate need to move their best arm out of the bullpen into a rotation spot. There is still a chance the Cubs COULD turn him in a starter in the future, if say a guy like Ceda or Smardz could replace him in the pen.

What about Soriano/Johnson/DeRo in the OF, with Theriot moving to 2B, and Cedeno in at SS? I'm more concern about how the batting lineup will look tomorrow, moreso then have the defensive alignment will be.

Well, let's see. The National League average starter put up a 4.65 ERA last year. The average National League reliever put up a 4.06 ERA. So 200 innings of 3.75 and 80 innings of 4.06 gets you a 3.84 ERA out of both players combined. 80 innings of 2.00 and 200 innings of 4.65 gets you a 3.89 ERA overall. Of course, having those good innings all come in close games does give an extra benefit to the setup guy. At the same time, you have to add in that an average reliever costs you probably 1 million dollars and can easily be replaced if something goes wrong, while an average starter is going to cost you 3-6 million dollars at least and if they bust, they're much harder to find a replacement for. If I could lock in either of those two choices, I'd go for the starter. There is so much more flexibility in a bullpen to find a few good players and use them in all the important situations. In the Cubs case for example, Marmol going into the rotation moves Howry into Marmol's sport, Wuertz's into Howry's, and Eyre into Wuertz's. The guy who would replace Marmol wouldn't even have to be that good, because he'd be getting most of the mop up innings anyway. Of course, I have my doubts that Marmol could produce that much as either a starter or do it again as a reliever, but that's another discussion entirely. I'd take him as a reliever, simply because he's comfortable as a reliever. And if I am mistaken, he was developed a s a reliever in the minors. Which means, even if the Cubs wanted to move Marmol into the rotation, they'd prolly have to send him down to AAA for about a month or so, to stretch out his arm, and fine tune his mechanics. So nothing only would the Cubs be down an outstanding bullpen arm, but an outstanding arm all together for atleast a month. At this point, I much rather have Marshall/Gallagher/Veal/Smardz have the shot at starter in front of Marmol. Middle of the season is not a good idea to experiment. If the Cubs believe Marmol can be an outstanding starter, then let him make the transistion to starter in the OFFSEASON, not the middle of the season. Nonetheless, Piniella absolutely trusts Marmol in his current role, and thus is NOT about to move Marmol out of that spot.

Or Travis Lee. Or Scotty Thurman. Or Josh Kroeger. But hey that Iowa team should be a pretty decent team.

Now watch, we'll prolly crush Cole Hamels tomorrow. And when I mean crush, I mean we'll win by one.

You know you were just thinking out loud/wishful thinking, but I don't see a scenerio in which Carlos Marmol is starting for Cubs. No scenerio at all.