Amie

Well ole Lopez likely got in the doghouse with LaRussa already, he made a bone head base running play tonight trying to score when he should have stopped at 3rd. Just before that the announcer where talking about him. Saying how he plays with a bit too much "flair" at times and tries to "do too much". Lopez tried to score from 2nd, on what amounted to an infield single. Loney cut him down at home. A heads up play... :good: He'll soon find out that only "Sir" Albert gets away with that stuff....LOL

Heck he'll be lucky if he ever plays again. He is having artificial disc replacement surgery, according the most recent article in the Post -Dispatch. Hopefully it will work out for him, but playing BB, or any contact sport is a real risk with this surgery. I had to have a spinal fusion myself, and have some limitation because of that. Including a long list of things I should not be doing. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/5FAE5F73BAED18598625749A000AEDAD?OpenDocument

their outfield defense is also really bad now. quentin is below average, griffey isn't even average for a corner outfielder, so he's terrible in CF, and dye is okay in RF. I agree, and already they are using Griffey as the DH. I didn't think it would take long, heck there is no was he can play that center field in KC, let alone in some of the other American League parks. I guess Kenny felt making any move was better then no move at all.. Didn't make much sense..

When I consider not only talent, but also experience and maturity, I'll take this rotation hands down over any other I can remember.

I think Brenly mentioned he was going short on account of his 2 previous games with high pitch counts. In any even he made sure to let the TV audience know that Z was fine.

I think he did. The Phillies must have been encouraged by that complete game he had at AAA, with 17 strike outs. I sure was... :hello:

They say no, but I bet it does. They know Dusty can't control the situation, so they wanted to move him on. When it comes to their announcers, they are all fools. Can you imagine any Cub announcers saying right on the air, that the best fans in baseball are the Cardinal fans? Well, I've heard them(the Cincy announcers) say it many times. Such jerks.

Yep it sure would. Like why the former Cincy GM was ordered from above to sign Patterson to a contract for 3.5 million. A sum that C. Patt is hardly worth.

Talk about robbery, they must be nuts. If they keep that stance, they can stuff it.. [-(

The fact that they haven't really looked at long-term answers leads me to believe they haven't given up on Pie completely yet. If they got a long-term guy, they'd have to give up on Felix. Pie will likely be up with the team in September as late inning defensive insurance, barring a trade. I don't think it's a must to beef up the outfield, but I'm intrigued that the Cubs are exploring opportunities to improve. Yeah, as happy as I've been with Edmonds to this point, his nagging injuries are worrying me. It's good to see Hendry and Lou thinking ahead to get insurance for a possible Edmonds collapse. And even if we don't get Ibanez, looking at 120 OPS+ hitters is always a good thing. It seems they are thinking just as you are. Edmonds needed a cortisone shot in his knee after Sundays game. Don't forget to that Reed has some preexisting back issues, he needs time off as well. You can't not have a back up when you have 2 players with their histories. Pie is doing well with his new swing hitting in AAA, but how is that against ML pitching?? His defense is great for sure, but he needs to be more mature, hit better, and party less the next time he comes up.

OR that lots of baseball teams don't value him correctly. Naw, that couldn't be it. I'd bet its about 75% that, 25% asking price too high. The Dunn matter seems mute at this point, as the owner has now taken Dunn and Bronson OFF the market. He wants them there. http://www.daytondailynews.com%2Fblogs%2Fcontent%2Fshared-gen%2Fblogs%2Fdayton%2Fcincinnatireds%2Findex.xml

I haven't followed the Dodgers that closely this year. But, Furcal is out for the year, iirc and they replaced him with Garciaparra who just got hurt again. Nomar is said to be day to day with a slight knee sprain, but you know how day to day injuries can be with Nomar. It might be a month...

Not sure why, but it seems Lou just doesn't trust him. I did notice the up and down bit though, and thought the same thing. Perhaps a trade or DFA coming.

I caught an artical earlier in the season on Kendall. Seems he has lazer eye surgery in the off season. Not sure if he knew he has eye problems or not, but it sure seems to have helped. I don't complain about Geo, but I do wish he was a little better on that. He's young though, plenty of time to learn..

I don't think the Cubs are ready to part company with Howry, unfortunately. Lou keeps trotting him out at the most important times (when Marmol can't go). I think Shark has made a good impression on Lou and first impression for Lou seem to count a lot. I think Shark pushes everyone except for Marmol and Wood into the, "when did he last pitch?" category. That seems to be Lou's M.O. My guess is that Lieber has thrown his last pitch for the Cubs. Lieber's already on the DL, though, so that wouldn't have anything to with the move made when Wood returns. I think we're both basically saying the same thing, that Howry probably SHOULD go but Cotts probably WILL go. Another factor is that Cotts is still in an option year, meaning he could be sent back down again, whereas Howry would have to be DFA'd. I think you'll find either a release or trade of Scott Eyre or Jon Lieber. My guess is Scotty. How many times did he get up and down today, yet never do into pitch?? This has happened several days in a row. The silence is telling. Shark has added the splitfinger, and that is why he is not finding more success then ever before. It's a good out pitch. Especially for a guy in the late innings. Right now they are worrying about this year, and you can't fault Lou for that.

If by chance the Cubs fall behind, one of the catchers missing a high fastball wouldn't bother me at all. Say sometime in the 9th inning... :-$

Real mature. Do you know either of these guys? I do. One seems to have two WS rings that he won as the GM of the Minnesota Twins. It's funny you left out any accomplishments of McFailure during his tenure with the Cubs. His record here speaks for itself...an utter disaster. Oh but he got himself in real good standing with Bud Selig, and all we heard about is how he would be the next commissioner. That's what happened under good old Andy's time here. Sure he did some good things, but I can't help but think more could have been done.

With Zell, maybe but not with MLB. It requires approval by 75% of the ownership as you probably already know. Look at what happened in Boston with the sale of the Red Sox. The Red Sox weren't being sold by a public company. This is very true, and something that everyone forgets about. MBL can't hold the hammer on the Cubs sale, because it's a public company, and by law they must seek to get top dollar for any sale. Cuban has just as much right to buy it as anyone else, if he has those dollars. It's the bid that counts. Otherwise they would have to sue.

Neither do I see the downside, in fact the guy gets better at each level. This could be a real plus in his development, as I think we need to keep in mind Jeff is cut out differently then most. Used to the stage from his football background, longing for the challenge. He also has experience in the pen. It may also help to motivate Wuertz to get his act together. Right now he is walking AAA batters. 3 his last performance alone.

Samardzija should start on Saturday. Unless he's called up by then :D I read where they may call Shark up to replace Wood. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1072195,CST-SPT-cubnt24.article

Looks like Kerry Wood may need to go on the DL afterall, and his replacement may be Jeff Samardzija. Report Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1072195,CST-SPT-cubnt24.article

Nice to meet ya Len... :D One favor if possible. Would you PLEASE stop telling us things we already know. Like how Chris Young hit the homer off Ted Lilly in the playoff. Every time you do that, the next pitch gets hit...!!!! Same thing with Carlos Lee....all Cubs fans know he's hits us big time, so we don't need constant reminders every time he comes to the plate. So please....do your recap/reviews at another time... :beg:

I should mention that the article says that there is a chance Canning can still make a stronger bid to show they are serious and get back in the race. I am guessing because of Selig's support for Canning, he should still be considered in the race. That said, I am really surprised their bid is that low. Maybe the ground doesn't want it as much as we thought? Or Selig told him to underbid as punishment for the Cubs recent pissing off of MLB. The Cubs not excepting Cannings bid must have really pissed Selig off. Perhaps enough to fine the Cubs a cool half mil on that draft violation. :-k I've heard that clubs are rarely actually fined for those violations. [-(

You might want to sweeten the reward a little. You'll have to do that another night, as Daytona was just canceled due to rain.. :cray:

BINGO! Seriously? Giving up a run in the bottom of the 8th in a one run game is not a problem? Would it have been a problem if Aramis gets a hit in the 9th? Did it even matter? The hitters have been pathetic lately. Are you going to rip Harden for giving up a HR to a guy that's hitting .250 on the year and had never hit a HR in his major league career before? Randy Johnson was far from overpowering last night. We should have been able to score at least 2 or 3 runs off of him. Who knows if it mattered? There's no way to know how the 9th would've played out if it was a one run game. And comparing Harden's run and Howry's run is pretty ridiculous. By your logic though Howry could've come in and given up 6 runs and it wouldn't have been a problem. How does one run change the way we batted in the 9th? You guys are letting your hatred for Howry blind you to the disaster that is our offense right now. I'm not a big Howry fan, but he is not the problem at the present time. First of all Aramis would've probably been walked. Several things could've of played out differently. Look, I'm not saying the offense wasn't the problem last night, but to say Howry wasn't either is just flat wrong. What? They would have walked him with 2 outs and no one on base? Theriot was on 3rd. Forgot about Theriot. So they walk Aramis to get to Soto and then what? he hasn't been hitting anything lately either. He was a whopping 0 for 3 last night. Whatever dude. Howry sucked last night just like he's been sucking for the last two weeks. IMO he's a major concern over the next two months. Put it like this, I'm more concerned with Bob Howry than I am with the offense. He still wasn't the problem last night. The problem was the goose egg next to our name. Period. Howry, was not the real problem last night, but he has not been sharp because he has not been used enough. He needs to pitch a lot, and his history over the years shows that. Lou, wanting the starters to go long, and his overuse of Marmol, means others sit ideal. They need work too. Wertz was never used, he lost his slider. That's what happens. If you check back in the last few weeks, Howry has been brought in many times in during an inning when the Cubs are way ahead and there are runners on base. His job then is to get outs. He doesn't worry about his ERA, he worries about getting the outs with the Cubs winning the game. He needs work to stay sharp though. If the Cubs can't score in the 9th down 2, with runners on 1st and 2nd, and no outs, with the heart of the order coming up.....it's not Bob Howry's fault. That was Chad Qualls out there, they used to hit him all the time when he was with Houston, and they nailed him in Wrigley just a few weeks ago.