CubsWin

He doesn't seem to be much of a patient guy. And he doesn't have a strong track record of performance. He was also rated much, much, much lower than where he was selected. Wouldn't you expect a football fan to question his team if they drafted a guy in the first round who everybody else had listed as a 3rd or 4th rounder? I don't think he's worth getting excited about. Maybe in a few years he'll be a halfway decent baseball player, but that's not exactly exciting. I'm reserving judgement at this time. Wilken's record in Toronto was stellar...16 of his 17 first round picks either are or were quality every day players in the majors. I'm real interested to see the direction our system moves in over the next couple of years. Just because you're not projected high doesn't mean squat in baseball. Look where Pujols was drafted... I'm not passing final judgement either. I was responding to another in a long line of criticism of fans for criticizing the Cubs. The guy could be a decent major leaguer some day. The odds of him being great are extremely small, and there's no one thing about him to really create a bunch of excitement. On what evidence do you base this statement? Isn't a little early to tell what the odds are? Wilken's track record, as previously mentioned, is long and good. And since when is a BA ranking the be all end all. Maybe its all the evidence that we are privy to, but I'm betting Wilken may have had a bit more scouting information than what he could learn at brewerfan.com or whatever it is. He picked Alex Rios 19th overall and he wasn't on BA's radar either. He's turning out okay, isn't he? I don't think that Wilken would take a guy 13th if he didn't feel that his odds of becoming great weren't better than "extremely small". So, the question is, what do you know that he doesn't?

So the Cubs number one pick is a college hitter with strong performance numbers this season, is a junior not a senior who hasn't topped out on his hitting skills and can get on base while also being a projectable athlete. Isn't that exactly what many of the fans on this board wanted? Finally, a college guy who can contribute fairly soon, is a everyday player and not a pitcher, and he focuses on getting on base! And yet, not one comment about the Cubs finally altering their draft strategy or Wilken bringing the Cubs into the new millenia. Just more sarcasm. Come on. Is this guy not worth getting excited about and leaving our sarcasm behind for a moment or is my understanding of the type of player Colvin is inaccurate?

Against some right-handers, yes. Especially in the beginning when Nevin is still working on his defense. IIRC, he only played one game in the field for the Rangers, so he needs to brush up. He may face more righties later on.

I have no problem putting Womack in there instead of Nevin. He's playing great for us and there is a righty on the mound. bhogg, Nevin was brought in specifically to hit against lefties as his splits support. He will play against some righties too, but not all of them.

I really don't think Carlos will have the control yet to be effective, but I'm pleased. He's one of my favorites. You might be right, but not every pitcher needs Greg Maddux-like control to get the job done. His WHIP of 1.16 is quite respectable especially for a starter and he is K'ing more than a batter per inning. If he can strike people out, he can be an effective reliever. Of course, he needs to believe in himself like Marshall does. If he can relax and pitch his game, he can succeed, can't he?

Well, now... Maybe this is the game that turns StL's season around. Their offense is not so impressive without Albert there. I was thinking the same thing... Pujols has been, by far, the best hitter in the majors this season. He makes up for and hides a lot of poor performances. He will be missed. The only other hitters in their line-up with an OPS over .800 are Scott Rolen and Hector Luna. Spiezio does as well but only over a 90 at bat span while his career OPS is .743.

If none of the other ideas work and you don't mind paying face value for really good seats, I'd call or go to the Cubs ticket booth the day before or even the day of and check to see if any season ticket holders/tribune ticket holders have released their tickets for resale. I had a lot of luck with this prior to the existence of places like stubhub.com. Who knows?

I don't know where you heard that Miller was supposed to be ahead of Prior. Everything I've read had him about a week behind Prior and a month behind Wood. It appears he is close to a minor league rehab start unless he experienced some soreness or something. So he's not too far off from the reported schedule.

It isn't over, but we're 11.5 games back, and not really all that good. Unless Prior, Wood, and Lee all come back and play 100%, and the Cardinals run out of magic pixie dust that makes career minor leaguers .300 hitters, we don't have a shot at the division. Is it unlikely the Cubs win the division? You bet. Is it possible? Of course. That's all oldstyle81 was saying. How likely is it that Pierre stays this cold all year long? How likely is it that Ramirez never heats up? Is anyone on the Cubs playing way over their heads right now such that we should expect a huge drop-off from them besides Tony Womack who will be a back-up now that Nevin has been acquired? Prior is two weeks away. Lee is 2-3 weeks away maybe less. And let's not forget the possible contributions of Wade Miller. The Cubs still have a plethora of arms in Iowa that are very close to being ready. If people can just stay healthy, Hendry should have some talent with which to trade at the deadline, especially arms. No team in the majors stands to improve as much as the Cubs will over the next several weeks. Do they have an uphill climb ahead of them? Yeah. Can they climb it? Yes. Will they? That's why they play the games. On June 3rd of last year, the eventual National League Champs were 13 games under .500. The Cubs are 10 games under. Anything can happen.

Which will be a lot easier to do now that Sean Casey is back, Wilson is a lot more expendable and it is the month of June and not April. I agree, the Cubs should have traded for Wilson a long time ago, but how realistic would that have been?

Do the Cubs actually have more walks that strikeouts right now? Hey Fred, whats the Cubs record when that happens, 0-0?

Strained oblique. Did he do it while striking out...again? No, while chasing a foul ball. Thanks for the update, vance. Wow, Jacque Jones just walked. Pujols is out of the game. The Cubs have the lead. What is going on?

Strained oblique. Did he do it while striking out...again?

I just got in and can only get the game through gameday, so can anyone tell me what happened to Pujols?

First of all, welcome back DOPE!!! Secondly, there goes any momentum that Blackford had built up...

Damn. And there were only 14 more pages to go before triple digits. Eh, maybe next time...

See that flag in my avatar? My wife just got one for me as a wedding anniversary present. Guess I got to find someplace to fly it now... I bought one off ebay last summer. It hung in my dorm room. With my Cards fan roommate. Nice.

Thank you for the entertainment, OMC. Good times, good times. Mahzel.

See that flag in my avatar? My wife just got one for me as a wedding anniversary present. Guess I got to find someplace to fly it now...

Aaand that's three. Cops win! Cops win! Ho-lee cow!

That's two!

thats one!

Wooo Hooooo. That's a lead. Let's see if they can keep it.

Everybody's gettin' punchy...

I would.