CubsWin

Given those three to choose from, wouldn't Burnitz be the better option in CF?

Does anyone have a site that shows splits from before '02? I can't find them on the Cube or Baseball-Reference. Some posters have commented on how Lawton is a terrible 2nd half player, and they are basing that on his splits in '02, '03 and '04. Unless he had terrible 2nd halves in years other than those, I don't know how much that tells us given that Lawton sustained injuries in both the 2nd halves of '02 and '03. His poor performance in the 2nd half last year wasn't as bad as it was in the previous two (he still managed a .350 post-all-star OBP) but it was still a big drop off from his first half performance. However, if we have to throw out the evidence from '02 and '03 due to injuries, one year's splits don't tell us much. Thus, the question I led off this post with. Anyone?

Can't we move him to Center and play Murton in left? BTW, he's much worse against lefties... He isn't a very good CFer and hasn't played there since 2000. He can play CF, but Burnitz and Hairston would be the better defensive options. I would play Burnitz in CF while rotating in Hairston when the pitching match-ups call for it. Against right-handed pitchers, Lawton leads off and plays one of the corner OF spots. Against lefties, Hairston leads off and plays CF.

Hey, whats not to like? The Cubs went into the deadline needing OBP. The guy with the highest OBP on the block was Dunn, but the price was too high, and understandably so. The next best was Lawton and the Cubs got him. In fact, of all the players trade, Lawton's .380 OBP this year and .370 career is the highest. The Cubs got the best that was out there in the area of their greatest need and only gave up Dubois/Gerut to get him. I understand that Lawton may not be the best defensive OFer, but if he can lead-off and get on base 38% of the time in front of DLee, Nomar and Ramirez, his offense, base-stealing and run-scoring ability should outweigh any defensive liability he may bring. Lawton on the year is batting .273/.380/.433/.813 with 28 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HRs, 16 SBs with 61 Ks against 58 walks. Lawton Nomar Lee Burnitz Ramirez Walker Barrett Murton with Lawton in RF could be the line-up the Cubs take into the final months of the season. Will that get the job done?

BTW - I saw that article, too, but it is no longer on the Cubs.com front page. The link still works, though...

Yup, ESPN just confirmed that it is Gerut for Lawton. Clearly, Hendry is doing everything he can, without hurting the club long-term by giving up top prospects, to prepare the team to win the wildcard. Lawton will give the Cubs their best lead-off hitter since Lofton. The question is where will he play? He isn't exactly a CFer. Does Burnitz play CF and Lawton play RF? Do you keep Hairston in CF and have Lawton in LF? How should Lawton be used?

Yeah, I was calling for the Cubs to trade for Lawton last night. I thought he was the perfect fit for what the Cubs needed and wouldn't cost the Cubs a top prospect. I was very excited to see the banner across the screen on ESPNews that the Cubs had got him. Still no info on who they gave up. That, of course, will have a lot to do with whether or not we consider this a good trade. One rumor had stated that Gerut would go to Pittsburgh. If thats the case, the Cubs gave up Dubois for a rent-a-player. Interestingly, Cubs.com has just posted an article stating that the Cubs were "quiet" at the deadline.

average enough to lead the minor leagues in strikeouts Hill is not a strikeout pitcher in Major league Baseball. Except that Hill's 9.72 K/9 (albeit small sample size) says your wrong! Seriously, go to http://www.espn.com. They have all kinds of great stats there. Look at his starts. 5 k's in each of them. Like I conceded he'll be a decent strikeout pitcher. But it is WRONG to think that he's going to strike out nearly as many guys in the majors as he did in the minors at AA. And frankly, I think your tone is condescending and rude. I'm getting tired of some posters here acting like know-it-alls and acting like posters with only 300 or less posts couldn't possibly know anything regarding baseball. Penguin, Please go back and find the post in which someone claimed he would strikeout "nearly as many guys in the majors as he did in the minors". You can't because there isn't one. What people did do was disagree with your claim that he wouldn't be a strikeout guy in the majors. Of course, the stats show that he is striking out 9.72 batters per 9 innings. That puts him up there with Prior and Wood. Are those guys strikeout pitchers in the major leagues? Come on, you are better than this.

average enough to lead the minor leagues in strikeouts Hill is not a strikeout pitcher in Major league Baseball. What are you basing your opinions on today? The guy is striking out more than a batter per inning in the majors thus far.

Murton is not in the line-up today. I always thought the Cubs were partially showcasing him by bringing him up when they did. He certainly should have impressed some GMs by now. How upset would people be if Murton was not a Cub in the next couple of hours? Lawton is a Cub and Murton is not. Is that a good trade? I know no one would be upset if the Cubs gave up Murton in a package for Dunn...

I bolded the parts I found interesting. I'm glad that neither Hill nor Pie would be given up. And, hmmm, Lawton and Delucci for Mitre and some other prospect? Or maybe just one of them for Mitre? Is Hendry bringing in the Rangers in a 3-way deal to land Lawton or Delucci or both? Looks like that means that theyd be keeping lawton and moving some one else...I'd trade Mitre for mench!!! You do think big, don't you. I highly doubt that the Rangers trade Mench, but maybe Delucci.

Here is the latest from Rumor Central on ESPN.com... I bolded the parts I found interesting. I'm glad that neither Hill nor Pie would be given up. And, hmmm, Lawton and Delucci for Mitre and some other prospect? Or maybe just one of them for Mitre? Is Hendry bringing in the Rangers in a 3-way deal to land Lawton or Delucci or both?

RBI's and runs don't dictate production No they display it. But can you show that they aren't dependent on the rest of the players in the line-up?

Remember Walker playing LF last year in the 9th inning of a blowout game? It was hilarious... Precisely why I'm not a big fan of trading for Soriano.

This isn't the ideal market for getting a big player. I am not going to be overly disappointed if the Cubs don't acquire someone like Dunn. Not because their chances of making the playoffs wouldn't be helped a ton if they got him, they would. But because I believe Hendry would have done everything in his power to improve the team and the market simply made it too difficult to get much done. Too many teams are still in it, so GMs are still asking for the moon thinking that they can get it. If Hendry were selling someone like ARam in this market, you wouldn't want to settle for anything less than a lot either. My analysis tells me that Matt Lawton is still a salary dump guy for Pittsburgh no matter what Littlefield says. I think besides Dunn, he can help the Cubs most by batting at the top of the order. He and Murton in LF would be a vast improvement over Murton and either Gerut of Hollandsworth. You could also move Burnitz to CF and fill in your corner OF spots with whomever matches up against that days pitcher best. That way Hairston can still come off the bench which keeps Macias in a true 25th man role. If hendry can't pry Dunn away from Cincinnati, then I hope he comes away with Lawton.

The only way Soriano helps the Cubs is if they don't give up too much to get him and either he or Walker agree to play LF and play it fairly well. Since Soriano isn't a great fit for what ails the Cubs offense, doesn't play a great defensive 2B and is somewhat expensive, I wouldn't give up Walker or any top prospect to get him.

Pretty strong and hateful opinion there. You got any basis in fact for it? I don't recall Dusty taking credit for anyone else's success before, but maybe I missed something.

Yeah, I know, I'm coming around to that feeling, too. What if the Cubs were able to get this rent-a-player for something other than Williams?

A straight L/R platoon would give Gerut the bulk of the time, which wouldn't be fair to Murton. Maybe it's due to his knee problems but Gerut has been lousy since 2003 and shouldn't automatically be given anything. Murton has done nothing but hit in both the minors and the majors so far this year and he deserves at least half the time in LF. Agreed.

My idea presupposes that the prices team's were asking for a week ago will come down as the deadline approaches. Lawton's would almost certainly have to. He isn't in the Pirates future. He has about 3 million left on his contract to be paid this year. He will bolt in the off-season. It makes too much sense for the Pirates to save the nearly 3 mill and get some prospects in return. I assume the Cubs are more than willing to pick up his salary, and they could desperately use his bat at the top of their order. He is this year's Kenny Lofton. Littlefield's bluff will be called and I hope Hendry is holding the right cards when it is. Well, all the talk right now surrounding Burnett is that the White Sox, Orioles and Red Sox have moved on leaving the Marlins without a serious suitor, so I don't see how he could be overvalued in trade market terms at the moment. I can see him being overvalued on the free-agent market in the off-season. So I view this deal as more of a rent-a-player deal with the possibility of having the inside track on signing him if things work out. This from Jason Stark of ESPN... It is also mentioned in the Stark article that the Marlins might have decided to not trade him, but given that he is almost sure to sign with somebody else in the off-season, I still believe that the Marlins would rather have something than nothing assuming that that "something" could adequately replace Burnett in the rotation and would be under their control contractually for some time. That describes Jerome Williams to a tee. So then, the question remains, who will give the Cubs the best chance to win the wildcard this year, Burnett or Williams? And, if the Cubs don't sign Burnett long term, would it be worth it to give up on the 23-year-old Williams for a better shot at making the playoffs this year?

Everybody is focusing on Dunn and Soriano, but the Reds seem set on getting back a ton for Dunn, and Soriano, while an upgrade, isn't a very good fit for what the Cubs are lacking and likely still wouldn't come cheaply. So what if the Cubs shifted gears? Matt Lawton has the OBP (.378 this year, .366 last year), left-handed bat, base-stealing ability (16 this year, 23 last year), experience and success in the lead-off role and at least decent power (10 HRs so far this year, 20 last year) the Cubs are looking for in an OFer. He could play right or center, though, I believe the better option in CF would be Burnitz with Hairston rotating in. The emergence of Murton covers LF with Gerut and Hollandsworth there in case Murton should slump. I still think Gerut is a good acquistion, but more for next year. His knee should be 100% by then, and he should have better power with the fully healthy knee. But he doesn't seem ready to give the Cubs the kind of production they need now for the stretch run. Lawton can. Given that Lawton would be somewhat of a salary dump for Pittsburgh, he should come fairly cheaply. Maybe Adam Greenburg, who is able to come off the DL at any time, and some other prospect like Kelton, Theriot, Lewis, McGehee, Craig, etc. If its pitching they want, the Cubs have plenty to offer, but from what I've been hearing they aren't looking for pitching right now. The other player I would target would be A.J. Burnett. With the injury to Kerry Wood and his apparent move to the bullpen, acquiring Burnett would give the Cubs a stud 1-2-3 top to their rotation once again. Given the choice between having Burnett or Jerome Williams carry you to and through the playoffs, whom would you choose? The Marlins are in the middle of the wildcard race as well, but they know they aren't going to resign him and interest from the White Sox and Red Sox has waned over the last week leaving the Marlins without a serious suitor for Burnett. So I believe Hendry can swoop in at the 11th hour and that A.J. can be had for less than a King's ransom. Would the Marlins be interested in a package including Williams and some other prospects? Williams gives them someone who will be under their control for a while, is 23 and is performing fairly well right now for their continued efforts to win the wildcard spot. Its that or go empty-handed when you lose him at the end of the year. With Lawton and Burnett aboard, the addition of Nomar at SS and Wood and Williamson in the pen, the Cubs would be greatly improved for the final two months of the playoff race. Lawton (Career OBP .370 and has thrived in the lead-off role.) Garciaparra Lee Burnitz Ramirez Walker Murton Barrett Prior, Zambrano, Burnett, Maddux, Hill Dempster, Williamson, Wood, Ohman, Rusch, Novoa (or Van Buren after Remlinger gets DFA'd) Blanco Hairston Macias Perez Gerut Hollandsworth Your thoughts, Cubs fans?

While you may be right about Murton being a part time player so long as Dusty is here, Matt did make his first start against a right-handed pitcher today. So, without knowing whether Dusty has made some decision already on this subject, its possible that Murton has already been named the starter. Assuming Matt keeps doing this well, I can't understand how a manager, who consistently has stated that he plays the players that he feels gives his team the best chance of winning, could sit a guy who is as hot as Murton is right now. Matt will cool off eventually, but so long as he keeps getting on base nearly 40% of the time and hits his way on around 30% of the time, I don't think Dusty is going to sit him much because Dusty wants to win.

Well, Dusty started Murton against a righty for the first time today, IIRC. So we might be getting our wish. We'll just have to wait and see. As for Cedeno, I like what I see, but he was hitless in his start on Thursday and Neifi has been getting some big hits lately, so I can understand Dusty not starting Cedeno a little better than I could not starting Murton. As far as the Cubs being hot and cold, I certainly don't know why, but one possible explanation is that they are being coached (or allowed) to approach their at bats differently than before. Walker and Macias got on base in the ninth today via the bases on balls. Macias took some very close pitches, ones that he would normally swing at. Maybe the different approach is still sinking in.

Anyone know how many years are left on Soriano's contract?

I'm happy to see Van Buren strike out the side, Marmol continue his domination of AA and Grant Johnson go 6 scoreless with 8 Ks and only 2 walks. Nice.