soapy

Has anyone seen Dusty tip his cap to Bush yet?

Is Eyre really bouncing fastballs up there or is sportsline just off?

I'm glad he's keeping him as the closer. I'd love nothing more then to see him rack up a handful of saves before the deadline and increase his value. And, yes, Dusty needs to take it upon himself to get Dempster more work.

did ramirez get thrown out trying to stretch a single to a double? sportsline isn't very descriptive.

First of all, I hope the Cubs don't try to make Pie a lead-off hitter. I don't think trading Prior is a "no brainer". If he is healthy for the rest of the season, I wouldn't be opposed to bringing him back. If the right trade is available, sure I might move him, but it would have to be good. I'm guessing there isn't going to be a high enough of a return for Prior because of the past injuries. I'm not opposed to Carlos Lee necessarily, but I'm not ready to overpay for him either. He's getting older and I'm not sure he's going to keep up this production. I'd sign him for the right price, but I'm not that excited about him. Schmidt should be considered along with Zito. Zito is going to get a huge contract and he's pretty over-hyped at this point. I'd be open to signing him if Wood and Prior are both gone (which the author suggests). I agree with his plan to trade Jones and bury Perez at the end of the bench. I disagree with his opposition to trading an arm or two from the pen. I'd definitely be open to trading either Dempster or Howry in the right deal. Obviously Williamson too as he's a free agent after this year anyway.

Pierre :shock:

Don't worry, he'll be back on the bench tomorrow against another LHP.

Cedeno and Murton have played the equivalent of about a 1/2 season in the bigs. I'm not really sure why people are surprised when they struggle.

Going to? I'd say they are already dead. They are wounded now. But all they need to do is spot their weaknesses and improve upon them. Continuing on the futile quest for more clutch will kill them. True enough, I suppose. I guess I just assume they are giong to continue down the path of the mystical clutch until Hendry is gone. Since he's got his extension, I'm not holding my breath.

Okay, so I'm confused. I guess Marmol is getting the start instead of Guzman?

Marmol is starting today (Wednesday). Oh...I thought Guzman was taking his spot in the rotation? Well, if either Guzman or Marmol is sitting in the bullpen as a "long relief" man, it's a waste. In fact, the entire concept of long relief is a waste if you have a 12 man staff, IMO.

Did anyone else watch this? I saw this last night while the cubs game was on commercial. I have never been so angry.. I have no confidence that Hendry will every make a right move. All he kept blamming it on was clutch hitting. Then they compared the cubs to the Yankee's, saying that they lost more in the terms of players than the cubs have and they are still only a few games out of first. Jim answered by saying we have players that have a history of performing and just haven't had the clutch hits, and then used the injury excuse. Which the question was alread addressing the injury issue... I hate this team.. The infatuation with clutch is going to kill this team. Going to? I'd say they are already dead.

it's statements like these that cause me to ignore whatever stone says about anything anymore. until cedeno learns that striking out is not the end of the world, he's going to be average, and izturis is absolutely terrible, just terrible. this team's problem is that it can't get on base or score runs and stone thinks it can be fixed by bringing in izturis? what stupidity, stone has lost his mind--even brenly offers more accurate insight into the game. stoney should stick to talking aboout how bad wood's mechanics are. Izturis is hardly terrible. He was an All-Star SS last year. When was the last time we had one?......I thought so. Stoney has said the Cubs need to make a number of deals with the thought 'does this make the Cubs closer to the World Series'. Even if Izturis is a placeholder for Eric Patterson for two years, he's an improvement over what we have. Hendry can probably move 10 players in the next month. I don't see one everyday player in our minor leagues ready to go. Do you? I know having Stoney puncture your Kerry Wood dreams is tough but deal with it. Since when does being an All-Star one time make someone a great player? How is Izturis and improvement over what we have? Depending on where you put him, he's going to have to replace either Ramirez or Walker's production. He's not capable of it. Ramirez has been solid at 3B to boot. I really don't see how Izturis is an upgrade at all.

A couple reasons: A) Williamson needs to come up in order to show he's healthy and trade him, for that they needed space. B) Aardsma hasn't been pitching all that well. In June he has a 4+ ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 5.91 k/9, 7/4 K/BB ratio. He's pretty much interchangable with Novoa. But isn't Marmol still in the pen? If you insist on having 800 pitchers, you don't really need a long relief man. Send him down so he can get regular starts.

My emotions jump all over the place depending on the day. Some times I'm angry (livid), some days I just laugh, and other days I want to cry. Last night was one of the sad ones. I feel bad for the players sometimes. I played on some pretty bad teams in my day (recreational) and it's really depressing when you go through phases where you just keep finding ways to lose. Baker and Hendry really should be ashamed of themselves.

Bruce's story on the subject. Hard to say what Hendry is thinking. At this point, I really can't tell if he's just saying what he has to say (i.e. not going to trash Baker in public) or if he really believes this crap. Hopefully it's the former, but I'm not optimistic.

Why did they send Aardsma down? Jesus, send Marmol down!

It shouldn't be a complete shock that Dempster is struggling. His control has never been very good. Additionaly, It seems he is getting a save oppurtunity about once a month. The thing that actually bothers me about it most is that he's rapidly losing his trade value. I was really warming to the idea of sending him to a team in need of a "closer". On another note, isn't Wuertz "closing" games in Iowa?

I'll just "tip my cap" to Jackson now and get it over with.

Fixed. Please edit your own posts and not mine. It was just a joke. I wasn't trying to actually misrepresent what you typed. I think everyone knows you didn't say that. If it really bothers you that much, I can fix it.

I understand the reasoning, but I just can't bring myself to root against them once a game starts.

Hell, he's the team starting 2B, after being the everyday SS last year. I think they think of him as more than a utility guy. Hairston was a utility guy. Neifi is a regular. Especially once Walker gets traded.

Wasn't there another (equally ridiculous) trade that Stone proposed earlier this year or in the off-season that involved Ramirez?

Goony and raw are right. It's okay to overspend when it's for someone like Beltran (Vlad, Arod, etc.). Those are players that can make a difference. That also allows you to work in some younger (i.e. cheaper) players to develop. Last year would have been painful, but this year they would be (and the Mets are) reaping the benefits of that "gamble".

Fixed.