soapy

wait, he played the padres, no?

I still like Milton, despite being pretty dissapointed in his power numbers. I thought this was funny too: Bruce Miles

Why not 1B? Just don't want him involved in that many defensive plays? Partly, but also because I think shifting Ramirez to 1B if Vitters pans out is a good possibility. That's a big if though.

I think the best short-term option is to bring him back next year as a super-sub able to fill-in at LF, RF, 3B, 1B and even C next season. He should get a ton of PAs being able to play all of those positions. Long-term his best bet is probably LF or RF is he stays with the Cubs.

What do they have to do with Memphis? There's just as many examples of schools losing high profile coaches and still maintaining elite levels. Really? You could be right, but I can't think there are that many. Pitt with Dixon comes to mind. Who else do you have? Not that this proves his point but Butler and potentially Gonzaga come to mind. Moreso the former as far as "high-profile" coaches go.

just when i think you can't get any dumber, you go and do something like this...

It's one thing to watch them lose because they just aren't good enough. It's another to watch them compound their inadequacies with horrible decisions by both players and the manager.

It really doesn't matter. He'd just get all crotchety and defensive about having to "answer the same questions all the time" and whatnot. What's the point of continually asking him questions you know he won't answer?

I'm actually really glad I won't be able to watch the next two games. For some idiotic reason, I'm still letting this disaster anger me on an almost daily basis. It's really not worth it.

Code Red. But really, as far as the remainder of this year they probably need to work in Fox regularly in LF. I understand it's not feasible to expect Soriano to be outright benched (it may not even be advisable), but he should probably only starting like half of the games or something at this point. Not that it really matters since this season is toast. I can't imagine they'd be able to move him this offseason. They're going to have to hope for a bounce back season next year and then maybe try to move him (which would still be extremely difficult).

I can't even dream up a scenario that would be a better time to let Fox hit. It's pure insanity. Seriously, there was only way to make scoring in that situation less likely than letting the pitcher hit, and Lou managed to find it.

Hopefully resign, but I won't hold my breath. Unfortunately, there'd be a good chance that whoever replaced him could actually be even worse.

Aaron [expletive] Miles

It's a very small sample size, but during this little hot streak (since 8/9), he's 8-for-19 with two doubles and a triple against right-handers. thanks. i was trying to find those numbers and couldn't.

Remember hes never been a full timer before. last year was the first time he played in over 100 games, and he put up respectable numbers. Considering the options, Id just assume go with him the rest of the way. Right, I don't disagree considering what Fontenot/Miles are likely to do. I'm just not ready to think of him as an everyday 2B next year unless he shows that maybe he can hit RHP the rest of the way (at a minimum).

Hasn't Baker still been doing the bulk of his damage against LHP? That's nothing new for him with a career OPS vs. LHP of .931 and an OPS of .708 vs RHP. The guy has beat up lefties and struggled against righties his whole career. I suppose it's possible he's figured it out at age 28, but I wouldn't bet on it.

They need upgraded offense from at least one of (probably more) LF, 2B and/or C next year also. I really don't believe they are a closer away from contending for a WS. I don't think Soto's year last year was a fluke. Might be his best but but this year is an anomoly. I can agree with that. But the point is they need more from C next year if they're offense is going to be good enough. i'm not really sure what you're saying here. i'm a huge Ramirez fan but he's not one of the best players in the league. also, he's established a bit of a track record of being injured at this point and I won't assume he'll be healthy more often as he ages. Their offense wouldn't be strong enough unless Soriano and/or Soto have huge bounceback seasons (one might be likely, one isn't). Not to mention that several of these guys (even the good ones) are aging and good bets to regress a bit (Bradley, Lee, Fukudome, Theriot) and we've we've already covered the injury concerns (Ramirez, Bradley, Soriano). I'm not sure what you're saying, except that maybe the Cards got lucky to find a injury replacement for Izzy (if you can even call it luck to have strong/succesfull young arms in your minor league system). Not sure whate you're trying to say about the Yankees. Nobody is advocating a $200 million payroll.

They need upgraded offense from at least one of (probably more) LF, 2B and/or C next year also. I really don't believe they are a closer away from contending for a WS. Thats not going to happen though. They cant do anything with Soriano. They're going to have to give Soto another year to see if this was just a sophmore slump, and hopefully, he'll play winter ball. As for 2B, I dont know whats really available, so we may as well stick with Baker and Fontenot. The only moves I anticipate are a closer and maybe re signing Harden. I didn't say it's going to happen. Soriano isn't going anywhere and neither is Soto (nor should he). I'm just saying they need more from those positions if they're going to have a strong enough offense to compete. Soto has a very good chance to improve on this year's numbers (and hopefully stays healthy). They could have a chance to upgrade at 2B (or SS while moving Theriot to 2B) in the off-season if they move some money.

They need upgraded offense from at least one of (probably more) LF, 2B and/or C next year also. I really don't believe they are a closer away from contending for a WS.

At least I'll be asleep by the time they lose again.

So it's not a total loss.

So a non-Lilly rotation with those guys as the 6/7 spots would look like: Zambrano Harden Dempster Wells Gorzelanny? Marshall? basically, yeah.

as i said, i'm throwing in their names as 6th or 7th options as injury fill-ins and what not. i don't expect them to make the Cubs rotation out of ST or anything.

I agree. Also, Lilly has been really good over the last 3 years. With Harden's injury history I'm not very confident with Wells, Gorz, and Marshall as our 4-6 starters. I think you may see Cashner and Samardzija in the mix next year too (as sixth or seventh options). It's still a risk, I acknowledge, but I think it's likely their only chance at improving the offense enough to still make a run next season.

I don't think you can get an impact player for Lilly anyway.