soapy

-Murton is clearly better than Floyd against lefties. DeRosa should be at 2B, with Murton RF against lefties. It's beyond stupid to delay this. -Pie is not likely to perform any worse offensively than Pagan or Jones and is far better defensively than either. He's always adjusted well after moving up a level, and I don't see why he wouldn't do so again, given time. -Cedeno is a good bet to be better than Izturis and certainly isn't likely to be worse. The bottom line is none of these moves will make the Cubs worse, and all have a decent chance to actually make them better. Saying you can't give these guys a shot and keep winning is beyond absurd. It's just plain wrong. Again, you're making these lineup decisions based on what you think or hope will happen. When Pie was up, he was outperformed by Pagan....same can be said for Murton. Sadly, when Cedeno was up, he was outperformed by Izturis and that's hard to do. The fact is those 3 players had their opportunity earlier in the year and all 3 failed or did not meet expectations. Murton received a whopping 119 ABs this season in which he struggled. Despite that, he still vastly outperformed Floyd against lefties. It is almost a certainty that the Cubs would be better against LHP if they had Murton in RF. Or, to use your words, the fact is, Murton is better than Floyd against lefties. Instead, Lou and Hendry are looking to add a righty bat. ](*,) Pagan has been terrible since a hot start. Without looking at the stats (I'm having trouble with ESPN's page right now), I'd say Pie's two week slump was no worse than the one Pagan is currently mired in. Cedeno got 31 AT-BATS in the majors. He admittidly struggled last year as well, but he was solid in 2005 and has dominated AAA this year. He's clearly worthy of a shot when compared with the alternative in Izturis.

-Murton is clearly better than Floyd against lefties. DeRosa should be at 2B, with Murton RF against lefties. It's beyond stupid to delay this. -Pie is not likely to perform any worse offensively than Pagan or Jones and is far better defensively than either. He's always adjusted well after moving up a level, and I don't see why he wouldn't do so again, given time. -Cedeno is a good bet to be better than Izturis and certainly isn't likely to be worse. The bottom line is none of these moves will make the Cubs worse, and all have a decent chance to actually make them better. Saying you can't give these guys a shot and keep winning is beyond absurd. It's just plain wrong.

honestly, if it was anyone not named Sammy Sosa, people would be all over it. i'd certainly be in favor of it (as a platoon) but i know there's pretty much no chance Hendry would do it. i'd also be in favor in going after Lofton.

I considered contract and still chose Lugo. It's not particularly close either.

i wonder if the reds would have any interest in dempster as a starter or reliever. i agree that Murton probably has to be part of the deal and i'd be okay with that. i'd like to keep him for insurance, but you'd still have Floyd and DeRosa capable of playing RF. i wouldn't put Pie in the deal though. in fact, if they acquire Griffey or Dunn, they should start Pie in CF every day moving forward, imo.

I don't know. He didn't do himself any favors by mis-playing some balls out there early this year. There are a couple of options: 1) Live with the poor defense in exchange for an productive bat (which they are already doing with Floyd); or 2) Move Soriano to RF. Option 2 seems unlikely mid-season, but I think Murton can adjust enough to be adequate in RF for at least the rest of this season. I'd be surprised if he'd be any worse than Floyd after some adjustment and they seem perfectly content with Floyd's defense in RF.

You don't think Jones's ability to play center changes things significantly? If Murton could play center, he would be on the MLB roster and at least platooning with Jones and possibly starting. If Jones can only play right, there is no way that he's getting back off the bench. Jones is only getting another chance because the Cubs are not happy with their production in center, while they are at least decently happy with a Floyd/DeRosa platoon in right. Second is MLB economics as Craig stated. If the Cubs could have gotten Jones off the major league roster easily like they did with Murton, they would have done so a long time ago. No becuase I don't think Jones will provide much (if any) more than Pie/Pagan in CF. However, if Murton were up and at least platooning with Floyd, I believe he would produce more than Jones. Basically, the production in RF would be much better. Regardless, even if you call it a wash (which I don't think it is), Murton provides what the Cubs need more than Jones which is a) someone who can hit LHP and; b) OBP

I feel the need to illustrate this again: Jones 2007: .233/.294/.335 (215 ABs) 2006: .285/.334/.499 Murton 2007: .252/.331/.336 (119 ABs) 2006: .297/.365/.444 Murton= sent down to the minors because he's "not ready" and he "hasn't produced" in his mere 119 ABs this season. Jones= we better give him another chance despite his numbers being equal to or worse than Murton's last year, and worse this year in almost twice as many ABs Yes, I understand Jones has the ability to play CF (sort of). I don't think it justifies the difference in treatment. Factor in the their respective ages and Jones' poor 2005 and it's a no-brainer.

i said play him. attempt to upgrade elsewhere (RF, SS, C) and play Pie. he's always adjusted well after some time and i expect nothing less at the MLB level. he needs to be out there though.

I think it's more likely that would just get Pie a stay of execution and keep him up when a 12th pitcher is added. Otherwise a position player would have to go and, barring a trade, I think Pie would be the most likely. I tend to agree with NC. I think it will buy Pie some more time on the roster with DeRosa and Jones splitting time in RF and Fontenot at 2B.

why is it okay to dismiss Murton because of 100 bad at-bats (and admittedly poor defense in RF) to start this season? he hasn't earned a little lee-way by performing the last two years (and all through the minors)?

free matt

hahahaha...outstanding

agreed. i think way too much is being made of this. i think (hope) Hendry just figured out it was pointless at the last second. it sounds like the mets might be a viable option for jones with another OF going down. they are also one of the few teams who might be able to take on the salary if Hendry asks for little in return.

back on topic, i'm still not sure what the most likely options are. the biggest areas of need for the cubs are probably SS, CF, C and maybe RF. at SS, i'm not sure what upgrades are really available, except for maybe Renteria. i doubt that with the Braves in the race. of cours A-rod is a very, very long shot. i'd be beyond shocked. CF is tough becuase Hendry won't want to "block" Pie. Lofton might be a possibility. i will once again advocate the idea that maybe Soriano can move back to CF for the rest of the year with Murton in LF and Floyd/DeRosa/Pagan in RF. C is a long shot unless Saltalamachia (too lazy to spell) is available. even then, the Cubs likely don't have the chips to trade for him. in RF there is Abreau, Griffey and a few others depending on how much $ Hendry really is able to take on. certainly getting someone to take on Izturis/Jones salary would be helpful, but i don't see that happening. they don't need to update all of these areas. i think the addition of one big bat along with some roster tweaking could be enough.

I know a lot of people are worried that the Cubs won't be buyers at the deadline because of the pending sale, but looks like it might be the opposite. Good news for the playoff race. A good article from Bruce. Definitely worth the read. Lots of good stuff in there. That all sounds great, but we've already had one transaction shot down by Selig. Who's to say it won't happen again? I'm concerned. i thought that had been de-bunked by now. it was hendry that called off the deal; not selig of zell, no?

They have my attention and I'm starting to become cautiously optimistic. I refuse to get fully excited though until they continue this play for a more prolonged period. I've been burned too many times. I will admit that last Friday (the Ramirez walk-off) was probably the most excited I've been about a game since 2004. I'm trying hard to restrain my expectations though.

i just re-tied it.

I doubt Lou has considered moving Soriano back. His offense and defense are both doing really well right now, and I doubt that Lou wants to mess with that. Also, he probably sees Pie's potential gain as better than Murton's at the moment, especially since Murton has been pretty good since his return to the minors but nothing special in that Iowa lineup. It's admittedly a far fetched idea, but I still believe having Murton in the lineup is better than having Pie/Pagan. I don't have a problem with sending Pie down again and penciling him as the starting CF next season. I question how much playing CF affected Soriano's offense, but I obviously don't know for sure.

If Hendry's hands are really tied money-wise (which I don't believe), than I think there are some internal options that can improve the club slightly. Get rid of Izturis, Jones and Eyre. Send K. Hill down. Call up Cedeno, Murton and Soto. I just posted this in the other Murton thread, but I wonder if Soriano would move back to CF for the remainder of the season. An outfield of Murton-Soriano-Floyd (DeRosa against LHP?) is more productive than what they currently have. vs RHP Soriano CF DeRosa 2B Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Floyd RF Murton LF Cedeno/Theriot SS Soto C vs LHP Soriano CF DeRosa RF Lee 1B Ramirez 3B Murton LF Fontenot 2B Cedeno/Theriot SS Soto C

I'm curious to know if anyone (i.e. Lou) has considered moving Soriano back to CF. Call up Murton and play him in left. Floyd/Pagan in right. I don't see it happening, but I think it would ba a viable option. The problem then becomes what to do with Pie, but you can always shift Soriano to RF in the offseason and start next year with Murton-Pie-Soriano across the OF. It's an easier option than trying to trade for another OFer while possibly upgraded the outfield production by replacing Pagan/Pie with Murton. Basically, if Pie isn't going to play regularly anyway, I'd rather have Murton in the lineup than Pagan.

Nice list, CCP. I was definitely all over Hendry for a few of his moves. I hated the Lilly and Marquis signings. They have been far better than expected, so far. I hesitate to get too excited as we're only half way through season one of a 3-year deal for Marquis and 4-year deal for Lilly. I hope they can continue what they've done to date. I wasn't a big fan of the DeRosa deal becuase I believed the Cubs could get similar production in-house and it was a waste of money. I will say though that DeRosa has exceeded my expectations. I think a big part of that is Lou's willingness to move him around. I didn't like the idea of DeRosa being locked into the everyday 2B job, as was reported when he signed. Much of his value stems from his versatility. Particularly being able to play 3B and RF as those two positions seem to be filled with guys with injury concerns. As I said, I've been pleased with these guys to date, but it's early in their contracts. Of the options available last off season, Hendry seems to have targeted the right guys overall.

92 pitches

quick, somebody bump the derosa thread and make all his supporters eat crow!!! accountability!!! i'm kidding.