Cubbie Swagger

Oops, that was dew... I was confused. And an ERA in the 1's and 2's is also in the "David Weathers, Arthur Rhodes, and a few guys out of the Sox bullpen who might get moved if the Sox don't start winning" range.

I'm not suggesting we trade a bunch of prospects for a closer. I'm suggesting we shop around and see if we can get a solid late-inning reliever without giving up much. And if not, then forget it. I wasn't the one who brought up 2005, it was Mojo. And also, I'm not suggesting we bring in a guy with an ERA in the 3's to replace Gregg. I'm suggesting we bring in a guy with an ERA in the 1's or 2's to replace maybe Heilman or Patton. Then, completely independent of that transaction, I would move Marmol to the closer spot once he gets his control back on track.

That 1-2 pitch looked like a strike... Nice play, Blanco! CUBS WIN!

Come on Gregg, seriously. Wells needs a win. And if Gregg does blow this, I'm pretty sure Wells will take it upon himself to remove Gregg from our roster.

I don't think it would be very hard to pry a good reliever away from a team that has no chance of making the postseason. We could probably get a guy like David Weathers, Arthur Rhodes, etc fairly easily. I mean, think about all the good relievers we've given away for nothing over the last few years... we just need someone to do the same to us... IMHO, a 3.73 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP are not good enough to close for a team of the Cubs' caliber. Especially since I wouldn't be surprised to see those numbers go up as the year progresses. I do agree, though, that we should go with Marmol or Guzman. I'm just saying, if we did that, we should get someone to replace the role currently occupied by either Marmol or Gooz.

I'm not a big fan of Woody as a closer. I was hoping he would get better after getting some experience in that role... but he hasn't been too great this year. Well... how can you eliminate his starts, and then say his numbers were good for a guy bouncing between the rotation and the pen? That would only apply if you were including both his starts and his relief appearances... and 4.42 is not acceptable for a closer, even if he starts 30 games a year and closes full time :-)) I haven't checked, but I'm sure Michael Wuertz isn't making 10 mil this year, and we didn't need to part with any prospects to make him our set-up man. My point is that we don't need to go get a big-name closer. There are plenty of really good set-up type relievers that don't make alot of money. We could acquire one of them, make Marmol the closer, and make Gregg the 7th inning guy. I realize that it's possible Marmol won't be as good as a closer as he is as a set-up man, but I would at least like to see how it works.

JAKE FOX! Why does it seem like he's always hitting the ball off the wall and to the track? Woulda been nice to see a grand slam there...

D-Lee!

You just had to beat me to it :-))

So... now that Guzman is on the DL... does that change anything? Now we have ANOTHER guy that we can't use in close games (Hart)... Gregg had nine blown saves last year... that's just too much. He has also never really had a good ERA in his career. It's been anywhere from mid-3's to over 5... and that's too much for a closer.

Man it is such a relief to see Geo finally hitting. I knew it would happen eventually... just glad it's sooner rather than later. Now if we can just get Bradley to start slugging, Kosuke to stop slipping, and Soriano to start doing SOMETHING... plus getting Rammer back... we might be okay...

I really needed someone to say that. Im lacking in confidence right now. The way I see it is that the Cardinals and Brewers are about as good now as they're going to be (save for any trades they make). The Cubs may not improve, but they have by far the most room to do it. Apparently the Cards and Brewers have both been looking at Pedro as well. I think he would help those teams alot more than us... since they have no pitching. We should snag him just to keep him out of the division.

Did anyone else notice? Alot of people continue to ridicule him, but he's actually been picking it up. Peep these numbers: Before hitting streak: .208 BA, .327 OBP, .368 SLG As of today: .241 BA, .344 OBP, .380 SLG (decent progress for only 9 games) Month of April: .118 BA, .333 OBP, .294 SLG Month of May: .268 BA, .348 OBP, .439 SLG Month of June: .297 BA, .350 OBP, .351 SLG The guy needs to get his SLG% up quite a bit, but I'm glad to see him turning things around. I think he'll be just fine as long as he can stay healthy. He is too talented to continue to fail.

I wouldn't call Fukudome a bust just yet. If his numbers keep declining, then sure, but I'm not ready to give up just yet. Especially after today's game. I agree with you on Soriano... both on the contract, and on him hitting leadoff. (Although, who could be okay with his contract?) As far as Milton... I don't think he's a waste yet either. He's started hitting lately, and we know the guy has talent. It's just a matter of him staying healthy, and if he does, I think he will hit.

Guzman has the makings to be that "stud reliever," and Ascanio has shown he could be adapting well to the bullpen roll. Those two and Marmol plus Gregg and Heilmann and then whoever is a very solid pen. That very well could be... but I don't really see Lou making Guzman the closer or setup man in 2009. Although I wouldn't be against trying him out in such a role. The Cubs do not have a pressing need to switch up their closer's spot right now. Well, maybe not right this second, but they did earlier in the year, and they will again very soon. Just because Gregg hasn't imploded lately doesn't mean he's a good closer, IMHO. I'm just not a fan of Kevin Gregg (if you couldn't tell :-)) ) and I don't trust him to close out games that matter.

Someone offered me Kurt Suzuki for Evan Longoria straight up. I had to read the offer like 4 times before I was sure that I wasn't missing any players.

Guzman has the makings to be that "stud reliever," and Ascanio has shown he could be adapting well to the bullpen roll. Those two and Marmol plus Gregg and Heilmann and then whoever is a very solid pen. That very well could be... but I don't really see Lou making Guzman the closer or setup man in 2009. Although I wouldn't be against trying him out in such a role.

Not that I expect a reasonable answer out of you, but what teams have a chance at being world series champs? I am reasonable. It's hard to tell before the trade deadline. But this team doesn't look like is all it needs is Ramirez and Mark .757 OPS Teahen to win the World Series. Can he even play 2b competently? According to espn he's only played 3 games at 2b... for a total of 23 innings. He didn't make any errors... but that's still not much experience. And... I don't know if we should be trading for someone to replace ARam temporarily, just so they can sit on the bench when he returns. If it was someone that could move over to second, then it might make sense.

I understand that. My point is being missed again. I'm just saying that it would be nice to have pitchers who are good enough to use in clutch situations, whether it's the regular season or the WS. We have guys down there just to fill out the roster that only get used in blowouts... and I think we could use another reliable option down there to solidify things. And I know nobody is really defending Patton here, but I think it's ridiculous that we have someone on our roster just because we can't send him down. If the guy isn't ready, let him go. It's not like he's gonna be the next Cy Young... Most teams have a reliever or two that aren't completely trustworthy. I'd rather let Patton go back to the Rockies as well, but he's not going to be the difference between making the playoffs/winning the World Series and not making the postseason. Heilman can be a solid reliever and is quite suited to his sixth reliever out of the pen role. There really aren't that many bullpens that have very good to great pitchers as their sixth reliever. As long as our top five are good (which it's appearing more and more that they are), we have plenty of depth for most occasions. Yeah, I feel you. You're correct. I would just love to see Gregg at least moved into a 7th inning role. I think if we could pick up a stud reliever (either an 8th or 9th inning guy) to pair with Marmol at the end, we would have a good pen. Since Patton is used so sparsely, he hasn't been that big of a problem, but he's still using a roster spot :)

I understand that. My point is being missed again. I'm just saying that it would be nice to have pitchers who are good enough to use in clutch situations, whether it's the regular season or the WS. We have guys down there just to fill out the roster that only get used in blowouts... and I think we could use another reliable option down there to solidify things. And I know nobody is really defending Patton here, but I think it's ridiculous that we have someone on our roster just because we can't send him down. If the guy isn't ready, let him go. It's not like he's gonna be the next Cy Young...

Every single time. Even when he was asked about it without it actually happening, he whined. Link? Don't you watch press conferences and interviews? I wouldn't even know where to look for that kind of stuff on the internet, and frankly, I have better things to do. The whole concept of him saying that he's more comfortable in the leadoff spot, and that he wants to hit there, can be considered borderline whining. I've heard him say more than that, though. I mean... even Milton doesn't make comments about where he hits in the lineup. When Lou stuck him in the 6 hole, I didn't hear a peep. Not sure who that is.

Every single time. Even when he was asked about it without it actually happening, he whined. Because he is not a leadoff hitter! Sure, you can argue that the goal of ANY baseball player is to cross home plate. However, what makes him different from any other slugger? Why don't the Sox hit Jim Thome leadoff? Why doesn't Washington solve their problems by sticking Adam Dunn in the leadoff spot? Both those guys score runs, so they must be good leadoff hitters, right? FWIW, both those guys would be better than Soriano at hitting leadoff, because they both actually get on base. I don't see how anyone can argue that our best power hitter should bat with the bases empty all the time. He doesn't get on base, he doesn't steal bases, he doesn't hit for average... he doesn't do a single thing that a leadoff hitter should be able to do. It just doesn't make sense, and it never did. Soriano could accelerate the process of scoring runs alot more if he had people hitting ahead of him who actually got on base.

What's wrong with Ryan Freel? He's been consistently around .270-.280 with a .350 OBP in his career. That's plenty good for a backup infielder.

As SSR said, Heilman and Patton don't have roles that would put them in close situations late in the game. I also never said anything about Patton, I like his potential but he's not ML ready yet. As for Gregg, the Marlins wanted rid of him because he was about to make $5+ million and they don't have much of a payroll. It certainly wasn't his 120 or so ERA+s the last couple of years. Gregg can be a solid reliever and that's likely what he'll be this season. Last time I checked, Gregg lost his role as closer in the middle of the season. That had nothing to do with salary. EDIT: And I realize that Heilman and Patton would not be go-to guys in the World Series. My point was just that we need to fill out our bullpen with pitchers who are good enough to do just that. I want people in there that actually create a sense of "security" when they take the mound.

Nobody is complaining about Gooz Alright, Guzman has been pitching well. I just mean that I don't think Marmol should be one of our biggest concerns... he's talented enough that I think he will pull out of it and improve his control. I think our focus should be on figuring out how we can replace Gregg, Heilman, and Patton. I know there is alot of talk about how we need to pick up a bat... but I'd rather pick up a stud reliever or closer. Even if we win the division, there is no way we'll go anywhere in the playoffs with our current bullpen. Talented, veteran hitters will eat them up. Gregg over the last month: 1.64 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 9:3 K:BB It's only 11 innings, but that's close to half the innings he's pitched this season. I don't understand the rush to get rid of him. Heilman has also pitched well the last two weeks, though granted in just 5 innings of work. Those are the stats you give to the other ball club as a sales pitch when we try to trade them. Seriously, I don't care if their numbers have been good lately. They still suck. Florida wanted Gregg gone, and somehow we decided that someone who wasn't good enough to pitch for the Marlins was exactly what we were looking for in a world series-caliber closer. And Heilman is pretty much garbage, too. My dad is a Mets fan, and he was almost dancing in the streets when they got rid of him. Then when he got traded to the Cubs, he told me that I would learn to hate him just as much as he did. Well, he was certainly right. You're saying you'd feel comfortable with Heilman, Gregg, or Patton on the mound in a close world series game? I certainly wouldn't.