ZZ Thorn

I'm almost postive it was the Reds - it makes sense McCoy talked with Reds, and not Cubs, management and they were the ones who said too steep. Hill has an above average fastball for a lefthander. He's dominated AAA and pitched 5+ no hit innings in the bigs earlier this year. He should be at the very least a great LOOGY, if not a good starter. But I give him up for Dunn, even with Woody's problems. EDIT: Sheesh, another bad outing by Remmy and Rusch. Why did we send Hill down to AAA again? I hope we get Dunn without giving up Hill, dump Remmy and call up Hill.

Man, y'all are pretty skeptical about Nomar. I think he's going to provide a big lift offensively. Nomar was off to a bad start, but the guy can still hit. He wouldn't come back and jeopardize his career if he wasn't healthy. Defensively he's not Neifi, but he's still pretty good. Offensively he sure isn't Neifi. Should we land a real LFer, our 6-7-8 going Burnitz, Nomar, Barrett would be pretty freakin sweet.

The poster who started this rumor got banned? I sure was surprised when, while eating a KFC BBQ sandwich and green beans in Flint, Michigan* before going to see "Return of the Night of the Living Dead" (or whatever), they brought it up but they certainly did. I bet Rocket Sauce knows the writer for the Dayton Daily News I referred to - Reds announcer "the Old Lefthander" Joe Nuxhall called him an HOFer, pretty sure his name is Hal McCoy. I don't doubt the legitmacy of the rumor. *My god, Flint is so much better than Gary. And Flint still sucks. It's really kind of depressing for me: Gary must be THE worst city in the USA. 100,000+ people living in a near-total dump, run by the steel companies, who refuse to pay their taxes to the city. There is so much many more OPEN businesses here, so fewer houses boarded up - man, my town sucks! What on earth is going to happen to Gary? How is it going to ever turn itself around? Can they do it without an influx of white people and all their political/socioeconomic power? Sorry for the rant, but the movie's deserted city locales reminded me of Gary - and then I'm driving around Flint and it's so much better.... I half expect to get home to Gary and be attacked by zombies - they'd feel right at home.

If that is indeed the case, then it makes this rumor even more confusing.... Did the Cubs or the Reds deny this trade? On that one link someone posted, the fans there were saying Hendry said the price was too steep. So it was the Cubs who denied this trade. I think You know, like I said, the way the guy worded the "too steep" was confusing to me. Did someone really say that Hendry said it was too steep? Man, if that's true Hendry must be on crack. If he wants Dunn, he must be certain he can afford to keep him here for a while. Williams and Welly serve as backup for Mitre, so that can't be the sticking point. Hill is a tough guy to lose, especially since we've lost Sisco and Jones -maybe Hendry is trying to work his magic and get them to accept a Pinto or Nolasco - but even if Hill turns out to be an All-Star, Dunn can be one too. Pie will be an OFer - we still have too much pitching depth to not make that trade I figure. I remember the sportswriter saying the Reds said it was too steep - but like I said it was funny the way he put it so unfortunately I can't say 100% I remember it right. It never occured to me the Cubs would reject that trade, so maybe I was just listening for what I 'wanted to hear.' But you can take that stuff about Randa to the bank!

I heard some of the Reds broadcast tonight, and maybe this has been posted, but a HOF reporter from the Dayton Daily News (Hal McCoy I think?) said that the Cubs did indeed offer CP, Hill and Mitre for Dunn. He called Hill the top pitcher in our system. He said the Reds turned it down cuz it was 'too steep,' by which I guess he meant our asking price (Dunn) was too steep. They made a good point: if the Reds want somebody from someone's starting rotation, no playoff contender is going to do that. He said he figures the Reds are going to hold onto Dunn and then try to trade him in the offseason, when they have a better chance of picking up that rotation-quality starter. If they can't trade him, they'll take Dunn to arbitration. So I guess they definitely did make an offer. He also said if he was a betting man he'd bet on Randa getting traded. Gosh, if we are one player away from, in this deal, getting Dunn I'd definitely also give up one of: Welly Rusch Remmy Leicester Pretty much any prospect they'd ask for basically, Pie is the only guy I'd so no deal right away to really. There's no one in the pen other than Dempster that I wouldn't part with either. I'd be glad to see Dunn take CPs spot. Mitre is totally expendable. Hill is a top prospect but to get Dunn I'd totally do it.

That's me! :D I figured that was a model or somebody's girlfriend. LOL, am I the only one that thinks that's funny? "somebody's girlfriend" may not equal model... Oh never mind, I have a twisted sense of humor. Thanks for the compliment. :D No they don't equate. I've known plenty of guys with girlfriends who're only fit to model socks. Just stating the facts, but you're welcome.

My understanding was that an 80% success rate stealing was the mark at which it becomes 'good,' i.e. overall statistically beneficial to the team So even if Pierre isn't at 80%, he's close enough. I'd trade CP for Pierre in a heartbeat that's for sure. The majority on this board thought Carlos Lee for Podsednik was a huge steal by the Brewers when it went down - but not me, and certainly not the Sox. So while I'm surprised at the dislike of Pierre here, it's not the first time I've thought a speedster was undervalued. He'd be great in our lineup. Imagine him leading off and Pie hitting second for oh, 10 years. =P~

That's me! :D No kidding! I figured that was a model or somebody's girlfriend. Well you are one good looking gal. And since good-looking gals usually get what they want, I guess you can keep the DLee sig. :wink:

Good Lord, you played golf in this heat?? :shock: Yes i know. It's very hot here in Louisville. I live in Jefferson County, you? You played too? I played 9 holes in Midland, MI today, where it's much cooler and was a beautiful day for my first time on the course this year. I shot an 11 over par 47. I don't think Tiger Woods is worried. How'd you do? I did horrible. I think I ended up like fifteen over par. Which is bad when the course is so small. I went with a friend, though. So we were just there for gits and shiggles. We had a good time. Yeah golf is more fun than I thought it'd be.... But back to Dunn - this deal is too good to be true.

Good Lord, you played golf in this heat?? :shock: Yes i know. It's very hot here in Louisville. I live in Jefferson County, you? You played too? I played 9 holes in Midland, MI today, where it's much cooler and was a beautiful day for my first time on the course this year. I shot an 11 over par 47. I don't think Tiger Woods is worried. How'd you do?

Funny story: several years back I'm seeing a Royals game, and I'm in the outfield seats right by the bullpen and Bottallico is warming up. I'm wasted, as are my pals, and we spend an inning screaming at Bottallico: stuff like "you're the man," "you got the juice," "they got nuthin'","blow em away with the high heat" etc. He no doubt hears us - as he leaves to try and close out the game he whips his cup of gatorade to the ground in an act of totally cool toughness. We go wild. He gives up the game winning home run to the first batter he faces. He is not good. I thought when he came up with the Phillies he'd turn out better.

lol, why do you say that? And don't say it's because of 300+ posts and 9000+ views in less than a day. . . What I want to know is if we get Dunn will Vance and Roast actually go outside? :P

Blueheart your sig really messes with my low speed dial up. No big deal, just thought I'd mention it. Who's the gal in your (thankfully) oversized avatar?

Dunn for CP, Mitre and Hill - sounds too good to be true. Especially from a first time poster. If someone is pulling a goof like this they picked the right board to do it on.

I do like gals.... Double aargh! No game again tonight! Damn you Flint, MI! Not showing the game AND being all better than my hometown of Gary too.... It's worth it tho, with this cake of a week. Played golf today (while getting paid no less) for the first time this year - 11 over par for 9 holes (I don't loike golf enough to spend 5 hours walking around a golf course in the sun), which is not bad for a novice like me (this is my third year of playing). 4 pars even. I saw the first post in that Dunn rumor thread - that'd be a killer deal for us. Doubt if it's real, but that'd be awesome....

Hendry said he likely won't be up until Sept. callups. One thing to keep in mind is that a player's development is never done - if baseball is a game of one thing is a game of adjustments. I agree Pie would be better served to spend some more time in the minors, since there's no huge need for him and since he's particularly inexperienced, but if he can't make adjustments he won't last anyway. CP may have been rushed, but he never made adjustments well, and if he can't make them now in AAA he'll never amount to anything. I think Pie, probably due to his inexperience, is more adaptable than CP.

Getting him to widen his stance and not stand so tall is a good start. Why a guy his height doesn't crouch more is beyond me - oh yeah, it's cuz he's such a good natural athlete he never had to learn these kind of tricks his whole life.

Thank God were saving our season by beating up on the patsies like we should! I'd say we'll know just how good this team is by Aug. 8. After this series vs. the Reds we have a stretch of 16 games, 13 of which are against wild card contenders - it'll decide if we're contenders or pretenders. 3 vs the Cards - HUGE SERIES! If we maintain the momentum and win this series we'll be primed to beat up SF in 3 vs the Giants then it'll be tooth and nail vs. good but not great teams 4 vs the Dbacks 3 vs the Phillies 3 vs the Mets Hopefully our starting pitching keeps dominating, we'll make improvements thru trades and not do any white-flag deals, Nomar returns around then and we'll be flying high. Can't just play .500 during this stretch. Can't let the Cards squash our momentum.

"The Wrigley boo-birds that had gotten into LaTroy Hawkins' head turned their attention to center field. Nobody loves you and leaves you quite like Cubs fans." So this is our new rep....

Need a closer...Dempster's converted save percentage was second in MLB if I recall correctly. I think Williamson is going to be a huge lift to our pen. With everyone else coming back from surgery so thoroughly and so quickly why not him? He's a very effective reliever and will really provide us a boost. If we can get another bullpen arm we're going to have a very good bullpen - funny considering how bad we were there at the beginning of the season. Just don't rush him back Dusty.

just as loses should never be put on one player, neither should wins, so I know what you are saying with that. I don't think he is solely responsible for anything, but I think his presence at the lineup has helped quite a bit. the sample size you are using to make your point is too small to be significant. ie. if Hairston goes 2 for 3 with a walk tonight, his OBP for July is up to .333. if he goes 2 for 4 the next night, his OBP for the month is up to .354. if he did that and the Cubs won both games, would you grudgingly give him a little more credit? Gladly! I hope he goes 90 for his next 91. My post was agreeing with the fact the Hairston hasn't done much since being moved to the leadoff spot. I heard a bit of the game on xm radio today, and the Reds announcer said the same thing - that Hairston has done well as our new leadoff guy, but he really hasn't. He's just been in the right place at the right time: he took over right when we started playing better. Thus far, I already pointed out what I think are the reasons behind our success, tho I didn't mention the most meritorious: great starting pitching.

BUMP Hairston, other than that grand slam, hasn't done squat as our leadoff hitter. He's been slumping for a while now. He has definitely not been the reason for our recent good offense. He may be doing a tad better than CP in the leadoff spot, but that's not saying much at all. how is an OBP of .367 batting leadoff "not doing squat." isn't it more that a "tad better" than Corey's .268 OBP in the leadoff spot? he's in a little mini-slump since the All star break. no big wup. Beyond that, Hairston will take some pitches and make the pitcher work a little, on the rare occassion Patterson attempted to work the pitcher, he'd fall right back into swing at anything mode the very next at bat. My point was that since CP was sent down Hairston hasn't done much, and that our recent string of Ws should not be attributed to him. .255/.305/.418 in the month of July. Barely better than CP, and CP totally sucked, so if he can't improve on CP.... 4/23 w/1 walk since the ASB. I'm glad he's there instead of Corey, who was a major daily downer, but to give Hairston more than a tiny bit of credit for our recent success is giving him too much. He did do well in the Florida series, along with many other Cubs, and not along with Florida, who played terribly, about as bad as we did versus Atlanta. If you could avoid mentioning anytime there is an Atlanta series directly followed by a Florida series it would be greatly appreciated...the memories are not good... LOL, imagine the associations we'd have if they didn't sweep the Fish before the ASB. We'd be saying they ended our season...again.

Go to a bar, and ask them to watch the game there. *shrug* Couldn't hurt. I thought about it - that's pretty much my only chance. I've done it before, and I've never had a bar/restaurant turn me down. In the past couple years I had to do that for Bears games when I was on the road. Gotta get your spot early for football.... Sauce I do have xm radio, but that's in my car. I love the Cubs, but I'm not sitting in a parked car for 2.5 hours tonight just to hear the game. I'm already at my hotel, with another 2 hour work day planned for tomorrow, and Thursday too. I plan on playing golf for the first time this year tomorrow. So if I miss a game, with this awesomely easy week I set up it's worth it. Figured this place would have it.... no high speed land line and no WGN! Honestly, I will ask a hotel when making the reservation to check if they have WGN, but I'm like 4 hours from the Chi, I thought for sure they'd get WGN.

BUMP Hairston, other than that grand slam, hasn't done squat as our leadoff hitter. He's been slumping for a while now. He has definitely not been the reason for our recent good offense. He may be doing a tad better than CP in the leadoff spot, but that's not saying much at all. how is an OBP of .367 batting leadoff "not doing squat." isn't it more that a "tad better" than Corey's .268 OBP in the leadoff spot? he's in a little mini-slump since the All star break. no big wup. Beyond that, Hairston will take some pitches and make the pitcher work a little, on the rare occassion Patterson attempted to work the pitcher, he'd fall right back into swing at anything mode the very next at bat. My point was that since CP was sent down Hairston hasn't done much, and that our recent string of Ws should not be attributed to him. .255/.305/.418 in the month of July. Barely better than CP, and CP totally sucked, so if he can't improve on CP.... 4/23 w/1 walk since the ASB. I'm glad he's there instead of Corey, who was a major daily downer, but to give Hairston more than a tiny bit of credit for our recent success is giving him too much. He did do well in the Florida series, along with many other Cubs, and not along with Florida, who played terribly, about as bad as we did versus Atlanta.

If we get Dunn (highly improbable) or anyone who Ks as much as CP does, I sure hope CP goes in the deal. Should CP return, he'll still likely K a ton except this time he'll actually get hits, but 2 enormous K rate guys is not what I'd like to see.