don_kessinger_was_good

1. Demote Veal. 2. Cherry won't be back in Chicago for a LONG time. 3. Samardzija is eons from the big leagues. But, 1. Eric Patterson and Jake Fox, keep it comin' boys. 2. Fontenot should be the 25th man in Chicago and not Pagan. 3. Will Hendry EVER learn to sell high? How many of us were clamoring last year to sell Scott Moore?

Time to demote Veal, he's not ready for this level. No progress, if anything, regression. Get him to Daytona and let him stay there all year. There's plenty of time for promotions later.

man, that would have been a good time to pinch hit their rh power bat off the bench. oh wait, they don't have one because this is the worst constructed team 100 mil ever built. Of course, the Cubs had a guy for their bench exactly as you describe, but Jim Hendry decided an injured, going-nowhere, zero-hope AA pitcher was worth more. The guy's name was Phil Nevin, he would've been good to have right about there! 100 years of suck, we're good at one thing at least.....

You need a big hit. Sacks are loaded. One out. Late in the game. You have Ryan Theriot and his good plate patience, and .300+ BA on the bench. Though lefty, you have Daryl Ward and Cliff Floyd available as well, each of whom are fly-ball hitters. So of course, you let Neifi! (Izturis) hit. Brilliant!! Then, the next half-inning, your kid pitcher is clearly tiring. He's pitched a brilliant game. But, he just let a man on in a 1-0 game, and a RH hitter who is quickly becoming a Cub Killer is coming to the plate. So, you go to the mound, and.....leave the kid in. Boink. Home run. Ninth inning, down a run, but not dead yet. De Rosa triples, a mere base hit ties the game! RH pitcher in, Ward (the guy you signed EXACTLY for situations like this) on the bench. You decide to use....Jock Jones. Splat. Ball game! Good call, Dusty!! Er, I mean Lou.

I'd rather have Sammy in RF.

Per the thread title, I am making my call with the draft just a few weeks away now: #1: Tampa--Wieters #2: Kansas City--Moustakas #3: Cubs--Price

I posted in the main thread that KC seems determined to take a bat, there is no way Wieters makes it to #3 (which is probably why the Cubs have given Vitters so much attention in the first place). The incredible scenario is that if Tampa goes for Wieters first, we may actually get David Price. I can live with that outcome, honestly. :D

The report in the other thread regarding Tampa and Wieters is very interesting. The latest I've heard from Royals scuttlebutt is that they are determined to bring in a bat. If Wieters is on the board, the Cubs can forget about him, KC will take him. The intriguing thing is that if Tampa goes that route, KC's attention will immediately turn to Vitters and Moustakas, and they like the lefty better. So incredibly, at #3 the Cubs may actually have David Price on the board. I can't envision any scenario where Wilkins doesn't take him if that is indeed what transpires. How can you pass on Price? :shock:

I would like to borrow the crystal ball many on this thread seem to own, that tells them Marshall "is sure to do worse than Guzman." Please tell me the winning lottery numbers next. Thanks.

My guess: 1. Eyre traded (he can only refuse a trade to 10 teams, so 19 others are fair game). I'll take nothing for him just to be rid of his salary. Plus, I think Lou dislikes his fat body and his lousy attitude. Eyre is a "Dusty-type" guy, not a Lou guy IMO. He's gone. 2. Marmol to setup man. 3. Guzman to setup man. Even when he pitches well, you never get a long outing from Angel. And I think Lou is still taken with how well Gooz pitched as a reliever early in the season and in Arizona. Guzman didn't do his starting pitching potential any help by leaving the Mets game early with his hammy issue. 4. Marshall to rotation. He showed last year he can get big league hitters out. New bullpen rotation would be Dempster still as closer, Marmol, Guzman and Cotts get the 7th/8th inning jobs, Wuertz and Howry demoted to middle relief, Ohman keeps his LOOGY job for now.

If you've won the Cy Young Award seven (!!) times, you likely will be a unanimous 1st ballot HOF-er, and you can still pitch in the big leagues with an ERA consistently under 2.50 then you know what? You can do whatever you want. Clemens is one amazing dude.

As good as Gordon is and will surely become, there were plenty of people in the Royals organization and elsewhere in baseball that have been saying for quite some time they think Butler is actually the better hitter. The kid absolutely rakes. Unlike Gordon though, he has some attitude, there's no doubt about that. He came into town this winter and did a publicity tour. As a AA ballplayer that (at the time) the Royals said would stay there. He was ridiculed for having his own web site, a real self-promoter, but you know what? If you can walk the walk, then have fun and let everyone hear the talky talk. I like him.

Can someone post the up-to-date stats so far on Fox and Colvin? With Pie in the bigs, these two are the position players I'm most interested in. Unrelated--if the Cubs could trade Izturis, is there any reason Fontenot couldn't be a reserve infielder at the ML level? He seems to hit OK, and I think he can play both 2B and 3B, right?

Tim Lincecum, please.

I don't know how to research this information, but it would be very interesting to know about the HS kids Wilken drafted in (say) the 1st and 2nd rounds in earlier drafts, for context if nothing else.

So much for the "Les Walrond could maybe be a serviceable LOOGY if the Cubs trade Ohman" idea. Brian Dopirak==finished. Nice to see Veal have a better outing though.

This is good strategy on the Cubs' part at this early stage of the game. Talk up a different kid to deflect their true interest in Wieters, hoping KC or Tampa flinch and take some combo other than Price/Wieters as 1/2. What the heck, can't hurt. I too am pretty uncomfortable though with another HS player if that really is the Cubs' true intentions. We have had ZERO success with HS bats in this organization for twenty years. Let's not waste another high pick. Go with the semi-proven college talent, please.

That's simply not the case if he's used correctly. I don't understand why people seem so unwilling to believe this. I don't buy the situational pitcher notion - it causes teams to carry too many pitchers. I'd rather have guys who can - heaven forbid - get guys out from both sides of the plate. Yeah, and we don't have that many of them. Eyre can't seem to get anyone out. Nobody else from the minors is likely to offer much help. At least the Cubs have a guy who can get solid LH batters out, which is an important skill in the major leagues, provided you have a manager who knows what he's doing. Ohman's three-year splits: vs LHP: 165/274/286/559 vs RHP: 239/349/369/718 This year Ohman has not really pitched a whole lot, and his biggest problem has been control and allowing XBH's to RH batters. He's really not a bad pitcher. Ohman CAN get righthanded hitters out, but he's no better than average at doing so. On the other hand, he's quite good at getting out lefthanded batters. So he should be facing mostly lefties, but this year 60% of the ABs against him have been by RH batters. That goes on the manager, not the pitcher. Agreed. Ohman is tough on lefties, has been since he hit the big leagues. His problem this year has been his control, not sure what's up with that, but it's still April. I'd rather the Cubs explore moving Eyre before Ohman, Eyre is the one making nearly $4MM and is not really needed in a bullpen with Wuertz, Howry and Dempster. Of course, in his infinite wisdom, Hendry gave Eyre a NTC which kind of throws a monkey-wrench into that plan. :-(

Sorry if I missed it on one of the earlier pages, but is Wieters doing any pitching again this spring? And if so, how is he doing?

I would like to see the Cubs create a package of 2 or 3 players out of Jones, Murton, Eyre, Izturis and Ohman to see if we could get a starting pitcher or quality everyday RF that could help this team. I realize Eyre has a NTC, but I believe it is voidable at the player's option. I want a RF that can offer both quality bat production and good defense, the bat to compensate for Pie in CF (who I'd like to see the Cubs stick with). I like Cliff Floyd's bat, but he is such a defensive problem, and with Soriano likely finally at home in LF, I don't see how you can make Floyd anything other than a 4th OF, you just can't take him in RF on an everyday basis. I know everyone likes Murton, I don't dislike him, but he doesn't have the SLG we truly need from a corner OF. If Murton were a middle infielder, he'd be a keeper, but he's not. What can we do here? A Murton/Floyd platoon in RF might work, I guess in the short-term that is the best solution and just wait for someone to take Jones and Izturis off our hands. Is that the current plan?

Cesar Izturis. Sweet.

Mathes, O'Malley, and Walrond. None of those guys are prospects. Not so sure I'd say that about Walrond, he's a lefty and he's been throwing well. There's always room on a ML roster for a lefty reliever that can throw strikes. In fact, I can think of a team right now, in Chicago, that plays in the NL, that could probably use one.....

Let him go. There is less than a 50% chance he ever pitches in the big leagues again based on past labrum surgeries. Then if he can, there is the question of whether he can even be effective. You're going to pay over $10MM (including 2007) to find out if the option pays off with a 20% likelihood of sucess? No way, use the money for someone that can play and help the team with more certainty, $10MM is a lot of coin. FA-to-be Andruw Jones is one name that immediately comes to mind; Lou's Best Friend Named Alex is another possibility. Bye Mark Prior.

Bingo. Good call.

It's a good thing the Tribune Company is so flush with cash they can afford to pay Mark Prior $4MM again this year to hang out with his dad in Arizona all summer. Oh, wait. They're not flush with cash. And Mark Prior is just misunderstood according to the wailing masses, I get it. Get well soon Mark, we miss you honey! :roll: