Outshined_One

Back problems maybe? Could also be the flu or a hangover; he looked kind of pale and sick.

Oh joy, Carlos Silva is injured. I didn't think you could strain fat.

That's pretty much the case. Also, it's worth noting that a no trade clause can allow a player to block a waiver claim. So, even if a team makes a claim for, say, Carlos Zambrano in the waiver process, Zambrano would still have to approve moving to that team if the Cubs just let him go for nothing. As for the post's topic, I expect Nady and Fontenot to be traded. Baker might be traded, but I could see this team wanting to platoon him with DeWitt. Grabow, Silva, and Fukudome would be nice, but I really don't expect it to happen with any of them. I don't see a team claiming and accepting Zambrano or Soriano outright without the Cubs taking back bad contracts. I don't see the Cubs trading anyone else, either because of no traded clauses or because they're too valuable to the team.

We're doomed! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED! http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/ul/116559-bender-doomed.jpg

Marcus Hatley is listed as the probable starter in the Peoria game tonight. Here's hoping his rehab from TJS continues successfully!

http://www.exposay.com/celebrity-photos/blake-dewitt-2008-mlb-st-louis-cardinals-at-los-angeles-dodgers-3-4-may-25-2008-TPURLU.jpg "My two favorite things are commitment and changing myself."

Box Scores Iowa won 9-5 Box Score CF S. Fuld 0/5, R SS D. Barney 1/4, BB, R, RBI RF B. Snyder 3/5, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2B (26), 2 HR (17), K, Assist (2B) 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/5, R, 2B (27), K LF T. Wright 1/5, R, 2B (4), K DH B. LaHair 2/4, RBI, K, CS (1) 3B M. Smith 1/4, R, RBI, 2 K C C. Robinson 2/4, R, 2 K, E (2, throw), PB (1) 2B M. Camp 3/4, R, PO (1B) SP J. Jackson 6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 8/3 K/BB, HR, HBP, 5-4 GO-FO RP M. Atkins 1 scoreless, 0 H, 1/3 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO RP D. Cales 1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/3 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 6-4 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/4, K RF B. Jackson 0/3, BB, R, 2 K, 2 SB (10), Assist (2B) 3B R. Canzler 0/4, E (11, throw) C R. Chirinos 0/2, 2 BB, 2 R, K DH M. Spencer 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (12), K LF B. Guyer 1/3, R, 3 RBI, HR (8) SS J. Mota 0/3, E (1, fielding) 2B N. Samson 0/3, K SP R. Dolis 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2/1 K/BB, 2 WP, 6-1 GO-FO, E (1, pickoff) RP K. Smit 2.2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, 2-1 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO RP L. Sommer 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/1 K/BB, WP, 1-2 GO-FO RP M. Mateo .2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB Daytona PPD Peoria won 10-7 Box Score SS HJ Lee 3/4, BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (16), K, SB (28), E (29, fielding) 3B M. Cerda 2/5, R, 4 RBI, HR (3) CF M. Szczur 0/2, 2 BB, R, K, HBP 1B J. Bour 0/5, 3 K LF DJ Fitzgerald 1/4, BB, R, RBI, 2 K RF JH Ha 3/5, R, 3 RBI, HR (4), K DH N. Perez 1/5, R, RBI, HR (7), K SP M. Hatley .2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0/2 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO RP N. Struck 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 7-5 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/0 K/BB, WP, 2-1 GO-FO RP R. Morla 2 scoreless, 1 H, 1/1 K/BB, WP, 0-5 GO-FO Boise won 6-5 Box Score 2B P. LePage 2/4, R, RBI, 2B (12), E (4, fielding) DH R. Jones 1/3, 2 BB, RBI, K LF J. Morelli 2/4, BB 1B R. Cuneo 0/4, RBI, K 3B D. Harrington 2/5, R, 3 K C J. Vigurs 0/3, BB, 2 K, PB (4) SS E. Soto 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2B (4), K, SB (2), E (4, throw) CF KM Na 1/4, R, K, SB (5), CS (4) SP A. Kirk 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7/2 K/BB, 4-1 GO-FO RP L. Suarez 2+ IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2/1 K/BB, WP, 4-0 GO-FO RP J. Latham 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0/1 K/BB, WP, 2-3 GO-FO RP A. Kurcz 1.1 scoreless, 0 H, 1/0 K/BB, WP, 1-2 GO-FO AZL Cubs lost 9-7 Box Score 2B PC Chen 0/4, HBP DH B. May 1/3, BB, R, RBI, 2B (1) PR/DH V. Bieneme 0/1, R 3B D. Geiger 1/5, RBI, 2B (2) C S. Burruel 1/3, 2 BB, R, 2B (2) SS W. Darvill 2/5, K, E (1, fielding) SP J. Gaub .1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB RP H. Mayora 2.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 4-1 GO-FO RP A. Reed 2.1 scoreless, 2 H, 5/1 K/BB, 5-0 GO-FO RP TA Wang 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3/1 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Both DSL Cubs teams with off days OVERALL: 4-1

Has that ever happened before, with a player hitting for the cycle with a walkoff hit?

Derrek Lee's happy not to have Ryan Theriot on the team any more.

Wow, either he's bumped his velocity up (which is possible...and awesome) or that gun is a bit hot. MiLB.com made a bit of an error and combined Antigua's and Jung's numbers for a little while, making it look like Antigua went 6 scoreless innings with 11 Ks. I was beginning to wonder what the hell was happening in Beloit.

It took a blown save and another inning, but the Daytona Cubs just won their 13th in a row on a Ryan Flaherty walkoff HR.

The return of Zambrano!

Are you laughing because the Dodgers got swindled or because you think the Pirates got a bad player? I kinda like Lambo, despite his struggles. Dodgers got swindled, imo. McDonald for Dotel was iffy enough as it was.

Some men...you just can't reach.

Damn you Bill Simmons! You said the Ewing Theory would kick in at times like this!!! YOU LIED TO ME.

Wait until August for those to be handled through waivers.

It took 20 years, but Ebert finally got around to seeing it.

I can't shake the instinct that Lee will never hit enough to be an impact major leaguer. Fast, slick fielding, no-hit utility MIs are not that uncommon, and not that valuable. I also can't shake the instinct that these extreme boom/bust type of prospects bust way more often than they boom. It should go without saying that I home my instincts are wrong in both instances. Regarding both of your responses, my preferences in prospects tends to be more in favor of ceiling over current tools, with some production thrown into the mix. Both Lake and Lee have done a good enough job at the plate to merit consideration here. However, you are correct, the odds of them reaching their respective ceilings, much less reaching the majors, are not particularly high. I'll be shocked if either of them even come close to their ceilings. There are plenty of reasons for doubt, but there is also enough optimism for me to rank them where I did.

McNutt's back! Looks like the layoff did him some good: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

With Brett Wallach in the system, I'm slotting him into my list at #14, knocking Micah Gibbs off. Good ceiling and a reasonably good performance as a 21 year old in the MWL, but control problems make me a bit leery. Some random comments on my list... 1) I get the feeling Hak-Ju Lee is going to get a ton of love in offseason prospect lists. Hell, I could see BA naming him the Cubs' top prospect. Between his age, performance, excellent defense, and legit 80 speed, it's easy to dream on his upside. I'm inclined to agree with those people. 2) I really, really hope Lake is turning around and not just going through an extended hot streak. His April and May were abysmal. His defense at SS is still suspect. Still, if there's anyone in this system who has a Hanley Ramirez-like ceiling, it's Lake. Hard to keep that out of the top 10. 3) I had a hard time ranking Barney, Flaherty, and LeMahieu relative to one another. Barney should be a good defender at SS and is basically ML-ready, but he won't be much of a hitter. Flaherty faltered at AA and will have to move off of SS, but he's picked himself back up at Daytona and has the best bat of the three. Being 24 doesn't help, though. LeMahieu has projection and is the youngest of the three, but holy crap do I hate his swing. Yeah, he could learn how to pull the ball and his body has some power in it, but that just isn't the way I've seen him approach hitting. Plus, the IsoD sucks. I'm not a huge fan of his.

Does Hendry not understand how this process works? Apparently not. As was discussed earlier in the thread, the Cubs have not received compensation for losing a Type A free agent since Jim Hendry took over as GM. The Cubs haven't lost a whole lot of Type A guys to free agency during his tenure, but it's still kind of telling in terms of how Hendry handles these matters.

Callis' take on the Lilly trade.

Lambo already has two drug-related suspensions under his belt. One more and he's out. I did not realize drugs of abuse had the same penalty structure as PEDs. Nevermind. My initial statement was incorrect, although drugs of abuse can have the same penalties. Apparently Lambo's 50 game suspension was a result of Lambo's second failed drug test (although, rumor has it he failed more) for a drug of abuse. MLB's Drug Policy isn't exactly clear how MLB deals with drugs of abuse when players test positive. Jeremy Jeffress was slapped with a 50 game suspension a few years ago for testing positive for marijuana, then got smacked with a 100 game suspension when he tested positive again, which is comparable to the PED penalty structure. However, Jeffress, according to some reports, had failed a number of drug tests for marijuana prior to his 50 game suspension. Assuming Lambo is officially on Strike 1, he'll get a 100 game suspension next time he fails. So, you can definitely get the heave-ho in MLB for testing positive for recreational drugs too many times.

The PTBNL is Andrew Lambo, bwahahahahahahahahaha.

Ankiel and Farnsworth to the Braves. Also, OF John Bowker is going with Martinez to the Pirates in the Lopez deal. Nice trade for the Pirates.