Outshined_One

But this gets back to UK's point...how will we know Pie will be better than Colvin both offensively and defensively? We all know Pie's ceiling is really good and justifiably merits him being considered one of the Top 25 prospects in all of baseball, but any number of things could happen to him. Let's look at the best case scenario. Even though it may not happen, assume for the sake of the argument that Pie wins the CF job out of spring training in 2007. Over the next two seasons, Pie goes on to play at a high level and lives up to his expectations. Come 2009, Jacque Jones' contract is up and Colvin is ready to be called up to the majors, showing himself to be a bit above average in CF and shows that he could be an ideal middle of the order hitter who can post good OBPs with 20-25 HRs. Pie moves to RF and Colvin gets CF, while the Cubs don't have much in the way of salary tied up in the OF while getting good production from CF and RF. The odds of that happening are miniscule, but it's nice to dream. However, there's always the chance that Pie pulls a CPatt while Colvin goes on to put up Murton-like numbers in High A & AA (only with less patience and better power). If Colvin can put up a comparable OPS to Murton, only from CF with better D, wouldn't that make this pick worthwhile? I'm not predicting Colvin will be an All Star or even make the majors. However, I think this board has largely been jumping the gun with ripping on him and the Cubs for making that pick. The Northwest League is not a place with greatly lesser talent than what Colvin faced in college. Plenty of top college draft picks have started at a comparable or lower level than Colvin. A number of us have also been horribly wrong on a number of occasions when it comes to projecting these things. I'm happy to admit to being among those people. What's going to matter the most for him is next season. He'll probably start in Peoria but be fast-tracked if he performs well enough. We'll find out, one way or another.

Heck, make Chris Speier the interim coach and let the minor league coaches come up and see what they can do. At worst, you offer them their old jobs in the offseason.

Who? There's obviously a huge drop-off after #4. Eric Patterson, Tyler Colvin (yes, I am high on him), Scott Moore, and then possibly JK Ryu, Mitch Atkins and Jake Fox, depending on how the rest of the season pans out and what scouting reports/first-hand accounts come out about each (if Fox will stick at C, Atkins could still add some velocity, Ryu gets called up and has a few good starts). Also, it depends on how you define the whole prospect thing. If some one like Guzman or Marmol would qualify, I would definitely put him above Mateo.

Mateo? Really? I can think of a couple of guys I'd put over him without much trouble...

That's always a good sign. Still, we'll see how he develops and if he can stick at CF.

I think the chances of Zambrano attempting to decapitate Jason Bay at some point in this game are about 2-1.

Sweet! Get Hendry on it!!!

Tough 1-0 loss for Iowa and JK Ryu tonight; Bizarro Derek Lee had a two hit CG SO. West Tenn knotted at 2 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Scott Moore got the start at SS. Daytona got clobbered 8-1 with Ryan Harvey getting the lone Daytona RBI. Peoria with a good showing in tonight's game, winning 3-1. Almost everyone chipped in with hits, walks, and quality contributions. Robert Hernandez got off to a rough start in Mesa, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits, and 2 BBs in 3 IP. Mesa is losing 3-1 in the 4th.

Box Scores Iowa lost 5-4 Box Score CF F. Pie 0/4 2B E. Patterson 0/2, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 K DH M. Restovich 1/4, R, K 3B C. McGehee 2/4, E (13, fielding) RF B. Coats 0/3, BB, 2 K LF L. Montanez 1/4, K C J. Reyes 2/3 SP R. Wells 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5/2 K/BB, 4-7 GO-FO RP C. Rapada .1 scoreless, 1 H, 1-0 GO-FO, E (2, throw) West Tenn lost 3-1 Box Score CF C. Walker 1/5, R, 2B (22), K 3B S. Moore 1/4, BB, K 1B B. Sing 1/3, 2 BB RF M. Negron 3/5, 2B (18), CS (5), Assist (Home) 2B R. Lewis 0/4, BB, K PH J. Fox 0/1, K SP JR Mathes 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 10-2 GO-FO RP T. Atlee 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2-3 GO-FO RP A. Mendez 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO Daytona cancelled: Hurricane. Peoria lost 3-0 Box Score 2B V. Heredia 1/4, 2B (1), K, SB (2), E (1, fielding) SS R. Chirinos 0/3, BB, K 1B R. Norwood 0/4, K 3B K. Reynolds 0/4, 2 K LF A. Garcia 1/3, BB, 3B (3), SB (2) C M. Reed 0/3, BB, PB (4) RF Y. Carter 1/3, K CF D. Gregg 1/3, Assist (Home) SP F. Jimenez Angulo 5 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2/1 K/BB, Balk, 2 HBP, 4-7 GO-FO RP J. Yepez 2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, WP, 2-2 GO-FO Boise won 9-4 Box Score CF M. Camp 2/5, R, 2 RBI, 2B (11), 2 SB (20) LF T. Colvin 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (7), 2 K 1B R. Canzler 3/4, 2 R, 3B (4), K RF A. Joseph 0/2, 2 BB, 2 R, K, SB (8), 2 Assists (2B, Home) 3B J. Lansford 2/4, R, 3 RBI, 2 2B (7), K 2B S. Clevenger 1/3, R, RBI 2B P. Lopez 1/1 DH DJ Lewis 0/4, R, K SP B. Muldowney 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR, HBP, 6-5 GO-FO Mesa with an off day. OVERALL: 1-3

David Price, here we come!

Thanks for the pics! They're spiffy. :D

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry about that folks, I fell asleep with my hw last night. Law school is rough. :(

Can we fire Dusty now? Please?

I jush wanna kish you...

Rick Sutcliffe is wasted.

Ohman is awesome against lefties. Against everyone else...that's another matter altogether.

He's listed at 6'3 240 pounds. I take it there's room to lose some of the baby fat and add muscle?

HR/9, BB/9, and WHIP. He doesn't strike me as a future ace due to the lack of Ks, but as long as he keeps those three things in line, he should have a good future. Whether or not he does is anyone's guess, but a 19 year old performing at this level is always a positive thing.

Malone is done for the year. He will leave Peoria in the AM to see the Cubs doctors tomorrow and then head to Mesa to start rehab/get ready for surgery if its needed. Tough loss for the team and obviously a tough situation for Ryne. Aw man, that stinks. :( He was doing really well, especially considering where he was drafted. Here's hoping he makes a full recovery soon!

In order for the trade to go down, the Cubs would have to receive prospects not on the Phillies' 40 man roster or the Phillies have to pass their own guys through waivers. I have trouble seeing the latter scenario happening. The Phillies' farm system sucks, by the way. Most of their top positional prospects have slumped badly this season.

Is that even a possibility? If Ramirez opts out and leaves, I could see this team being almost completely blown up and started over from scratch next season. This team needs his bat in the absolute worst way. I simply cannot see many situations in which he could leave and the Cubs would be able to pick up his slack (Soriano and Carlos Lee?). However, I don't think that'll happen. Hendry would be run out of town if he let Ramirez walk away.

Some of those decisions are rather questionable, although I think starting Nolasco and Johnson in the minors would have been justified. Johnson and Nolasco spent significant portions of last year in AA and could have benefited from some more seasoning in AAA (especially since Nolasco bombed at AAA when the Cubs tried him there). I can't say Girardi's going to be the perfect manager, but it's clear he would be an upgrade and would provide some much-needed accountability.

Age-wise, he's fine for AA (currently 22). The question everyone has is whether or not Moore can stick at 3B. While a number of people (including Former Daytona broadcaster Bo Fulginiti and current West Tenn broadcaster Ron Potesta) say that he actually is much better than people give him credit for, Moore has a number of errors on the season that are cause for some concern. If he can stick at the hot corner and keep those errors to a minimum, no doubt he'll be a fine 3B in the majors given his power and patience. However, if he has to move to 1B or the OF, his value drops significantly. He'll likely make almost all Cubs prospect top 10 lists this season. He's arguably the third best position prospect in the organization behind Felix Pie and Eric Patterson. Personally, I'd rate Moore ahead of Patterson. Hence the arguably part. :P

Age-wise, he's fine for AA (currently 22). The question everyone has is whether or not Moore can stick at 3B. While a number of people (including Former Daytona broadcaster Bo Fulginiti and current West Tenn broadcaster Ron Potesta) say that he actually is much better than people give him credit for, Moore has a number of errors on the season that are cause for some concern. If he can stick at the hot corner and keep those errors to a minimum, no doubt he'll be a fine 3B in the majors given his power and patience. However, if he has to move to 1B or the OF, his value drops significantly. He'll likely make almost all Cubs prospect top 10 lists this season. He's arguably the third best position prospect in the organization behind Felix Pie and Eric Patterson.