Outshined_One

Yeesh, even Murton's suffering with this stupid aggressive approach.

Well, it does appear the Sox players heard Z say something they didn't like. I'm guessing he was cussing in Spanish like a madman...as always.

THE IRONY!

Last year was an amazing success compared to 99, 00 and 02. Be very thankful you didn't have to watch Micah Bowie start. Ugggggggggggggh. That brings back memories. The 04 team was loathsome based mostly upon personalities, and only partly based upon performance. This year's team is easy to hate mostly based upon (non) performance. Welcome aboard!

Billingsley is pretty much in a class all of his own now that Verlander, Liriano, Cain, and King Felix are all in the majors. I think the Dodgers wanted to start the season with him in AAA in order to work the kinks out of his changeup and work on some pacing issues. If Guzman were healthy and 100%, he could compare to Billingsley...but that's not the case. Not by a longshot.

Tough call on the two. Gallagher's curve and slider are both supposed to be very good pitches, but I've heard mixed reports on his fastball in terms of his velocity (whether he works 89-91 or 92-94) and his change is a work in progress. Marmol, on the other hand, can hit the high 90s in short relief and has a very good curve, but is working on his change. Veal's down in Peoria and needs a full healthy season before we can start even thinking about bringing him up. He gives up a heck of a lot of flyballs, but when he's on he racks up Ks quite nicely. Marmol is closer than the two of them at this point. Gallagher at the earliest probably won't see Chicago until September 2008. He needs to keep building on his success last year and to face more advanced hitters. He's done a great job in Daytona so far, but the vast majority of guys down in High A aren't even close to the majors.

Miller was a one year deal without options.

I killed a guy. I pooped a hammer.

:shock: :lol: :shock: I love this man. That is awesome, plainly put.

12 BBs? That would be tied for 4th on the Big Squad right now- behind TWalk, Murton, and ARam. This team makes me a saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad panda. :(

Actually, looking at that list, I'd be happy if the Cubs shipped some of their guys off to the Dodgers in exchange for some of those prospects. Martin, Kemp, and LaRoche would be quite nice, imo. A man can dream. :( Pie's been doing decently down in AAA...but I hope to all that is holy the Cubs keep him away from the top of the lineup. That 31/12 K/BB would NOT look good at the top of the order.

I'd just be happy to ride out the rest of the season with Speier at the helm and make a judgment from there. If he sucks, oh well, no big loss. If he's pretty good, he might be worth keeping around.

Nah, the highlight happened in the first week, when the Cubs swept the Cardinals. It's been downhill ever since then.

Box Scores Iowa won 3-2 Box Score CF Felix Pie 0/4, RBI, 3 K, HBP RF B. Coats 0/5, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 0/4, 2 K LF M. Restovich 2/4, R, 2B (9), K 3B C. McGehee 1/4, 2 K 2B M. Fontenot 0/2, BB, R, E (2, fielding) PH L. Montanez 0/0, RBI C G. Soto 1/2, 2 BB, PB (3) SP L. Walrond 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB, 11-3 GO-FO RP D. Aardsma 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 2/1 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO West Tenn lost 3-1 Box Score RF A. Greenberg 1/4, K, PO 2B E. Patterson 0/4 LF R. Lewis 0/4 3B S. Moore 2/4, R, RBI, HR (9), K, E (7, missed catch) 1B B. Sing 2/4 PH C. Walker 0/1 SP R. Wells 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4/1 K/BB, 7-7 GO-FO Daytona won 6-5 on a Jake Fox double in the bottom of the 9th Box Score CF S. Fuld 3/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (7), HR (3), SB (13) DH J. Fox 1/4, 2 RBI, 2B (11) 1B M. Craig 3/3, R, 2 RBI, HR (7), SB (2) 2B N. Spears 0/4, K SP M. Holliman 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 5/3 K/BB, HR, 5-4 GO-FO Peoria won 8-4 Box Score CF D. Gregg 1/5, R, K 2B R. Chirinos 2/4, R, 2 RBI, 2B (14), SB (7), HBP RF/LF J. Valdez 1/5, R, 2 K 1B R. Norwood 1/4, 2 R, RBI, 2B (13), K, HBP C M. Reed 1/4, R, K, SB (7) DH K. Reynolds 1/3, R, RBI, 2B (2), HBP SS J. Mota 3/4 SP S. Taylor 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2/0 K/BB, HR, 2-13 GO-FO RP M. Billek 2 hitless and scoreless, 3/2 K/BB, 0-3 GO-FO OVERALL: 3-1

Don't the Marlins have a massive surplus of pitching prospects as it is? Maybe they want depth or something, but if they want to stock up their system, getting some nice position players would be worthwhile.

Let's go down the Dodgers' list this season... On their active roster: RP Jonathon Broxton (8 IP, 1.13 ERA, 11/3 K/BB, 6 H, and 1 HR) C Russell Martin (.295/.404/.455 in 44 ABs, 5/8 K/BB, and 1 HR) LF Andre Ethier (.311/.360/.489 in 45 ABs, 9/4 K/BB, 2 HRs) In the minors: RHP Chad Billingsley (41.2 IP, 3.24 ERA, 52/17 K/BB, 32 H, and 3 HR at AAA) 3B Andy LaRoche (.271/.382/.413 in 155 ABs, 23/28 K/BB, and 5 HRs at AA) OF Joel Guzman (.301/.353/.464 in 153 ABs, 34/11 K/BB, and 6 HRs at AAA) RHP Scott Elbert (41 IP, 2.41 ERA, 40/22 K/BB, 29 H, and 2 HRs at High A) 3B Blake DeWitt (.299/.358/.408 in 157 ABs, 25/15 K/BB, and 2 HRs at High A) OF Matt Kemp (.343/.423/.558 in 172 ABs, 30/19 K/BB, and 6 HRs at AA) 2B Tony Abreu (.266/.340/.376 in 173 ABs, 31/16 K/BB, and 2 HRs at AA) SS Chin-Lung Hu (.265/.357/.321 in 162 ABs, 23/23 K/BB, and 0 HRs at AA) There are more beyond these guys, naturally. If the Dodgers want to make a trade, they have more ammo than anyone save for possibly the Diamondbacks and Angels.

I think everyone knows better than to start something tomorrow. The White Sox are in a heated race with the Tigers as it is; don't count out the Twins or Indians yet, either. If they lose any guys to suspension because of a brawl, it could hurt them over the next few games. The Cubs, on the other hand, are still suffering under the delusion that they're in contention, so they'll likely want to avoid that, as well. There might be a pitch thrown intentionally behind Barrett, an unintentional HBP, or some close inside pitches, but I doubt anyone gets a fastball in the ribs. Besides, the Cubs will lose 7-1 despite Zambrano going 7 scoreless with 3 hits, 10 Ks, and 1 BB.

Is it me or does this team really come off poorly when it comes to trying to like them? In the past three years, there was a sense of hope that came along with these guys. There was plenty of talent, but the team just fell apart due to a variety of factors which don't need to be gone over at length. However, I gleefully bought tickets. I'd skip class to watch games whenever possible. I'd wear my Cubs hat around. The ends of those seasons were painful, but I still kept coming back for more with plenty of hope and optimism. I was dedicated, ya know? In the years I can remember well prior to 2003, there were some bright lights among the garbage. 1998 was really exciting. 2001 was unreal, considering the fact that Sosa nearly dragged all of that deadweight with him into the playoffs. The teams sucked, but I never really expected much out of them. I barely remember 1989. The Cubs were pretty terrible up until I went to HS in 1998. Maybe my memory is failing me, but I still liked the Cubs despite their losing. But now? Man...I really can't stand this team. I've become so disgusted with them. Whether it's Jim Hendry making up excuse after excuse for a team that simply isn't good, Dusty Baker's stubbornness with lineups, the pitiful hitting, the fact that this team likely won't be getting much better in the near future, or anything else...I just have so much trouble rooting for them. Today's incident with AJP and Bare was no exception. I was happy to see some one sock AJ in the face...but the way Barrett did it was Bush. Dusty didn't even defend his own guy for cripe's sake! I don't care how justified Baker was for throwing Bare under the bus; that was the first time all season I've seen Baker hold anyone accountable for their stupidity! If he's going to defend his guys to the media, why not do it then? I already threw in the towel for any hope this season had when San Diego swept the Cubs. I was hoping that I could sit back, relax, and watch them like I did back when I was younger. Instead...I have trouble simply sitting through a game on TV. I have no desire to catch any games at Wrigley when I go home. Heck, I haven't even worn my Cubs hat in awhile. I know there are bright spots (Zambrano), but that's not even enough. I'm not alone in feeling this way, am I?

LOOGY ahoy!

Um...Veal kinda just mowed down the competition. Wow.

Roundabout weird statement, imo. TANK FOR STOCK!

Yeah, he was going loco on Mabry. I couldn't tell why, though.

And then he'll actually become halfway decent on his new team.

1) Possibly, depends on who's doing it. 2) No, he knows better. He'll save it either until the Wrigley series or until next year.

Dusty could have gotten Barrett's back while still being critical of him. "Yeah, this sort of thing happens and it was heat of the moment. Barrett was right to be angry and I think what AJP did was wrong and Bush League. But, sometimes, you get caught up in something. That doesn't make throwing a punch at AJ right. I'm going to talk with everyone involved and get this all straightened out so we don't have any bad blood."