TheDude

I think Hendry has been in love with Greinke for quite a while, as his name has popped up a few times the past couple of years. The kid is still very young, so you have to think he can right the ship. But I'm not sure how helps this year's team.

We could see a lot of longballs in this match-up, even considering these two teams and their collective power outage.

Wouldn't you rather have Soto playing everyday in the minors, in anticipation of fighting for the starter's spot next year? Folks always seem to hate having the younger kids on the roster sitting on the bench. Soto would get sparse PT behind Kendall.

It has more to do with venom for Hendry than anything, I can only guess anyway. Looks to me the Cubs got Kendall for nothing - although I'm not sure that's a good thing. I can only hope he is a change of scenery guy.

Soto isn't a real prospect :roll: . He's had a hot hand, but it's not like he's been penciled in at C for the big league ever. Needless venom here. hahhahaha...that is funny...give me a break. Way to back-up your claim with logic. Bravo.

Soto isn't a real prospect. He's had a hot hand, but it's not like he's been penciled in at C for the big league ever. Needless venom here.

I don't know if it hurts them much in the short-term (15-day). Gallardo has some real potential and could easily give them a couple quality starts in Sheets' absense.

I'll buy that, but the results are not very good. Again, he'd be better served to overhaul the scouting system (domestic and international), draft well, and bring in international FAs. That way he can control his best players without overpaying (at least to begin with). A lot of people questioned Detroit when it had to do the same thing as Toronto a few years back and overpay or take risks for guys like Pudge and Ordonez. Sometimes it works out. An out of the way market has to take this kind of gamble.

The Marlins have ripped off the Cubs and the Cubs have ripped off the Marlins. The Marlins just have the benefit of doing it twice.

Why trade Hill for Dunn? Giving up Hill is worth a half-year rental? Or is this idea contingent on an extension?

I love a Cubs game in HD!

If the Cubs can somehow land A-Rod next year, then I have no worries about some like K. Hill at receiver. Hell, you could put Pie in CF everyday too, to maximize up the middle defense and simply not worry about production from 7-9. But short of that, the Cubs aren't equipped enough to stand pat with K. Hill or Bowen full-time. I've got my fingers crossed that Soto can bring at least .250/.300/.350 to the table.

Over the course of a season numbers have a way of regressing to the mean by the end. I think D. Lee will hit ~18 HRs in the last 2.5 months, finishing around the mid-20s. That's clearly a drop-off from 2005, but not unusual in his age bell curve or for someone coming off injury.

Seconded. I'd rather bring up Cedeno and stick DeRosa in RF. Let the three farm kids handle the MI duties and leave DeRosa in right for a few weeks. I love Murton, but Cedeno is blazing hot and for a short stint in bigs, I'd rather ride the hot hand and not toy Murton anymore.

Three hours to game time. Finally! Today starts Lee's late July 8 HR frenzy.

I like that Brewers finish. If it comes down to the wire, the Brewers have to play a pre-playoff series against the Padres.

We'll see if you still feel that way if the game is on the line late and our only pinch hitters left are Hill or Bowen. You haven't thought this through. The alternative is to have one in the lineup for 4 at bats. I give the 4 at bats to Soto and live with the PH risk for one series.

I had emailed Bruce Miles a few days back regarding Soto, and his reply wasn't overly optimistic: "I don't think you'll see him soon, but at some point, the Cubs acknowledge he's owed a look." I'd be surprised if Soto was coming up only days after saying something like that. But then, ball clubs constantly surprise us.

I wonder if the Cubs can ship Izturis to the Tigers. Since Perez is suspended (and maybe going to be released afterward?), the Tigers might be looking for a new back-up defensive specialist at SS.

I'm reluctantly starting to agree. Jacque is solid against RHP, no matter whether people want to admit it or not. 3-8 with 3 doubles in his last two starts. No reason to start Pie at this point. The real indication that he might be turning it around are the doubles. I don't recall all of them, but yesterday's shot to the opposite field gap is exactly what you want to see from Jock. I'd hate to put the Pie enthusiasm on old this year, as I really want him out there everyday to get through the growing pains, but the team simply can't afford that with the Barret trade a reality. Probably the best thing for Pie right now is to go back to AAA until September and put Jones in CF. If Jones can get red hot, maybe he raises his trade value such that Hendry can get a decent hitting Catching prospect for the future.

I think this proves one of the biggest misconceptions about banned substances in baseball - it's not always the prime time guy, it's the fringe players light on talent trying to stick in the big leagues that are most motivated to look for an edge. I'm not surprised at all by this.

I don't like this assessment that fringe prospects like Theriot or Fontenot make the DeRosa signing a bad one. DeRosa is an extremely versatile player that gives the team an everyday super-sub with better than average production. Theriot is a bench player suited for middle infield roles. Theriot's role has been expanded this year because the team doesn't have a true quality everyday SS. The expectations for these players are far different, as DeRosa was expected to produce around .800 OPS and Theriot around .700. Theriot was not going to put up an .800 OPS and 500 ABs. I like Fontenot a lot, but would it have been reasonable to assume .800+ OPS from him daily in 2007? Maybe on a team rebuilding who could afford the risk, but not the Cubs. You are correct, you're not paying Soriano anything. Besides that, the team is paying Soriano for a ~.900 OPS. That is what his projection should be, and its a high projection given career numbers. I agree with you here. I liked the idea of a Murton/Floyd platoon maximizing both players' splits. Individually, as everyday players, the team is lucky to get .800 OPS from either player. Marquis has been very good considering his role as the 4th starter. You're just nit-picking at this point. It's amazing that you can look at the production of the offseason acquisitions and have the gumption to use 'horrible' and 'bad' as the primary descriptors. Nearly every offseason acquisition has played to or above expectations. At worst it was an average offseason. It's true that some below average players leftover from the Dusty era are still hanging around, and its unfortunate those players weren't moved in the offseason, but I'd hardly call this team horribly constructed. It has a couple holes, like every other team in baseball. The fact that it isn't perfect doesn't equate to horrible.

You have never been to Tampa Bay for a Devil Rays game then. I've been to RFK for several games, and the experience doesn't stink nearly as bad as Tampa, which plays in a bloody convention center. I've been to 21 ballparks around baseball, and while RFK is in the bottom 5, it's not the worst.

Atlanta would moving Salt. for Texiera, in essence. But i don't see this being remotely feasible with Texiera hurt.

I don't think he is in the dog house. I think he is getting the Theriot treatment just for a few days. With Pie, everyone from the GM to the manager to the scouts knows this kid is the future everyday CF. He is the only minor league position players in years to have that distinction.