brinoch

I hope not. Wouldn't want him to get a papercut. And then, of course, it would get infected and he'd go on the DL for 6 weeks.

Go George Mason! That would be SWEET!

Brenly just said that Mabry is a "bareback kind of guy." I really didn't need to know that. I really didn't want to know that. :)

What the word out of Chicago? Does Pagan have a chance of replacing Grissom off the bench? I think the word was grissom gets the spot because he is old. Pretty much.

Steve Smith.

Second consecutive ST game with Perez starting. Should we be worried Bruce? I don't want to go through another season of Neifi "saving" us with his sub .300 OBP.

I'm with you. Toolsy means crappy. It's like those scouting reports you read -- "Good baseball body" what the hell does that mean? I care about guys who get on base, score runs, hit the ball with authority. Actually, I don't care if he calls them toolsy, so long as he shows that the ability to get on base -- ie, not make outs -- is a valued skill for the players he acquires, promotes, etc. I've yet to consistently see that.

I think Marshall may yet earn a shot. Then again, Guzman might take it. Hill could go gang-busters and win. Ryu's potential might wow them and win it. But I think whoever takes the fifth spot in the rotation ought to earn it -- not be given it. My personal preference is Guzman. Though I like Marshall and Ryu, of course, I think some more seasoning is worthwhile. Let's make sure they are healthy, making strides, improving specific pitches and ready for the show. I freely admit that I've seen no ST games, and really have no idea who is pitching the best among the candidates. I've also been a HUGE Angel Guzman fan since 2003.

Obviously, this is a touchy subject -- and I can understand that. I don't like Neifi Perez any more than anyone else. He's terrible. Now, there's a simple misunderstanding here: Kiley's quote in the SunTimes is different than that of Bruce's in the Daily Herald. Frostwyrm posted the quote from Kiley's article, and Bruce offered clarification. If one reads Kiley's quote, one could easily see -- given Baker's past -- the groundwork being laid for Perez to get a bunch of AB's at Cedeno's expense. However, we have Bruce here. Please take any post prior's to Bruce's clarification in the proper context. Bruce has better access and insight than any of us can possibly have, and he's indicated that Baker is very supportive of Cedeno and Murton. We are lucky to have him around -- thanks again, Bruce, for the info you post here. Before Kiley gets slammed, I want everyone to relax a bit, take a deep breath, and remember that sometimes due to space concerns, or content concerns, editors make changes to stories. Now, that said, this is an illustrative example of how a quote can be construed to mean two very different things. Sun Times blurb on Cedeno Daily Herald blurb on Cedeno

And get injured before everyone else shows up? Well, at least then they'd get healthy a little earlier in the season.

And I respect your right to this opinion, but I don't think this applies to UK. He doesn't hate Hendry or blame him for everything. He does give him credit for some good things that he has done. Oh I wasn't implicating UK at all. In fact I don't know much about his opinions at all. I was more commenting on what I see in general with regards to Jim Hendry. It's not really group-think, per se. Ignoring for the moment whether or not it is justified in any particular case, you will regularly hear complaints about a team's GM when said team regresses. This is pretty true for each and every team, in each and every major sports league. Now, blaming Hendry for every problem is a little excessive, I agree. However, as the GM he does have the burden of responsibility. (MacPhail, too, has a level of responsibility.) Here's a question for you to consider: why shouldn't Cubs fans complain about Hendry? My problem with Hendry is mostly along these three fronts: 1. Johnny B. Baker 2. Doesn't recognize that this team's problem is (and has been) the ability to get on base. 3. Lack of international scouting focus

They might be interested in Williams. But I suspect that we have little interest in trading Williams right now. And remember, too, that the Red Sox front office has been seemingly leaking information like a sieve for some time.

Earlier today, I traded Ben Sheets for Adam Dunn. I thought a certain segment of the board would like this deal -- it's a 12 team, NL-only keeper league, after we've protected our players (7 vets, 3 UC, 1 R or 8 vets and 1 R). Teams have 22 players, 3 reserves, and 2 minor leaguers (1 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 1MI, 1 CI, 4 OF, 1 U, 4/5 SP, 6/5 RP). My team, heading into the draft is: SP -- Carlos Zambrano SP -- Mark Prior RP -- Brad Thompson (hey, I can keep 3 UC's and he qualified!) OF -- Barry Bonds OF -- Ken Griffey, Jr. OF -- Carlos Lee OF -- Matt Murton (another UC) 1B -- Adam Dunn 2B -- Chase Utley SS -- Ronny Cedeno (#3 UC) OF -- Felix Pie (ML) Sweet!

Bwahahahaha!

That's pretty much the reality of the situation. As a Cub fan, it's not a whole lot of fun to be on the other end of the lies. I don't think it's too much to expect honesty for the money we give to this franchise. If they want to protect injured players' rights to privacy, I'm fine with that. Make a blanket policy statement: We will not discuss player health unless league rules dictate we must. Don't come out on the radio & in the newspapers with blatant lies: "He's fine" "There's no injury, he's just building strength" yada yada yada. Just report the truth, or state it is not club policy to disclose. There's no excuse for lies, over & over. Other teams don't do this. Pretty much it's only the Cubs who have institutionalized lying about player health. Or, of course, there is the possibility that he really wasn't hurt and they were just using a gradual buildup program like Rotschild had been saying he would do this year since last ST. But I guess since you have decided that them lying is the "reality of the situation" it is since you have so much proof that he was really injured. I love conspiracy theories but this one makes no sense because no one involved in the so called conspiracy had anything to gain from a cover up. So, then, why do the Cubs continually get things wrong? Remember last summer when Wood was pitching out of the bullpen, but he couldn't injure it further and it wouldn't affect the start of this season? Well, look at what happened, his surgery was delayed, and now Wood won't be ready for the start of the season -- exactly what was predicted. How about Cedeno's call up in July? Hendry said that he wasn't called up to sit on the bench, yet that's exactly what he did. What about the Prior achilles/elbow saga? The fact is that the Cubs have zero credibility when it comes to injuries and timelines. They have been consistenly deceptive. And I don't really understand why, either. I agree that they have nothing to gain by being deceptive. Perhaps they aren't deceptive. Maybe they are honestly mistaken. A lot. But I don't buy it anymore. I'm a PR guy. Trust me, I know how to deal with the media; I've been working with the press on a daily basis since 2000. One of the most important lessons any PR person needs to learn is always be honest and if you don't know, just say you don't know. The Cubs, for whatever reason, haven't managed these kinds of situations well.

Well, we are trading Walker for Matos... Gotta have lots and lots of 2B's.

Well, this is a stunningly stupid idea. There's really nothing else to say about it.

Best first post ever. He joined over two months ago, waited in the weeds. Then the perfect opportunity to crush Vance came along, so he pounced. An excellent beginning.

I think it's clear we need another 2B.

You know, when I first read this, I thought it was Ivan DeJesus. Appropriate jokes not appropriate in this case... unless you're older than I am.

There's really no way to defend the Cubs on this. I think they've known that there was a problem with Prior, they thought he'd work through it, and they've been holding him back a bit because of it. Word leaked out, they denied it, and now they've likely been burned. I'd like to defend them, but I really can't. They've been repeatedly dishonest and less than forthright about injuries in the past.

Indeed.

Looks like a great read. I'll be picking that up in the near future.

Indeed.

I can agree with this. What I don't agree with is him trying to swing harder. It's not going to happen. He can increase his OBP via discipline, not by scaring pitchers into thinking he has power. And players can gain patience as they get a little older. I wouldn't count on it happening, but it could happen if he tried. Agreed. Pierre just doesn't have that much power. I don't want to see him trying to crush the ball. Because then we'll see him popping out or flying out. Just take good, solid swings at the right kind of pitches. Don't foul off non-strikes pitches, just for the sake of fouling them off. Plate discipline is one of the best things that every player, regardless of hitting style, can learn. Now, I don't think it'll happen -- let's be realistic here, these are the Cubs and their Manager is Dusty Baker. Not exactly MLB's paragons of plate discipline. The good thing about Juan is that he is a hard worker, and in my opinion, that's the kind of player who continues to improve his game. I hope Pierre has a great season.