UK1679666180

Overall, (right now) Gathright is a better hitter and baserunner right now and it isn't worth finding out whether or not a below average player (Pie) can improve to become slightly better than another below avg. player (Gathright). i hope you're right. fwiw, i don't really expect Pie to become any more than what Gathright is at this point. i just didn't really see the need to spend the money on Gathright when you have Pie under control (at less cost) unless there is/was a trade in the works involving Pie. I can't see Pie being traded for anything of value, maybe a team has too many Low-A 3B and need to get rid of one and have a spot for a AAA Cf'er. 500K or whatever the salary difference would be is nothing as far as payroll.

Overall, (right now) Gathright is a better hitter and baserunner right now and it isn't worth finding out whether or not a below average player (Pie) can improve to become slightly better than another below avg. player (Gathright). I really question whether Gathright is a better hitter right now. It's better to be a bad slap hitter than someone who can't make contact or center the ball.

Overall, (right now) Gathright is a better hitter and baserunner right now and it isn't worth finding out whether or not a below average player (Pie) can improve to become slightly better than another below avg. player (Gathright).

How is he going to develop at the ML level as the 25th man and how much upside does Pie have? He'd be the 5th OF'er and well down Lou's bench depth chart and likely behind a platoon in CF with a manager who feels comfortable using the RH'ed part of that platoon against RH'ers. Pie won't get many ABs with the Cubs, he's done everything he can at AAA, and his potential right now is that of a reserve CF'er, IMO. I don't see him ever developing here at the ML level given the limited opportunities he's going to get and even if he did develop somewhat, his ceiling is likely limited to a reserve role given his flaws at the plate. If there was more reward there, I would agree, but given the poss. marginal improvement of Gathright over Pie compared to poss. marginal improvement of where Pie is at now to a reserve OF'er, give me Gathright and the improvements now.

He probably does, Gathright will hit for a better avg., Pie would hit for more power, Gathright is a much better baserunner, Pie is better defensively while both are above avg. defensively. Pie didn't do enough last year to merit being on the 25 man roster and with those flaws I mentioned, I don't see him ever becoming an everyday CF'er. The Cubs aren't in a position to try and develop an inferior player on the 25 man roster (even a 25th man) when they are trying to win it all and potential upgrades are avail. at minimal cost.

They probably feel that Gathright can hit well enough to maintain that role as the 25th man/pinch-runner/defensive replacement where Pie has not shown that ability to do so. He does have things going against him: Long swing, poor strike zone knowledge, inability to work the count, unable to hit the breaking ball, and he finds himself in way too many 2 strike counts to have those things going against him.

For him to have been even close to being healthy, whether it was last week or 5 years ago, the medical staff would've had to have gotten it right the 1st time. They didn't and even last year when Prior had his shoulder operated on again, the article had mentioned that there was tear that had not been seen before and was missed.

I would wager anything to assume that the medical staffs never fully surgically repaired Prior's shoulder to where he could get healthy compared to the surgeries being successful and Prior's lack of a work ethic prohibiting him from coming back. To me, regardless of his conditioning program; his should will likely never be healthy enough again for him be close to where he was. I hope they correct everything and he's pitching again though.

It was an odd interview, I actually think Cooper is one of the best pitching coaches in the game and he did preface it based on health. But, the odds of his shoulder ever being close to where it was 5 years when he was originally with the Sox is almost impossible and that's where cooper was stretching as well trying to separate the payrolls of the two teams. Their payroll is up there as well, don't try and differentiate that when the team that knocked you out has a 42 mil. payroll.

no, of course he's not. no one is suggesting anything in that ridiculous scenario. i think the notion that he's spending "hours upon hours" working out is equally as absurd, though. knowing the mark prior that we all got to know in his brief time in the cubs organization, i cant see the guy busting his ass to get back. dont you think that he'd be back and healthy by now if he had tried busting his ass in the past? it's a pretty fundamental approach. to getting healthy, that is. We aren't talking about a guy with weight issues who needs to get on the treadmill. We're talking about a guy who withstood serious abuse by a horrible manager and who sustained very serious arm injuries in the process. You can't just decide to bounce back from those things with extra effort. On top of that, he had a shoulder injury that the Cubs never found. No matter how hard you work, it's tough to get healthy when you have something structurally wrong with your shoulder. tougher, sure. absolutely. but we're not talking about a two month period. or even a one year period. it's been years now. let me ask you this... at what point do you question his committment to getting healthy? five years of being hurt? ten? ever? It's more dependent on the effectiveness of a medical staff (or ineffectiveness of the Cubs staff during Prior's tenure) as far as repairing the shoulder/elbow than a player's commitment to rehab. His shoulder is/was structurally damaged & if they don't repair it properly, allocating time and effort towards rehab won't matter, especially as stress levels rise and typical fatigue sets in.

It helped but it wasn't the only factor.... Davis, Hellickson, McGee, Moore, Brignac, Barnese, Jennings etc were all drafted after the 1sr rd.

He was recruiting a kid in my neck of the woods last week. I had to GIS to confirm that it was your coach. Chris Matthews WR out of a LA JUCO.

UK is ranked 28th by scout and 43rd by Rivals, which is the best class in the Brooks era.

Who knows at this point, especially mix in with potential incentives. With that said, it appears the cubs have no interest in him.

Fwiw, I would rather have Sheets and his potential deal over trading for Peavy. Edit: depending on physical, especially his shoulder.

No. I think Fontenot was perfect in the role he was in last year. He got 275 PAs and performed at a high level. I think you can even take that number to 350-400. But if you're talking about 500+ PAs for him, I don't trust him to put up the same numbers. I would have prefered a guy that can be an above average starting 2B if Fontenot busts or gets injured. Barmes, Felipe Lopez, Grudzielanek, maybe even (gulp!) Jerry Hairston Jr. Agreed. He was an ideal match-up guy as far as playing him against RH'ers as well as coming off the bench.

No...but our lineup was already one of the best in the league last year, and we are presumably adding Milton Bradley to it...so Fontenot is a 7/8 hitter anyways. I'm not too worried about it at that point. If Bradley can produce what Edmonds/Johnson did last year, I'd be more optimistic. I'm still skeptical of Theriot, Fontenot, Fukudome, and the SP at this stage as one of those guys is your 6th best hitter. There is plenty riding on Soriano and Soto this year.

Am I the only one with reservations with Fontenot becoming the starting 2B?

How many backup middle infielders are good? I don't know what his defense is like, but I'll take a .329 OBP from that spot. Fontenot was a good backup middle IF. And I don't think a .329 OBP is acceptable in any spot. I woulda rather had Grudz come back. Cedeno looks as if he is further down that depth chart, prob. should be included as a PTBNL at this point rather than compete with Pie/Gathright as the 25th man.

If true, the Cubs' GORP "Grit Over Replacement Player" (not the trail mix) just went through the roof. Just speculating here, but maybe Fontenot is moving up to the starting 2B as far as Derosa going to RF or being part of a trade and they need a new mighty mouse to play all the positions off the bench.

Soriano Bradley Ramirez Lee Soto Fontenot Johnson/Fukudome SP Theriot

The Bears were 9-7 in a bad conference and .500 over the last two years, expectations of a mediocre team are right there and whether you 6-10 or 10-6, luck and who you play likely will shift a team from 10-6 to 6-10 or vice-versa and still be mediocre. What they need (how I rank importance) WR (It's a stretch to say Hester is a #2 WR) DL (both DT and DE, more DE, damn you Anderson) OL (RG and RT, depending on what happens with Williams, why use a 1st rounder on a kid with a bad back?) S (none of them are starting safeties IMO) HB (Forte wore down, they need a capable back for 10-15 carries a game to save forte) QB (Grossman is gone, Haney is a 3rd stringer) OLB (Hillenmeyer and Roach are not starting OLBs, Urlacher is one year from coming back healthier or closer to getting cut). I expect them to draft defense as they always do and hope that this offense can become average, this defense isn't good anymore to win games. Angelo is bad and Smith isn't good enough to make a good team great or an avg. one good. I blame this one more on Angelo and Lovie is dragged down by Babich and Turner as well as being a bad in-game coach will put him in the boat of needing to be fired. Lovie is at that point, IMO, where the OC and DC need to be replaced to help see whether Smith should be fired. Angelo has worn out his welcome already.

Like what? Various bunt defenses as well as some of the 1st and 3rd defenses. He could dissect pitchers as well as far as how to attack them and what not that was extremely rare for someone 18-19yo. Jose Reyes was there as well, while more gifted as far as tools, he didn't have the same instincts or dedication as Wright.

http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-4934-milt-pappas.html =D> :?:

Garza would disagree with you here.