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They'd actually do well to trade him now - he's 31 so he's not likely in their long term plans. Fuld does have a minor league track record though. If he becomes good in the majors, it'll be completely opposite of his minor league numbers.

So move Fuku down to the 7-8 spot and put Theriot/Bradley at the top of the order. The answer at the leadoff spot is not a guy whose upside is as a fifth outfielder.

Yep, that's what I heard as well.

Fuld has posted these numbers since reaching AA ball: .771 OPS, .728 OPS, .755 OPS. All of those are minor league numbers. He's 27 years old and is repeating AAA for the second time (his third stint overall). His OBP in his two seasons of only AAA ball are .358 and .359. If he doesn't lead off, it's not because Lou doesn't have a backbone. It's because we have better options. I wouldn't give up a lot in terms of quality prospects, but we'll probably have to offer up a pretty decent package since it appears there are other teams bidding for him.

If Ryan signed a major league deal, Marshall could transition back to the rotation. Sure, but with Dempster out, the rotation is currently Zambrano, Lilly, Wells, pray for rain. Even if Marshall transitions back to the rotation, either Harden or Hart would still need to start regularly. Good point.

I'm guessing Hart would go back down rather than Harden being DL'd. Hart is already down Ah...yeah...forgot about that. You'd still need a 5th starter. Hart is already down because of the lack of need for a starter between his start and the ASB. Either Harden or Hart would have to be the 5th starter in this scenario. If Ryan signed a major league deal, Marshall could transition back to the rotation.

And if he doesn't perform - which is likely - then we've given up prospects for a downgrade from Fontenot. Cabrera has never been that good an offensive player - he's been very similar to Aaron Miles in all honesty. If we could get 2003 production out of him, that might interest me a bit but I'm very confident Fontenot has a better chance of reaching just about every other offensive year Cabrera has posted.

There's no evidence Cabrera would be a clear upgrade over Fontenot alone, much less a Fontenot/Baker platoon. A clear upgrade is a player who is - right now - better, and usually significantly so, than the current player. Cabrera has not been better than Fontenot this year, so he is not a clear upgrade over Fontenot. Why is Cabrera very nice in the 7 or 8 spot in the lineup with a .643 OPS, but Fontenot is not with a .665 OPS? And if there's a glimmer of hope that a 34-year-old Cabrera will be good for us, why is there not a glimmer of hope that a 29-year-old Fontenot will be good the rest of the way?

Yeah, probably the best thing about adding Ryan is if he pitched well for us, it'd make Marshall available for the rotation again.

Lou uses Soto to pinch hit all the time. All the time is a bit of an exaggeration. Geo has not started 25 games this season and he's pinch hit in 8 of those.

I knew youd be just around the corner with such a comment. Everyone wants to add players, we dont have the money at this time for a big name, and nobody wants to give up a lot of prospects. Therefore, the options are A. other teams crap B. our own crap. If those are the only options, then B is by far the best option. No reason to give up prospects for guys who aren't very likely to be better than the guys we have. When a GM makes a trade, it should be for a clear upgrade - or someone who can be a clear upgrade - at a position.

who cares. if you use fox in the 7th as a pinch-hitter there's a decent chance the cubs are losing anyway. so they have to use fontenot as the catcher and they lose by four runs instead of three. big deal. i've never understood why everyone is so terrified of using a backup catcher as a pinch-hitter. the worst case scenario is extremely, extremely unlikely to happen and the end result is one stupid loss. big deal. I don't understand why the bolded is the case. The Cubs could well be up and bring Fox in to further increase the lead.

If we keep Fox as the backup catcher, then we can't use him as a pinch hitter. If we use him as a pinch hitter in, say, the seventh inning and then Hill is injured in the eighth - who catches? how likely is it that this happens? think about how specific the scenario you're describing is. fox pinch hits AND hill is injured afterwards to the point that he has to leave the game AND the game is close enough that an inning or two of fontenot or whatever catching makes the difference it's very unlikely we'd lose a game as a result of this. No matter how likely or unlikely it is, a manager generally won't do it. Lou has used pitchers to pinch hit before he's used backup catchers - even when we had one of the better hitting backups out there (Blanco). Whether those of us on here like it or not, if Fox is the only other catcher on the roster, his pinch hit chances would very likely decrease. Plus, having a guy like Fox bounce around between multiple different positions might make his already sketchy defense that much worse. He's already the backup third baseman and has gotten some time in the outfield (though that will be decreased significantly with Reed back). Generally if you have a guy who struggles defensively, you want to put him somewhere and let him focus totally on that position. You don't plug him into the most important defensive position on the field and then bounce him between it and third.

If we keep Fox as the backup catcher, then we can't use him as a pinch hitter. If we use him as a pinch hitter in, say, the seventh inning and then Hill is injured in the eighth - who catches? I'd rather bring in a guy who could produce at a moderate rate to compete with Koyie and then have Fox available to spell Aramis at third and be a good pinch hitter off the bench. He's more valuable in that role than as a backup catcher.

Kennedy might be an option, problem is, we're buying very high on him. He's been a little bit lucky so far this season, meaning his numbers will likely drop off some. He's also been much better this year than he ever has been. I would expect his OPS to settle down into 2004-2005 range (.724-.757) and I think Fontenot can at least come close to that in a platoon with Baker. If Kennedy came cheap enough, he might be an option but he'll probably cost too much in terms of prospects. I'd still rather go for Freddy Sanchez or just go with the Baker/Fontenot platoon.

per Friendly Confines in the first game thread. I caught that earlier, I jught thought someone may have heard that he was going to play since then. Ah, ok.

per Friendly Confines in the first game thread.

Soriano's career numbers leading off a game: .310/.350/.620/.970 54 HR 58 2B Leading off an inning: .298/.336/.556/.892 105 HR 121 2B 2009 numbers leading off the game: .309/.329/.588/.917 5 HR 2008 numbers leading off the game: .273/.308/.475/.782 5 HR 2007 numbers leading off the game: .322/.360/.712/1.072 12 HR It's not the leadoff home runs specifically as much as it is his very good overall numbers in the leadoff spot. He doesn't get on base as often, but when he's on base he's generally immediately in scoring position for Lee/Aramis/etc, because of the very high slugging. Thus, it's a lot easier to score him than it is your more traditional leadoff man.

His numbers are now almost completely in line with last year and are slightly better than they were two years ago. He's posted a 1.64 ERA and a .909 WHIP with a 9:3 K:BB ratio the past 28 days and he hasn't walked a batter or allowed a run in the past two weeks.

It's a good strategy. Wear him down so he's tired for the second game tonight. :wink:

I can generally agree with this. Lilly has been ace-like this year, though. And if Z's not an ace, he's certainly a slugger. :D

Maybe not an ace, but still a very good pitcher. Who completely loses it as soon as he lets somebody on base. He really doesn't though. He'll get frustrated, but he doesn't unravel. Along with Careless' numbers, Z has allowed a .529 OPS with RISP and a .540 OPS with men on in his career. He also has allowed a career .445 OPS with the bases loaded. There was a sequence when he walked off the mound and behind for several seconds with his back turned to home working the ball. He looked pissed and I wonder if he and Hill are not on the same page. Possible, though they've worked together quite a bit this season.

Maybe not an ace, but still a very good pitcher. Who completely loses it as soon as he lets somebody on base. He really doesn't though. He'll get frustrated, but he doesn't unravel. Along with Careless' numbers, Z has allowed a .529 OPS with RISP and a .540 OPS with men on in his career. He also has allowed a career .445 OPS with the bases loaded.

Maybe not an ace, but still a very good pitcher.

This is his best season since 2006. He's got a 3.47 ERA, 1.313 WHIP, 75:41 K:BB ratio and 7 K/9. The WHIP is a bit high - but it always is for Z - and the K:BB ratio could use some work. But again he's always walked a bit too many. He's having a good year and he's only 28.