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Maybe Hendry will be able to work out a trade for him before the deadline. There was some other interest in him in the offseason - maybe one of those teams will take his salary for a low A fringe prospect (Alburquerque-esque).

Hoff is safe because of proven production. He's slugged .447 through 141 ABs. Fox and Fuld have been very good, but have a combined 68 ABs. Plus, if we keep Hoff and demote Fox, we still have Fox available to call up if Hoff gets hurt. If we trade Hoff and Fox goes down, our bench gets weaker.

I don't want to make this a Miles thread, but this is interesting. Miles' LD% 2009: 19% career: 20% Miles' BABIP 2009: .236 career: .306 Miles 2009 OPS: .500 Blanco 2009 OPS: .561 He's not going to be much of an asset at any point, but his production so far this season has been incredibly unlucky. He'll have more value with the bat than Blanco will if he can start to get the slightest bit of luck on his side.

Cutting him wouldn't be that beneficial. He's getting paid either way so cutting him would just lessen our depth some. It all depends on what Baker does between now and when Miles is ready to return. Blanco is the only backup SS we have, at least whose an actual SS. Between Fuld, Hoff, and Fox, 2 are pobably gone be it through trade or option when Ramirez and Reed come back, and the 3rd will be around for the long run. If Baker is good, then theres no reason to keep Miles around. If Baker isnt any good, then may as well let him go. Now that we know that Fox can backup Ramirez from time to time, were basically looking at a utility guy betwen Miles and Baker, but why did Jim bother with Baker to begin with if he didnt plan on at least entertaining the idea of dumping Miles? You talk about depth, but Miles and Baker serve the same purpose, and no need for both. Miles only upside is that hes a switch hitter, but hes worthless from both sides. Heres our depth chart when everyone returns 1B-Lee, Hoff/Fox 2B-Font, Baker/Miles, Blanco SS-Theriot, Blanco 3B-Ramirez, Baker/Miles, Fox, Fontenot RF-Bradley, Fuku, Fox/Hoff CF-Fuku, Reed, Fuld(if around) LF-Sori, Fuld(if around), Hoff/Fox notice Baker and Miles serve the same purpose. The idea is that Miles is SS depth. I realize he's not a good SS and likely doesn't play it any better than someone like Fontenot. But, he, Theriot and Blanco are the only ML ready players Lou is prepared to play at SS. Now, let's say we cut Miles and Blanco gets hurt - we now have no backup SS in the organization. However, if we keep Miles and option Blanco to AAA, if Miles or Theriot go down we simply call up Blanco. As for production, Blanco is great with the glove and terrible with the bat. Miles is mediocre with both the bat and glove. It's preferable to keep Blanco over Miles, but not by enough to cut (but still pay) one of three available options at SS.

If we could trade Miles and clear his salary, I'd be all for that. But it doesn't make much sense to cut ties with depth just for the sake of doing it or "admitting a mistake."

Cutting him wouldn't be that beneficial. He's getting paid either way so cutting him would just lessen our depth some.

When Aramis comes back Fox or Hoff are probably sent down or else Hendry tries to trade 1. Once Ramirez is back, theres really no reason to carry both Fox and Hoffpauir, and maybe we could get a decent middle reliever for 1 f them. When Reed comes back, Im going to guess that either Fuld is sent down, or if Fuld keeps up what hes doing, they may even try to trade Reed. If Baker looks ever slightly competant, when Milles is ready to return, theres absolutely no reason to keep him around, but knowing the Cubs, they'll send down Blanco. I think Reed's going to stick around because he's the right-handed portion of the center field platoon. There's no other right handed hitter on the roster who can also play center to platoon with Kosuke.

The thing with cutting Miles at this point is the only result is less depth. Cutting Miles won't save the $4.9 million he's being paid and he'll likely put up similar offensive numbers to Blanco (albeit with worse defense). If Hendry cuts Miles, though, that's one less body at a position (SS) that doesn't have much depth. I wasn't in favor of the Miles signing at the time or now, but Hendry cutting him just to "admit a mistake" is not the best option at this point. The money's already been spent, there's not much to be gained by cutting Miles.

While I agree Lou should use Marshall more in his outings, giving Heilman a chance to work in a fairly stress-less outing is probably a good idea. Heilman is turning this into stressful situation True.

While I agree Lou should use Marshall more in his outings, giving Heilman a chance to work in a fairly stress-less outing is probably a good idea.

In a sport where the best players in history fail 70% of the time you take what you can get. It's hard enough to hit successfully, a player shouldn't force himself to just poke a hittable pitch somewhere. Go with the pitch, hit it hard and see where it goes.

I don't want Fox going down at this point.

DLEE!!!!!!! That's a spark!

I'm not the one going Buffalo Wild Wings.... that's Old Style !! Well he can. You need to figure out how to get to the game, though.

And .213 / .282 / .320 / .602 career against lefties, away from Coors. ... Ouch. Well, worst case scenario is it's a lateral move and we didn't give up much. Much more potential to produce than Freel.

Now there's a man with his priorities straight !! Going to Buffalo Wild Wings is always a good idea. CUBS are 15-23 when Hornkohl is on the road.... 22-15 when he's at home CUBS are 5-0 when Hornkohl is in the stands.... 32-38 when he's not Go CUBS !! Well..... pretty clear what I gotta do, eh? Yeah, save your Buffalo Wild Wings trips for when the Cubs aren't playing. For now you gotta go to the game! :D

Now there's a man with his priorities straight !! Going to Buffalo Wild Wings is always a good idea.

How is it lateral? Baker had a decent year last year, but I have no reason to believe that he'll be any better or worse than Freel. Im not going to miss Freel in the slightest, but this feels like a meh move to me. Im getting the impression that after the Rangers gave career backup DeRosa a full time opportunity and hes done very well for himself since, and now Hendry is trying to replicate that with every career utility guy he can get his hands on, thus Miles, Freel, and now Baker. But I guess time will tell. Freel in his career has a .724 OPS against lefties. Baker in his career has a .902 OPS against lefties. Baker has some real value if used properly. Miles and Freel aren't the same player as Baker.

Fukudome is a first name too? Awesome. Very common in the Appalachian region.... Nice.

Like I said, I'd be fine with waiting a bit. I don't think we should be desperate at this point. But, it's highly unlikely Ricketts will be able to get the sale completed, give Hendry the ok and then Hendry work out a good deal all in the span of a month. I'd love it if that happened, but that would be a complete change from the pace the sale has taken the past 2 years. The pace of the sale is going to stop instantaneously once an agreement is signed. Hendry does not need more than a day to make a trade. He could already be in contact with Jim saying that once it gets to a certain stage, Hendry has the authorization to make a move. Maybe the sale doesn't go through until next year, maybe it's done tomorrow. The bolded is the whole point, though. Nobody knows when the sale might go through and while we're waiting for something that may or may not come, chances to upgrade the team might go to other teams. I'm fine with waiting a while, but if a good deal is on the table (which trading a fringe pitcher having a very good few starts for an excellent reliever is) then I think you strong consider doing it. And what if the sale goes through but Ricketts won't approve more money until the offseason or next year? Then Hendry would have wasted quite a bit of time.

Good point, I forgot about the 12 man staff thing.

That's not at all what I see. He said they toyed with it in May, and he'll check back again now. Odds are, if they stuck with him through June, they will stick with him for as long as they need. That fact that they considered it earlier in the year means the possibility exists. How likely it is, however, I don't know. I can understand what he's saying though. At the time that they considered it, Patton had pitched very badly and they still had to keep him on the roster for another 4 1/2 months. Now Patton is coming off a month where he pitched well and they have only 3 months left to keep him. They're much less likely to want to get rid of him now. Yeah, I can understand it. Now, however, they like Blanco, Fox has hit well, they may like Fuld and they acquired Baker. There's a chance that the roster will have enough bats to Hendry's liking that he may decide to parts ways with Patton.

That's not at all what I see. He said they toyed with it in May, and he'll check back again now. Odds are, if they stuck with him through June, they will stick with him for as long as they need. That fact that they considered it earlier in the year means the possibility exists. How likely it is, however, I don't know.

Since both are already under salary, I'd actually prefer Miles. He might be a little better offensively.

They probably don't want $4.9 million of dead money sitting around while they're so cash strapped. That, or Hendry thinks Miles will be productive at some point.