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I guess I just question the likelihood that he'd make it through 3 firings. Eventually I'd think a new manager would want his own hand-picked pitching coach. If Lou were fired at some point, though, and Larry did, in fact, remain with the new manager, that'd be a pretty big positive statement in Larry's favor. if (god forbid) ryno were to take over, i really wonder what kind of 'connections' he would have for a pitching coach. hendry seems to love larry, so he may still stick around. It's possible Larry might stick around. Actually, I wonder if Ryno would have connections with Maddux? They were teammates.

I guess I just question the likelihood that he'd make it through 3 firings. Eventually I'd think a new manager would want his own hand-picked pitching coach. If Lou were fired at some point, though, and Larry did, in fact, remain with the new manager, that'd be a pretty big positive statement in Larry's favor.

I'm pleased. Just picked up two copies of Athlon's college football preview magazines - one for the entirety of college football and one for the Southeastern region. Good reading.

Not sure if we actually had a trade in place, but I think we asked his agent if he would consider it (and they said no I think). No trade in place that I recall, but Hendry inquired to Lee's agent about shopping him around and Lee and his agent refused. That's to the best of my recollection, at least.

I'm assuming you mean Greg and not his brother Mike (who I think is pitching coach for Texas)? Greg was mentioned in the original post as a possible replacement for Rothschild, so I think your assumption is correct. I think if Lou is fired at some point (very unlikely), Larry would go too. If Lou retires and Trammel is promoted, there's a good chance Larry sticks around. No clue what might happen if Ryno takes over.

I'm trying to remember . . . wasn't the same said about Kerry Wood? It seems the mindset (whatever that even means) is different for the first inning of a start versus coming in as a reliever. Yeah, the same things were said about Kerry before he headed to the pen. Marshall also had 27 appearances in the bullpen last year, recording a moderate 3.46 ERA with a 23:10 K:BB ratio. He gave up runs in 8 of his 27 appearances and multiple runs twice - two runs both times. He also struck out 23 batters in 26 innings. Not dominant numbers, but not particularly bad either.

Not that I disagree with you, but why do you think this? Well, I do believe first that being left-handed does help him establish a role in the bullpen. If Wells goes down there, he's easily the 4th man on the totem pole and could slide farther very quickly. They would probably stick him in the long reliever role who would never pitch. Even with setup men, to have both a right-handed and a left-handed setup men can really help balance the workload. It's not something you bend over backwards to have but it can be beneficial. You can somewhat play matchups (although not batter by batter..you need to commit to one of them for that inning). Marshall would do really well in that role and would find plenty of work, which would also protect Guzman and Marmol's arms a little bit. I also think that Wells over the course of the season will be much more likely to allow baserunners than Marshall, and so Wells will almost certainly have to be a guy that starts innings while Marshall can come in during the middle of an inning. Ok, thanks.

Not that I disagree with you, but why do you think this?

Over the course of the season, Marshall is almost certainly going to be the better pitcher than Wells. I'm also not crazy about the reasoning behind shifting Marshall to the pen. However, it's not going to be a season-long move unless we acquire Peavy (and keep Marshall somehow) or Wells pitches great all year. If either of those do happen, I don't see this being a particularly bad move. If we don't get Peavy and Wells falls off, I'd say it's pretty likely Marshall moves back into the rotation. At that point, maybe he's a bit fresher for the stretch run. I'm not crazy about the decision, but it's not an awful move. I do feel bad for Sean, though. He's done nothing but pitch well as a starter for us.

I've been eating more Subway than anything recently, but that's just because Firehouse isn't around where I work. I should also throw out a mention to Blimpie's - there aren't many around here, but the times I've had it, it's been very good.

Exactly. Other than Duncan, I'm not sure there's a pitching coach I'd take over Larry. Leo Mazzone. Yeah, I considered him. His struggles with the Orioles' staff concerned me, but I'd probably take him as well.

Exactly. Other than Duncan, I'm not sure there's a pitching coach I'd take over Larry. Really, Lou put together a terrific staff overall. Between Larry, Gerald Perry, Mike Quade and Alan Trammel, we've got some very good coaches.

I haven't had many of the listed subs, but of the ones I've had, Firehouse is easily the best. Quizno's and Subway are also quite good (Quizno's moreso), but Firehouse is terrific.

Jim Hendry could have Fleeced teams when he traded Greg Maddux and Jason Marquis instead we got a guy who played for us for 2 weeks and is now with the Indians and Cesar Izturis The interest wasn't there for Marquis to allow Hendry to get good value, much less fleece anybody. There were mixed reports about exactly what Hendry could have gotten from the Dodgers for Maddux. Some reports were that he could have gotten a couple of pretty good prospects for him, others said all the Dodgers would offer was Cesar.

Fixed. The starting pitching hasn't been bad. Fair enough, it has been average. Lilly has been good, but Dempster and Zambrano both have a bit inflated ERAs based on what they've had to go up against (4.48, 4.22). Perhaps I just expect too much more out of Zambrano than he is actually capable of, and I've been spoiled by Dempster's 2.96 ERA last year. Z is going to have his ups and downs, but I think he'll settle in around a 4 ERA. Maybe a bit below. Dempster almost certainly won't come near repeating his sub-3 ERA, but I could see him improving a decent amount. His peripherals are still similar (though admittedly worse) to last year, so ending up right around 4 shouldn't be out of the question as well.

Unfortunately, I also have this feeling. I actually think, if Lou departs on good terms (i.e. he's not fired), his successor may well be Alan Trammel. Ryno will get some consideration when Lou moves on, however.

That's the point, though. Primarily because of his defense Fox is extremely unlikely to be a regular on a National League team. Should he stay a Cub, his future is as a bat off the bench. If he ends up traded to an AL team, however, his bat might be good enough to be a starting DH. But a team has to be willing to bite on him first.

As far as his job security goes, I agree Rothschild is as safe as the current administration. And I think that's appropriate. Most of the major injuries we've seen (Prior, Wood, Fox, etc) have been due in large part to either overuse or bad luck. Obviously bad luck cannot be blamed on Larry and I tend to put overuse more on the manager, since he can over-ride the pitching coach's wishes. Most of the starters we've had have been right around where they ought to be, at least. Guys like Marquis, Clement, Rusch and Jerome Williams have all had at least one season (and more for Marquis and Clement) that were at or above what could realistically be expected of them. I think Rothschild deserves quite a bit of credit for that. Also, we've had young pitchers like Marmol, Guzman, Z and Marshall all develop well under his tutelage. Guzman hasn't been terrific yet, I understand, but he's showing signs of his true talent level and it's just a matter of staying healthy. The bullpen has been more of a mixed bag, but that's how a bullpen is. We've had guys like Howry, Eyre, Marmol, Wuertz, etc. pitch very well out of the pen in Larry's tenure and it appears guys like Guzman and Gregg are settling in (at least somewhat). Overall, Larry's tenure has been a net plus for the team and there are few pitching coaches I'd take over him. EDIT: I should also mention Ted Lilly in this. Ted has been very good since becoming a Cub, partly, I'm sure, due to getting out of the AL East, but I think Rothschild had to have something to do with how well he's done.

I was referring mainly to offense with that comparison. Outside of the defensive difference, I don't think the Branyan upside is too far-fetched. Obviously, the question still remains whether or not he'll reach that upside.

He also mashed it at winter ball and spring training. Hes probably not a Ryan Braun. More likely, hes a Greg Vaughn at best for an AL team, but you never know. If we can give him some DH spots during interleague, and he performs, hopefully we can get something for him. I'd put his upside somewhere around a Russell Branyan type player. He's always been a good hitter, but he's never shown anywhere near the ability to be an offensive force. I think he'll be a nice player for an AL team, but barring a spectacular improvement I don't see Ryan Braun numbers.

Yeah, that's what I suspect as well, but there's still a part of me that wishes he had gotten the full season just to see "what if." Sure, it would have been interesting to see whether his development would've continued barring that injury. I have my doubts though. As someone else has pointed out, he had every tool one could want in a ballplayer...but he was/is sorely lacking in pitch recognition/plate discipline. IMO, he's had plenty of time to sort out those failings. That he hasn't done so implies strongly to me that he just isn't capable. I would tend to agree.

We cant possibly know that unless Fox get the same kind of playing time as Braun did in 2007, and its pretty clear at this point that thats not going to happen, so we'll never really know. The Cubs aren't going into this Fox thing cold. He's been in the organization trying to play third base (among other positions) for 6 years. They should know at this point whether or not he can play the position. I was refering more to the hitting part. I'm not sure exactly how well Fox will hit, but the chances are incredibly slim that he'll hit anywhere near what Ryan Braun - one of the best young hitters in the game - is capable of.

We cant possibly know that unless Fox get the same kind of playing time as Braun did in 2007, and its pretty clear at this point that thats not going to happen, so we'll never really know. The Cubs aren't going into this Fox thing cold. He's been in the organization trying to play third base (among other positions) for 6 years. They should know at this point whether or not he can play the position.

I think the only reason Blanco is up now is because Miles is on the DL.

Yeah, that's what I suspect as well, but there's still a part of me that wishes he had gotten the full season just to see "what if."