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Who knows, if Theriot continues to be good and Murton finally gets the chance to be a consistent producer, we could be looking at a couple halfway decent positional players from our system for the first time in forever. Does Murton really count since he came from the Red Sox system in the Nomar deal? Shouldn't we get at least some credit for his development since he did spend a bit of time in our minors? Credit for development? not much, I'd say. But certainly credit for wanting him (i.e. scouting him). On the flip side, maybe the Cubs should get credit for developing Brendan Harris, but the blame for not wanting him (or, at least, not letting him "figure it out" in Chicago). I wouldn't blame the Cubs for not "letting Harris figure it out." If I recall correctly, Hendry stated around the time of the trade that the piece he hated giving up the most in the Nomar deal was Brendan Harris. On the face of the trade, you're getting a great shortstop and a good, young outfielder. You have to give up talent to get that and the talent was Harris. Blame would be reasonable if Hendry traded Harris for a quick fix that Harris clearly would have been better than.

I'd say they're going to do everything they can to get this one in. The scheduling issues have been long discussed.

A while. It really came out of nowhere. It started sprinkling one minute and then absolutely pouring the next.

Hope it's not very long so Z can get back out there. I have a feeling it'll last, though.

Yes, Thierry Henry is one of the best soccer players in the world. But, those two are the best all time in their sports, Is he that good? I really don't know I don't follow soccer. I thought Renadlino? was the best in the world. I don't like soccer, but I always thought Paylay (I know I spelled that wrong) was up there for greatest all time.

I'm stuck with the freaking Tigers/Yankees game. Living in between Chattanooga and Knoxville, you'd think I'd be a little closer to Chicago than New York.

Probably couldn't (or didn't want to) take the risk the Phillies let him go to us and we get on the hook for his entire contract.

I really think Lou's the superstitious type. Every time we do something good offensively, he automatically puts out the same lineup until it doesn't do well.

Yeah, because we really gave up a lot for those 2, who are essentially the backbone of the team. Where are Jose Hernandez and hee Sop Choi now? That's what I thought. Crikeys, go on a minor slump or miss a few games and all the sudden you're an albatross. I'm pretty sure Anze was joking. Could be wrong, but this doesn't sound like a serious argument at all.

Would the Indians or Tigers be interested in Miggy? Cleveland has Jhonny Peralta and Detroit has Carlos Guillen. Peralta's not exactly setting the world on fire, but is only 25 and had a very good to great 23-year-old season. Guillen is better than Miggy and cheaper. Of course, now that I look at the Indians, they could move him to second to replace Barfield - who's been horrifically bad. The only interest I could see the Tigers having in him is a move to third - not sure he'd do that though.

That was a hilariously bad trade. :lol: Rafael Soriano for a decent lefty who can't stay healthy? Awful.

Really? ...really? What I mean is if most teams had the Catching situation that the Cubs had they would have given Soto a shot by now. I am not saying Soto is one of the better Catchers in the league now. As for the first part, I think this is pretty obvious. Aren't Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot position players from our system and under 30 years old? Sure, I'd like to see Soto up in place of K. Hill and would've been perfectly fine with sticking with Pie earlier this year, but to say we haven't had any position players from our system get a chance this year is wrong. And before you say Fontenot is not from our system - he was a throw-in in the Sammy deal and was a nothing prospect and our system developed him into legit major league material. Therefore I think he counts as a Cub prospect. Theriot is the only full time starter of the 2. I am willing to bet a donut that the Cubs will bring in a veteran SS this offseason. Even after his great September last season the Cubs brought in DeRossa to be the primary 2nd baseman. Also if Izturis was anywhere above really bad he would still be getting as much time at SS as Theriot. So he doesnt really count to counter my point. I dont think Fontenot will be anything but a part time player on the Cubs. He is already behind DeRossa when the Cubs get a full time RFer. So a "decent shot" is to hand players a starting job without any type of competition? Theriot has proven he's not a top flight starter. He's pretty good and can be a valuable contributor on a better offense, but if there is an upgrade out there he's not above replacing. The fact is, though, he was given the opportunity to beat out the veteran Izturis and was given the starting job over him. And of course if Izturis was a better player he'd get more playing time, that's generally what happens if a player is good. DeRosa was brought in to start at second be an offensive upgrade. So far this year, he's been better than Theriot and one of our better offensive players. If an upgrade is available and it doesn't block one of your top, young stars (which Theriot isn't) it would be silly not to make the move. Once DeRosa was brought in, Theriot was given the opportunity to beat out Izzy at short and did. I fail to see how he didn't get a "decent" shot. As for Fontenot, I've seen many a respected poster on this board cite examples of why Fontenot is likely no better than a backup infielder anyway. The Cubs developed him into that and are now giving him the opportunity to be at least that. I'm not sure how much more Lou has to do to give Fontenot a "decent" shot at getting playing time when he's playing as much or more now than many on the board want. Both are nice players to have developed through the system (though only for a few years on Fontenot), but neither are top-flight star material. I think both have gotten fair treatment this year given the circumstances.

Your new avatar is awesome, by the way. I was thinking the same thing. I'm also curious what his slider looks like. I'd like to see a lefty replacement for Ohman... Never realized Chewie was a lefty. :lol:

I'd plead innocent if I were him. I don't know. Maybe he's tweaking their approach or something and the result will be a better hitter in the long term (with the power back), but for whatever reason it's sapping power right now. Nothing scientific behind the idea, just a thought that seemed to make a little sense. I'm completely at a loss as to why the HR's are suddenly down so much. OK, Lee is coming off a wrist injury and Floyd's getting old and Soriano is streaky...but Jacque only has 2? Barrett was way off his mark when he was here, too. Coming into this year, HR's were the one aspect of hitting I wasn't worried about and now they worry me the most. That's what's confusing me. How can a collection of good power hitters (Soriano, Lee, Ramirez, Floyd, etc) all of a sudden forget how to hit for power? Even Lee, Floyd and Jones have hit a lot of balls really hard, but they're mostly line drives. Floyd especially has hit some real scorchers thoughout the year, but they're staying only a few feet off the ground. It's really confusing.

For me, it's not out of hand dismissals of his ability to help us this year or next. I fully admit he could come to the majors and hit as well as he currently is. Problem is, there's enough evidence against him to make me very concerned. I bring the Ronny Cedeno case up only because he is another player who's never been well known for his bat either in the minors or majors and is all of a sudden hitting well in Iowa. Sure, Soto is a different player and could very well hit well, but there are enough similarities to make me concerned. The fact that everyone is hitting well in the PCL makes me think the pitching is a little (or a lot) down this year - not so much park factors. It may just be coincedence that Soto's breakout year is coming when many other players are hitting above their averages, but the correlation concerns me quite a bit. other than the vast generalization you make in the second paragraph, there are really very few similarities. sure there are alot of Cedenos and Duboises, but there is also alot of Posadas, who had OPS of 714, 785, and 865 in the three years he spent at AAA, or Chris Duncans who never hit for crap unless repeating a level, then suddenly went from an OPS of 807 in the PCL to an OPS of 952 in the majors. most minor leaguers don't make it at the major league level, so it's easy to say 'chances are he won't hit at the ML level.' that doesn't change the fact that dismissing Soto due to Cedeno is a weak argument. you have to look at other things. did Cedeno have patience throughout his minor league career? no, not really. did Cedeno show the ability to hit for power in his minor league career? no, not really, not even in his 'breakout' year of 2005. was there any sudden change in the way the ball left his bat? I don't have the stats other than for 2005, but I am guessing not to the extent that we have seen the past two years from Soto since Ronnie's gb/ld/fb ratio was 57/11/34 (total 102 b/c of rounding, also note that 6.8% of his balls in play were pop ups, so his flyball to the outfield percentage was actually 27%). thanks for your reply, but you really added nothing other than a better articulated version of 'Soto won't succeed because Cedeno didn't succeed.' and the only reason he's doing well is because of the PCL.' First off, where did I say "Soto won't succeed?" Far as I can tell, nowhere. I said, quite clearly I felt, that I had strong CONCERNS that because Soto has never really hit well in the minors that this season is an anomaly. I said multiple times that he very well could do great in the majors and could easily be one of the type players that do little in the minors and then do great in the majors. I just struggle to accept a significantly better season than he's ever consistently put up as something reliable to count on and therefore enough to justify benching a player putting up a very nice OBP. Also, if I were "dismissing" Soto, why in the world would I have said in the post that we should call him up and, if he performs in K. Hill's role, we should give him more playing time? I'm open to him coming to the majors, I'm open to him earning a starting job. I think he may be capable of doing so. My primary concern, though, is that this year - due to a number of factors, ranging in importance - is not enough to rule out an entire career of mediocrity with the bat. But, the fact that he is even doing this is enough to warrant him replacing K. Hill and, if he proves he can perform at the major league level, taking more and more playing time from Kendall. Now, exactly where in this post or any other am I dismissing Soto or saying he won't succeed?

I'd plead innocent if I were him. I don't know. Maybe he's tweaking their approach or something and the result will be a better hitter in the long term (with the power back), but for whatever reason it's sapping power right now. Nothing scientific behind the idea, just a thought that seemed to make a little sense.

i would move andruw to RF before i'd move pie. if it's a dealbreaker, i let andruw play where he wants to play. I've never heard Andruw say one way or another where he wants to play. The likelihood is, the question has never come up because few teams have a comparable defensive CF to Andruw. it'd be hard to move one of the top defensive CF's in the game to a different position--plus he's in the prime of his career. Yeah, there's a good chance he wouldn't want to move from center, I was just noting that I had never heard him say one way or the other. Either way, a defensive outfield including Pie and Andruw would be incredible - no matter where the two played or who was the leftfielder.

i would move andruw to RF before i'd move pie. if it's a dealbreaker, i let andruw play where he wants to play. I've never heard Andruw say one way or another where he wants to play. The likelihood is, the question has never come up because few teams have a comparable defensive CF to Andruw.

It's not just the raw numbers Soto is posting. Relative to the rest of the PCL he is (before tonight when he went 2-3 with 2 BB's) #1 in avg, #2 in OBP, #1 in Slg, and #1 in OPS. The other names you see at the top of these lists (Jason Botts, Delwyn Young, Joe Dillon), have all been promoted. Is the offense of the Cubs so much better that they don't need the best hitter in the PCL? I've said a few times that I'm all for Soto replacing K. Hill and his starts. The thing that concerns me is handing him the overall starting job when he's been a mediocre offensive catcher his entire minor league career - save this one. If he hits well in K. Hill's spot, I would give him progressively more starting time over Kendall. I'm just not comfortable handing him the starting job when Kendall is showing signs of life offensively.

Your new avatar is awesome, by the way.

I like that idea quite a bit. I think we obviously need an offensive upgrade somewhere, though exactly where just depends on who is truly available. I wouldn't go after Posada if he was looking for more than a couple years, irregardless of money. I just don't want to completely rule out catcher as an upgradeable position.

13th in the league in HRs overall with 88. Here are some HR paces: Ramirez - 25 (previous high: 38) Lee - 18 (46) Floyd - 7 (34) Jones - 3 (27) Soriano - 27 (If healthy) (46) I wonder if it's something Gerald Perry's working on with the hitters. That would explain the team-wide power outage. I can think of no other reason why everyone on the team all of a sudden cannot hit homeruns.

That is actually a hilarious statement. :lol:

I believe this is untrue. In fact, I strongly believe this is untrue. There you go, two lines. Feel better? :wink:

I'd be fine with that if no better catcher comes available in the offseason. Not sure what the catching free agent crop looks like, or if there will be any quality available through trades, and if not I'm all for starting Soto next year. if soto can at all be serviceable behind the plate, he provides the ability to upgrade that offense at other positions through free agency. i'd like to see soto at C, theriot at SS, and Pie in CF. derosa would be playing his best position, and we'd have a big bat in right. oh yeah, plus we get z back for another 5 years. That works. My point was, if a Posada-type (not many of those) come available in the offseason, I definitely am interested, but I wouldn't be actively seeking any catcher available.