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I enjoy listening to him on the broadcasts too. I've gotten to the point on most sports broadcasts, I don't look for deep, insightful analysis - I just look for people I enjoy listening too. For whatever reason, Dusty is one of those people.

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.

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. Ultimately, I understand Soto could come up and provide offensive help. Problem is, there are enough concerns surrounding the incredible year he's having to make me think this is more of an anomaly than a trend. The likelihood is that he'll regress from his minor league numbers when he reaches the majors (for a while at least). The question is, will he regress from his career averages, his end to last season, or this year's numbers? If it's from his career averages, he's no better (if not worse than) Kendall. If it's from his end to last year, he's probably as good or slightly better than Kendall. If it's from this year's numbers, we've got a dang good catcher. I would feel much better, instead of calling him up and handing him the starting job, bring him up now to replace K. Hill and give him those starts. If he hits well, give him more and more playing time. If he doesn't hit, we've got a nice defensive catcher playing behind and learning from Kendall.

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.

I agree. Once the purchase is approved, I'd say the first order of business, even before the Cubs change hands, will be the new owner giving the ok to sign Z. I'll be shocked if it's much after the sale is approved.

I agree. But if Bruce Miles reporting is to be believed, the cubs pitchers like Hill quite a lot, and that is the only reason he is still around. I definitely believe Bruce's reporting. It doesn't surprise me one bit that they like Hill, but I have a feeling Soto - being considered a very good defensive catcher - would be just as good all around as Hill defensively while producing more offensively (hopefully, surely). I'm also hoping Soto and Z could form the same type bond Z and Hill seem to have.

The thing is, Kendall was lambasted around here for his Cubs start (1 hit in first 15 ABs), and Soto chants have been relentless. I think this thread is just correction for fans appreciating Kendall's recent performance, and there is nothing wrong with a little positive energy. Yes his OPS as a Cubs is still only .721, but it's a hell of an improvement over Hill or Bowen. And while the team has only played 5 games in August, that August line of .357/.471/.571/1.042 looks like shiny candy compared to the rest of the year. I appreciate Kendall's ability to get on base (even if he hasn't done so much of the year). I agree that he'll probably get on base more than any other option the Cubs have a catcher. However, he has two major problems: 1. He has no power. 2. He has no arm. It just so happens that Soto has nearly 20 homeruns in AAA, and he has a decent arm. While Soto probably won't get on base as much as Kendall this year (and that's debateable), he will hit a few more homeruns. That power is desperately needed in our lineup right now. I'd go with a Kendall/Soto tandem, and I'd try to send down Hill. If we lose him, we lose him... I agree with this. I don't want Soto to be our #1 catcher down the stretch, but would be more than happy to see him split time with Kendall and send down K. Hill. Basically, like CCP's been saying, call up Soto and give him K. Hill's playing time (and more if he hits up here like he is in Iowa, however unlikely).

Better than anything we've been putting behind the plate this year.

The thing is-your assumption at the beginning of the post is not completely correct. Kendall's OBP with the Cubs is over .365. There are 6 catchers out of 50 in the major leagues with 100 AB's that have that number. He is not playing terribly offensively. So-do the Cubs ride out his hot streak and take his defense with it, or do they make a move even when he's doing well offensively? It depends on if his defense begins to cost us more runs than his offense will likely generate. His Cubs numbers are with small sample sizes, but his season totals indicate to me a below average offensive player. I have no faith in his ability to put up a .365 OBP over the last 2 months of the season, and even if he does, if he's giving up 4 extra bases per game, is it worth it? Would Soto give you a better overall value? I have a feeling that Soto would be a better overall fit. I also have a feeling that we'll not be finding that out. Kendall put up better than a .365 OBP over the course of the entire season just last year - .367. He's also trending the exact same way he did the past two years - terrible in the first half, good to very good in the second half. I don't see how it's all that unlikely at all that he could post a .365 for the final 2 months. Especially since, I believe, he put up almost a .400 OBP in the second half last year.

The problem I have with Soto is that he's never begun to come anywhere near close to this kind of production. I realize he could be having a breakout year, but with production up all across the Iowa team and seeing Cedeno put up incredible numbers just to continue struggling up here, I wonder if this is real from Soto or an anomaly. I would have been ok sticking with Soto, but I fail to see how it's a terrible crime to go with Kendall - who's getting on base for us right now - over Soto - who could be great, could be awful. I especially don't see how you can assume Soto is going to produce in Chicago the way he currently is in Iowa.

Nope, Romero worked through the lefties and Manuel wanted Myers to face the righty Damian Miller ( :shock: ). Myers is batting for himself with 2 down.

How about instead Bret Myers shuts down the Brewers and we head to extra innings? :D Let's burn that Brewer pen out now!

And it sounded like Howard was hurt after being hit. NOt sure if it's lingering, but he was having trouble getting around the bases.

That's a good point. As NSBB grows, people will likely connect the Northside name with the football site. Also, when there were two football teams in Chicago, the Bears were the team of the North side. So it makes sense for multiple reasons. Hmm, we seem to have a trend going. I'd be perfectly fine with either NorthsideFootball or WindyCityFootball.

who's complaining about lilly and howry? Haven't seen any complaining about Lilly since he signed (though there was plenty then). There have been a few people talk about how terrified they are every time Howry takes the mound - primarily during game threads - and then synergy's post about how Howry needs to be DFA'd.

I just have to say - the Braves dancers during commercial breaks are amazingly hot.

I agree with all of this. I'm not sold on Soto being able to be much better than a better Blanco back there (which would be fine as a backup or fallback option), and I am adamantly opposed to Kendall returning next year.

I think so in the first series after the ASB, but no matter what has happened positively in the past I'm going to assume crappy left = doom for the foreseeable future. Wandy also has pretty drastic home/road splits. Yeah, I'm always concerned, but beating up Wandy last time gives me a little hope against him.

Soto's not that much cheaper. We're paying Kendall in the area of $900,000 this year and Soto's making what? $300,000 - not a significant savings. Plus, Soto's been average at best every year in the minors except this year - when ALL numbers are up in the PCL. Ronny's numbers were quite good in Iowa this year too after being mediocre in past minor league years and he hasn't torn it up for the big league club. Soto could be better, but it's definitely no guarantee. I wouldn't have been completely against giving him the shot before Kendall and I wouldn't be against replacing K. Hill with Soto now, though.

I could be remembering wrong, but I think we tore Wandy up the last time we faced him.

Looking at OPS tells you how good a player is overall. It tells you how well he can slug, get on base, etc, all combined into one nice little number. But, when you want to see what a player can do good specifically, you need to look at more than just OPS. That's why I keep quoting his OBP. If you understand a player is not going to hit for power of any real type (Kendall), OPS will tell you much of what you already know. We are quite aware Kendall has never and will never hit for power. But, he's been historically excellent at getting on base and put up a .367 OBP last year. Therefore, if we were looking at re-signing him for next year or trying to evaluate how much to give up for him in a trade, I'd look at OPS first. But, when looking at his contribution to the team that he is currently on, I think it's acceptable to focus on his OBP when it's well known he won't slug.

That's a good point. As NSBB grows, people will likely connect the Northside name with the football site.

Rockies lead 4-3 now with the bases loaded and one out still in the sixth. James is out and Tyler Yates (making around his 50th appearance this year) is in.

The reason they haven't signed him yet is the uncertainty surrounding the ownership. Big money cannot be committed for multiple years when the current ownership is only in place the remainder of this season. As much as Hendry and McDonough want to sign Z, they have no option but wait until a new owner has been decided on and can give the go ahead. Yes it can. The Trib still owns the Cubs and can do anything they please. The cost of the contract though would probably be considered debt and subtract from the selling price. The Trib is trying to maximize the price they can get for the Cubs even it means losing Z. The Trib has never, ever been concerned for what is in the best interests of the baseball side of things. It's all about the money. Good point. I should have said will not be committed instead. Hendry and McDonough are more than ready to sign Z, but the Trib will not approve the signing since they're selling.

Braves leading the Rockies 3-2 in the 6th, but the Rocks are threatening with runenrs on first and second with Helton up. Chuck James is above 90 pitches already.