Soul

Yeah I don't get the incessant Marshall hate either. Who knows what Gallagher will do, but to say you don't want to experiment with Pie in one breath,and then in the next say you want to experiment with Gallagher? ........eh?

I usually hate off days after a loss, but in this case I'm really looking forward to a day without Cub baseball. This is a $100million ballclub with an amazing amount of slop.

Jake Fox for Pie Pignietello for Marshall Gallagher to the rotation. OK, do whatever. Struggle all you want with whatever AAA talent you want. Without Soriano & ARam this team will sink, especially with Lee looking like crap. End of story. Throw Pie & Marshall to the 4 winds.....end result, exactly the same.

That's a bit too broad. Soriano had plenty of cold streaks/slumps/whatever you want to call them during the two months the Cubs were dominating because he is and always has been a very streaky hitter. Yes, he's missed now, but his injury combined with Lee's slump and Aramis being hurt/out is the much larger issue. If the latter two weren't happening, or even just one of them was mashing, Soriano's absence wouldn't be nearly as obvious. Yeah - that's terrible analysis Soul and you know it. There were a lot of factors that went into our terrible start. Soriano didn't help but Z was crap too. And Soriano isn't the only player hurt or not playing well now. Mojo mentioned Lee and ARam, but our SP has been suspect recently (Marquis was good in his last outing, bad the one before it, Marshall's had 2 bad turns in a row, Z and Hill both got rocked this week - all hail Ted Lilly, eh?). When Soriano finally got hot, he wasn't the only one. Lee and ARam have been consistent basically all year, but DeRosa had a great June and good July, Jones had a good July, Fontenot had a great June, Theriot was great in July (our SS position was pathetic for 3 months). There's a lot more analysis needed. "As Soriano goes, so go the Cubs" is far, far, far from accurate. There's no other analysis needed in terms of Soriano being important to this team. Or didn't you realize there are people lurking around here who think losing Soriano meant nothing?

How do you figure? In July the Cubs went 17-9 while Soriano put up a dismal .701 OPS. It was like having a utility infielder as a starting LF, yet the team continued to win. He was player of the month in June, that's when our surge began, not July.

Soriano was hot, we were surging. He got cold, we started to cool off too. Then he got hurt, and now we're sliding in the standings. No other analysis needed. Soriano performing well and in the lineup is a major plus for this team. Whether or not the contract was wise is another story and open for question, but let's not let it go too far. Look at this ballclub, we could really use Sori's bat right about now.

Someone was saying the guy could get slapped with a huge tax bill if he doesn't sell anyway. Nothing like paying $200k just for catching a baseball at a game, eh? I'm not sure if that's actually true or not though, I'm not tax expert.

Perhaps ERA isn't a good evaluator of relief pichers, is that what you're saying? :) Yes, there is that little matter of relief pitchers needing to hold the fort, 'cuz that's their job and all.

because the Brewers also suck Brewers have to be asking themselves how the hell they are still in first place. Remember that Mets collapse earlier in the year? The Crew have had like 3 of those in the last couple weeks.

i'm sure i'm going to sound like some type of bonds apologist or giants fan, but i never get this holier-than-thou attitude people have when it comes to athletes and money. "oh, he's just out for himself. he doesn't care about his team." yeah, and so are many other athletes. i find it hard to believe that if we were in his situation we wouldn't try and max out our contract offers. it'd be like if A-Rod said, "well, i don't want people to think i'm greedy, so i better just take a 100 million dollar contract." by the way, bonds is worth 8-10 million as a DH in my opinion. Yeah, he could probably DH and go for 800. Now that he hears about ARod gunning for his record, I would expect him to try to extend the number a little bit.

The sample size is small, but Marquis actually hasn't been all that bad @ Coors. He's 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA. Now that I've said it he'll give up an 8-run inning, of course :x

Yeah he should, but for some reason he is way more valuable as a hitter when he leads off. His career numbers show this. I don't know why, but they do. Get some voodoo mindmeld or something to make him see things differently. It's painful to see your top HR hitter never having a chance to drive in additional runs.

At least we scored one.

Yeah. We might have to revoke your title if you keep this up, bud.

Wow I thought there was no way he would get Murton.

Ramirez, fluid in the wrists, no structural damage, according to Len. He'll need rest. Earliest back would be Sunday, most likely Tues or Wed

What? We scored?

At least he's not a lefty. Small sample size, but Jimenez hasn't exactly been lighting up the Denver night since coming to the majors.

I can't root against them, either. I just sit in my chair every evening shellshocked, wondering what the hell has to happen to get this team a championship. You know, like everyone else.

That's what your statement says. But we all know what you are thinking is a tad more.....eh, shall we say, edgy 8-)

For the long haul, I doubt it. For 2008, quite possibly. It probably depends on the timing of the sale, and how quickly they can get their own "baseball people" in line. There is a theory that McDonough is sitting pretty with the leading group. If they (Canning & Co.) buy, and keep him, there won't be a rush to overhaul the front office. They might give Jim the 2008 offseason to keep working, and then reevaluate in the spring/early season. I could see them cleaning house in November, or waiting to see what April/May looks like and either extending him or replace him. If the sale doesn't clear until January/February, then it might be too late to make a move for 2008. That's kind of what I was thinking would happen. Unfortunately, if the sale holds up making a move on front office personnel, I fear it will also prevent us from bringing Zambrano back to the Cubs.

Doesn't it also kind of ignore the fact that other cheating has gone on throughout the history of the game? People have been taking greenies for a long time. Spitballs, corked bats, scuffed balls, etc....have been going on for several generations. I'm not saying any of that excuses what's gone on with steroids/PEDs, but a lot of those other forms of cheating never seem to be met with this kind of anger. Cheating will continue to evolve in all sports. The key is whether the governing authorities for those sports can manage to not ignore it for a couple decades when something new comes along. Sure. And especially when your sport is growing, more people are turning out, etc. Harder to convince people something's wrong when it feels oh so right.

Sort of, but HR production is down after all, quite a bit if I'm remembering the numbers I saw a little while ago correctly. I think if the stats start bloating out of control again it'll be the same thing all over again, or if it's in another sport, same difference. It always starts with people looking at records falling left & right and going, "hey what's going on here?!?" .... Right? So since the numbers have kind of un-bloated themselves, people are thinking the steroid flap is over for the moment.

Is there any chance Hendry is retained by new ownership? I dunno, for me it's just wins & losses. Hendry's had 5 years, not enough wins. I try to keep it uncomplicated.

Yeap. And guess where they usually finish in the standings. World Series Champions? Did I get it right?! Did I!?!? Only if you are drowning in magic pixie dust, such as LaRussa & his Cardinals for example. Sadly, no pixie dust near Wrigleyville.