Soul

/ESPN

My guess is, they won't do it. And we'll struggle to score next year because of it. At least, to a greater degree. We might have better overall team defense though. And there are some guys who I think can put in even better seasons, like Noah, who impressed me more last year. A full season of Salmons will be interesting, too. I don't think all is lost just because our 6th man shooter is gone. Obviously the team will have to approach games differently, unless they do manage to pick up an outside threat.

I'm in "no more faith" mode when it comes to Miles. I'd rather just consider him dead meat. If he does something, then it will be a pleasant surprise. I guess what I'm saying is, I really don't want to see him on the field very often. If he takes one of his few opportunities and does something with it, then I'll be happy. I just have no more faith in him that he will do anything. If he *was* DFA'd, I would be happy. I'm not blind to the money he's being paid and what effect that is likely to have on any decision around him.

The drooling over Fuld isn't fair, but neither is this statement really. All Fuld has done so far is get on base, show patience, show his speed, play terrific defense, and give maximum effort - basically everything Soriano doesn't do and everything a leadoff man should do. He's done nothing that warrants criticism so far. It's gonna be tough getting him and Soriano in the lineup, but right now Fuld has to stay in the leadoff spot and I think Lou knows it. If we want to keep Fuld around, then I submit the best place for him is on the bench, where pitchers won't have as good an opportunity to adjust to him and we can sub him in for situations that benefit him the most. All in all though, if it comes down to Fox and Fuld in terms of having to send someone to Iowa: peace out Sam Why is Hoffpauir so safe? I know hes lefty, but so is Fuld. Hoff plays only 1st and Right. Fox playes 1st, 3rd, and both corner outfield sots, although I doubt it would come to it. Fuld only plays outfield, but a lot better at it than both Fox and Hoff. I wonder if we could get a decent middle reliever for Hoff. Can we at least wait for awhile before declaring Fuld a viable major league option? It's 2 games.

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. Bah, that's alot of hooey. DFA his ass.

Cutting him wouldn't be that beneficial. He's getting paid either way so cutting him would just lessen our depth some. What depth? I'm not seeing it. He's a bad player. Every time he takes an AB it's a net negative.

Guess you haven't paid much attention to him this year Oh, come on man. We're all capable of looking his stats up. We all know what he's doing this year. Two things though...I'm still not going to lose sleep over trading him, and if you say you thought he'd even have one decent season in the future, you're a liar. I'm not losing sleep either, but let's not pretend the trade was a wash I wasn't aware that Aardsma was still on the White Sox. The White Sox got rid of Aardsma after one season, and he bounced around the league before finally finding success 3 seasons later. The Cubs sorta got production from Cotts at least last year, so its not as much of a bad trade as you suggest. Yeah, I was gonna say: at least he didn't perform well for the White Sox.

No transaction to accomodate Miles. Miles: DFA. Time to eat your mistake, Jim.

The drooling over Fuld isn't fair, but neither is this statement really. All Fuld has done so far is get on base, show patience, show his speed, play terrific defense, and give maximum effort - basically everything Soriano doesn't do and everything a leadoff man should do. He's done nothing that warrants criticism so far. It's gonna be tough getting him and Soriano in the lineup, but right now Fuld has to stay in the leadoff spot and I think Lou knows it. If we want to keep Fuld around, then I submit the best place for him is on the bench, where pitchers won't have as good an opportunity to adjust to him and we can sub him in for situations that benefit him the most.

I have little to no confidence in this current regime to step in and make any trade of high significance. The Salmons and Miller deal was a nice little trade but I don't think Paxson has what it takes to ship out some of his pieces to land a big-name player. We've been talking about getting a star player ever since Paxson became the GM in 2003. It's 2009 and we still haven't made a big splash. Color me unconvinced that we can land a big-name player. I know. I'm not convinced either. Although having Rose should be a bit more of an enticement for free agents to want to come here. I'm still of the mind that "I'll believe it when I see it."

Let that be a warning to you all. Copying Fred's stuff will result in major penalties.

yeah, i typically don't get too worked up over one particular series or stretch of games, but this stretch of games leading into the all-star break has me antsy as hell. i'm really begging this team to give me a reason to care about the second half. series wins against MIL and STL would do it. Me too. I'm right with you.

Yes, but at that one dimension, Gordon is a lot better than many other shooting guards. I'm not saying I'm devastated he's gone, because I'm not. But the man did have value, and that's why he found work readily elsewhere at pretty good money.

Damn. He's a good player. Yes he is, but considering he has taken potshots at the Hawks management (rightfully or not is besides the point) on his twitter account makes him sound bitter. Good luck in Minny, Marty. I forgive him. He knew he had a pretty good thing going in Chicago, and chances were he would wind up in a less attractive position. He should probably have kept his mouth shut, but I have no hard feelings.

Milton Bradley has acted like he cares He has? People who don't care don't scream at umps when calls go against them, excitedly flip their bat when they walk, or smash water coolers or throw their helmets when they do poorly. Whatever has been ailing Bradley this season, having passion is certainly not a problem for him. But is it passion for the team or passion for his own benefit? Maybe we need a team psychologist to diagnose each blowup, find out what the real meaning is.

Can't just dismiss that we lost our leading scorer, even if he was deficient in other areas. I'm a little nervous about the outside game now. Hopefully this leads to a better signing in the future.

I don't see why it matters. There's always a deal or two that's good, but all around it is a team stuck in nowhere land, perpetually looking 3 years down the road while delivering on nothing. Unloading every decent player they have, bring up the next batch, unload them too. They're a disaster. Pirates fans I know don't even acknowledge their existence, and haven't for a long time.

Doesn't 12 years sound like an awfully long time? I love the player, but how do we get out of the contract if in, say, year 5 his knees become like ground beef?

Come on Lou, that was weak. You can do better than that.

On that note, where did all this Brenly nonsense start? Was there a rumor, was somebody just calling for a change at manager? Someone asked who Hendry (or whoever) might look at if Lou were fired/retired after the year. Brenly's name was brought and it went from there. People have been talking about Brenly for manager ever since he joined the booth. He's the easiest name to come up with when the Cubs start dropping games and people get angry.

Id say Im more upset about Soriano than Fukudome. Fukudome is just repeating last year. Soriano has always been either really hot or really cold, but I dont believe hes ever been this cold for this long before. Yeah, we were supposed to get our Summer hot streak from him by now. Just hasn't happened this year. We were supposed to get decent production out of him for the first 4-5 years of the contract. He's 33, in just his 3rd year. I don't even want to think about him at 36, 37.... One prediction that has come true: that contract is putting off a odor, at ever-increasing levels, each year. In a couple years the reek is going to be nearly intolerable.

Id say Im more upset about Soriano than Fukudome. Fukudome is just repeating last year. Soriano has always been either really hot or really cold, but I dont believe hes ever been this cold for this long before. Yeah, we were supposed to get our Summer hot streak from him by now. Just hasn't happened this year.

Some players fail lots more than others.

I haven't read the whole thread, but for my part, the point is that we DON'T have that on the Cubs, so expecting some grand result just because we switch to Brenly is highly unrealistic. Give me the equivalent of Schill/Johnson in the rotation, and Gonzo OPSing in the stratosphere? Take your pick of managers, we're going to win, unless the rest of the roster is completely laughable. So why didn't we win in 2003 with Sosa and Prior/Wood? Sorry, but that's just a really easy question to ask given your logic here. It shouldn't be, given that the '03 team did win.

My guess is, because they are desperate.