Transmogrified Tiger

Wow, Flaherty's OPS is up to .800. That happened quickly.

Offer him arbitration and continue to try to work out a one year deal even if he declines.

He's managing in AA. I know that. What I'm getting at is that (assuming) the majority of us don't see him manage everyday. Maybe you manage minor league guys different that you would major leaguers. I really don't know. Granted, if he's come right out and said he's a sac bunt, hit and run type guy that's probably not what the club needs. Aside from Rocket said, if anything you'd want a minor league manager to do even less of the intervening moves, since those games are primarily about individual development. Sandberg trying sac bunts with the 3rd hitter of the game, hitting and running all the time, and getting thrown out for arguing every 2 weeks is a very bad sign down there.

He's managing in AA.

The 2008 Dodgers were 2-5 against the Cubs, with one of those wins against Sean "Bootcheck" Gallagher.

Archer is approaching 100 IP without a HR given up.

As much as I didn't like the Jackson pick, he's done a real good job in his debut. 3 for 4 with 2 HR and BB tonight. His Peoria line is now .328/.390/.586/.976 (~65 PAs) if I calculated right.

Who was that who just tried to dribble the ball from the 18 to midfield? Dumb.

CHARLIE DAVIES!!!

Well the officiating is not off to a strong start.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/70/eptsportsncaafexperts38.jpg

Methinks Marmol's elbow is about to go pop soon.

Gaub at Iowa: 20 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 23/7 K/BB, 0 HR I'm excited to see what he and Parker could do at the MLB level.

This is why I'm not a huge Rios guy. He's only projected to barely be worth his huge contract, and you can get a reasonable proxy of his production with a platoon of like Sam Fuld and Ryan Spilborghs.

Did Pedro ever get above 86-88 during his rehab? Because we're going to chase him in the 3rd if he doesn't throw harder than that on Wednesday.

To what statistic are you referring ?? I assume he means OPS in Innings 7+.

He's referring to the University of Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Indiana. They're coached by Charlie Weis, former offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. Weis has been maligned in recent years, by opposing fans for his weight(he had gastric bypass in 2002), and by Notre Dame fans for his inability to repeat the success of his first two years, when he had current Cub Jeff Samardzija playing Wide Receiver.

No doubt, I didn't feel super comfortable with it either. But maybe you don't need to trade Lilly to get Reyes, or maybe Harden takes arbitration, or maybe there's a good trade opportunity that comes along if that's too much risk for some to take with the rotation.

The Cubs have also split series with the Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals, and White Sox during that time frame, and knocked the Astros from the ranks of .500 when they played them.

It's late so this probably won't make any sense and couldn't happen, but if you want to shake things up after 3 years of not being able to break through: Let Gregg, Harden, and Grabow walk. Offer arbitration to Harden, and to Gregg provided he doesn't humiliate himself the rest of the year so he won't take arbitration. If Harden choses to come back, cool. If not, yay draft picks. Eat Miles' money so I never have to see him again. Lilly, Theriot, and a pitching prospect(hope for someone like Coleman, willing to give up someone like Jackson) for Jose Reyes and a low level prospect. Buy low on Howie Kendrick. He and Fontenot can be in a platoon with Kendrick taking at bats if he has a nice year. See if you can get Rafael Soriano for less than 3 years. I wouldn't be picky about the money if that could happen. Reyes Fukudome Lee Ramirez Bradley Soriano Soto Fontenot/Kendrick Best 5 of Zambrano/Dempster/Wells/Gorzelanny/Samardzija/Marshall/Jackson/Atkins/Coleman (NOT Cashner) Marmol/Guzman/Soriano finish games, Marshall is in the pen if he doesn't make the rotation, Heilman is mopup duty, and Stevens, Gaub, Parker, and whoever else you find(trade, FA bargain, Rule 5, etc.) compete for middle relief. Overall, stronger offense(especially without the flukish 2 months of awfulness from everyone), stronger pen, and weaker rotation, plus 3 or 5 of the first 50 picks in the draft. The hope is that there's enough depth in the rotation to handle whoever is ineffective, and hope that someone of Cashner/Jackson/Carpenter continues making big strides in 2010 to show they're ready for a rotation spot.

Flaherty hasn't really been a bad luck BABIP guy. He just isn't hitting the ball very hard consistently(13.8% LD%, 14.4% IF/F). That's particularly worrisome for a college product like Flaherty that is old for his level.

Snyder never walks and has a near 30% K rate at AAA. He wouldn't be a good idea on the Major League club.

It's not compared to his peers, it's compared to himself in normal situations. That's why it's possible to have anti-clutch and not clutch. Aaron Miles isn't anti-clutch, he's just bad. Aramis Ramirez isn't clutch, he's just good. There are rare examples of players who really underperform in those situations over a significant timeframe, but the examples are even more rare for those who overperform in those situations over a significant timeframe.

When I first saw that I thought I saw the dude's nose laying on the ground next to him. That was a terrifying quarter-second before I realized that wasn't possible.

Nope. Samardzija is their best chance of not having to waste the whole pen that day. He's the only one who can get you through 5 IP right now, unless you call up an inferior pitcher like Atkins.