CaliforniaRaisin

He really hasn't done anything to justify his spot in the pen. Then again, we have a boatload of players who are not justified to be on this team. You mean, besides being a decent reliever(with peripherals that suggest improvement) in 75 innings at the major league level last year and completely dominating AAA this year? He's had 4 outings this year for crying out loud, and only 2 of them were bad. The latter part of your statement is hardly a ringing endorsement. The point is that his two demotions were kneejerk reactions to poor outings. Every reliever has poor outings, and this year we've been sending the message that one bad performance gets your bags sent to Des Moines. Wuertz was a good middle reliever last year, and his strikeout rates and lack of contact made on him in general made him a good candidate to be even better this year. He's been great at Iowa, we should just let him pitch out of the pen instead of rotating him through with the likes of Novoa and Aardsma. I agree. What kills me is that Dusty is known to give guys every opportunity to pitch their way out of ruts like Wuertz was in during ST and his mere pittance of 4 appearances he's gotten this year. For some reason, he has not extended the same opportunity to Wuertz. Consider the fact that we've had several blowout games where he could have gotten some work and could have gotten his confidence back and he never got the opportunity, it just boggles the mind. He is having a similar year as Ohman, but for some reason, Ohman's getting the chance to work through it but Wuertz isn't. Must be that left-arm mystique... You answered your own question.

Yes. I'm thinking David Cash may have been the other, but I'm not sure about that.Cash definitely came from SF -- I believe as part of the deal for Mueller, but I'm not sure about that part. Technically, the Cubs traded Bill Mueller for Jeff Verplancke. A year later, they traded Verplancke (as a PTBNL) back to the Giants (with Gerard McCall) for Dave Cash. Besides Rohlicek, the Cubs got Mike Nannini and Travis Anderson for Gordon. As you referred to, Nannini went to the Marlins in the Derrek Lee trade.

I changed the thread title after wolf posted his link, which said Carpenter was headed to the DL on Tuesday.

Ditto. I'll be concerned a few starts after he's returned to the big leagues.

:(

Yeah, he's shown that he shouldn't have been demoted.

Possibly. The Cards seem hesitant to put him on the DL, though. Ponson was also just activated.

That's 24 creative losses in 32 days. Fixed. :wink: Hey now, not all of them were creative. Some were just boring old blowouts.

Agreed.

I'll take the Dodgers, and if I need a second team, the Angels.

I'm interested either way.

I just keep watching the Aramis error. It's too hysterical.

I gotta say I'm impressed with how many folks are in here today.

THIS MAN CAN SEE INTO THE FUTURE! :shock: LaRoche walking takes some hard work.

Nice avatar. I wish the Cubs would sign Daisuke when he gets posted.

Yeah, he certainly was impressive last night. Jered is going to have a better season than Jeff, at this rate. Kendry certainly has been impressive too. I think Billingsley will get called up soon by the Dodgers.

DON'T DO IT, DAYTON! (I think he'll say no.)

While Von wasn't a player who got on base much, he has definitely preached plate discipline to Cubs minor leaguers and has certainly helped guys like Felix Pie and Matt Murton the past few seasons.

Probable Starters: Iowa: TBD* @ RHP Justin Lehr (0-1, 5.40 ERA) West Tenn: LHP JR Mathes (5-3, 3.53 ERA, 51 IP, 33/11) vs. Corey Thurman (1-4, 2.56 ERA) Daytona: LHP Carlos Perez (0-1, 6.75 ERA, 20 IP, 19/17) vs. RHP Yovani Gallardo (4-3, 2.52 ERA) Peoria: RHP Todd Blackford (3-1, 4.78 ERA, 49 IP, 22/17) vs. RHP Jacob Rasner (3-3, 3.65 ERA) *My guess: Baez or Williams

Heh, evidence that Hendry doesn't read NSBB. They're still just waiting on that win streak before announcing the extension. They all need to go. Hendry really needs to consult us before he makes another move. Actually, he should just pack his bags and leave Chicago (along with Dusty, the other coaches, and MacPhail).

That explains why his spot was skipped today in Iowa!

Now what, Tree?

I don't think Baker is capable of this. He lets the highs get too high and the lows too low. Flipping the "game ball" to Russ Ortiz in Game 7 of the World Series tipped me off to this. I hadn't heard this - what happened?

Correct.

Probable Starters: Iowa: LHP Les Walrond (4-1, 2.25 ERA, 52 IP, 34/25) vs. RHP Jared Fernandez (1-1, 2.03 ERA) West Tenn: RHP Bobby Brownlie (1-2, 6.57 ERA, 12.1 IP, 13/6) vs. LHP Adam Bostick (3-2, 4.12 ERA) Daytona: RHP Grant Johnson (4-5, 5.14 ERA, 49 IP, 26/20) Peoria: RHP Scott Taylor: (1-2, 2.93 ERA, 27.2 IP, 15/2) @ LHP Zach Phillips (1-3, 5.36 ERA)