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I'm not sure if anybody is familiar with Jason Churchill or not, but he runs a site called http://www.prospectinsider.com. He's mostly a Mariners guy, but has contacts with the Orioles as well. Over the past month or so I've been in a little bit of contact with him through e-mails regarding the Roberts situation. I hadn't heard from him in awhile, so I sent him an e-mail yesterday asking what he thinks the chances are of the Roberts trade going through, and he said this: I sent him another e-mail asking if it was cool if I shared the info with this board, and he responded by saying it was fine as long as I gave a link to Prospect Insider. He also had this to say: I just got this e-mail and I have no idea what that means, so I sent him an e-mail to clarify. I'll let you guys know what he says. Any idea as to what that means?

Nothing new here, but I haven't seen it posted. From usatoday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/community/profile.htm?UID=21148606613917ec&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a21148606613917ecPost%3aece19d86-0c47-4e0d-aed5-a10cf99031a5&loc=interstitialskip

They finally said something about him on cubs.com.

Has anybody heard anything at all? I haven't heard a single mention of him anywhere.

Oh my goodness. :banghead:

I see no reason that the minor injuries to those guys should affect a trade. Those are pretty much non-issues.

If Fukudome bats 2nd, this lineup is going to be crazy top heavy.

What did Kap say? Deal won't happen for at least 7-10 days. Are you sure he said "at least" 7-10 days, and not "within" 7-10 days? Somebody on OH said that he said a deal would happen in 7-10 days or sooner. Great, now my credibility is being measures against the always reliable Big Bird, Belkast, Peace etc. The writer said he thought Roberts would be a Cub by opening day, nothing had changed in the last 48 hours or was imminent and that he didn't think a deal would happen for 7 - 10 days at the earliest. No, it wasn't one of the "insiders". It was a Cubs fan that heard the same Kaplan report and heard it differently than you.

What did Kap say? Deal won't happen for at least 7-10 days. Are you sure he said "at least" 7-10 days, and not "within" 7-10 days? Somebody on OH said that he said a deal would happen in 7-10 days or sooner.

What did Kap say? Baltimore writer said Oriole scout on way to Mesa to scout Cub pitchers. Deal won't happen for at least 7-10 days. Thinks Gallagher and Cedeno in deal for sure. Orioles also want Ceda. Doesn't think the O's want Murton - don't think he would be a good platoon player. Thinks the talks wouldn't have gone on this long if a deal wasn't going to happen. If the O's take Marquis, Payton would have to go to the Cubs. Says O's not trading Sherrill. Is there anywhere that I can read/listen to that report?

What did Kap say? There was a Cubs fan on OH who said that Kaplan went on TV and said that the Roberts deal is heating up and that the Orioles want both Pie and Ceda and the Cubs want Sherrill in the deal. The Pie part makes me skeptical that it would ever go through, unless the Cubs are planning to trade Marquis for Crisp and Pie, Ceda, and Marshall for Roberts and Sherrill. There have been numerous reports that Pie isn't going anywhere though. And I see no reason why this poster would lie, which is why I passed it along even without seeing it myself. There's no real value in lying about a television report that's just a rumor anyway. I'm pretty sure that guy is full of it. I've seen him post some ridiculous stuff over the past couple weeks and he seems to just be interested in getting a rise out of people. I'm 95% sure Kaplan never said that. Less than a week ago, that same poster said this: Yeah, sounds like a 15 year old messing around on the internet.

I still don't get this Reds bandwagon stuff. That pitching is still garbage.

That's not entirely true. I remember reading that the original deal between the Cubs and Padres was Michael Barrett, Jacque Jones, and Cesar Izturis for Greene, Bowen, and Linebrink. However, that trade fell apart for money reasons so the Barrett for Bowen and a prospect trade went through. Haha. Yeah, I *really* don't think that has any substance to it at all. Where did you hear about that?

False.

They're already said that likely only one of Pie/Fuld will make the team. Also, I don't think Fontenot serves any purpose on this team. He's not a good defender, he can't play multiple positions, he doesn't steal bases, and isn't great with the bat.

I think Lou's reply pretty much puts a wrap on Jason Marquis' stint as a Chicago Cub.

Did you guys see this post on OH? Seriously, what the hell?

Anyone else hear that report by Levine? Yes, I heard it as well. BTW, I believe that all of Levine's "baseball beat" reports are on ESPNAM1000.com Do you know where? I can only find a Levine interview with Kerry Wood. The Woody interview was played this morning on Levine's "Talking Baseball" show. I can't check right now, because I'm on my phone and unable to open multiple windows, but yesterday, there was a link to all of his beat reports and interviews on the front page of ESPNam1000.com I found it. Thanks.

According to the guy on OH Oh hell.

The pitcher makes 3.

I think it is a little much as well. I do, too. I think Gallagher is going to be good. Cedeno, who knows. It really depends on who the other players in the trade are. If the Cubs are giving up somebody like Veal, then definitely not. If its Patterson or Fontenot, cool. If they give up Murton, it would be nice to get Sherrill coming back. If the Cubs do go through with this, it is definitely a trade to win now which always means giving up more long term value. I'm okay with that so long as it isn't done too often. The question remains, however, will Roberts make enough of an impact to justify the deal. He might. It all depends on the difference having a more balanced line-up will make. Does getting better match-ups against relievers noticeably impact a team's ability to win games? Will having three lefties in the line-up mean that the Cubs will get deeper into their opponents bullpen and face less talented pitchers late in the game? Will Soriano actually be moved to the middle of the order and if he does, will that result in more runs being scored? How big of an impact will DeRosa coming off the bench and filling in for injured players really make? We've seen the stat lines of DeRosa and Roberts being compared a lot in this thread, and they aren't that different, but it is these other more subtle advantages that will make this deal worth doing or not. I think Soriano leads off regardless. No Roberts means Theriot hits 2nd, Fukudome 3rd. Roberts means Roberts hits 2nd, Fukudome 5th, Theriot 8th. This is why I want Roberts. If there was any chance they'd bat DeRosa 2nd, I wouldn't. I know batting order "doesn't really matter", but I just want the top of the Cubs lineup to not suck for once. I definitely want Theriot nowhere near the top of the order either, but him and Pie in some combination of 7/8 is going to make for a brutal last 3rd of the lineup. If Roberts ends up coming, I'd probably do this- Soriano Roberts Lee Ramirez Fukudome Soto Pie Theriot The top 6 looks really good, but the last 3 look brutal.

Anyone else hear that report by Levine? Yes, I heard it as well. BTW, I believe that all of Levine's "baseball beat" reports are on ESPNAM1000.com Do you know where? I can only find a Levine interview with Kerry Wood.

This is how baseless rumors spread.

I'm sorry, I'll stop. I should have moved on with the foe feature like everyone else.

Alright, this ongoing argument is obviously annoying people, so this will be my last post to you. Do you not see theridiculously flawed and short minded "logic" you're using? Why do you insist that Roberts can't be used as a number 2 hitter? I feel like I'm talking to an infant. "Oh, because he's a LEADOFF hitter!". You have yet to name one thing that Roberts can do as a leadoff hitter that he can't do as a 2 hitter. You said it yourself, Roberts is designed to get on base. Is that not his goal as a number 2 hitter? You've got some bizarre concept of baseball in your mind that makes a leadoff hitter completely different than a number 2 hitter just because he has a specific name. It's like "no, a leadoff hitter can't possible bat 2nd! Then he wouldn't be a leadoff hitter and would be completely useless!" Do you really not see how incredibly foolish that is? That's like criticizing the Phillies choice to start Myers on opening day (to line up their rotation) by saying somthing like "Hamels as a number 2 starter!? But he's an ACE! A number 1 starter!! What's the point of even starting him if he's going to be a number 2 starter?! We might as well just trade him if he isn't our ACE!. That sounds ridiculous, but it's exactly what you're doing. "Leadoff hitter" is a spot in the lineup, not a position in the lineup. It's not like we're getting Roberts so he can play right field or something. I've yet to hear any examples of what Roberts can do in the leadoff spot that he can't so in the 2 hole. Roberts is every bit as valuable in the 2 spot as he is in the leadoff spot. Would he hit 2nd? I really don't know for sure, but neither do you. Stop it with this ridiculous and warped logic. Ok, I'm done. I promise this time. Everytime I see a post from this guy I can't resist, but I won't be reading them anymore. I apologize to everyone on this board. You're doing the exact same thing with Soriano! HE CAN'T HIT ANYWHERE BUT LEADOFF OR THE EARTH WILL IMPLODE! As you like to say...just STOP it. Come on man, those 2 things are completely different. There's a reason why I think Soriano shouldn't hit anywhere other than leadoff: because his numbers will drop. Whether or not his numbers will drop is debatable, but at least that has reasoning. That is completely different than saying Roberts should only bat leadoff and never second. Where is the reasoning behind that? There is none. It's because he holds the title "leadoff hitter". Ugh, again, please read what I have been saying. I never said Roberts can't have a .385 obp. We've been over this. I was saying I don't think it's an accurate statement to say "Roberts will have a .385 obp". If he said "Roberts could have a .385 obp" I would have never said anything. Like I said in another post that you apparently didn't read, Derrek Lee could hit 46 home runs again this season, but I don't think it's a fair statement to say "Derrek Lee will have 46 home runs this year". Let's just drop this because it really doesn't matter and people clearly aren't getting what I said. Again, that's a very poor comparison. There is reasoning behind the Soriano argument, and even evidence. Like I said before, it's debatable, but at least there is a good argument to be made. Do you have any reasoning or evidence to say the Roberts can't hit 2nd? No. There is none. It;s like saying "Why did the Tigers get Miguel Cabrera? He might not be able to hit in the AL!". So, that statement is true, but there is no evidence or reasoning that makes you think he might not be able to hit in the AL, so it's a silly statement. The reason people don't like moving Soriano down is because there is strong logic and history of it. Roberts has neither. Please, stop with these baseless comparisons. Anyways, let's just drop all of this. I'm sick of arguing.