Wheelimus

Yup, actions speak louder than words. Come back and have a second half of a .300 average and a .360 OBP, and nobody is going to boo you anymore.

Yup, we can. The Nationals are playing above their heads. I think it's silly to dismiss them from the wildcard, but they aren't going to win the division. So really we're right in the thick of things for the wild card, only six games back now and I expect that gap to the top to close pretty quickly. To compete, though, we need the following key items to happen. 1) Nomar Garciaparra playing for The Cubs by August 1st. If he's badly off target, then you aquire a shortstop the day before, or you have (immediately after the AS Break) moved Ronny Cedeno into the starters role and see what he has done. 2) Matt Murton needs to come on huge, and Dusty needs to play him. 3) Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, and Carlos Zambrano need to play like the top of the rotation starters they're supposed to be. And they need to do it for the entire 2nd half. If one of those 3 are starting, and the offense gives them anything, they better have the lead when they leave. 4) Ryan Dempster needs to continue to be a bonafide big league closer. 5) Leadoff - Jerry Hairston, 2nd in order - Todd Walker. That needs to not change AT ALL, unless one of them just TANKS. We wouldn't be in the mess we're in had there been reliable guys at 1 & 2 in the first half...and Derrek Lee would have run away with the RBI title. 6) NO MORE BLEEPING INJURIES

Well, Kearns makes sense if we're really going to just give the season up. Maybe try to move Burnitz to a contender and play Kearns in right... I'd hate to give up Hill, but you can't say no to someone with the upside that Kearns has. Now, this is Cincy, lets not overestimate their intelligence. Offer them a lesser pitching prospect. And even if it forces you to include Hill, make something come back in return from them. Depending on how much of a youth movement we're going to, we could very well wind up seeing Hairston play 2B if we move Todd to a team who could use him...

Step 1) Fire Dusty Baker, re-hire Steve Stone, move Brenly to manage for the rest of the season Step 2) ? Step 3) WORLD SERIES :lol: OT, but is anyone else surprised at how much Brenly has seemed to be the voice of reason in terms of playing youth?

he'd probably waive it for an extension with his new team. Keep Zambrano, he'll still be relatively cheap for years to come.

eh, not like we couldn't trade him to a team with a need at short (or, a post trade deadline injury forces one) after the deadline, with his salary it's doubtful anyone would claim him. Any trade would probably just be to dump him in exchange for a decent prospect. We'd have to pick up the rest of his cash this year.

Eh, at 25 and only being owed $1.5 mil, if another team thought the Cubs would just give him away, make no mistake, he's claimed. Problem is, people know they're just sending him down to work on stuff, and if he's claimed, will just pull him off and let him rot on the bench. So nobody is going to claim him, because anyone who may be interested in him wants him to get his act together, so it makes no sense to claim him UNLESS you're ready to make a trade that The Cubs will go for at this point. I mean, if the A's really want him and claim him and offer Kotsay in trade, then fine, good move. Else, just let him go, you aren't getting him for free regardless.

Even if we have to put him on revocable waivers, at least we get to see who would claim him, and if we can maybe work out a deal...

I think so, that is assuming Greg wants to be traded (he can refuse) and not play on a sinking team. I think the obvious choice is the Atlanta Braves. Lets be honest here, Greg's going in the hall as a Brave. He had his Chicago homecoming, we can send him off the right way, hopefully with some sort of special going away appreciation day or something, and he can finish his career where he made his mark. And they need another starter... As for who to get back, I wouldn't say no to Kelly Johnson

No, but it's going to take 4:20 to keep depression at bay once this day is over....

If they ever put this season's highlights on DVD, it'll be called 2005 Chicago Cubs "New Adventures In Futility"

Hell, with 18 homers at Iowa lets get him in the starting lineup, can he play LF :lol: Seriously though, I always liked Die Hard, he seemed like a nice guy, and if we need a guy for a few weeks to give DLee some rest (not like it matters much right now with the way we're tanking) give it to him. Hell, i'd prefer we put Die Hard on the bench and send Ronny back down if Dusty the idiot isn't going to give him any playing time...

Teams will let him get away with it because they know we just want the idiot to get on base, if they throw him anywhere it might hurt him, they're suspended, and Neifi seems like the type of guy to shake it off and scream "THANK YOU SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?" :lol: Whatever gets him on base....

Next injury prediction: the ghost of a White Sox fan comes up and kicks Aramis right in the balls... Nah, wait, they already got their ball injury...who knows where Aram's gonna get it.... :cry:

Dellucci would be better than what we have. And I could see Texas moving him, thinking that he could be a bust later on. Which he very well may be. If you could get him for cheap, sure, if the cost is higher, look for a better player in return.

Perhaps they'll have Corey play left....

i'd think Hairston getting on base at a near .400 clip highly outweighs any defensive trade-off, especially when you consider said trade-off will likely disappear once you actually leave Jerry at one position and let him get used to it. I'm over Corey, while I think he still has the potential to turn into a very good player, it isn't going to happen here. Leave Jerry in center, make Corey a part of a deal to upgrade in left....

Guy is trash, and as an Indiana Pacer fan, we got killed as a team for the season almost based off of starting a teensy weensy riot :lol: Rogers should be out for the year... Now maybe the Cubs can do the classy thing here and give the Rangers a starting pitcher (why, they can choose between Glendon Rusch and Sergio Mitre!) to help them move Rogers to a team desperate for pitching (Hello New York Yankees! Why, we'll even give you Todd Hollandsworth to make up for your loss. And all we'd ask in return is Kevin Mench and Gary Sheffield. :P Hehe

They need pitching in the worst way, i'd bet they'd want 2 pitchers in the deal.

I'm all for a Doobie/Hairston platoon. I know they're both right handed, but Jason has shown if you feed him a steady diet of lefties, he'll eat 'em right up. We need a REAL leadoff hitter. Hellloooo Jerry Hairston. Here's my lineup Hairston Walker Lee Burnitz Ramirez Patterson Barrett Neifi R-L-R-L-R-L-R-R How's that for some balance? :D

Not like Corey can't shift to right or left...be it here or somewhere else.

Trade for Kotsay, and turn around and trade Corey and a prospect or two to the Reds for Adam Dunn. :lol:

In fact I remember him saying that all buyouts count towards that years salary. So that's a cool 5 mil to put back into the pot for next year...

I tell you this, if the wind is blowing out of Wrigley, if i'm the opposing pitcher, the last thing on earth I want is Dubois to drive the ball. Trick for him will be recognizing when the pitcher wants nothing to do with him, and taking the walk. But anytime the kid sees a ball he can slam, he should be swinging.

Heh, thought it might be fun to bump this after Jason saved the day with his 3 run blast. If he keeps slugging the ball like he is, he's going to drive a lot of balls out of Wrigley when the winds blowing out.