CUBZ99

That is why I didn't like seeing him signed to a "harmless" minor league contract. First you got the media going all "idiots" on them, and then you run the risk of the team actually buying into that chemistry/experience/champion/player nonsense. Yeah, I would like Millar much better if he was good at baseball. Despite all of the hype, I don't think there is any possible way that Millar makes the team out of spring training. There just isn't any space for him on the 25 man roster.

Please post links to these reports. I would be interested to know who these scouts are and see what else they have to say about Castro. Good to get both viewpoints.

Sure. Perhaps every .734-OPS high-errors singles hitter generates as much excitement as Castro. My subjective impression is that the expectations and projections seem a little beyond what is normally expected for a high-errors .734-OPS singles hitter, even a young one. So I think scouting evaluations are making a significant impact on his reputation beyond just the existing statistical record. So the 743 OPS in AA at age 19 with a near 1:1 K:BB ratio isn't behind the excitement, it's just scouting evaluations that say he might be good one day? Not to mention his .871 OPS in over 100 abs in the Arizona Fall League against very good competition. Sure Castro could flop, but there is plenty to be excited about. One area where scouting is extremely helpful in regard to Castro is his defense. Most scouts rate his defense much higher than what his error totals would lead you to believe. Are Castro's errors mostly throwing or fielding? Or are they pretty equal? I don't have a breakdown of the variety, but all of the scouting reports that I have seen rate him as having plus range, with a solid accurate arm.

Sure. Perhaps every .734-OPS high-errors singles hitter generates as much excitement as Castro. My subjective impression is that the expectations and projections seem a little beyond what is normally expected for a high-errors .734-OPS singles hitter, even a young one. So I think scouting evaluations are making a significant impact on his reputation beyond just the existing statistical record. So the 743 OPS in AA at age 19 with a near 1:1 K:BB ratio isn't behind the excitement, it's just scouting evaluations that say he might be good one day? Not to mention his .871 OPS in over 100 abs in the Arizona Fall League against very good competition. Sure Castro could flop, but there is plenty to be excited about. One area where scouting is extremely helpful in regard to Castro is his defense. Most scouts rate his defense much higher than what his error totals would lead you to believe.

It is interesting to listen to Hendry lately and read stories regarding the Cub's opinion re: Cashner. Also, during a recent interview Cashner stated that they told him that he is in the competition for the 5th starter spot and the bullpen. I think I'm going to go with him as my surprise pick to make it on the Club out of spring training.

source? I could definitely see them trying to trade him, but they wouldn't let him go for nothing. Not over $3.4MM.

Well since its now or never for Lovie, you would think he would be able to make the decision.

:-))

Let's hope that he comes very cheap.

That's not "only", that's the whole point. That's a flawed point. Zambrano relieved in the minors, That's a ridiculous comparison. Zambrano started 24 games at age 18 in A ball and was pretty decent, playing pro ball. He went into the pen for a bit the next year, but it was always noted that he could maintain high 90's into the late innings. And at age 20 he started 24 more games in AAA. Cashner was a nothing prospect as a starter and only got hype once he went to the pen. Cashner and Zambrano are horrible comparisons for career path. Cashner has shown absolutely no ability to be an actual starter, unless you just want to get 4-5 innings out of him every time. Cashner is 22 years old and averaged 4.2 innings in 24 starts this year. Zambrano made 32 starts in the major leagues at 22, pitching 214 innings. Your talking about a time period where the Cubs weren't implementing strict pitch counts. We have no idea how long deep Cashner is capable of going in games, because the Cubs have determined it isn't important at this point. Looking at his stats this year, it is easy to see to see that Cashner has the potential to be an above average starter. His numbers, when the Cubs let him pitch, are pretty good. About the only thing he doesn't have going for him are ridiculous strikeout numbers in AA. His WHIP was a very respectable 1.11 in High A and 1.23 in AA, and that was driven mainly by a high level of walks. So the batters clearly weren't squaring up the ball very well. Either way, that is a pretty good position to be at, when your perceived floor is being a dominant reliever.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/columns/blog/_/post/4859339/name/levine Levine says that the Cubs are not likely to sign Park due to his asking price and that they are close to signing an OF.

Wasn't Park pretty effective as a reliever? I don't have a problem with Hendry looking into Park if it is only as a bullpen arm.

The thing is, it's not that crazy at all to want to come to the Bears. Maybe not for Martz, but most coaches are steering clear of the Bears due to all of the uncertainty surrounding the team. You need supreme confidence in your abilities and the offensive personnel to take a job that requires performance right off the bat.

I'm hoping that they move quickly and sign Martz. If he is crazy enough to want to come to the Bears, he really is the best option available.

Samardzija's a veteran? Sure he's been on the big league team for 2 years now.

Good point, I think most of us remember the dominant Harden and forget that he had been regressing. Harden put up a line of 4-3, 2.55 ERA, 12 GS , 67 IP, 1.119 WHIP, 11.8 SO/9 in the second half last year. We don't have anyone on the roster that is going to replace Harden (Gorzo, Silva, Samardzija, Marshall) that is capable of pitching that well over the course of a half a season In April Soriano OPS'd .955 and then he OPS'd .992 in August. So for over 25% of his AB's he was a .950+ OPS hitter. That doesn't mean that Soriano had a good year or that he is irreplaceable. That doesn't make sense and is a week argument. Half of Harden's season last year was very good not two random months throughout the season like you present with Soriano. I am not saying Harden is irreplaceable, just that the guys we are attempting to replace him with is going to make him more irreplaceable as none of them will be able to be as good as Harden was in the second half last year. I'm glad you see how weak of an argument it is to try to cherry pick stats or parts of a season to make a player look better. In regard to Harden last year it is just as easy to point out more than half of Harden's IP were at Wrigley Field where he had an ERA to the tune of 5.99.

Good point, I think most of us remember the dominant Harden and forget that he had been regressing. Harden put up a line of 4-3, 2.55 ERA, 12 GS , 67 IP, 1.119 WHIP, 11.8 SO/9 in the second half last year. We don't have anyone on the roster that is going to replace Harden (Gorzo, Silva, Samardzija, Marshall) that is capable of pitching that well over the course of a half a season In April Soriano OPS'd .955 and then he OPS'd .992 in August. So for over 25% of his AB's he was a .950+ OPS hitter. That doesn't mean that Soriano had a good year or that he is irreplaceable.

Good point, I think most of us remember the dominant Harden and forget that he had been regressing. Harden was good last year, the Cubs are worse off without him. Based on what? He only pitched part of the year, he rarely went deep into a game, his ERA was not great and his WHIP was the same as Gorz's. I don't think Harden was terrible last year, but I do not think the Cubs are going to be devastated by his loss.

Good point, I think most of us remember the dominant Harden and forget that he had been regressing.

Surely Wells can at least be our viable #5 starter in that scenario. Except in that scenario, Wells is your #3 with Lilly out until May. Z Demp Wells Gorzo Shark/Marshall/Silva/other dog crap Hendry signs Marshall's career numbers indicate that he could be an effective #5 pitcher and I don't see why it would be a bad thing to give a young pitcher an opportunity to win the spot. Prior to last year, many of us thought Wells was a bullpen arm and he took advantage of his opportunity. I'm not saying that we will get another Wells-like performance from any of the #5 candidates, but I would much rather give them a shot, than overpay for a Marquis/Looper type pitcher.

ESPN and Fox should love this for the Cubs vs. Cards games they carry this year. It will give them something to talk about beside Bartman.

Nice interview. He seems like a good kid that really has his stuff together. Now if he could just get some command of his pitches he would be in good shape.

I hope so as well, unfortunately hope is all we got. It's tough enough to a get a good performing prospect to translate into good performance in the majors, but it's really tough to turn an underperformer into a good one, and I don't like the idea of hoping for that to be a key for your season. Why would hoping for Samardzija to be a good 5th starter be "a key" for the Cubs season? I think you misread his post. He was saying he hoped Samardjiza would have a good year, not that he had to have a good year.

No team is set with a guy coming off surgery who is going to miss at least the first month of the season. And it remains to be seen if they are set with Randy Wells. He also lists 2 terrible pitchers and an inconsistent one battling for the 5th spot. A quality starter would not be an extravagance. This team wasn't good enough to win last year with Rich Harden on the team, now they have lost him, and added Carlos Freaking Silva, which means they are that much worse. Would Samaradzija even be being considered for the #5 spot if it wasn't for his ridiculously stupid contract? What has he ever done in the minors or MLB that warrants him being considered, aside form Hendry giving him a stupid [expletive] MLB contract out of college? Rothschild recently stated that Shark pitched well over the winter and that the secondary pitches have finally come around. I'm hoping that he is one of the guys that finally puts it together this year and we get better than expected performance.

Would the Rockies be interested in Colvin? They have a glutton of OF options, most of which are young and priced controlled for a while. I wonder what the O's would ask for Pie? I think the Cubs gave up on him too soon and sold too low. It seems that the O's have a full OF though, and Pie should be expendable.