CUBZ99

Is Cedeno starting because there is a lefty pitching or is he getting a shot to win the SS job?

Isn't Hill the #4 starter and scheduled to start tomorrow anyways? I would hope they aren't dumb enough to try to skip his spot in the rotation for Marquis.

He wont be around by June, if Lou has anything to do with it. Well if he doesnt start to produce by then he doesnt deserve to be here, hell if he is still slumping and being an instant out by the end of this month then send him back down. Pie is producing better than other starter including Soriano. Baseball is a long season, it is more than ridiculous to judge him based upon 4 games. Especially since the guys has done nothing but produce at every level he has been at so far.

Haha, remember when everyone was complaining because the Cubs wouldn't go out and spend the big dollars to get a pitcher like Hampton?

Only one more day left before this trade happens (assuming it happens before opening day).

Soriano was the best available. The problem is that the Cubs are trying to win a crappy division instead of winning a World Series. Truthfully I am pretty sure almost any GM can outspend the NL Central right now and win with the Cubs. However they are not even close to competing with the Tigers, Indians, Red Sox, Angels, and Yankees. Truthfully the Cubs are not even better than the White Sox. I dont think players like Murton will help you compete with these teams. However at least he isnt making 18 mill. while being a middle of the road LFer. So its not so much of who is better. The question is could the Cubs have been more patient and found a better player at a position of bigger weakness to sign with that money? Maybe not last offseason but this offseason or some sort of trade maybe. We arent outspending the Red Sox and Yankees and we dont produce players through our system as well as they do. How are we ever going to beat them? Worse of all we give out too many slaps on the back for being the worse team in the playoffs last year. So yes I would just assume we had a $48 mill payrole and were playing Matt Murton in left. At least we would have more flexibility to actually try to win a World Series. As opposed to this $120 million pile of mediocrity with very little room to improve. That is a ridiculous statement. You must have forgotten already that the Cubs were one of the hottest teams in baseball over the second half of last year, and many people were predicting that they would go to the World Series when the playoffs started. The fact they got swept by the Diamondbacks was unfortunate, but even a great GM can't prevent his team from slumping at any given time. I'm not saying Hendry is a great GM, but he is far from terrible. In regard to your waiting for the right person, Jim Hendry is probably like the rest of us and doesn't have a crystal ball to tell him which players are going to want to come to the Cubs. We have found out over the last few years, not every player in MLB fantacizes about being a Cub or playing in Chicago. That leaves Hendry with option to take a player that wants to come or sit around and wait for players that may never come. In regard to Murton, sure it sucks for him personally that he got sent down to AAA. The fact that he is just a call up away is a great thing for the organization to have. Most people complaining about this move are saying he is a Major league ready OF, etc..... They should be ecstatic, that if Soriano or Fukudome is out for a prolonged period that Murton will be able to fill in and according to those people the Cubs lose little production. Sounds like a nice problem to have.

Hendry is going all out. :lol:

Meh. For a young player that worked on his swing during winter ball and is seeing major league pitching for the first time since those changes, I would say that his spring training numbers have some value. Beyond the numbers, you can see that he is finally doing some of the things that the Cubs had been hoping he would do earlier, i.e. be more selective, bunt, put the ball in play and use his speed, etc. Today he was impressive vs. a LHP. What more can the kid do to win the starting CF spot on the team? If Pie hasn't won a job this spring, than all the talk of the CF job being open was a farce.

Why is everyone talking about Pie like he has had a bad spring? If a .832 OPS (from Mlb.com) is not good enough to win him the job, then Lou's expectations regarding a CF are unrealistic. The Cubs need to let him have a few months to adjust to the pitching and play. Pie has succeeded at every level that he has played at for an extended period of time.

Is there a reason DeRosa got pulled from yesterdays game in the 6th inning and isn't starting today? injury?

He has a point. 2B was not a hole on this team last year. Derosa was one of the more productive players on the team, and the fact that they are concentrating on a 2B in a trade, when they have other bigger holes, doesn't make any sense. Also, I don't get why we get so upset when a player states the obvious. The fact that they are rumored to be trying to replace him should piss him off. Not many people that are good at their jobs would appreciate their bosses actively seeking a replacement for them.

I would like to see Patterson make the team. He has been very impressive this spring.

Marshall, I'd assume? no, they have a long guy that they will move to a starter. Think relievers. Eyre? wishful thinking? :D

Angels would be getting a very underrated reliever in Wuertz. I still don't understand why Wuertz doesn't get any credit for being effective. He should have been listed as the closer candidates along with Wood, Marmol, and Howry.

Suprised to see that AZ Phil hasn't been posting much on the minor league games yet. Would be nice to get some word on how some of the prospects are looking.

Is anybody else worried that if the Cubs trade Marquis, Gallagher and Veal, the rotation is going to be pretty thin? At this point I would prefer Marquis to Dempster in the rotation, and trading him would guarantee a rotation of Z, Lilly, Hill, Demp, and Liebs. Marshall would be the the next in line. With the injury concerns of Dempster, Lieber, and lack of being able to make it a whole season by Marshall, that leaves the Cubs really thin in starting pitching. Who is the number 7 starter? Shark? Walrond?

http://mvn.com/mlb-orioles/2008/03/15/roberts-speaks-out-a-deal-to-the-cubs-almost-done/ According to this, the Cubs have upped the offer to possibly include Jason Marquis. :lol: The author of the article thinks a deal is "almost done."

Quick! Lock the thread before the fight escalates! Lock the greatest thread in the history of NSBB??? Blasphemy.

No, its still early and it is spring training...but for a guy that really needed to have a good showing to earn a spot on the team, he has been dissappointing.

Let's hope so. I'll even take Pie is going to be a SOLID player! He'll be solid and then progress to fantastic. I have confidence in Pie producing. The key is playing time and this year is the year for him to get that. Meph disagrees. :mrgreen: who's Meph? oh, right, the nsbblol blogger... Really? Yes, really. When was this figured out? I wouldnt have guessed it , particularly given the rant on Meph himself. If so, he loses serious credibility. Because while some of it is fair, most of it is just crass. yes, it's true. long story, but the blogger was him and now he's banned Best news so far of the entire thread. \:D/

Besides the Crisp rumors, why is Hendry trying to move Matt Murton? Here is an idea for him.....why not keep Murton as the 4th OF in case someone gets hurt during the year? Murton is the perfect 4th OF, he hits well and is very cheap. Most teams would love to have a .800 + OPS guy on the bench in case of an emergency.

That says it all right there. It is frustrating to see the Cubs mishandle young prospects over and over again. I am all for winning a spot on the team, but with the numbers that Pie put up in AAA and with his tool set, they should give him the benefit of the doubt and use him as the starting CF for the first 2 months minimum.

I'm sure that Lou will be real happy about that after the game.

Are you saying that stereotyping can't be a positive thing for some people? I would disagree.

:lol: :lol: