vance_the_cubs_fan

That's the line-up I'd use...but Raw's is nice too.

We also save about 6 million with the Borowski and Hawkins contracts coming off the books.

What about Patterson and Rusch for Tom Gordon and Melky Cabrera? I don't think Sheffield will be traded. Getting Gordon would set the back end of our pen up.

Check out what I read on rotoworld. :shock:

A couple more like that and you'll see a trade for Wagner happen sooner rather than later.

It was nice to get the "W" today. Braves lost, so we gained some ground today. Nice to see Prior pitch well again. We're going to need him if we expect to climb back into the wild card race.

We still suck. I do like winning. I hope this group of losers can do it again. Either way, we still suck.

A nice thought but completely unprovable (or disprovable for that matter) I don't need proof to tell me that HFA would not mattered in either the Yankees or the Cardinals. I have proof that the Marlins and Red Sox outplayed their opponent and won in their opposition's stadium. Given that Marlins and Red Sox without a doubt outplayed their our opponent are you saying HFA actually occured and that the resuls would have been different? B/c, I'll say it didn't matter, the Marlins and Red Sox would've won regardless where it was played. They way they outplayed them is my proof and more than overwhelming evidence. Sorry but it isn't. I am not saying the Cards WOULD have won had the NL had HFA but I think without a doubt that it would have been far more competitive. But as I said I cannot prove that it would have made a difference just as you cannot prove it wouldn't. The Cards lost two games on the road and two games at home. Had they won the games at home, I might could buy your argument. As it occured, I don't see how anyone could say not having homefield mattered at all. There's no logic to that whatsoever.

I could have told you that something is wrong because the Cub fans are winning. And we all know that the Cardinal fans are the most knowledgeable baseball fans. :roll: Sorry I could not resist. You should have.

I wonder if the Cubs opening that can of whoopass on him had anything to do with it? :shrug:

The quiz has more wrong answers than right.

Let me say this once... a 25 year old hitter with a 900+ OPS is an extremely rare commodity and is valuable no matter how few sac flies he hit or if all his outs were strike outs. Trying to argue that a player who puts up that kind of OPS would not improve an offense or when you argue instead that 700 OPS players would be more valuable is simply ridiculous.

Same. I couldn't remember if it was Tapani or Trachsel that gave up 62. Trachsel, right? Yup. That moment is burned into my head. I just wish it meant as much to me now as it did then :( Wait a second then. Trachsel, Brock for Broglio, and Sandberg off of Sutter. How'd I only get 2 right? I think something is very wrong with that quiz.... :-s

Found this on ESPNInsider's rumor central.

That's because Vance has played 1200 times this morning. All with different spam e-mail addresses. ;) Hey....I resemble that comment.

If Dunn is traded within the division and it not to the Cubs, Hendry better skip the convention next January. If the Cardinals or Astros get Dunn I'm not watching another Cubs' game this year. The Astros may be willing to part with more prospects. Drayton McClain has a thing about wanting local boys to play for his team. While everyone comments on, including me, the financial straits of the Astros, McClain is a billionaire with plenty of money. He just usually doesn't want to spend it. He has shown in the past a prediliction of overpaying to keep a "hometown" talent. It wouldn't surprise me to see him send a boatload of talent to the Reds if he thinks he can land the hometown boy Dunn. I could see the Astros willing to send Burke, Qualls, and Giminez to get him. They might even include Jason Lane or Jared Gothreaux. If that's the case, the Cubs would have trouble matching the offer. In the Astros favor, they could overpay with prospects because they stand a greater chance of Dunn staying with them at a hometown discount once his arbitration years are over. As much as I want Dunn, I think making statements like yours are a little over the top and quite ridiculous. Burke is a quality prospect, but there's nothing very special about Qualls or Gimnez. Replace Burke with a pitching prospect, and Qualls and Gimenez are basically equivalent to Wellemeyer and Soto. I doubt that Cincy will want the OF Lane, and we can certainly do better than Gothreaux. A Burke, Qualls, Gimenez, Gothreaux package is very similar to a Mitre, Welly, Soto, Nolasco/Pinto deal. Mitre isn't as good as Burke, but Nolasco/Pinto are better than Gothreaux, and Mitre fits the major league team better right away. Some of your analysis is right on point, but I think Houston may be willing to part with more. I definitely think Burke will be going in any deal for Dunn and he's highly valued. If Lane is included, it's a decent return if there are other lower prospects like Giminez and Qualls. While on face, one might ask why the Reds would want Lane, but it would give them freedom to then deal Kearns as well. Lane has begun to produce lately and is a major-league ready outfielder with power. I think Hendry would have trouble ponying up the players to match a deal that includes both Lane and Burke along with two other players.

If Dunn is traded within the division and it not to the Cubs, Hendry better skip the convention next January. If the Cardinals or Astros get Dunn I'm not watching another Cubs' game this year. The Astros may be willing to part with more prospects. Drayton McClain has a thing about wanting local boys to play for his team. While everyone comments on, including me, the financial straits of the Astros, McClain is a billionaire with plenty of money. He just usually doesn't want to spend it. He has shown in the past a prediliction of overpaying to keep a "hometown" talent. It wouldn't surprise me to see him send a boatload of talent to the Reds if he thinks he can land the hometown boy Dunn. I could see the Astros willing to send Burke, Qualls, and Giminez to get him. They might even include Jason Lane or Jared Gothreaux. If that's the case, the Cubs would have trouble matching the offer. In the Astros favor, they could overpay with prospects because they stand a greater chance of Dunn staying with them at a hometown discount once his arbitration years are over. As much as I want Dunn, I think making statements like yours are a little over the top and quite ridiculous.

If Bowden really twisted our arms, I'd even part with Macias. I don't know. Macias has been one of our best pinch hitters lately. Fred, can you back me up with the numbers? No, any manipulation of statistics to show Macias having success will have this site and all visiting it sucked into a black hole by Gremlins. I guess you could argue that Macias is our best pinch hitter..... but it would be a "best of the worst" kind of argument. All the players with better numbers than Macias are either regular starters on the team, or not currently on the team. 07/10 AB R H 2b 3b HR TB RBI BB K HP SF BA OBP SLG OPS Walker 4 1 2 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0.500 0.500 1.250 1.750 Grieve 10 1 3 0 0 0 3 1 4 1 0 0 0.300 0.500 0.300 0.800 Hairston 12 2 3 1 1 0 6 1 0 0 0 0 0.250 0.250 0.500 0.750 Wilson 5 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0.200 0.333 0.400 0.733 Dubois 12 1 2 1 0 1 6 2 0 5 0 0 0.167 0.167 0.500 0.667 Hollandsworth 13 0 3 1 0 0 4 3 1 4 1 0 0.231 0.333 0.308 0.641 Fontenot 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0.000 0.600 0.000 0.600 Macias 31 1 7 3 0 0 10 1 1 3 0 0 0.226 0.250 0.323 0.573 Barrett 7 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0.286 0.286 0.286 0.571 Cedeno 6 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 0.167 0.286 0.167 0.452 Perez 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Ramirez 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Patterson 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 totals 116 10 24 7 1 2 39 10 11 23 3 0 0.207 0.292 0.336 0.629 Note: I've omitted Murton & Greenberg from this list. Each has reached base once in 1 plate appearance. So your numbers seem to show that we would be served by bringing Fontenot or Grieve back to the Show? :-k

If that happens that'll be twice in 2 years that the Astros have shown a committment to winning and dealt prospects for an impact bat. That. Would. Suck. Maybe instead of holding onto our prospects until their value plummets, we should be a bit more aggressive. If The Astros are a possibility, that means the Reds are willing to deal within the division. That would suck however, look where it got the Astros. They didn't reach the WS last year after getting Beltran and then lost him as a FA. Even tho Dunn is not going to be a FA after this year, one would have to ask whether or not the Astros will be able to afford him with the money problems the Stros have that we keep hearing about. Houston didn't give up much to get Beltran. They gave up Dotel. I don't recalll if anyone else came from Houston, as I know the major prospect came from Oakland (Teahen). I would have loved to have had Beltran as a one year rental, because it got Houston to the playoffs, to a Game 7. That's the goal; they had a chance to get into the tournament and came within one game of the WS. If trading a couple of top prospects not named Felix Pie gets you Dunn, then pull the trigger. Although it's great for the players involved and for the community, I don't really care how many championships Iowa and West Tenn win (with all due respect to DJAXX :D ), because, while I don't advocate gutting the farm system Yankee-style, you have to try and win every year. The organization owe it to the fans and the players. Houston also gave up Buck who is the catcher for the Royals right now. He's not much with the bat, but is a very good defensive catcher. Ah, yeah, I remember now. Thanks, Vance. Any luck with your source? None yet. I'll post if I'm able to get through to him.

Let's go Matt. But that 7,8,9 is weak. Anyone think we should hit Prior 7th in that line-up?

I don't think the Braves are the other team. I heard Schurholtz on XM and he said the Braves cannot take on any salary. He didn't deny wanting to make a move, but he said if he did, it would be salary neutral. I don't see how the Braves could make a deal for Dunn that would be salary neutral.

I think Border-line is right. He could end up in the Bert Blyleven category---very good, not good enough for the voters. Unless he gets 300 wins, he will not be first ballot.

If that happens that'll be twice in 2 years that the Astros have shown a committment to winning and dealt prospects for an impact bat. That. Would. Suck. Maybe instead of holding onto our prospects until their value plummets, we should be a bit more aggressive. If The Astros are a possibility, that means the Reds are willing to deal within the division. That would suck however, look where it got the Astros. They didn't reach the WS last year after getting Beltran and then lost him as a FA. Even tho Dunn is not going to be a FA after this year, one would have to ask whether or not the Astros will be able to afford him with the money problems the Stros have that we keep hearing about. Houston didn't give up much to get Beltran. They gave up Dotel. I don't recalll if anyone else came from Houston, as I know the major prospect came from Oakland (Teahen). I would have loved to have had Beltran as a one year rental, because it got Houston to the playoffs, to a Game 7. That's the goal; they had a chance to get into the tournament and came within one game of the WS. If trading a couple of top prospects not named Felix Pie gets you Dunn, then pull the trigger. Although it's great for the players involved and for the community, I don't really care how many championships Iowa and West Tenn win (with all due respect to DJAXX :D ), because, while I don't advocate gutting the farm system Yankee-style, you have to try and win every year. The organization owe it to the fans and the players. Houston also gave up Buck who is the catcher for the Royals right now. He's not much with the bat, but is a very good defensive catcher.

I thought this deserved a mention.

Great article today by Mr. Miles on what it will take for the Cubs to win the Wild Card. Once again, Bruce has hit the nail on the head with his analysis of what it will take for the Cubs to put themselves back into contention. How important have Hairston and Walker been at the top of the order?