vance_the_cubs_fan

I'm going to be watching this one on delay as I'm going to my nephew's little league game at 5:30.

What the hell is Corey's role now? Is he reduced to a pinch runner and defensive replacement for Dunn? That would be a pretty questionable use of a roster spot. I bet the ratio of starts for Patterson/Bruce ends up being 1/1.

Depending on what it would take to get him, Beltran would be a nice option for CF. Regardless of what Gammons said, I doubt the Mets punt and enter a fire sale. But if the Mets would do a deal where we send Marquis (which gives the Cubs salary relief), Pie, and another prospect (Ceda, Veal, or someone like that) to the Mets for Beltran, I would do it.

Is he bringing his dirty hat with pine tar with him?

On the dark side it means that Patterson is still around to take AB's from Bruce. On the bright side for Reds fans, it means Votto will be left unhindered to play 1b.

Out of curiosity, what way is better defensively, Sori at 2B and DeRosa in LF or the way it is now? In that situation, I'd definitely say DeRosa at 2nd and Soriano in LF. But, when looking to improve the team this year and the future, it would be easier to add offense in LF than at second. Soriano was no great shakes at secondbase. But he could play the position. At second, we remove his fear of having to run into a wall and there's few plays at second where he would have to go into a full sprint which is something he's refusing to do in LF. For example, if we were looking to upgrade the team at the deadline. Adding a 2b, it's pretty much Brian Roberts. The other guys that would be there are no better than what we have. And next year's FA class, we could go after Orlando Hudson, but after him not much there. But, if Soriano were moved to second, there's a larger group of players who could come in and play LF. Adam Dunn might be available in trade and will be a FA at the end of the season. Pat Burrell will be a FA after this season. Raul Ibanez will be a FA or could be available in trade. Leftfield is a much easier spot to add a bat than second. So, while the current configuration is better than just swapping Soriano and DeRosa, if given the choice of DeRosa at 2b and Soriano in LF with Soriano at 2b and Adam Dunn in LF, I'll take option two. I wonder how Soriano would react to being replaced in a close game defensively? That would make a nice offense regarding the players you mentioned and I'd like some more swing and miss pitchers because of that D. It comes down to maximizing what we have. We're on the hook for Soriano's money. It's not likely we could trade that contract, so unless he gets his speed back and becomes a 40/40 player in LF, he's likely not going to be worth what we're paying him. As LF's go, he's probably going to be middle of the pack. He won't be the worst in production, but he won't be the best. Right now, Soriano is 8th in all of MLB Leftfielders in OPS. That same OPS at second would have him fourth. As his skills with the bat deteriorate, he's going to become more of a liability to trot out in LF than he will at second.

So there you go folks. the cubs haven't been winning on the road because they haven't been playing as well there. Joe Morgan is the master at using lots of words to say absolutely nothing.

He would have had a bad week then they would have sent him down to the minors and signed a 38 year old outfielder who just got cut by the worst offense in baseball to take his place. I think they would have been able to give him some stability and hopefully the correct mechanics to sustain a good career, much like they are trying to do with Pie. That's assuming Corey has the aptitude to develop pitch recognition and patience. I'm not saying the skill isn't teachable, but I think some have an ability to learn it and others do not. It's a skill, like hitting for power or bat control. It can be taught to some degree, but I think some players have an aptitude for it while others the improvement would be marginal. I'm not saying Corey couldn't have been fixed and not run into the ground like he was. I just don't know that he could have been either. I'm not sure either vance but I trust them a heck of a lot more than Dusty and company. It is a hard skill to get better at but if you're using the correct mechanics you can improve it move than ju8st doing the same thing you've always done. I agree, some guys are just going to swing at everything (Vlad) but he was good at it and well, Corey isn't close to that so he had to make some adjustments. I agree. I'd like to have seen Corey with better hitting coaches. I'd love to see what Corey could have been had Rudy Jaramillo gotten his hands on him in the early days of his career.

Out of curiosity, what way is better defensively, Sori at 2B and DeRosa in LF or the way it is now? In that situation, I'd definitely say DeRosa at 2nd and Soriano in LF. But, when looking to improve the team this year and the future, it would be easier to add offense in LF than at second. Soriano was no great shakes at secondbase. But he could play the position. At second, we remove his fear of having to run into a wall and there's few plays at second where he would have to go into a full sprint which is something he's refusing to do in LF. For example, if we were looking to upgrade the team at the deadline. Adding a 2b, it's pretty much Brian Roberts. The other guys that would be there are no better than what we have. And next year's FA class, we could go after Orlando Hudson, but after him not much there. But, if Soriano were moved to second, there's a larger group of players who could come in and play LF. Adam Dunn might be available in trade and will be a FA at the end of the season. Pat Burrell will be a FA after this season. Raul Ibanez will be a FA or could be available in trade. Leftfield is a much easier spot to add a bat than second. So, while the current configuration is better than just swapping Soriano and DeRosa, if given the choice of DeRosa at 2b and Soriano in LF with Soriano at 2b and Adam Dunn in LF, I'll take option two.

This. I might buy this if his replacement wasn't hitting 150/190/150.

This discussion reminds me of something I read in Dierker's book. Dierker was talking more in terms of when to leave a starting pitcher in a game, but I think some of his points may be pertinent. Anyway, Dierker said that often he would let a starting pitcher who had been throwing well work his way out of jams rather than go to the pen because he said there's never any way to know if your pitcher has his best stuff until he's on the mound and with a bullpen pitcher that often can be too late. Dierker used his experience as a pitcher to say that sometimes the best pitchers just don't have it on a given day and sometimes a bad pitcher can have good stuff in an outing. So, once Marmol is in the game and dealing, you know he has his stuff. If he quickly disposes of the three batters in the eighth, then it's clear he's on his game. It might be wise to keep the pitcher who has the good stuff in there to finish it. With Wood, he might be good or he might not. Even if he's lights out 80%-90% of the time, you never know if the next one is his 10%-20% bad night until he takes the mound. This isn't just true of Marmol-Wood though. It's more an options thing. When the roles are defined and set, there isn't any flexibility to let the hot hand continue to get the job done.

Damn the boy wants his bobblehead, people!

Kuroda will be compared to Matsuzaka and Nomo. Fukudome will be compared to Ichiro and Matsui. Book it.

If I were in the area, I'd take you up on the offer. But alas, I'm about 900 miles away. Even with summer vacation, getting there by game time would be a stretch.

He would have had a bad week then they would have sent him down to the minors and signed a 38 year old outfielder who just got cut by the worst offense in baseball to take his place. I think they would have been able to give him some stability and hopefully the correct mechanics to sustain a good career, much like they are trying to do with Pie. That's assuming Corey has the aptitude to develop pitch recognition and patience. I'm not saying the skill isn't teachable, but I think some have an ability to learn it and others do not. It's a skill, like hitting for power or bat control. It can be taught to some degree, but I think some players have an aptitude for it while others the improvement would be marginal. I'm not saying Corey couldn't have been fixed and not run into the ground like he was. I just don't know that he could have been either.

My God, that is disgusting Yep.

Why not put Soriano back at 2b. At least there, his bat would be among the elite second basemen. Then we could go out and get another good hitting LF which is much easier to do.

It'd help a lot if Pie was hitting at all in the minors though. When does Ward come off the DL? Maybe they'll cut Edmonds then to make room? If we cut Edmonds for Ward, they better feel good about Kosuke moving to CF at least part of the time.

And Patterson's OPS+ is 52. While that's not great by any means, it is 62 points higher than Edmonds.

What I'd like to see (if the Reds DFA Corey and he clears waivers) is for the Cubs to sign him to a minor league contract, send him to Iowa, and see if Von Joshua can turn him around. I'd be shocked if we didn't sign him, if indeed he gets DFA'd. And considering how much I hate Edmonds and his -10 OPS+, I'd probably be giddy about the move.

And for those wondering, here is Jimmy Half-shirt's line since joining the Cubs: 150/190/150. Now, I know Pie had his struggles, but here was Pie's line: 222/286/286. It's time to cut bait here. We all hate Edmonds. Now even moreso because he's worthless.

That hit brought his OPS+ all the way up to a whopping minus-ten. Just cut his ass.

I stumbled on this yesterday, and it's a few days old, but I thought it would be a good discussion. Link I think I agree with Bruce here. It's not that I don't have confidence in Wood as a closer, but the way that everyone in the bullpen has to have a pre-ordained assigned role irks me as well. Sometimes it might be prudent when Marmol is throwing well to let him continue on and get the final outs. The same might be said of any pitcher in the pen. And maybe sometimes it would be best to bring Wood into the eighth inning of a game.

So, Greg Maddux could be on this list?

In all honesty, I'd prefer Patterson to Edmonds. I still hope Bruce comes up and Dusty only plays him against the really tough pitchers.