thunderbird

This is only the second year that Chirinos has been a full-time catcher, so that is probably a factor in why he is still at AA (where he can get most of the PT rather than share it with Castillo). Considering that the hitting bar is set rather low for a backup catcher in the majors, it certainly seems like he can hit enough to qualify if his defense is solid. He leads the SL in OPS at 0.995. His ability to play around the infield could give him some extra value as a utility guy. He has slaughtered LHP the last couple of seasons (1.059 OPS in 2009, 1.247 OPS so far this season), so maybe he has some value as a platoon specialist/pinch hitter as well. This is Chirinos 10th season in the Cubs system, so it would be cool if he finally did make it all the way. I don't know if he is a major leaguer or not, but he certainly seems to be too good to be in AA.

Is there any reason to expect Gallagher or Mateo to perform at an acceptable level (i.e. ERA below 5, to be generous) in the major leagues right now? Gallagher is just 21 years old and was rushed to the majors because of a roster crunch. He has some command issues and does not have overwhelming stuff, which is a bad combination. I think he has a lot of potential, but it is too soon to expect much out of him in the majors. Mateo is just getting into shape after being out much of the season with injury. Generally speaking, I prefer prosects to veterans (I really wish Soto would be given a chance, for example), but I also try to be realistic about it. Counting on Gallagher or Mateo as a #6 starter seems like a real bad idea right now. You know what you are getting with Silva... a guy who throws strikes consistently and generally can give you 6-7 innings with an ERA in the 4.2-4.5 range. If the rotation holds up, he can fill in as a long reliever, something the Cubs don't really have on their roster right now.

Silva was very bad in 2006, but before that he was actually an above-average starter and this season he is probably a tick below average. He is nothing special, but he would probably come pretty cheap and he would provide some depth. Right now, the Cubs are very short on guys who could step into the rotation if anyone got hurt or if Marquis contined to blow up. As an extreme control/contact pitcher, Silva would likely fare better in the NL, where there is no DH and the offenses generally are not as formidable. His main value would be as an innings-eater in the rotation or long relief who could perform at a league average level. Those guys aren't exciting, but they aren't useless, either.

I doubt that Hendry thinks adding a reliever is the best way to improve the team. However, adding a reliever is the easiest and potentially cheapest (in terms of talent and $$) way of improving the team (and also the least effective way of improving the team, unfortunately). There aren't many options available on the market to address the team's other needs.

Wilson certainly dominates the lefties... they had a .155 BA against him in 2006 and have a .097 BA (7-72 with 28 Ks) against him so far in 2007. He would have some value as a specialist, but I wouldn't give up much value for him.

I agree. He is a pitcher, there were no outs with the middle of your order coming up. Who cares if he is a pitcher? Most pitchers are fast enough to score from 2nd base on a double off the wall. Marshall loafed and paid for it. Nothing at all wrong with sending a runner FROM SECOND BASE on a DOUBLE. It was actually a long single, with Soriano going to second on the throw (and barely making it). It was a sharply hit ball and well played by the outfielder. He never should have been waved home in the first place, the way he was running.

I'm not sure Marshall is capable of running much faster than he was. You could see him try to "turn it on" when he realized there was going to be a play, but he didn't really add much speed in the process. He is just a big, unathletic (in the track sense) dude.

For those scoring at home, it was a 6-3 DP, not a 6-4-3 DP.

Perhaps Borowski wasn't sweating because the temperature was around 60 with low humidity? Just a thought. He looked like had the same borderline stuff and command he had last season, but the Cubs helped him out by swinging at some bad pitches.

I assume Barrett will be out of the lineup today... day game after a night game, plus he appeared to hurt his hand sliding into second base last night.

Part of the reason Hendry didn't pick up a SS last season was that there were really none available that could be had at a decent price. There are a lot of bad hitting SS around the game and the ones that are good hitters weren't going to be traded anyway. I'm sure he will be aggressive in trying to pick someone up this time, but it is a bad time of year to try to make a deal. If they do end up making a deal with the Red Sox, it would be more likely for J.T. Snow rather than Choi. That would not be an exciting move, but I can see Dusty lobbying to get Snow.

Cedeno will be fine... fielding is prone to slumps just like hitting is. One unavoidable thing about young shortstops is that they are more error-prone than you would like, but he will improve with more repetitions. He wasn't the only one that air-mailed a throw last night either... Jones did it throwing to third base after a fly ball to right and Repko really uncorked one from left-field in the 8th inning. There were a few uncontested SBs where the catcher was unable to grip the ball properly to throw. Penny was complaining about the balls being slippery earlier in the game, which may have contributed to some of the throwing issues.

The original Daytona roster listed the wrong Jackson (Brett instead of Nic). Looks like that has been fixed.

I doubt Corey has changed anything too much from what he was doing (at least physically, with his swing). He hasn't had time to reinvent himself or anything. I think the main value in sending him down was clearing his head. He will probably still be more aggressive that we would like, but hopefully he can hammer the fat pitches with regularity, like he did in 2003 and parts of 2004. At the time he got sent down, he couldn't hit anything, even if it was fastball right down the middle.

Burnitz played 33 games in CF in 2003 and 69 games in CF last season for the Rockies. I can't imagine his range is very good out there, but he does have experience. I guess the Cubs feel that he is a better option than Gerut in CF.

The Cubs are 7-6 since Patterson was benched and Hairston started playing CF. They lost the first 5, then won the next 5, then lost 1 and won 2. Gerut would probably produce comparable, if not better, numbers to Hairston if he took over as the CFer. Hairston really hasn't been that good lately... he is hitting .264 with a .316 OBP since he took over in CF.

Whether Gerut will "break out" or not remains to be seen, but he figures to get better as he puts his torn ACL behind him. Even though the mean "breakout" age may be 27, there isn't anything magic about that age... it just happens to be the peak in the distribution. Gerut hasn't been in the league that long, so he might be expected to peak at a later age anyway, even without suffering the torn ACL. Gerut's OBP numbers his first two seasons pretty solid, considering that the vast majority of players don't step right into the majors and start posting .350+ OBP, even if that is their eventual destiny. Also, if we are going to be statheads about it, it should be noted that Gerut had an unusually low BA on balls in play last year, so his low BA (and OBP) in 2004 was probably something of a fluke compared to his true skill level. Basically, this is a trade of one spare part for another. Dubois is only a year younger than Gerut and is basically one-dimensional... he is a poor defensive player and, contrary to what some people seem to think of him, he has never been that patient of a hitter in the minors. His isolated power will always be good, but he will need to hit for a high average to post a decent OBP and he seems to have too much trouble making contact to do that in the majors consistently. He can probably stick as a part-time 1B/DH, but the Cubs don't need one of those. Gerut makes a good 4th outfielder both now and in the future, and if he can get back on the development track he was on before the injury, he could be a potential starter at one of the corner outfield positions. I know it is easy to become attached to guys who come up from the farm system (I do it myself), but Dubois has never been one of the top prospects. Gerut likely will never be a star, but he figures to be much more valuable to the Cubs than Dubois would have been.