UBlink

I'm trying to derive enjoyment from the little things these days. I'm deriving enjoyment from this. A little thing? Now there's humility.

A note for the Greenberg fans - I noticed his name is now showing on the DJaxx roster, so I guess his rehab assignment is over.

Greenberg says he's back at 100%, why don't they let Corey finish what he started at AAA and bring Adam back?

Can only hope so. Just give him a cozy front office job. Maddux is still decent, but not worth what he's paid. Williams and Hill can do what Maddux does for a lot less. Has Maddux done less than would have been expected when the Cubs offered him this contract? Overall, I think he has performed about as well as could have been expected, so he's held up his end of the bargain? Do the Cubs now wish they hadn't offered him as much? Maybe, but that's not the point. They offered him a contract, he signed it, and he has lived up to reasonable expectations for his performance under the contract. The Cubs need to hold up their end as well. A 4.67 ERA in the NL = not living up to his side of the deal. Jerome Williams can give the Cubs that at a quarter of the cost. Maddux has had a great career and should bow out gracefully. Hopefully, he can win it all in a Cub jersey this year. His last year in Atlanta he had a 3.96 ERA. What do you think would be a reasonable expectation would have been in 2003 for his performance 2 years later at age 39? For what he make, 3.75. I don't care what he did at Atl. I don't argue that that's what he should do. I'm saying when the Cubs signed him if they thought they were going to get 3 years at 3.75 then they have only themselves to blame. A reasonable expectation at that point would have been 4.20 in 2004, 4.40 in 2005 and 4.60 in 2006, with equal likelihoods of doing better or worse. In 2004 he was slightly better than that, this year he's slightly worse.

Can only hope so. Just give him a cozy front office job. Maddux is still decent, but not worth what he's paid. Williams and Hill can do what Maddux does for a lot less. Has Maddux done less than would have been expected when the Cubs offered him this contract? Overall, I think he has performed about as well as could have been expected, so he's held up his end of the bargain? Do the Cubs now wish they hadn't offered him as much? Maybe, but that's not the point. They offered him a contract, he signed it, and he has lived up to reasonable expectations for his performance under the contract. The Cubs need to hold up their end as well. A 4.67 ERA in the NL = not living up to his side of the deal. Jerome Williams can give the Cubs that at a quarter of the cost. Maddux has had a great career and should bow out gracefully. Hopefully, he can win it all in a Cub jersey this year. His last year in Atlanta he had a 3.96 ERA. What do you think would be a reasonable expectation would have been in 2003 for his performance 2 years later at age 39?

Yes he does, but he wouldn'be traded, thus he can't reject, unless he simply does not show up at the other team. This is a case of one team just GIVING a player away. I believe that a players no trade / 10&5 rights are not ignored when it comes to waiver claims -- i.e. they can still reject the move to the waiver claiming team. From the waiver rules thread:

do they test for amphetamines in the minors? Yes, the minor league list is considerably more comprehensive than the major league list.

Compared to a week ago, the demand will continue to decrease as fewer teams remain contenders. However, the supply of tradeable players was dramatically reduced as now only players who can clear waivers are available. So I think Griffey, Sweeney, et al are actually worth more now that they don't have to compete with Dunn, Huff, etc.

Can only hope so. Just give him a cozy front office job. Maddux is still decent, but not worth what he's paid. Williams and Hill can do what Maddux does for a lot less. Has Maddux done less than would have been expected when the Cubs offered him this contract? Overall, I think he has performed about as well as could have been expected, so he's held up his end of the bargain? Do the Cubs now wish they hadn't offered him as much? Maybe, but that's not the point. They offered him a contract, he signed it, and he has lived up to reasonable expectations for his performance under the contract. The Cubs need to hold up their end as well.

Given the lack of attendance at DJaxx games, how could Ribbee get any sadder?

Orel Hersheiser has done a pretty decent job, considering what he has to work with.

Is there any chance Griffey would not clear waivers? And if someone did claim him, would the Reds not let him go? They might get prospects if they trade him, but only by eating some of his salary. But if someone claims him then Cincy is off the hook for the rest of his contract. If the choice is between, say getting some prospects but having to eat $5 million in salary, or just letting him go, $5 million could buy a lot of prospects.

There is no way on gods green earth that Dunn clears waivers. And, they had a golden opprtunity to trade one/both of them at the deadline, their GM is jsut an idiot. Now Griffey would be a different matter. :pr:

Trading implies the other team wants him - and if, for example, they want him bad enough to extend his contract, he might be more than willing to waive his no-trade clause I'm not even sure which "him" we're talking about here, but the principal is the same - a player with a no-trade clause can be traded, but hes got to get something more out of the deal, which means the team trading him [the Cubs] will get less. And sometimes that means a deal won't get done. But that's not the same as saying a deal can't be done.

Actually, maybe it should be moved the other direction so that we don't have the potential for last minute re-shaping of teams just prior to the playoff hunt. I know the July tradig season created lots of attention in the Transactions forum, but a lot of that attention came away from the actual games. Why should a 2 month rental of Carlos Beltran make the difference in a playoff race? The continuity of players on teams has gotten bad enough, we don't need instituitional changes to further encourage it.

I saw him on the Ranger broadcast in the 8th. Mostly he was working offspeed stuff 76-82, but I saw one pitch at 91.

:lol: Don't worry, I didn't get a picture of it! Yet!

I think it could have been argued that Dubois was the position prospect most likely to make a major league impact in 2005, but that isn't the same as saying he was the top prospect in the system. While some saw him as a can't miss, others thought he had proven all he could at the minor league level and it was time to give him his chance. We can argue about what kind of chance he actually got. One of the things an organization needs to demonstrate is that people working their way up the ladder get opportunities to advance. Bruce's comments about Sisco indicate that at least some people get this point. For the guys working their way up through the minors there has to be some light at the end of the tunnel, and some sense that they will be treated fairly by the organization along the way.

And none did.

I'm basing that on scouting reports. I haven't seen any of them play. Chief's voice, for example, in regards to Harvey! On Dopirak, I've heard that from a Cub scout 2nd hand (Cub scout said that to friend after last season, friend passed it along...), and from several amateurs who went to several Daytona games this season. On Moore, got observation to that effect from amateur Cub prospect lovers who went to several Daytona games this season, and that was also the scouting impression I seem to recall from the Baseball America writeups. I'm not sure about Moore, but I've seen both Dopirak and Harvey struggle with sliders low and away. I seem to recall Juan Gonzalez having that same issue in his MVP years, too. :)

Adam - Can you talk a little bit about the differences in off-the-field life in the different Cubs minor league communities? Which has been the most fun, best food, least distractions so you can concentrate on your game, etc? The minors seem to have some extremely varied communities. Thanks

Stinks that it happened to the DJaxx ... but I'd be a *little* happy to see a pro-game no-hitter in person. I never have. I was at Kenny Rogers's perfect game - have to admit it was one of my all time sports events. Nobody moved for what seemed like half an hour. Edited to remove my usual sig

Game over - DJaxx were no-hit.

Adam Greenberg went 1-5 in a rehab start for West Tenn on Thursday.

I understand it's customary for big leaguers on rehab assignments to buy dinner for the team. Do you think Greenberg got the honor?