Injuries to star players happen all the time and some of the time the team stricken with the loss of star players overcome and have success. Take last year's Cubs for example who had to deal with the loss of Soriano for awhile.

But is this Cubs team capable of doing that with the loss of ARAM? Last year's team not only had much much better depth but was for the most part, injury free team. This year's team doesn't have nearly the depth of last year's team. Does it have enough though?

I must admit that coming into this season, whether it was due to the fact that every year I have a realistic viewpoint of every Cub team and having thought heading into the playoffs last year that that team had a legitimite shot of making it to the World Series and thus falling flat again or not and absolutely disappointing me like no other Cubs team in the past (save 03) but I felt this year's team wasn't as good as last years team and honestly didn't have much realistic hope of thet making it to the WS this year.

Having said that, can the Cubs with their atrocious Bull Pen and paper thin depth and struggles from Bradley,Lee and Soto handle 6 weeks of Fontenot, Freel or Scales manning down 3rd base?

If so, how?

What now is the strength of the team?

What now becomes the most important part of the team for success? My answer to that one is, starting pitching. This team must get strong and deep starts from it's starters shortening up that unsalvagable Bullpen, IMO.

I was going to name this fanpost "Time to draw the line in the sand" and ask whether or not you personally thought yes or no, whether or not this team will still make the playoffs, but we all want the Cubs to win.

 Alright, while I personally don't think Fuku will ever have much of a significant career in the Majors, I am willing to give him some time to produce as the type of player the Cubs imagined him to be. I've stated here before why I don't think Fuku will ever live up to most Cubs expectations at the plate and that is his god awful terrible diving swing, which doesn't allow him to stay back on anything off speed and away and when he does hit the pitch, it's nothing but a weak flyball to LF (Sutcliffe said basically word for word the same thing, on last nights game - so, to whoever said they wouldn't listen to me because I don't have a "trained eye", do you think Sutcliffe has a trained eye?).

 Anyway, having said that, I think that maybe if he is still struggling after this week, he needs to be moved down in the order at the very least and maybe even hit 8th. I would put Fontenot in the 2 hole, who I have much more confidence in and I imagine Lou would too, who could shake things up and would be a good hit and run guy as well.

 Not at all saying this after one game and is in no way a knee jerk reaction, but even the staunchest Fuku fan must admit his struggles in the 2nd half last year and it's due to pitchers making the adjustment to him and so far what Ive seen from him in the WBC, ST and today, I don't see any signs of him making an adjustment as his swing looks exactly the same as last year.

 Who would you put in the 2 hole if Fuku continues his struggles at the plate?

 

 It's probably been mentioned here but I haven't seen it. Just saw this on Yahoo that the games most futile franchise, the Chicago Cubs, are the Yankees first choice to open up the new Yankee stadium, in 1 or 2 unofficial games on the weekend before the April 6th opener.  The teams are still in negotiations and are close to a deal.

 I can just hear the comparison's between the 2 franchises now and all the "last things to happen before the Cubs have won a World Series" and yada yada, and the endless babble of Cub jokes and in contrast how great and mighty the  Yankees franchise has been. It's kind of sadistic for the Yankees to want to play the Cubs. Does Steinbrenner need his ego stroked that much these days? so in that regard, I really don't care if the Cubs open up new Yankee stadium, even in an unofficial game. Years from now, noone will remember. 75 words yet?

 Why start a new season with an instant kick in the stones? Eff that.

 As I've said a million times and have gotten heat for it, this team just simply isn't good enough to not only not win a World Series, but win a Playoff series. What a bunch of crybabies who can't handle the spotlight of the playoffs. Cowards and frauds, is this team. Let's run down the lineup shall we?

Zambrano - YOu sir, are not an ace, as I"ve said many times. Too volatile and when faced with adversity, instead of calming down and ptiching, you just throw a hissy fit and overthrow the ball and try throwing it as hard as you can, because you're a crybaby. You're another crybaby who can't handle the heat. FIt right in with this team.

Soriano - You feed off of the weak during the regular season but when it comes to the playoffs and facing pitchers who can locate their off-speed pitches (down and away), you're hopeless.

Theriot - Thanks for the Career year but you are not acceptable at SS.

Lee - You haven't been the same since you broke your wrist against, ironically, the Dodgers. Your best years are well behind you and I'd be ok with you on this team at 1B, as long as you're not hitting 3rd. More like 6th. You're another one who has yet to show up in the Playoffs as a Cub.You're over the hill, dude.

Ramirez - You're the best player on this team and I have no problem with you, accept, you're not a clean up hitter. On a good team and by good team I mean a team that is capable of winning the World Series, you'd be a perfect # 5 hitter.

Soto - The verdict is still out on you as well. YOur perfect for this team I guess, as you haven't shown up in the playoffs as of yet either and have shown how the pressure of the playoffs is getting to you as your all of a sudden having a hard time throwing the ball back to the pitcher, without bouncing it in the dirt or throwing it at their heels.  

Derosa - Next to Ramirez, the most valuable player on this team.

Edmonds - um, yeah. I thought you were a good pickup and have proven me right, but you're a platoon player.

Johnson - My personal favorite on this team and as I said before the playoffs, you should've started in RF over Pukie.

Pukie-Pukie-PUKIEDOME!!! - YOu are the worst ML baseball player I have ever seen. YOu are terrible and as I said, you should'nt have even made the playoff roster. I wanted Hoffpauir over you , because you are so ungodly terrible, it's sickening. Please show some dignity and go back to Japan, for good.

Dempster - thanks for the career year.

I'm getting sick. I can't go on.

This team is a fraud.

Wait 'til next year.

 This really is a tough choice for me and which team I'd like to see win the Wild Card. Not because I'm worried about either one, but for other devious reasons.

 On one hand, if the Mets win the Wild Card, the Cubs would face them in the NLDS and it would be fabulous to not only end the Mets season and whatever hope the fans recovered by making it into the playoffs, but it'd be appropriate to end the Mets last season in that dump of a stadium.

 

 On the other hand and of personal interest, if the Brewers win the Wild Card, I'd be able to see the Cubs in the NLDS as my father has Dodger season tickets (and I have Angel season tickets, but I refuse to get my hopes up and look that far down the road) but the Dodgers I think will be the Cubs toughest opponent, but I still have zero doubt that the Cubs would beat them.

 Now here's why I am kind of rooting for the Brewers to win the Wild Card: if the Cubs played the Brewers in the NLCS and the amount of money scalpers and even Brewer fans could get for tickets from Cub fans, it is conceivable that the Cubs could basically have Home Field advantage in all 7 games. That'd be just hilarious and something Brewer fans would never ever be able to live down.

A friend of mine, who's a Chicago native, has a son (Alan)who was born with a congenital heart disease, and who is a huge Cub fan and an even bigger Fukudome fan, had his 5th open heart surgery last week. Naturally, going into open heart surgery is a very stressful and terrifying time for Alan and the family and we all thought it'd be a good idea if we contacted Fukudome's representatives and let him know that a huge fan of his was about to undergo major heart surgery and that if Fukudome had the time to maybe give Alan his best wishes or an autograph or something, It'd make Alan's dreams come true and lift his spirits for his surgery.

 Fukudome obliged by writing his best wishes in Japanese on a Cubs itinerary which was translated into english and a signed baseball, which Alan got a week before his surgery and the smile was still planted on his face when he went into surgery, knowing his hero was praying for him. The story doesn't end there.

 Monday night Alan's dad Stephen got a phone call asking him how good he was at keeping secrets, cuz this one was a doozy. Tuesday morning Alan was told by his Dad that he got a phone call last night and that everything was fine with Alan but they had to go back to the hospital for some routine follow up procedures. Once at the hospital and on the way to the "routine check up", Alan's dad said he wanted to stop into the TV room to grab a cup of coffee and that Alan should grab some water. When Alan opened up the door to the TV room, Alan's face turned a pale white as standing before him in the flesh was his hero, Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome was holding a Cubs bag and handed the bag to Alan and asked Alan to open it up and inside were 4 tickets to last nights game, which were located right behind the Cubs dugout.

 I really shouldn't be posting this as the family was told not to leak this to any media outlets, but I couldn't resist. By Kosuke taking 30 minutes out of his day, he has effected not only a boy's life forever, but everyone around him. Fukudome, you now are my hero as well.

 I am fuly aware that even great hitters go through slumps and when a veteran like Aramis who has a track history of success, it's usually an overreaction to get worried when such a hitter goes into slumps, but I can't shake this paranoa with Aramis' recent struggles at the plate. What has happened to this guy at the plate recently? He doesn't even seem like the same person. He looks absolutely lost at the plate and his swing is all hacked up.

 The only time I've seen him square up on a ball in the last week or so was last night to LF and even then he was swinging from the heels and was all arms as it turned out to be a routine play for the LF when normally that's 20 rows deep. I don't live in Chicago and lately haven't had the time to read up on as much Cubs stuff as I normally do, but can anyone shed any light into this disturbing developement? What's the word going around on to why he hasn't put a good swing on a ball in over 2 weeks? It goes without saying that this team needs him to snap the eff out of not only this horrid slump but whatever is possessing him to look absolutely lost up there at the plate. I normally wouldn't read too much into Aramis' .173 BA in the month of July and would just chalk it up to a slump which every good hitter goes through throughout a season but it's now a very prolonged slump and it's just how bad he looks up at the plate and how unbelievably overmatched he looks up there right now.

What a frustrating loss though last night. One of the most frustrating losses I can remember from the Cubs in a long time. Maybe it's because I was there and had to deal with the backlash from DBack fans but I don't think so. I don't believe in billygoats or any voodo mumbo jumbo, but after last night's game I can see why people do. So many hard hit balls but right at DBacks, the great defensive plays the DBacks made, Harden gives up literally one mistake and has to pay for it as the Cubs just looked at all of Johnson's bad pitces and then ofcourse they get a lead off walk and a gift from the DBacks on a routine DP ball and still couldn't make them pay for it. Totally frustrating. It's totally confounding to me how bad this team looks on the road. It almost makes one believe in curses. Anyway, if they win tonight and tomorrow night and take 2 out of 3 from the DBacks (which coming in they HAD to considering they missed both Haren and Webb) It'll relieve some of the pain of last nights absolute debacle. 2 hits?? Seriously?

 Also, I don't know if it's been mentioned anywhere, but what the eff was Lou thinking last night leaving Howry in to face Drew? Do the Cubs not have a Lefty in the pen anymore?? Come on Lou, wake up man!!! Also remember, that it was a year ago to the day yesterday, when the DBacks turned around their season last year and swept the Cubs at home and Drew hit the game winning HR off  none other than Howry himself.

  It's been awhile and Well it appears that the many on this site are happy about the acquistion of Rich Harden even though when I was screaming at the top of my lungs last off-season  that in order for the Cubs to go deep into the playoffs they would need another "top of the rotation guy" and many of you scoffed at it and believed that the Cubs could do it without the addition of a pitcher like Harden and that their "starters ERA" was 3rd in the NL last season and yada yada yada , the most overrated stat out there. and you know who you are. Another very unpopular opinion I had was Rich Hill was terrible and more importantly terribly overrated, ehum. Which is why I never come to this site or any other Cub site anymore: 90% of Cub fans just aren't that baseball smart and I was wasting my baseball knowledge and got tired of the usual suspects playing devils advocate with me because they apparently had nothing else to do but act like Cry babies and toss insults around when they disagreed to one of my many ( since accurate ) predictions (Excluding the DBacks :).

 

 Anyway, I digress. The next thing the Cubs MUST address and very soon is a RH hitter off the bench to replace Cedeno and send Cedeno down to the Minors When Johnson is starting,  Ronny the brainfreeze Cedeno is quite possibly the worst #1 RH hitter coming off the bench for any ML team. What RH Middle Infielders out there could possibly be had and would be an upgrade over Cedeno?

Everyone knows you constantly pitch away.

Why don't you try coming inside one fking time. Did you see that HR off you tonight? Pathetic. Everyone and their monkey knew the pitch was away, you monkey.

monkey. monkey. monkey. monkey, monkey,monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey

. monkey. monkey. monkey, monkey,monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey monkey

This is the first time this has been brought to my attention and for those of you who see many games at Wrigley are well aware of it, but it bothered me so much I felt obligated to bring this to the attention of other Cub fans.

This shirt is not in any way affiliated with or a licensed product by the Chicago Cubs but the fact that it's the "hottest selling item" at the souvenier stand, is absolutely revolting and embarrassing as a Cub fan. IF anyone reading this, has bought this shirt, do me a favor and take a couple glasses of Clorox bleach and pour it directly into your eyes, so you can no longer see. Seriously.

Ted Lilly, the Cubs unquestioned #2 pitcher by many posters here this off-season, is looking like he doesn't need a pitching coach to visit him on the mound but Dr. Phil, is struggelling mightily so far this season.

I distinctly recall this past winter that there were some posters here who cried out that the Cubs starting rotation needed to be upgraded.Those people were quickly and matter of factly reminded that the Cubs starters had the 2nd best ERA in the NL. Hard to argue with that no doubt, but the concensus argument to that was that Lilly had a career year and no way he could repeat it and Hill was due for a fall. Ofcourse that argument was also quickly dismissed as afterall, there's no numbers to back up that opinion. Valid.

So, as of today, the rotation lines up like this:

Zambrano

Lilly

Dempster

Hill (I'm aware he's in the pen to return)

Marquis

Here are the options to how you feel about this rotation:

A) This rotation will repeat it's success of last year

B) This rotation will still finish top 5 ERA.

C) This rotation is a middle of the pack rotation

d) Relax dudes, it's early and the Cubs are over .500 everything is cooool in Cubbie land.

e) This rotation is seriously starting to freak me out.

Feel free to add any options that I may have missed.

The cubs are the most overrated team out there, What a mangled mess of clueless players that only worry about themselves and their stats and have no idea how to approach an ab. Tthey just swing....swing...swing. .... swing what fking joke this team is and anyone who said the Cubs shouldn't go after Roberts, is the biggest joke, amongst us. Cub fans are annoying.

this team is so painfully average

Iowa Cubs - 2008 Opening Day Roster

Pitchers

Jose Ascanio

Mike Burns

Andy Cavazos

Neal Cotts

Sean Gallagher

Mark Holliman

Geoffrey Jones

Randy Keisler

Sean Marshall

Juan Mateo

J.R. Mathes

Les Walrond

Catchers

J.D. Closser

Koyie Hill

Infielders

Andres Blanco

Luis Figueroa

Micah Hoffpauir

Casey McGehee

Outfielders

Jake Fox

Sam Fuld

Josh Kroeger

Matt Murton

Eric Patterson

Bobby Scales

Andres Torres

Tennessee Smokies - 2008 Opening Day Roster

Pitchers

Mitch Atkins

Matt Avery

Justin Berg

Ed Campusano

Michael Cooper

Jesse Estrada

Rocky Roquet

Jeff Samardzija

Chris Shaver

Donald Veal

Tanner Watson

Catchers

Jake Muyco

Chris Robinson

Infielders

Robinson Chirinos

Matt Craig

Kyle Reynolds

Issmael Salas

Joe Simokaitis

Nate Spears

Outfielders

Matt Camp

Corey Coles

Tyler Colvin

Ryan Harvey

Daytona Cubs - 2008 Opening Day Roster

Pitchers

Esmailin Caridad

Marco Carrillo

Jose Ceda

Darwin Downs

Dumas Garcia

Adam Harben

Casey Lambert

Alex Maestri

Ryan Meyers

Jeremy Papelbon

Mike Phelps

Jayson Ruhlman

James Russell

Catchers

Welington Castillo

Steve Clevenger

Mark Reed

Infielders

Darwin Barney

Russ Canzler

Josh Lansford

Ryan Malone

Matt Matulia

Tony Thomas

Outfielders

Jim Adduci

Yusef Carter

Ty Wright

Jonathan Wyatt

Peoria Chiefs - 2008 Opening Day Roster

Pitchers

Ryan Acosta

Zachary Ashwood

Alberto Cabrera

Hung-Wen Chen

Robert Hernandez

Jordan Latham

Marcos Mateo

Craig Muschko

Blake Parker

Dae-Eun Rhee

Dustin Sasser

Chris Siegfried

Stephen Vento

Catchers

Josh Donaldson

Blake Lalli

Mario Mercedes

Infielders

Marwin Gonzalez

Jonathan Mota

Nathan Samson

Jovan Rosa

Marquez Smith

Outfielders

Cliff Anderson

Kyler Burke

Dylan Johnston

Drew Rundle

I'm posting this to see if maybe I missed something and and someone could clear it up for me, but in a game that didn't require much Managing today, Lou made some very suspicious decisions today late in the game.

First one is ofcourse bringing Wood the Cubs closer, into a game that was tied. Now, I'm not at all putting the blame on Lou for Wood not being able to keep the score tied, but I thought the move was curious. You have 7 BP pitchers and you bring your closer in with the game tied? Was there a more specific reason for this, like maybe Lou had Kerry warming up in the 8th in anticipation of the Cubs scoring a run, to make it a save situation and just didn't have anyone else warming up so was forced to bring Wood in?

Another move or non move that baffled me, was with the score tied and Counsel on at 2nd and 2 lefties due up in Gwynn and Fielder, why did Lou wait until Gwynn was up to warm up the only Lefty in the pen? What good was it to even warm him up when he couldn't have faced the 2 lefties to begin with? Why was he not warming up in anticpation of those 2 lefties?

Another thing was when Pie reached in th 9th inning, with 2 outs and (a lefty up) Kendall behind the plate and Gagne, who is notoriously bad at holding runners on, pitching, didn't Pie atleast attempt to steal 2B?

I know it's easy to 2nd guess afterwards, but these were things that I said at the time, and really rather fundamental things as a Manager that he didn't imo, do well as a Manager. I like Lou, I really do. But going back to the playoff game in game 1 when he outmanaged himself and looked ahead in a best of 5 playoff (another thing that I mentioned at the time and furiously made a diary about) and took out Carlos on only 85 pitches and a non PH situation and today, I'm starting to wonder.

Can any of the Tech's who designed this new format explain to me why I get this message, whenever I try going to the home of BCB? It started happening last night around 11 PM. I got here through the "diary comment tips" page for which I favorited before. I can post in fanposts and obviously create my own, but when I hit the BCB logo or click on the home tab, I get the sb nation is down for scheduled maintenance crap. I was able to go to today's open game created by Al, via Google. Any SB nation home page I go to, I get this message. What is going on?

TPWSRN is also getting tired of all the rumors and voices his opinion on the situation. I personally like this quote: "I wouldn't say it would be a letdown if [a trade] doesn't happen. I'm going to play baseball either way. I love my teammates, the city of Baltimore. It's not like it would be the end of the world. But like I've said before, everybody wants to win and you always want to be in a situation where you feel like you have the best chance of doing that

 During today's game Lou hinted that he was considering moving Fuku to the 2nd spot, which to those of us who hate the idea of Soriano hitting 2nd and also feel that the best spot for Fuku in this lineup is 2nd, is welcomed news. From the sounds of it, he might be considering moving Soriano down to the 5th spot, which is also where I want him. Whichever way you shake it, it seems like Soriano's days leading off (atleast with Lou around) are numbered, which is also welcomed news. IF this is the opening day lineup (barring TPWSRN isn't in Chicago) I'd be Ok with it, atleast I'll feel better about this newest one, than the what Lous been throwing out there lately:

Theriot

Dome

Lee

ARM

Soriano

Derosa

Soto

Pie

 All the Righties in the heart of the order aren't ideal, but what are ya gonna do. Fuku will clearly benefit more hitting 2nd or maybe even leadoff, which is another possibility. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Fuku 1 and Derosa 2, but the newest lineup Lou seems to be toying with is an improvement.

 Stay tuned

 

  Here's a good interview from the score 670 with Mark Derosa. Derosa talks about his surgery and the rumor about he who shall not be named. It's easy to say that Derosa just needs to shut up and worry about himself and his work (which I have a couple months ago) but you can understand his frustration and everyone else's frustration on the team with the rumors at this point. This thing has gone on way too long and it's obvious now, that this has been a cloud over the team and has been a major distraction for this ballclub.

 This has to end either one way or the other very very soon.

 

I swear that I was going to actually start this diary a couple days ago when it was slow around here, but decided not too because it was just purely speculation and my personal opinion.

 But after this article on Marquis at Cubs.com, he's been seeing a Psychologist and quotes like this, sounds like Jason has a hard time focusing and getting "abstract" and distracting thoughts:

"From a physical standpoint, I felt great," said Marquis, who has heard enough about his second-half syndrome. "Sometimes you start out good, and you get your hopes up and you're worried about the light at the end of the tunnel too quickly. You start focusing on, 'Oh man, I could have a great season -- I could do this, I could do that.'"

"Ultimately, you have to focus on your next task, and that's the next game, and the next pitch you throw," Marquis said. "Sometimes I lost sight of the little things that will lead to the bigger things."

 Now I'm no Psychologist, but it sounds like maybe Jason could use some Ritalin. There's been many players after being diagnosed with ADHD at the MLB level (Eyre being one) turned their careers around and thrived.

 I had this in another diary because I certainly didn't think it deserves it's own, but since that got deleted by the creator of that diary and which certainly didn't deserve it's own diary either and since it's a slow diary day,I will put this quick rundown of what I saw today at Fitch Park here, in it's own diary:

 IT was harder than usual to get out of bed and do what I have to do and get to Fitch Park on time today, so I only saw about an hour of the workouts and thought I'd pass what little I saw on.

 Stood outside the outfiled chain link fence that seperates the far right field and the middle field. between the 2 fields (Catcher squats about in line with 1st and 3rd base) is the bullpen where pitchers warm up and when warm, the pitcher warming up by the 3rd base bag goes to the field on the far right (from my vantage point it would be the left, but I'm going by where people sit down between the fields on the bleachers) and the Pitcher on the right, goes to the middle field.

 When I got there Hart was warming up and getting ready to go on the field in the middle and Lahay getting ready to go on the field on the far right. Hart was throwing very well in his warm ups and when he went in to throw live pitching against Lee, Soto, K. Hill and Fukudome, he continued to throw well as nobody got in a good hack against him. He's looked really good all Spring thus far, Which is usually not a surprise because pitchers are way ahead of hitters at this point, but that wasn't the case for Mateo, who faced the same group of hitters.

 Mateo didn't give up any Home RUns (actually nobody did on either of those 2 fields) but with the exception of Fukudome, there was some hard hit balls off of him. He wasn't throwing very hard in warm ups either.

 On the far right field were Lahey and Walrond and I'm not entirely sure who the faced with the exception of Theriot and Patterson, because my attention was on the group on the middle field. So if Walwond hit anyone, I didn't see it.

 Back to Fukudome. I am in no way even inching my finger on the panic button, but what I've seen of him so far in live BP, he hasn't fared well. Again, that is to be totally expected with the most veteran of hitters this time during ST, so it's nothing out of the ordinary. He also seems smaller than I expected. I knew he wasn't a big guy, but he seems like Theriot small.

 Another thing I noticed today, was that for the most part the hitters were taking a lot of pitches, most likely to just get a better feel for the speed of ML pitching again. Most likely a suggestion by Lou as if Dusty was still here he'd be yelling "Swing it dude!! You can't hit it if you don't swing at it dude!!" Ok, got my shot at Dusty in. Moving on.

 Other things of note: I imagine SMardzija pitched live BP before I got there as he was running laps on the warning tracks as all pitchers do after they're done with live BP. With the only exception, he was running a lot harder and longer than any other pitcher. The football player in him I guess and he's big. I was tempted to say something to him but I didn't because I was sober. I did however say to Tim Lahey (still sober)as he ran by "Good Luck this year TIm." and he politely gave back a firm "Thank You" with the matching nod and eye contact. Must be the Princeton in him. ANother big pitcher. Hendry likes him some big pitchers and that's never more evident when seeing these guys up close.

 Then after the live pitching, on the middle field was some regular BP to Blanco and I"m not sure who else, so I waifed my way over to the LF side of the outer fence and since it was Blanco, decided to stand on the sidewalk before the 4 lane street and it was a good call by me. He hit 3 out and 2 hit the same palm tree just outside the fence and fell softly and uneventfully onto the grass and I scooped 'em up.

 There was only 1 other guy, wwho appeared to be a nice gentleman in his middle to late 60's I'd guess but he was standing on the other side of the street expecting 1 to hit in the street and bounce towards him. I said "Hey it's Blanco. IF he hits one out, it's not going to hit in the street, You should over here". He just gave me a dry "I've been doing this for years". I was like, Ok, eff you too.

  Then we get to the third one. I could see it in the air and knew it was going to be close to clearing the fence so I took a few steps forward and realized it was going to hit in front of me and god forbid if I let it skid past me and into the street and the old codger scooped it up, so as it was heading towards my feet, I decided to drop down and catch it. Except what really happened, is instead of me dropping down and catching it, I dropped down like an uncoordinator dufus and did my best Matt Murton impression ( I kid)decided I wasn't going to be able to catch it, decided I would kind of smother it, ya know, like a goalie. Except this was a baseball. and instead of me catching it, it hit off my forearm and rolled between my legs and onto the street, where the jackass ran and got it. and it hurt like hell. and it still hurts like hell. Gonna have one hell of a bruise, in which I'm still trying to think of a better reason for it being there, than the actual reason it got there.

 Also, while I was standing out there waiting for a BP HR, none other than BCB favorite Carrie Muskat jogged in front of me on the outside of the fence, as she was apparantly doing laps outside the fields.

 She also surprisingly, was looking pretty hott. Surprisingly, because I was still sober.

 For a more detailed look at what happened today, try over at the Cub Reporter as Arizona Phil, sometimes posts the day's wrap up at Fitch.

 TOmorrow's the last day for the players to be at Fitch and then it's off to HO Ho Kam (prounounced HO--Hokehm) and then finally a ST game on Thursday. Getting closer.

 Not much a surprise here, as Lou confirmed that Rich Hill Will be the Cubs 4th starter.

Piniella did reveal Saturday that Rich Hill will be no. 4 in the rotation and that he's looking for starters for the third and fifth spots. Ryan Dempster, Jason Marquis and Jon Lieber are the three main competitors, and Piniella said he's not looking at Lieber as a potential long man in the bullpen.

 Obviously this is based purely on breaking up the 2 lefties in the rotation and nothing more. To be honest though, the idea of Marquis, Lieber or Dempster pitching behind Zambrano and Lilly scares me a bit and points out the weakness in the CUbs rotation of not having a bona fide #2 behind Zambrano.

 On a team with realistic World Series aspirations, those 3 should be fighting it out for 1 spot and that would be the 5th spot (or 4th spot on CUbs) in the rotation. In that world the Cubs rotation would shape up something like this:

Zambrano
#2
Lilly
Lieber/Marquis/Dempster
Hill

I would be stoked about this upcoming season if that were the case but as it is, my attitude is  more "ehh, Cubs will be good and compete for the Division but that's it. Still won't be in the World Series with this team." Cubs needed to make another move besides Fuku to get me too excited about this season. Afterall, the goal for me as a fan every year is, nothing less than a World Series.

Don't expect too many long winning streaks with one of those 3 behind Z and Lilly and the loser at #5.

  Another great article by Bruce Miles where Matt Murton admits he's a regular on *MLBTR* and surfs the net getting all the updated rumors we all get and learning to deal with them.

 

"I've probably heard everything everybody else has heard," Murton said. "I have heard the possibility of being traded. It's something I've dealt with already. I learned it early. I was a year into professional baseball when I got traded over here. "There has been some discussion, not necessarily directly with Jim but just in general, and through those discussions was the understanding that there is a possibility I would be moved."

  And understandably admits that he wouldn't be totally oppossed to a trade

"I don't want to sit here and say I would be against being traded," he said. "Of course, you'd love to be here and be a part of things. But it is a numbers game. If an opportunity presents itself somewhere else, then I'll thank the Cubs for what they've done for me over the last few years and go forward."

  And

"The reality of it, being completely honest, I'm 26 years old," he said. "I came into baseball at the major-league level at 23. I've done pretty well, but I honestly believe I've just begun to scratch the surface. I think there's a lot more out there for me to accomplish. That being said, I think that in order to accomplish those things, I've got to get a chance to be on the field.

"The other thing we all know is that at 26 years old, if I'm on the bench for another two or three years, by the time I'm 28 or 29, I think it's a safe bet to say you'll be a bench player. So these next few years are big for me in terms of establishing myself as an everyday player. But right now, in the role I'm in, I'm going to be on the bench here in Chicago. It's something that I became accustomed to in the second half last year and started to become a little more comfortable with that role."

In other news on a slow day as we await the position players to report, It's good to see that Derosa has changed his attitude a bit about the potential of Roberts becoming a Cub, from previous comments (was going to link the diary with those quotes but can't find it) and seems to be in the right frame of mind.

 

"It's weird," DeRosa said. "It's not their job to come pat me on the back and make me feel good about which way they want to go, and it's not my job to go to them because I don't want to give them any impression that I'm concerned about it. Baseball is a business, and if they feel [Roberts] makes us a better team, then Jim's going to do it at the end of the day."

Continue reading this post »

Well it appears according to Buster Olney and various other sources, that the Roberts deal is centered around the latest and greatest of overhyped Cubs prospects, Sean Gallagher, as opposed to the heir to that throne, Felix Pie, which makes much more sense.

 As villified as Jim Hendry has been by Cub fans, for the most part, discounting Willis, he has gotten the better part of any trade involving his "beloved prospects". Even the Willis deal netted the Cubs Matt Clement, who was a pivotal piece of the season of " so GD close, I can taste it!!!!!".

 So in that sense, I trust Jim Hendry when dealing prsopects. The beauty of baseball is how big the tree is and how plentiful the fruits are that grow within it. So anytime you trade a way a prospect, you will upset a portion of your fanbase that have invested a lot of themselves in said prospect. That is understandable. Where it becomes a problem or when the "fruit" of that tree becomes rotten, is when that said fanbase, becomes too attatched to a prospect and overvalue that "prospect".

 Ofcourse Jim Hendry and any GM invests a lot into grooming and developing prospects and the bitter reality of being a GM and not a "fan", is knowing that someday you might be grooming that player and raising his value, only to trade him.

GM's cant become attatched to prospects. Fans however, can and do. Again, that's the beauty of baseball and all the branches that grow from within it.

 If and when Roberts becomes a Cub, I think he will make this team much better. Then, if Murton isn't traded in this deal, which a Murton and Gallagher swap is entirely possible, Derosa can be one of the most special players in the game and play literally any position besides C, CF and Pitcher. I think that's what Hendry is seeing in such a unique player as Derosa.  A player that can play any position and just how valuable he will be to this team and it affords you to carry 12 Pitchers and only go with 13 position players. Mark Derosa is unique in that sense. A NL ballplayer in it's truest sense.

  How would you feel about losing Murton and Gallgher for Roberts?

 I've got a couple not so great Sam Fuld pictures from a couple AZ fall league games that I'm about to put on Flickr and when I do, I will link.

Tell me what you think Cub fans,,,Is Ronny Cedeno a viable option to back up to Pie???

UPDATE [2008-1-6 13:02:36 by Al]: Since lemon20pie didn't have anything to say, and a BCB reader requested eliminating the horizontal scrollbar, I have accomodated.

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Poll

Ronny Cedeno RH CF

11%

A) Good idea

9 votes

44%

B) Why not

35 votes

27%

C) Terrible idea

22 votes

16%

D) More Cubdumb madness

13 votes

79 votes | Poll has closed

 First off, this story doesn't deserve a diary of it's own, but I didn't know where else to put it. It wouldn't fit in Al's "projection" thread, nor Josh's great prospect Diary. Anyway:

I just got back from PHoenix Municipal Stadium as the Phoenix Desert Dogs played the Surprise Rafters. Had nothing else to do during the day today and I wanted to see the Solar Sox play, but they had one of their rare night games today, so I caught a game in Phoenix.

 First off let me say, that the story of today's game was Twins Nick Blackburn who's had a rather non descript ML career as to this point, But I've seen some good pitchers out in the AFL and I have rarely seen a pitcher totally overmatch hitters, like Blackburn did today. He was throwing hard and had hitters out in front of his change all day. Ofcourse the key was he was ahead in the count all day and didn't walk anyone, while striking out 5.

 (this is not the funny part) I'm sitting behind the dugout, last row before the concourse and During the singing (taped rendition) of God Bless America, I noticed an older gentleman, walking up the stairs towards the concourse and didn't think anything of it. A couple minutes later, I see people scurrying towards the gates and see the older gentleman laying on the cement and in obvious trouble. Trainers from both teams rushed up and called 911. Long story short of the fallen gentleman was he was apparently overcome by heat exhaustion (drink your water when in az kids!!!) and was taken away by ambulance, but under his own power and apparently will be ok, as he was fed bottles of water.

 But as I was checking the developing situation with the stricken old man, I saw Kenny Williams, the White Sox Gm, walk right past and take  a hard right into the seats directly above the concourse and under the shade.

 So a couple innings go by and I move up onto the concourse and leaning up against the railing and enjoying the beautiful day and a nice game and starting to get ready to move down the 1st base line and get some sun on my left side of my body. Even tan is important don't you know. But since I know I will be walking past Kenny Williams I'm thinking of what obnoxious things I can say to him, as I am sporting my Cubbie hat (was thinking of saying I heard Dempster wanted to pitch for the White Sox) when all of a sudden a high pop up foul ball is heading in my direction. I had to run to the spot, which was about 20 feet from where I was standing (and about 15 feet from Williams)and made a rather nice barehanded catch on the fly wihile shading the sun, TYVM)on it, I might add. Got a nice little ovation for it. Anyway, (wake up here;s the funny part) as I'm making my walk towards the first base side, I walk past Williams and say "how 'bout signing me up Kenny and he laughed and said "I don't have a pen"!

 I thought that was cool and since it's slow around here, thought I'd share it.

 As far as the game was concerned, it was rather uneventful and ho hum, except for my catch!

 I posted this in the other AFL league diary and was just going to recommend it, but apparently the time to "recommend" it, has expired. It took me 20 minutes to post it and as the other one is now buried, I'm starting my own because, well because I can:

 Went up to HoHoKam today and saw the Solar Sox and Scorpions play. Before the game I got Fuld's and Gallagher's autographs on a baseball I found in the parking lot behind the Outfield grass general admission, which are closed for the AFL games. I normally don't do this kind of thing as far as getting autographs because I don't have any kids and because I'm a grown man, but I figured there's gotta be a Cub fan out there I can give the ball to.

 The games out here start at 12:35 and gates open at 11;30 and there's a 5 minute window before 12 that players will mull by the stands and sign autographs and I was lucky today that it was a very small crowd and not many requests for an autograph and I had on my Cubs hat and Sam and Sean were generous enough to walk over and appease me.
 I told 'em both I was looking forward to seeing them head North with the club after Spring Training and Sam said Thank You and he hopes to see me then as well but he wasn't counting on it and he's just going to keep working hard. Sean didn't say anything and was pretty much business like, which was fine.

 As far as the game, it was a good game and fairly clean game. Fuld had a nice day hitting a shot down the RF line for a double and benefitted from the Arizona sun in his 2nd ab when the Center Fielder lost it in the sun and had to watch it thud in front of him. Fuld hustling all the way (man that sounds good) ended up on 3rd as the CF dropped it while trying to pick it up. I haven't looked at the box score but it was probably scored a 2b and E while he advanced to 3rd.

 Clevenger hit the ball hard all day but had nothing to show for it as he went 0-4, but all his ab's ended in a line drive hit directly at someonea. I know he's listed as 6' and I think that might be generous. He looked in the 5'10 range and has a very small frame.

 With Clevenger behind the plate, the Cubs were able to work in Berg, Avery and Roquet. Avery easily looked the best to me as he was throwing a hard curve and I was impressed with his velocity. Berg got toatally shelled and everything, even the outs, were scalded. Roquet came in for Jones with runners on 1st and 2nd and gave up a BB and then gave up a bases clearing hit which was ruled a hit but the LF was running over towards the LF line and was basically under it, but completely missed it and watched it roll to the fence and cleared the bases. But I was far from impressed of Roquet and from all the pitchers I saw today, and if I wasn't a Cub fan, he wouldn't have stood out. He was less than impressive.

 The wind was blowing out to LF at about 30 mph today as the valley was hit with some heavy winds but surprisingly only one HR was hit today and that was a walk off 2 run HR hit into the cross wind by Left Handed hitting Jed Lowrie, a prospect of the Red Sox. Even before Lowrie's walk off HR, I was impressed by him. He was hitting the ball hard all day and made 2 really nice plays in the field. He was one of those players that "stand out", even though he's hitting .190 in the AFL, which is a notorious hitters League.

 I took pictures, among the many was a picture of Fuld and Gallagher as they were nice enough to stand next to eachother and let me take one of them. I will be going to a couple more games throughout the season (including Fridays "rising Stars" game, which will include Fuld) and will post all the pics when the season is over.

 As Herman Edwards once stated, "You *PLAY* , to *WIN* , the *GAME* !!!!!".

I Just got back from that depressing game in which the Cubs looked unprepared and flat and add to that, didn't do themselves any favors by leaving on way too many runners stranded and in typical Cubs fashion, went hacking at everything, even against 1 of the leagues top 2 Pitchers. Just totally depressing how poorly they played as a team.

 But I blame you, Lou. Taking Zambrano out after only 85 pitches?? Add to that one of Zambrano's best outings.....ever??!!! Not even pinch hit??? For a Rookie reliever??!!! You're KILLING MEEEE!!!!

 I understand the reasoning...."Zambrano is scheduled to pitch in 3 days...BLAH FREAKING BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!.

YOU , PLAY , TO WIN, THE GAME!!!

This is the best of a 5 game series Lou!!! Not a 162 game season!! You don't look a freaking head!! You needed to win with your best pitcher on the mound and you took him out, because you looked ahead. What a disgrace. Utterly baffling and incomprehensible.

 If the Cubs win that game, they have the DBacks by the balls and could've swept them and then you don't even have to worry about resting Zambrano.

 This is one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen by a Manager. and I like Lou, but I can not defend him on this decision. The only good thing the Cubs had going in this game was Zambrano.

 and Lou pulls him , because he was too busy looking ahead. End of story.

 Still think they will win this thing, but now it's a series because they will have to beat Webb, which is tough but especially tough for an impatient team who refuse to take a pitch and recognize the difference between his change and sinker. That's the key to beating Webb, as I know because I see every one of his games. Just makes you wonder what kind of scouting report they got as they were swinging at everything and didn't make him throw stikes, like you need to do to beat Webb.

This loss hurt as bas as any in the recent past, because they should've won this game. Instead of the DBacks looking like the inexperienced and tight team, it was the Cubs.

This is significant news to the Cubs if he hangs it up for the rest of the season, as they obviously finish the season off in Cinci and to not have to face one of, if not all time, one of the biggest members of the current Cub killer club.

 I never root for injuries or wish any harm on a player but if he can't heal by October, that would be a big advantage to the Cubs.

 There's no sense hurting your self any further Adam. Rest yourself. It's been a good year for you personally.

 That's according to the New York Daily News. So sorry Cardinals. I'm sure this won't be too big of a distraction for you guys. BWHAHAHAHA. Great story it appears that it was a fraud and plagiarized.

Find the story here

Bear down Chicago Bears
da da da dada da dada
You're the pride and joy of Illinois,
Bear down, Chicago Bears!

 a bit more thought. a bit more thought. a bit more thought. a bit more thought.
 

 Gonna give our BCB brothers who've been doing the Minor League Wrap a breather and do the Minor League Wrap tonight. Gonna keep it real simple stupid as I'm tired and just got home and going straight by the Box scores. I'm not going to do as an extensive report as the regulars or near as good as a job, but I'm gonna try my choo chooin best.

Iowa Cubs Lost 18-8 to the NO Zephyrs

Well the storyline in this one is simple: Neal Cotts got absolutely pounded. Giving up 9 ER 4 BB in 1 2/3 Innings. Just when I was hoping maybe the Cubs could try and get the recently demoted Aardsma back, Cotts had to take the mound.

Hitting: Patterson continues to hit going 2-4 with a double and got his 34th RBI and played 2B and CF. Kinkade (.304) went 2-5 with a double and 2 rbi's, Hoffpauir (.305) went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Fontenot (.340) wnet 1-5 with a double and RBI. ICubs had 6 doubles, 0 HR's and 4 K's.

Pitching: The aforementioned Cotts got shelled and wasn't the only one. Rough night for the ICubs Pitchers. Cherry (6075) got hit hard too giving up 3 ER 3 H and 1 HR in 1 IP. Henderson (10.13) gave up 4 ER, 1 BB and a HR in 1 IP.

Tennessee beat the Memphis Mudcats 7-4

Hitting: Fuld (.280) went 2-5 with an rbi, Fox (.309) played LF tonight and hit a double in 4 ab's and 2 RBI's. Craig went 2-5 Scoring a Run. Kroeger (.378)went 0-4 with 2 K's.

Pitching: Kevin Hart (no relation to either Cory) started for Tenn and went 6 IP 2 ER 4 BB's and struckout 5. Roquet pitched 1 2/3 only gave up 1 hit but had 2 BB and 1 ER, striking out 3. Blevins got his 1st save for Tenn, pitching an Inning and struck out 1.

Daytona lost 9-2

 Story of this game for me is that Samardzija had another good outing out of the pen, pitching an Inning and a third and zero's. Other than that, the lines scream blech.  Colvin (.311) went 3-5 with another Double (22).

Peoria lost 10-1 ho-hum