fathom

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 08:40 PM) It is not even so much that they have hatable players, because they really don't have that many...but there is no possible way to deal with their fans when they are winning. The thing that sucks is even if Milwaukee holds them off they are sure to pass SD for Wild Card. Yep, the 2003 team has a lot more assholes on it than this team does. However, like you said, dealing with their fans is impossible right now, and it's only going to get worse. I wonder how many more season-ending injuries will happen to key players they have to face like Sheets, Carpenter. All the Cubs injuries seem to only be 15 days or happen to guys it's probably better that they lose (Wade Miller).

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 08:37 PM) Sorry, but I enjoy watching the Cubs right now; We haven't watched a good product since June of 06, and I really enjoy Len and Bob. I'll just pretend I never saw this post from you. I guess it's going to be me and WHarris doing the postseason Cubs threads.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 08:09 PM) Just me or are teams making an inordinate number of errors against the Cubs? Yes, it seems like every team is lethargic and dumb when they play the Cubs now. The Cubs also have the broken bat/flare hit in crucial situations down to a science right now.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 08:07 PM) Would be f***ing pitiful. After hearing Ozzie's comments in the last 24 hours, I'm back to hoping this team loses a lot of games prior to the deadline so KW/Ozzie have no hope that this team is still in the race.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 08:00 PM) f*** Jason Marquis, he is just pissing me off the way he is pitching well. It seems like when the Cubs score a lot, he'll give up a lot. However, when it's a close game, he manages to keep the opposition down as well. Why won't that team just ever lose? Their lineup is beyond bad, with only two players close to being above average. When are people going to stop letting Aramis beat them with two outs in an inning?

The way this season is going, you had to know that J. Jones was going to end up being a critical player for the Cubs. The only way this season could go worse is if the Sox aren't able to trade Contreras by the deadline.

I actually like what I see from Jenks so far, as the ball's coming out of his hand. The pitches he threw to Crisp were some of the best he's thrown all season.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jul 20, 2007 -> 04:24 AM) Like what we've been hearing from you since March? Yep, and it looks like people that have been predicting that the loss of velocity was going to catch up to him are correct. I honestly don't know how anyone can watch Jenks pitch over the last month and not really wonder what the hell has happened to his stuff.

Big outing coming up for Jenks. If he blows it, you're going to really start to see a lot of questions coming out about what happened to his fastball.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jul 19, 2007 -> 11:31 PM) The way this season has gone, they'll both somehow stay healthy and hit .250 or so from here on out. That way, they'll be just good enough to prevent Ozzie from benching them, but just bad enough to prevent their return from having any positive impact on the game on the field, while simultaneously preventing us from taking a longer look at either Owens or Sweeney in the show. And I'm sure they'll both have great August and September's, and thus be in our plans for next season. I can't wait for our 9-1-2 to be Eckstein, Pods, and Erstad next year, with Rowand batting 6th. Grinder city baby!

Just say no to Wily mo. He's not very good, and he'd probably get in the way of KW actually trying to acquire someone that can help us next year.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 19, 2007 -> 10:42 PM) Jenkins is probably leaving as a free agent this off-season anyways (and would make a good replacement for Dye in fact, if the price was right). I hope for Milwaukee's sake they're not giving up Gallardo in a deal here. Still it's a ballsy move by Doug Melvin. He probably sold Wayne Krivsky on some middle infielder who's a dynamite fielder as well. No way they're giving up Gallardo. I would expect Parra would be dealt, as well as possibly Inman.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 19, 2007 -> 11:05 PM) That is correct, and I doubt her source is redzone. This deal is such a bad kept secret right now it's crazy. It sounds like somebody from southwest Ohio was glad to let this leak in the hopes from the Reds point of view somebody would panic and call with a better offer last second. And I doubt the hot infield prospect is Braun, he's beyond a prospect at this point. Braun might be the most untouchable player in baseball at this point.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jul 19, 2007 -> 10:46 PM) One thing I'm really not looking forward to is the return of Pods and Erstad, because it'll resign Owens either to the bench or to AAA. If this season's a loss, then we might as well see if this kid can keep the hot streak he's on right now going against ML pitching, because if he can, it solves an awful lot of our problems for next season. Think of it as your in-laws coming to visit. It's three days of hell, but it's over after one weekend. That's what the return of Pods and Erstad will be like. Hell, maybe Erstad will even make it to the dish this time.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 19, 2007 -> 10:26 PM) Rumor has it that the Brewers are this/close to getting Dunn. Where do you see this?

Jack Wilson is a very mediocre hitter, and it's not like he's cheap. The only way I'd consider him an upgrade is if the Pirates take on half of his salary for the next two years, and I can't see them doing that.

Cubs just don't lose right now....at least the Brewers are playing solid baseball so that they still have the lead in the NL Central. The Brewers desperately need another bat though.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 08:45 PM) You mean the first half of last year when he was unbeatable? Is that when you meant? And our bullpen had a ton of potential and showed it in April. Nobody could have predicted the full meltdown that has happened. Look at the "exact science" of bullpen pitchers. How many guys from our 2005 WS champion team are still in the majors? We needed more veterans in the pen this year. We went with so many young "stuff" guys. Something that was really strange was how much stuff every reliever we have, besides Boone, lost coming into this year. Jenks, MacDougal, Thornton, Sisco, and Aardsma's fastballs were all significantly down from last season.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 08:36 PM) I don't think KW is naive enough for that. If there were decent moves to be made I think he would do it. The lack of trades i simply a testament to teams not wanting to trade young, cheap players (Rosenthal has a column about that up now I think...). I would hope not, but I could see him talking about how this team had a winning road trip and is showing signs of turning it around if they split in Boston. Hopefully Dye keeps hitting well, and it's a great time for Contreras to have a good start. I think teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Brewers might start to panic and offer more in trades in about 10 days.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 08:25 PM) And yet had all offseason to recover, kinda like the rest of our staff (buehrle). He was our Ace and was put in the #1 spot to show that he was. The players are to blame for this season, nobody else. The only way he was going to recover to get back to where he was two years ago was if he found the Fountain of Youth. I'm just mad we didn't trade him for Adam Dunn. And KW did an atrocious job this offseason improving our bullpen. There's no reason to worry about it for this year, and we just have to hope that massive changes are made to this team's personnel over this offseason.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 07:54 PM) On to Boston to get Contreras back on track. Carmines have been stumbling a bit since the break - would be good to split that series. A split would be awful if it means KW thinks we can still compete. Either sweep the series or get swept. With Contreras and Danks going, it's going to be hard to win more than 2 games that series.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 08:03 PM) Unf***ing believable how many runs the Cubs score on defensive miscues or after errors that would have ended the inning. What happened this time? And yes, the Cubs have gotten so many lucky breaks lately. I'm just shocked the Giants actually won last night. Carlos Zambrano might win 23 games this year if he keeps up this pace.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 18, 2007 -> 08:01 PM) you are right, it was totally an overexpectation to think that our offense would perform as it has the last several years, and to assume the ace of our staff would continue to pitch well, and to think that at least 3 people in our bullpen could be trusted. Total insanity!!! Who's the ace you're referring to? If it's Contreras, then I think we all knew better after how he looked since returning from injury last season.

Byrnes and Rowand would cost you about 20 million dollars a year between them. Don't worry though, the grinding will be out of control. And getting rid of Dye for nothing is very dumb, as it's likely his two Type A compensation picks will be much more valuable than what the Rally Killer will get you right now.

Just wanted to say that Paul Konerko is awesome right now....that contract he signed is such a waste. But yes, it's amazing how bad our bench is right now with Toby, Cintron, Gonzalez on it.