Thanks to ROTOWIRE-
Jacque Jones (CHC - RF)
News: Jones could see more at-bats in the second half, especially if the Cubs send down Felix Pie, the Cubs' Web Site reports. "We'll give him a chance," manager Lou Piniella said of Jones.Impact: If the Cubs can't move Jones (and they've already tried), they might just stick him in center field and use him against right-handed pitchers. As such, Jones is a good player to speculate on for the second half. He's capable of 10 homers and 10 steals if he gets the at-bats. (RotoWire - Sat. Jul 7, 2007 )
Felix Pie (CHC - CF)
News: The Cubs are expected to open the second half with a little different roster, and a key decision will be whether Pie is better suited in the role he's in now, or if he needs to get more at-bats in the minor leagues, the Cubs' Web Site reports.Impact: Pie was batting .217 in 47 games, and 19-for-89 in his last 29 games, but he hasn't been starting regularly in center. Even with Ryan Dempster's status uncertain, the Cubs want to get back to 12 pitchers. If Pie gets sent down, Jacque Jones could get regular at-bats in center field against right-handed pitching. (RotoWire - Sat. Jul 7, 2007 )
This is not good news to me. This means Jones cant find a home and as a result take Pie's spot in CF. Yes we are 5.5 games out of first but we got there with Pie in the lineup and coming off the bench. We didn't get to 5.5 games out by playing Jones everyday in CF. Pie's defense enough should hand him the CF roll, his base stealing and pinch running abilities are far better than Jones and right now I trust him in a hitting roll far better than I trust JJ.
If they want to make a roster move how bout TRADING JONES! No more lets see what we can get for him. Get a bucket off ball and pay a large portion of his contract and send him to Texas, White Sox or to the Fish. Want another idea to free up some roster spots? Send Eyre or Izturis packing! Alot of teams need bullpen help and I'm sure a team would take a chance on Eyre. Izzy could be valuable off the bench for alot of teams, why not send him to the O's???
There are so many solutions other than sending the kid to Iowa. DON'T SEND PIE DOWN!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
RUMOR: Could Sosa become a Cub?
This rumor has been overflowing in my in box so I decided to address it. Now, realistically could Sammy Sosa become a Chicago Cub once again before the trade deadline? My answer is Yes!
Texas is on the verge of a huge firesale. Shopping all there bloated contracts, veteran players, and pending free agents. Along with players like Gagne, Wilkerson, Gagne, Byrd,Catalanotto, etc, Sosa could find a new home. Sosa would provide a good veteran with good power, OK defense, and a valuable bat off the bench or in a platoon situation. Now how does this fit with the cubs? The Cubs are currently overloaded with outfielders but if you can subtract one ( Jones) and get Sosa, I say you do it. Sosa would provide a good bat off the bench and could relieve time for Floyd in RF.
The few problems with this is it seems Selig is saying no more debt to the cubs. That means no more bloated contracts or deals where there is debt involved. Now Sosa is only making 3 million( that's if he does all his performance bonuses). So you would have to do somewhat of even trade for that amount of dump salary on another team. The Rangers are looking to dump players and salary so that could be a problem.
The other problem is the overloaded outfield situation. If you could unload a Jones or trade him to the Rangers you wouldn't have the problem with Jones anymore and you would get a solid righty and HOFer off the bench.
Personally I would like to see Sammy back in a cubs uniform. But alot of things have to happen to make this happen.
Texas is on the verge of a huge firesale. Shopping all there bloated contracts, veteran players, and pending free agents. Along with players like Gagne, Wilkerson, Gagne, Byrd,Catalanotto, etc, Sosa could find a new home. Sosa would provide a good veteran with good power, OK defense, and a valuable bat off the bench or in a platoon situation. Now how does this fit with the cubs? The Cubs are currently overloaded with outfielders but if you can subtract one ( Jones) and get Sosa, I say you do it. Sosa would provide a good bat off the bench and could relieve time for Floyd in RF.
The few problems with this is it seems Selig is saying no more debt to the cubs. That means no more bloated contracts or deals where there is debt involved. Now Sosa is only making 3 million( that's if he does all his performance bonuses). So you would have to do somewhat of even trade for that amount of dump salary on another team. The Rangers are looking to dump players and salary so that could be a problem.
The other problem is the overloaded outfield situation. If you could unload a Jones or trade him to the Rangers you wouldn't have the problem with Jones anymore and you would get a solid righty and HOFer off the bench.
Personally I would like to see Sammy back in a cubs uniform. But alot of things have to happen to make this happen.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Lee and Sori named All-star reserves
Thanks to cubs.com-
CHICAGO -- If Tony La Russa needs instant offense for the National League All-Star team, he can call on Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano.
Soriano was named to his sixth straight All-Star Game on Sunday, selected by the player votes. Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee also was selected by player votes and will make his second trip to the All-Star Game, which will be played July 10 in San Francisco and near his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.
Soriano was edged in the fan balloting for a starting spot by San Francisco's Barry Bonds. New York's Carlos Beltran and Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. are the other starting NL outfielders.
The Cubs left fielder has had an All-Star June, batting .336 with 11 homers and 18 RBIs. He hit a solo homer in each of the Cubs' games against the White Sox June 22-24, and also hit three home runs against the Braves on June 8.
He's not on the same pace as last season, his first 40-40-40 season, when he hit 46 homers and 41 doubles and stole 41 bases.
All La Russa has to do is put Soriano in the leadoff spot and sit back and relax.
The Cubs left fielder was named National League Player of the Week for June 18-24, and posted a slugging percentage of 1.080. Soriano led the NL with 27 total bases, hit four home runs, and tied for first with 12 hits as well as batting .480 that week.
"It was just a matter of time," Chicago's Mark DeRosa said.
"The warmer weather has helped, I think the move to left field has helped," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of Soriano's surge. "The fact that he's acclimiated to day-night games has helped.
"And the last reason is he's a very talented young man who's finally hitting his stride," Piniella said.
Make sure you tune in early. Soriano has taken advantage of pitchers, slugging leadoff homers before most of the fans are settled in their seats. Pitchers know he's a fastball hitter but still throw fastballs.
"The first pitch of the game, that's the best pitch the pitcher has to open the game," Soriano said last week. "It's a little complicated because they know I'm a fastball hitter, but they don't want to throw a first-pitch breaking ball because they don't feel comfortable. I always feel good swinging at the first pitch."
Lee, 31, who won a batting title in 2005, was hitting .340 with six homers and 40 RBIs, second in the league behind Colorado's Matt Holliday. He also played in the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit and was 1-for-3 with a double.
His home run numbers are down, but the right-handed hitter is a presence in the lineup. Lee is batting .383 with six doubles, a triple, five RBIs and eight walks in his last 17 games after a mini-slump in which he hit .129 in eight games.
Lee is healthy after missing most of last season because of a fractured right wrist suffered in a freak collision with Rafael Furcal, and also ranks among the NL leaders with a .366 average with runners in scoring position.
It's the first time the Cubs have had two representatives since Lee and Aramis Ramirez went in 2005. Carlos Zambrano was the team's lone rep last year but did not pitch.
The 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game.
CHICAGO -- If Tony La Russa needs instant offense for the National League All-Star team, he can call on Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano.
Soriano was named to his sixth straight All-Star Game on Sunday, selected by the player votes. Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee also was selected by player votes and will make his second trip to the All-Star Game, which will be played July 10 in San Francisco and near his hometown of Sacramento, Calif.
Soriano was edged in the fan balloting for a starting spot by San Francisco's Barry Bonds. New York's Carlos Beltran and Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr. are the other starting NL outfielders.
The Cubs left fielder has had an All-Star June, batting .336 with 11 homers and 18 RBIs. He hit a solo homer in each of the Cubs' games against the White Sox June 22-24, and also hit three home runs against the Braves on June 8.
He's not on the same pace as last season, his first 40-40-40 season, when he hit 46 homers and 41 doubles and stole 41 bases.
All La Russa has to do is put Soriano in the leadoff spot and sit back and relax.
The Cubs left fielder was named National League Player of the Week for June 18-24, and posted a slugging percentage of 1.080. Soriano led the NL with 27 total bases, hit four home runs, and tied for first with 12 hits as well as batting .480 that week.
"It was just a matter of time," Chicago's Mark DeRosa said.
"The warmer weather has helped, I think the move to left field has helped," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said of Soriano's surge. "The fact that he's acclimiated to day-night games has helped.
"And the last reason is he's a very talented young man who's finally hitting his stride," Piniella said.
Make sure you tune in early. Soriano has taken advantage of pitchers, slugging leadoff homers before most of the fans are settled in their seats. Pitchers know he's a fastball hitter but still throw fastballs.
"The first pitch of the game, that's the best pitch the pitcher has to open the game," Soriano said last week. "It's a little complicated because they know I'm a fastball hitter, but they don't want to throw a first-pitch breaking ball because they don't feel comfortable. I always feel good swinging at the first pitch."
Lee, 31, who won a batting title in 2005, was hitting .340 with six homers and 40 RBIs, second in the league behind Colorado's Matt Holliday. He also played in the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit and was 1-for-3 with a double.
His home run numbers are down, but the right-handed hitter is a presence in the lineup. Lee is batting .383 with six doubles, a triple, five RBIs and eight walks in his last 17 games after a mini-slump in which he hit .129 in eight games.
Lee is healthy after missing most of last season because of a fractured right wrist suffered in a freak collision with Rafael Furcal, and also ranks among the NL leaders with a .366 average with runners in scoring position.
It's the first time the Cubs have had two representatives since Lee and Aramis Ramirez went in 2005. Carlos Zambrano was the team's lone rep last year but did not pitch.
The 78th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game.
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