We actually have quite a bit of news and rumors to go through today-
- Lou said they have moved Rich Hill to the pen and will be available to pitch tonight against the Phillies. Lou stresses it is not a permanent move and that Hill will be moved back to the rotation just in time for him next start. I think he should have Lieber in the rotation because of how well he has pitched. Besides Z and Dempster he is the only one pitching well out of the gate.
- Cubs prospect Jeff Samardzija topped Dodgers prospect Clayton Kershaw in his best performance in his professional career. Former number one pick Ryan Harvey collected three hits off Kershaw, a sign that maybe he is coming around. Thanks to MLBRUMORS
- The Tigers continue to struggle and now they have lost D-Train hyper extended right knee. This could force the Tigers to make a move to strengthen there weak rotation. They have looked at Snyder who was DFA'd. They could look at trading for Jason Marquis or Sean Marshall from the Cubs who have a lot of depth in the rotation. It is just a thought.
- Lou will give Fukudome Saturday off against the Phillies. He will likely have Reed Johnson in CF, Derosa in RF, Cedeno at 2b/ss, and Theriot at 2b/ss against the tough lefty Hamels.
- I wonder if moving Fukudome to center could be a thing we see a lot. I really like him in RF but he looked pretty good in CF too. I still like him in the 5th spot though.
- The Cubs may decide to send Pie to AAA if he continues to struggle and bring up Murton or Fuld. Pie has struggled out of the gate and Lou does not seem to patient this year, so he could pull the trigger before May the way Pie is going.
- If the Cubs doe send Pie if AAA the may decide to acquire a CF via trade or free agency to platoon with Reed Johnson. Names that come to mind are Reggie Willits, Gary Matthews Jr., Kenny Lofton, Juan Pierre, CoCo Crisp, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, and Nate McLouth. I would prefer a guy like McLouth, Cabrera, and Matthews because they all have power, speed, and play great defense and all could leadoff. My next tier would be Crisp, Damon, Pierre, Willits, and Lofton. All also could leadoff but hardly any power, besides Crisp the play average defense and are very streaky.
8 comments:
Why is lou being so impatient? If they send Pie down to the minors before mid may ill be pissed. Give him more of a chance. His defense has been great and if he was playing in center yesterday(friday) vs the phillies i think we could have won. He probably would have gotten that ball that fukudome dropped. and if pie was in center then fukudome would have caught that ball hit over wards head in right. Just an example of how is defense is important enough to keep him.
i can't believe he is having a big problem with hill already. his first start was quality. and against the pirates loue took him out after 3 innings after he gave up 3 runs. that pissed me off cause our bullpen was over worked already why not keep him out there an inning or two more. we won the game so cant complain much but oh well.
anyone else pumped to see baker and Crappy Patterson get booed at wrigley next week?
Fukudome in center works well if we can keep Soriano out of his way.
I'm waiting for Soriano to eat a flyball when he does that hot dog hop when making the catch.
I love the Cubs, but am more and more disgusted with the prima donnas who lack hustle who think an occasional homer makes up for their look at me crap.
Lilly and Hill need to get on track. We need those lefties to be dominating. Less than 5 innings a start over and over is hard on the bullpen and Lou's pumper! "I'm worried about you Daddy!!!"
Since most of us agree we could use a shortstop with some range, here is a list of each teams top ten prospects that are SS's playing at AAA or AA. Dogers HU #3, Brewers ESCOBAR #3 and BREWER #7, Angel WOOD #1 and RODRIGUEZ #7, Rays BRIGNAC #5, Boston LOWRIE #5, Arizona BONIFACIO #6, Atlanta LILLIBRIDGE #6, Tigers WORTH #8, Pirates BIXLER #8, Twins PLOUFFE #10, Detroit and Atlanta are looking for pitching.
Thanks Nick i for the top teh ss list. i really like Brendan Ryan from StL. he hasn't played this year, has a minor injury, has never been a favourite of Tony Larusa's and could be gotten in a trade without giving up much. Jimbo
nick i... so your saying trade for one of those young SS?
Joe just showing whats out there. I would rather trade for a veteran player. But saying that the only SS we have in the Cubs minors is DARWIN BARNEY and hes rated 24th on the Cubs chart. The cubs do have Murton ( maybe we should keep him till we know whats wrong with Soriano ) and lots of pitching other teams are intrested in. I do like Lowrie of Boston. And Wood is rated #14 in all of baseball. Hes rated the second best SS in the minors. Moustakas of the Royals is rated as the best SS. Hes still in A ball. Baseball America prospects hand book has Josh Vitters at #43 and Soto as #46. I dont know why Fukudome is not on the list he is a rookie. They rate baseballs top 50 then each teams top 30.
Anonymous the cardinals have 3 SS's in their top 30. Pete Kozma at #7 and Jose Martines at #17 and Tyler Greene at #29.Brendan Ryan is listed as being in the majors. He was #12 on the list last year. If anyone wants me to look someone just let me know i'll try to do my best.
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