Bleed Cubbie Blue

And, as Al said in another thread

we needed a back up SS with Miles out, which is why Blanco vs. Scales

Several questions

1) Andres Blanco. Tell me about him. I know little.

2) Jake Fox? Where does he play? Or does he pinch-hit?

3) Which Cub do you think got a little bonus money to punch Miles in the shoulder until it strained?

Dempster broke the gatorade machine

So Zambrano took out the most uselesss item in the dugout :)

ak123 - May 27, 2009 reply

If that's true

I take back every bad thing I’ve said about him in the last week!

Good!

Historically the Cubs turn things around after Zambrano punches someone.

daeviant - May 27, 2009 reply

well

Blanco is a middle infielder that i know little about
Fox might get some time in the field, like you said with the Sosa comparision
All of them might have lines up to smack him, or maybe he strained it shaving

Baseball reference

has him getting some coffee with the Royals from 2004-2006

Has played SS and 2B

Don’t know if he can play 3B
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blancan01.shtml

Blanco

is just another light hitting middle infielder. His glove is better than Miles at least at SS though.

Right...

Blanco isn’t being brought up for his bat. He’s being brought up to be a middle infield defensive sub.

And the way Miles has been hitting...

… Blanco can’t be that much worse.

Agreed...

It’s not like Miles was bringing much to the table with the bat.

Miles was hitting left-handers....

but it’s not like anyone, myself included, has any enthusiasm for defending him.

DGU - May 27, 2009 reply

Finally Miles is helping the team!

Someone else would say it :)

Nice to see Scales got a taste of the big leagues. He’ll be back I’m sure before September.

ak123 - May 27, 2009 reply

Curious

to see today’s line up. How does Blanco figure into the picture? How does his skill set differ from Scales?

Slakkr - May 27, 2009 reply

Blanco is probably a better defensive infielder.

Plus, he can play SS. Scales can’t.

Exactamundo.

Welcome aboard, Andy White!

I'll miss Scales

I think he did a great job. Hope someone will tell him the fans loved him.

coral - May 27, 2009 reply

I think he already knows.

And I think he’ll be back.

I hope so...

…I just got my personalized Scales jersey in the mail!

sniffy the bee - May 27, 2009 reply

Oh I was going

to get one of those too! Where did you get yours? Did you pay $100 for it? I was hoping to find it a bit cheaper…

Hilary Lee - May 27, 2009 reply

Oh, and Cotts.....

he can stay there for the rest of the season as far as I’m concerned.

coral - May 27, 2009 reply

I hope he stays there for the rest of his career.

Better yet, I hope he is out of the system by next year.

TheBeerBaron - May 27, 2009 reply

Interesting Moves.

I had no idea that cotts could still be sent down. Let him go to another team in the division please.

Jake Fox, I’m really excited for.

Scales, will be back up for sure. Let him get AB’s down in Iowa.

What’s the story on Blanco?

Scales being sick

might have been better to move him to AAA in order to avoid the short bench, since he was not going to the DL for the flu

That was Cotts last option

lswaidz - May 27, 2009 reply

Half Way Home --

Finish the housecleaning -
Sweep Heilman and Freel out the door and make a decision about Patton. Go with 11 pitchers - then we can add 2 more bats and an arm.

Heilman ain't going anywhere.

Why ??

Give me one good reason?
The Mets got rid of him because he did in 2008 exactly what he is doing this year for the Cubs. That is, absolutely nothing.
He is among the league leaders in allowing inherited runners to score. He failed as a set up man with the Mets and now with the Cubs.
When given another chance to keep the Cubs in a ball game — like Monday night, he increases the deficit.
Other top teams are constantly shuffling their pens when the same guys struggle on a regular basis. Cotts was one of these — so is Heilman.
And please do not get into the salary thing. If the guy is not doing his job, get rid of him. Bite the bullet. Maybe someone will give you something for him; maybe not. But he is not contributing and if the Cubs are in the hunt, they don’t need someone who is shooting blanks.

you do realize

that eventually, Hendry can’t hire anyone new, right? There is a salary cap.

I recognize that Heilman has struggled, but I don’t think he’s an unmitigated disaster.

Unless you meant

to cross out ‘is’, the phantom Pirate GreyBar seems to have been replaced by Sir Strikeout

bah. stupid dash behavior.

there is a salary cap.

No Need to Hire --

Hendry does not have to hire anyone to replace Heilman. If he gets a body for him, the body does not have to currently be on a ML roster. He can be shipped off to the minors.
Heilman’s replacement can come ffrom Iowa or Tennessee. Jeff Stevens or someone else who has show promise.
Heilman is a contributor to the current disaster in the pen in the early going. You and I both know that Lou will trot him out there again and he may have a good outing. But history has shown that Heilman is not the answer. It’s like a crap shoot every time he goes out there. Ask yourself this — when you see him come into a game, how much confidence do you have that Heilman is going to get the job done. And be honest about it. My confidence level in this guy on a scale of 1 to 10 is about 1.5.
When veterans like Heilman struggle, I ask myself a simple question. If the season was over, what do you think the chances are that the Cubs would keep this guy? The answer is zero. That answer is based on performance and Heilman’s perfomance is well below par.
Right now — Heilman is doing for the Cubs exactly what Bob Howry did for them in 2008.
It’s time to cut the cord with this guy and move on. Just like they did earlier today with Neil Cotts.

I give the guy

at least even odds. There have been days when he’s been spot on. He’s had some days when he’s not.

Heilman has options that can send him to the minors?

I hardly call optioning someone to AAA cutting the cord.

Actually, history shows Heilman was an elite reliever from '05 through '07.

That said, I would agree he’s been decidedly subpar so far this year and, quite frankly, I’ve really become fed up with him, too. Too many walks, too many hittable pitchers and – at the risk being utterly superficial – I just don’t like his look on the mound. He appears sweaty and nervous when he’s out there.

In any case, Hendry is not going to cut a veteran of his status (and a Notre Dame guy to boot). And Heilman has too many years of service time to be sent to Triple A. I believe he’d have to go willingly, and I doubt he’d do that.

Scales

he might be sick the next few days..that might have factored in as well.

cozmotaylor123 - May 27, 2009 reply

Scales

I think he wasn’t going to see many more at bats.

is Jake Fox a lefty?

Nope. He's a righty.

Do Lou and Jim know about this?

DMCub - May 27, 2009 reply

yes and my brother's uncle's cousin's roommate's dog told me

that Jake is on a bus back to Iowa to learn how to bat left handed

Time to reevaluate those sources, Al... :)

So much for there being no immediate plans to call up Jake Fox.

I like the moves. It gives us a legitimate defensive backup for Theriot at SS in Blanco. It gives us a legitimate RH bat off the bench in Fox. It gives us at least a chance at a lefty specialist in the bullpen.

It’s unfortunate for Scales. But perhaps once Piniella finally tires of Freel, we’ll see Scales take that spot on the bench. But at least the roster makes sense now.

I believe what the source told me was accurate when I heard it.

Things likely changed after that. People can change their minds, you know.

I was just kidding around...

I realize that I don’t know when you heard the information, and I don’t know when the latest information was given to the source.

It’s very possible that things changed at the last minute. It’s also possible that your source had poor info on Fox.

It’s also not that important, as I was just kidding around.

So get's benched tonight?

I bet Lee sits again

so that Hoff can play first. I can’t see replacing Soriano with Fox., but Jake could pinch hit. Give Riot a rest, play Blanco. Waddell goes to the pen.

Someone already said

in one of the many threads today that the Score reported that Lee is back in the starting lineup tonight

hmmm

they woudln’t put Hoff in right and Fox in left, would they? (cringes)

Should be fun REAL baseball :)

Depends on how

desperate Lou is for offense. But I REALLY hope he would not do this to us.

If he does...

Fukudome better have a few jugs of Red Bull. He’s going to be running a LOT

or a jet pack

Not tonight --

Zach Duke on the mound for the Pirates. Has put up some pretty solid numbers this year and he is a lefty.
Johnson will be in CF tonight.
If Lee plays, Hoff won’t play. If Lee is still sitting, we might see Fox at 1B.
But who will be at 3B? Please no more Freel.

Fox

will probably start at third. At least that is my guess.

that would be absolutely terrifying

could put Soriano at third

it’s just like left field, only 200 feet closer to the plate! There may not be hops timed to catch the line-drives, tho. :P

Have you considered coaching...

at the professional level? :-p

CubsWin!Oregon - May 27, 2009 reply

I'd rather be a Loogy

I can pitch as bad as Neil Cotts for that much money. And then they can put me on the DL! I can be on the DL for as much money as Miles, and do it better!

I would happily take league min

to be in Lous doghouse

This sounds somewhat familiar

Waddell, 27, joins the first major league roster in his nine-year professional career. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA (10 ER/16.2 IP) in 18 relief appearances, limiting right-handed batters to a .205 average (8-for-39) while lefties have batted .346 (9-for-26) off the southpaw.

AzCubfan24 - May 27, 2009 reply

Hmmm...

don’t care for that stat line. Hopefully that’s a sample size issue, and Waddell is actually capable against LH batters. Otherwise, it’ll be a revolving door situation.

I think all of us are just happy to finally see a change made.

Once he’s up the slate is cleaned and we can let his pitching do the talking.

AzCubfan24 - May 27, 2009 reply

Right...

At least we know the problem has been identified. Whether Waddell is a solution or not is the next question, but at least we’re getting to see an attempted answer to the question.

yeah…anything is better than cotts.

still stunned he could be demoted.

So, if I'm reading this right

Notes: sources tell me, despite me and some others wanting the Cubs to go after Mark DeRosa, the Cubs will not seek his return, nor are they at this time looking for help outside the organization; and, further, there are no immediate plans to call up Jake Fox.

DeRosa will be on the Cubs by the weekend then?

berselius - May 27, 2009 reply

In fairness, I guess the operative word is immediate...

I mean, did they call Fox up immediately? :)

LOL.

I was about to say the same thing. So hold hope alive, Al? I really think DeRosa would fit perfectly with this team.

Sigh.

See my remarks above about people changing their minds, or things changing after I heard this information.

Or do you think that once I hear something, it becomes an immutable, unchanging fact?

Jeez, Al

Just take the good-natured ribbing and move on. The info was wrong. No harm done.

cubzfan - May 27, 2009 reply

I don't think

anyone was trying to give you a hard time ~~- I completely respect your sources… it’s just kinda funny that they called Fox up within hours of that post. :~~)

Gotta admit it’s alittle funny right?

I don't know why that strike line went across.

I don't know why that strike line went across.

for the same reason

this comment posted twice :P

Ease up, Al...

we’re teasing.

Sources (even really really good ones) can be wrong from time to time. And either way (whether the source was wrong or not), we were just having some fun with the juxtaposition of the two posts.

It is, actually, funny...

… as the source acknowledged in an email to me this morning.

Yeah.

It happens. People have a change a heart. I’m sure your source is right more times than not.

But let’s hope he’s completely wrong this time — and the Cubs change their mind and they trade for DeRosa.

I'd like that.

I do, however, think the source is right about that.

For now, anyway. ;)

If these changes work for the next couple weeks

I dont see why they would go after DeRo, if they don’t work, then I expect a move for DeRo or someone of that caliber.

tony412 - May 27, 2009 reply

Hell if these changes work.........

and they start winning I won’t say another thing about DeRo.

Why

because Crane Kenney didn’t know his gm and mgr were doing this? lol

cubsluver22 - May 27, 2009 reply

So it begins... again

The Cubs are finally starting to do something. Good!

I feel bad for Scales and I hope this doesn’t discourage him. Hopefully, he’ll be back and he will play a role later in the season. If we win it all, he deserves to be a part of it.

Jake Fox? Man, I so hope he can stay hot. I know he won’t put the same numbers up against MLB pitchers, but I hope he still contributes in a major way.

TheHawkRules - May 27, 2009 reply

Let's also hope he's better than horrible

at third.

N Oakley - May 27, 2009 reply

Wadell hardly inspires confidence IMO

The other moves were absolutely necessary but this Wadell character? C’mon.

Kinky Reggae - May 27, 2009 reply

Well maybe if Lou uses him just as a LOOGY he might be ok

Question is whether Lou will do that.

He's

right handed

No more Miles!!

At least for now….any word on how long he will be out?

MJMars - May 27, 2009 reply

15 day DL

retroactive to yesterday. Minimum, then, of 14 days.

14 days

of happiness

Is Fox...

Basically a right-handed Hoff? Haven’t really seen him play.

CubsBullsBears - May 27, 2009 reply

A right-handed Hoff with worse defense...

he also may be a bit better with the bat, though that remains to be seen.

If Fox can play a little

LF, RF, 3B, 1B and catcher, is his defense really worse, or the same, but over more positions?

I look forward to finding out.

N Oakley - May 27, 2009 reply

Reports have been that his defense is REALLY bad...

hopefully those reports are exaggerations.

sadly at this point

If he can help get less RISP stranded I’ll be ok if his defense is a 4 outta 10. Now if the bats wake up….. then it’s a different story.

4 out of 10 would be just under average.

Maybe that is Hoffpauir in RF.

Fox might be worse. It will be interesting to see.

I DON"T look forward to finding out...

…but what’s done is done. And away we go.

If you see Fox at catcher in a game

You had better start praying. He might be okay as an emergency catcher if both Soto and Hill are hurt or unavailable to play, but nothing more than that.

BSU_Alum07 - May 27, 2009 reply

Basically yes but he might be a better hitter

However, Hoffpauir can play a respectable first base but not much else. Reports are that Fox is bad everywhere.

fox lacks defensively thats for sure.

what i've seen of him at AAA

is a hitter that crushes the ball but is better suited for the DH…

maybe he’ll come up and rake and we can move him for bullpen help…don’t think he helps this team longterm, but i like his bat

just my 2 pennies

12to23to17 - May 27, 2009 reply

Lee...

Back in the line-up today per The Score.

CubsBullsBears - May 27, 2009 reply

excellent news

for the Cubs and my fantasy baseball team.

If I was Mike Murphy on the Score.....

I predict Lou will experiment with Soriano at 2nd and Fox in left.

timeforachange2009 - May 27, 2009 reply

Possible.

The defense will be “a notch above horrific”.

LOL.

That is, if you missed it...

… a direct quote from a (I believe) Baseball Prospectus article about Fox, which was quoted here sometime in the last week (can’t find it right now).

I've seen Fox play.

And he is pretty bad defensively. He looks completely lost at times.

Let’s just hope his offense makes us forget about that terrible defense.

If he's at 3rd

The pitchers are going to have to get off the mound quickly to field bunts to third, because Fox doesn’t sound ideal.

So it's not an issue of range or a bad arm?

Just bad instincts, more or less?

That and not caring

about the glove, according to Baseball America, at least.

like

not enough mink oil? Not wrapping it around a baseball and tying it with a shoelace? Not sleeping with it under his pillow? :D

Baseball America

actually, although BP may have quoted it. Rob Neyer did quote it, I know.

which will provide

entertaining baseball if notnhing else…..cue the Benny Hill Theme

It will be.....

rough to say the least. On the other hand they survived Kingman.

I think this move has more to do with ARAM being out for an extended period of time (6-8 more weeks per the Suntimes) than anything else. They need to replace that offense.

timeforachange2009 - May 27, 2009 reply

Yikes

Though Soriano would love that.

These moves are all good, I think..

I am particularly surprised that Cotts still had options – that’s nice. This allows Lou to look at some new faces, something he promised in ST, while not losing the existing ones. I think that , when it’s all said and done, Miles and Cotts may both be back on the Cubs Roster (that’s OK.. smack away at me for that – I can take it). Why? Because they both are performing way, way below their career norms, which aren’t bad (Cotts 13.1 innings as a late callup in 2003 doesn’t count).

(Ahh… nothing like Blasphemous words on a Wednesday before a day game)

I am really glad Lou’s following through on his promise to try some new folks out, but keeping lifelines open to the existing players. Good managing, IMHO.

Such great news to hear!

Cotts AND Miles both gone (at least for now). Net gain.

Did Miles actually get hurt?

Do we care? LOL

+1

I think Big Z gave him a friendly knock on the shoulder and...

…well, the rest is history.

Big Z and Miles

had a pre-game ritual similar to Z’s with Fontenot. Z was a little rougher with Miles though.

I think it's more true to say he CAUSED hurt.

He did!

According to source (my friend Farney), Miles was playing catch with Harden. Both seemed to come up injuried from playing long toss.

Perhaps Farney

took a tire iron to Miles

Hilary Lee - May 27, 2009 reply

maybe Farney has a twin

who is in MIles shoulder?

Marney?

the phrase "Code Red" comes to mind...

Bill Potter - May 27, 2009 reply

Lou's way

Lou has moved RP’s around before. Here’s hoping he gets some good games out of Waddell, and then when he starts getting hit around, he has another guy ready to move up.

KedzieKid - May 27, 2009 reply

While we're exploring the roster, what about SB threats?

I think everything we see up to this point in Lou’s managing is about finding an October Recipe rather than winning right now. That said, what we don’t have is a lights out base stealing threat. If you were manager, who in our current system would you put on the 40 man roster to add post-season baserunning/bunting abilities?

joey gathright tried this

Lou has no interest in that kind of player, I don’t think we’ve had that since he got here.

I would suggest Ted Lilly for that role

He doesn’t get to pitch in the playoffs anyway, might as well let him plow over some second basemen.

With the track record of this organization in regards to baserunning the last 6 years...

lets not call for MORE stealing. K?

Well... I guess that's kind of the question..

Do we need to have good baserunning/stealing abilities to win in October? I’ve always had the idea it was important, but perhaps you could just humor me even if you disagree with that. So, considering a 40-man roster, and assuming you DID want to put one person in the Cubs system.. who would it be?

Ricky Henderson circa 1990

Ricky thinks that Ricky can still steal 50 bases now

and who is Ricky to question what Ricky thinks?

Seriously though....go look at Henderson's numbers from 1990. They're RIDICULOUS.

wow

just wow

28 HR 61 RBI 119 R 65 SB 1.016 OPS

Ricky was playing some good baseball that year

I'm sure

Ricky would tell you the same thing :)

I really missed out on the best Ricky years

I know that guy would have been my favorite player, and the things that he says are just awesome.

I think i read that one season...

… the A’s accounting department was off a cool $1 million. After looking in to it, they found out it was a $1 million bonus Ricky had received. He said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it up in his house. Hilarious.

AndrewJStone - May 27, 2009 reply

that is true

and i have heard that story countless times

It's not clear to me why..

If you’re not someone who thinks this is a relevant question to answer, you would answer it anyway (with all do respect to the great Ricky Henderson).

Now if the Cubs would just do something about Patton

either let him into games more than once every 3 weeks or send him back to Colorado.

Looking at Waddell's stats in Iowa....

I’m hoping Patton actually gets moved up. Waddell has NOT been impressive.

carmen_fanzone - May 27, 2009 reply

Marshalls gotta be going back to the pen

I cant see how they can rely on this guy more than Cotts

bren - May 27, 2009 reply

Starting pitching is more important

that a lefty who isn’t used as a LOOGY anyway. Leave Marshall alone IMO.

who is the #5 pitcher then?

Wells

I would guess

No, because Wells

is currently replacing Harden.

Good point

well can't be until Harden comes back

TWSS

My point was more do something

with that roster spot

So, just to confirm...

…technically, Cotts is currently on waivers and can be claimed by another team, correct? He was all out of options, so he can’t actually be sent down.

We used his last option....

carmen_fanzone - May 27, 2009 reply

Ohhhh...coulda sworn he was out of options.

I thought that too

Swear I read here he had no more options. But maybe this can seriously help him while helping the team big time.

jkobus - May 27, 2009 reply

Does anyone actually know anything about Jake Fox?

I’m really curious to know what this “awful D” label is all about. No one seems to have any idea though, just repeating what they’ve read that he’s “awful.”

I'm wondering...

If he’s worse than Adam Dunn, he was a butcher in the OF.

CubsBullsBears - May 27, 2009 reply

Reports are he is worse

We shall see.

Unique commented above

and said he looks lost at times. If he is at 3rd I’m sure players like Morgan and Pierre will try and make him field bunts.

Facts and Damn Facts

Why do call for these things called “facts”? Facts get in the way of what I want because someone told me once that he heard during a Tariot card reading (not to be confused with a Theriot reading, which by the way is scrappy) that Fox put his glove on the wrong hand and inside out. Anyways Defense is overrated. As long as he can hit homeruns (and this has been proved agaisnt pitchers who throw like 88-89 MPH fastball) we will be fine. Of course if hits .198 with no homers be ready for us to call him a bust and want to ship him to SD for Peavy. I think the Padre’s would trade Peavy for Fox straight up right?

defense is overrated?

pitching is king

Fox can pitch now!

Can we use him as a LOOGY?

Tariot cards????

Theriot cards?

You can play a scrappy game of poker with them

one thing I found...

his time behind the plate didn’t last long as his defense has been sub-par. In fact it has been sub-par wherever the Cubs have put him around the field. Jake has spent time at first base and in the corner outfield spots during the past three seasons. Baseball America has described Fox’s defense as "a notch above horrific" with substandard grades in speed, range, hands and arm strength. Although he apparently has a great work ethic and attitude, the Cubs just cannot find a place for him to play in the field.

carmen_fanzone - May 27, 2009 reply

Gack!

“Substandard grades in speed, range, hands and arm strength”

Sweet Moses on a Rubber Crutch.

If my posts seem a little odd in the next few days, it’s because I’ll be drinking lots of scotch during games.

but he can hit

Sooo...

If he doesn’t hit a Grand Slam on his first at bat, How many people will call him a bust you think?

he will lead off and walk on three pitches

Calls for his bustness

Will depend entirely on the proportion of offense he generates vs. defense he fails.

I know...

I just don’t know how a baseball player can have:

Slow feet; a weak arm, bad hands and rotten speed all at the same time and make it this high.

I mean, usually you see someone with good speed and range and a bad arm, or vice versa.

i was being sarcastic

and agreeing with you about him

That is quite the negative

laundry list of attributes

Is there a defensive component that they missed?

Speed, range, hands and arm strength seems to cover it. I guess arm accuracy would be the other.

So maybe he has a weak arm, but is excellent at hitting the cut-off man 30 feet from him.

how will this be different

from every other post? :P

Dude...

if you think I’m bad now. Get me drunk. My posts on the the old St. Louis Rams board — I had Warner, Faulk and Bruce on my fantasy team back in the day — are legendary.

You're so cool.

I hope to one day think I did something on the internet that was “legendary.”

Having read your stuff

I think you are in no danger

An internet legend

taking the time to read my posts? I’m honored!

How the hell..

did you manage to stack your team like that?

BSU_Alum07 - May 27, 2009 reply

Ah, it was a wondrous time

It was 1999. I had the second pick and snagged Faulk.

I had Drew Bledsoe as my starting QB. When Trent Green got hurt, I snagged Warner, who was on no one’s roster, before anyone else could.

Bruce was easy. He was coming off a hammy injury. Got him in like the 5th round.

I also had Tony Gonzalez. I grabbed the Rams defense mid-season. Remember, in 1999, they had like 12 return TDs (fumble, INT and special teams)

Won the league. It was a partial keeper, so I kept the guys, drafted the Ravens D and won it again the next year.

Ah, good times.

Wait...

… what else has there been to do during games lately?

AndrewJStone - May 27, 2009 reply

You could ask Josh on one of his minor league threads.

Just about every credible minor league source I’ve read has pegged him as a subpar defender anywhere on the field.

Here’s a scouting report.

Paging Josh........

You are needed here!

When Jake Fox hits the ball

it makes a really hard sound—a different sound than when other players’ bat hits the ball.

But the thing is, he can only hit a fastball. He gets lost on breaking balls, which is why he fans so much.

Rob Neyer quoted from Baseball America’s pre-season rankings of him

There are scouts who swear that Fox’s plus power would produce 25 homers if he got the chance to play every day in the majors. The problem is that those longballs would come with a low batting average, plenty of strikeouts and absolutely no defensive ability … Fox can crush any fastball out of any park, in part because he sits on fastballs and sells out for power every time. He can’t handle breaking balls, won’t work counts and rarely listens to batting coaches. Power is Fox’s only tool, and one scout described his defense as “a notch above horrific.”

Neyer added, and he’s correct, is that is about as scathing a comment as BA has ever given in one of their pre-season guides. Usually, BA subscribes to the “If you can’t say anything nice . . ,” school. But it is a testament to Fox’s power (or the state of the Cubs minor league system) that he got ranked anyway.

Maybe he’s doing something different this season.

Oh my...

So, basically we have just brought up a Zambrano who can’t pitch?

and people thought Hoff had a hole in his swing

just wait til the BCB love fair ends for him

Fox hits right-handed

but yeah, if Zambrano gave up pitching, he might be close to Jake Fox.

I am now going to slam my head into my file cabinets

Um Zambrano CAN FIELD

and hit for average.

Doggie Stalker - May 27, 2009 reply

Historically he hasn't hit for average - except last season... IIRC

GoCubbies34 - May 27, 2009 reply

So, Jack Cust?

with slightly worse pitch recognition.

Bill Potter - May 27, 2009 reply

That sounds about right to me.

Couple that with bad defense and, well, I’m just not all that excited about Jake, though I do wish him the best. To be honest, I’m most excited, so to speak, about Andres Blanco. If he can prove himself a good defensive replacement at shortstop, I’ll be happy. Assuming Freel sticks around (and, yeah, he has looked awful at the plate thus far), the Cubs will FINALLY have backups at both 3B and SS.

The jury is out for me on Waddell. I happened to catch an inning of him pitching in spring training, and I liked what I saw – he seemed to have LOOGY potential. But lefty relievers haven’t been known to fare particularly well on the Cubs of late, and I can’t see Lou having much patience with him.

Jack Cust

draws walks.

he's Soriano from

two years ago, except he can’t field.

Why are we bringing this guy up?

in hopes that he'll hit for a week, and some team will offer to trade for him?

He’s done all he can in AAA

Hey, the Blue Jays are struggling!

The thing is...

we’re not losing all these games because of bad defense.

do we want

to start?

I think it

is one of the few ways we have not lost a game so far

see?

always seeking new opportunities…

Drew

you’re nothing if not creative

Thanks!

we also

have good manners.

my scale would like to state

that I am not nothing.

lying stat

we are 3-14 in games with an error…. of course we have a poor record in games we don’t score as well.

KyCubsFan - May 27, 2009 reply

Yeah, I guess my initial response to this would be...

…“bad” defense isn’t always as obvious as a bobbled ground ball or throw into the stands. The fact that the starting pitching has been, for the most part, quite good is probably at least somewhat attributable to decent defense. Jake Fox could change that – maybe not overwhelmingly, but somewhat.

but we are winless in games that we commit

1 or more errors

and also in games in which we score less than 4 runs.

Little OT

But in the last two days no twitters from Gordo about anything. I would think this would be twitter worthy.

Any idea on why he isn’t?

I heard Sun Times has most employees taking

unpaid furlough days. Perhaps he’s taking time off.

N Oakley - May 27, 2009 reply

blah to ST then

Hmph, maybe this explains it.

IIRC, he tweeted nothing about last night's game.

He’s really inconsistent about it.

I keep

checking his site to make sure my phone isn’t broken.

Does a 15 day DL stint constitute dumping?

Miles really has to go, he is utterly useless, but this hardly seems like theyre getting rid of him

bren - May 27, 2009 reply

If he starts to feel better

Z will just beat his shoulder with a bat until he agrees to go back on the DL.

he's owed too much money to "dump"

keep in mind, there’s no rule they have to remove him from the DL in exactly 15 days. They could hide him for a while

Miles

Quite frankly, I don’t care whether Blanco or Fox can hit major league pitching. It is quite clear that Aaron Miles absolutely cannot so the roster is already better. Add in his shoddy defense and this is a win-win.

But putting him on the DL? Unless that list is renamed the “inability list” rather than the disabled list, other than Hendry’s own pride for signing him for two years, there is no real reason to do that.

krummy12 - May 27, 2009 reply

He doesn't ever have to come off

I would leave him there the rest of the season. Watching him the other night convinced me he is the worst player in baseball, hands down.

maybe your sig line is working ?????

I'll take the 50% success rate

Heilman isn’t gonna go easy.

in 2 weeks I think you success rate will go back to zero. :(

Well nobody will enjoy these two Miles free weeks more than me

Someone remind me in 13 days

to post a poll wondering what Miles’ next injury will be.

I’m thinking malaria.

Swine Flu

I don't wish either of them on him......

but they could make up any illness they wanted to for as far as I care.

Hendritis?

Symptoms:

Exceptional energy and competence — well above normal — followed by complete drop-off. Cramps in shoulder from reaching for newly fat wallet and ocassional depression caused by infrequent bouts of shame.

side effects include

Lous Doghouse
Multiple BCB Threads about who to trade you for
Bleeding of the right eye from Zambrano Left Hook

And mystery illness that cause Hot Prospects to be called up

Mike Vails Evil Twin - May 27, 2009 reply

Jason Waddell

Anyone know if he’s related to Rube Waddell?

http://rubewaddell.net/

He is a lefty...

Back in the early 20th Century, he may have indeed been nicknamed ‘Rube’. One can only hope that Jason doesn’t like the sauce as much as the original Rube Waddell.

I have no idea if they’re related, but old Rube did like to get married; at one point in the 1908 season, he had to miss a road trip to Boston, due to outstanding warrants taken out by his ex-wives.

Clutch16 - May 27, 2009 reply

Minor league promotions?

Will these moves lead to some minor league promotions? Perhap Darwin Barney to AAA and Josh Vitters to AA?

tom veryzer - May 27, 2009 reply

They won't promote Barney

without promoting Thomas. They’re keeping those two together.

Although right now, the I-Cubs roster stands at 23.

Fox, Theriot, Fontenot, Hoffpauer

This is a potential starting infield.

OMG! Is that the worst defensive infield in the history of the Chicago Cubs??

smitster2008 - May 27, 2009 reply

Um, Theriot and Fontenot are both good defenders per UZR - Fontenot in particular.

And Hoffpauir is generally regarded as an adequate first baseman.

Unless Lee is actually throwing up organs

he has to be at 1st.

When Rami gets back...

… i’ll be a LITTLE more comfortable with Hoff at first. But until then, Lee provides some intangibles in the field that the rest of these inexperienced guys just don’t have. He isn’t hitting as well as we’d hoped… i get it. He’s also a golden glover. I just can’t stomach losses on crappy defense.

AndrewJStone - May 27, 2009 reply

maybe we can just get lilly in there

even when he’s not pitching, just put him on the field somewhere.. and his presence will cause all opponents to strike out

illinicubgirl - May 27, 2009 reply

The quicker the Cubs realize this

the quicker we win the world series. Just put Ted at third, there is no way the other team would hit the ball to him.

I say we try Lilly at 3rd - :)

malicedoom - May 27, 2009 reply

And the Cubs will become the 1st team in history

To have a successful left handed throwing 3rd baseman. We all know he’ll be successful, because Theodore Roosevelt Lilly never fails.

Sobenergy - May 27, 2009 reply

Ted actually can throw with his right arm

he just doesn’t because MLB doesn’t think hitters are ready for 115MPH fastballs. As a comprimise he gets to use his left arm to pitch, that way people don’t realize he is in fact an immortal god.

Trivia Quiz

Q: What current Cub caught Mark Prior in the minor leagues?

A: Jake Fox during Prior’s rehab starts for the Lansing Lugnuts.

If he was good enough for Prior, then he’s good enough for me.

So there. (kidding)

I say you have to give the kid a chance at this stage in the game (Fox not Prior).

Zeke - May 27, 2009 reply

Was Prior

throwing Fox the towel?

You're mistaken. Prior THREW IN the towel...

…many many years ago. :)

malicedoom - May 27, 2009 reply

He also caught

Carlos Marmol, who was a starter on that team, as were Sean Marshall and Randy Wells.

Ryan Dempster also did a rehab stint in Lansing that year.

Yep. Demp started 5 games if I recall

…and no one really noticed because we knew little about him…

Zeke - May 27, 2009 reply

Lou talking to Ronnie S

“the last couple of days have been encouraging” but “we need to get the batting average up on some of our hitters.”
on Jake Fox’s stats: “My gosh! That’s pretty good if you’re hitting in williamsport” “we haven’t had (a good bat off the bench) from the right side” and Fox provides that.
on Blanco – defensive replacement for Theriot
On Waddell “spring training.. pitched well… went to Iowa and pitched shakily”. “we brought him in here because Cotts wasn’t pitching well”
Miles “has had a bad shoulder for most of the bb season.. he has struggled since day one and when he is ready to go he can be the player we thought we signed.”