Z has a no-trade clause, right? I do think we should trade him if the opportunity presents itself.

In other news, Woody has decided to take his turn on the DL. He'll most likely be added today.

quote:

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Who cares if he's been pitching well lately.. he wants to talk about his teammates to the media, then he needs to step it up. He's an asshat.

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RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE! LOUD NOISES!

Cubs win 1-0.

Aramis with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game and Castro ends it with a walk off RBI single in the 10th.

Good to see it happen against the 1st place brew crew. I just wish our starting pitchers would put it together and at least start making it into the 6th. I think we've been spoiled the last several years with solid starting pitching. Not the case this year.

The Peoria Chiefs are at it again.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6661570

My favorite quote from the story.

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"Really, this is just us getting back to the real world and waking up today and trying to solve our own personal problems," vice president of ticket sales Eric Obalil said.

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Hah, that's awesome on the Chiefs. I ordered my ring and got it in the mail today. I'm still getting used to it. Kind of hard to keep my eyes off of it.

Well, the DL trips are starting to get ridiculous. Barney's now on the DL.

If you're up and have Dish Network, turn on channel 442 now. Because of the rain delay earlier, the blackout window has expired and you can watch the rest of the game tonight.

No dish for me.

It's been pretty amazing how bad the Cubs' defense is. All season, they've either made a lot of errors in games or a few costly ones. I wonder how they rank in giving up unearned runs. Last night they had Braun picked off and made a bad throw to second keeping him alive in the inning. They got the extra out and he eventually scored.

Last I checked they were battling the Astros for worst defense in the NL...

But I checked out ER v. UnER and looks like somehow the Cardinals and padres still have the edge, with the Astros leading the way at 37. We have 30.

Surprised that the Cardinals are near the top of that list. Honestly, I'm surprised that Milwaukee's at the top of the central now. They have some studs in their lineup, but they've got some duds too. Some low averages.

The Cubs are turning it around!!! BTHOnyy

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6674588

Some good news... maybe we can get some value because he is def on the way down.

I read today that the yanks have no interest in Z. Not that that means anything.

In minor league news. Colvin had a cycle taken away after the game by the scorer.

Also another minor leaguer (can't remember his name) was injured in a hit and run accident

Two things I found out watching the Cubs game today:

1) the cards have a 7-game losing streak. Wow.

2) AJ looks a lot like...







Good game today even though they lost. Wish the Cubs pitchers would've done a better job of keeping the leadoff runners off of the bases. The walk totals go without saying, too.

Holy Cow.

Geo laughing at Ozzie's meltdown last night.

I'll give props to Z for last night. I fully expected another terrible outing with him getting rattled in the 1st. But, it was nice to see him keep some focus. That's what we need, for him to be a veteran.

And... Soto laughing was cracking me up.

I HATE THE WHITE SOX. BRING IT TODAY!

OS, I was going to post that myself.

pena's swing sure is fun to watch when he connects. Nothing in sports like that smooth lefty, Griffey-esque swing.

Still sucks hearing Stoney's voice on the Sox's broadcast.

Lost 2 out of 3 against the ****ing Royals.

Both Pena and Ramirez went deep twice in today's win.

It's just enough to get you excited, right?

Excited about the prosepts the Cubs will get from trading both of them.

I would love for the Cubs to be able to unload Big Z, Pena, Byrd, Dome and Soto (Fonz and Aram are a pipe dream IMO). I'm on the fence with Dempster, but I wouldn't be devastated if he got traded.

[This message has been edited by cubsin11 (edited 6/28/2011 9:44a).]

Soto???????

I think Soto is incredibly overrated and with Wellington Castillo at AAA and the other plethora of catchers in the system, we can do better in my opinion. Soto is pretty average with the bat and arm. I think he handles the pitching staff well, but that comes with the experience with the guys he's been with. After his rookie year, Soto has done nothing but decline.

i wish i could argue you on that cubsin11, but I can't.

Some stats pulled from NSBB on Soto.

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.262/.355/.459

That is an OPS over 800, and takes in the best of times and worst of times of his career. His bad years represent tolerable seasons for a catcher. His good years have been terrific. His career has been very good.

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Just for reference (different era caveat applied), here is the all-time best catcher (Johnny Bench):

.267/.342/.476

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Also, during the prime of his career, Bench's OPS went like this:

.932
.722
.920
.774
.870
.878
.741
.889

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Soto has had seasons of 3.7 WAR, 1.2, 3.0, and this year is on pace for 2.5 or so.

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Geo's fall off hasn't been terrible from 2008-2010. Had an injury in 2009. If he could do what he did last year consistently for 5 years or so, I'd take that. But he is already 28 and you can see his numbers are in free-fall this year. Again, just a pretty average catcher in my opinion. Catchers have a short life as do running backs, so I have no problem getting rid of him in favor of a younger kid who might have the ability to hit for more power and throw more guys out on the bases.

2008 .285 / .364 / .504 / .868
2009 .218 / .321 / .381 / .702
2010 .280 / .393 / .497 / .890
2011 .227 / .322 / .416 / .738

I'm not a big fan of comparing players in different eras either. I never watched Bench, so I honestly have no idea how to form an opinion on him. But he did almost have 400 homers in his career (2 seasons of 40+ HR). Geo won't come close to half of Bench's career HR total.

Just to clarify...Geo isn't a BAD player, just an average player. Seems like the Cubs have a reputation for carrying average players for the last 100 or so years

[This message has been edited by cubsin11 (edited 6/28/2011 12:07p).]

1. This year is half over. Let's revisit the numbers at the end of the season to see if the "free fall" continues.
2. How many great catchers are in the league right now?
3. I'm a little more confident in the known than the unknown. How many players have we seen tear the cover off the ball in the minors only to tank with the big club? And it frustrates me to no end that the Cubs brought up Wellington Castillo when Geo was on the DL and the kid sat behind ****ty Koyie Hill the whole time. I think Castillo got maybe 2 starts in the 2 weeks or so he was up. That's inexcusable, IMO. Sure it would have been a very small sample size, but you could have at least had a glimpse of what he may be.

[This message has been edited by Dr. Cub, Esq. (edited 6/28/2011 1:24p).]

Agree on Castillo - that is one among many moves that has left me scratching my head. We sign a veteran catcher in Max Ramirez and give him playing time over other youngsters, but don't use him when we need a veteran backup. Instead we bring up a kid who sits the pine.

I understand the season is only half over, but I'm just thinking that we could still get something from him of value in a trade when we clearly have catching depth in our farm system. It isn't like Geo is a game changer, so I don't think we drop off much, if at all. That's just how I see it.

[This message has been edited by cubsin11 (edited 6/28/2011 1:55p).]

And on que, just after I sent that last message, Koyie Hill goes yard....I think it is a sign