May 23, 2012, 07:54 AM
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#101 |
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Location: Frederick, MD
Posts: 123
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I agree about throwing other pitches... I used to coach youth baseball and I would not let my kids throw curve balls until they hit HS, and even then I cautioned against it. It comes down to coaching and showing kids proper mechanics.
I never threw a curve ball or a slide, but with my fast ball and change-up I was a pretty good pitcher growing up, and to be honest if it was not for a little old lady running me over and causing shoulder issues, I would have had a decent career into college. |
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May 31, 2012, 01:42 PM
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#102 | ||
  Location: Montgomery, IL
Posts: 6,248
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Cubs Will Consider Offers For Castro, Others
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May 31, 2012, 02:09 PM
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#103 | |
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Then there's this...
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Jun 1, 2012, 06:31 PM
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#104 | |
 Location: "The Good Land", WI
Posts: 999
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Matt Garza trade rumors heating up......
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I say get something good for him and Dempster. Dump Soriano for a bag of maple bats. Get something good in the draft. Hopefully wean some fair-weather fans along the way. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:07 PM
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#105 | |
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Banned
Posts: 1,912
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:14 PM
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#106 | |
 Location: East Central IL
Posts: 4,088
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__________________  "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle." |
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:28 PM
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#107 | |
 Location: Northern frontier of Illini Country
Posts: 4,331
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My bother suggested that would not be the best place to hold a meeting. the other guy insisted it would be fine. They meet outside the park. My brother had come from the office so he had his suit and tie on and [s]carrying[/s] lugging one of those old dinosaur laptops. The other guy was business casual. He took off his tie and jacket. Once again my brother insisted this was not a good idea. The client told him it would be fine. In they go. Brother boots up the computer and is trying to show him the numbers and make his presentation, people around them are screaming at him to put it away. The client is eating a dog, drinking a beer and talking with everyone in their section. He is not paying any attention to the presentation at all. After suggesting a couple of more times that this isn't going to work and the guy telling him it is fine and yet ignoring my brother, he finally closes the case, sets it down and watches the game. The client must have been doing some kind of Zen test. :laugh: |
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:43 PM
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#108 | |
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Posts: 6,985
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People go to Wrigley BECAUSE it's Wrigley. Sorry if your teams don't have a ballpark that people want to see. (Cue the, "Wrigley is a piece of sh*t ballpark!! " comments). Fact of the matter is that Wrigley is a GREAT place to watch a game. That being said, I'm not going to a game this year because of how bad the product is. Now that may change once the Cubs call up Rizzo, Jackson, and possibly Vitters because I would like to see them play. Oh and the girls at Wrigley are often times off the chain. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:45 PM
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#109 | |
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Banned
Posts: 1,912
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Wrigley is a great time, and the best place to watch a ballgame I've been to. It's maddeningly inconvenient in a lot of ways, but for the pure enjoyment of watching the game, there are few, if any, better. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 01:50 PM
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#110 |
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Banned
Posts: 1,912
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So, honestly, what is the record for most consecutive pitchers taken in an MLB draft. The Cubs have taken 7 in a row since taking Almora with their first pick.
The system is bereft of good arms, so I see why, but geez Theo... |
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Jun 5, 2012, 03:02 PM
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#111 |
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Posts: 5,905
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Don't see anything wrong with that. The farm was seriously depleted of good arms. We're bound to score a stud with a couple of these at least.
I really like the Underwood pick. He's only 17 and Callis said he can throw 98. High upside arm for sure. Last edited by IlliniSteve; Jun 5, 2012 at 03:06 PM. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 03:14 PM
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#112 |
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Location: Montgomery, IL
Posts: 6,248
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Cubs just took a catcher (Chadd Krist out of UC Berkley). Streak is over.
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Jun 5, 2012, 03:37 PM
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#113 | |
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Posts: 6,985
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Jun 5, 2012, 03:42 PM
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#114 |
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Location: Iowa City, Ia.
Posts: 952
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Watching the Giants game last night, I realized I've never been this perplexed by the Cubs before ... and that's saying a lot.
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Jun 5, 2012, 03:59 PM
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#115 |
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Posts: 5,905
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Watching the Cubs will be a little more tolerable once Rizzo comes up.
Right now though, it's hard to stomach. Just waiting around for the trade deadline, I think we'll sell off whatever we can. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 04:56 PM
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#116 |
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Location: East Central IL
Posts: 4,088
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The Cubs as of right now, have drafted 4 position players, 8 right-handed pitchers, and 2 left-handed pitchers. Yay, balance! [/sarcasm]
C: Krist OF: Almora, Crawford IF: Bruno RHP: Johnson, Blackburn, Underwood, McNeil, Conway, Lang, Martin, Amlung LHP: Prieto, Heesch __________________ "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle." |
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Jun 5, 2012, 05:26 PM
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#117 | |
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Posts: 6,985
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Also, I've seen multiple "draft gurus" say that with how safe of a pick Almora is you can afford to pretty much draw the rest of your draft names out of a hat and still have a good draft because of him...ok, I exaggerated a bit but the point still holds. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 05:58 PM
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#118 | |
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Banned
Posts: 1,912
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What's interesting, is that it looks like the Cubs drafted money-saving "senior signs" in rounds 9 and 10. I wonder how that will play with the remaining guys. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 08:03 PM
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#119 | |
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Location: East Central IL
Posts: 4,088
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__________________ "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle." |
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Jun 5, 2012, 08:50 PM
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#120 | |
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What has Archer done so far? Is he in the majors? I'm asking seriously because I'm not sure. Either way, Garza is a top of the rotation relatively young pitcher. I'd rather have a guy like that over a guy who's a "could be". Plus, if we trade him this year we'll likely get a guy back with more upside than Archer. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 09:10 PM
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#121 |
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Location: "The Good Land", WI
Posts: 999
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I just got back from the Brewers game tonight. Dempster finally got his first W in about 10 months. He was perfect through 5.1 and threw a shutout.
I love Dempster as much as the next fan but with his age, I think it's a now-or-never type situation in trading him to a contender, so long as he approves of it (due to the 10 and 5 rule). Also, Soriano hit a three run jack in the first and has been playing better than dump lately. I hope against hope that an AL team will pick him up to add some depth before the deadline. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 09:15 PM
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#122 | |
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Location: "The Good Land", WI
Posts: 999
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1. Dempster: He has been pitching absolutely lights out this year. With the fact that he is getting up there in age, and that he seems willing to move to the right fit, this seems like a no brainer. 2. Soriano: His batting average is higher than his weight, and he's been hitting for a bit of power lately. trade him. TRADE HIM NOW. 3. Marmol: He would have made much better trade bait a year ago. With his struggles he may not be worth it at this point, but perhaps someone will take him on potential? 4. Garza??: We gave up the farm for him. Is it worth selling him back to an AL team? I guess it depends on what he would potentially bring in. 5. Who else????? Soto? LaHair? DeJesus? I don't really see anyone wanting Soto. Lahair and DeJesus are low cost guys probably worth the Cubs keeping around in the short run. What do you all think? |
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Jun 5, 2012, 10:35 PM
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#123 |
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Banned
Posts: 1,912
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Dempster will go to the highest bidder and I hold out genuine hope that we could get something of real value for him. A two-month rental of Carlos Beltran netted the Mets Zack Wheeler who figures to be a quality starter for them for many years to come. That would be an absolute coup if Theo could pull something like that off.
Soriano is going nowhere if we don't eat virtually all the money, and he might reject a trade even if we could find one. I would bet against that move happening, because I just don't see Ricketts or Theo being willing to write off some 40+ million over the next three years. We'd have to eat a lot of money to be rid of Marmol, and at this point he won't net us any real return. We had our chances to deal him at the peak of his value, and I was begging Jim Hendry to pull the trigger at the time. DeJesus might appeal to the right team and at 32, there's no reason to keep him around. That's proven to be a very prudent signing. I'm guessing LaHair is worth more as a Cub than he is on the open market. I would doubt you would get a top prospect for a 29-year-old one year wonder, but we potentially have him under team control for his entire prime. Soto picked a terrible time to fall off a cliff. I think he'll be gone by the deadline, but we'll get nothing of consequence for him. We might also deal a Shawn Camp or a Jeff Russell if anyone needs a bullpen arm, and you might get more than you think in one of those deals. The real question is, if a massive package comes along for Samardzija, Garza, or Castro what do we do? For me, those guys are all guys you can build around, who you have under control for awhile, and who you have the resources to eventually pay as free agents. Isn't that what you would be looking to get back in a trade anyway? Unless it's some ridiculous Herschel Walker deal, I wouldn't just let them go for prospects. |
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Jun 5, 2012, 10:50 PM
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#124 | |
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Location: East Central IL
Posts: 4,088
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I just looked up Archer's stats, and you're right - he hasn't done anything. Has a 5.09 ERA at AAA Durham right now. He was our best pitching prospect when we traded him, Fuld, Lee, and spare parts for Garza...but Garza has been a pretty good #2 for us. My concern the past three or four years has been pitching depth throughout the organization. Pitchers that we wasted high picks on have fizzled (Hayden Simpson, anyone?). Maine and Casey Coleman are serviceable, but not anything above average. Dolis has plus stuff but horrible command - seems like Marmol but with a sinker instead of a slider. Carpenter had the potential to be dominant, but was wild (and I'd rather have Epstein, anyway). This draft so far seems to be going a long way toward fixing that, but the fact that it will probably be three years or so before the first pitchers from this class get to the 40-man roster makes it, well, frustrating. __________________ "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle." |
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Jun 5, 2012, 11:08 PM
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#125 | |
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Location: East Central IL
Posts: 4,088
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I could part with Castro. The one thing the minor league system is deep at is shortstop, and I think if we wait for the right time, we'd be okay there. However, it would have to be a mind-blowing package to part with Castro. I'm thinking at least six prospects, of whom three of which have to be top ten prospects in their organization. It's obvious Rizzo is ready - not sure why they don't bring him up. I thought Vitters and Jackson would be ready by now, too - they're close, but got off to slow starts at Iowa. I don't think either one of them sees the big club until September at the earliest unless we clear out Soriano, Mather, AND DeJesus. Both Vitters and Jackson are only hitting .261 - but ten days ago they were at about .240. Both are on pace for around 20 HR. Jackson's also got 8 triples. Whatever was bugging them the first six weeks seems to have been worked out of their system. If they go through spring training hot, hand them a starting spot to open next year. I see no reason to keep Ian Stewart around any longer than necessary. Based on their minor league numbers since entering the system, I'd expect Vitters to hit around .260-.270 at the MLB level, and Jackson around .280-.290. I hope those projections are low. __________________ "If life were logical, men would ride side-saddle." |
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