Not Another one...

Headline: "Cubs trade for minor-league pitcher" Thank God. We don't have NEARLY enough of those.

Seriously. How many minor league pitchers do we need? It seems like, if a starting 8 player goes down, there's panic - who's going to play 1st if Lee goes down? Well, we could move Baker to third, put Aramis at short, have Soriano stand on his head.... but if a pitcher goes down, it's more like - no big deal, we'll just decide between these 16 kids all ready to come up. I know the old saying is, 'You can never have too much pitching' but c'mon guys. We paid 10 million dollars for a minor league pitcher with less innings pitched than Mark Grace.

Enough is enough. Now I know why everyone is so excited about Starlin Castro - he doesn't stand on a mound...

Tough Question

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081119&content_id=3685573&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp&partnerId=rss_mlb

The San Diego Padres say the Cubs are still interested in trading for right-hander Jake Peavy. The Cubs, however, insist they would need to be very creative with their finances and get another team involved to swing a deal.

So here's the question. What to do? A month ago, I would've said go after Peavy all hard and old school. However now, after a bit of reflection, here's your rotation-

Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Marquis.

I can actually live with that. Right now, the need is a bat. The Cubs will tell you they need a left handed bat. I would argue that they need a bat that can hit righties as well as lefties. But let's say for the sake of argument, we need a left handed bat.

Looking back if anything failed the team during the season/offseason, it was offense. Due partially to the fact the Kosuke dropped his kibble in the last half of the season, and D-Lee forgot how to hit home runs. So given that, it would seem the offense has to be the bigger priority. So, Jake, unless Towers folds, looks like you're off to somwhere else, or stuck on that crap-ace team. At least the beach is nice eh?

Win today...

No, not today, today.

The one mistake Lou made last October, was a lack of "Win today" mentality. In Game 1, Z was unhittable, and yet Lou pulled him in favor of Marmol, so that Z could come back on short rest in Game 4. Only problem was - there was no Game 4. And Marmol who was as lights out last year as he was this year, got lit up for a Chris Young HR which ended up being the game winner.

In October, there is no tomorrow. No Game other than the one you're playing now. It's like a soldier holding down a fort, but saving ammo for when reinforcements arrive tomorrow. If 200 guys are charging you, USE THE DAMN AMMO!!!

At the point in the game last year, the D-Backs were so happy there was someone on the mound other than Z, it could've been Cy Young himself and they'd have felt on top of the world.

Lesson to be learned - if your starter is mowing them down like a tommy gun at a peace rally, leave him in. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Don't hold back. Kick them while they're down, burn them and then piss on the ashes.

Or there will be no more minutes...

Cubs win, Brewers lose...

Good day. The bats woke up, especially "Little Babe Ruth" Mike Fontenot (Ok Ron, seriously - he has _8_ home runs...). Marquis pitched like crap, but hey - it's July. And I've said it before, and I'll say it again - With a rotation of Zambrano, Harden, Dempster, Lilly - who gives a crap who the fifth starter is?

The BIG series begins tomorrow. Biggest of the year? Maybe. Biggest of the year thus far? Definitely. Cubs ned to win two to leave town in first place. Gonna be rough. Lilly v. Sabathia - ew. Z v Sheets. Interesting.

The key for the next two games, and really all four, but especially against Sabathia and Sheets - Deep counts and a lot of them. Foul balls galore. Get those guys OUT of there, and then systematically dismantle their bullpen.

Here's hoping - and a minute for you...

New Rule change thought...

Here's the thing...

A pitcher starts a game and gets b$%^-slapped for 5 runs in the first. Gets pulled. Your team comes back and scores 4 runs in the first, but then the other team scores another 20 the rest of the game. During that same game, your team scores 2 more runs, and at no time is the score tied.

Why does that starting pitcher get the loss? Your team scored enough to erase the initial deficit. Shouldn't the pitcher who gave up the 7th run get the loss? That run was the game winner.

Similarly, if a Starting pitcher pitches 8 2/3 solid innings of one run ball, then gets pulled. Some dude comes in and gets out #27. Your team rallies back for 2 in the bottom of the ninth. The reliever gets the win. What kind of crap is that? What did that reliever do? One pitch and he gets a win? That's crap.

Just a thought and a minute.