Jason:

Nice article, 1/4 is quickly turning into 1/3.

Anyway, I am probably in the minority but I am not in love with Murton like most of our fellow posters.

I admit, I would rather see him out in RF than Jones/Floyd To me, Murton is the 2007 version of Mike Vail. (Lates 70'early 80's) Yes, Murton's strength is his hitting, but it is so inconsistent. I know his playing time has been sporadic but this guy is a sub average fielder, a not so bright baserunner and just an overated ball player. I know it won't happen anytime soon but I would like our OF

to be Soriano in LF, Pie in CF, and a trade for a RF.

The best thing for this Floyd/Murton/Jones fiasco is to just shove Floyd in there. He has the most pop and ability to drive in runs there. He can provide a good 5-hole hitter, because obviously Michael Barrett didn't feel like showing up this year.

Soriano, The Riot, Lee, ARam, Floyd, Barrett, Jones, Derosa should be the way we go.

I don't know if I like Marshall over Guzman in the 5th starter spot. That gives us three lefties in the rotation who are VERY similar to each other..

I like your idea, Jason, of the outfield. Soriano, Pie, and Murton on a regular basis would be great. Although I like Jones just fine (yes, like Jeff, I said that), I don't understand what having him play would do for a future trade. The guy's a veteran, more or less, he's going to hit pretty well for average (not consistently) with some mediocre power. What scout or gm out there isn't going to know what to expect when they get Jones? It seems to me the club would be better off if both he and Floyd were playing backup to that outfield until a good trading opportunity came along for Hendry. I don't think we want to drop Jones for nothing as soon as possible. Playing back up in the outfield and pinch hitting he's not going to hurt anybody, besides taking up a roster spot.

I may be outside of the mainstream of Cubs' fandom here, but I do not at all like the talk of A-Rod coming to Wrigley. It might be because I'm beholden to the idea of developing in-house young talent (in Theriot, if A-Rod would move back to short) or because I'd like to see Ramirez stay right where he is (if A-Rod would stay at third). Ramirez has proven that he can handle high-stakes baseball in a major market and play well consistently. A-Rod has proven that he cannot do either.

And I am with you Dave on the frustration over Zambrano, but why must we get rid of him so quickly? He started off in a similar way last season and finished in (somewhat dubious) contention for a Cy Young. Zambrano is a freakishly competitive and powerfully dominating pitcher, and I just don't see that a five-hundred record at the end of May warrants a trade. For certain he is not a #1 guy right now, but similar to leadoff hitters only leading off once per game, a #1 starter is only a #1 starter on opening day. And I would hate to see the kind of fire that Zambrano exhibits, even when he's losing, lost.

On a different note, of course, we'll see how Marquis is doing later in the season (who knows?), but let's all take a moment to relish the happiness I'm sure we all feel that he has a chance to go 6-1 tonight with an ERA in the two's. Did anybody expect this when the Cubs signed him?

Let's avoid this sweep and get one of our own in LA. Go Cubbies!

Dave, I doubt the Mets would ever give up Maine, he is the only young gun they have. And I think JH could do farther than Mars with JJ. [pluto]

Free Big Z - my proposal is to ship Big Z to the Mets at the end of June. Assuming he continues his maddening inconsistency, Lou will want to rid himself of the babysitting duties and spend that cash on a free agent next winter... can you say A-Rod/North Side in the same sentence? So, to get that done, Mets get him signed to a contract extension, the Cubs get John Maine and Aaron Heilman. Mets won't give up Maine unless Big Z is signed long term... Hendry gets to fufill his man crush on Aaron Heilman (doesn't it seem like he's always trying to trade for him?) Cubbies can slide Maine into the rotation thus having Lilly, Marquis, Maine, Hill, & Marshall (who will stick I think) then move Heilman to the bullpen. By then we'd see Heilman, Wuertz, Ohman, Eyre, Howry, Wood, Guzman. Ship Dempster to the Yankees as a starter after he's made 2-3 starts for us... Send Jacques Jones to Mars for all I care. Point being, I'd rather have Maine than an inconsistent Zambrano and a chance at A-Rod with Carlos' cash. It makes the Cubbies a better team this season, and in the seasons to come...

Dave "I hate Tony LaRussa" in STL

I will also post a picture.

Jason, I completely understand and agree with what you said. Cut your losses short and move on.

Nick, if they win the next 8 I'll shave my head and will post a picture or email it to the CCO.

Brian good points there.

Hey Brian,

Here is what drives me nuts about Hendry and the JJ situation. If your club is better without a certain player, regardless of how much he makes, then it is irrational to put that player in your lineup to "showcase" him.

What is the theory there: playing JJ will cost us some games, retard the development of Murton, lead to constantly changing lineups, but at least we will get a solid AA pitcher for him?

The smart thing to do is trade him for anything...anything at all, or just release him. The Cubs gamble with money all the time (see: Wood, Kerry or Prior, Mark or Rusch, Glendon). Sometimes you have to know when to fold them, and walk away.

Am I in bizarro world, or does anyone else get my point here?

No doubt nick, this was a golden opportunity to be moving up in the division.

What really hurts about these losses is the Brewers have lost seven out of the last ten games, man we should be capitalizing on this stuff.

Jason,

I see where you are going with Lou and I tend to agree on a few points. As I said the other day, I really like him and think he was prepared for the regular season.

I do not think he expected The Riot's breakout, though some predicted it, he did not expect izturis to be a black hole at SS and I really think he thought Soriano could play CF.

We all want Jacque traded, but he cannot control that. And in order to trade someone they have to be on display, so he has to play every now and again. I was never huge on the Floyd signing and it will only be reasonable if JJ is shipped off.

However, I agree that DeRosa and Theriot need to play every day at the same position and the same order of the lineup. And yes, Murton needs to play AT LEAST 4 times a week if not 5.

Until then, chemistry will not be formed and we will not be in the position to have our bullpen blow the lead nearly as much as I would like.

Oh these Cubbies of mine. We should be so much better than this. We should have a great bullpen if our proven arms were pitching anything close to their career numbers. We should be scoring a minimum of 5 runs a game, if we could buy a hit with RISP. We should be doing a lot of things, but we're not. Its the same ol' story from last year. Baserunning blunders (I'm looking at you Murt), error's, inconsistant line ups, lack of clutch hitting, and constantly wasting good starting pitching. Its driving me up the wall.

One more thing; Who kidnapped Carlos Zambrano and where are they keeping him?

NOW LETS GO OUT THERE AND WIN SOME GAMES!!!

Jason B. -- Nice article!!

Here is my 25 cents.. JJ GONER!! When we signed him I was truly happy we got him, not anymore. He's a nice hitter, yes I said it a nice hitter just not what we need.

Can we trade Big Z to the Padre's for their bullpen?? j/k But seriously wouldn't be nice knowing if your actually losing 1-0 going into the 7 inning that your probaly going to win the ballgame.

Like you said Jason, our 5th starter is not Lou's fault, and he's doing the best he can for now. I wouldn't be surprised grabbing a proven mlb pitcher through trades.

My biggest complaint so far other than bullpen is lack of clutch hits. Our starters are giving us the innings and a chance every game. I blame last nights game on IZZY and IZZY alone. A pitcher walked 2 guys that inning, you have bases loaded 3-1 count and swing at a low cutter. Way to go Izzy!!Hopefully you'll be riding the pine for a few days/weeks. I gurantee Theriot would have taken that pitch and battled his butt off to score a run.

Only savior that we have is that we our in an extremely weak division and the cardinals are having a bad year so far. We're playing bad baseball but only 6 1/2 games back, thats it!

I still have faith in this team even if we decide to keep JJ. I've said it before, I believe Lou will figure it out, and the team will actually play baseball the right way.

Take care, sorry for my long rant. My wife won't let me complain at the house.

If the Cubs win twelve games in a row I will shave my head, heck make it ten games.