Dave, I totally agree with you in everything. Good note to Lou and personally I had not noticed about the Brewers. I'm going to check on that cause it sure looks to be true.

Ronny Cedeno can hit, no doubt about that... however, he presents Lou w/ the Barrett dilemma. His defense (more specifically) throwing/decision making is abysmal. While his glove is fine, maybe even slightly above average, his lack of fundamental baseball knowledge will (& last season did) cost the big team runs every game. I got so tired of watching him cut off a throw that had a chance at the plate or throw to second on a relay & allow the runner 3rd! He can hit, no doubt, but giving away runs defensively can never be made up unless you are Albert Pujols, A-Rod, Vladdy, etc, etc... not that those guys are bad defensively, but only bats in that class can be tolerated coupled w/ poor defense. Ship him...

Dave in STL

PS- when is the NL going to learn that the Brewers absolutely crush left-handed pitching? I think altering your rotaion as much as you can to avoid starting a lefty against them is advisable... Lou, you got your ears on?

I'm not going to discount the value of a good farm system. It takes a good farm system to produce a quality MLB team. Or, more accurately it takes a good farm system to sustain a good MLB team. I think we haven't done too bad lately as we have Pie, Theriot, Pagan, and Fontenot all getting quality time in the Majors. Fontenot may be a stretch as he came in the Sosa trade, but you don't get all your good AA and AAA guys just from the draft.

Also, I think what some need to realize is that teams like the Brewers, A's, Twins, etc. try to develop most of their MLB roster because they have to. They can't afford to sign a bunch of exspensive free agents, otherwise they probably would. Dosen't everybody think that if the BRewers could afford a guy like Soriano that they would make a bid for the guy? Actually, I heard on ESPN 1000 that when Soriano came over from Japan he worked out for the Brewers. They immediatelly loved his talent, but they addmitted that they couldn't go after him because they recognized after his initial contract they would never be able to afford him. Again, I'm not discounting their good farm system, but winning a division and winning through the playoffs and the World Series are two different things. Yes, the A's and Twins have all made the playoffs in the last few years building through their farm system, but then fell short in the playoffs. IMO part of this is that there is a lack of serious experience once they get to the playoffs. They might win the odd playoff series but eventually they are going to run into a team with some veterans that had that experience in the playoffs. Look at the teams in last years WS. Detroit and the Cards both had that mix of veterans and younger guys.

I just don't think you can get all young guys (Brewers, A's, Twins) or get all older free agents (Yankees) and consistently win in the playoffs. You need that mix of young talent and quality experienced free agents like the Cubs have. You combine guys win enthusiasm and talent like Theriot, Fontenot and Pie, with guys that are seasoned and very professional hitter liek Lee, Ramierez, Soriano, and Floyd, and you have the makings of a good team, which, finally the Cubs are starting to show. Also, don't forget that our farm system got us guys like Lee, and Ramierez.

Aaron,

I am more likely to agree with you about Eyre, but Howry has been decent lately, and Dotel hasn't been that great since he was a setup man with the Astros a few years back...not sure it makes sense to move Howry.

I am sensing a parallel between Dempster/Marmol and Dustin Hermanson/Bobby Jenks from the 2005 White Sox championship. Like Hermanson, Dempster has been getting the job done, but has been injured lately, and the young guy (Marmol) is possibly taking his job in his absence.

Hermanson had 34 out of 39 saves with a 2.04 ERA, but the White Sox still happily went with the younger, but more dominant, Jenks in the playoffs.

I already picked up Marmol in my fantasy league, because I am hoping, whether Dempster comes back and pitches well or not, that Lou keeps Marmol in the late innings and lets him try out the closer role. This would be a very anti-Dusty move: making the smart choice, and the best choice for the team, and not just placating "your guys".

Neil,

I agree about Jones and Izzy...but blame it on Hendry for not being able to do the best thing for the team right now (DFA'ing them) and instead over-analyzing his "options" on what he can get in return for them. There is no shame in saying that a player didn't work out. The shame lies in handcuffing your new manager, by keeping a couple of dead weights on the roster, instead of adding some more productive players (like, perhaps, Cedeno) instead.

Trevor,

The Cubs have tried the farm system thing, but blame the scouting department (or the injury fairy) for keeping the effort largely unproductive. Don't forget, Mark Prior's first year was 2002, and his first full year was 2003...so injuries have kept him from forming the best 1-2 duo of young pitchers (Prior and Zambrano) in the majors. Here are some other names that were brought up, but didn't produce: Farnsworth, DuBois, Patterson, Bobby Hill, Choi, Wellemeyer, Guzman, Cedeno, etc...

Aaron, what makes your post even more interesting is the article I read on the Brewers website about making a trade to "replenish" their farm system AND how their farm system is teeming with pitching talent at multiple levels.

The point is that this isn't a one year fluke for the Brewers, they are putting together a system to make themselves legitimate for quite some time. The Cubs need to make the moves to help this team for this year, but also really be thinking about continually finding ways to get quality guys into the minors and develop them.

couple of observations....but before I do---props to you Neil on that---I definitely think we're 3 short of 25 right now...Ryan R, you too were right on with Marmol---he was amazing, and Trevor, I think Cedeno has been really good as well, especially looking at his K/BB ratio---he's got 22 BB to 21 K's---it looks as if he has finally figured it out, as the last time he was in the minors, he still hit well, but his K's were high, and his OBP wasn't anything special.

Anyway, here's my observations...

1)We've been doing really well lately, and I'm impressed by our resilience, however, the bullpen, outside of Petrick, Cherry, Marmol, and Wuertz, really has struggled---mostly Howry, Ohman, and Eyre, who haven't missed bats at all. If Cherry can come back, I think that makes Howry expendable, because then you'd have Dempster coming back, who is more proven, and it'd also free up a roster spot to ship Eyre out for the proverbial PTBNL, or Ohman as well. If you get rid of both, you'd bring up Pignatiello or Rapada, and then you'd have a bullpen like this:

Cherry

Petrick

Wuertz

Rapada

Pignatiello

Marmol

Dempster

If we could get Dotel from the Royals, I say we try for that as well, and then we'd be able to give Cherry or Petrick more time in the minors.

2)Jones and Izzy are absolutely killing the team right now. It's obvious Hendry AND Piniella have no confidence in either of their abilities right now, and they're taking up two very valuable roster spots. Getting rid of Jones would free up a bullpen spot, and if we can trade him for a minor league pitcher or someone with a high ceiling, then we'd be in really good shape. And I agree with Neil that you give Cedeno one last shot to prove himself, and move Theriot back to a super utility role, and if Cedeno doesn't pan out, you package him. But I'm tired of Hendry trying to improve Izzy and Jones' trade values, because they're certainly not keeping them on the team because they're performing like major leaguers should. IMO, the four most deserving call-ups from AAA are (in order): Cedeno, Hoffpauir, Soto, and Coats

3)it's obvious we are going to miss Barrett's offense at catcher, and Hill and Bowen are both back-ups at best. I wonder if any offensive catchers that also play defense, like Ramon Hernandez of Baltimore---might be had?

4)Our farm system is pretty void of talent outside of AAA....In fact, starting pitching wise, only Gallagher (before his promotion to AAA), Mark Holliman-AA, and Mitch Atkins-high A, and if you want to include Rafael Dolis-low A, then we have 4 freaking starting pitchers in all the farm system with below a 4.00 ERA!!!!!! Also, our hitting is equally as abysmal, where Tyler Colvin-high A (before his promotion), Josh Kroeger-AA (before promotion), Matt Craig, and Sam Fuld-AA, and basically the entire AAA starting lineup, we have hardly anyone hitting above .300 in the system. Now, I understand you might say, "well, AAA's whole lineup is"....but when you have none in low-A or high A currently, and 2 in AA currently, you're lacking in talent...That's where trading Izzy, Jones, and Eyre, Howry, and Ohman for some decent prospects would really come in handy. Oh, and just FYI---the supposed "centerpiece" of the Barrett trade--Kyler Burke---doesn't have a hit in 15 at bats in Boise. I know it's a small sample, but that doesn't look good

5) and my final observation is this post was way too long, and I hope someone at least found it insightful---sorry if it was too long

Jim (tp), No doubt about Marmol. Dempster has always done a serviceable job, but Marmol has the stuff that makes the other team say "we better have the lead going into the 9th or we're going to have see CARLOS MARMOL!"

I would like to see Ronny come back to the Cubs and do well, that would alleviate some future needs at SS if he can. But I also don't want to see him fail again and his value be absolutely nothing and have Hendry just "dump" him. Tough call I suppose. Glad I can just sit back and second guess it if doesn't work out.... ;)

Jeff AZ:

Good call on the three players who we would like out of town. I'm guessing that Jones will be packaged with Dempster once he comes of he DL. Its getting obvious that Marmol is going to close.

Neil-

I'm guessing those three are Jones, Izturis, and Eyre. I couldn't agree more. Ronny could be a September shot in the arm. One other thing to be cautious about, Pie was hitting just short of .400 at Iowa, and look at what that has equated to in the big leagues.

Trevor, this might not be a popular stance but I would like to see Cedeno get another shot with the Cubs before seeing him traded away. But as long as Izturis is around that will not happen.

I would like to see Jones and Izturis traded, like most, and see a 12th pitcher called up and Cedeno added to the roster to see what he can do....and if he cannot hit and field the ball again, then package him.

A team is only as good as the 25th man on the roster and in my humble opinion Piniella is about 3 players short of 25.

Anyone have any opinions on what to do with Ronny Cedeno? The guy is absolutely destroying AAA right now. He's homered in 4 straight games according the Cubs website and is batting .386. Should we hang onto him or package him while he's red hot????

Wow, what a phenominally played baseball game. Tuned in just after Marquis got whacked by the bat. I can't believe he fielded the ball. Better to be lucky than good sometimes.

Marquis didn't pitch a perfect game, but he sure pitched a damn fine one. When he got into trouble he stepped it up and got a DP or whatever.

Marmol. What can you say to about the guy. Insanely nasty stuff. Strikes out Fielder on two high heaters and a nasty sinking changeup. Radar gun showed 95, 95, and 83. I taped the game and replayed it. The guys arm angle didn't change any I can see, and he still took 13 MPH and broke the changeup in on the hand of Fielder. That batter right there defines the word nasty. Fielder looked completely confused after strike 3. If he keeps that up, he's going to strike out a lot of guys in the late innings for us.

On a side note. My 3 year old now knows how to say the word "nasty", after hearing me scream it after the Fielder strike out. My wife just rolled her eyes.............

Nice crsiply played game, great job by Marquis.

Soriano and Lee made the All Star squad and Big Z can be voted in via internet.