Neil:

What did you think of Lahey?

News on the MLB Transactions Wire. Good for Glendon Rusch(33)--who made the Padres team in ST. A nice line: .073 era, 12 ip, 6 h, 4 bb and 11 so.

It seems OK to let Lahey go. He showed less than Hart, Wuertz, Marmol and Wood, and Howry is known to be a slow starter.

Jim...I really liked Lahey. Good velocity, nice sinker and movement. I wish they would have been able to keep him. I agree with Jim K, he was lost in the numbers game. But it sure would have been nice to have him in Iowa. The old cliche, you can never have enough pitching....especially guys that can keep the ball down at Wrigley.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHUUUUUUUUUU!!!
Just wanted to let you all know; especially Shaun and Brian.....THAT I'M EXCITED!!!!!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHUUUUUUUUUU!!!
and that talkin' live camp is almost done.

With the exception of Ted Lilly....it is Lou's Opening Day lineup:

Theriot - SS
Soriano - LF
Lee - 1B
Ramirez - 3B
Fukudome - RF
DeRosa - 2B
Soto - C
Pie - CF
Lilly - P

This is it, the dress rehersal sans Zambramo.

Keep your glove on Theodore.

Another rough 1st for Lilly. That's funny Matt.

Theroit is amped up....just dove right over that ball.

Sweet double play the M's turned.

Stupid Len. He stole my Moo line just as I was typing it...I SWEAR IT!

I'm glad that it is March 28 not March 31.

Jim...Right On!

Mooo!!! I had visions of Bull Durham running through my head.

It really upsets me to see Theriot swing at the first pitch like that and do exactly what Silva wanted... that's why I agree with many of the posters on here about Theriot. I love the hustle but he is a filler, not a difference maker... sorry.

Len and Bob are in midseason form tonight. So is Fonzie. Geesh.

SO-RI-ANO!! (Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap)

Nice 2-out double by Dome-Ay

Well, this was the site of Home Run Derby..

(shakes head in dismay) this game has proven how many holes we really have on this team. Hardly any power, batters that won't take pitches, and our starting pitching staff has ABSOLUTELY been lit up. Lilly was terrible, Marquis worked himself into trouble constantly.......hmmmmmm, what else? Lee is turning into Richie Sexson right before our eyes, with zero patience at the plate, and a sub .200 avg. Soto has returned to earth after last year, much like Murton and Cedeno did after their brief appearances to start their careers. Why did we keep Fontenot again?

Yes, I know I hit the panic button early, but this doesn't really look good, and it certainly is NOT a confidence booster to start the season. Did you guys see the bewilderment on the faces of our coaching staff? 6 friggin' home runs!?!?!?! So, let's see, we have one damn pitcher (Zambrano) in our rotation that can shut another team down. Hill, Lilly, Marquis, and Dempster have been very unimpressive this spring to say the least. It's funny that our coaching staff didn't realize this before. Marquis and Dempster were doing well until teams started using their starters later in spring training, and it was VERY evident tonight.

So, in summary, what troubles me most is this:
1) not much impressive hitting this spring outside of Hoffpauir, and he isn't even on the damn roster
2) lack of patience at the plate is still killing us
3) starting rotation is a JOKE!!!!

They have to find a spot for Hoffpauir.

just to add to what I was saying about the staff....and bench....I would've had Lieber in for Dempster, and Hart or Marshall for Marquis. That was a dumb move by Hendry, because Marquis' value was pretty high during ST, and who cares what we got for Dempster---peanuts and crackerjacks would be just fine. If you make those moves, you have one spot in the pen, and you keep Pignatiello, or better yet, you don't have to give up Lahey.

In addition, it has been said by numerous media outlets from foxsports, to the trib and sun-times to mlbtraderumors, that the Cubs brass is so inept it doesn't know what it has in Murton. One exerpt from mlbtraderumors stated that it is exactly why the Cubs haven't gotten anywhere----because they can't develop and/or even recognize talent when they have it. Furthermore, instead of giving Hoffpauir a chance, we'd rather sign a Reed Johnson. Instead of utilizing Murton, we sign Johnson as well. Granted he can't play CF, but Fukodome can, and Theriot has also played there along with Cedeno. I can't even believe we still have our one-month wonder (Fontenot) still on the roster. Had we not had a complete lack of power in ST, it's doubtful Fontenot would've even made the roster. There's absolutely NO reason Hoffpauir shouldn't be on this team.

I also think Patterson should've been subbed for Fontenot, but that's just me.