The Cubs begin a string of 13 straight on Tuesday night with the first of three against the Baltimore Orioles. The Cubs will make a roster move before the game to make room for Sean Marshall to replace Carlos Zambrano in the starting rotation. A report in the Tribune from Paul Sullivan on Monday night indicated the Cubs could place Reed Johnson on the DL instead of sending down Eric Patterson, Matt Murton or Micah Hoffpauir.
While Jeff Samardzija was promoted to the Iowa Cubs over the weekend and will make his first Triple-A start on Tuesday night....the struggles of Rich Hill have landed the southpaw back in Mesa for what a report on Cubs.com described as "for some extra tutoring." The same report also stated Felix Pie "was headed to Mesa to undergo an MRI on his left hand and will rehab there." Pie apparently "jammed" or "injured" his hand on "an awkward swing and has been playing in pain for a few games."
Here is the rest from Monday and more from the Rich Harden rumor mill....
Reports over the weekend suggested Rich Hill needed a break and he will work through his difficulties in Mesa with Rick Tronerud and Mark Riggins. Hill's struggles appear to be more mental than physical and the Cubs are wanting him to work through his struggles outside of game situations.
Kevin Hart underwent tests on Monday for the mild concussion he suffered last week and "could start one of the games" for the Iowa Cubs on either Friday or Saturday.
Rich Harden
Dave Kaplan discussed the Rich Harden rumor in detail on Monday night and stated the A's right-hander is at the top of the Cubs list once again. Jeff Fletcher of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat joined Kaplan and the two discussed Haren as well as the possibilities of him being traded to the Cubs.
The majority of the interview focused on the health of Rich Harden. Fletcher stated when healthy, Harden is one of the top pitchers in all of baseball and a tremendous strikeout pitcher. Fletcher reiterated that Harden has not made more than 11 starts in a season for 3 years and the A's will be looking for a very good package in order to let go of Harden.
Kaplan asked Fletcher to compare Harden to another pitcher and he could not right away. After Kaplan pushed a little, Fletcher compared him to Kerry Wood....both with his injury history and how good he is on the mound, when he is capable of pitching. Fletcher compared Harden's stuff to that of Kerry Wood's.
Kaplan asked Fletcher if he would trade for Harden if he were the Cubs. Would it be worth the risk? Fletcher said it would be a gamble, a "game of chicken" and would be worth the risk considering how good he is....when healthy.
Fletcher said Harden is a good guy and a little sick of the injury prone tag that he has been labeled with. Fletcher added Harden has questioned the A's medical staff and might welcome a change of scenery. Fletcher said if Harden is traded to a NL team it might open "another can of worms" because Harden would have to hit and run bases which could lead to more injuries.
With the A's being in contention, Billy Beane would want more for Harden right now but if Oakland falls out of the race in the next month the asking price for Harden would go down.
Kaplan asked Fletcher if he were the Cubs would he "trade all of his bullets" for Harden and Fletcher responded with he did not know if he would. Fletcher added he would not give up three or four players for Harden, but maybe two.
After the interview, Kaplan added "it will cost a ton" for the Cubs to add Rich Harden, but that a Cubs' rotation that includes both Carlos Zambrano and Harden could be "real nasty."
Paul Sullivan speculated that if the Cubs "make a move" for Rich Harden, Micah Hoffpauir "might be included in the package."
I liked the comment on MLBTraderRumors that the Braves are not seeking any trades for starting pitching since they "like their internal options". These "internal options" are really unknowns, but the organization likes their makeup and potential, and is committed to getting them experience.
I hope we tend to take the same mindset. I would love to see Marshall or Samardzjia grab a key rotation spot along with Z, Dempster, Lilly, and Gallagher (it would be a great mix of youth and experience..even with a Marquis also), without having to give up on the EPats and Hoffpauers in the system.
For the first time, in a very long time, the Cubs will have some very tough "send down" decisions once Soriano and Ward return. Murton seems certain to go back..as might Cotts or Fontenot (or even Wuertz since Lieber is certainly well rested).
Should be fun to watch.
Bryan, I tend to agree with you. Gallagher has really "shown" well early on, and he just needs to continue to build confidence, and have the team build further confidence behind him. He's gotten in trouble with mental mistakes in pitchers counts, but I believe he can learn from that. He has a solid upside.
I also think Samardzjia has a similar mental makeup. The kids from a great college program at Notre Dame, and is used to being on the "big stage". If he can reduce the number of walks going into his new Triple A environment, he may likely be the next one up. Would love to see that.
So far, and just "so far", those non-trades for Bedard and Roberts have played very well for us. I like Hardin but not at the deep price point in return talent.
I also think we should look within for another starter. I took the time to check all the NL teams pitching depth charts (ERA) and really did not find any that are better than ours. Zambrano and Dempster are 2 of the top 8 pitchers in the league. No other team has 2 pitchers in the top eight. I think the tendency is to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I have no problem in going with Lilly, Gallagher, Marquis and maybe another youngster. If you look at the 3-5 pitchers from the rest of the NL, you really don't see much. Most are washed-up or young pitchers just getting started. I would take our guys over such pitchers as Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, Pedro Martinez or Jaimie Moyer. There is not that much pitching out there as far as I am concerned. I think the quality that we would have to trade would be too much for any one pitcher. Harden looks great but he is hurt way too much. I think we have had enough with Wood and Prior in the previous years. I would not take the chance on Harden. This is one of the greatest years I have seen for the Cubs and I am enjoying it to the hilt. GO CUBS!
The only starters we should trade for would be ones with NASTY stuff. We have a bunch of OK guys, so a Randy Wolf-type of acquisition does nothing for us.
That being said, I would roll the dice on Harden. I don't think we have the trade bait to get Sabathia, but I think Harden is more attainable.
In terms of what we have to trade, Gallagher is someone with good value right now, after that we have alot of question marks and damaged goods. I don't think Hoffpauir is worth a whole lot, he is basically a Ross Gload-type. Just a throw in. A package for Harden would have to include a good prospect/young player like Gallagher, or Ceda, or Marshall.
the cubs DO need to acquire another quality starting
pitcher to make it to the world series! it's like the song says, they got the power, they got the speed.
come on hendry, please DON'T wait too long. the cubs need to pull AWAY from the rest of the pack.
LETS GO CUBBIES!!!!!!
Harden, Zambrano, Demp, Gally, Lilly....
OO;; That's 2 good/great power pitchers at the top, 1 power sinker guy in Demp who can ramp it mid-90's when he wants to, an up and coming low to mid 90's guy in Gally, and Lilly...shoot that rotation would rock so hard...
When do we have enough pitching for success in the stretch and in the post season? That is the question. Gramps is right on about Z and D being a top 2 now and about the problems being experienced by Pedro, Johnson and Zito and others (including a couple of the acquisition candidates). And too, Lilly goes from 2 to 3 quality (sometimes in the same game). But there is a potential problem (some of us think a high one) that our some of our guys will start giving up 4 or 5 runs an outing instead of 2 or 3. Then we fare poorly in the critical series in which we don't score 5 or 6 runs.
I think that, if we stick with our current starters, we must add at least a solid lefty reliever in the pen (like Marte). Our 4-5 type starters may give us 5 innings in the second half and then have to be picked up by a deep pen if are to continue winning series. I would be happy to add the veteran Wolf too, who likely can start or be a long man out of the pen. I think that only 1 of Howry, Eyre, Wuertz and Cotts will give us what we need in the second half. So if we don't get a top starter, let's trade for two highly dependable relievers to go with Wood and Marmol.
Maybe, someday, Samardzjia and Veal will contribute, but not in 2008. Samardzjia needs a lot of improvement, and his "promotion" may be as much the liklihood that young guys with $10 million, major league contracts get the benefit of the doubt as anything else.
The one question I would like answered is: "What is a quality starter?" Is it somebody that we mortgage the team for like a Harden -- somebody that could fall apart as soon as we get him? And I would like to know what team has 3-4 quality starters? I agree with JimK that a lefty in the pen would be a great addition. I would love Marte but at what cost? Cedeno? Gallagher? Marshall? These are the same guys that we wanted to trade to the Orioles for Roberts. I think we are all glad that trade was not made. And I think most readers think a bit negative about what we have. We probably have the best 25 man major league roster in both leagues. And every one of them has contributed to where we are right now. We have a great blend of speed and power. Also a great blend of youngsters and veterans. Do I want to break that up? I don't think so! My point is that we can't get a true #1 or #2 guy for what we have in the minors. If we could, I would be in favor of it. I like the idea of Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Gallagher and whoever it may be. And personally, I think we have our quality starter in Gallagher. He has come along fantastically. He is probably as good as any other team's #4 or #5 starter right now. Wow, Gramps is getting tired from all this typing (2 comments in the same day)! lol GO CUBS!
I definitely like Marte, or other LOOGY.
It wouldn't be a Pirates season without Damaso Marte Deadline Trade Rumors. He is ALWAYS rumored. Maybe because the Pirates are ALWAYS out of it.
If we equate quality with top re. starters, my definition of a top starter is one that can hold good opponents to 1 or 2 runs in 7 innings frequently and 3 or less runs most of the time. I believe the stats' guys call giving up 3 runs in 6 innings a "quality start". It's obvious to say, but two of those kind of guys are likely to go no worse than 1-1 in a short series and give whomever lost another chance to redeem himself in a second start.
I would not include Gallagher in a Marte deal. I would include EPat and Castillo or as an alternative Hart, Colvin and Veal--players the Pirates might like.
Getting Marte should not take Gallagher. The Pirates definitely need pitching more than anything. They wouldn't be interested in E-Pat unless they think he can play 2B.
I bet Veal would be of interest, but better yet, they would ask for Jose Ceda. They need RHP more than LHP.