That is the outcome I was hoping for.

I actually really like this choice. Samardzija has options and can benefit from time in the minors to work on his 3 and 4 pitches. He will eventually come back up and help the team when someone gets hurt anyway. Guzman has the best stuff of the other three and Patton threw too many strikes not to get a chance. Gaudin was not good at all this spring. I just wish we could have traded him. I am still worried about Vizcaino and Cotts.

I flat out missed on the idea of dumping Gaudin. From the bleachers it looked like Gaudin's age and potential were more valuable than Viscaino's lack thereof. I guess Gaudin's potential looked pretty bad from the dugout. If Gaudin had more, I don't think that dumping $2 mil would have been seen as better than dumping $4 mil. You almost have to conclude that there were no takers for Gaudin--even with picking up some of his contract.

Vizcaino is likely next--when Samardzija comes back unless a spot opens up as a result of a trade in the next few weeks.

I think there is a decent chance Vizcaino may surprise some people and be a solid middle reliever for us ... he was pretty darn good not too long ago.

I do not trust Vizcaino and I thought he should of been released. I am worried about both the starting rotation and the bullpen, because if one of our starters gets injured who are we going to bring up.That is why I believe that we should of pull the trigger on the Jake Peavy trade.

Other than Marmol, Gregg and Heilman this bullpen has a lot of ?'s.

There were no takers for Gaudin since we already showed our hand days ago...teams were just ready to wait for us to release him.

Seems like the right move though.

As much as I hate the idea of Vizcaino on our team, the Gaudin release made sense....dude was good initially when we got him, but after the alleged dumpster incident, he flat out sucked. He got lit up then, and it continued this spring. He didn't even look like he came to camp in great shape either.

I LOVE the idea of keeping Guzman. He has electric stuff. I'm iffy on Patton though...while he had a great spring, single-A ballers almost never do well at the MLB level, and he already showed jitters at Yankee Stadium, which doesn't bode well for his adjustment. I would much rather have released both Vizcaino and Gaudin...while it'd cost $6 million, other teams have shown that they're in it to win...Just ask the Tigers and Phillies after dumping Sheffield and Jenkins respectively.

I think the ideal pen might be:

Gregg
Marmol
Heilman
Waddell
Samardzija
Patton
Guzman

Vizcaino and Cotts scare the hell out of me every time they step on the mound. Hopefully, the thought is, if they struggle, and Samardzija and Waddell don't implode at AAA, they can replace them. Cotts was a one year wonder with the Sox, and while I admire his extreme workout regimen, and admittedly, he's a physical specimen...dude probably has like 4% body fat...I still think he sucks, and has a pea-sized brain on the mound.

Waddell looks interesting to me. He'll be up this year.

Neil,

Are you going to compile the spring training stats for all our 25-man? How about include the three exhibition games against Japan and the Yanks?

Happy to see the Cubs ready to go for November*!

--D--

*I still can't believe we are getting a November World Series...

This seems like the only option we had. I also don't believe in Visciano or Cotts, but we are running out of arms, and Samardzija didn't dominate this spring - like we all hoped.
Can we leave Heilman stretched out and use him as our long man/6 starter?

Cookachoo we can not leave Heilman stretched out because then if we do that who do you suggest to pitch in the seventh inning because our bullpen is already shaky.

David F....I hope you are right on Vizcaino.

Dorasaga....The Cubs spring training stats have been available on the Cubs.com main page. Click on Stats and you have the choice of S.T. or 2008. Once the season starts, the S.T. stats may be taken away, but you can probably google them.

Some observations on S.T. performances and the season. I group players and then rate the group. In the core pitchers group, Z, D, Lilly, Harden, Marmol, Gregg and Heilman, Lilly and Harden have yet to find form and the rest look to be strong. Lilly and Harden may not win as many games combined as they did last year (22 games). I think Z and D will be all stars.

In a roll players group of pitchers, I have Marshall and Guzman graded as acceptable and Vizcaino, Cotts and Patton graded as unacceptable. Samardzija will return in the acceptable category.

My core group of position players are Soto, Lee, ARam, Theriot, Soriano and Bradley and I grade five of the six as strong and one as weak based on performance or injury. (I don't know which one.) Of the Big People (all but Theriot) I am predicting that both Soriano and Bradley will be all stars this year.

I grade the roll players group of Johnson, Miles, Hoffpauir and Fontentot as strong. Johnson will probably beat out Dome and Miles may play more than Fontenot. Theriot, Miles, Johnson and Fontenot (the Little People) give Lou a lot of flexibility in the 2 and 8 holes and the 1 hole should Soriano falter there. And so does Hoffpauir give flexibiltiy in the 3-7 holes.

Sadly, I fear that Dome will not find form. Gathright and Hill will be satisfactory in limited roles.

The good news is that we have as many players rated strong as anyone in th NL, and an advantage with our Little People. The needs to be met by the trading deadline are likely to be a starting pitcher and a lefty reliever.

I expect us to win the division and for our four all stars and the Little People to get us to the NLCS--where "anything can happen in a short series". But it won't be easy. The Cards (for one) could get 26 wins from Wainright and Carpenter this year vs. 12 last year. There position players as a group are as good as ours--excepting some advantage in our Little People. We likely have a solid edge in the pen. It's not hard to see the Cards going from 86 wins to 92 or so. Let the games begin and may hustle and grit be our mantra all season long.

Hey Ronald.
You're right. We would have to cut Visciano.
I guess I would slot Samardzija back as our 7th inning guy - if we move Heilman back to long-man.

Yes, JimK, you are right to fear the Cards. And may I add the Reds, too. They have the strongest starting rotation in the division except for the Cubs (injuries can change it all overnight). They have a very poor manager as far as a game manager goes. They have young, rising stars at several positions, and they can hit the ball.

As for the Cards, they actually have some sluggers, and I expect Carpenter to pitch effectively this year.

I also fear the Cubs have fallen in the category of "hungry to win." Last year was the big "Stop the 100 years of futility" push, and it flopped in three straight games in LA. It was a huge letdown, and now I fear that this team just doesn't have the fire to go win it this time. I've seen it before, in the 1970 Cubs (after 1969's flop) and the 1985 Cubs (after the 1984 fiasco in SD). Therefore I picked the Cubbies to finish at 78-84, behind the Cards and Reds. I hope I am wrong.