Is he going to start? No? Way to ruin him then, you jackasses. God I hate this team sometimes. I bet the Shark was wishing he chose the NFL around now.

I would have sent Hart down instead.

Me too Jim.

Yah I would of to, to me Hart has trouble in the MLB level. He shows me nothing.

A parade for trade?

Me three Jim...

I don't get this move at all. Even though the Shark did well for us last year, it was almost like Marmol and Gregg whenever he came into the game. You knew he was going to walk people, and put us in a very difficult position. More times than not, he got out of it (or Marmol would for him)...but not this year. I like how his fastball moves, but unlike Z at similar ages, Samardzija hasn't learned to harness that fastball like Z was able to do.

As for Suzy S.'s comment about other teams doing what the Cubs do (regarding putting starters in the pen)...while this might be true, the Cubs, like the White Sox, damage the psyche of a lot of their young pitchers by under-using them in the pen, then shuttling them back and forth between AAA and the big club when they give up a few runs. The Cubs, for some strange reason have shown a tremendous amount of commitment to Patton, Marmol, Heilman, and Gregg through their significant struggles, while they're quick to demote Cotts, Ascanio, Hart, and others if they struggle. I think Ascanio and Hart have some of the best pure stuff in our entire organization, but they're overlooked in favor of the crappy, overpaid Gregg and Heilman.

A pen with the likes of: Gaub, Ascanio, Hart, Guzman, and Marmol would be amazing...fill in the other spots with Samardzija and Marshall for all I care...maybe even Cashner (depending on how he does in AA), and we're set. Say we trade Marshall....and brought up Cashner and Gaub...we'd have 7 guys in our pen that threw mid-to-high 90's, excellent breaking pitches, and could strike out anybody at any time if they needed to do so.

That's the type of athletic, flame-throwing pen that strikes fear in other teams, just as the Dodgers pen does. My goodness, if you threw Cashner, Guzman, and Marmol at them at the end of the game, you could kiss the other team's chances goodbye. Cashner, in relief throws 97-99 mph, Guzman sits in the 95-97 mph range with an excellent slider, while we all know how nasty Marmol would be at the back end (especially if he can repeat last night's performance). The Shark also throws 97-99 mph in relief...so, technically, if you went from the 6th on, you'd have the Shark, Cashner, Guzman, Marmol...WOW!!! See what I mean though? I know I'm repeating myself, but if you added Ascanio, Hart, and Gaub to that mix, we might just have some nights where our pen K's like 9-10 guys, which we all know is so key late in games.

Aaron....My take on some of the guys you mention in terms of commitment: Gregg and Heilman are so-so big leaguers who are OK for a disappointing 2009. Patton cost zip and is judged to have a future in years to come. He has to stay. Marmol is going to pitch himself into the closer's role right where he is--come hell or high water--even as that has cost us a few games 2009.

Ascaino, Hart, Samardzija and Guzman too are judged to be developmental projects mainly looking at 2010 and beyond. That development can take place at AAA and the bigs, and their assignments point that out. Guys like Gaub, Cashner, Jackson and a few others are still a year or so away, as I know you know. We're blessed with some very good young arms, and one or two could be included in a trade.

I know my scenario suggests that we aren't pulling out all of the stops to win this year. I suspect that unannounced game plan emerged when we had so many performance issues early. The loss of Aram, I think, pushed management' outlook more to 2010.