Just wish we could have made this deal before we signed Miles though. Izturis and Miles are making around the same amount of money this year, and we could have had a more versatile player in Izturis, but I don’t see both Izturis and Miles on the same Cubs team this year. I wouldn’t mind having Izturis though…

Though I think, or at least hope, that Chad can rediscover his Oakland form, making him more valuable than a reserve IF

the AZ announcer was embarrassed about his “Mitch” screw up and spent almost the entire broadcast trying to justify it because he had had some “Mitch” correspondence or other throughout the day.

I’m already an LBR fan but my enthusiasm grows by the day and the game. He’s a head shaker and I can’t wait to see what he does during the ’09 season.

Harden so far hardly merits his hype.

Don’t you know that on the internet, you are supposed to make ridiculous trade proposals that have no chance of being accepted?

I don’t know if the Angles would make the trade, but the proposal at least makes sense for both teams. The Angels could use an arm in the back of the bullpen. The only problem might be who is going to be their back-up infielder if they trade Izturis. Brandon Wood? Maybe.

I remember when we made the Maddux trade—I said “We traded Maddux to LA and we got the wrong Izturis!” Maybe we can rectify that.

I like the idea of trading Gaudin AND Guzman for something more substantial than Izturis even better. At this time we probably should concern ourselves with trimming some guys who are out of options in favor of some guys that have options left. I’d also like to see us keep Patton, particularly if we can trade somebody to Colorado to keep our rights.

it would also be important to keep him from St. Louis. His versatility would really help a team that has question marks at 3B-SS-2B. He could play 3B till Glaus gets back, then take over at 2B if Schumaker can’t field or SS if Greene can’t hit.

Getting lots of hits, and still batting .400. I wonder what’s going on there….

We might get Maicer Izturis, we already traded his brother though.

I was not in favor of the Miles deal, however on March16 Miles is already in the dumper?

………..and along with Miles (god only knows what he was thinking), he overpaid for Dempster as well. Now the Cubs are saddled with these guys and their paychecks in a market that dictates better talent for less money.

At least Demp had done something for the club and in MLB in general. What on earth has Aaron Miles ever done – successfully – at the MLB level?

Miles is Marquis in different clothing, because, after all, who were all the other teams clamoring for Aaron’s services?

whats funny is no one is hurt…yet. Hendry keeps signing people like there’s no players in the minor league system. Koskie played a couple games at 1st I think while he was with the Twinkies. I hope he makes the team. I’m sure the logjam will be clearing out of here in 2 weeks. Just remember the name Gary Scott Cubs Fans. It still smarts.

How bout we play the rest of these two thousand spring training games and see what plays out? I’m less concerned with IF scrubs than I am with quality bullpen relief. Gaudin is valuable to this bullpen. There are hellva more scrub IFs we can trade for than good arms. Let’s see what Chad does in his next outing. If his back is still indeed bothering him, I’m sure Lou will (or has already?) asked him about it.

There is a reason that LaRussa didn’t want Miles gone. Miles has likely the best attitude in MLB, and has versatility, (both at the plate, and in the field). I love LBR, and I think in a platoon, (where he gets the majority of the PT), he will be fine at 2B. However, therein lies the rub; I’m not convinced, (and I don’t think Lou is either), that LBR is an everyday guy, and that making him one will only serve to expose him, thereby limiting his effectiveness.

When Miles fills in admirably, at a number of positions, (including the OF), his value will become apparent to the many here on BCB who are dumbfounded and dismissive of a quality ML player. Mark my words, most of you will grow to love Miles in Cubbie Blue, just as much as you did DeRo. (If memory serves many decried the DeRo signing as well…)

Now for the trade proposal at hand… If Jimbo can get this done, he should get it done with a quickness. Koskie is making a great comeback from his injuries, but he comes with the caveat that his career could be over at any time, plus no matter how much we want him to be a back-up 1B, he simply is not. Should DLee go down, it is likely that Fox would be called up to take over in D’s absence. Now will Hoff make the team, I think so- but not in a strictly back-up role, but more as a DWard replacement- conditioned on if he can learn to keep his bat going in a PH role. That leaves a spot for Izturis, who as Al mentioned, has a number of plusses, one of them also being that he could back-up 1B, as well as 2B, SS, and 3B- all spots in the infield where we will need more than one player to man at times.

Izturis or an extra arm in the ’pen? Go with Izturis.

What do you see as the roster then?

I sat 14 rows behind homeplate and had the same effect on Hoffpauir as EA does. He hit a homer last year when I was at the game and he did it again yesterday. It was a nice 405 foot blast to dead center. Harden looked good until the 3rd and was glad to see Lou come out and get him. It was our AA and AAA boys who actually won the game for us.

Over 11,000 attended the game and it looked like a 50/50 split of D’back and Cubs fans. Of course most of the Cubs fans stayed until the very end while the D’back fans made it easier for the rest of us to get out of the parking lot.

Looking forward to the my next game in two weeks against the Rockies.