ARam’s loss will be about the same as the effect on Manny’s time away from the Dodgers. All in all, it may only be abour 4 wins.

I think the bigger problem this year will be extended time out for Derrick Lee and the ailing shoulder of Geovanny Soto. Put all of those things together and it could be bad.

All in all the pitching will keep the Cubs close until ARams return. His loss may in the end bunch up the Cards, Brewers and Reds along with them, but if the pitching holds up the Cubs should still wind up being playoff bound.

And the difference b/t the two Ramirez noted above me, is that ours will be coming back from an injury

If we cant score runs that puts more pressure on the pitching, particularly the bullpen….I dont think we’ll be out of it, but it aint looking good, not with the way the Cards are playing

Because last year the Cubs where with out Alfonso Soriano for 2 months and still managed to win 97 ball games.

We need to have Bradley, Soriano, Soto, and Fukudome to contribute immediately.

…so maybe someone can answer it here.

If Aramis’ injury is supposed to keep him out 2-3 months then why is he only on the 15-day DL?

Seriously, he’s injured, they have to move on as best as possible. Can they overcome it and start making up ground on the Cards (and Brewers)? Not if the bullpen issues and inconsistent hitting with RISP continue. But there’s only so much he could do about that anyway. They are simply not as good without him, but injuries happen to everyone, you have to move forward, not sit around pondering what ifs.

All we have to do is stay close. In order to do that, we need Lee to get healthy, Soto, Bradley and Dome to step up, and Freel and Fonty hold down third base as best they can. Scales seems like a servicable second baseman; as far as I’m concerned, Miles can be trade bait for ANYONE who can back up short to give Riot a rest.

otherwise we do not compete in October.

… winning teams bear down and win despite the loss of a great player. If this team does make the playoffs despite all the injuries, maybe the tough times it will have gone through will make it better prepared for October baseball.

Seriously. One of the reasons they got swept last year, IMO, is that they were ill-prepared. Maybe they thought it would be as easy as the 97 regular season wins.

maybe not

I think Hendry will pull something off if need be.

Aram is only worth about 1.5 wins over the replacement, so it’s not really a big deal.

….the question really is what kind of A Ram were going to get back when he is back. He wont be 100%, but will he be 50% or 80%?

Will he be able to drive the ball with authority and dive to his left and right to grab liners and ground balls with any sort of confidence?

To me that is the more important concern at this point.

I have always been an advocate of giving Aramis a bit more time than he would really need to make sure he s fully healthy when he returns. With that being said, a 6-8 week injury is much harder to do that with than a 1-2 week injury. Let’s hope rehab goes well and he gets back sooner than expected.

Miles will only be relegated to a backup 2B/SS guy.

Oh yeah…and we’ll be in 1st place by 3 games by the time Aramis comes back.

Mark Derosa
Kerry Wood
Jim Hendry

I still think the Cubs are very capable of getting to the 90-win mark. We don’t know if that will be enough to make the playoffs. I don’t see any team in the NL Central this season coming very close to the Cubs’ 97 wins of last season.

throw in the towel, season’s over, they have no chance.

These posts, moreover the titles of these posts, are getting more inane by the day.

It’s time for Milton Bradley to emerge as an offensive catalyst for the Cubs – he’s been showing flashes of it, especially this weekend in Milwaukee. If the players on the roster begin to play to their norms (Soto, Bradley, a healthy Lee), this team has enough offense to get by.