Lilly, Soriano Lead Cubs To Win With Timely Hitting And Solid Pitching

The Cubs have never really been true sellers since he has taken over. There is little point to keeping Lilly if 2011 and 2012 are not likely contending years. This is especially true given the glut of starting pitching on this roster.

Either bad contracts (Perez + Castillo), sending significant $ to an acquiring team, or some combination of the two. At the absolute most, an acquiring team would only be willing to commit $5M-$6M a year for Z rith now, and the Cubs owe him $36M after 2010. So somehow, the team will have to eat about $25M to move him – reduced for any bad contracts they take back.

I don’t think there any equivalent bad contracts out there in teams that could use Z, so the Cubs would have part with some real cash to move him (think Bradley in reverse). Any approval of a trade like that will have to be a Ricketts decision, because it is a major checkbook item that will affect the payroll budget for 2011 and 2012.

Now maybe the team finds another pony in the pile of horse poo like they did with Silva. But that will take some real luck.

That worked out pretty well. Hendry has done fairly well trading. I think he’ll work something out.

That worked out pretty well. Hendry has done fairly well trading. I think he’ll work something out.

I’d also add that the Cubs have a lot of prospective pitchers for next season, but I don’t think you can say at all that Wells, Gorzo, or Marshall can expect to be anywhere near what Lilly is capable of. Cashner is a question mark ….I do like having low cost options, but those should be reserved for the 4th and 5th Starters. If you trade Lilly for the future, I’d like to get something for the future better than a 5th starter.

Every spring, the “Marshall competes for starting job” comes anew, and he performs well, only to be shuttled to the bullpen.

The better Marshall performs in the bullpen role this season, the easier it is to leave him there and let Dempster, Gorzelanny, Silva, Zambrano, Cashner, Jay Jackson (and possibly Lilly) duke it out for the rotation. I just see Marshall being the proverbial “last man out”.

Though with a managerial/GM change, I could see them rethinking it.

And a great game to watch! I was glad they didn’t disappoint Coolio cause she was so excited to see it.

You come off like a jerk on this subject Al

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Sori. He loves to play and the fans.

through the media, crashing any trade value, so that when they do move the player, they get crap in return or have to eat the majority of the contract (Silva being the exception)?

of those guys are over 35? Off the top of my head, I would say Lowe and Pettitte and that’s about it.

There’s a huge difference between 32 and 35 when you are talking about a starting pitcher.

You get nowhere.

Particularly with Prior. Some of his injury problems started with the Marcus Giles collision and some of it had to do with the inverted-W stress in his motion (this is technically “speculation,” but it’s a pretty well-researched theory), some it had to do with the stress of his workload.

As for Wood, he was always a power-pitcher. Those guys tend to burn out (read “blow their arms out”) rather than fade away.

TRL isn’t a power-pitcher, so that decreases the likelihood of arm-splotion. TRL hasn’t had any collisions with Marcus Giles, so prior blunt-force trauma to the shoulder isn’t as big a factor. TRL has a longer track record, and while injuries can happen at any time (nothing is certain), the health question marks are fewer.

I hope they keep TRL. It’s not a bad move.

The rebuilding process is harder to accept from the front office to us lowly fans. I hope the Cubs get it right.

there is value in having a veteran presence on a pitching staff as opposed to just having a staff of young pitchers only.

I know somebody (Doggie Stalker for sure if she wasn’t on vacation) will bring up Maddux, but he doesn’t travel with the team, and isn’t in the clubhouse every day.

But, there is definitely value in that sort of thing.

Thanks for confirming Coolio.

I’m guessing nobody was in a hurry to spill beer on him… ;-)

It was fun watching that game last night on TV and I couldn’t help but think you were having a good time there. Glad your daughter got a chance to get the bleachers.

And put Wells to the pen. I hope he can pitch well again after his last outing and I am wrong though.

j/k

/sarcasm

This isn’t basketball; one player isn’t going to make or break our season. If you believe 2010 and 2011 aren’t looking too positive (and I do), what’s the hurt in trading for some prospects?

and unless Soto has an injury I don’t know about, starting Hill again is just Lou being Lou. I don’t see a reason to sit Colvin or Soto.

Play the rookies and trade the veterans. Might not work in this big market well, however.

Certainly always possible, but he’s been pretty reliable.

re-signing Lilly makes very little sense, whereas moving him makes a lot of sense

Lilly would, I agree, likely bring future spare parts – but potentially good ones. Then again, if the Cubs offer him arbitration and he declines, he could wind up bringing future difference makers after all.

A team that looks at this year as the year they have a chance to go for the whole enchilada, but are perhaps one starting pitcher short, would happily give up a top prospect or two for a chance to win it all.

Think Texas Rangers.

and Atlanta was already trying to trade Lowe during the offseason.

I am not going to take the time to identify players in another system that are worth acquiring. It’s far too speculative and not worth the effort. It also doesn’t have to be a 1B or 2B to make it a good idea. The Cubs need to start stockpiling talent everywhere.