One negative point they raised about him was that the Shark's college numbers actually aren't all that impressive. They said the Cubs are essentially gambling that, now that he'll be focusing only on baseball, Samardzija's true potential will come through.

In other words, though it's entirely possible that he will go on to become a great pitcher, it's by no means a sure thing.

I'm not trying to slam the guy. In fact, I was really impressed by what I saw from Samardzija in Spring Training. And, so it seems, was Lou.

Also discussed on the radio show: The potential relatonship between the apparently ever-increasing height of major league pitchers (and pitching prospects) and the prevalence of injuries.

I guess, for many years, scouts shied away from tall pitchers because it was thought that they (the tall pitchers) had a harder time managing their mechanics. Obviously, this thinking has gone by the wayside in recent years -- with D-Mat being one notable exception.

I didn't get to hear much of the discussion, but it's an interesting topic to ponder...

It's just a cool (dare I say almost literary) image -- each of a game's outs represents a tick of the clock, with a team's pitching and defense serving as the gears of said timepiece.

We knew what what Marquis was and signed him. Ok. We know what Zambrano is. Now, sign him.

On the other hand, it could be construed that his health issues remain unresolved in the advent of a bad outing, meaning he would be placed on the DL.

In either case, Wade Miller has the 5th spot, at least for now.