I liked Ted Lilly as a Cubs pitcher and he seemed like a outstanding person. But I'm fine with this deal. It appears the Cubs got two minor league pitchers who might, at some point, be contributors at the major league level (especially Brett Wallach -- and if he does, won't that be confusing when he faces new Astros 1B Brett Wallace?). And, both Lilly and Jim Hendry left the door open for his return next year.
About Blake DeWitt, people who call him "a Theriot clone" or "another Fontenot" miss the point. DeWitt is only 24 years old. His OPS this year is almost 100 points higher than Theriot's, and two years ago at age 22, he hit nine home runs. I am not expecting him to be a power hitter; just hit for a decent average, play good defense and don't make dumb baserunning plays! He did hit for some power in the minor leagues; it's possible that might develop more as he gets older. Remember, he is two years younger than Theriot was when Theriot got a fulltime starting job in the major leagues.
One more thing about player moves... as is standard practice, the Cubs (as well as virtually every team) will place nearly the entire roster on waivers in the next few days. This tweet sent last night quoted Jim Hendry:
#Cubs Jim Hendry (WGN Radio) said Cubs will have a "wave" of players come up soon from Iowa and then again in September.
If that's true, my guess is that any veteran Cub whose contract is claimed would simply be let go, with replacements called up from Triple-A (and maybe even Double-A). Xavier Nady, your plane ticket is waiting.
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Each of today's pitchers has faced the other team once in his career.
Jorge De La Rosa pitched against the Cubs on August 10, 2009 at Coors Field. He gave up only one run in 7.2 innings. This year, he spent more than two months on the DL with a finger injury, with mixed results since his return. Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto have homered off him.
Carlos Silva's only career start against the Rockies came on May 18 at Wrigley Field. He threw six solid innings. He has faced two Rockies hitters quite a bit from his time in the AL: Melvin Mora (9-for-30), Jason Giambi (4-for-11).
Today's game is on CSN Chicago and FSN Rocky Mountain. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row.
Today's first pitch thread will be up at 2 pm CDT, and the overflows will post at 3 pm, 4 pm and 4:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.