**OFFICIAL CUBS REGULAR SEASON THREAD**

ssckelley said:
With Castro only being 22 he can still develop into a quality 2nd or SS, he is a good hitter for those positions and is still developing. It would take an overwhelming offer for me to trade Castro.

LaHair is not untradeable but I don't know if the Cubs can get enough in return for him to justify trading someone you control for a long time and is a left handed power hitter. Yeah Rizzo looks really good in Iowa but he still has to prove he can perform at the big league level.
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I don't think you get a club's top prospect for LaHair, but maybe you get a mid teir prospect with a little more upside. I don't think the cubs should just give him a way, but you have to think about it.

As for Castro, if the cubs could get a really good SP prospect or two I say think about it. We all know Castro isn't the solution to the cubs problem at SS. He could be ok at 2nd or 3rd maybe, but who do the cubs have in the system that could force him over? Junior Lake maybe, but I thought he was kind of the same as Castro, good bat, free swinger average at best defender. Castro is going to be at SS for a while. Maybe a club with a good SS in the majors who has a decent SS prospect would like Castro at second or Dempster or part of a Garza trade, who knows. I think you have to look at all opportunities. If you can improve the club by subtracting arguably its best young piece you'd better at least consider it.
 
Heard a comparison the other day - Theo traded Hanley Ramirez when he was 22 from Boston to Florida to get Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (among others). Ramirez had only 2 plate appearance for Boston before being traded, but he was highly thought of as a prospect and he was traded to get some other pieces. Granted, Boston was a lot better and closer to being a contender, but if Theo (or Hoyer) do not think Castro is the solution, they will look to move him (IMO).
 
I know LaHair struggles against lefthanded pitching but I see zero value in playing Baker. There is no better season for him to learn how to hit lefties at the big league level than this year.

Other than Castro no one is hitting lefties very well.
 
Cubs lose a tough one last night at Target field. Down 5-0 today. The beat goes on ...

Oops. 8-0 end of 4. Back to your regular Saturday viewing ...
 
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Going for 20 losses out of the last 24 games. I guess this is what the new management meant when they said they were going to tear them down so they could build them back up.

The record for one run losses by a team in a season is 44 by the '68 White Sox. I think this Cub team has a shot at it.
 
OK, we're narrowing it down. I think it is down to the Cubs vs the Padres as to who is the worst team in MLB.
 
Castro's first at bat is a big example of why he is still very immature as a player. Wrong time for a first pitch swing.
 
Cubs salvage the last game of the series and end the trip at 2-8. Now to Wrigley to play Detroit and Boston.
 
woodyk1 said:
Heard a comparison the other day - Theo traded Hanley Ramirez when he was 22 from Boston to Florida to get Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (among others). Ramirez had only 2 plate appearance for Boston before being traded, but he was highly thought of as a prospect and he was traded to get some other pieces. Granted, Boston was a lot better and closer to being a contender, but if Theo (or Hoyer) do not think Castro is the solution, they will look to move him (IMO).
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Like you described, it's apples and oranges. Ramirez was not a proven player by any stretch; Castro has been in the majors for two years, and been the team's best player in that time. The Red Sox had other pieces already on the field (Manny, Papi, Youk, etc.), had other prospects they liked (Pedroia, Ellsbury), and were in need of an elite starter as they neared the end of Curt Schilling's career. They could afford to give up a prospect of Ramirez's caliber for an important piece of the puzzle.

The Cubs do not currently have that luxury.
 
tm3308 said:
Like you described, it's apples and oranges. Ramirez was not a proven player by any stretch; Castro has been in the majors for two years, and been the team's best player in that time. The Red Sox had other pieces already on the field (Manny, Papi, Youk, etc.), had other prospects they liked (Pedroia, Ellsbury), and were in need of an elite starter as they neared the end of Curt Schilling's career. They could afford to give up a prospect of Ramirez's caliber for an important piece of the puzzle.

The Cubs do not currently have that luxury.
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I disagree. Though the situations are different, the cubs do have to luxury of having the ability to make a change. If the cubs could trade Castro for a few pitching prospects, say the Blue Jays who are loaded there, that makes sense to me.

I personally am not impressed with Castro at the plate and here is why:

1. His approach is not sound. He is a selfish hitter looking to pad stats and not help the team. Game 2 v. twins swings at first pitch from pitcher he has never seen before, and pulls it to 3rd. If he is more patient or pushes the ball Johnson moves to second.

2. On the same line he is too aggressive with runners on. he strikes out more than he drives them in. He is not good in clutch situations.

3. He rarely walks.

I think these can develop with time, but how long and has he fallen into a pattern from Quade and Pinella as initial tutors?
 
They were saying on KXNO this morning that if you want to get out and see Rizzo in Des Moines this week will be the time to do it. In 12 days the bigs can call him up without losing a year to arbitration and most are expecting it to happen.
 
Dempster and Soriano are really boosting their stock right now. I personally would love to see the cubs trade Demp then sign him back for a 2-3 year deal at then end of the season, but I don't think he'll be cheap enough or willing to do that, nor do I think it is in Theo's plans.
 
hawkfarmer said:
Dempster and Soriano are really boosting their stock right now. I personally would love to see the cubs trade Demp then sign him back for a 2-3 year deal at then end of the season, but I don't think he'll be cheap enough or willing to do that, nor do I think it is in Theo's plans.
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Yes, seeing Soriano hot and hitting in that DH role has got to get some interest from AL teams. I think Dempster has been pitching well enough all along to get some interest.

Soto is finally starting rehab, hopefully he can come back and hit well enough to get some interest.
 
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