Full Court Press

When Ramirez comes back, Theriot obviously will not be playing 3rd anymore. But with the way Theriot is hitting I would find a spot for him as he can play outfield as well as the infield. I would also get Murton some at bats as he hit over .290 last year. I would give Murton a shot in Right field because Jones is pretty brutal so far, and some at bats in left field because Floyd probably can't play everyday.

Gooch and Erstad are both team players and I don't think either would really care as long as they win. It might be good to switch them early in the season to see if it would help them win. For the cubs... who really cares??? start talking about next year already. GO WHITE SOX!!!

Honestly. Pie needs to be up in the big leagues. He can take over the leadoff role and move Soriano to the second spot. That will take care of the outfield and also the leadoff spot. Soriano will be more effective not batting leadoff and he can play right field. Let Theriot play in left until his bat cools off then when it does, you play Floyd or Jones in left. As for Murton, he is nothing but a contact hitter and I really don't like him anyway. His defense is not that great and with Pie playing Center, we don't need Murton. Pie can cover ground and would allow us to have a lineup of

Pie
Soriano
Lee
Ram (when he returns)
Floyd(or Jones)
DeRosa
Barret
Izturiz ( or Cedeno)
whatever pitcher is pitching.

Bench Players, Cedeno or Izturiz (INF), Theriot(OF/INF), Floyd or Jones(OF), and Ward (INF)

If Pie starts struggling or needs a brake, then move Soriano back to Center, Jones to right, and Floyd or Theriot or Pagan (LF)

I would Trade Prior and Murton for sure for what we can get back in return and if we were going after lets say Dontrelle Willis or maybe a real good pro, I would throw in Izturiz, or Wood. But I'm guessing this will be the lineup by June. Pie will be a big difference maker on this team. I'm not counting on his bat, just his defense and if he can get on base or make timely hits, then we will be rollin

There is no way the Marlins would trade D-Train for Matt Murton, Mark Prior, and Ceasar Izturiz. That would be a joke!

Boss, spoken like a true cubby fan. I only read the parts of batting Soriano in the second hole and trading Wood and Prior. Funny stuff... GO WHITE SOX!!!

If only Lou could tweak the weather! I am just about thawed out from my Opening Day visit to Chicago. I don't remember it being that cold in April. Ever. I think I stopped scoring in the 5th when the pencil fell out of my numb fingers so I only have incomplete data on the lineup at this point.;) Floyd did look like he was moving in slow motion but I think it was the cold affecting my brain. It looks so much nicer at Wrigley in April when I'm watching it on TV from Hollywood.

It seems the Cubs need pitching pitching and more pitching, I would say more more pitching but I like our closer.

I still believe. I think the lineup is good. I blame it on the weather for now. I don't know what I will blame it on later but I'm sure I will think of something.

Oh yeah I stayed the whole 9 innings, because that's how I roll at baseball; games rain cold or even snow. Well that and I didn't want my sister to make fun of me.

GO CUBS!!!

Roman responds: I hope you at brought gloves and a hat, unlike your sister on Saturday.

Jack Jones, horrible signing... I'd move Soriano to Right, and bring up Pie. The way the outfield is now, pretty brutal. It will cost them a lot of runs.

I agree Theriot needs to get more playing time... I do understand the Derosa signing though. Don't understand Ward and Floyd though... Left handed bat, same guy to me.

As for Soriano at lead off... don't understand why he insists on being leadoff (so I've heard). He can't hit a breaking ball, if he hits in the middle of the order, like 3 or 4, he'll see more fastballs.

Hi Boss!

I find one problem with your plans. I do not think that the Cubs can trade Prior because he is back on the DL and may not be able to pitch any more.

Hey, right, lets make big changes 10 games into the season, maybe the Sox should dump Crede, Konerko, and Dye, none of whom are hitting over .235.
How bout letting big Z play the outfield, through April anyway, cause he aint much of a pitcher early in the season as it is. The Cubs will probably continue to play at this level till sometime in May, when they'll put together a huge trade, and we wont have to worry about whose playing where anymore, because some of these people will be playing elsewhere. For my money, there isn't a guy on that team that's untouchable, but lets give it a few more weeks before total panic sets in on either side of town.

IT'S 'Jacque' Jones not 'Jack'. Come on Mr. Modrowski....you never correct sox fans for type o's....and this was not even innocent. It was once again a clueless sox fan. Sox fan's stay out of the Cub's threads! You are out of your league...literaly. You need to respond in a whitesox thread...and maybe there will be more Sox threads. There is no-way this cubs team is going to stink....not with someone who actually cares (Baker,Baylor,Riggleman did not care.......PERIOD!),and all that talent. I see the naive at espn have the Cubs ranked 20th in the power rankings....I remember when they ranked the bears last in 2005. HA! must be a bunch of Sox fans working over there too. Here is a simple rule to live by. If you know nothing, then say nothing! here is another rule..every sox fan who posts in a cubs thread must start the post with "I am an idiot" (no that does not mean 'stuckinwisconsin is an idiot'for those with shallow wit trying to be clever.).

Also, any thread topic that has both the Cubs and the Sox (with the exception of Redsox),then becomes a Cubs thread by default. The reasoning is simple. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE WHITESOX.

Boss, trade Prior and Wood? Get realistic, at this point you'd be lucky to get a cute ball girl for each foul line for them.

I love blanket statements like "no one cares about the White Sox" Maybe stuckinwisconsin should come to Illinois for a little while. There are plenty of people here who care about the White Sox. Like me. And it is also short-sighted of you to say that Roman doesn't correct Sox fan's typos. He doesn't correct anyone's typos.

It's almost time to scrap this year and build a team that may challenge next year. Jones has to go. Bring Pie up to play center. Move Soriano down in the order. Do something about the pitching staff. Forget about winning anything this year. What's another year in an eon anyway? By the way Dusty is almost as good an ESPN broadcaster as he was a manager.

Roman responds: You're getting part of your wish today with Pie playing center and batting lead-off. My friend Mike agrees with you on Jones, and Mike knows as much about the Cubs as anyone I know.

"every sox fan who posts in a cubs thread must start the post with "I am an idiot"". - Stuckinwisconsin

Actually, I think the rule is anyone who posts in a thread and has no idea what that thread is about must begin with "I'm almost as dumb as Stuckinwisconsin".

Indeed, the author of the comment, "Here is a simple rule to live by: if you know nothing, then say nothing", should follow his own advice.

I am still amazed by cub fans that think Prior and/or Wood are still viable comodities. These guys are done. Put a fork in them.

It's pretty comical to read comments like, "No one cares about the White Sox." I guess if my team hadn't won anything significant in a century I would be bitter too.

I'm excited about Lou Piniella managing on the northside. I was very impressed by his work in Tamp Bay.

well there he is again talking about every number but the one that matters. Wins. We shall see at the end of the year whether or not this big salary the Cubs gave out can pass the Sox in wins. Youre lucky you play in the worst division in baseball, maybe now you can back in to the playoffs

We may not get much in return for those two but unless they get healthy real quick real soon, then i don't see them being apart of what this new teams wants to do. Now with soriano going down, it is time to bring pie up and keep him here. one thing someone said last night was keeping murton and playing him in right. That's fine but when soriano comes back pie should still be the center fielder so that means soriano will play left? that works and then we trade mr jones prior and wood... listen it's not far fetched that a guy like the d-train could get traded. did we ever really think they would give us derek lee for choi? where is choi now? i mean yea the fact that wood and prior are on the dl makes things tuff but if the marlins are struggling and they want to cut payroll because they are being cheap they talked about this last year they would trade the core for younger players or for a few veterans.... i mean there i beleive that it's a mental thing with prior and if traded to a warm weathered team, he might be better off...wood i feel sorry for and if he can come back then i would keep him only because we got a bargain deal for him any way. but prior, murton, jones, and izturiz are my trade bait as of today.. and yes it is only 10 games into the season, but lou is not the type of guy that wants to loose and you will see in the coming month that eitehr you play past your potential or im a get you out of here. i mean to to be rude or anything but we over here on the north side got somthing to play for... i don't know abut the sox u give away people u shouldn't have and really i wouldnt be shocked if u guys finish last.

Roman responds: Some would say the Cubs gave away David Aardsma, who looks pretty good on the South Side, compared to Cotts.

Brian Anderson needs to be back starting in center for the Sox. Erstad has one exceptioal season and really should be a backup fpr BA & Pods. As soon as this team starts hitting, and it will, this won't even be a topic of discussion. Now lets start by pounding the Rangers & Sammy say it ain't Sosa!

there is exactly two posts in this thread in regards to the whitesox. SEE NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE WHITESOX! You had to include them in a thread with the cubs just so you could get some bloggers responding. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Erstad had one exceptional season? That's still one more than Anderson had. His lifetime BA and OBP are also better than the numbers Anderson would probably put up this year, and he's won 3 gold gloves to boot. Anderson can field but I really don't see any other upside he offers at this point in time. On another note, can someone please explain to me why the Marlins would cut payroll by getting rid of D-train in exchange for two chronically injured players and a shortstop with no bat? I would think they would require young, cheap talent with an eye toward the future, not two DL-list lifers that would offer little hope of being a part of the team's long-term plans.

"there is exactly two posts in this thread in regards to the whitesox. SEE NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE WHITESOX!"

Or it could be that Sox fans aren't obsessing about these matters 1/16th of the way into the season. Sure looks like the Cubs fans are.

Stuckinwisconsin, Why are you stuck in wisconsin? Can you give me some free cheese? All I have to say is 2005. GO WHITE SOX!!!

Cubs just positioning themselves for a trade. Might come any day. Maybe tomorrow. Sure it will be big upgrade.

To the idio who said the White Sox gave up players they shouldn't have. Name me ONE!! Now the sCrUBs?? Let's see Greg Maddox, Dontrelle Willis, Lou Brock, Jon Garland,

I hear maybe the Cubs will move to Wisconsin--probably Green Bay. Even up there they will be the second team in town.

O.K. Let's face it the Cubs are at least one maybe two years of putting all together for a run at the championshisp. SANS Piniella! This guy can't handle today's players. They don't like him. He trylling to play American Lealgue big run baseball.It don't happen with they team they got, We need to trade Ramierez, soriano, and murton to the yankees for the A-rod man!