Post latest rumors on the Roberts trade here...

[TheBee]

I'm not quoting any article.

Wow - both of those things (velocity increase and weight loss) are listed in that order in the 2008 prospect handbook. Who are you Skiba...John Manuel or Will Callis

[Bloopandablast]

I agree with you 100%. Which is why I also mentioned that I think one way or the other, one of our fan bases is going to be upset. Because the lack of an outright denial by either Hendry OR McPhail leads me to believe that a deal is going to be made. Either Cub fans will be upset they gave up too much, or O's fans will be upset they didn't get enough. Just my opinion.

Or more likely both will be upset........LOL.

[TheBee]

Oh, and Murton is a not a "platoon outfielder".

He would be here and his major league numbers and age suggest it

[waroriole]

Maybe I'm showing my ignorance of these two guys but why do we want them. Veal is 23 and still hasn't figured out AA apparently. He had a 4.97 ERA, his BB/9 was an atrocious 5.04 at AA and he had a WHIP of over 1.5. I just don't get the fuss over this guy, it seems like he's a career minor leaguer.

And then there's Murton. It seems like we already have this guy and we call him Luke Scott, except Scott appears to be a better fielder. This guy is 26 and can't stay in the ML for a full season. If we are going to get an OF for BRob then we should get a young guy, b/c we still don't have much OF depth in the minors. I just don't see how this guy fits into this team unless we can unload Millar or Huff.

I don't want to deal BRob, at least not yet, but if I had to make a deal with the Cubs I want middle infield depth so I would want AT LEAST Cedeno, Fontenot, Patterson, Gallagher, and a young OF [not Colvin he doesn't seem to have any plate discipline] and maybe Marshall too.

[skiba7]

Wow - both of those things (velocity increase and weight loss) are listed in that order in the 2008 prospect handbook. Who are you Skiba...John Manuel or Will Callis

I haven't even read the prospect handbook. I follow the organization, as most fans do. Guess what? I hear about things relating to players in the organization. Do you honestly think that the prospect handbook is the only place that has mentioned his weight lossvelocity gain?

[skiba7]

This guy is 26 and can't stay in the ML for a full season..

What a huge blanket statement. Soriano is blocking him. Not many young guys play over Soriano.

Oh, and if you want Cedeno/Fontenot/Patterson, then you can have them. Fontenot? Really?

[TheBee]

I haven't even read the prospect handbook. I follow the organization, as most fans do. Guess what? I hear about things relating to players in the organization. Do you honestly think that the prospect handbook is the only place that has mentioned his weight lossvelocity gain?

Good for you. Nice talking to you. Wow. I never attacked you, and I used sources because I'm not a Cubs fan. Murton would platoon here and did for you last year. Wow. I'm not making some big attack.

[TheBee]

Cliff Floyd platooned with Murton last year. And I think he would platoon with Scott here.

[skiba7]

Cliff Floyd platooned with Murton last year. And I think he would platoon with Scott here.

In right field.

[PoorMike]

Interesting stuff. Thank you very much, as always, bigbird.

If Gallagher, Murton, Cedeno and Colvin are what McPhail is interested in, then I guess we'll just have to wait and see if Hendy will back off his demand on not parting with Colvin.

All of this just makes me wonder if, since we're talking about a 4th player being included anyhow, McPhail has any interest in Patterson being the 4th player, instead of Colvin? Again, I don't want to upset any Cubs fans who may be reading this - just thinking out loud since it appears that 4 for 2 talks may be happening.

All along I've been of the opinion that we should deal Roberts, and I liked the possibly proposed, and much speculated upon, Gallagher, Murton, Cedeno and Veal deal. That being said, the O's clearly do not need to trade Roberts and the Cubs are not the team in most dire need of him. So, I am going to start asssuming that nothing will go down here, as much as I'd like to see it happen.

BB said they want a non-roster prospect. Maybe we take Cedeno out for EPat but not Colvin.

[rammyfanny]

Wow - both of those things (velocity increase and weight loss) are listed in that order in the 2008 prospect handbook. Who are you Skiba...John Manuel or Will Callis

He's probably refering to Gallagher's dad who posts on another Cubs board and will report to us the velocities that scouts clock him at. He's said he's sitting at 94-96 since the weight loss.

And btw, the BA thing you're refering to says he's dropped 10 pounds when they made the Lieber comparison. Cubs.com said he's continued that and lost 25+ pounds as of a week or two ago.

[Bloopandablast]

Maybe I'm showing my ignorance of these two guys but why do we want them. Veal is 23 and still hasn't figured out AA apparently. He had a 4.97 ERA, his BB/9 was an atrocious 5.04 at AA and he had a WHIP of over 1.5. I just don't get the fuss over this guy, it seems like he's a career minor leaguer.

And then there's Murton. It seems like we already have this guy and we call him Luke Scott, except Scott appears to be a better fielder. This guy is 26 and can't stay in the ML for a full season. If we are going to get an OF for BRob then we should get a young guy, b/c we still don't have much OF depth in the minors. I just don't see how this guy fits into this team unless we can unload Millar or Huff.

I don't want to deal BRob, at least not yet, but if I had to make a deal with the Cubs I want middle infield depth so I would want AT LEAST Cedeno, Fontenot, Patterson, Gallagher, and a young OF [not Colvin he doesn't seem to have any plate discipline] and maybe Marshall too.

Statisitically the BB/9 is essentially the same reason he has a high WHIP and a High ERA. That is, it is his control issues that have put him in trouble. He still has a very solid K/9. If he improves his control than you have something. Otherwise he won't make it. He has the arm. Can he be taught the control and finer points of pitching is the question.

Murton was essentially the starter in left for the Cubs in 2006. He had a pretty fair season. The early season concern was that he would hit for average, but not for power. As the season wore on he showed he not only had gap power, but could hit it out as well. Overall power numbers for 06 were not great, but he learned as the season wore on.

2007 the Cubs decided to make a splash in FA and got Soriano who relegated him to the bench. Would have been sort of what just happened to Inge in Detroit, getting buried behind Cabrera now, except that Murton has already shown to be a better hitter than Inge.

Murton figured it out sooner that did Scott wo did not develop until right before he turned 30.

Murton is going to hit somewhere in the 290 to 300 range, hit anwhere from high teens in dingers to low 20's and have an OPS (this has been argued ad nauseum on this board) of 800 to 850. In other words he is a very solid major league hitter.

[Cubsfan]

I think Gallagher could easily be a #3 starter and possibly a #2. He is just starting to reach his potential and with the weight loss and the increase in velocity, he could develop into a very good starter. Cedeno has a ton of potential, but has had some trouble with partying. He hasn't lived up to his minor league numbers, but given the chance he might. Murton is a better hitter than Scott and plays adequate defense in LF, but not RF. Patterson hasn't really had a shot in the majors, but his speed and lack of defense at 2B are the reasons for the switch to the OF. Basically, what I'm saying is that a rebuilding team can offer the patience necessary to let some of these players reach their potential. The Cubs are in a "win now" mode and can't offer that luxury. Accumulating all of these prospects also gives the Orioles the depth to make trades when they are back in contention in a few years.

[rammyfanny]

Good for you. Nice talking to you. Wow. I never attacked you, and I used sources because I'm not a Cubs fan. Murton would platoon here and did for you last year. Wow. I'm not making some big attack.

The whole basis of your bickering is you accusing him of using BA as a source of his weight loss and then using BA's comparison of Lieber to try to offset Skiba's belief of the very positive impact of his weight loss. You failed to realize BA mentiones he lost 10 pounds when he continued that and continued to add velocity by dropping an additional 15-20 pounds since that report. I don't see what's so uncalled for by Skiba.

[rammyfanny]

If anyone was curious, here was Sean's dad's last report:

Just FWIW I watched Sean throw his last bullpen before he left for AZ and he had a MLB catcher from another team catching. He was consistently Mid 90's and his offspeed pitches were there and there were a few other MLB players watching and they had nothing but good things to say. He has been working out really hard as evidenced by his dropping twenty five pounds and has been working on being ready as soon as ST opens......