You don't have to yell. No Cubs fans think Soriano is good or worth the money they are paying him. But they are still paying him that money and as such will continue to play in the outfield for the Cubs for awhile. It was a crappy signing. You win the internet.

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Rizzo with another bomb last night. Finally a solid outing for McNutt. Junior Lake continues to improve. Showing great plate discipline as his OBP is over 1000 for the Smokies. Still lots of talk that the organization expects his powers to develop, but he's worth keeping an eye on.

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Team Cutler.

Luis Valbuena is hitting .327/.398/.478 in 113 AB for Iowa this year. Also has 4 HR's.

Didn't hit for shit in the majors when called up in the past, but could be worth a look in September as a 2B or 3B option next year.

That IS impressive

I chose to highlight that instead of his .2300 OPS

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Team Cutler.

Lake has played 8 games this year, right?

I see he's been playing 3B the last few games. A move off SS was inevitable but I thought they would have moved him to the outfield. I guess it's worth a shot trying him at 3B before moving him to the OF.

Rizzo with #14 tonight.
Jackson is a double away from the cycle....though it only has raised his average to .243

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

BJax must be in a state of despression or something with his average dropping that much. Hopefully he's one of those guys who rises to the occasion in the Big Show.

His OBP is still pretty good.

The K rate remains a concern though.

Volstad optioned to AAA corn fields.

Travis Wood to start Tuesday.

Hey hey!!!

Real management on the North Side.

that real management traded for Volstad for a rejuvinated Zambrano while eating millions of dollars

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Another 0-fer for Jackson. He's down to .234 with 50 K's in 37 games.

Another day another Rizzo Bomb.

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Team Cutler.

Courtesy of Cubs Den:

■Josh Vitters is red hot. He had 2 hits, including a HR to break a string of 14 consecutive batters retired to open the game for LHP Jonathan Sanchez. He was intentionally walked in his last AB. Vitters hit .405 in his last 10 games and .294/.345/.578 with 7 HRs in 102 ABs in May. For the year he's hitting .281 and has a .798 OPS. He's still inconsistent with his approach, appearing to be selective at times but most of the time he's still looking for something to swing at. Right now it's working for him. His OBP is at .330


A Sept. call-up?

It's really hard to keep his career in perspective since he's been the Cubs 'hot' prospect for some years. He's only 22. Hopefully he continues to play well enough to warrant some time with the big club in September. He was really hitting last year before he got hurt.

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Team Cutler.

It's unusual for power guys (Vitters is thought to be one) to develop early. A SS or pitcher might make it up to the big leagues early, but most other positions, especially ones where you expect guys to have some power, rarely do. Being 22 now, Vitters should be at about the point where he might be able to put it all together....if he can stay healthy. It's too early to think he's a busted pick, but to avoid that title he needs to make it up to the club in the next year or two.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Baez is raking at Peoria. 343/.410/.600/1.010

Making some stellar defensive plays, but it's hard to tell if it's legit good plays or the Jim Edmunds type where he has to really hustle to make plays that other SS would make routinely.

Hard to see him getting bumped up again, but if he continues hitting like he is, maybe he'll get thrown over to Daytona for a playoff run or something.

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Team Cutler.

Daytona is horrible. I doubt they make the playoffs unless everyone makes the playoffs.

That Rizzo guy hit 2 more bombs today and is now batting .363 with 2O hr's and 53 rbi.
BJax added his 8th in the blowout as well.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I read somewhere, I can't recall where, that Rizzo still has the same hole in his swing as he did when he bombed for the Padre. AAA can't exploit it, but MLB surely will

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I hope he isn't Brandon Wood who murdered AA and AAA and was awful in the bigs. The only way we are going to find out is by getting him up. That deadline for getting the extra year before arbitration or whatever it is has to be up soon.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I agree, get him up quickly, as soon as the arbitration day passes, to see what we have.

And, yes, I fucking said we.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Soler should be making his choice tomorrow. I hope Theo and co. can get him but having to shell out over 25 mil is tough. The Cubs were so in on this guy earlier that it shouldn't be hard for the likes of the yankees and dodgers to bid them up to an absurd number. I don't want to do it for over 25 mil but I wouldn't touch him once it reaches 30.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

It's not our money. They can use the money they can no longer use to overpay draft picks to pay him. It's a wash.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

They need to spend whatever it takes on Soler.

Keith Law said otherwise. Said he's shorter to the ball and hitting lefties very well. This was on his top 25 prospect update from two weeks ago.

The most recent reports say its down to the Cubs and Yankees for Soler.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

The Jays are now rumored to be going after Soler harder than the Yankees who are reported to be in the 20 mil range which Theo will easily surpass.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Video: Anthony Rizzo hits a rocket off the scoreboard
By Andy Behrens | Roto Arcade – 2 hours 7 minutes ago

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Cubs prospect Anthony Rizzo hit a pair of homers for Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, his 19th and 20th of the season. Rizzo's first blast was basically your standard-issue center-field moonshot, clearing the fence just to the left of the 400-foot marker. Impressive enough, but not the sort of homer that deserves a celebratory blog post.
But Rizzo's second bomb ... well, wow. That one should probably get its own Toby Keith song. Please click the clip above, if you haven't done so already. That's just absurd.
The Des Moines Register's Randy Peterson offers a few additional details right here:
[Rizzo's] 20th homer was a line drive that was still going when it hit at least 40 feet high against the scoreboard.
"I hit that one well," said the usually unimpressed Rizzo, who had his fifth two-homer game of the season. "I don't know if I've hit many balls harder than that one."
I'm not sure anyone has hit a ball harder than that without the benefit of veterinary-grade drugs. Goodness.
Rizzo now leads the Pacific Coast League in home runs, slugging percentage (.721) and OPS (1.143), he ranks second in RBIs (53) and he's fourth in batting average (.363). Yes, the PCL is a notoriously hitter-friendly circuit, but you have to respect the fact that Rizzo is a category leader. The 22-year-old is crushing both left-handers and righties this year — 1.002 OPS vs. LHPs, 1.195 vs. RHPs — and he's worked to close the holes in his swing that were exploited by major league pitchers in 2011.
When the Cubs eventually call him up, you can expect Rizzo 2.0 to be much better than the version we saw last season with the Padres. He's been a one-man murderer's row at Iowa. We apparently won't see Rizzo in Chicago during interleague play — Alfonso Soriano will take DH duties against the White Sox — but he's mastered the highest level of minor league competition, so a call-up can't be too far off. If you've stashed Rizzo in a fantasy league, don't lose hope now.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantasy-roto-arcade/video-anthony-rizzo-hits-rocket-off-scoreboard-154626750--fantasy.html