IMO, the Tigers have moved him way too fast. As for the dead arm issues, obviously we would have to look at everything. I am not trying to be rude to the Tiger poster who was over here expressing his opinion, but their system is not deep. They have really 2 top notch players and then a lot of huge question marks. Could Smyly be a good pitcher for them at the back end of their rotation? Sure. But his ceiling is low and he has a screw in his throwing elbow. Castellanos looks like he could very well be an MLB Allstar down the road. Turner is also another young big arm(but obviously if these dead arm reports are accurate, they are alarming).

"I am not trying to be rude to the Tiger poster who was over here expressing his opinion, but their system is not deep"

I take no offense at all. I know we don't have a deep system which is why I had the thought of adding a current ML player in Porcello and then we would have to take the risk on our farm guys (personally I think Smyly can be a strong 4 or 5 with few problems). Crosby has a lot of upside too but the tommy john surgery worries me a little, has better stuff than Oliver though.

Would you pull the trigger on the deal if we offered more quality over quantity? Something like
Turner, Porcello, & Adam Wilk/Daniel Fields?

Wilk had a tough spring but has shown the ability to start and pitch in relief & Fields is a power/speed combo CF that could replace Soriano in a few years. He needs to hit for contact more consistently though.

BUMP

MarKo,

I think the cat needs to switch over to Metallica's "Whiskey in the Jaro"

So Sayeth the God of WAR!

Love Metallica`s version of that song
The cat agrees

We should be trying to extend Garza now not trying to trade our best pitcher who also is young and part of our future. Why would we trade our best pitcher? He is not overpaid. He is young. He has proven himself in the majors. It would be nothing more than just making a trade to make a trade. No one is going to give us a better pitcher than he is.

If we cannot extend him by August then there will be a number of teams looking for a good pitcher and his value would skyrocket. That is if he is pitching well.

I think we are about as ready to go to war as we are going to get at this point. Our starters have the potential to be very good or not? I am a little more optimistic today than I was two months ago. This team could finish last in the division or surprise us all. Being a Cub fan I chose to believe we will be better than expected. I do not deal in reality when it comes to the Cubs. I deal in hopes and dreams at this time of the year because we will start the season tied for first place. I have to think our new manager and VP are going to add something to this team. Some of our position players have had a great spring. That includes Soriano and Barney. First & Third are still unknown. Catching looks ok and we have a backup who can hit. Great bench in my opinion. Starters look good. Marmol remains a mystery and could lose his job to Wood if he falters. Smarj really showed some strong stuff this spring and could be a major surprise this year. Our SS will hit. RF is well defended and he has the potential to be a good hitter. Just over a week and we wil come out of the trenches.

Right now isn't quite the right time to look at extending Garza. Give it until near or just after the deadline to get those talks going.