Samardzija to stay; whither Lieber and Eyre?
That wasn't hard to figure, was it? A few minutes after Jeff Samardzija earned a 2-inning save today, Lou was talking about how "impressive" he was and how the Cubs may have "found" the bullpen arm they've been looking for.
If nothing else, Lou loves, just loves, "power arms" in his bullpen. Samardzija is certainly that even though he's rough around the edges. As long as he's up with the Cubs, there will be times he struggles, and there will be times when he has trouble throwing strikes. But with Lou, first impressions are everything, and Samardzija has made a good one. In 4 innings, he has no walks, 5 strikeouts, 1 save and 1 blown save.
That brings us to Scott Eyre, whom Lou called "Stevie Ire" much of last season, when Eyre made anything but a good first impression. Eyre has been off the DL for a few days now, but Lou hasn't turned to him, instead going with rookie Samardzija in game situations and Sean Marshall and Neal Cotts from the left side. One wonders how long Eyre and little-used long man Jon Lieber have with the Cubs.
Lieber is still on the DL, but as with Eyre, the Cubs are in no hurry to put him back on the active roster. With Chad Gaudin, who came over from Oakland in the Rich Harden trade, pitching well, it's possible Eyre and Lieber could be dealt or released.
Bruce,
As history as shown, you can always find some team at the deadline enamored with having an extra lefty reliever. Eyre is a free agent after this season, and given Lou's attitude towards him, it is very doubtful that Hendry brings him back next season let alone run the risk of offering arbitration. So, I say let him pitch one inning on Mon, Tue or Wed, and then move him to an AL team desperate for bullpen help.
As for Lieber, he does have a decent 3.43 ERA, but has given up an earned run in each of his last 4 relief outings which suggests a negative trend (or maybe real injury as the DL suggests). Given Gaudin and Samardijiza, I think he's expendable too especially with Hart and Wuertz still in Iowa. I doubt there's a market for Lieber, so we're probably looking at DFA.
The guy who really needs to be moved is one-pitch Bob Howry. Even my 10 year old asked me at the game Friday if Bob can pitch anything other than a 91 mph fastball. He's so predictable! Why is Lou so enamored with this guy? His ERA was worse than Eyre's. Given his free agent status at the end of the season, I would like to see him moved now - his reputation would attract somebody in need of relief help. I think a bullpen of Wood, Marmol, Samardzija, Marshall, Cotts, Gaudin and Lieber would be okay.
If you're worried about keeping Lieber, then why not just package Eyre and Howry in a trade for some prospects and then package those prospects with another player in Cubs' inventory into another deal for a Fuentes or Sherrill or x,y or z.
Hoopscubs
Lou being enamored with Howry will wane with every good performance by Samardzija. Then we'll see what happens when Wood comes back. I don't see Eyre fetching too much in a trade but Hendry might try.