Casey Coleman to Chicago, Carlos Silva to the DL

After experiencing a racing heart and chest discomfort, Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Silva spent what was probably a pretty scary night in the hospital. The good news is that everything checked out, but the bad news is that no one is yet quite sure what’s wrong with him – so the Cubs have put him on the 15-day disabled list.

To take his spot in the rotation, the team has called up AAA starter Casey Coleman, who joined the team today, together with fellow AAA starter Thomas Diamond, who is himself replacing departed starter Ted Lilly.

The Cubs called up right-handers Casey Coleman and Thomas Diamond from Triple-A Iowa. Coleman’s father, Joe, and his grandfather, Joe, both pitched in the big leagues, and they are the first family in Major League history to have three generations of pitchers in The Show.

Coleman, 23, was 10-7 with a 4.07 ERA in 20 starts at Iowa. He has struck out 59 in 117 1/3 innings and was holding batters to a .243 average. He doesn’t overpower hitters and has been described as a Greg Maddux-type pitcher.

His father, Joe, played from 1965-79, and made the 1972 All-Star Game with the Tigers. He faced Cubs manager Lou Piniella as well. Casey’s grandfather, Joe, had a 10-year Major League career from 1942-55, including an All-Star season in 1948. cubs.com.

In addition to the pedigree, Coleman comes with some hardware: he was the Cubs’ minor league pitcher of the year last year. Still, despite that achievement and the relative success this year in AAA at just 23, Coleman is not considered a top prospect, or a legitimate threat to take a future starting role in the Cubs’ rotation.

But he got the call over guys like Jay Jackson and Jeff Samardzija, so the Cubs clearly want to give him a shot. And hey, before last year, no one really believed Randy Wells would become a Major League starter, let alone one who would contend for Rookie of the Year.

In other news, it seems Carlos Zambrano will have to wait another week to work his way back into the rotation.

Obsessive Ted Lilly Trade Watch: Bundle of Rumors

A trio of rumors has popped up on Twitter regarding the Cubs’ efforts to deal Ted Lilly:

The market for Lilly has picked up, according to Stark. The Tigers are involved, and so are the Dodgers, Twins and Phillies.

The Phillies have inquired on Lilly, according to Rosenthal. Ed Price of AOL FanHouse hears rumblings about a possible Lilly-J.A. Happ deal. However, Stark hears that the Phils won’t deal Happ for Lilly. The Twins and Dodgers remain involved, but the Mets are waiting to hear “from above” before pursuing Lilly more aggressively, according to Rosenthal.

The Cubs have indicated a recent willingness to assume some of the $4.43MM owed to Lilly, reports ESPN’s Jayson Stark.  That’d help the chances of a Dodgers deal.  Unfortunately for the Cubs, potential Lilly suitors like the Mets and Tigers may be reassessing their chances. MLBTradeRumors.com.

Of the trio, the most intriguing bit is about JA Happ. You may recall that Happ was a studly semi-rookie last year for the Phillies (albeit at the ripe old age of 26/27), putting up a 2.93 ERA and a 1.235 WHIP. He fell on hard times this year, and has been recovering from the dreaded “sore elbow” for the better part of the season (he’s set to return this week).

Even with the injury concerns, getting Happ for Lilly would be a steal. He’s under cheap control for several years, and he’s proved effective at the Major League level. For those reasons, the odds that the Cubs could land Happ for Lilly straight up seem slim, unless of course Happ’s elbow concerns are more serious than the Phillies are presently letting on.

Obsessive Ted Lilly Trade Watch: Scouts A-Plenty Last Night

If Chicago Cubs starter Ted Lilly is not traded before Saturday’s trade deadline, it won’t be for a lack of visibility.

Eight top scouts were on hand to watch Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly and Astros right-hander Brett Myers pitch on Tuesday night in Houston.

Both pitchers are coveted by numerous teams as the trade deadline approaches on Saturday.

At least six teams have interest in Lilly, including the Twins, Tigers, Dodgers and Mets. According to major league sources, the Twins have been the most aggressive team in their pursuit of Lilly, although the Dodgers, who had early interest in the pitcher, may have found a way to pick up the $5.5 million left on his contract. ESPN Chicago.

This is the first we’ve heard of the Twins being “the most aggressive,” but with a stacked minor league system, a trade with the Twins is likely to yield a good return. It will be interesting to learn, over time, which the Cubs were more interested in: getting a team to take the rest of Lilly’s salary, or getting the best return in prospects. The answer could go a long way to setting us up for what the Ricketts Era will be like.

As for Lilly, he put together a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts, so it’s not as though he isn’t helping his cause (ironically, of course, as Lilly wants to stay with the Cubs).

Obsessive Ted Lilly Trade Watch: Ted Lilly “Will Get Traded”

We’re just a week away from the non-waive trade deadline, and the Chicago Cubs have yet to make a move. But having just lost two of three to the woeful Astros, the Cubs have no doubt cemented their status as sellers – and the first piece to go will probably be pitcher Ted Lilly.

Unlike the two guys above him on this list, there’s one thing we can say for sure about Lilly: He will get traded, probably any day now.

At least a half-dozen teams are still in on him — a group headed by the Tigers, Mets and Dodgers. And the Cubs are officially in nearly-everything-must-go mode. So not only are they confident they can trade this guy, but they Cubs are also telling teams they don’t have to pay any of the approximately $5.5 million he has left on his deal this year.

“They said they’re going to move him,” said an official of one club. “And they’ve got enough action where they won’t have to pay any of the money.”

But Lilly — who also has a limited no-trade clause — isn’t a fit for everybody. One scout said of him: “His velocity is down and he has to go to a club with a big park, a fly-ball park. He can’t pitch in a small park anymore.” But an executive of one team who loves him said: “He’s never been a velocity guy. He’s a pitcher. And he likes the action. He likes facing tough lineups. He likes facing those tough right-handed hitters. I really don’t see that decrease in velocity as an issue.”

It takes only one team that agrees with that assessment. And the Cubs, in this case, have a lot more than one to choose from. Jayson Stark.

That the Cubs are intent on not picking up any of Lilly’s remaining salary indicates that they are looking mostly to save money, and not to pick up the optimal return in prospects. Sure, if the market for Lilly is broad enough, the Cubs shouldn’t have to eat any of Lilly’s deal. But by refusing to do so, the Cubs limit that market – at least incrementally.

Still, it’s reassuring to hear that there are a number of teams interested in Lilly, who has greatly rehabilitated his value in his last two starts. They may have been his last as a Cub.

Obsessive Ted Lilly Trade Watch: The Dodgers Are A-Callin’

Though he didn’t even appear in the game, last night’s shellacking of Carlos Silva made it incrementally more likely that Chicago Cubs starter Ted Lilly would be traded. With just over a week to go before the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31, the Cubs are no doubt continuously evaluating their position vis a vis the other teams in the NL Central. And when you get blown out by one of the worst teams, it becomes a whole lot easier to think sell-sell-sell, even if it’s just “one game.”

With that as a backdrop, we can add another team to the list of suitors for Ted Lilly’s services: the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Losers of four in a row and with 13 of their next 17 games against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, the Dodgers, according to baseball sources, have been very aggressive in their pursuit of pitching, both for the rotation and the bullpen. They continue to call the Houston Astros on Roy Oswalt(notes), the Chicago Cubs on Ted Lilly(notes), the Diamondbacks on Haren and even the Cleveland Indians on Jake Westbrook(notes) and Fausto Carmona(notes). Yahoo! Sports.

The only team for which there have been reports of real talks or prospect scouting is the New York Mets, and recently those reports have cooled. It’s good to know there are a number of teams interested in Lilly – the Mets, Dodgers, Tigers, Yankees, Twins, White Sox, among others – but right now, concrete details are a scarcity.

Series Preview: Cubs v. White Sox, June 25 – June 27, 2010

The excitement of the BP Environmentally-Friendly Crosstown Cup is reaching a FEVER PITCH. Given this season’s performance of the two, er, one of the Chicago clubs, I’d say it’s a fitting that the rivalry is sponsored by a company associated, at present, with an oozing flow of oily sludge. Time for the Series Preview.

The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of hot chicks, too.

Check out the White Sox series preview, after the jump

Series Preview: Athletics v. Cubs, June 15 – June 17, 2010

The Chicago Cubs begin their second AL West interleague series today as the Oakland Athletics head to Wrigley. Hopefully the Cubs play the Athletics as well as they played their AL West chums, the Texas Rangers. Time for the Series Preview.

The idea is to hook you up with the bare minimum of what you need to know about every series this year. That way you can look like a genius, hardcore fan in front of all your friends, with minimum effort. Oh, and there will be pictures of hot chicks, too.

Check out the Athletics series preview, after the jump

Will Ryan Theriot Be Shopped This Year?

If the Chicago Cubs continue falling out of contention, you know as well as I do that we will daily be bombarded with rumors/ideas/suggestions about which players the Cubs should unload, and which players they should keep for the future.

Well, I’m here to start bombarding you.

Ryan Theriot presents an interesting case. Now that he’s been supplanted as the starting shortstop, his future with the Cubs beyond 2010 is in doubt. Then again, there is not an heir apparent at second base, waiting in the wings. Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker could platoon there, but neither is the “future” at second base. Darwin Barney looks like a solid future utility player, but not a future starter.

Theriot led off and played second base — roles that don’t necessarily match his skill set — in each of the Cubs’ past two games. He doesn’t walk as often as a classic leadoff hitter. And is he really more productive than a platoon of Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker?

Theriot was never regarded as a great defensive shortstop, but he’s shown that he can play the position. The Padres, Tigers, Twins and A’s are among the contenders who have had below-average production at shortstop, but there are no indications that those clubs have interest in Theriot.

For that reason, there’s no need for Hendry to rush. (Also: Castro is hitting .227 since his first 10 games in the majors.) But if enough teams need a shortstop by early July, the GM should act.

It helps that Theriot wouldn’t be too expensive. He’s earning $2.6 million in his first year of salary arbitration. FOX Sports on MSN.

Theriot’s value on the market could vary wildly between teams. Some will view him as less than a starter, while others will see him as a cheap starter at shortstop. The Cubs would be wise to feel out the market over the next few weeks, especially if they do not expect to tender Theriot a contract at the end of this season.

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