While Christian was away on business last week, I dropped him a line with a few questions, and he responded in kind.

Alex
1) How was your trip?

Christian
Good! Really good for business (we were introducing a new product and a new sales manager so there was a lot to do) and also fun for me because I got to see Will Carroll a few times, get a copy of his book, do the radio show, see a minor league game, and have a fantastic steak dinner at St. Elmo's.

Alex
2) The Cubs offense has cooled considerably after a hot start. How strong do you think the offense really is?

Christian
Somewhere between a team that scores 7 runs a game and a team that scores 2 runs a game. I'll say an average of 4 1/2 runs/game (729 runs for the season) sounds about right, and as long as the pitching stays above-average, that will allow the Cubs to stay in the race.

Alex
3) Are you feeling better about Mark Prior?

Christian
Yes I am. I had a dream about him over the weekend -- in the dream, he threw about 50 pitches off the mound, mixed in his curveball and slider well, had command of all three pitches, and reported no pain. Also, he was pitching in the middle of a lake. I'm not sure what that means.

Alex
4) Which of the Cubs prospects do you think we'll be seeing sooner than later, and why?

Christian
I don't know if we'll see any for a while. On the pitching side, you've got guys coming back soon (Prior, Remlinger, maybe Dempster) that would preclude calling up any more of the prospects. On the offensive side of the ball, once Grudz comes back, Walker's going to be without a job so he'll get first crack at almost any position if someone gets hurt.

If forced to give a name, I'll say Jason DuBois.

Now a couple for you:

1) Should the Cubs plug Glendon Rusch into the #5 rotation slot, or keep giving the ball to Mitre?

Alex
No. Absolutely not. No. Mitre wasn't so great in his last start, but he's had several very nice outings, and it would be silly to just replace him based on his last outing. But I'm not anti-Rusch, either, and think he may be fairly good out of the bullpen. He doesn't walk a lot of guys, and had some success out of the bullpen towards the end of last year.

Christian
2) Do you think Dusty really doesn't put two and two together with walks (on the batting side vs. the pitching side), or is there something else going on there?

Alex
I really don't know. One guess: Dusty may be so obsessed with not striking out that he simply doesn't see not walking as a problem. Baker was a pretty good contact hitter when he played; he could walk a bit, but it wasn't a big part of his game. Maybe he's just valuing qualities similar to those he once possessed.

I also think he's a bit of a contrarian. Dusty seems to like to turn questions on their head or give an "unexpected" answer. So when a writer approaches him and says, "Hey, what do you think about all those walks those Moneyball teams talk about", I think Baker's instinct is to counter, "Let me tell you something those wise guys don't know."

Christian
3) What should be done with Todd Walker when Grudz comes back?

Alex
I'm tempted to say Todd Walker should start every game, but I'm also tempted by the Mister Softee truck that is rolling by my apartment at this moment, and I'm going to say "no" to both. I'd start Walker when Wood, Mitre/Prior, and Clement are on the mound, Grudz with the other two, and consider using Walker as an offensive (i.e. "on-base") threat late in the game as well as the first option when spelling Alou. And I actually think Baker is going to find it awful hard to sit Walker after the kind of start he's had.

Christian
4) What are you doing going to Mets games? Have you no Cubs pride?

Alex
Oh c'mon, the Mets are harmless. Plus the current crop of Mets fans have a sweet, cynical side that I find charming. They generally know that their team is sucky, but they still have some optimism that everything will fall together and they'll make a dramatic run towards the wild card. In that way, they kind of remind me of a certain other fan base...

Oh, and you wouldn't have me hanging out with the Yankee dudes, would you?