Carlos Silva seems happy to be with the Cubs, perhaps because Chicagoans aren't as body image conscious as those hippies in Seattle:

"I always prepare myself for spring training," he said. "To be a big guy doesn't mean anything. If you are in good condition and great shape, you can do your work. For me, I can run however much they want me to run.

"That was one of the (bad) things with Seattle. Here, they want to get me back on track in my pitching. They don't worry about my size or my weight. In Seattle, they were worried more about my weight than anything else. I feel more comfortable here. Getting people out is what matters. I'm not out of shape at all. Ask the trainers."

Men's Fitness magazine agrees! But do the Cubs?

(click "read more" for full article)

The trainers aren't allowed to speak with the media, but pitching coach Larry Rothschild gave an honest appraisal.

"You'd like him to lose some weight," he said. "And we've talked to him about it. He has gone through all the running and everything else, and he doesn't look like he gets that tired. His appearance may be deceptive. We'll see once we get into games if (the weight) is affecting his delivery and his ability to pitch well."

There are some chunky-ish pitchers who have pitched well: CC Sabathia, Rick Sutcliffe, Babe Ruth.

As far as Silva's insistence that "getting people out is what matters," that's absolutely true. The Cubs wouldn't care if he weighed 800 pounds if he got everybody out, but that hasn't exactly been his forte in recent years.