CubinNY

Zell has a stake in the Sox. I don't think Canning does too, although I'm not positive about that. Let's straighten this part out. Canning has an 11% ownership interest in the Brewers. Zell has a 7% ownership interest in the White Sox. Thanks, the Brewers then. Well, I'd say the odds of him owning the Cubs went from overwhelming to pert'near

I actually like this game that Mariotti is playing. Mariotti, for better or for worse, is an incredibly popular sports columnist. I have my doubts about how effective his game may be, but there's a decent chance that Canning could be passed over despite being the favorite among Selig and his ilk if Cuban's bid is larger and proves to have the financial wherewithal to support the team after the sale. The stakes are really high for Selig if they select Canning in this case, because if he fails to build success on the North Side, there is going to be significant backlash and people are really going to begin calling into question as to how the MLB is selecting its owners. A slim chance, but I think that possibility is in play. Cuban is an overwhelming favorite amongst Cub fans to buy the team, and being as concerned about PR and profitability as Selig is, he might want to avoid the trouble if Cuban's bid is equal to or greater than Canning's. All speculation on my part, it's quite possible that Canning could be better suited to financially steward our franchise, but if he's not and gets the team anyway, it could get pretty interesting, especially around here. Does anyone know what the remaining steps are to selling the team? I assume that since the three finalists are now able to look at the books that all that is left is a submission of the bids and evidence of the bidder's financial ability to support the team long-term. Anyone know for sure? I don't know what steps are next. But history tells us that baseball owners sell to other baseball owners. Loria and Henry were both minority owners before they were able to buy teams outright. Henry held a large minority stake in the Yankees for years before they let him have the Marlins and Loria owned 35% of the Expos. Since Canning already has a stake in the WS I'd say the chances of him being the next owner of the Cubs are overwhelming. Cuban has a Chinaman's chance of owning the Cubs, which is to say not much of one.

For some reason I'm picturing a guy laughing as he's making this stuff up. I also picture 25 "guests" refreshing this page after each teaser. Putting stock in message board rumors is never a good idea.

Why are you gettng angry?

He should probably join the TV booth instead to fill the roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes of blank air Hawk leaves available when the Sox are losing. LOL.There is gonna be alot of that tihs year. Music to my ears. All the more reason for WGN to drop the Sox games and add more Cubs games! Add more Cubs games? But the old "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "The Jeffersons" reruns are ratings gold! Gold, I tell you! Don't forget American Idol Rewind. I can't get enought of Justin and Kelly, Clay and the fat man, and the non-descipts from the rest of the years.

He doesn't speak English, they could tell him that's a chicago cheer. I don't think booing effects most players as much as we think it does. I could be wrong though.

I'm fine with the deal b/c Murton and Patterson had no future with the Cubs. Sean hurts, but you have to give up some percieved value for Roberts. I think the Cubs gave too much, but as long as they weren't intending to give a shot to Murton (in LF to start) and playing patterson out of positon (how bad can his defense be?) It really is a good trade for the Cubs. They gave up little (in their eyes) to get a pretty good 2nd baseman. I hope Murton tears it up next year.

For me they would be a lot more easy to take if they team had a higher OBP.

I see Clemens' balls haven't been diminished by steriod use. The same cannot be said about his reasoning ability.

First, let's dispense with the groupthink stuff. There are a few people who are not sold on Pie. There are others who like him but at the same time think he has good trade value. There are others who think he shouldn't be traded. It all depends on who he is traded for should he be traded.

I want to like Pie, but if he could help to get the Cubs Bedard and Roberts I'm all for trading him tomorrow. I have little faith in the Cubs pitching staff, especially Zambrano. I think all the abuse is catching up to Big Z. Trading Pie makes the Cubs better in 2008 at least until 2010.

No actually it is because the Cubs didn't offer him a contract. Wrong again. It's both. The Cubs did offer a contract, just not the one that Prior wanted. Then the Cubs refused to offer a standard contract. Sorry, that's not the case. The Cubs didn't want to abide by the "standard" contract so they attempted to get Prior to sign a more "team friendly" deal. After all, he's been stealing money for years and years. When Prior didn't want that they cut him lose. The decision was solely up to the Cubs.

Some beliefs are so ridiculous that they can be refuted without numbers. Empirical, BTW means objective observation, two things which Cuse cannot be accused of when it comes to Prior.

No actually it is because the Cubs didn't offer him a contract. Wrong again.

Just a gut call, but I really don't want 3 lefties in the rotation. I'd rather have the Cubs pursue Blanton - he'd be under team control for 3 seasons. How does what hand a guy throws with factor into a decision? It makes little sense to me.

I don't think 172 ab's is enough to come to that conclusion. As for the "not enough contact, not enough walks to stay on a big league team" thing, couldn't the same be said for Soriano? Actually, no the same thing cannot be said about Soriano. Ankiel will be 28 next year and put up these numbers in a very friendly hitting environment in the PCL last year. .267 .314 .568 .882 Not bad SLG (but out of line with previous years). Nothing to get excited about either. Maybe he's a 4th OF but he'll get exposed next year, especially if he's off the juice.

Ankiel's future has to be considered up in the air at this point, as the commish is apparently going to be probing all over the lives of those named in Mitchell's report. Ankiel has no future in baseball. He was supposed to be a feel good story for one year. He doesn't make enough contact and doesn't take enough walks to stay on a "real" major league team for a year. Which is to say he might make the Cardinals team out of ST.

What's the point of not punishing past behavior and still naming names?

Me either. Would Soriano consider trying CF again. If he started training for it now he may make it a full season. Just a thought, but I wouldn't count on it. I don't think Lou would try him in CF again. Lou is old school, he likes power from "power positions" and he seems to like defense up the middle. He put the screws to Barrett pretty quick in ST and he didn't last a year behind the plate when his hitting went into the crapper. I also think this factors into why Murton has been relegated to bench duty. He doesn't hit for enough power and Lou likes a "balanced" line up. It's also Hendry's MO per sey (not that he actually has an MO), but he seems to try to get the manager players that fit the manager's proclivity. He is the exact opposite of Beane.

Well, la-dee-dah, God of the Interwebs. That's Lord of the Interwebs to you. All we need now are hat measurements, calve sizes, and acne counts to make this mockery of a witch hunt complete.

As predicted, this is the stupidist thread in NSBB history. Thank you George Mitchell and MLB

I wouldn't be overly concerned about Bowden leaving Auburn during the middle of the '98 season. Bobby Lowder, the same powerful board member who wanted to replace Tuberville with Petrino a few years back, had it in for Bowden that year. Without question, Bowden was going to be fired before the end of '98. That said, I don't believe Bowden is a great coach or recruiter; he wasn't with Auburn. He inherited a lot of talent from Pat Dye, and his Auburn teams consequently went 11-0 and 9-1-1 in '93 and '94. However, by the time he left in '98, the cupboard was bare, and his team was 1-5 when he resigned. Tuberville replaced Bowden, went 5-6 in '99, has turned the program around thereafter. I honestly can't provide a lot of expert analysis about Terry, but I'm pretty sure he has more experience and would have more input with the offensive side of the ball. Bottom line, my perception is that he wasn't a great coach ten years ago. Wasn't Bowden sleeping with a cheerleader or something? UCLA has some hoterific looking cheerleaders.

He'll pitch for the NYY and become a "true" Yankee, helping them to win multiple World Series titles and Cub fans will then spite him for taking money and leaving.

that's just a ridiculous statement. Sorry we can't put a number on it so you could understand it. well, sure, when you just pull stuff out of your ass, it's hard to put a number on it. Wouldn't that be number 2? What if you adjust for league and park factors? 1.89 NL 2.25 AL

Where is your proof/evidence?