CubinNY

My opinion on Nomar is that he wants a chance to show he can still play. However, he commands a large salary. I think it would be hard for a team to pay a guy 5 or 6 million to be a utility player. I would love to have Nomar. I think he is a "good" guy, or it seems that way from afar. But the Cubs already signed Neifi to fill Nomar's role. If the Cubs unload Walker and don't get Furcal I would hope Hendry makes a call to Nomar's agent and asks if he is willing to play 2nd base for a 1 year contract the is based mostly on PAs. I don't think Nomar will sign any time soon. But then again I am usually wrong about this stuff.

I said Harold Reynolds because the both talk as if they have marbles in thier mouths.

Because if he's not protected he could be taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft (see: Sisco, Andy). But there is no way Dope sticks on a big league team next year.

No it is an hour away from Tampa and it is in St. Petersburg (sorry if I wasn't clear in the last post). At least it took me an hour to get there from Ybor City the one time I went. To me the stadium had the feel of an empty warehouse. Maybe they didn't have the lights turned up or something but it was like a night game. but the biggest problem is the owner. Agree?

Ronny is ready!!!!! The Cubs should send Dusty down to Venezuela to catch some Peacock Bass and watch Ronny. My worst fear is that Ronny will not hit in ST and Neifi will be handed the job.

Aren't the Cubs offering a 4 for 40? Not that I want Furcal for that kind of money but I would take the Cubs offer b/c of the year.

They don't support baseball beacuse of bad buisnes. In Tampa the owner built a god awful stadium an hour away from down town in St. Petersburg. The place is dark and well, artificial. In Miami Mr. Blockbuster video wanted to build a theme park and place a baseball team in the middle. And he wanted the state and Dade county to foot the bill. They balked so he gutted then sold the team. Before that the Marlins were very popular. And guess who he sold them to? Mr. "I ruined baseball in Canada". In his time as the owner of the Marlins Loria has done nothing but piss off every constituency possible. The fans, the sports writers, the city of Miami, the Miami-Dade County gov., Broward County gov. In 2003, they didn't even print up enough media guides or Programs for opening day. In many respects I believe baseball survives in spite of ownership, not because of it. In Pittsburgh and KC they've lost not becuase people don't come to the ball park but because of bad baseball decisions (bad trades, bad contracts, bad drafts). Put a winner in KC and people will come. Put a winner in Pittsburgh and people will come. They did in the past and will in the future. In Cincinatti people come already. If you ever go to Wrigley (I don't know if it beneath you to travel to Chicago) when the Cubs play the Reds a good 25% of the crowd are Reds fans. Baseball can survive in Florida and the midwest.

Here is how it works: 1. One cannot blame Hendry for '04 or '05 becuase of injuries and bad luck. 2. One cannot judge Hendry's off-season until the offseason is over 3. Once Spring Training starts one cannot say he had a crappy off-season until after the 06 season 4. After the season, see point one and add in '06. And so it goes.

When was the last time you where in Pittsburg? I was there last year for a few Cub games over the couse of a weekend. The city is alive and well. The downtown is thriving and they have new shopping and tourism attractions. IMO, the problem is that they haven't been good in a long time. If the Steelers can sell out Heinz field, the Pirates can sell out PNC. Why would I want to go to Pittsburgh? Yikes! So what, they threw a bunch of government money to bring alive downtown. So did Cincy. It still doesn't change the fact that they're both old economy cities. Both places should be one sport towns. Send the baseball franchises to the East or West Coast or to Chicago. whatever. I just find it funny (not really) that you would bag on a place you know nothing about. The old economy you talk about was gone a long time ago. But to each his own I guess.

When was the last time you where in Pittsburg? I was there last year for a few Cub games over the couse of a weekend. The city is alive and well. The downtown is thriving and they have new shopping and tourism attractions. IMO, the problem is that they haven't been good in a long time. If the Steelers can sell out Heinz field, the Pirates can sell out PNC. Why would I want to go to Pittsburgh? Yikes! So what, they threw a bunch of government money to bring alive downtown. So did Cincy. It still doesn't change the fact that they're both old economy cities. Both places should be one sport towns. Send the baseball franchises to the East or West Coast or to Chicago. whatever. I just find it funny (not really) that you would bag on a place you know nothing about. The old economy you talk about was gone a long time ago. But to each his own I guess.

Where does Pittsburgh rank in revenue with the likes of Oakland, Minnesota, Cleveland and Florida? I have no idea, but I wager they are on the same side of the scale. Am guessing the same. Considering regional economics, I'm not expecting much from Cincy, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Milwaukee, for quite some time. Yes, they might have a good year from time to time, like Cleveland did last year, but those regions are continuning to decline economically. Either they need someone like Cuban or Billy Beane needs to clone himself or baseball needs a salary cap like the NFL. How do you explain the Minnesota Twins????????? They just nabbed the best 2nd in the NL.

When was the last time you where in Pittsburg? I was there last year for a few Cub games over the couse of a weekend. The city is alive and well. The downtown is thriving and they have new shopping and tourism attractions. IMO, the problem is that they haven't been good in a long time. If the Steelers can sell out Heinz field, the Pirates can sell out PNC.

If the Cards expect that Monday "deadline" to be a promise, they're really, really dumb. Setting a deadline the day Winter Meetings begin is a pretty obvious negotiation move. Apparently the Cards threw in a Tractor and a House with a Cement Pond to seal the deal. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

He's a SS/2nd. In the post steriod era I firmly believe those numbers are what most goood middle infielders will put up.

Not many. How many players dominate in the minors and go on to have average or better careers in the pros? Many ------------------- The caveat to this trade is to find out who the PTBL is. If he is a decent or better prospect, I don't have much of a quibble with the trade.

If either Eyre or Howry put together back to back season like JoBO did I'd be ecstatic. and JVB had at least a chance to do for around the league minimum.

Based on what? I looked at their results. His minor league stats are much more impressive than those 3, and Novoa is the only one younger. Stats don't tell the whole story. There are always going to be players who have stellar minor leagues stats who flop in the bigs while players who have lesser minor leagues stats go on to be successful. A sly pitcher with less than great stuff can dominate in the minors, but you have to go with ability when evaluating talent. Welly, Novoa and Wuertz all have better arms and stuff than JVB does. I'll echo Mr. There, Based on what? JVB was a Pitcher of the Year in the minors according to Baseball America.

Dempster too. Dempster I agree with. However, I can do without the high wire act every other outing.

:thumleft: I don't think Furcal would do it though. I really don't want the Cubs to sign Furcal for 10/5.

Not at all since Hendry set the market value for relievers. I'd probably call Hendry an accomplice.

or the terrible way the Cubs handled Sosa leaving earliy? take your pick.

I'm sure you didn't mean anything by that comment, but I find it sort of offensive. The way its states makes it seem like you're saying non-premium members are somehow less important, or don't care as much. If I had the money I would gladly pay for Premium, it's a great site. I have posted here a while, since 2003. Eventually maybe I'll be able to fork over the money for Premium, but for the time being, I'm just a 'regular' member. Hopefully its okay for guys like me to 'post nonsense' here. I don't think you should take it personally. It was an attack on the posts that those two made. It really didn't have much to do with non-premium members vs. premium members. It had to do with inflamitory posts that had little basis in reality.

The board is on the DL :)

Even if Giles is 70% as effective he still is only making 10 mill/year. In three years that probably won't be that much for a putting up those numbers. He was the perfect fit. I understand if he wasn't interested in leaving the WC. Maybe Hendry knew and that is why he didn't persue, who knows.

To me, he showed much more potential than Welly or Novoa or Wuertz. I guess maybe the BoSox saw what I did. I hope that PTBNL is a very good one. Wuertz> JVB Did you check JVB's and Wuertz's minor league numbers? Weurtz is 2 years ahead of JVB in his progress. What does that mean? They aren't hard boiled eggs