Illini Iceman
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Everything posted by Illini Iceman
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So now we have reached the point on this board that when someone doesn't agree with your point it is now free game to call them "meatballs" or some other insult? Now? That point was reached long ago. This place would be great with some effective moderators that weren't afraid to put the handful of 10,000+ post bullies in their place. This place would absolutely go to hell if people weren't allowed to put the "Aramis should bunt so the [expletive] players feel better about themselves" crowd in their place What does wanting Ramirez to bunt or not have to do with calling someone a meatball (whatever the hell that is) because he has the audacity to think that a guy that quit on his team already once in his career because he wasn't happy with his pay might possibly do the same again?
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So now we have reached the point on this board that when someone doesn't agree with your point it is now free game to call them "meatballs" or some other insult?
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I love how some people honestly think that playing hurt makes a guy so much more of a team player than admitting you are injured and will be ineffective and giving a healthy teammate a chance. I don't get how the former is more admirable than the latter. It's like the starting pitcher who is gassed talking the manager into leaving him in the game to face one more batter and giving up a home run. Yay for him, what a warrior.
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The grounding was questionable but didn't wind up hurting them. The helmet to helmet was a valid call.
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What? Why would how much he's making have anything to do with his motivation? His history seems to indicate the amount he gets paid means a lot to him since he basically quit on the Red Sox and forced them to trade him when they wouldn't agree to give him the contract he thought he was worth.
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At least you have Phil Rogers on your side. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-110122-mlb-whispers-rogers,0,327922.story Brilliant analysis.
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Just out of curiosity, who have we really blocked in recent years? Micah Hoffpauir? Jake Fox? Sam Fuld? If we had a shred of the talent in our system that The Rays have, I assure you that they wouldnt be asting away in Iowa. No, no, and no. Pie was the main guy I was thinking of. Although he was up, he wasn't given any sort of chance to work through anything. Neifi/Macias blocked Cedeno. Koyie Hill would have kept Chirinos down and didn't we sign Trachsel when either Rich or Sean could've been the 5th starter? I wouldn't say Pie was blocked, he was given the opening day job as starting CF. It was more a case of lack of patience. Keep in mind that the Rays have Desmond Jennings who probably is as ready as Pie was back then and they are now kind of blocking him with Damon so it isn't that different. Manny kind of makes sense because they need the DH anyway and he is super cheap but the amount they will pay for Damon considering how much production he will give over what Jennings would have done seems to be more of a play to drum up interest and sell tickets.
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Somehow I can't see Manny being too motivated when he is only making $2M a year. I don't think this will end well.
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Even if Hendry is correct about all the things he said (very unlikely) I still find it very hard to believe that Hill would have enough value to any other team that he couldn't have non-tendered him and still gotten him back on a spring training invite since a lot of the intangible worth he is claiming is based on specific knowledge of the Cubs roster.
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Opinions on Beane giving up his second round pick and a good chunk of his limited payroll for a relief pitcher? I can only imagine the outrage if it was Hendry.....
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What is the deadline to release Hill before they have to pay him whatever they sign him for prior to arbitration?
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A good starting pitcher would go along way. Well, they just got one. What now? Can the Cubs win the division with this roster? C - Soto 1B - Pena 2B - DeWitt SS - Castro 3B - Ramirez LF - Soriano CF - Byrd RF - Fukudome/Colvin Garza Zambrano Dempster Wells Cashner Marmol Wood Marshall Grabow and a bunch of other possibilities to round out the pen. I think Samardzija is pretty much a lock to make the bullpen since I believe he is out of options.
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Seriously. The fact is that the Cubs still have a very high payroll and I have to think that Ricketts wants them to be at least competitive for that kind of cost. It is not like the payroll is $30M and they can just call it a rebuilding year. Realistic or not, when you have an over $100M payroll you aren't going to just roll over for two years and watch attendance and TV ratings tank while you have that kind of expense on the books. That might not be a great pure baseball strategy, but it is a business as well. Moves like this at least keep the fans interested enough to keep them coming to games and there is enough talent out there that if a few guys have strong years and the team avoids key injuries the playoffs are not out of the question.
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Rozner is probably just bitter that they didn't name Sandberg the manager.
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All indications are that the Royals wanted major league ready players, so insert Cashner for Archer and/or Castro for Lee.
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Couldn't you use the same argument to say that if Archer develops into a 3 win pitcher then Jackson or Carpenter will be maybe a 1.5 win pitcher so giving away Archer in this trade eventually would only cost you a win or two anyway. It is a bit risky of a move, but to me this is what big market teams do. Small market teams like the Rays have to move their arbitration eligible players and roll the dice on prospects. Teams like the Cubs should be able to swoop in and get those guys who are more sure things because they can afford to pay them. As long as they keep drafting and developing well in the minors there will be enough guys to go around where they can trade some (Archer / Lee) and keep others (Castro / Cashner) for the big league club. It seems like a big deal to give you your #1 prospect but Archer was only #1 because the Cubs aggressively promoted their two true blue chip prospects last season.
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Felix Pie flips out in Winter League game
Illini Iceman replied to UMFan83's topic in General Baseball Talk
Impressive base running with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs in the bottom of the 11th. -
Fisher is making it as obvious as possible he wants nothing to do with Young: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14348556/titans-fisher-young-apologizes-via-text-message
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Love that small ball. Sacrifice the out, leading to having to pull your stud starter for a pinch hitter and nothing to show for it unless you get the 2 out hit that would have scored the run anyway.
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You mean other than fumbling a fair catch at their own 15 yard line with 30 seconds left in the half?
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Rangers just swept the Yankees a couple of weeks ago. Before the playoffs started I thought the Yankees were a better matchup for the Rangers than the Rays. Congrats to Nolan Ryan. Knowing he will need to lean on him for the rest of the playoffs was it necessary for Washington to let Lee go out for the ninth with a 4 run lead and wind up with 120 pitches?
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Well, he's 1 for 1, as Fredi returns to Atlanta. That was the easy one though. I know there are only so many managerial jobs available but I just don't see why anyone would want to take the Pirates job when you know there is virtually no way to succeed there.
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Bears Game 5: Sunday Oct 10th at Carolina, Noon on FOX
Illini Iceman replied to UMFan83's topic in Other Sports
Yes for 2 reasons: 1) Haine doesn't have a noodle arm like Collins has. I'm not saying he has a strong arm but he can move it down field if need be. He's better suited to run watered down version of Martz's offense 2) He is definitely somewhat mobile, which Collins is anythin but. So if the offensive line fails as it has in some or all of the 4 games we've played, we have Collins in there waiting to get plowed or Hanie who can get out of the pocket and at least run a couple yards forward instead of 7 yards back. I think the lack of mobility might be good in this case. Cutler was getting himself in trouble by not just dumping the ball off or throwing it away when he was under pressure. They need a qb this week that takes his drop and gets rid of the ball. Trying to buy extra time and scrambling around is just likely to cause more problems. -
Bears game 4: Sunday Oct. 3 at NYG on NBC
Illini Iceman replied to jersey cubs fan's topic in Other Sports
The Cutler body language is not encouraging. -
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-1004-cubs-bits--20101003,0,7699796.story If all there was to get out of Koyie Hill in September / Oct was a .195 BA / .250 OBP / .293 SLG then hopefully the Cubs are smart enough that Koyie won't be around in Mesa next spring to greet whoever gets the permanent job.