biittner77

Oh God No. At least if he comes back he will be at RT and not left. I hope. Keep in mind that years on an NFL contract are not meaningful since they're not guaranteed. 3 years allows them to stretch out the signing bonus and gives them some flexibility in case, God help us, they want to keep St. Clair past this season. St. Clair might be serviceable at RT. Can he really be much worse than Tait? Of course getting better at a position would be nice but with many other needs it's better the Bears take the best available and make it work than reach for an OL.

back then they used to make a big deal out of anyone that could throw 90 mph.

Am I the only person who saw the thread title and thought that it meant they would miss the first turn through the season and not ST? It's Wood and Prior all over again.

I haven't seen this game since watching it live in '84. I'll never forget Costas saying "Barring a miracle, Willie McGee is our ____ player of the game." right before Sandberg hit the 2nd HR then him saying "hold everything" afterwards.

condensed version: they don't like Old Style's chances.

Flomax (see thread title)

Assuming they're facing a RH starter on opening day here is your lineup: Soriano Fontenot Ramirez Bradley Lee Soto Fukudome Theriot Zambrano (Though it could also be Dempster) This lineup has the L-R balance that old school guys like Piniella like. Lee gets to bat ahead of Soto out of respect but it's ok because that gives Soto lots of people to drive in. Fukudome switches places with Fontenot once he shows that he's turned it around.

I'm surprised they don't have a Boston or New York sports website. Oh wait, they already have 2 TV networks for them.

No, the Gathright acquisition was because he knew he was going to get rid of Pie. He didn't need to replace Pie since he already had a backup CF in Johnson or Fukudome depending on who's starting that day.

The Orioles are in a situation where they have to overpay for guys like Roberts if they want to keep him. He's a fan favorite which shouldn't enter into the equation too much for competitive teams. But the O's have really no chance the next 2 years unless they get really really lucky with some of their young pitchers. Roberts- deservedly or not- is the face of the franchise. I'd bet he is their #1 selling Jersey- he is around here and it's not even close. So overpaying Roberts for the 4th year probably helps the fanbase not feel as bad about going to Camden Yards.

I wonder how much Hendry considered the offers he got for Fukudome? It would at least explain the otherwise inexplicable Gathright acquisition.

I'm wondering, is this sarcasm? I'm not sure I've ever heard the words endurance and Marshall in the same sentence. His lack of endurance is the main issue that may keep him out of the rotation. Using someone with Marshall's talent as a loogy would be really stupid. If that's what you meant then I agree. Though even if he doesn't win the 5th spot out of ST I'd bet Marshall starts 10-15 games for the Cubs over the course of the season.

so was his back still hurt in winter ball? and is his back still sore now, is that why he still can't throw strikes? wah, wah, wah rich. you fell apart. stop making excuses. Yeah, after all ST started on Sunday. It's Weds. already, start throwing strikes.

Lilly is making the same argument that the union has been making from the beginning. What do you do about false positives? How reliable are the tests? What happens if someone tests positive for something they bought over the counter/ didn't know was banned? Resolve these issues and the union won't have a leg to stand on. 50 games suspension is basically on par with what the NFL does translating roughly to 1/3 of a season. That's even more significant for minor leaguers.

or Cruz could've just accepted arbitration. I don't feel sorry. he took the gamble and lost. Using logic to come to a sound conclusion, while failing to find a way to tie this subject in with Aaron Miles, is grounds for dismissal around here pal! The only reason I feel sorry for Cruz is that God gave him the face of a 65 year old man at age 21. His disposition of being a middle reliever in a tight market doesn't keep me up at night. Is this really necessary? Probably not but it's sterile and I like the taste.

Who's going to pay them? I'd rather see a bunch of minor leaguers/college kids and make it like the Olympics or something. They could bill it as the future of the sport. However, Cuba, Korea, or Japan would win every year. You'd still have a lot of kids/ minor leaguers. The thinking is that they'd play for love of the game/ compete for their country. If the stars don't play, Cuba or Japan will win every year anyway.

Baseball has a long tradition of cheating to get a competitive edge. Basically the mantra was it's ok as long as you don't get caught. There are HOF pitchers that threw spitballs. During the 70s players were taking amphetamines by the handful. The reason they started taking steroids was because they could and nobody cared. Do you really think that during the time when players were on 1 year contracts that they wouldn't take steroids if they were available? It would be pretty naive to think they wouldn't do whatever they could to stay around.

The WBC is becoming a real joke in only its second go around with a lot of stars unwilling to play. Rob Dibble of all people had a good idea (even a blind squirrel finds a nut) and that was to have recently retired guys play in this thing. Guys like Piazza and Maddux could probably still compete on this level, wouldn't have to go through the grind of a 6 month season and wouldn't be risking their careers. That would give this thing some star power without having us holding our breath waiting for a needless injury to a player we are counting on for the season.

I share a lot of the concerns mentioned above and would add these: I'm worried that Soto will be driven into the ground because Piniella doesn't want to play Bako ever. If Piniella rides him too hard during the season what will he have left for the playoffs? I'm also wondering if Dempster can follow up his performance last year or return to mediocrity. No one seems to talk about Soriano's health. It would be nice if he didn't miss 1/3 of the season. I'm not as concerned about Fukudome because I believe he'll be better and worse case scenario he gets dropped to the 8th spot and having a good hitting catcher makes up for less production from CF. I'm optimistic about Old Style making the rotation and being an upgrade over Marquis.

Sandberg acts like he already should be manager of the Cubs and has paid his dues. I'm not so sure he'll be willing to wait 2 more years. If the Cubs win the WS this year then I won't really care if they hand the team over to him then. He can do the Cubs a service by proving difinitively that smallball doesn't work anymore.

I had forgotten that Reynolds also threw a gem even if it was against a teriible lineup. Grace's "hit" could also have been scored an error. I hate Al Leiter with his "Steve Stone said it was a hit" BS. Why do you hate the Cubs so much?

Craig, so from what you're saying is we should be able to get a pretty good read if he does start the year at AA? He should face a lot more and better breaking balls there. So what does he have to put up to show that Fleita is right and not just gushing?

The giving him away for nothing now instead of seeing if he can do anything in ST and if he can't releasing him then. I understand that the Cubs have Minor League rosters they need to fill but couldn't they just sign a ML FA. If they bring Hill to ST and he still hasn't figured it out try sending him through waivers. If he doesn't clear then so be it. If he did then they'd have another shot at fixing him. Hill has more of a chance to help the Cubs than whoever they got in this deal. You're completely overlooking the fact if he would have sucked in ST (actually it's more when than if), then you literally get nothing for him. Now if he does find it with the O's, the Cubs end up getting something. Something is better than nothing. Hill has more of a chance to help the Cubs than whoever they got in this deal. This is a fantasy on the level of Prior (who I was guilty of wishing for). When has a pitcher that has lost his control as badly as Hill ever made a comeback? It doesn't happen. It's time to move on. I'm sure there's a great possibility that the ptbnl ends up being nothing but that will have more to do with Hill being nothing at the O's camp. Whoever the Cubs get in return for Hill (if or when he flames out) will be someone that the Cubs could just sign off the minor league scrap heap. Roster filler. While that has a small amount of value it is not enough when weighed against what Hill might bring to the table. In other words, the slim chance of Hill being able to contribute is better than the "something" they'll get from the O's.

Every time Wolf is available people talk about how he wants to be on the west coast. I'd bet that's why he didn't take it right away, cause come on, you're Randy Wolf dude. Also, how the hell is he only 31? I had him pegged for about 37. On XM they were saying that they withdrew the offer before Wolf even had a chance to accept it.

I could see Cashner as maybe being the closest possibility for the fast track if they decide to turn him into a short reliever like what they did with Smardz last year. I don't believe that's very likely but Piniella likes power arms and there's a pretty good chance they'll need one down the stretch. Yeah, but even if Cashner emerges as a bullpen candidate soon, that's still nothing compared to an Evan Longoria who actually significantly impacts the team. That's certainly true but how many teams have a player of Longoria's caliber just waiting to be called up? Maybe 3