biittner77

The 6th seed was only desirable if the #3 seed was the Stars. Now that it looks like LA, I'm not so sure 6th is better given that, as 6th seed, there is virtually no chance of having home ice at all. What exactly is the mental block w/ Detroit? Last time I checked the scum hadn't beaten the Hawks in regulation at all this year.

It depends on how much the new regime thinks soto can play. The pevious manager seemed to want to give Soto a lot of time off. That could either be because he was an idiot or because he knew something about Soto that we don't, in which case they keep castillo up to split time with soto. If they recognize that Soto is the best option and want to play him 4/5 games they probably do go with Clevenger. If they want the back up to play more than they probably go with Castillo. Clevenger's LH bat is of limited use on the bench since he's the back up catcher and they typically don't get used for PH duties.

As the 6th seed, they'll still have to face the Preds at some point if they can get by Detroit. Dream scenario: Sharks (8) beat Blues 1 Hawks (6) beat Stars 3 Wings beat Preds Canucks(2) beat Calgary? (7) Hawks beat Wings Sharks beat Canucks Hawks get home ice and defeat the Sharks Only problem is getting the Sharks to play well enough to even make the playoffs much less matter this much.

5 games is excessive for a first offense and the nonsense about retaliation defies explanation. I don't normally wish injury on any player but, like Carcillo, serves Sedin right if he really does have a concussion.

Yeah, I don't think it was obvious. The goal was announced right after the game as being scored by Oduya, and then they went right into the three stars. That's got to be the reason. As I said and continue to believe, he played a really [expletive] game last night. I thought Crawford should have been recognized too. The entire team was swarming Shaw, and they made the announcement as the players were leaving from behind the net. By that time, the announcers knew and the people watching at home (at least me) realized the puck went in off of Shaw. Then they made the 3 stars announcement. I just thought it was so odd to name him specifically for that goal when we already knew he didn't score the goal and wouldn't get credit for it. In the replay, Oduya points right at Shaw as soon as it went in.

I've been of the thinking that the 6 seed is better than 4 or 5 lately. But I'm having doubts. I'm not all that excited about a first round matchup with LA -- they are closing in the division lead and the 3 seed. Especially since they would have home ice. If it's Dallas, then yeah, 6 is good. But if we could get the 4, get home ice against Detroit or Nashville, and then a potential second-round matchup against St. Louis (instead of Vancouver if we get the 6 and win the first round), I think that's a good thing. And I'll bet St. Louis is rooting for LA to get out of that 8 seed too. That would be a tough matchup for them if Quick is on his game. The 6th seed, whomever it might wind up being, should be favored to win that 1st round series. So if the Blues and Canucks both win their 1st round match ups (seems pretty likely) the 4/5 winner will be at the Canucks in round 2. The 4th seed is guaranteed 1 home ice series and has a chance to host the WCF. In that scenario they still have to go through either Scum or the Preds. The 5th seed is guaranteed nothing but could host the WCF but still have to go through the 6th seed. The 6th isn't likely to get home ice at all and will have to face either the Canucks or the Blues on the road. So let's say the Hawks get the 6th seed and the dream match up against Dallas. They then have to go to St. Louis and then to the winner of Vancouver vs. the 4/5 winner. If the Blues or Canucks choke in the first round, the Hawks would have to go to the 4/5 winner. If both the Blues and the Canucks choke in the 1st round, the Hawks either have to face the 4/5 winner or a suddenly hot 8th seed. So really what it comes down to is what round would you rather face the Preds or Scum? Which teams do you most want to avoid?

That is a completely meaningless statement. It means that if they get any offense at all, the pitching will be good enough to at least threaten .500 which might be good enough for 2nd place. I didn't realize that was so hard to figure out. Sorry.

I'd bet Cubs management is a lot more optimistic than most are here. The plan, as they see it, is to tread water developing players this season, be in the mix for the division next year and be the favorite in 2014. The pitching this year should be good enough to take them as far as their offense can go. How far that is depends on a lot of factors already mentioned.

Really nice to be on the right side of that for a change.

They wouldn't have given Johnson the inexplicable contract that they did if they weren't going to break camp with him as the 4th OF, so he's in. So is Baker. Clevenger bats LH which is probably enough to justify him as a better backup/ bench option even under a new regime which isn't as obsessed with such things. It's also related to the next point which is that the better long term prospect should be in AAA getting better rather than rotting away on the MLB bench. Which means Campana and Dewitt get the last 2 spots barring a trade. In that scenario, Barney becomes the back up SS, which is fine. Hopefully he'll also be the back up 2nd baseman because he can't get on base. Once Rizzo comes up, Lahair replaces Campana.

I'd really like to see dusty baker and joe morgan go head to head in a spouting nonsense contest.

I think that would be a good 4th line, my fear would be that Q would play Carcillo more on the 2nd or 3rd lines. The question is more how much will he play in the top 6 because the random line generator does not have a setting for "keep player x on the 4th line where he belongs". Unlike scott, at least Carcillo can play when he's not being an idiot. I'd put him ahead of Eager in terms of being itching power in the other teams collective jocks.

I wonder what the word patience means to dusty? Letting a rookie bat 3 times in the same game? Trusting a veteran to throw 150 pitches even though he's already given up 6 runs?

Thanks for the good news on Rhee.

Anyone foresee Rhee getting fast tracked as a reliever? If they extend Garza and shark makes the rotation, they might see more immediate value with Rhee working out of the pen. It's possible I'm confusing him with someone else but aren't there already people questioning his durability as a starter?

Last years Pirates were relevant until the deadline. This Cubs team can do that. I believe that they'll be better than expected early (within shouting distance of .500) and fall apart in August. In some respects, that's almost a worst case scenario.

All of that is true, but if he's doing a chat where fans ask him questions about baseball he should be prepared to tell them something they don't already know. Or he shouldn't do chats

Salak was pouting, then he was hurt. If he had just worked hard instead of pouting, he'd probably get a shot. After pulling himself from that game though, it's hard to imagine we'd see him up this season. Now they may bring Hutton up instead and hope he gets hot like he did when he got called up to Rockford. He's not a long term solution but the other options aren't exactly great.

Russell makes 0 starts and gets named to the all star team.

I almost got into a bar fight with Jeff George. I guess that doesn't really have anything to do with sean Marshall though.

Just about every trade for players that would seem to have any real impact at all, the team getting the players overpaid. Nobody that Bowman could have realistically gotten were worth Saad, McNeil and Olsen which seems to be what everyone wanted. I'm not really familiar with Oduya but he could have a much bigger impact than people think. He's been described as a minutes eater. If Oduya can play 20 minutes a game, that should translate to about 3-4 less minutes per game for Keith and Seabrook. Q is working those guys to death out of either desperation or stubbornness depending on who you ask. Both those guys will be better with less work. same is true for Leddy and Hammer if/ when he returns. The real concern is goaltending. The Hawks will live and die with how well Crawford plays down the stretch.

Odd that no one bothered claiming him. I think he is still a decent backup infielder. He'll be back in the majors at some point this season. A claiming team would have had to pay his salary, wouldn't they? Would they have also had to add him to the 40 man roster? If true, those are two good reasons not to claim him.

What does that say about Morrison? Q must really hate him? Hard to imagine being a center at a time when your team's best center is hurt and you get scratched for a useless goon. I didn't see the game, How did Hammer look?

you may know it as wacky tobacky

Why would Toews shoot a hobo when he could just stare at them until their heads exploded? When I worked in the loop (Madison and Wabash) people bounced off those things all the time.