RynoRules

Great. He'll fit right in on our team. .317 OBP last season. :roll: I like Crisp. He was a .345/.450 guy the previous two seasons, but he played with a broken finger last year. He's entering his prime too, and Boston needs to trade an OF in all likelihood. Because of that, I don't know why they'd want Jones. Eyre for Crisp would be stellar. I'd do that trade in a millisecond.

Finally - three steps and throw instead of the ten step drop followed by a chuck n duck.

Way to go Rex!

Heck Manny Rameriz always wants to be traded and he does just fine in Boston. Let Jones stew for awhile and if the Cubs can't move him, tough. Did you really just compare Manny and Jacque? Its one thing to keep a sulking/unhappy guy with a career 1.100 OPS, its another to keep an unhappy Jacque Jones.

There has to be a trade coming. How many bloody LOOGY's can we have?

This whole thing is Larry's idea. I have a whole host of feelings about this, but none of them are suitable for NSBB. :x Wow. How big do his cajones have to be to think he can succeed where Duncan and Leo-freakin'-Mazzone failed? I'd sure like to know why Larry would be working with Marquis in the offseason in the first place. That seems weird to me. I thought I read somewhere that Duncan had identified where Marquis was tipping off his pitches, and he wound up throwing his hands up in disgust because Marquis wouldn't work with him to get rid of the "tells." from mlb.com: "Jason called me shortly after they got done with the World Series and asked me if he could come down and throw," Rothschild told WGN Radio on Friday night. "He'd talked to [Greg] Maddux during the season and [Maddux] recommended that if he had a chance to let me see him." "Maddux and Marquis were teammates in Atlanta. Marquis threw once for Rothschild, and the two talked pitching mechanics. " http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061209&content_id=1758640&vkey=hotstove2006&fext=.jsp Yeah but doesn't that strike you as strange? Let's say Marquis signs with the Stros, and the pitching help Rothschild provided allows him to go 3-0 against the Cubs. Sounds like a bad practice to be fixing opposing pitchers, doesn't it? I think these guys do this sort of thing all the time. I do it my profession as well.

Then if I were him I'd accept a 1 year 10 and go free agent after that or is he not allowed to do that? Why on Earth would Boston do that? That's essentially 61 mill for 1 year. He ain't Michael Jordan.

I know this was a joke, but what happens if Miller and Prior are pitching well, do we go to a 6 man rotation? Trade someone at the deadline? Who has the most tradeable contract? Who has options? It would be a very good problem to have, but my guess is that Prior won't be ready by ST or JH isn't counting on him. BTW, Trib says its 3 and 20, not 3 and 28.

I don't think so now. Thanks Bruce. Sounds like: Z Lilly Hill Marquis Prior/Miller/Marshall Does. Not. Compute. Unless there is another impact acquisition made on offense, seems like a whole lot of money spent without much improvement. Unless Prior and Miller pitch at their 03' levels.

Revitionist historians here and elsewhere have forgotten the circumstances under which Larry and Dusty existed - Larry was forced down Dusty's throat. He wanted Dick from the begining. (oops, this is a family bd. :oops: ) In any case, lets allow Larry one season and see what happens. If the pitchers stink, we'll all pile on.

I think his formula is very simple: wins / salary. A basic return on investment calculation. Sure, if you completely disregard the remainder of the balance sheet. If he's refering only to performance on the field, he's probably right. I was refering the entire org. I'd bet they have coffers of cash from all the yearsof high attendance, merchandising, etc. combined with low(er) payroll. None of us knows for sure, but its a reasonable assumption.

Wow. Goes to show that the Cubs aren't the only ones living in this inflated mkt.

Just woke up and saw this. :cry: Jim: Please make up for this by getting a big bat...please?

I am still trying to figiure out how goony has enough insider info to know that the Cubs are the least efficiently run org. in MLB. Can you help me out on that one, goony? Do you want to at least qualify it?

So we shouldn't acknowledge it?

You'd rather they ink guys like Marquis and Daryl Ward? What should they do? They can't keep going the way they have been. I agree with Southside here.

Huh? sarcasm Oh.

I really hope we don't sign this guy. I don't think he is as bad as some do, but we need a no. 2, not a no. 5.

Huh?

That's interesting. IIRC, Rauch was pretty good for them last year. Yep, but I think he could return to starting and be a solid option at the back of the rotation. The Cubs have bullpen depth, so they could afford to part with a reliever if Washington wants one in return. I know that they weren't exactly pleased with John Patterson last year and the way he handled his injury. If he's healthy and they've soured on him a bit, maybe he'd be an option. Problem is we need front-end guys and Rauch is at best a 4th starter.

That's interesting. IIRC, Rauch was pretty good for them last year.

Marshall and Jones for Church and B-level prospect.

yeah, I don't know any GM who is batting 1.000 on his deals. Everyone has a few dogs if they hang around long enough. Williams has his share, but they are eclipsed by his more recent succeses, IMO.

he fell apart last year He had a busted knee, IIRC.

That sort of question bugs the hell out of me. Suspension of reality. "Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?"