Jazz

So in the end, the hometown discount is basically the difference between a guaranteed year, and a mutual option at the end of the contract. Not bad.

Are we even still in the race to get Daisuke? I thought he was all but certain to be a red sock.

I'd venture to guess that it was within the window, but was only reported this afternoon.

i definately thought i saw someone in this thread earlier say that Wood was gone too. Guess we were wrong about that one as well

Hahaha this is the greatest thread ever

do it. do it right fing now. Alright, I'll do it as if I was actually a badass like Black and was on the Daily Show. ahem Today in Chicagoland, it is a very joyous day. No, Sammy Sosa hasn't resigned with our beloved Cubbies (yet..), but oh yes, YOU GUESSED IT!. We are finally free from that god awful salary eating whore of a thirdbase man, Aramis Ramirez. No more well we have to see him merely trot to 2nd base on another one his doubles into deep left, and only jog across the bases as he hits one of his 35+ homers. NO MORE! Today in an interview, when asked about his recent success, Hendry had this to say. "Well you see, we offered him about as much as we would offer a premium 3-Bagger in today's market. Our highest paid player at the moment, Derrek Lee, who we feel is the best player since George Herman Ruth himself, and can even save us from losing even from the Disabled List without even bothering to find a suitable replacement, was not even given a salary as competitive as the one we game Aram. Also on another note, regarding Ramirez's name. Man won't that be nice not having to spell out that god awfully strange name anymore. Thats why we are trying to find a good guy with a nice, short, one syllable name. Remember Ron Coomer. Now THAT's a 3rd Baseman's name!" Ramirez, as many analyst's remember, was offered an opt out clause 2 year's ago when he signed his contract, an option that Hendry, being the NICE GUY he is, placed on the contract out his own free will. MAYBE, it was that masochistic devil inside of himself that got him to sign Neifi "Heysoose" Perez to a 2 year extension. This was the opt out clause he used to escape from the bottomless pit that is the Cubs, and be able to ex cerise the right to join a team who's fans that remember their last World Series victory aren't on life support. Don't worry Old Granny Edna! You'll always be able to the kids of when the Cubs didn't crush your dreams to the little ones for AGES! BUT DONT WORRY, there is a silver lining to this cloud. Oh yes, when the news of Ramirez's decision to test Free Agent waters, the little hearts of boys of Chucktown jumped with glee. OH YES JOHNNY, maybe some day you'll now get a chance to start at the hot corner for the CUBS. WHIPPIE!! Yes Johnny, thats right. But watch out. That Cubs farm system is brutal. If by some chance you are actually drafted, and make it into Rookie Ball, the demons of the Cubs Minor League coaching staff will try as hard as they can to preach you old outdated laurels like how NOT to clog up the bases with silly mindless walks, and how to bunt your way into oblivion. And if you do survive the Minors, and Maybe by some SHEAR stroke of luck, you actually get some playing time from Freddie Bynum Jr. the III, then with some luck, you can be the next shining star at 3rd. Jon, [look over smiling to the left]

gah kill me

I feel like going on a Lewis Black-eque tirade right now. Seriously, it would be the funniest thing to any cub fan ever, but also would make any fan feel even worse about their team.

I just don't get it. Hendry is on a shot leash after MacPhail has left, and new mangement is in. Hendry has this offseason to prove that he is worth a damn, and not even a month after the world series, he has already guaranteed failure for this franchise, and himself. I mean, even if he wasnt going to do anything else this offseason, he could have done THIS. He could have made up all the lame BS after he signed Ramirez about "well we retained the players we needed, and we feel we can compete with that". Right now, that outlook looks better than the one our status quo. I could live with. But instead, Hendry proves he is the most incompetent GM in all of baseball and puts up A MILLION steps backwards before he even takes a step forward. I am so sick of this team, and there outdated philosphies, the horribly put together teams, and the all around dysfuntion of this franchise. I honestly think Hendry wants to ruin the cubs.

All attendees of the convention, remember to bring rotten fruit and vegetables, and proper heckling lexicon. That is all .

I honest to god hate this team right now

the beginning of my awful sports saturday

god damnt :(

Man, so many plays by jackson that have ended in almost TD's

JACKSON!@!!!! YES!!!!! !!!! damn probably going to get called outta bounds. Still driving though

USC definitely will have a chance if they beat Cal and ND. Are you getting the Cal game? nope, unfortunately. They need to run Lynch more. He had an 80-yard touchdown wiped out on a block in the back penalty (the drive they got a FG on). The touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson was pretty, but besides those 3 plays, the offense hasn't looked great. Especially Longshore. hows the anemic Arizona O looking against cal's D?

Why is Cal a possible team while Louisville or WV are not? Sorry, my subconscious underrates the Big East like the rest of the america.

USC definitely will have a chance if they beat Cal and ND. Are you getting the Cal game? nope, unfortunately.

Why do we let one game decide everything rather than the body of work? Well they haven't really blown out, or even won by a substantial margin in their last 2 games (almost losing to Vanderbilt). If they lose to USC here, than I think that is enough for me to decide they are going to drop out of the top 10.

Ok, so with so far this week Auburn and Louisville most likely falling out of the top spots of the BCS, and Florida playing South Carolina close so far, will the winner of the Cal/USC game have a fighting shot to play in the National Championship?

Raisin, I'm a little foggy on the details of who you are aligned to. Are you pro-Cal as well as UCLA?

Isn't that bad? It would be one of the best offensive OFs in baseball assuming Sheffield's production doesn't drop off the face of the earth and those guys don't get injured anymore than their average. Can Soriano play RF? He's got the arm. He also picked up LF relatively well. So yes, I think he could. However, this is redundant because there's zero chance IMO that we get alfonso

Yanks decline Linebrink offer for Sheff

Alright, time for me to be selfish and think about Cal's chances at the National Championship game. So basically what has to happen -They have to win out (End Season 11-1) -Texas must either TAMU or the Big XII game vs. Nebraska (most likely opponent) -Arkansas must lose one of their last 3 games -USC must beat Notre Dame -WVU must beat Rutgers -Either the voters decide that out of these 3 1 loss teams (Florida, Cal, Auburn), that Cal is the strongest team, or Florida and Auburn lose a game. chances of all that happening...meh i can dream

could be, which would be a shame. If that happened, I would hope for a total clusterhump in the SEC plus Cal beating USC, USC beating ND, and Texas losing the Big XII game. Then you'l have a bunch of TWO loss teams to sort through (or open the door for Boise St., though they'll never get love from the pollsters) holy.... if that wouldn't be enough to convince the powers that be for a playoff, i don't know what would.