fiver

It's cheesy....I'm not a fan of the lyrics or tune.

So who is saying Ricketts is going to cut payroll to 120 million next year? I don't have a problem with that if it allows us to significantly increase payroll for the 2012 season, but I would hope that the long term plan is to spend more than all teams sans the Red Sox and Yankees. Also...I somewhat 'hated on' Randy Wells in a previous post in this thread. Wells has pleasantly surprised me over his last 10 starts, and it would be great if he can continue to pitch as an above league average starter.

So will they give it to OU or just not award one for that year? so you're saying there is no chance of bringing back the coaches/players from the 2004 OU and Auburn teams to settle this? I was at the Sugar Bowl that year, btw, to see Auburn beat the Hokies to remain undefeated.

Click for depression Hendry lives a charmed life....can a 31 year old man decide to become a Red Sox fan after being a lifelong Cubs fan?

Boggs had a career OPS of .858 and a career OBP of .415. Gwynn comes in at .847 and .388 respectively. They'd be great assets to a team today because of the rate they got on base (didn't make an out)...not so much because of the fact they didn't strike out much.

TBS could have changed my life but i too chose WGN.

the timing of his retirement is odd with the season about to begin....could he have waited until now to retire thinking this will insure that one of his guys (Assistant coach Robbie Caldwell ) would get a shot to prove himself as a head coach?

If we can set up ourselves better for 2012 by not buying band-aids for 2011, then I vote for that.

goony is being cryptic about it, but i think he wants Hendry fired. :-)

I made the mistake of fellating Lilly a couple of weeks ago in another thread, and he really stunk it up in his subsequent two starts....This was a bad time for him to get knocked around, but he's still going to net a solid prospect, no?

the cubs have killed our enthusiasm as it's 4pm and there's no game thread. I'm only posting, because i'm drooling on my keyboard, bored, waiting a few more minutes to leave the office.... We can at least root for Lilly to pitch well....we want to get as much for Lilly as possible if we decide to trade him in the coming weeks.

You are more confident in Wells, Gorz, Z, and Silva than I am. You, I, no one knows what we're going to get from Z for the remainder of his contract. Is Randy Wells a major league starter? Probably, but I would be surprised if he turns in an ERA+ over 100 this season or next. I just don't see him as an above average major league starter. Silva has been our best starter this season. We're all shocked. We're all just holding our breath hoping he doesn't get injured or crash and burn. I think he may be 'fixed' as a pitcher. However, he doesn't seem super durable. He has been awesome on the field this year, but can you depend on him to perform at the top of a rotation going into a season? Gorz......I'm not sure what we have with Gorzelanny. I think it's a stretch to have confidence in him turning in an ERA+ over 100 next year over 30 starts, but I definitely have him penciled into the rotation next year. Luckily, we have some more time to make these decisions. We can see how Gorz performs now that he's back in the rotation. We can see whether Wells has a resurgence. We will continue holding our breath with Silva...for now, we can only hope Z comes back stronger than he's been this year. If we do plan to get rid of Lilly, would we get a greater return via trade or via compensation pick? If we are wanting to have a rookie as an option for the rotation next next year, then shouldn't we part with Lilly sooner rather than later so that we could potentially get Cashner in the rotation for part of this season? By parting with Lilly, you're parting with consistency, a known commodity. If/Once we let him go, we're rolling dice on yet another rotation spot. Rolling those dice may very well be in the club's best interest if they are able to improve the offense, but the rotation will be worse for it.

Fair enough. We have a ton of young and/or mediocre options for the rotation next year. We have so many squeaky wheels on this team...Lilly's money probably should be spent elsewhere. Unless one of Cashner, Diamond, and Jackson steps up and performs at a very high level, our rotation next year could be really bad.

I agree, and I guess the point I'm making is that a rotation of Ryan Dempster, Randy Wells, Tom Gorzellany, Carlos Zambrano, and Carlos Silva next year is likely to be extremely mediocre, if that. Wells, Gorzellany, Zambrano, and Silva are all questionable. If the plan is to rebuild for the next year or two, then we don't need to keep or replace Lilly. However, if we want to contend, then his consistency in the rotation will need to somehow be retained or replaced. While we do have the opportunity to rid ourselves of a sizeable contract, his productivity has matched or exceeded his salary.

Ted Lilly has been very solid for the Cubs for the last 4 years. Does anyone see a scenario in which he would return to the Cubs next year? I'm not advocating that we extend him as it's very possible he will run out of gas towards the middle of his next contract. We should be able to get a decent return for him if we want to trade him prior to the deadline...or we could offer him arbitration as he would decline and be a type a free agent. All that said, it will be difficult to replace what he has contributed to the rotation.

Keep in mind that a salary cap is going to negatively impact the Chicago Cubs. They lose despite a competitive advantage they possess.

What Steinbrenner does is disgusting. It is downright un-American. I will not accept a World Series done the "Steinbrenner way". Yes you would. I'd accept it. There are many things I would deal with to win a WS title, at this point. Many. So basically you two would sell out everything baseball should be about in order to win a World Series. Good to know. I'd love to root for a team known for getting the most wins per dollar spent while regularly winning the World Series....However, I don't think Steinbrenner 'sold out' or was un-American. The Yankees have revenue streams that allow for that much cash to be put back into the product. I guess I just don't see how exploiting a competitive advantage is un-American.

Okay, you were a little sneaky before, now I know you're kidding around. JR, I do understand the emotion behind your post. The cubs regularly raise my blood pressure as well...but this isn't quite a serious as Tony Hayward jaunting over to England to frolic amongst sailboaters for a weekend. You want Ricketts to instill a sense of urgency. You want him yelling at the umpires, or Hendry, or Lou or someone...but I don't think he's going to be that 'in your face' type of guy. Honestly, Hayward couldn't have helped by staying on the gulf coast this past weekend, and I seriously doubt Ricketts is hurting the team by spending time overseas right now. Personnel changes are going to turn this team around, not Rickett's presence at Wrigley.

The one I'm doing is a 750m swim, 20k bike and then a 5 k run If you swim like a rock, the 750m (half mile) swim is going to kick your butt. You'll obviously need to build endurance to finish this thing, but you are really going to need to work on your swimming technique so that you don't expend more energy than necessary on the first leg of the race. You have a year to prepare, so you can definitely do this if you have your mind set to do it. Wish you the best and I respect the endeavor.

dp

http://idea-sandbox.com/blog_images/transformer.jpg yeah, I agree...what St. Louis does most years (win more games with a smaller budget) is fairly admirable. I'm sure I'd harbor more hate for them if I lived in Chicago or St. Louis.

You could shell out for Paxil. Or you could go with the generic equivalent and save some money: JD. Obviously, JD is already in the arsenal since i live in Alabama. Maybe I should borrow from Tree's book and shoot heroin in my eyelids...or forehead (can't remember).

Because of the Cubs, IU basketball, living in the same state with University of Alabama football fans, and the oil spill in the Gulf, I see Paxil in my future. Thanks for your contribution cobs.

I'm a little surprised this happened before Kevin Noreen even visited. Is he off the table now? Maybe they assume they can't get him? Noreen's father says he is still visiting this weekend.... http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=8418

yep..i'm pretty sure i remember watching Bullinger hit that home run againt the Cards on WGN.