Those are all fine premises for articles, but they arent what this article is about. However, the fact that this article states that there are no favorites for the NL central, implies all of those things you've said above. I guess some people just blindly hate certain journalists or anyone who says anything discouraging about the cubs. Thats your perogative, but the fact that you're argument against the article does not actually mention anything in the article, says a lot. I didn't see the need in sitting here rehashing line for line what has already been said. I commented that his contention that we need to be healthy is about as obvious as it gets and is true for every team in the league. Why does Wood have to be the closer? If Dempster plays like he did in 05, we are fine at closer. What impact does Zambrano's 08 contract have on his 07 season? None. Mark Prior needs to be healthy, you think? Soriano will bat leadoff and we can absolutly win with him there. Wood is "warming to the idea of pitching in relief"? He signed a contract KNOWING he will only pitch in relief when he could have gone elsewhere for a chance to start. He has incentives for games finished, but none for games started, I think he is beyond "warming up to the idea." I have not seen anything from the Cubs implying Floyd took Murton's starting job. This is weak journalism. He makes a bunch of obvious statements that could be done for any team and then gets some facts wrong. You can call it blind hate or whatever you want, a 2nd grader could write a better and more informative column. Yes, any team in any sport nees to be healthy. The point is, that the cubs have more players (and more important players) that were injured last year/we are not confident they are healthy this year. Its not news or anything, but if you are reading an article from a journalist (other than Bruce, of course) and are expecting anything really new and insightful, then you have to be kidding yourself. Wood doesnt have to be the closer, but Dempster pitched about as well as he did in 2005, last year and it didn't work out too well for him (a convo that has already ocurred in a different thread). I think his point is that Z doesnt need the extra distraction during the season. I don't necessarily agree with taht point, but a second theme of his article is that Hendry has not done a good job of focusing on the future this offseason. Not locking up Z is a good point in that argument. Soriano is much better suited to hit in the middle of the order, not leadoff. We all know this. We CAN win with him at leadoff, but its not going to help as much as he could. Everything I've read from Wood is that he sees pitching in relief in 07 as a necessary step to proving he is healthy enough to be a starter in 08. The contract that Floyd signed could be assumed as proof that if Floyd is healthy he will get significant time. Like I said, I wouldnt assume either way. So you are agreeing his point about being healthy was obvious and true of any team. You agree Z's contract doesn't impact his 2007 season. You agree he is wrong to assume Floyd has LF. You agree Wood has already accepted a bullpen roll for 2007. You agree we can win with Soriano hitting leadoff. You agree with all these points, disagreesing with the author of the article, yet you STILL defend the article?