CP_414

That Zito talk is interesting too. When the Schmidt offer rumors came up they couldn't shoot the rumor down fast enough, but he won't comment on this Zito rumored offer? Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but it doesn't sound like they are killing that rumor the same way they did with Schmidt.

link Good. He better be serious.

Everything I've read about the Brewers suggests they want a prototypical CF. They were looking at Dave Roberts, for example. I've seen articles written by analysts who think Hall should be playing CF if he's not going to be an infielder, but I've seen no indication that the Brewers have actually considered him there. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061129&content_id=1747294&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil Doug Melvin said:

Big Day for Rex today: 20/33, 286 yards, 3 TD's/0INT BEARS 34 VIKINGS 9

All the news this week implys it is very likley Billy Hall is the Brewers CF this season. Brady Clark and Gabe Gross are seen as trade bait or bench players. Tony Gwynn Junior is not considered ML ready and could also be traded as the front office of the Brewers doesn't really like him. Mench and/or Jenkins will be traded, maybe this week. Billy Hall is the Brewers best hitter, and for better or worse they are trying to win in 2007, not 2008. If he is traded it will be for equal value right away, not prospects.

I don't think he will retire. Cirillo will play until no team wants him. He was at that point 2 years ago and he begged Doug Melvin to invite him to spring training. Melvin invited him, but said it would be doubtful he could make the team. Well Cirillo tore up Spring Training and had 2 productive years with the Brewers. I would guess his 2 priorities from what I have seen and heard him say are to be on a team close to Milwaukee and a team that can win the WS. I'd bet on him being a Tiger, Twin, White Sox, or Cub. For what it's worth he did play 2B and very limited SS last season. He was better at 2B than SS, but servicable at both.

I don't think Bonds cares if his teammates like him. Yeah but wouldnt Z and Prior care if he's coming? >_> What if we got both Bonds and Sosa. :shock: I don't see what Z or Prior would care. Pay Z what he deserves and he'll sign a long term extension. Prior has to get himself straight before he worries about who his teammates are.

I don't think Bonds cares if his teammates like him.

I'd take him on the Cubs. I don't think the bosses want him though.

Penny would be a nice addition if we miss out on Schmidt. Zambrano Penny Hill Lilly Prior/Miller That can be a solid rotation.

What are your thoughts on Cirillo? He can play 1B, 2B, SS, and 3B. He is probably out in Milwaukee since they signed Counsell and it looks like Graffinino will accept arbitration. Cirilo hit .319/.369/.414 last season. He also might be had for a good value if he wants to stay in the area since he is a Milwaukee guy. I think if we can get him for $1.5M or less he could be a nice addition to the bench.

Based on that report And others. There is one on Cubs.com and one on ESPN.com, too. I was also told that Levine on his show this morning said Hendry arrives in Orlando today and will meet with Lilly's agent tonight or tomorrow and a deal could be done in a couple days. It sounds like this one is probably happening.

$3 Million a year for 2 years. Not a good move at all for a team that has to really watch the bottom line. Counsell at 2/$6M isn't a good move for anyone.

Yes, but Jones was cut from a different mold than Wells, he was great from the very beginning, when he was 21, and he didn't truly unleash his power potential until 2005, the year he turned 28, the start of his prime years. Wells had an outstanding year last year, and stole more bases than he's ever stole in a single season, and he will be 28 next year. It's not out of line to think that Wells has 40HR and 20SB potential in him (Jones lost his SB ability years ago). Plus, Wells is a career .280 hitter with RISP, Jones .256, not to mention a career .288 hitter period, while Jones is a career .267 hitter I'm not saying Jones is or isn't better, what I'm trying to get at is they're both very similar in regards to talent. Both are young and entering/in their prime, both are big power threats, perenial gold glovers. Wells, in my opinion, is the better hitter. He has more potential to hit .300 each year than Andruw Jones does hitting .280. As far as trading for Wells, I don't think it can be done, especially after they resigned Greg Zaun. Had they let Zaun go, they would've needed a catcher, and they never had a set SS last year, and their bullpen was atrocious. Only way to get Wells from them probably would've been Barrett, Izturis, Eyre/Howry, and Pie. That'd be too much for me First of all, BA with RISP is not a predictive stat. It's far too random to use when trying to predict which player is better. Secondly, let's look at each player's OPS+ from 2002-2006. Wells: 100, 131, 103, 104, 126. Jones: 129, 121, 113, 133, 129 Wells has two good years and three just average or slightly above average years. There's a lot of question whether 2006 was a break-out year for Wells or simply a spike and his true production is more along the 103-106 OPS+ level. Jones has above average years in every year. Even assuming the low range for Jones, he's likely to produce an OPS+ of 113-120. His liklihood of being a better offensive run producer is much greater than Wells. You mention Wells stealing 20 bases, but he's never stolen that many once in his career. His career high of 17 was last season, but that nearly doubled anything he had done previously. It points more to a career year than a trend. Furthermore, stolen bases aren't really that valuable unless you can do so at a high percentage. He has some value as a base stealer, but not enough to make up for the lesser production elsewhere. Jones also brings much more power than Wells. Wells has topped the 500 SLG mark four of the last five years while Wells has only topped it twice. Jones also gets on base better than Wells. Jones has topped the 340 OBP in four of the last six years, while Wells has only done it twice. When looking at the numbers, Jones is consistently a good to very good hitter. Wells has had two good seasons while being league average in the other three. They may both be great hitters going forward, and Wells may out produce Jones, but the safer bet is Jones. Agreed, and all things equal I would much rather have Andruw than Wells, but do yout hink Hendry is looking at OPS+ or BA with RISP? I'm thinking Hendry values BA with RISP more.

Not really. Because while they make a "competitive" offer, their best offer is still going to be significantly worse then the Cubs. ? If the Cubs are serious about Schmidt, I can't imagine getting outbid by St. Louis. Maybe he'll decide to stay west, but if he comes east for money, the Cubs should be able to offer more of that than St. Louis.

That sounds like they did some checking into it at least. Sounds like they actually talked to Hendry. John Heyman is a very good reporter, who wrote for Newsday before SI. He has many, many baseball contacts. Maybe the offer isn't a formal one, but you know the discussions have taken place. Indeed. Heyman is one of the best in the business. I trust Bruce, because the local guys tend to have a better grip on things than national guys. That said, even the greatest reporter isn't going to have every story. I live in Milwaukee and Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times scoops every single Bucks story. Gery is the guy with Bucks info. Despite that he was on the radio about 3 hours before the TJ Ford-Charlie Villenueva trade saying that there is no truth to the rumor of that trade. Bruce Miles is by far the best Cubs reporter, but I'm hopeful with the Heyman article seemingly supporting the SF report, that there is more truth to these Schmidt rumors than he thinks. Again, I obviosuly don't know more than Bruce, but this Heyman report is a very positive thing because he used his own sources, not the SF newspaper's like what ESPN is running with.

I'd let him play. We can't keep him in a bubble, he'll have to play eventually. I would however require that he play the position he will play for the Cubs. Getting some work in at RF or CF could be helpful to us. I also like that he wants to be playing and staying fresh, rather than swimming in pools of money.

I believe Ben Maller is the overnight guy on Fox Radio. He does some weekends and fill in work for FSR. The website he runs is fantastic. I check benmaller.com daily.

I didn't see it. I may be wrong, but I don't think the pass has to be catchable on illegal contact penalties. I think that is limited to pass interference.

the problem is in THIS market, $8M will only get you an Adam Eaton (read: not much). All the more reason to pay someone who deserves it: Manny Ramirez.

Packers look pretty good. Other than last week when the Pats destroyed them, they havn't been as bad as I hoped. I don't think we are going to get the 10 years of Packer suckage we were hoping for. I could see them regressing big time if Favre retires, but I don't think Favre is going anywhere.

Nope. There is a half roof kind of thing that covers most of the stands. The weather is going to make this game fun to watch. Does their baseball stadium? Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Yes it does.

Why is Manny so unrealistic? It doesn't sound like Boston wants the world for him. Most reports say the Cubs have another 20+ Million to spend. If we shed a salary like Eyre or Howry in the Manny deal and then shed Jones salary there will still be about $8 Million for a pitcher. As someone else mentioned I would rather give the money to Manny who earns it than drastically overpay for Gil Meche, Vicinte Padilla, or some other pitcher. I think if they want to make this happen, the Cubs have the money and pieces to do so. Hopefully the Cubs have interest in Manny, and Manny has interest in the Cubs.

Nope. There is a half roof kind of thing that covers most of the stands. The weather is going to make this game fun to watch.

That is correct. This will be a get-well game for Rex. Early Prediction: Bears 34 - Vikings 9