Electron Blue

All good. But . . . it's too good. There's no way CIncy takes that for Dunn, considering what they wanted earlier. And I doubt the Cubs would feel desperate enough to jump into the Burnett bidding war.

Replace him with who, though? His value to other teams may never be higher, but the value of a 1B who can hit like he can to the Cubs is very high . . . Not necessarily advocating trading Lee, but if you could capitalize on his inflated value to get yourself an impact OF(Dunn for example, although that would require a 3-way deal), then it might be worth it to downgrade to a Free Agent 1B like Konerko or Mientkiewicz. Or, in trading Lee you could acquire a piece that could play 1B for you(For example, an expanded deal with Cincy that nets Dunn and Casey). About the topic of the thread, I don't think it's the right idea to build towards 2007. Every move we make this offseason should be for the short and long term. That means not selling off Maddux for prospects unless we have 5 better starters, or we're about to sign a better FA pitcher for his money. That means not signing Giles to a contract heavy in years. You can build for 2006 and 2007 at the same time. Well, I'm still against a hypothetical Lee Trade. Who knows, maybe DLee really has just figured out how to be a superstar and is worth whatever price he demands. But you make a good point, CPatterson, depending on the OF upgrade, a 1B downgrade could in fact be a TEAM upgrade. BTW, if this were to actually happen, I wouldn't mind Casey, Konerko, or Mientkivice (:?) if they came with Dunn.

Replace him with who, though? His value to other teams may never be higher, but the value of a 1B who can hit like he can to the Cubs is very high . . .

are you talking to me? cuz i point out that they are the ones that are most likely offensive A bit off topic, but according to the forum index, this is the 100,000 post in teh Social forum. :D

It feels like that's what it had come down to. It sounds awful to say, but every game is almost a win-win situation :(

That's certainly a good point, but it's very frustrating when the hitter swings at the first pitch . . . and doesn't do anything with it.

Cubs are 3 starters short. Wood sucks. Maddux is done, unfortunately. And I don't feel confident with Williams/Rusch/Hill. yeah wood sure sucks, boy oh boy i sure would hate to have a healthy kerry wood in my rotation, give me shawn estes! :roll: now don't give me some crap about how "oh but he can't stay healthy" - if you meant that, you would have said that wood can't stay healthy - not that he sucks. Well . . . IF he truly can't stay healthy (which I'm saying just for the sake of argument), then as far as I'm concerned, he does "suck." If you can't go out there with your best stuff, or you can't go out there at all, then you have very little value to your team.

I know very little about Lee Smith, but I've never heard him mentioned as a coaching possibility for anyone; also you don't see many former pitchers manage. As for the rest of the list: Billy is too old and has begun to wind down his baseball life, I would like to hear more about Gaetti, and for some reason I really like the Girardi possiblity. Also, I think whatever Maddux does right is basically what you mentioned. Weren't just not paying him extra for it :). The interestign thing about Ryno is, didn't he approach the Cubs after Baylor was fired, and ask for an interview? If I recall correctly the front office flat-out turned him away. Seemed strange - anyone know why Ryno's never been considered a future coach? I suppose he was too provate and standoffish.

Our local school MC was named Choctaws in 1836. It was originally an all girls college which had no sports. I'm not sure that flies, at least not in this situation. It is a possible theory though which I will accept as valid. However, I think that in the case of Choctaws, Utes, Seminoles, Illini and other "tribe" schools which are in the area of the actual tribes, I think that most likely is tribute. On the other hand, schools that are Braves, Indians, etc, basic generic Indian names, then I think you may have a case. Having a white guy (as is the case with Chief Illiniwek) in war paint doing a dance that isn't even a real Native dance is not a tribute. Maybe the nickname was meant as a tribute, but Chief Illiniwek is no more different than you being upset at Blue Collar TV's image of Southerners. Plus, I believe the ruling has to do with mascots, so the issue of the nicknames doesn't come into play. It's the mascots that do, and they are stereotypical and bogus. I never said the idiots who jump around on the sidelines were tributes, I said that naming the University after the local Indian tribe probably is. Well, that's a problem. You aren't going to see a school go by the name "Indians" and have a guy dressed up as an eagle as the mascot. They go hand-in-hand.

I want to say, "What the heck, let's give it a shot." Since the last two worked out well. But we have plenty of equally or greater talented young OFs who need More playing time, not Less. So no, it's not worth the chance in '05.

Why do people persist in saying this? Are the Cubs the only team that is paying off a bad contract? Hehe, I think the Rockies may have just now ended paying Mike Hampton. And the Orioles freed up all that Albert Belle money after last year. The point remains, though, that $100 million was spent on this year's team. And I'd say we could have put together a .500 team with (maybe) half of that. Lotta bad luck, but more than a fair share of poor decisions, too.

I missed last night's game. Can someone expand on the 0-4 the boxscore gave, please? How'd he field, how'd he swing? Was he swinging at the first pitches or was he working the count. I've got a feeling you're right, Scott, about Nomar being a liability. But if I were Dusty . . . er, if it was me managing the team, I don't think I would have the guts to take that risk of letting Neifi start over the former star. The potential for Nomar being a "sparkplug" is too great.

Let me get my credit card number. And my mortgage. And my first-born, and second.

I haven't noticed it much, but when someone does mispell/pronounce a Cub's name is (Jerry) Harriston, or some variant of that. BTW, who's Ryan? Ryan Sanberg Hehe, now I feel kinda stupid. My mind just didn't make the connection of "Ryan" to Sandberg with it spelled wrong. Also, Diffusion, your assesment of Morgan sounds spot-on :D

I haven't noticed it much, but when someone does mispell/pronounce a Cub's name is (Jerry) Harriston, or some variant of that. BTW, who's Ryan?

=D> That's an incredible thing to hear. The article really paints a touching and kind picture, but think about how sad that story really is.

That'd be my guess. Hairston's injury makes speculation easier.

What do you mean one month? Also, I think Hoops is suggesting this (instead of cutting Macias) only because it's much more likely.

I guess bringing it up makes you a racist :roll:

I don't think so. My guess is a player gets tested by the MLB after his contract is purchased from the minors. Anybody know for sure. I sure hope (not to mention doubt) that Nomar hasn't been doing 'roids, but I read an article awhile back after the Jose book came out which made a pretty good case, albeit mostly speculation.

I don't think so. My guess is a player gets tested by the MLB after his contract is purchased from the minors. Anybody know for sure. I sure hope (not to mention doubt) that Nomar hasn't been doing 'roids, but I read an article awhile back after the Jose book came out which made a pretty good case, albeit mostly speculation.

I'll bet he's full of crap, too. But just for fun, let's speculate who the Cub would be. Nomar? He was mentioned in Jose's book, I believe. And Jose's 1-for-1 so far :( .

McCain?!? :)

This is very helpful - thanks! Also, there are 2 kinds of waivers, right? Revocable (the ability to pull the player back) and Irrevocable (player automatically gone if claimed with no ability to pull back). Is that correct? That 2nd category, irrevocable - isn't that what Boston did to Manny Ramirez a year or two ago, and nobody claimed him? I thought I heard Steve Stone mentioned last week that all the waivers have occurred (one was done on Wednesday and one on Thursday) - the 48th hour window will close Friday and today. I don't know where to find players that have been placed on waivers, claimed, not claimed, pulled back, etc. First of all, I'm nearly certain that waiver transactions aren't announced to the public unless they're claimed by another player (or they clear and are sent to the minors). Second of all, if I understand what you're saying I think you may be incorrect. Players can be placed on waivers at any time of the year - there isn't a "waiver period" where that has to happen.

That could be some serious jail time. Perjury in court is a 20-year sentence, IIRC, but I don't know what it is if you lie to Congress. Will Congress even go after him? I'm no legal expert, but that depends on whether Congress wants to make an example of him like MLB will, I would guess.