BigbadB

That does seem like a lot.

Brandon Webb is going to lose some points tonight, too. And boy did Jose Contreras stink it up today. :shock: I'm sad my 2 aces had to square off against each other. (Halladay/Bonderman)

ESPN.com usually shows the XM channels for each game on their schedule page.

Reason #47 to ride the Lou Piniella Bandwagon! Matt Murton batting 2nd. Matt Murton batting 2nd for 2 years under Dusty Baker: 16 Plate Appearances. Rey Ordonez batting 2nd under Dusty Baker in one season: 24 PA's. Jose Macias batting 2nd under Dusty Baker in two seasons: 49 PA's. I won't list all the other horrible #2 hitter options under Dusty Baker. It would make you all cry.

AL East Boston New York Baltimore Toronto Tampa AL Central Cleveland Detroit Minnesota Chicago Kansas City AL West Seattle Oakland Anaheim Texas NL East New York Philadelphia Atlanta Florida Washington NL Central Chicago Milwaukee St. Louis Pittsburgh Houston Cincinnati NL West Arizona Los Angeles Colorado San Diego San Francisco World Series: Cubs lose to Boston in 6 games.

I remember that. They brought in Roberto Alomar that year, and Alomar offered nothing.

I'd stay away from Cantu. He seems to think he's a whole lot better than he really is.

Meaningless game thread post to boost my post count. Go Cubs!

Will we be seeing So Taguchi on web gems tonight? How is that guy starting on a major league team?

I actually felt bad for Hawkins on more than one occasion, for the way he was treated by the fans. However the 'Destroy LaTroy' shirts did make me laugh. I felt bad for LaTroy also, but for a different reason. He was signed on to be a set up man, and he did that job pretty well. His history as a closer was not good, and Dusty just kept feeding him to the wolves.

Note that I said A LOT less money in that statement. I didn't specify what was a lot less. Would you consider it foolish for him to except a 100K contract with Chicago if the Yankees are offering 100m? Yep. That would be pretty foolish. Without defining "a lot less", you really can't make the claim that it is or isn't foolish to sign for a lot less.

Moises Alou. Oh wait, the fans were screaming ALOOOOOOUUUUUUUU. Nevermind.

And there is a small handful of players that are loyal to the teams they play on. I believe I mentioned that early on in this thread somewhere. But, just because a few are willing to do that doesn't mean everyone else should follow their lead.

:w00t: I'm on the board with HBP!

Goodbye Tomas, we hardly knew you. We wish you well.

Nope. Didn't need it. Diminishing marginal utility really doesn't relate to this discussion. Let's say Zambrano has been informed by his agent that he could get $20m a year on his next contract with a team like the Yankees or Red Sox, and the Cubs are only offering 16m. Is Zambrano giving anything up to pitch for some other team? No. His job title and responsibilities would be pretty much the same no matter what team signs him, just wearing a different colored uniform in different surroundings. Not every team is going to offer up the same price for his services. So, it's up to Zambrano and his agent and any other significant person in his life that he trusts major decisions with to decide what amount of money will satisfy his needs and wants. It would be foolish on his part to accept a lot less money to stay in Chicago (a big market team that has proven it will pay big market dollars (Aram/Soriano/Sosa) to it's stars) than what other big market teams will be willing to give him on the free agent market. Besides that, Zambrano has been given one opportunity to see the playoffs in his career. While the fans in Chicago have always been great to the players, other organizations that consistently make the playoffs might be quite enticing to Zambrano. You take what you can get when you can get it for as long as you can get it. It's pretty simple. It makes me mad that I have to pay ridiculous prices to see a baseball game because of how much money these guys make, but you can't blame them for trying to get as much as they can from the owners of these baseball teams. It's not the baseball player's fault that contracts spiraled completely out of control.

I am to. I did purchase MLB.TV already, but I get 5 days of free trial. If no deal is done within those 5 days, I'll just go ahead and allow MLB to charge my credit card for computer baseball.

Thanks for this update. Let us know when you hear something new.

Yeah, who is going to want to trade for that attitude? A promising career just took a turn for the worse.

13-17 per hour is poverty level? Wow, I'm behind the times. I never realized things have gotten that bad. Not really surprising under George Bush's watch, really. Whether you like the example or not, most people will take the job that pays more money. It's a fact of life. And to add to that, most people will find a way to pay less for the same services. And it's a bit of a stretch to say that neither he or his children will ever have to work again. You would hope he would manage his money well enough to never have to work again. MC Hammer didn't manage his money very well. Kareem Abdul Jabbar let someone else manage his money and he was broke right after he retired. Mike Tyson? Broke. How much money has Barry Bonds forked out to make his head as big as it is? :D

I think some of you are going to regret picking Jose Guillen.

Tell that to all the boxers that are walking the streets. Tell that to Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was broke when his career ended. A guy's arm could fall off tomorrow and his career will be over. You get what you can get when you can get it. Period. I suppose these guys could live off the interest of their 4-5 million, but wouldn't they be giving up a significant portion of the lifestyle they had been living while they were still playing the game? Why give that up if you could live off the interest of even more than 4-5 million? To ask the question another way....... You're currently the manager of the McDonald's down the street. You make $13.00 an hour and get good benefits. You've been with McDonald's for 8 years now, and you're pretty pleased with how things have worked out for you. Are you so loyal to them that you would turn down $17.00 an hour to be the manager at Burger King with the same benefits? Is McDonald's treating you so well that you'd be willing to pass over $8,320 of increased annual income to keep grilling burgers? Do you like that "hometown discount"? To me, I think that my current employer is raking me over the coals and tomorrow I'll be broiling burgers instead of grilling them. Baseball isn't a job you can hold onto until you are age 65. Most players are out of the game before they reach 35. Some of these guys never got an education to speak of, and they will need to learn how to manage their money fast, or it will be gone as quickly as it came. And there is NO job that will pay them anywhere close to what they are getting now, so you get what you can get while you can. If you were in Zambrano's shoes, you'd be asking for as much as you could squeeze out of the Cubs. And you aren't just negotiating by yourself. You have your agent, your family members and the players union all making sure you take what you have coming.

Lou makes a statement in game 1 of the season to the fans, the team, the opposing team and the umpires that the Cubs mean business this year by getting kicked out of the game during the exchange of line up cards at home plate. :D The Cubs go on to win the game 8-0 on a 5 hit shutout.

Well stated. MLB is to blame for this, and while I doubt it comes back to bite them in the butt, I'll hold out hope. Meanwhile, they'll still be getting my money. And actually probably more of it than when I ordered MLB EI through my cable carrier.

Yeah, I've been waiting and holding out hope as well. But, sometime this weekend, I want to be up and running with MLB.TV for the start of the season.