BigbadB

First and foremost, get rid of MacPhail, Hendry, Dusty and all the coaches. Prior is not to be traded. Since there is probably nothing outside of throwing no hitters all the way to the trade deadline to increase his trade value to where it would be worth it to trade him, you just keep him and hope that he stays healthy and gets his velocity back. The new management team should recognize Walker's value to this team and keep him as well. There is no reason to trade Dempster, either. The tradeable parts that I see are: Williamson- He could step in as someone's closer immediately. Pierre- He's not worth much and we'd probably have to pick up most of his salary, but someone might be in dire need of a CF by the deadline. Get whatever you can and cut your losses. Maddux- LA seems logical. They could probably make good use of Williamson as well. With their boatload of prospect talent, the Cubs should see what it would take to lure Guzman and/or Ethier. Jones- Yeah, he's not doing too bad, but he's a platoon player nonetheless. I wonder if a Jacque Jones, Greg Maddux, Scott Williamson for JD Drew and Andre Ethier deal might work. Kemp appears to be the real deal, so why not work the phone lines with LA and help them win. Heck, Pierre might even be of interest to the Dodgers. Nevin- His trade stock is rising.

I'm torn. I predicted a 4th place finish for these Cubs at the beginning of the season. Oh wait, their in 5th and definitely not as good as the 4th place team. Go Bucs!

If the season went until Spring Training, yes, I believe they could win 90. But, just barely.

What's the record for quality starts for a week? I had 8 and came within a third of an inning from a 9th. The 10th start was a no doubt about it bad start. Also had 7 wins. My team will suck again next week, however. :D

Agreed. But, with Jim Hendry at the controls, we should all be very scared.

And is a good clubhouse guy.

And fast.

Have people not yet resorted to wearing brown bags on their heads? That might get someone's attention. It's usually good for some National exposure as well.

Good call starting Prior..... I left him on the DL in my Yahoo fantasy league. And it's a good thing I did.

And 29 major league managers breathe a sigh of relief that Rusch was not DFA'd for fear that their GM would be as stupid as Hendry to take a chance on Rusch.

I thought I might have a shot at 400 at the beginning of the week. 9 starts and so far only 1 bad one, with Blanton still to take the hill. Of course, I got nothing from my utility spot, Griffey has had a horrible week and my relievers all suck.

Nice job, Torre you idiot. Puts Wang out there in the 9th working on a 4 hitter and a 1 run lead. Ryan Zimmerman with a walk off. The first hit should have been enough to pull the plug. Now I'll never make it to 400 this week. [-(

I would side with the Big Skirt on this one. A TE in college is a big boy to begin with, especially a big football school like Auburn. As far as the injuries, I would imagine guys who played any significant amount of football might see their bodies break down as they age. The older you get, the harder it is to stay in tip top shape. Bo Jackson was out of baseball and football at a pretty young age. Brian Jordan should have retired at the beginning of 2006, or maybe even before that.

Agreed. When do the Cubs get in the bidding for one of the best players in baseball. Hendry wouldn't recognize the talents of Cabrera if they slapped him in the face. Dope isn't something the Marlins need. Their at least 2 deep at 1b. I'm sure a few more Ricky Nolasco's would interest them quite a bit, however. Florida will want 3 or 4 can't miss prospects.

Just so everyone is aware of my Hendry like move. When "Big Skirt" went on the DL, I picked Craig Monroe back up and slotted him in at Utility, which is where BS was at. Monroe isn't playing (which is a shame, since he probably could have done some nice damage against Rusch), so I dropped him to pick up Mike Jacobs. Basically, I'm on my third Utility guy this week.

I'll be watching because I think I've now seen every episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" and they just aren't as funny the 2nd time around. The only thing as funny as Raymond are Dusty's blunders and one liners. And I need my laughter fix.

Nicely done. Send this to all the Chicago newspapers. Send it to the Cubs front office. Ask for an explanation. Tell them the season ticket holders demand an explanation.

Dusty will still be managing then? Ughh

If the Cubs don't want to care about winning, then go back to what made it okay to not win. Drop the payroll down to 15-20m, make seats affordable again, and make youth and solid, fundamental baseball the focus and call it a day. Paying a ridiculous amount of money to watch a team squander runs by poor throws, poor base running, hacking at pitches in the dirt, floating up batting practice to power hitters, etc... is really a poor business practice. The Marlins and Rays are way more enjoyable to watch than the Cubs. The Pirates and Royals are two pathetic organizations that have the potential to turn things around. If the Cubs are not currently interviewing MacPhail, Hendry and Bakers replacements yet, it's just one more strike against this organization. It's an absolute embarrassment. If I was running this team the way they are, I'd turn in my resignation. The predictions made by some earlier on that St. Louis would fall on their face without Pujols is not showing to be accurate, either. St. Louis scored more runs yesterday without Pujols than the Cubs can score in a whole series. CHANGE IS NEEDED NOW!

Interesting quote by Girardi regarding Hanley Ramirez' struggles: From Rotoworld: "You have to learn how to fight and make adjustments in this game," Girardi said. "The more at-bats he gets, the quicker he's going to do it." So, Girardi wants a top prospect to play through the struggles, which in his opinion is part of the learning process apparently, while Baker wants to bench his top prospect for a never will amount to anything, crap player. What else can be said? Every player in this game was a rookie at one time. Many (if not most) struggled at one point or another. And I'm not quite sure if Murton is really to blame for his struggles.

Overpriced? How much are they charging these days to see the worst baseball team in the major leagues?

I'll have to go back and hunt for my predictions, but I believe I had: NY Mets Cardinals Dodgers Boston White Sox Seattle (still waiting on this long shot)

And how many weeks after the start of the MLB season does the AA season begin?

Did you see the game? Everyone was hitting Rusch. He was fooling no one. The mistake was starting him at all. And 1.2 innings was way too long to leave him in. Other than that, I agree with a lot of what you say.

Any proposed personnel moves need to start with removing MacPhail, Hendry and Dusty.