BigbadB

Alternatives to Jacque Jones? There are tons of them and I've already named a lot of them. The only reason I'm in this thread is because I don't appreciate someone telling me I'm living in some fantasy world because I wanted the Cubs to aggressively pursue Brian Giles.

So, we should expect Marcus Giles to sign with San Diego when he becomes a free agent, I suppose. We probably shouldn't even bother attempting to sign him either.

Some reasonable Cub fans felt like Hendry didn't do enough to make this a better team in the offseason, and the current results shouldn't be excusable considering how poorly he did.

And Petco Park is one of the worst hitting parks in baseball. Couple in LA, San Fran and Arizona and you have one of the worst hitting divisions in baseball, even with Colorado in the mix. His SLG dropped when he moved to the NL West. I don't think it would be nearly as bad if he was playing the NL Central, one of the best hitting divisions in baseball. What's Giles' OBP right now? SLG isn't the only part of his game.

Bottom line: Giles didn't receive the offers that made it worth his while to leave San Diego. San Diego upped their offer prior to the arbitration deadline and he stayed. Chicago didn't make any offers. Hendry was only interested in signing Furcal. He was so interested in Furcal, that he basically spat upon Nomar.

If that's the case, can you please provide your explanation of why he became a free agent in the first place? If he was so adamant about staying, why did he file for free agency? Oh please, surely you aren't that naive. He filed for free agency to squeeze as much money out of San Diego as possible. Surely you're smart enough to understand that. I'm also smart enough to realize that players will go where the money is. Why is Brian Giles the exception? Why did Nomar re-up with the Cubs in 2005? He's a California boy too. To say he never would have went elsewhere because he loved San Diego is naive. Jacque Jones is a San Diego native. Why did he come here? San Diego was interested in him also. You can apply this same theory to every free agent. Why did they go where they went? For the money. Why did Brian Giles sign that big contract with the Pirates initially if he was so enthralled with playing in San Diego?

If that's the case, can you please provide your explanation of why he became a free agent in the first place? If he was so adamant about staying, why did he file for free agency?

For every reason you can come up with for why he is still in San Diego, I can come up with one for why he shouldn't be. But, in the end, they are all just opinions, therefore it's not just "pure fantasy". Did the Cards make an offer? Seemed to me the Cardinals took the 2006 offseason off. If they did make an offer, were they the slightest bit serious? The Cardinals cried poor all offseason and picked up guys like Aaron Miles and Junior Spivey and Juan Encarnacion. And if the Cardinals offer was 8m and the Cubs offer was 12m, would Giles still not take the Cubs offer because he didn't accept the Cardinals offer? See, we can play this game all day. Hendry targeted Furcal. He expected to get Furcal. He basically ignored Giles from where I sit. The fact Giles is still in San Diego had more to do with the fact teams weren't showing the interest he was hoping for, IMO. If he couldn't get the offers he was hoping for, then I can't blame him for signing with San Diego again. It was very close to the arbitration date, and San Diego probably would not have offered it up, therefore Giles would not have been able to join San Diego until after May 1, making a switch to another team likely. Fact is, we really don't know either way.

Source? common sense. 1. the trib wasn't going to throw down the money. 2. the cubs had to pay giles as much or more than aram. rammy probably wouldn't like that considering his ops is better than giles and he's a lot younger. give giles 3 & 36, and lee probably asks for more than 5 & 65. 3. his family's in sd and you know better than anyone how nice of place sd is. Nah, I asked for a source, not your opinion. If all you can provide is your opinion, then I suppose it isn't "pure fantasy", because your opinion is no better or worse than mine.

Source?

The sad thing I agree 100% with you. How egomaniacal must you be to drag not only a team of 25 ballplayers who want to win, but a legion of fans into the proverbial gutter just so you can leave town on your terms? But the question is, who replaces Dusty on an interim basis? During yesterday's pre-game, Santo was discussing the future with Chris Speier. Speier has managerial aspirations. Might not be the worst choice in the world. I think Speier would be a good choice as the interim manager.

It amazes me how these players are rewarded for poor fundamentals with more playing time. That's where I blame Dusty. I will agree that he's done a much better job with the line up card, but to leave these guys in the game after a stupid mistake gives them no inspiration to NOT make that same mistake again.

What's wrong with the Padres attendance figures? I believe they were 6th in baseball last year. The fans just haven't caught on yet to how pathetic ownership is in San Diego. They will.

Cedeno would plan 2B, just like the Cubs were planning to do when they sign Furcal. So you're suggesting that Nomar should have replaced Walker and his 1.5 million then. Good luck defending that. Nomar was insurance. If he's healthy, we have a deeper bench. If he's hurt, you have Walker and Cedeno for depth. Nomar was offering to come back at a discount price and he felt he owed it to the fans of Chicago to play a full season. He said he was even open to a position change. If he was so unwilling to play a different position, why is it exactly that he hasn't logged a single inning at SS for the Dodgers this year? Nomar signed with the Dodgers AFTER Furcal and while Izturis was still on the roster. That makes Nomar at least 3rd on the depth chart at SS. So, you really can't sit there and say that Nomar wasn't willing to do it when I saw the quote that said he was willing to play different positions. Nomar is a better player than Jacque Jones. Nomar would have been a 1 year signing. Nomar provided protection to the offense in case they couldn't get a Tejada or a Furcal or any other player Hendry targeted. You can play the high and mighty "you are correct and everyone else is wrong" game if you want, but no one here is going to fall for it. I can respect that someone may not have wanted Nomar back because of past injuries, but to say Nomar wouldn't come back because he wouldn't have changed positions or that the Cubs shouldn't have brought him back because we had Walker and Cedeno is ridiculous. Because this team sells low and buys high, we have the pathetic offense they have right now. Nomar was a perfect example. They let him walk in a sell low move. They had every opportunity to buy low in that situation and blew it. Sure, Nomar spent time on the DL already this year, but so has Jacque Jones. Oh, and Jacque Jones has a 3 year deal. I like bringing that up because it's pretty important in the big picture.

Are you kidding me? There was a day when less than 10 HR's was good enough to lead the league. Compare how many more home runs are hit today as there were back then. Do you think they all could hit them just fine, but would rather hit a single instead? Considering the fact that some of the smallest guys in baseball (Eckstein) can hit a ball out of the park today, it really isn't that big of a deal when someone hits one. What is the AVG for HR's hit in the major leagues per day? What is the AVG per week? The size of major league baseball parks have become silly. When a fence is moved in, more home runs will take place. Less balls will fall for hits since the outfielders have less ground to cover. It's becoming a 1 dimensional game. A 340 foot HR is nothing special at all. Hit that same ball to centerfield, and it's a routine fly out. You're welcome to disagree with me. I'm not attempting to change your opinion. But, I happen to find it repulsive, whether a Cub player does it, a Cardinal player does it, or anyone else. Anyone who does it, is a selfish player who thinks they are bigger than the game itself, IMO.

I don't care if he passes Ruth. He better not pass Aaron.

I didn't vote, because I had every reason to believe the Cubs could have had Eyre, Howry and Giles. Therefore, it's not an either/or. Bring back Nomar, sign Giles, sign Lofton, sign Eyre, sign Howry, and sign Miller. Don't trade Patterson and don't trade for Pierre. Lofton, Patterson and Hairston hold down CF until Pie is ready. Lofton could also split time in LF with Murton against tough righties. Nomar also figures into the mix in LF, SS and 3b, and now he could be manning 1b. It could have happened.

Settle down there, buddy. They only scored 2 runs.

The Cubs broke of a string of 80 straight innings where they scored 1 or less runs.

Late night for you, maybe. It was prime time here in So Cal. The Padres focused on it quite a bit. Matt Vasgersian had some pretty funny quips about it as well.

was it to second base? Greene plays SS. i was being sarcastic Ah. If I was a betting man, I would have said 2nd also.

was it to second base? Greene plays SS.

Pitchers aren't afraid to throw Pierre strikes. He's not going to hit it very far when he does make contact.

Not a chance. He had to make sure Cameron wouldn't catch it. In fact, Jones had to worry about getting forced at 2nd.

Guzman is hitting 95 with the fast ball. why aren't you at the game?? I'd be there, but i have family visiting. Petco banned smoking anywhere in the stadium grounds. Screw them and the stadium they play their games in. I'm also not happy with the Cubs team in general. I was going to go to one of the games if a friend of mine gave me his season tickets. But, I didn't hear from him and I didn't really want to go that bad in the first place, so I didn't bother asking. It works better this way anyway, now I don't have to support in any way a stadium that I'd rather not go to anyway.