ThePenguin11

That's ridiculous. What is? The fact that Tribune & Co. would put the bottom line in front of its fanbase? Not Tribune, they never screw anyone over to squeeze out every last dime they can...Not by scalping tickets, relocating street vendors, increasing ticket prices exponentially, lying about injuries repeatedly...I'm sure I'm forgetting a few...

The way the Cubs treat us is a traveshamockery. Someone said earlier that we should give the Cubs some credit...I say 'WHY?' Since when do they deserve an ounce of credit? No matter what the real reason, as fans, we've been conditioned to expect lies and deception. I feel duped again. After reading Rotoworld's take on this, and after listening to Dan Bernstein rant on the subject, I really have to ask myself why I put myself through this crap for this team. I'd have to give up baseball altogether, because I could never support another team. I'm sure all it will take is a year or two to clean up this mess we call management. From the writers of Rotoworld: Mark Prior - S - Cubs Mark Prior will have his right shoulder examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum after complaining of soreness before a bullpen session on Tuesday. Score one for Baseball Prospectus. The Cubs are currently calling Prior's injury posterior rotator cuff irritation, but they can never be trusted about these things. Of course, they're saying that he's had absolutely no problems with the shoulder until today. "It's unfortunate," Cubs GM Jim Hendry said. "The first time he's ever complained of discomfort since we got here [in spring camp] is today. It will be perceived any way people want to perceive it. There's no advantage to us holding back until March 14 and then discussing a problem that we knew about earlier." Sure there is. Ticket sales and better publicity headed into the season. It looks like the Cubs will be opening the season with a rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Greg Maddux, Glendon Rusch, Jerome Williams and maybe Rich Hill, and if Cubs fans knew that back when there were decent free agents available, they would have been throwing fits. Mar. 14 - 8:08 pm et Source: Cubs.mlb.com

Who's going to take Prior's spot in the simulated pitching rotation? That's what's really at stake here. We coulda been a contenda!

At the break, barring any injuries, the Cubs should be looking at Murton+Pie+Hill (or Guzman) for Miguel Cabrera or a reasonable facsimile. Any less than Cabrera, then you can pull Pie out. If come July Murton is hitting .300+, with an OBP of .360, and about 12 or more HR, then I would say we have no reason to trade him. I think the Cubs are actually in a good position right now to deal from minor league depth to acquire what they need at the major league level come July. The big 'if' however, is the old injury 'if'. The bulk of the 25-man needs to be healthy for JH to be able to make major moves with prospects otherwise we'll be playing guys like Hill, Guzman or Pie on the big club's roster.

This whole thing wreaks of Cubs B.S. The only time pitchers are worked out in this manner is to rehab an injury. You don't just hold a guy back to get his arm strength back. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The way to build up arm strength is the same way everybody else is doing it. Get out there and pitch. And pitch off of a mound. I really hope I'm reading too much into this, but the Cubs have forced us to read between the lines.

Does anyone have any pictures of Greg Maddux from this year's Spring Training? I have been a detractor of his this past year due to his girlish-figure and lackluster results and was curious to see if anyone had pictures (or knew where to find any) so I could actually see if he doesn't resemble my grandmother anymore. Any assistance would be appreciated.

It's like an oxymoron. Good Miles article, good Baker quotes. Usually Bruce's best articles are the ones where Johnnie B. says or does something criminally stupid. In all seriousness, that was a teriffic article from Bruce. ((I smell Pulitzer.))

I'm not sure anyone is going to trade a bag of balls for Wellemeyer. Maybe some old used ones. He's been pretty bad for pretty much his whole MLB career and teams know he's going to get released. He gone.

Yeah, that'll show him. I didn't mean it as a punishment. What I'm saying is he can go get his payday on some other team that is willing to overpay for him. The Cubs don't owe him anything.

I think it's fair to say every Cubs fan wants him to succeed while playing on this team. I was, like many others, clamoring for him to miss out on a vesting option because it was very apparent to me that he was coasting through an early retirement. Maddux has been an out-of-shape slouch ever since he joined this team. He's gotten by on every last bit of talent he's got left and it wasn't enough. Not enough to justify the king's ransom he held the Cubs hostage for until the last possible second. And now, since he's in a contract year, we're all supposed to bow down to him and drop rose petals before him because he hired a trainer??? Bull. He should have hired that trainer a year or two ago. I always liked him until he got too big for his britches. He needs to prove it to me and other fans that share my feelings about his lack of effort and prove it on the mound. And - If he does have a great year - and he wants to come back to the Cubs it sure as H better be at a reasonable discount. If not, he can get a job in San Diego for $8MM per year.

I've had mlb.tv the past two years when I lived in Michigan. Now that I'm back in Chicago I'd like to get the package for when I'm at work or any other time I can watch on my laptop. Does anyone know if I'd be blacked out of Cubs games since I'm in Chicago now?

I'm pretty sure the zip code verification has been out of the formula since before 2005. Last I heard, they blacked games out based on your computer's IP address. I do remember hearing a slightly illegal way to re-route that IP in order to cheat the system, however, I don't recall how you do it. There's also a program out there that will record streaming media. Again, it's a pretty sketchy program and probably not on the up and up. But...if nobody knows...nobody gets hurt. Jack Bauer would find a way to get around it. And I'm certain Tony Almeda would too.

Soriano Update: Alfonso Soriano - 2B - Nationals Manager Frank Robinson said yesterday that Alfonso Soriano will not play in either of the two exhibition games before the start of the World Baseball Classic. "He's not playing because I didn't put him in the lineup," Robinson said. This situation is on a path to ugliness. Mar. 1 - 9:47 am et Source: Washington Post If they get desperate, I'd take him off their hands for Neifi and decent prospects - only if I could make something good come out of a Todd Walker trade. Neifi's contract is bad money, so to me, if we could spin Walker and Williamson or Williams for something valuable - I'd take on Soriano. That's really the only way. And Washington would have to be desperate to move him.

That's weird, yesterday I was sure I heard that Wood threw 40 pitches off the mound. Could it have been Miller? Either way, they both seem to be progressing very well. Zambrano Prior Maddux Wood Miller That's what I'd like to see after May 1st. Rusch and Williams are nice to have, but I think this rotation has a chance to dominate. The only other pitcher I won't mind seeing in the rotation is Angel Guzman, if he earns it. If Maddux is really, truly in shape and Wood, Miller and/or Guzman are the major contributors for the rotation this year, the Cubs have a great chance to be special this year. Lotta big if's, but I'm a little optomistic about the rotation staying healthy.

I have to disagree. Your offseason, no matter how successful, can never guarantee success in the postseason. Ask the Yankees, Mets or Dodgers of the past few years about that. There have been plenty of teams to spend and overspend only to find themselves on the outside looking in in October. The moves may look great at the time, but who's to say that Brian Giles doesn't bat .220 and completely lose it? It's not unprecedented for a guy to just lose it? Of course it's highly unlikely, but the only way you can make that statement is in retrospect. That kind of defeats the purpose however since the statement is more of a prediction. The only way to say we could have run away with the division is if we added a bunch of all-stars who were guaranteed to stay healthy and perform at their normal level - which is pretty much impossible anyway. I'm sorry if I'm being a bit overcritical, but the moral of the story is you still always have to play the games first. When did I guarantee anything? I said "could." :? I also only commented on winning the division and said nothing about the postseason. I read it as if you were saying, "If not for this poor offseason, we could have run away with the division." If what you meant was, "We could have had a chance to run away with the division, had we not had a better offseason.", then I misinterpreted your statement. It just looked more like an indictment toward the GM, as if there was a plan he could have followed that would guarantee a ticket to the playoffs - which in my opinion would be impossible due to countless external factors. Of course, now it does seem as if I misinterpreted what you were saying.

I have to disagree. Your offseason, no matter how successful, can never guarantee success in the postseason. Ask the Yankees, Mets or Dodgers of the past few years about that. There have been plenty of teams to spend and overspend only to find themselves on the outside looking in in October. The moves may look great at the time, but who's to say that Brian Giles doesn't bat .220 and completely lose it? It's not unprecedented for a guy to just lose it? Of course it's highly unlikely, but the only way you can make that statement is in retrospect. That kind of defeats the purpose however since the statement is more of a prediction. The only way to say we could have run away with the division is if we added a bunch of all-stars who were guaranteed to stay healthy and perform at their normal level - which is pretty much impossible anyway. I'm sorry if I'm being a bit overcritical, but the moral of the story is you still always have to play the games first.

For the record, when I posted this I wasn't trying to bash the move. Teams make these kinds of last minute, has-been-veteran-addition moves all the time. It's a pretty meaningless transaction in the ultimate scheme of things and my sarcasm wasn't meant to say that the Cubs are foolish, more so to make fun of Brian Boehringer and a pretty mundane transaction.

This move is sure have St. Louis worried. And to think all those other teams had a chance to sign Brian Boehringer and we got him.

I think that holding back on an extension is a very good idea. I believe that Hendry deserves an extension, however if he's extended now, then he can extend Baker. Barry Rozner spoke of this during Mike North's show the other day. For once, I think MacPhail might be making the smart move. He's probably going to make Baker earn the contract based on the team's play in the first half. If the Cubs stink by July then he could still offer Hendry an extension, but Baker would not be in position to get his. If Baker is 5 games up in the WC or by some miracle leading the Central in mid-July, then I'd say you'd probably have to tender him an offer. As much as I tend to dislike Dusty, he probably should get a chance to field a healthy team for half a season.

The only way to trade for a guy like Soriano is to trade a few low-level prospects and another bad contract. Otherwise, it's virtually impossible. For an expensive rental, nobody's going to trade a valuable major league talent like Murton. If Soriano had a 3 year contract worth 5 million per year it would be a bit more palatable. You'd have to give up a couple of high-risk / high-reward A-ballers and another bad 1-year contract to lessen the blow. Unfortunately, short of Maddux, there really aren't any bad contracts in the budget (Edit: Neifi's contract sucks, but it appears as if Jim Hendry actually wanted to overpay for this year). It seems weird since for the first time in a while we're not waiting for someone's money to come off the books, except for maybe Maddux, but he'll never get traded. He's more valuable than Soriano for this year anyway. As much as I'd like to see Soriano bash a few onto Waveland, I just don't see a fit unless they took on Neifi Perez and two decent A-Ballers.

Here we go again...

meh. He's been dead to me since he corked his bat.

Per Ofman: Jerome Williams lost 20 pounds.

No, they covered the Cubs for over an hour.