Chocolate Milk

Impressive leadoff at-bat for Wilkerson.

I'm not worried about it! I'm so not worried about it that'll dedicate an entire article to how much of a non-issue it is to me.

:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh, man! That's sig material right there.

Maybe he's referring to the head of the hammer. Even still, the nail doesn't meet the hammer head, but the other way around. Hrm...

"Adam Dunn was a two ton man-mountain who could palm a medicine ball!" ADAM DUNN! "One time I was with Dunn in the back of a pickup truck, along with a live deer. Dunn goes up to the deer and says, 'I'm Adam Dunn! SAY IT!' Then he manipulates the deer's lips in such a way as to make it say, 'AdamDunn' ... It wasn't exactly like it, but it was pretty good for a deer!'" ADAM DUNN! "He sweats Gatorade" ADAM DUNN! "Dunn ranked 18th in the AP College Football Pool." ADAM DUNN! "Did I ever tell you about the time Dunn took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Dunn takes me to a vacant lot and says, 'Here we are.' We sat there for a year and a half and sure enough someone constructs a bar around us. The day they opened we ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Dunn yelled over the roar of the flames, 'Always leave things the way you found em!'" ADAM DUNN! This post if for humor purposes only.

I have much manlove for Mark Prior. I hope he doesn't get a badluck loss here (ie 1-0 2-1)

Kerry gets real injuries...not sissy ones like Blisters. If you are going to get hurt, go for the gold. Blow out your elbow or your shoulder trying to throw the ball through the catcher. At least Wood can respect himself. I certainly can't say the same thing for blister boy. You have a point. Blisters are what sissy's in fancy shoes get if they walk further than a block. Yet still, I can't help but link these hard throwing, injury riddled, talented, Texans.

Beckett=Wood Discuss.

I hate to interject a point into this discussion, but I will. His option is going to vest. Hope that helps in some way!

Put me in the, "I'd like to have done but am not willing to mortgage to farm to get him." group.

No.

I have been very underwhelmed with the play of Jason Dubois.

:lol: Holy crap that is the funniest thing I have ever heard. I love AJP now.

Seconded!

Ok, I am really done now. ! It's 3:50! I have to get some work done! :x

The names aren't important. The point is the guy we can get with the saved 9 million will be better than the guy we would've gotten there. The difference between those two players is greater than the difference between Maddux and the kids, nevermind the fact that it's likely they will outproduce Maddux. I will considering it is far from fact.

You honestly believe that even with the fact that Maddux's ERA, though rising the past few years, is still better than those two guys? And the fact that's he's well on his way to another 15+ win season while those two can't put back to back good starts together? You'd honestly feel more comfortable in our chances of winning with them on the mound than Greg Maddux? I don't even know why I'm still in this discussion. It's bordering on insanity. Yes, I do feel more comfortable with those 2, because they aren't going to be much worse(if not better) than Maddux, while we have 9 million more to improve elsewhere. That's the difference between a J.D. Drew, and a Danny Bautista, to pull 2 names out of thin air. JD Drew is being paid MORE than Maddux to underproduce. Are you sure you don't want to rethink that? The point is, do you want Maddux and Denny Bautista, or Mitre/Hill/Williams and Drew? Considering we can have both, I'm not sure what the point of this question is. Hahah, really? Because I see Dubois and Hollandsworth sucking it up right now. Next year, 9 million dollars is going to go into Maddux's pocket. That is likely to be around 1/10th of our payroll. Are you ok with spending 1/10th of our payroll on a 4+ ERA, when we could get the same thing for 900k from the trio of kids? I'm not. Why not? At least he plays. No one seems to be angry about paying 1/5 of our payroll for 2 guys who don't even play (one not even on the team and the other on the DL for 2/3rds of every season). You're angry about Dubois? Which side of this argument are you on? You'd rather bring in an expensive underachiever rather then let Dubois play for much cheaper and give him a chance to devlop into a equal player? If you think Maddux is the reason we didn't sign JD Drew, I don't even know what to say to you. I think it's hilarious that people think Maddux is some sort of cash sucking albatross that is easily replaced by unproven rookies and keeping us from signing a LFer. I don't see why we would take away something that isn't a problem because he is mythically keeping us from signing left fielders.

You honestly believe that even with the fact that Maddux's ERA, though rising the past few years, is still better than those two guys? And the fact that's he's well on his way to another 15+ win season while those two can't put back to back good starts together? You'd honestly feel more comfortable in our chances of winning with them on the mound than Greg Maddux? I don't even know why I'm still in this discussion. It's bordering on insanity. Yes, I do feel more comfortable with those 2, because they aren't going to be much worse(if not better) than Maddux, while we have 9 million more to improve elsewhere. That's the difference between a J.D. Drew, and a Danny Bautista, to pull 2 names out of thin air. JD Drew is being paid MORE than Maddux to underproduce. Are you sure you don't want to rethink that? The point is, do you want Maddux and Denny Bautista, or Mitre/Hill/Williams and Drew? Considering we can have both, I'm not sure what the point of this question is.

Well, except for the laws of nature. Tell that to Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. Oh, and up to this year, Barry Bonds. Old age is no longer that big of an excuse for some of these guys. They are capable of performing well past the age of 35. Awesome, time has stopped, there is no more aging. Maddux hasn't been in decline. He'll go on forever. This is great news. Great, a snide remark. This really adds to the discussion nicely.

In that same time, he's posted a 4.19 ERA, I think one of our farm hands could do that. What gives you that idea? Past performance by those farm hands, plus the sheer quantity of them. Even if they were slightly worse, the savings would still make it worthwhile. Past preformance indicates that they preform at a lower level. I suppose I'm not willing to accept a reduction in preformance to save a few million dollars in a professional sport that doesn't have a salary cap. So what do Minor League numbers mean? They are very accurate indicators of Major League performance when put in proper context. There's no salary cap, but that doesn't mean the team doesn't operate on a budget. The Trib puts limits on how much Hendry can spend, so he should be as efficient as he can with the money he is alotted. Who's talking about Minor League numbers? I'm talking about Major League starts. I'm not quite sure why you think it is so easy to find a 4ERA pitcher who can come in and win 15 games. How many rookies historically have actually been able to do that? I'd venture the number to be quite low. No one in our farm system has shown they are ready to make that colossal leap. I understand the workings of the Cubs Budget. However, the fact remains that Maddux few million of overpayment is not going to hinder us from getting any players that we really want. If you want to see a more gross misuse of funds, look no further than Right Field in Baltimore. I suppose you'll never see it from my point of view. For all intents and purposes, I am done with this discussion.

In that same time, he's posted a 4.19 ERA, I think one of our farm hands could do that. What gives you that idea? Past performance by those farm hands, plus the sheer quantity of them. Even if they were slightly worse, the savings would still make it worthwhile. Past preformance indicates that they preform at a lower level. I suppose I'm not willing to accept a reduction in preformance to save a few million dollars in a professional sport that doesn't have a salary cap.

In that same time, he's posted a 4.19 ERA, I think one of our farm hands could do that. What gives you that idea?

One more thing I wanted to mention is that Maddux has been good with the younger pitches. This may be negligable but a few of the younger guys have said that Maddux has helped them out a lot. It may not be worth much but it might be worth something. With that, I'm off to lunch and for the most part done with this stalemate!

I'm not sure that's true, but even if it is, it's true for a LOT of pitchers. Some of that is a generalization while most of it is true. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wins as consistantly and is as durable as Greg Maddux. Regardless, this doesn't really matter because the amount we might be overpaying is insignifigant. I would put this issue among issues such as uniform color, Wrigley Field grass length, and opposing Managers' parking availability in terms of important issues that need discussion. It's not nearly that trivial. If the choice between having comparable production from Maddux for 9 million or a farmhand at the minimum is out there, you have to try and get rid of Maddux. That's nearly 10% of the payroll, not insignificant by any stretch of the imagination. I'd love to plug in a farm hand and have him win 15 games with a 4ish ERA for the league min. It's a shame that that senario is an almost impossible one to come by. No one in our farm system has shown the ability to win 15 games or keep their ERA under 5 at the major league level. However, if you know of a farm hand capable of this, please tell Jim Hendry immediately. Greg may not be worth 9 million but at the least he is worth half of that (and would probably get more than 4 million on the open market). the 4-5ish million we might be overpaying is insignificant, in my mind, for the production Greg brings. Doesn't look like we're going to agree on this one.

I'm not sure that's true, but even if it is, it's true for a LOT of pitchers. Some of that is a generalization while most of it is true. I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who wins as consistantly and is as durable as Greg Maddux. Regardless, this doesn't really matter because the amount we might be overpaying is insignifigant. I would put this issue among issues such as uniform color, Wrigley Field grass length, and opposing Managers' parking availability in terms of important issues that need discussion.