rawaction

I'd hate to trade Samardzija. But I'd do it, if that's what it would take and he would accept it. I'd also hate to trade Marshall in addition to Samardzija, but I guess I would if necessary. If the Cubs offer Samardzija, Marshall, Pie and Cedeno....the Braves won't beat that offer.

Just out of curiosity, how many more weeks should we keep saying this before concluding that he's not going to? Tommie looked great vs. Detroit on Sunday. He looked quick and healthy. 2 tackles, 1 sack -- bringing his season total to 8 tackles, 2 sacks. Might be better than earlier in the year, but I'd hardly call it "great." Kris Jenkins has 21 tackles right now, and he's a run clogger. So, we're looking at a boxscore to determine how well a d-lineman played? Harris should have been credited w/ 2 sacks first off, but the QB may have made it back to the line of scrimmage. He was in the backfield quite frequently, and the Bears not coincedently maybe had their best game putting pressure on the QB all year. It was clear Sunday that Harris made the D better, 3 of the 4 quarters.

No the Grossman 2.0 last year (Where he was much better) loved tossing that fade route to Olsen. Were those fade routes actually completed? In the games where Grossman played after he got back, Olsen had: Raiders: no catches Seattle: 7 catches, 43 yards Denver: 1 catch, 10 yards Giants: 2 catches, 7 yards In the Washington game, all 3 of Olsen's catches were after Griese replaced Grossman. Their longest connection during that whole time? That 10 yard pass in Denver. That's a rather short fade pattern if it isn't in the end zone. Plus there were no TD catches. It looks like Olsen was only used only as a safety valve when Grossman came back. They didn't send him down the field at all. Olsen's value came last year only when Griese was in. Yep, you are right. I went back to stats, and it was Griese who tried to stretch the field with Olsen. My bad dog. Grossman changed. He became panicky last year as the season progressed. So panicky, that I don't know that I trust him in there against a strong pass rushing team like Tennessee. As the pocket starts to close, which generally happens with the Bears long before a guy can get downfield for a long pass, he looks for the quickest place to dump the ball. If the line gives him time, and Rex is given the opportunity to trust the line, he can be dangerous against any defense. The Rex who basically lost his job after last year was the guy who seemed like he was paranoid to even be out there. Afraid to make a mistake, afraid of what was going on behind him where he can't see, afraid of throwing another INT, afraid of being sacked and hurt again and afraid of the fans reaction. Deer caught in the headlights syndrome. I like Rex, but I've been very concerned about his ability to lead the team. I was one of the last to fall from that grace, and now that it's gone, he needs to go out and regain that admiration and respect. This is the perfect team for him to do it against. Sunday is all about Rex. But has he changed some since then also? When he came back last year, he put together a few solid games before getting hurt. He had 1 great, 2 good, and 1 mediocre game when he started toward the end of last year. He also took 16 sacks in those games. I don't know if that means he takes too many sacks because he's shaky in the pocket or if that shows he's improved enough to have solid games while getting hit that many times.

If it's the Cubs, Padres, and Marlins.....I don't think there's anyway the Cubs end up w/ Peavy and Hermida. They would be the best 2 players in the trade, and that rarely happens where 1 team gets the best 2 players in a multi-team deal. Using the usual suspects, I'd imagine this 3-way would be along the lines of: Cubs get Peavy Padres get Olsen, Hermida Marlins get Pie, Castillo, Ceda, Marshall

Exactly what does getting Peavy accomplish for them? They lose a guy in Escobar who has potential to be a all-star SS for the next decade, and any prospects that they give up they lose out on developing them to be part of a competing team 3-4 years down the road. There is no way they contend this year and it's unlikely they contend they next 2 seasons. They'll end up giving up a lot, plus the pads will likely expect whoever gets him to pick up at least part of the contract, and thats not something that rebuiling teams should be doing. People keep saying the Braves are rebuilding and I don't know where that is coming from. Sure they are a pretty young team, but they have aging guys like Chipper, Smoltz, and Hudson (the latter will be back by midseason). The Braves had the 4th highest payroll in the NL last year, over 100Mil. They have plenty of money to spend this offseason. The Braves' payroll has been over 85M every year since 2001. The only big salaries they have are Hudson (13M) and Chipper's 10M option. They have enough to add Peavy and a bat. That would put them back in NL East contention right away. The reason I don't see the Braves being big players is that the Braves didn't build their dynasty in the 90's by trading their prospects for a star pitcher. They kept their prospects and built the team around those prospects. And then they made the team even better by getting guys like Maddux. To me, and I could be wrong, for the Braves to give up prospects like Heyward or Schafer or Jurgens for a guy who is already making big money, wastes the best years of Peavy's career while all of these guys are going through growing pains of learning how to become successful major league players. By the time they are really contributing, Peavy will be off to his next destination, after tiring of not winning in Atlanta. Couple that in with the fact that New York and Phily both have the talent and money to spend to strengthen their teams even more in the East, and I think Atlanta is jeopardizing their future just to finish 3rd this year and next. ETA: I think the Marlins would be in a better position to go after Peavy right now than the Braves. Hanley, Hermida, Uggla, Maybin, Josh Johnson, Volstad, Miller. They clearly won't give up Jurrjens for Peavy. And will only give up one of Heyward/Schafer if even that. They still have Brandon Jones, the one of Heyward or Schafer they don't trade, and Gorkys Hernandez in the OF. They will have Hansen, Flowers, Hicks, Freeman, Locke, and Rohrbough who are also legit prospects. They aren't going to kill their system either way. Peavy along with Jurrjens would give them a solid 1-2. Get Hudson during the season and one of the young guys step up, that's the best rotation in the NLE by a long shot. Chipper and McCann are pretty good bats. They can afford 1 more middle of the order hitter (showing interest in Burrell), which would make them a pretty solid offensive team. Granted, the Braves are a team that typically trades prospects for high priced players, but they have a glut of OF prospects. They have a lot of young pitching. What they don't have is a top of the rotation guy for next year and the future. And the one thing that dynasty did for the Braves, made them winners. I can see them starting it all over again, but they are also a team that has a history of spending money. They've typically spent it on their homegrown players (Andruw, Chipper, Big 3 SPs). But they have traded prospects when needed. They did so to get Hudson, Renteria, Teixeira, even Wickman.

Just out of curiosity, how many more weeks should we keep saying this before concluding that he's not going to? Tommie looked great vs. Detroit on Sunday. He looked quick and healthy.

Exactly what does getting Peavy accomplish for them? They lose a guy in Escobar who has potential to be a all-star SS for the next decade, and any prospects that they give up they lose out on developing them to be part of a competing team 3-4 years down the road. There is no way they contend this year and it's unlikely they contend they next 2 seasons. They'll end up giving up a lot, plus the pads will likely expect whoever gets him to pick up at least part of the contract, and thats not something that rebuiling teams should be doing. People keep saying the Braves are rebuilding and I don't know where that is coming from. Sure they are a pretty young team, but they have aging guys like Chipper, Smoltz, and Hudson (the latter will be back by midseason). The Braves had the 4th highest payroll in the NL last year, over 100Mil. They have plenty of money to spend this offseason. The Braves' payroll has been over 85M every year since 2001. The only big salaries they have are Hudson (13M) and Chipper's 10M option. They have enough to add Peavy and a bat. That would put them back in NL East contention right away.

Mitch Atkins and Randy Wells also. Possibly Angel Guzman. Granted those aren't good safety nets.

I've heard the Lakers really like Kirk Hinrich. The only thing they really have to trade to matchup salary wise though is Lamar Odom or some crappy package involving Chris Mihm and Luke Walton.

Yes. Peavy, Z, Harden, Lilly, Marquis/Samardzija/ME is still the best rotation in baseball. Wood would be essential in the pen as money wouldn't be there to upgrade otherwise.

Reggie Bush and Torry Holt for Anquan Boldin? It's a Points Per Reception league. Bush is probably out this week, but would be replacing Michael Turner, (from a 2-catch RB to the league leader for RB receptions). I know I could also trade Michael Turner for either Braylon Edwards or TJ Houshmanzadeh. So, essentially it would be: Bush (136 points) Holt (78.7 points) Housh (137.6 points) for Boldin (144 points) Turner (119 points) Boldin and Bush have each missed 3 games.

Who's idea is it to have Gordon running the offense with Rose in the game also?

Plus he throws from the right side, heck Rich Hill could be corpse yet, some team will take a flier on him solely because he's a LHP. Who throws from the right side? Cliff Lee? No, he's a lefty too.

So? I'd take Derosa in RF (Fukudome/Johnson CF platoon) and Fontenot at 2B everyday if it meant Peavy in the rotation. Still even if you give up Pie, Ceda, Marshall, and Cedeno for Peavy, you still have Castillo, Hill, and others (including recent draft picks who can be PTBNL til June) that could be of interest to the Marlins.

Hey, Gmoney! Welcome to the board. The prospect of getting Peavy is very exciting. But there is a thread in transactions already. Please continue to post there. I look forward to your contributions. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=51516&start=550

I'd probably take Halladay and Lincecum over Peavy, but that's it on that list and they all would be close....as would Santana. But if you take into consideration age, contract, and ability. I'd probably only take Lincecum.

The fact that after all this time & effort we're back to "a work in progress" is endlessly frustrating to me. What we're saying is that all these years since 1998 have been one big fat stinking failure. Good job Bulls. Let's start another 10 year cycle of "rebuilding" only to find that our current crop of youngsters blossom on other teams while we bring up another group of draft picks once again. And round & round we go. Seriously. None of you share my frustration on this? This is all just great with all of you? I can't believe that. Mistakes were made in the past for sure. What can we do but look to the future. I firmly believe we have our superstar (Rose) and key role players (Hinrich, Deng, Thomas). We need our #2 guy, and a low post threat, but we are heading in the right direction, and knowing the past is the past, I figure its time to give these guys time to prosper. If we didn't win the lotto and draft Rose, then I'm with you. But that's key. We finally have something to build around. I still contend a big guard would do more good than a big man. That's why I wanted Brandon Roy a couple years ago. 8-12 of the top 24 scorers in the league so far are shooting guards between 6'5" and 6'7", depending on who you consider a 2G. This is a guards' game now. The top players in the league are guys that can create their own shot and shoot over bigger defenders inside if needed. Kobe, Lebron, McGrady, Pierce, Joe Johnson, Wade, Redd, Hamilton, Carter, Roy, etc.

What about this three way? Cubs get: Jake Peavy, Jeremy Hermida, and Kevin Gregg Padres get: Scott Olsen, Felix Pie, Ronny Cedeno, Jose Ascanio/Kevin Hart, and Sean Marshall Marlins get: Kyle Blanks, Wellington Castillo, and Jose Ceda Cubs too much. Marlins too little.

As expected, Orton did not practice today. Also not practicing were Mike Brown due to his calf injury. Booker, Harris and Tillman all sat out for rest. Good news is Brandon Lloyd and Danieal Manning both had a full practices for the first time in weeks.

My Hermida love is well documented. I also like Olsen too, though he is a jerk. If the Cubs could turn Olsen into Peavy, it would be an offseason for the ages.

So, is pretty much every pitcher that has a multi-year contract.

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: WOW. I thought his season was over! That is terrific news! Not that terrific. Remember Tony Romo said the same thing 3 weeks ago? He went from saying he was going to try and play Week 7, to being out a month like was originally diagnosed. Not the same injury, but the point is, you shouldn't listen to a player when he says he might play and is easily not 100% able to do so.

The Titans gave up 7 pass plays of at least 19 yards to the Packers on Sunday. While they only gave up 6 of at least 19 in the previous 2 games, FIVE of those passes went to the TE. In fact, 4 times in their 8 games, the TE has been the opposing team's leading receiver. The Bears don't have a Dallas Clark or Tony Gonzalez (last 2 opponents), but I think this is the area the offense can exploit the Titans defense. Olsen can get down the field in a hurry against their aggressive LBs, who aren't that good in coverage anyway. Dez runs great routes and provides a huge target for Grossman. The middle of the field should be open for the TEs most of the day, provided Grossman gets some protection.

4 teams in the league have fewer than 3 losses, including whoever loses the Monday night game.

Deng should really be on another team.