rawaction

Need to make FTs.

Fukudome is a great ML rightfielder. He won't be nearly as good in CF.

Schaub and Plax.

Magglio scares me Howryless. .893 OPS in 4 years in Detroit, but that is skewed by his 1.029 OPS in 2007. Every other season has been less than that, including his 1st two which were .795 and .827, respectively. He's old. He's a defensively liability. He's an injury risk. He's due to hit a wall any day now. I'd much rather go after Hermida w/ some upside or someone that won't cost prospects and a multi-year deal.

It seems like the Bears matchup so well against the Titans, if that is possible. They are very strong against the run vs. a strong running-very weak passing team. Then again, this Lions game has letdown, stupid playoff killing loss written all over it Yeah, but the Titans have already faced the number 1 and number 2 run D's in football (Baltimore and Minnesota) and won both. They can win in a variety of ways. Yeah, it's called turnovers. The Vikings committed 4 in their loss to the Titans. Tennessee won with TD scoring drives of 33 yards, 11 yards, and 6 yards. They did put up back to back 80-yard drives in the 4th quarter to beat the Ravens, 13-10. Titans didn't run the ball well in either game.

I think part of it has to do with the fact that the Bears have been so bad against the pass. The other part of it is that Harrison (rookie) and Dvoracek (injury) are new additions to the dl and they have been really solid, young players. Yes, those 2 and Alex Brown have been real good vs. the run. Tommie Harris has been solid vs. the run when on the field. Kevin Payne has provided good support from the safety position and the CBs (other than Vasher) have been real good against outside runs. The reason the Bears are bad against the pass is 100% due to lack of pass rush. Seems like the DL is good at standing up blockers, but can't get past them to the QB on passing downs.

It seems like the Bears matchup so well against the Titans, if that is possible. They are very strong against the run vs. a strong running-very weak passing team. Then again, this Lions game has letdown, stupid playoff killing loss written all over it As much as I want to be fearful of Detroit, because no team will go 0-16, I just can't be. I think it's more likely the Bears beat the Titans than lose to the Lions. Bears/Titans will be an interesting matchup. Titans are 4th in rushing yards per game. Bears are 6th best in rush yards allowed per game. Bears are 11th in passing YPG. Titans are 4th best in pass yards allowed per game. Titans have one of the bottom 5 passing offenses. Bears are bottom 5 in pass defense.

I would actually prefer Gray and Gooden starting as the bigs. Get some low post scoring potential in the game early, hopefully allowing for an inside out game and helping to open up the shooters as the game goes on. It would also serve the purpose of keeping Tyrus out of early foul trouble. The Bulls could completely change the pace of the game, coming off the bench w/ TT, Gordon and Noah.

Oh hell yeah. I could watch some of his dunks all day long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mVa_CY25fQ oh my god, that last one was vicious. if he does something like that at the ford center, that place might collapse I remember watching that game last year. I screamed so loud at that dunk. The thing that gets me is that he dunks the ball at full speed. When most people dunk, they slow down and take the 2 big steps to set up the dunk. Westbrook looked like he was running the 40-yard dash and the finish line was 10ft in the air. No comment on the middle dunk? :) Rod Wilmont was out of his league. I will long for the days of a 2nd round NCAA team at Indiana for the foreseeable future.

Taken control of a spot that no one else can play well though. I haven't been watching, but is he any good? I still wish Lovie had played Beekman las year when Brown went out. There was absolutely no reason for Beekman not to be starting them so we could figure out if he was any good. On another note, does Lovie bring anything to the table as a head coach except the Cover-Two which I don't even like. I just can't name anything that Lovie does particularly well. Beekman has been pretty decent. Nothing spectacular, but he doesn't commit many penalties and doesn't get beat physically. The left side of the line has been much better than the right. Beekman's already a better OG than Garza. Beekman got his spot because of injury, but has not played his way out. Terrance Metcalf was the projected starter and Josh has kept him and Buenning (picked up early in the season, and is a pretty good lineman) on the bench.

Nice read on the Bears website on the 2007 draft. The maligned draft (with Bazuin and Okwo cut) is looking pretty decent so far this year. Olsen is the team's leading receiver (in terms of yards) and tied for most catches by a non-RB. Kevin Payne is the starting SS and may have been the best defensive player on the team thru 7 games. Beekman has taken control of a starting spot at LG. Graham is likely to take over the starting CB spot (or if not, be a top backup CB in the league). McBride has been decent when called upon. Even Garrett Wolfe, who has been a disappointment on offense, has had a pretty good special teams year.

Oh hell yeah. I could watch some of his dunks all day long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mVa_CY25fQ oh my god, that last one was vicious. if he does something like that at the ford center, that place might collapse I remember watching that game last year. I screamed so loud at that dunk. The thing that gets me is that he dunks the ball at full speed. When most people dunk, they slow down and take the 2 big steps to set up the dunk. Westbrook looked like he was running the 40-yard dash and the finish line was 10ft in the air.

Jay Williams. LOL!

At least the winner will get over 1/2 the popular vote for the first time in 20 years.

They did just draft a college closer who probably has very little chance of succeeding in the starting rotation. Cashner could provide a significant amount of bullpen help if Marmol is dealt. Not to mention there are some decent relief options out there in free agency. I don't see Cashner breaking with the team in Spring Training, but he definitely could be a September callup next season if the Cubs keep him as a reliever. Yeah, I love Marmol, but I'd give him up for an elite pitcher or hitter. Peavy is an elite pitcher. I can't think of any logical deal I'd make that trades away Geovany Soto.

Yeah this kinda sucks. If for nothing more than he can't be included in any trades this offseason.

Peavy, Zambrano, Harden, Lilly, Me would be the best rotation ever. The Cubs have the positions the Padres need to fill. But I question if the talent the Cubs likely have available is good enough. They are looking for a CF, Middle IF, Catcher, and pitching (starting or relief). I would trade Pie, Cedeno, Castillo, Marshall, and Ceda for Peavy (and another player/prospect). But none of those players project to be stars. You'd think for a star like Peavy, SD would at least want a star quality prospect, which the Cubs don't have.

Holliday is another good move if Soriano is gone. With one year left on his deal and money tied to Zambrano, Soriano, and Ramirez for the very long term, I don't see Holliday as a likely option. The Cubs would have to sign him to a longterm deal, and he's looking like a $20M+/year player at this point. Holliday's away splits have gotten progressively better each year and was just under a .900 OPS on the road this year. Even if you take Holliday's career best .892 road OPS and project over a full season everywhere, I think you can get similar production for a fraction of the cost from guys like Dunn or Bradley who wouldn't cost prospects. Or from potential trade targets like Beltran, who would come at a fraction of talent it takes to bring him in.

Thabo started, played nearly 50 minutes and put up 18 points, 7 rebs, and 10 assists. Any reason Tyrus only played 3 minutes off the bench? Hinrich and Noc had big scoring games.

The Braves have a history of making trades to set them up for future years, though. They were technically in the race in 07, but were in 3rd place in the NL East with the 8th best record in the league when they traded for Teixeira. They traded for Wickman and Baez when they were 14 games out in '06. And I don't know that I would agree that Peavy doesn't help them now. Peavy gives them a #1 to compete w/ Santana and Hamels. Jurrjens as a #2 may be the best 2 in that division. Offense is probably an OF (or a Francoeur resurgence) away from being strong enough to seriously contend. I could see them making a run at one of the FA OFs (Bradley, Burrell, Ibanez). I wasn't a fan of the Tex move, because everybody saw it on the wall as a desparate attempt to draw people back to Braves with the false hope that they were a playoff caliber team. If failed. And ultimately they bought high on Tex (Salty/Andrus etc) then they sold low on him (Kotchman and prospect). Not a good business move, IMO. Granted they wouldn't have to move Peavy immediately after acquiring him, but you have to believe that the Braves only trade for Peavy if they are fully committed to winning next yr, and Idk if they will be. I think they are. Chipper's almost done. They are young everywhere else, but they have some talent. If they get Peavy, they may be able to hold on long enough to get Hudson back mid-season and Smoltz possibly before that. With Smoltz, they have a dominant bullpen w/ him, Soriano and Mike Gonzalez at the back end.

According to Lovie, it's "looking good" for all the injured players. Tillman, Vasher, Lloyd, Hester, Graham, Manning and Roach are all expected to be ready to practice on Monday and all on track to play Nov. 2. Lovie did imply that he wasn't sure who would start opposite Tillman at CB. I re-watched the game on NFL Network from last week. Man, was Corey Graham good. He was great on Berrian. The 4th and 1 where Urlacher gets props for smothering Peterson out of the backfield, Graham stayed w/ Berrian all over the field and broke up the pass. The INT was blanket coverage. The throw was horrible, but even if he throws it to the outside, there was 0 chance for a completion.

If it's a Points Per Reception league and you can start 3 WRs, do the deal.

The Braves have a history of making trades to set them up for future years, though. They were technically in the race in 07, but were in 3rd place in the NL East with the 8th best record in the league when they traded for Teixeira. They traded for Wickman and Baez when they were 14 games out in '06. And I don't know that I would agree that Peavy doesn't help them now. Peavy gives them a #1 to compete w/ Santana and Hamels. Jurrjens as a #2 may be the best 2 in that division. Offense is probably an OF (or a Francoeur resurgence) away from being strong enough to seriously contend. I could see them making a run at one of the FA OFs (Bradley, Burrell, Ibanez).

I know Bruce Bowen loves shooting the corner shot, but IDK about Christie. Yeah, Doug Christie loved him some corner Js. He's a pretty good comparison to Thabo. I don't think Thabo could necessarily put up much more than 11 ppg, but with good defense, he won't need to.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_baseball_marlins/2008/10/trade-front.html OK, but can he play? Yeah, I read that. It sounded a lot like the Corey Patterson talk, "Look at him walk to the dugout with his head down. He doesn't want to get better"