rawaction

I'm not liking this game. That's why last week was so pivotal to me. As I mentioned in the first game thread, I envisioned a scenario where the Bears beat the Colts. I envisioned a scenario where they beat the Eagles. Every other game was easily winnable on paper (and proved to be on the field as well). But this one, I will be extremely pleasantly surprised if the Bears win. I know the Bears have been the better team this year, but I think w/ the mounting injuries, tough luck losses, and talent discrepancy will be too much to overcome. I worry about the Vikings pass rush getting on track and the Bears repeating the TB and ATL performances on the D-line. I haven't predicted a score yet, because I'm usually way off. So, to hope that tradition continues, I'm picking Minnesota 27-13.

That's a deal that could get it done. I go back and forth on this one. There's an argument for both sides. The question boils down to Soto's long term and short term replacements. There's a possibility that Victor Martinez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are available, but the trade away one part and replace the part with another trade type scenarios never actually happen unless you're Billy Beane. More than likely the short term replacement would come from the free agent pool and the long term replacement is unknown. I think Greg Zaun is a decent one year replacement, but he's only good for half the games caught. The other half would be preferably a righty hitting catcher. It sure would be nice to have a second major league ready offensive catcher...you know like Matt Wieters or something! Definitely an interesting deal worth thinking about. I still don't think I do it as I'm not high on VMart or Salty, and those are the best alternatives out there.

The Braves went into 2008 with a $100 million payroll. They over paid over $12Mil each for Hampton, Hudson, Smoltz, Chipper, and Teixeira (for the most part). Glavine and Kotsay were paid $15M combined. They will have $42Mil of that off the books completely as Glavine, Kotsay, Tex, and Hampton are going to be gone. Smoltz is a FA also and likely to come back at a pay cut. They will definitely be players for Peavy, and if they don't get him, I look for Lowe or Sheets to go there. As for the Angels, seems to me they would put Teixeira and Lackey's extensions over going after Peavy. Then again, it's not like they couldn't afford him anyway as they have Anderson, KRod, and Garland not likely to be back. I'd imagine they might have to give away Brandon Wood and/or Ervin Santana, though.

I could see .825 OPS, but it would be less patience and more power. Maybe .345/.480, which still isn't anything special for a corner IF/OF.

The Cubs may have been pressing, but it's not because of the last week of the season and it's not because of trying to end a 100 year drought.

Hitter every time. 162 potential games vs. 35 potential starts. A stud hitter on his game doesn't assure you win any games, but stud pitcher on his game typically gives you a strong chance to win. However, even the best of pitchers only bring their A game about 80% of the time, and all have the potential of a disaster game which gives your team little chance to win. If a hitter has a disaster game, 0-5, 5 Ks or 5 GIDPs, you still have a chance to win that game. Even if a hitter is not hitting, a true stud will still get on base and help his team in that aspect. And the risk for injury is much greater for the pitcher than the hitter.

Fun injury report this week for the Bears. Booker, Lloyd, DManning, and Tillman all missed practice. (Forte also skipped practice to rest). Rashied, Hamilton, Harris, Harrison, Idonije, Maynard, McBride, Roach, and Vasher only had limited practice. Kinda sad when Mike Brown's the healthiest DB on the roster. You gotta wonder if the Bears just skipped special teams and defensive passing game practice.

I was referring to what raw said. The farm system is only good enough to get injury issues/financial dumps/short term contracts. None of the players you mentioned were as good as Sabathia, Cabrera, Haren or Manny. The Cubs don't have the prospects to acquire such prime talent and haven't - outside of Soto - since the days when Prior, Z and Cruz were still prospects. Exactly. However, I do believe the Cubs can get Beltran or Roberts. Roberts has an expiring contract. And even though the Mets have the money, Beltran can be seen as a salary dump to get Sabathia or Manny or Lowe or KRod. The problem with quantity over quality trades is that the team getting the prospects has to have spots on the 40-man roster. Guys who don't have to be put on the 40-man are typically further away from the majors and regardless of how talented they are, don't have much value. You typically don't see more than 1 of those guys in a trade (See Harden trade, Donaldson). Also, teams have to have a potential opening for those prospects if/when they get to the majors. So, if you are trying to trade a guy like Pie to a team w/ a stud CF prospect, then he will be devalued by that team.

I think it depends on how they feel about Rich Hill. I agree, Pie definitely cannot be the centerpiece. They would be interested in him, but he couldn't be the #1 in the deal. A lot of people seem to think that our farm system doesnt have much to offer. Thats really not true. Much like the major league club, our system has a lot of promising prospects, we just dont have that one superstar in the system like a Gamel or a Rasmus. Vitters is the closest thing, but hes too young to know how much value he'll have in the long run. Wed have to deal with quantity more than quality. With a team like the Padres, we could easily get a deal without someone like Soto or Marmol. Wed take Pie, Marshall, and Ceda or Ascanio and go from there. Well, you just explained why people think that. Laporta got Sabathia. Maybin got Cabrera. Carlos Gonzalez got Haren. Laroche got Manny. The Cubs don't have anybody with that kind of potential. And while I love Harden and loved the move, that's why the Cubs will only be in the running to trade for players like him. By like him I mean, players with injury issues or very short-term contracts who are financial dumps by their teams.

Carlos Zambrano enrolled there?

It would have been really nice if Rich Hill would have gotten it back together and been the 5th starter down the stretch. I agree with Meph here. Teams want 2 things when trading star players. Either potential star prospects or good cheap major league production. The Cubs have 2 prospects that teams may see as potential stars. One has about 50 ABs in full season baseball, the other has a no-trade clause. The only good cheap ML production the Cubs have is Soto, Theriot, and Marmol. The Cubs aren't very likely to trade any of them for the same reason that teams want them.

I don't know why that's so unrealistic. Pence is a talented player. Probably would still be a crappy move if he is the most talented player in the trade going to SD, but he's not a horrible player.

This.

Just punt this week. Thing about that though, is we play 2 games per week. And this week, I got 2 division games. If I go 0-2, my 3 game division lead could be cut to 1 to the team that has beaten me twice. I originally drafted better than this, but I picked up Breaston on waivers, White in a trade, and McNabb was going to be my backup.

One of my teams is screwed this week. I have McNabb, Turner, Breaston, Boldin, and Roddy White all on Byes this week. I refuse to start: Orton S. Jackson D. Williams Ocho Cinco Camarillo Winslow at my skilled positions. I'm thinking of offering 2 trades. 1. Turner and D. Williams for Frank Gore 2. Turner, Boldin, D. Williams for Gore, Colston, Roy Williams Would anybody do either of these trades?

Carolina, Tampa and Philly are all right there with Minnesota defensively, if not better. Minnesota has been a better pass D than Tampa. They have been better at not allowing points than the Eagles. They are almost a 1/2 yard better than all in rushing yards per carry. And while Minnesota has given up 19.8 points per game, they've given up 3 punt returns for TDs (take away those and the XPAs and their PPG is 16.3 to 16.2 for Carolina and Tampa). They've also given up 3 TDs on drives of 11 yards or less. Vikes have the best run D in the NFC, again. You can argue "right there" with Minnesota, but you can't argue than any of those teams are better than the Vikings defensively.

Well I take it personally and so does Jay-Z. He shouldn't. Maybe Bun B from UGK would though.

Same top 4. 1. Vitters 2. Samardzija 3. Cashner 4. Ceda 5. Castillo 6. Jackson 7. Colvin 8. Flaherty 9. Rhee 10 Lee

I actually predicted the Bears to be 3-3 at this point (figured losses to Colts, Bucs, Eagles). The way the skilled positions on offense have played and the way the defense has played in the 1st halves of games, make me mad that they aren't at least 5-1. I would guess this could be another game that goes down to the wire. However, if the Bears aren't healthy, it could be ugly. Lack of pass rush + a great offensive line + toughest defense faced all year, could mean a long game for the Bears. Hope this isn't when the Vikes put it all together. Berrian vs. the Bears CBs should be fun.

3 losses by a total of 8 points, with 2 of them on the final plays of the game. Say what you want. That's on the coaching staff. 100%.

I couldn't remember if that was yours or TT's team. Should have [expletive] known.

I'm going to lose this week due to defenses and kickers. My opponent has the Chargers D who is dominating the Pats and Akers who kicked 4 FGs. Looks like a tie atop the league at 5-1.

This is very much true. At this point, I'd probably re-sign Dempster. I think he will be pretty affordable. The Cubs potentially lose Harden, Lilly and Marquis after 09. That leaves a rotation and Zambrano and ? The Cubs aren't going to get Sabathia or the like. Even if Dempster isn't as effective as he was this year as a starter, he should still be around league average at worst. Worst case scenario, you have a pitcher with some pretty good success as a short reliever. No, but it's fun to dream...it's fun to dream. I think Derek Lowe could be someone that we would have interest in. A groundball pitcher at Wrigley? Count me in. Derek Lowe is going to get a ton of interest. He's the next best thing to Sabathia. Dempster only has 1 good year as a SP. Burnett has his problems w/ injuries and consistency. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lowe get 60Mil over 4 years. Teams like the Mets, Phillies and Yankees will be all over him. As I don't think any of them are going to be in on Sabathia. I think the Cubs have a better shot at Sabathia than Lowe. If they are willing to pay 18-20Mil/year, I don't think any of the other big spenders are going to be. LA teams and Philly are trying to re-sign Teixeira, Manny, and Burrell respectively. NY teams have a lot of money into their current players and adding $20Mil, even w/ open wallets doesn't seem feasible.

This is very much true. At this point, I'd probably re-sign Dempster. I think he will be pretty affordable. The Cubs potentially lose Harden, Lilly and Marquis after 09. That leaves a rotation and Zambrano and ? The Cubs aren't going to get Sabathia or the like. Even if Dempster isn't as effective as he was this year as a starter, he should still be around league average at worst. Worst case scenario, you have a pitcher with some pretty good success as a short reliever.

Agreed. It only took 6 players for Cabrera AND Willis, and they both had pretty friendly contracts. Beltran's contract being off the books would free up the money for the Mets to fill some of their other holes. He's good enough where the Mets shouldn't have to eat any of his contract, but both of those factors mean the Mets will not get full value for Beltran. I think they would be satisfied by filling a couple of their holes cheaply.