rawaction

I love how this team has constantly stepped up after the AS break. Tyrus has been great. He is so fun to watch. Now, only if I could watch him 40 minutes/game.

Indians could be great. Tampa looks like they could contend.

The one play that upset me most in the series, is bringing in a LHP to face Lenny Harris when everyone and their mother's mother knew Mike Lowell would come in to pinch hit.

Makes the most sense, unless they feel that bridge has completely burned. If they did get the #6 pick, I'm about 90% sure they would trade down. Six will likely be a great spot to be in, because the chances are strong that one of Russell, Quinn, or Peterson will be there and there are teams that clearly have those needs beneath that pick.

I don't get the idea that the Cubs need bullpen help. I could see "experts" not liking the closer situation, but Howry, Wuertz, and Ohman were all solid to great last year. Dempster, Eyre and Wood were all great in the pen as recently as 2005. Add in Cherry who has been great and Guzman who has the best arm of the bunch, and the pen could be great. Lot of question marks, but I think the pen will be at least league average, provided the starters can go deep consistently.

Hell, we still don't have a #5 hitter. Actually we do, but he's leading off. We have a few options for leadoff too. Oh well, I think a team needs the right balance of pitching, defense, and offense to be really good. Defense is going to make a bigger impact than 10%. Case in point Alex Gonzalez and his "defense" could have helped the Cubs get to the WS in 2003. Tell me I'm wrong. you're wrong. So, the guy who hit 27 HRs and slugged .500, while putting up a .960 OPS with runners in scoring position last year, isn't good enough for you? What about the guy who put up an .885 OPS, and .930 with RISP?

What the heck is with the Corey being afraid of the wall stuff? When's the last time any OF in the history of baseball has run hard after a ball toward the brick wall in Wrigley? Hell, the catch he made against Griffey (may be Rocket's pic) was one of the best I've ever seen.

This could be great. The deal is decent as is. The only problem is the Bears don't gain a pick and they lose a key player. If the Bears get anything more than what's already offered, it will be a good deal. And yes, I'd take McIntosh and throw in Leon Joe.

The craps tables are calling. I can only imagine Z gambling. Imagine being the dealer when he loses. You think there's a dealer in Vegas with the guts to tell Z he lost?

For the long term, I don't think there's any way a healthy Prior goes to AAA and re-signs with the Cubs when he hits free agency in a couple years.

There's Rosenhaus stirring things up again. The Bears approval is no small thing. EDIT: Did the Bears give Briggs/Rosenhaus permission to seek a trade or talk contract with another team? How is this not tampering? Yeah, I don't know if that's legal unless the Bears give him permission to do so, ala Thomas Jones.

Man, nobody jumped on the "icy hot on privates" part of the original post. Nobody made the joke that Prior couldn't rub icy hot on his privates because he would get a yeast infection. I'm disappointed.

Group A- Ortiz Group B- Dunn and Soriano Group C- Morneau, Swisher, D. Wright Group D- Hawpe, Piazza, Beltre, Tejada, Duncan Wildcard-- Carlos Quentin

Brownlie, Blasko, Hagerty and Clanton from the same first round, for that matter. :| The talent the Cubs got in that draft was maybe the best in any draft ever for 1 team. Very sad to get next to nothing out of that.

Signed Lovie Smith to a contract extenstion Hired a new DC and a couple new posistion coaches Traded Thomas Jones Traded for Adam Archuleta Signed Anthony Adams Re-Signed Ruben Brown nothing? beat ya! Though I forgot about Adams. You also said Boone instead of Brown, though.

Of my 4 teams, I have him in 1 league.

Branch and Harris would be sick.

I think Hansborough gets lost in the NBA among the stronger, taller, more athletic power forwards. I'm sure he'll rebound well, but I don't see him having a lot of success when his main competition is gonna be guys like Duncan, Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, etc. He doesn't matchup well against the power forwards of today.

This what I have been saying the last month to you crazy kids. The Bears cant CANT cant invest 120 plus million at the linebacker position with Tommy Harris, and the starting cb all due for extensions in the near future. Has nothing to do with how good Briggs is. So moving up to a top ten pick for a guy who does not want to be here is gravy, IMO. 7 million gets freed up, we draft a young impact player... LB is not one position. It's 3. They should invest heavily in their best defensive players. LINEBACKER IS 3 POSITIONS????? DEAR GOD THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER KNOWN ABOUT FOOTBALL!!!! congrats on missing the point completely. Congrats on a childish comeback. That's not necessary. His point was that you are worried about spending that much money at the LB position, when it's not just 1 person. They would be spending the money on 2 of the top 3 players on the defense, the strongest unit in the NFC. Whether they spend it on 1 LB and 1 DB doesn't make a difference, if they are spending on the DB who is a worse player than the LB. They both play at the same time. It's not like the Atlanta situation with Vick and Schaub where they could only play 1 of them. Actually, which position they spend it on makes a huge difference. Briggs position in that scheme is the most easily replaceable position. To pay big money to a player who could be replaced by a 4th-6th round pick after one year and get close to the same production (which has been done plenty of times in that scheme across the league) and losing an impact player on the defensive line for example would be a really bad scenario. People who can make an impact on the line are rare-weak side linebackers in the Cover 2 who can make a significant impact are not rare at all, so that position becomes one that should be one of your lower salary positions, not one of your higher salary positions. It's not either or though. The Bears can re-sign Briggs AND keep Tommie Harris. And what 4th-6th round pick has replaced an All-Pro and got close to the same production? Not saying it can't happen, but I think it takes a lot more talent than what you are giving and it definitely takes a similar caliber player in order to uphold one of the best defenses in the league.

This what I have been saying the last month to you crazy kids. The Bears cant CANT cant invest 120 plus million at the linebacker position with Tommy Harris, and the starting cb all due for extensions in the near future. Has nothing to do with how good Briggs is. So moving up to a top ten pick for a guy who does not want to be here is gravy, IMO. 7 million gets freed up, we draft a young impact player... LB is not one position. It's 3. They should invest heavily in their best defensive players. LINEBACKER IS 3 POSITIONS????? DEAR GOD THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER KNOWN ABOUT FOOTBALL!!!! congrats on missing the point completely. Congrats on a childish comeback. That's not necessary. His point was that you are worried about spending that much money at the LB position, when it's not just 1 person. They would be spending the money on 2 of the top 3 players on the defense, the strongest unit in the NFC. Whether they spend it on 1 LB and 1 DB doesn't make a difference, if they are spending on the DB who is a worse player than the LB. They both play at the same time. It's not like the Atlanta situation with Vick and Schaub where they could only play 1 of them.

That's not his choice. He can't force anything. The Bears have to choose to trade him.

What do the Bears do with the 6th pick? Scenarios seem to be: a. They have a player targeted at the top of the draft who they expect will be there at #6 (Akobi, Landry, Willis) b. They wait and see if Joe Thomas, Calvin Johnson, or even possibly Quinn slip to #6 and take him there. c. They look to trade down almost immediately for more picks. I wonder if Houston would trade up to get Peterson if he is there, but they don't have much else to offer, picks-wise.

He's also griping about money. You don't cry about not getting paid and then turn down 7.4 million, about 900% more than he's earned in any other season. It's not like he's T.O. who had made millions when he threatened to sit out the season. He hasn't had a big payday, and there's no guarantee he'll get that payday after a season off. Briggs has 2 choices if the Bears don't trade him or re-sign him. Make 7.4M this year and become the highest paid LB next year or make nothing this year and take a chance of becoming the highest paid LB next year. I understand, but it's not $7.4million guaranteed. There's no signing bonus associated with it. No long-term security. That's got to be what he's most worried about. I think what Briggs would be hoping for by holding out is choice #3: hold out, cause enough stress on the situation to force a trade, then sign a long-term deal with a huge signing bonus with the new team. Just like Ogunleye did with us. The $7.4M is guaranteed if he plays. If he gets hurt the first play of the preseason and never comes back, he's getting 7.4 million. No long-term security, of course, there's a lot less long-term security involved in not playing at all.

He wouldn't be trading the 6th pick overall for Briggs. He'd be trading that for Briggs and the 31st. He'd be trading one potential all pro player for an all pro player and a guy who is a little less likely to be all pro. My only problem with such a trade from a Bears perspective is, with 31 and 37, we know they already need O line help, secondary help, and offensive playmaker help. Now, trade Briggs with the 31 for that 6th, and all of a sudden you add one more need, without adding anymore draft picks. The guys who are obvious replacements for Briggs aren't worth anywhere near being a 6 pick, so if you take them, then you are essentially removing much of the value of that 6th pick in the first place. Angelo would almost have to trade down, to try and get 2 later 1st round picks. If you are giving up Briggs and your 1st, I think you have to end up with at least 2 picks when all is said and done. Because all of a sudden you have multiple needs and serious depth issues. Exactly. Which was my point in not liking the deal last night. And I think the odds of filling those needs at #6, is unlikely unless you overdraft. I see OL and with Briggs gone OLB as the biggest needs. And I think Willis and Levi Brown would be slight overdrafts at 6. If Briggs stays these are still our biggest needs. That's if you believe Briggs will sit out, which I refuse to believe. If Briggs does play, worst case, you get a LB next year or have a year to see what the guys already in camp can do. In order to believe Briggs will not sit out, you also need to believe he was just spouting BS when he said he would do anything in his power to not play for the Bears. I don't think I can go there. IMO, it's very likely Briggs would sit out if nothing is done. He seems like the kind of guy who means what he says. He's also griping about money. You don't cry about not getting paid and then turn down 7.4 million, about 900% more than he's earned in any other season. It's not like he's T.O. who had made millions when he threatened to sit out the season. He hasn't had a big payday, and there's no guarantee he'll get that payday after a season off. Briggs has 2 choices if the Bears don't trade him or re-sign him. Make 7.4M this year and become the highest paid LB next year or make nothing this year and take a chance of becoming the highest paid LB next year.

He wouldn't be trading the 6th pick overall for Briggs. He'd be trading that for Briggs and the 31st. He'd be trading one potential all pro player for an all pro player and a guy who is a little less likely to be all pro. My only problem with such a trade from a Bears perspective is, with 31 and 37, we know they already need O line help, secondary help, and offensive playmaker help. Now, trade Briggs with the 31 for that 6th, and all of a sudden you add one more need, without adding anymore draft picks. The guys who are obvious replacements for Briggs aren't worth anywhere near being a 6 pick, so if you take them, then you are essentially removing much of the value of that 6th pick in the first place. Angelo would almost have to trade down, to try and get 2 later 1st round picks. If you are giving up Briggs and your 1st, I think you have to end up with at least 2 picks when all is said and done. Because all of a sudden you have multiple needs and serious depth issues. Exactly. Which was my point in not liking the deal last night. And I think the odds of filling those needs at #6, is unlikely unless you overdraft. I see OL and with Briggs gone OLB as the biggest needs. And I think Willis and Levi Brown would be slight overdrafts at 6. If Briggs stays these are still our biggest needs. That's if you believe Briggs will sit out, which I refuse to believe. If Briggs does play, worst case, you get a LB next year or have a year to see what the guys already in camp can do.