rawaction

Marquis http://photorerun.ap.org/apdbs/Photo/views/mini/3160/3160336.jpg Anyone else think he looks like Matt Clement with a fuller face and no facial hair?

Cesar Izturis has missed 150 games combined in the last 2 seasons. I think it will be big to see who can better handle SS long-term between DeRosa and Theriot. If one of those guys can get some valuable time there this spring and can play it at least adequately, it will be interesting to see what happens if Izturis gets hurt or continues to not hit.

Cabrera is gonna go Manny Ramirez on the Marlins this year. But unlike Manny, Miggy has a great contract situation and he will actually be traded. Of course, the Cubs won't get him, but still it's gonna be fun to watch another blowup in South Florida.

Teams don't throw at Vasher nearly as much as Tillman-I've heard that Tillman got thrown at twice as much as Vasher this year-in fact, Tillman was one of the league leaders at balls thrown his way. Because of this, it seems to reason that Tillman's stats would be a lot better than Vasher's, but he's not necessarily better. Edit: Here's the quote, from Football Outsider's Superbowl Preview: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/02/01/ramblings/game-previews/4913/ There's a simple reason for that. More often than not, Tillman gets the #1 WR on the opposing team. There was some very lopsided matchups this year against teams with very weak #2 WRs. Roy Williams in Detroit to Tillman (twice), Vasher faced Furrey, who had a good year, but is not near the talent of Williams. Anquan Boldin in Arizona, Vasher faced Bryant Johnson with Fitzgerald out. Plaxico Burress in New York, Vasher faced guys who should have been #4 WRs. Lee Evans in Buffalo, Vasher again faced Josh Reed. In the playoff game in NO, Tillman got Colston, while Vash got Terrance Copper. Those are all guys who those teams' passing games revolved around. Those are guys that are gonna get the ball thrown to them regardless of who is on them. Vasher is a very good CB though. I think Nate could handle those matchups also. He did a great job whenever he did get a tough matchup. But to me, Tillman is a better keeper because he's a better tackler and he's miles better against the run. The top tier of CBs is Champ Bailey. After that, I think Vash and Peanut are in that next tier. Last thing, somebody posted that Ike Taylor had the most passes thrown his way in 2005. Well, I thought he played better CB than anybody in the NFL last season. Don't know what happened to him this year, though. Wrong. Tillman wasn't healthy to play in Detroit, and that was one big reason why he caught all over us. Sorry. That just throws my whole point out the window.

I'm going to guess none. Hopefully he's on offense by next season. I think he can be a servicable nickel back, simply based on speed. Even when he got beat this year, he was in a position where a better CB could have made a play. Torry Holt never flat out burned him in the StL game. The TD he gave up in the Probowl is a perfect example of a play that a more experienced CB could have broken up. Hester has horrible technique and can't tackle.

Teams don't throw at Vasher nearly as much as Tillman-I've heard that Tillman got thrown at twice as much as Vasher this year-in fact, Tillman was one of the league leaders at balls thrown his way. Because of this, it seems to reason that Tillman's stats would be a lot better than Vasher's, but he's not necessarily better. Edit: Here's the quote, from Football Outsider's Superbowl Preview: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/2007/02/01/ramblings/game-previews/4913/ There's a simple reason for that. More often than not, Tillman gets the #1 WR on the opposing team. There was some very lopsided matchups this year against teams with very weak #2 WRs. Roy Williams in Detroit to Tillman (twice), Vasher faced Furrey, who had a good year, but is not near the talent of Williams. Anquan Boldin in Arizona, Vasher faced Bryant Johnson with Fitzgerald out. Plaxico Burress in New York, Vasher faced guys who should have been #4 WRs. Lee Evans in Buffalo, Vasher again faced Josh Reed. In the playoff game in NO, Tillman got Colston, while Vash got Terrance Copper. Those are all guys who those teams' passing games revolved around. Those are guys that are gonna get the ball thrown to them regardless of who is on them. Vasher is a very good CB though. I think Nate could handle those matchups also. He did a great job whenever he did get a tough matchup. But to me, Tillman is a better keeper because he's a better tackler and he's miles better against the run. The top tier of CBs is Champ Bailey. After that, I think Vash and Peanut are in that next tier. Last thing, somebody posted that Ike Taylor had the most passes thrown his way in 2005. Well, I thought he played better CB than anybody in the NFL last season. Don't know what happened to him this year, though.

They both bat left handed. My guess is that Floyd and Murton wil share LF until Floyd goes on the down low. Given the roster, the right thing to do when facing a lefty is for DeRosa to move from 2B to RF, and to let Theriot start at 2B. Definitely. I'd love to see it.

Hmm. 19th in one poll. 24th in the other.

I predict Vlad will have a down year. 1.012 in 2003, to .989, to .959, to .934 in 2007, and that's with a .327 batting average. He walked just 50 times in 600+ ABs in 06, vs. 61 in 06 with 100 fewer PAs. He also struck out more frequently. Anaheim did nothing to get a big bat in there with him. If he has injury problems again (like he has the last 2 odd numbered years) or he fails to hit for his career .325 average (which he didn't in 05), I could see him easily being just a .900-.910 OPS player, which is still great, but takes him out of the elite player status.

How are you gonna start the thread and not volunteer your pick first? I don't pick til like 25th. I'm personally hoping Pat the Bat or Billy Hall are still on the board.

Hey, Juan. Can you add Teahan back to my team? I'm gonna keep him and drop Napoli.

Nevermind. Says they have the cap room to franchise Briggs and that's it.

Interesting. I like it. The Bears didn't sit on their 15 win, SB runner up season, and got rid of the coaches for the 2 most inconsistent units.

can I reverse a drop and exchange players?

It seemed to me they wanted to keep the Colts in front of them and the missed tackles screwed up that strategy. Even without the missed tackles, that strategy hurt - Peyton took the stuff underneath all day and the defense was on the field way too long. The defense was on the field too long because of all the turnovers, not the strategy. The Bears have been a bend but don't break team all season. They've given up yards, but they relied on not giving up big plays and getting turnovers of their own. It would have worked if they didn't turn the ball over as often as they did. That's been the case most of the year, but Sunday they started the safeties 20 yards back and backed them up. The LBs were also backpeddling at the snap. The strategy was clearly the reason they couldn't do anything on defense. They tightened up in the redzone, simply because there was nowhere to backpeddle to.

Steinbach I would like. I also want them to draft an OT at the end of the 1st round (or beginning of 2nd if they trade down as usual). There are a few guys available that can play both tackle and guard. Ultimately, the draft pick would play LT, with Steinbach at LG, Kruetz, Garza and Tait on the right side, where he is better.

I love David Carr. I think he's a great talent. I'd love him on the Bears, but I would never in a million years pay him that salary and trade the talent it would take to get him.

I agree with most of this. Lovie is a given. He will get what he wants. At the beginning of the year, I thought Briggs was expendable, but now I think he's a must. The LB corps is the strength of this team, and you seriously weaken the strongest part of the strongest unit possibly in the NFL if you take out Briggs. There is really no viable backup on the roster for him. I think DL is fine. Harris and Dusty will be back. I would like to bring back Tank, but I assume they will let him go and bring back Scott. Dusty is gonna be a real good DT. I think safety is fine. Manning is gonna be much improved with a 19 game season under his belt. He was solid on Sunday and I think with an offseason of workouts and camp will be a league average safety at worst next year. I don't think Mike Brown will have a problem coming back at a reduced cost in order to keep Briggs and extend Tommie. I love Vasher, but I probably wouldn't re-sign him (at least not if the alternative is losing Briggs or Harris) because CBs are easier to find in the draft. I'd let Rex play out his final year. I'd like to see an open competition for the QB job, that is not SuperBowl or fan persuaded and then go a different direction for 2008. There are no FA QBs worthwhile that are guaranteed to be better than Rex. There are no can't miss QBs available with the 31st pick of the draft either, and none of the top guys are worth trading up for. I'd probably look to trade Wale. I think Brown is the stronger DE against the run, and would be helped more by Anderson on the opposite side getting the attention. I'd probably hang on to Jones. Benson has to get increased carries, because he was the #4 pick, but his running style doesn't exactly have the look of longevity. He's a hard runner who gives and takes licks. It's gonna be tough for him to get thru a full season healthy. He has suffered knee injuries in each of his first 2 years, and he hasn't even had a training camp yet. However, if the Bears can get a 2nd or high 3rd round pick for Jones, you gotta take it and get a change of pace back to spell Benson in the draft. I will post later my ideas for the draft, which almost never ever are even close to what the Bears actually do....which hasn't been a bad thing with the success they've had drafting.

WE DID IT! WAY TO GO HOOSIERS. AJ RATLIFF IS A BEAST!

Marmol could have a Farnsworth type arm in short-inning stints. More appropriate comparison would probably be a smaller version of Francis Beltran, without the injury problems.

Think that was Eugene Robinson.

I repeat my earlier post, is there some way we can get in on this deal since the Rockies want young pitching (which we seem to have)? Somehow maybe we could get Crisp or Pena. I'd be interest in Coco. Not sure I'd be willing to give up that good of a prospect, though. Maybe: Helton and Ohman to Boston Crisp and a prospect to Chicago Marshall, Lowell, Delcarmen and Ellsbury to Colorado.

Yeah, if I'm trading a well above average offensive player (Helton), taking on nearly half of his contract, and forced to take an average at best player with a decent sized contract in return (Lowell), I'd at least ask for 1 top prospect. Helton for Ellsbury, Lowell, and Delcarmen seems about fair to me.

A lot of those guys they brought in as pieces to the puzzle. My big problem is the guys they've picked up and thought they would make a huge difference. Guys like Alou (granted he did after wasting 2 years), McGriff, Blauser, etc. But really the Cubs have had some young teams recently. Like mentioned, last year's team was young, with only Todd Walker being over 30 to start the year. It's been a lot better recently. Only Burnitz (1 year deal) and Maddux (prior history w/ team) have been brought in past their prime to be starters.

Yeah, it's simply a mammoth game. Lose, and the best IU can really hope for this season is 3rd. Win, and they are right back in the chase for one of the top 2 spots. It will be interesting to see if IU can contain Wisconsin's size. It's just my opinion, but I think OSU and Wisconsin are on another level than Indiana (or anyone else in the B10, for that matter). Hoping for a 1 or 2 finish is being very optimistic. I don't disagree that they are better teams than IU, but IU has a distinct schedule advantage. If the Hoosiers win Wednesday (and I'll conceed that is far from a lock), they will be 1 loss behind UW and OSU, and they are done with both teams. UW and the Buckeyes still play in Columbus, so that will be a second loss for one of them, tying IU. IU has the following road games left: at Iowa, at Purdue, at Michigan, at NU, and at MSU. Other than MSU there is nothing too scary there. IU still has a long way to go, and they'll need some help, but it is quite possible they make a run at the UW-OSU loser for 2nd in the Big Ten. Exactly. IMO, after Wednesday the Hoosiers will have played their 3 hardest games of the conference season (OSU at OSU, Wisconsin at home, at Illinois). After Wednesday, IU has Illinois, Minnesota, and Penn State at home-with the only realistic loss possibility coming to Illinois, and I see IU getting up for that game. On the road, they should hopefully beat Northwestern at NU, which leaves Michigan, Purdue, Iowa, and Michigan State. Beat Wisconsin on Wednesday, and the Hoosiers have a great shot at 12-4 with a decent possibility of being 13-3 in conference. I think 13-3 in that scenario would get the Hoosiers the 2 seed in the Big 10 tourney. IU is the 3rd best team in the conference. Purdue and Michigan have shots at home, but IU they are both at least a player short of being able to beat the Hoosiers. Iowa and MSU have good shots to beat IU, mainly due to style of play and both being historically horrible places for IU to play. Win vs. Wisconsin and 12-4 should be the worst scenario provided no injuries and Kelvin gets them up for every game.