rawaction

he is a good player, but he's also overrated. he's being paid like one of the best players in baseball, and he clearly isn't. How is he overrated? Please no stats involved. Your opinion. And I agree with you that he doesn't deserve to get a $136 million dollar contract. But I will never consider him to be overrated. You ask how is he overrated then you state that he's not worth the money? Simply put, he is getting paid like an elite player. He is not. Edited to remove "stats".

Jennings is above everyone else, as he would be a legit #2 starter. Hudson, Padilla, and Westbrook to me are nice options, but probably low end #2's. Igawa is the next interesting and probably a solid 3. Wolf and Heilman would be a great low risk/high reward guys. Not much interest in Meche, Lilly or Batista. At this point, it looks like the Cubs want to spend. If they can spin some salary off (Izturis, Jones, Dempster, Eyre) and make even money swaps, I'd go after cheap pitching and still go after Drew. I think the Cubs bullpen has the potential to be great if they don't have to throw so many innings. So, the key to me is getting an arm that can give them 200+ IP and do it at least at league average. Get 2 such guys and spend little to do so, the Cubs could be a vastly improved team considering they have already upgraded the offense.

July 31, 1998: Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Todd Noel (minors) and Kevin Orie to the Florida Marlins for Felix Heredia and Steve Hoff (minors). Blockbuster.

I have my team winning 68-49 with Denver D left to go.

Yeah, if Cat could still play 2B, he would have been a much better signing than DeRosa. His lack of ability to play anything other than corner OF made him a non-option for the Cubs, who already lack power in the OF....or did before this afternoon.

Gould coulda made it from 56. Gould can do anything.

I never understood the point of a short-yardage back. If the offensive line gets a good enough push, I could be a good short yardage back. Even if you have a non-power back, it's about leverage. Get lower than the guy trying to tackle you and you will move him forward.

I'd run again on 4th down. Worst case scenario, you have the Jets backed up and try to get a TO on defense.

Nice.

Hester is dangerous at this spot in the field....hell, every spot on the field.

URLACHER THE BEST LINEBACKER!

Grossman 3-5, 2 yards.

Lee Evans with a pair of 83 yard TD catches. :shock:

or not even line anyone up back there Should have gone for it on 2nd down.

Playaction.

Nice play call.

Lugo in CF would be a waste of time and money. Why play Lugo in CF, when you can likely get Dave Roberts to put up similar numbers for a lot cheaper. Lugo's value comes from the ability to consistently put up a .340-.360 OBP in the middle IF, something that very few others can guarantee. In CF, it's a lot easier to get Lugo's production and then some from someone that can actually play the position defensively.

Last time I checked, the Big 10 doesn't have to do that-they just love tradition, and that's what they choose to do. They could play next week just like all the other conferences are if they choose to-blame the Big 10, not the NCAA. I wouldn't mind seeing a Big 10 Championship game. I think that would be a good idea for the Big 10 as well-they would just have to figure out what 12th team to add in order for them to be eligible to have a championship game. ND, but they won't cooperate ;) I wish they would. They are a perfect Big 10 team, with a natural rival already built in. They will never do it because of the money. But yes, I would LOVE to see a 12 team Big 10 (the Big 12?...oh wait) And have a 10 game conference schedule. PSU, O$U, Michigan, MSU, ND, IU in one division and UofI, Iowa, Wisconsin, Purdue, NU and Minnesota in the other. Oh my poor Hoosiers in that situation! It would be interesting to see how they split the teams in that situation. IMO, can't split MSU, Michigan and OSU. Can't split IU, Purdue, and ND in the same state. Can't split U of I and Northwestern. Still, there's no way ND joins. The only possible teams I could see that would fit on all criteria (geographically, economically, educationally, competitively) would be ND, Louisville, and Pitt, and I don't see either of them going anywhere.

Honestly? It is very possible that Durham could be 5M better than Derosa. Durham's career #s .281/.354/.443 106 OPS+ Derosa's career #'s .273/.331/.404 90 OPS+ That's and 80 point difference in OPS for their career. Even if you think Derosa will continue to put up close to his Texas numbers, they are barely (16 points) better than Durham's average season, which Durham himself has surpassed in all but 1 of his last 8 seasons. the numbers appear correct, but the addition's a little off. that's a 62 point different in OPS. my thoughts on the matter is Durham had his swan song last year and will probably be only slightly better that DeRosa if he's better at all. this is coming from someone who panned the DeRosa trade. while it its possible Durham would be worth the extra 5M, more than likely he won't be, and that 5M is better served someplace else. Ha. Yeah, my math skills suck before 9am. Durham's 2006 was in line with his previous 3 seasons, except for the huge power surge. Even if you don't expect that to repeat, I think Durham is as close to a lock to put up his career numbers as it gets. Derosa has no history to assume he will even come close to repeating his 2006 numbers. sorry, but 35 year old secondbasemen with consistent and repeated injury histories are about as far from locks to put up their career numbers as anybody. but let's assume he does. he's still only an 800 ops player. so let's assume DeRosa also put up his career 735 (which probably isn't fair, but for the sake of argument). is that 65 or so points worth 5M? maybe out of a left fielder or centerfielder, but considering they will play at a position where defense is much more imporant, and I hear DeRosa is very good, an I know Durham has always been average and is now slow and old and making 100+ fewer plays in a year than he did when he was a young man, I would give that a resounding no, he's not worth that 5M. I ask this honestly, but what's the difference between Durham 34 and 35? People were saying the same thing before 2006, at age 34. His game isn't as built on speed as it used to be. He has been on base at least 35.6% of the time in each of the last 5 years. He is a career .800 OPS hitter, but he's been better than that in 7 of the last 8 years....including .885 last year. I will grant you that 2006 was probably an anomaly power-wise, but he would have to take a huge and fast decline to be around the .775-.785 OPS area next year. I'd take the gamble by the end of the 2 year contract, he would still be above that range you mentioned, considering he has been well above that most of his career.

Honestly? It is very possible that Durham could be 5M better than Derosa. Durham's career #s .281/.354/.443 106 OPS+ Derosa's career #'s .273/.331/.404 90 OPS+ That's and 80 point difference in OPS for their career. Even if you think Derosa will continue to put up close to his Texas numbers, they are barely (16 points) better than Durham's average season, which Durham himself has surpassed in all but 1 of his last 8 seasons. the numbers appear correct, but the addition's a little off. that's a 62 point different in OPS. my thoughts on the matter is Durham had his swan song last year and will probably be only slightly better that DeRosa if he's better at all. this is coming from someone who panned the DeRosa trade. while it its possible Durham would be worth the extra 5M, more than likely he won't be, and that 5M is better served someplace else. Ha. Yeah, my math skills suck before 9am. Durham's 2006 was in line with his previous 3 seasons, except for the huge power surge. Even if you don't expect that to repeat, I think Durham is as close to a lock to put up his career numbers as it gets. Derosa has no history to assume he will even come close to repeating his 2006 numbers.

Honestly? It is very possible that Durham could be 5M better than Derosa. Durham's career #s .281/.354/.443 106 OPS+ Derosa's career #'s .273/.331/.404 90 OPS+ That's and 80 point difference in OPS for their career. Even if you think Derosa will continue to put up close to his Texas numbers, they are barely (16 points) better than Durham's average season, which Durham himself has surpassed in all but 1 of his last 8 seasons.

IU looking like Davis is still coaching them.

:) I hope he starts at 2B. Me too. Not a Cantu fan at all.

And IU goes away late to win 91-66. White, Ratliff and Allen (3 of the top 6 projected players) played about a combined 20 minutes with 4 fouls each. Seniors Wilmont and Calloway led the way with 24 and 22 respectively and shot excellently from the field. Pretty solid contribution from everybody. Mike White was huge with 10 in the first half with DJ out early.

If Hester would have been tackled when he ran it out that is where they would have got the ball. It was a huge risk and Hester said the only reason he brought it out was because he seen the Bears have a wall lined up, and the Giants players with their head down walking off the field. Said if they would have been coming towards him he would have downed it no question at all. As for Lovie, I think he was just joking around with the media. Wow I didn't realize what a huge risk it was. That makes it even more amazing! Yea, they had the ball at the 42 if he had just downed it. If he had brought that out and been tackled at the 10 or something, I think he might have never been allowed back in Chicago. But he is amazing. There was no way, he would have been tackled anywhere inside the 35. Only 2-3 Giants went down field and being that it was a FG attempt, they were all big linemen. No gunners on a FG team. Really wasn't that much of a gamble.