rawaction

IMO, that second bullpen would get torn up. You don't create a successful 'pen by stringing together some arms with good stats. Who would you have as closer, setup men, loogy, etc? Not to be an ass, but did you read my post? Dempster is still the closer, first off. Secondly, I made the point the Wuertz and Ohman were in the setup and loogy roles respectively in 2005....in what was a better bullpen than the one in 2006. Well maybe I didn't make the exact point, but still they were in those roles in 2005 and the 2005 pen was miles better.

For the record.... Wuertz ERA+ 174, Howry's ERA+ 146. Howry's career 133 ERA+, career high 166 in 2005 and 2004. Ohman 147 ERA+ 2005, Eyre 157 in 2005 (112 to 137 in 2006). I compared 2005 numbers because Ohman was in Eyre's role that year. A bullpen of Dempster, Eyre, Wood, Wuertz, Howry, Ohman has the makings of a league best bullpen. A bullpen of Dempster, Ohman, Wuertz, Wood, Aardsma, Rapada has the makings of an above average bullpen that costs $8M less. I'll take whatever hit to the bullpen in exchange for an $8M bat or starting pitcher anyday. I would actively seek to trade 1 bullpen arm if I planned on re-signing Wood for the pen. In order, I would look to get rid of Dempster, Eyre, then Howry. Oh yeah, and just to take the thread in a different direction. I ACTUALLY LIKE ROBERTO NOVOA! He has pretty good stuff. His numbers improved across the board from 05. And I won't argue that his numbers were great, but his WHIP and BB/9 (most important stats for a reliever) were better than Eyre's, Dempster's, and Miller's....all players who people on this board have argued that the Cubs MUST hang on to.

If Jones has another MVP season. Don't doubt that he could get close to $20M/year. He probably won't. But it's not out of the question.

Not that SF is an offensive juggernaut, but can't afford to lose any more DBs. If Manning has a to miss a game, this would be the one to miss. I hope all 3 can go, though. BTW, I backed out of the Bears/Giants game. Had a ticket, but let my buddy buy it off of me because I made a much bigger, more important purchase. :D Didn't want to pay for the travel and game. Plus, the late start now would have screwed me and thrown off all my plans.

For the record, I meant the way Nolasco pitched this year would give him a lot of value for a player like Crawford this offseason. I don't see how one could argue Nolasco wouldn't have been as good with the Cubs or not gotten a chance, when the Cubs started Juan Mateo and Les Walrond more than a handful of times, players who weren't even on the map in spring training.

I agree. To deal that much talent to get Pierre w/o some sort of guarantee that he'll resign is risky at best. Middle of 2006 and I was wishing that Nolasco was still wearing Cubbie blue with all the injuries and poor performance of the starting staff. I think both of these observations are irrelevant to the Crawford deal discussion. None of the prospects that went Florida for Pierre would have been enough of a centerpiece for Crawford. The Devil Rays should command a very, very good pitcher in return for Crawford. A Kazmir level prospect. As well as Nolasco pitched last year, I very much doubt he couldn't have been a good start for a Crawford deal.

If the Dodgers decide not to bring back Gagne, Lofton and Garciaparra, they are going to have a decent amount of money to spend this Winter (~$20M) after factoring in raises. It appears to me that that they have 4 major holes: 2 starters, 1 CF and 1 3B (I'm assuming Loney will be the 1b). If they go cheap at CF and 1 starter (combined $6M) that would leave them $14M - I could see them spending $7M on Greg and $7M on a guy like Iwamura. Hoops Or they could go after Zito and trade Drew for the salary relief and go get a 3B! BTW, don't the Dodgers project to have an OF of Ethier, Kemp, Drew? Kemp or Drew could play CF or RF. I don't see a hole in the OF.

Anyone worried about the division? If they can beat NE next week in the dome, they can breeze to a 13-3 or 12-4 record They have 2 losses right now. I see them losing to NE, Chicago and STL, with possible losses against Arizona and the Jets. So anywhere from 11-5 to 9-7 if you ask me. Don't know why any Bears fans would be worried about the division right now. 2 games up, with a road win over the Vikings.

Just call me the "Shwamm" EDIT: This inevitably means my picks will be a mess next week. You're not the only one. Not a bad week for me against the spread. Stated that I wanted to pick a push of the (-3) line to Cincy over Carolina, and it was a push. Picked the Jets, Pats, Bucs, Raiders, Colts, Vikes, and Packers. If I count right, that makes me 7-4-1 for the week, by far my best.

Leon Washington becomes the waiver wire pickup of the week! With both Gore and Bush out, I had to go pick up a FA RB. I thought about picking up Maurice Morris at the last minute, but stuck with Leon, and he got me 18 points today! My count: I'm up 69-20. I have Wayne and Portis left vs. Hasselbeck, Jordan, C. Taylor, and Vanderjagt.

Tejada after the 03 season. Beltran after 04. Abreu 06 deadline. To me, having Alex Gonzalez, an expensive Sosa, and a losing team in those respective years are not reasons to let great bats go without giving much of an effort. I will forgive the Vlad thing with a still somewhat good Sosa and Alou. I cannot forgive the Vlad thing. Sosa's defensive skills had reduced him to nothing more than an average/below average LFer by that time. Felipe Alou had just taken the San Francisco Giants job, which made it easy to move Alou to the Giants. Vlad in RF and Sosa to LF. Sosa was horrible in RF and Alou ended up in San Fran anyway via FA. Vlad is not here. Remember Vlad had pretty scary back issues at that time too. I did want Vlad as much as anyone, but it was a lot less likely for the Cubs to be able to get rid of Alou at that point than it was to get rid of Sosa after 04.

From what I know about Trammell, love him as a bench coach. Don't know if I want him as the next manager when Lou leaves. I think Trammell could be a great help to Cedeno, as he was a great defender. If the Cubs get Soriano and play him at 2B, Trammell could be a big help there also. He wasn't a particularly good basestealer, but was regarded as a pretty good baserunner. So, I suppose he could help out there. The biggest thing I hope he could help out with was the general patience of the team. Trammell was a career .093 BB/PA guy, which is pretty good. He was a very patient hitter, who made great contact (850 BB to 874 K, with the extra 24 Ks coming in his last 3 seasons at age 36-38). On the down side, he was a great bunter and perrenially was among the AL's best in sac bunts. Hope he keeps that to himself.

Jacksonville (-9.5) at Houston. Give me Jacksonville to pull away late and beat the spread. Houston will play well in the first half, especially with Leftwich's status up in the air, but they lose like by 2 TDs because they can't stop the run. Carolina (+3) at Cincinnati. Worried about Cincy's health. No WRs are 100%. Peppers and Jenkins have been beasts this year. I wish I could take a push here, because I think a late FG decides it, but I'll take Carolina to make it close perhaps win. New England (-5.5) at Buffalo. I'll take that one. Philadelphia (-5.5) at Tampa. The Bucs look good under Gratkowski. I think they look good enough to at least beat the spread at home. Detroit (+3.5) at NY Jets. I'll take the Jets to beat the spread. Green Bay (+5.5) at Miami. Miami hasn't shown to be capable of beating anyone by 5 1/2. Give me GB to make it closer. San Diego (-5) at Kansas City. SD easily covers. Pittsburgh (-2.5) at Atlanta. Bad matchup for Atlanta. Running team, a team that doesn't allow the run. Polamolu's healthy. Look for Pittsburgh to take this one with the points. Denver (-4.5) at Cleveland. You're not crazy Vance. Didn't pick Denver in my survival league because this game scares me. Low scoring, first one to 10 points wins. Plummers makes mistakes on the road. Give me Cleveland to at least beat the spread. Arizona (-3) at Oakland. Yes, Oakland will win. And they will win today. Minnesota (+6.5) at Seattle. I agree. Closer game than the spread. Seattle still wins. Washington (+8) at Indianapolis. Redskins DBs struggling and hurt. Manning, Harrison and Wayne are not. Ugly blowout potential. Give me the Colts to beat the spread. NY Giants (+3) at Dallas. Nobody has stopped Tiki. Dallas will get a real test at home. I picked the Giants to win the NFC. Can't do it unless they win in their division. G-men to beat the spread and take the game.

I hope so too, but I hope that's not all they bring in, if the Cubs seriously want to improve their pitching.

Does the Big Ten get extra points for having the best 2 teams in the country? Ohio St. is by far the best team. Michigan looks to be the best of the 2nd tier. Wisconsin is a very good team and could give any of the SEC teams a run for their money, although they have only played 1 respectable team and lost. Iowa and Penn St. could beat most conferences' 4-5's, although the SEC has the advantage there.

Yeah, I'd want Soriano in CF first, with Durham at 2B. The more I read about Soriano's defense at 2B, the less valuable he gets.

Very good post, KC. I don't at all expect that Soriano has turned the corner and will now continue at the near elite BB/PA level he was at last season. But he still produces at a high level. I will give you that it's not at an elite level consistently, but he at least gives you that chance. He was just a notch below elite this past season in most offensive categories, even in a career year. But he does create a lot of runs. I really do hate to overpay for a non-lock for elite production, but the Cubs are in the position where they almost have to. At CF or 2B, he's at least comparably elite, and if he's a Cub....he'll play one of those positions. Put into perspective, the Cubs would have top 3 league offensive production from 3B, 1B, C and CF/2B. Add in at league league average at RF, LF, and hopefully the non-Soriano position of CF/2B and you have a pretty decent offense. Soriano is high on my list because he is the most available and easiest to obtain, prospects wise. But of the rumored names to be available, I'd put him behind ARod, Tejada, Drew, A Jones, M Ramirez, Burrell and Wells.

Tejada after the 03 season. Beltran after 04. Abreu 06 deadline. To me, having Alex Gonzalez, an expensive Sosa, and a losing team in those respective years are not reasons to let great bats go without giving much of an effort. I will forgive the Vlad thing with a still somewhat good Sosa and Alou.

I think Drew is clearly the best idea for RF. Unfortunately, it is not a sure thing that the Dodgers are willing to trade him. If he is available, then, yes, Drew, for the right price in talent, of course. Otherwise, the pickings seem a bit slim on the FA side. Aubrey Huff is somewhat of a butcher in the field, but he's a fairly decent left-handed bat and can fill at 3B if Aramis goes down. After him, there's Jose Guillen. But he likely won't be healthy at the start of next season, will he? It looks like keeping Jones or going the trade route are the best options for RF. I think Drew could be had. I think the Dodgers will go with Ethier and Kemp at 2 OF spots. Loney should be at 1B, with Furcal at SS and Betemit at 3B or 2B. I think they would still like to add a big RH bat, either at 3B (if Aramis leaves Chicago, look for him here) or in RF. They are also looking to add a big FA pitcher, IMO. So, I think Drew could be expendable if they get a Carlos Lee or Soriano and a pitcher like Zito. It's probably a long shot, though.

Sean Marshall is a big bargaining chip to me. He's still very young, got a good amount of ML experience last year and showed flashes of greatness. He probably doesn't have a spot with the Cubs with Z, Prior, and Hill in the rotation and the likelihood the Cubs go out and get more SPs in order to compete very quickly. Also, you got Veal on his heels, so Marshall is a very valuable expendable part, IMO. They may have interest in Patterson if they figure out Cantu isn't all that good. 1B could be a position of interest too. I agree with most they would ask for Hill first, but the Cubs could have a shot at Crawford and a minor league P by offering Marshall, Gallagher/Patterson, and Dopirak.

Is the Hall of Fame still available?

Holy effing ish!

What the holy hell is going on in Arizona tonight?

3 and outs are fun.

I got the strategy for the next 2 plays. Stop on 3rd down. Cards try long FG. Nate Vasher returns it 106 yards.