rawaction

No sac flies either. He sucks at small ball.

I tried to emulate Dunston when I played the field. Infield and outfield. Shawon got great jumps on ground balls in the IF (as did I), but would look lost in the OF before sprinting all out and making an easy catch difficult, that was me in the OF too. I was actually much more accurate and with an infinitely less strong arm. I tried emulate Sandberg at the plate.

I wouldn't mind the Cubs going after another pitcher, but it would have to be a top 3 rotation type of arm. Arroyo, would be the Cubs 5th best starter....and that's NOT including Wood and Miller. If the Cubs are gonna get a starter, I would love for them to be able to get a guy like Zito (though, no starters are likely moving this late in the season). I would love them to package guys like Williams, Hill, Ryu, etc. and get a top of the line arm. Not just for this season, but for next when the Cubs lose Maddux and Wood.

Ike's done. He's old, and doesn't have much left.

It's never too early to scoreboard watch :) Yes, yes it is.

2 Groundballs by Angel. Good start.

What are you thoughts on Matt Weber? Does he have the stuff to make it as a ML starter? Amazing control. Great poise, from what I've heard. But the stuff may be just a little underwhelming.

My team is horrible!

LIX!

Yeah... fun... Ponson - 2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 1 HR Reyes - 2.1 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB (1 IBB), 0 K, 0 HBP, 1 HR :? Does this make Ponson the heavy favorite for the fifth starter's role? At the very least, he's right in the thick of things. So you're saying he has more than a FAT chance at making the squad? I'm sure the decision will WEIGH on LaRussa HEAVILY. The 4 Ks has to help Ponson's confidence a TON.

Hunter played like a #2 LB this past season. I agree that he's probably a 4th guy talent wise, but he did very well in 05. A 3rd DB is definitely more important, but I would love to complete the LB corp with 1 more young stud. Joe will be decent if Hillenmeyer isn't back.

Ron, if you had to pick the pitcher from the 2005 Jaxx who would have the best ML future, who would it be? Marmol, Marshall, Pinto, Nolasco, Wells, and Rich Hill

He's a stud. Too bad he didn't pick Mizzou... No hard feelings though, I wouldn't go to Mizzou either if I was a 5 star recruit. Mizzou is such a mess. Still, he would have looked good in black and gold... I heard that Mizzou refused to recruit/deal with his younger brother because of what his dad did to the university. He pulled a Cushman on Snyder, saying not to go after any other big men because Tyler was a done deal to Mizzou, then dumped him. Good to see Duke go down. Looks like Redick's jumper is losing it's legs. His last 4 games he's 5 of 21, 3 of 10, 10 of 28, and 5 of 21 from the field. You could make the case that an early ACC exit, even if it means a 2 seed in the NCAA's, would be best for Duke's Final Four and Championship aspirations. Duke could be in trouble with the 8/9 game. Say an athletic team like Kansas gets that seed. They are long and athletic and would give Duke all they want. That's not gonna happen. I agree though, that Kansas should be feared. We better get higher than a 9. As for beating Duke, it's possible, but unfortunately we aren't very battle tested due to a horrible BigXII. Still, it's been a fun team to watch, and I think Self has done a great job with them. 22-7 and no worse than co-BigXII champs this year. And that's with all fresh and soph starters, and no players, outside of one senior walkon, who played much last year. I can see Kansas sweeping thru the conf. tourney too. They could easily be a 3 or 4 seed when all is said and done.

It's not necessarily a bad thing either. Tillman is pretty good against the run, probably one of the top 3 CBs in the league in that aspect. And even if you say the tackles were amounted because of the catches he gave up, it's not like he let a bunch of guys score on him. Take weeks 11-12. Yeah, he gave up a lot of catches to Steve Smith and Joey Galloway, but he had 17 tackles in those 2 games, and kept both out of the endzone. He did give up 3 plays over 20 yards to Galloway, but just 1 to Smith. By comparison, Vasher completely shut down both of the #2 guys he faced both days, but TB and Carolina had the least production out of their #2 WRs in the league with a combined 57 catches, and barely 500 yards, from Clayton and Proehl respectively. Not trying to knock Vasher, but he simply didn't play the competition that Tillman did, and these 2 consecutive weeks are the biggest examples of that. Actually, I think this shows that Vasher should move up to the #1 CB and take every team's top WR. And I also think it shows that Peanut would be fine against any team's #2. I don't want a CB to replace Tillman, I just want it for depth and to avoid Chris Thompson with any WR on a whole half of a field.

He's a stud. Too bad he didn't pick Mizzou... No hard feelings though, I wouldn't go to Mizzou either if I was a 5 star recruit. Mizzou is such a mess. Still, he would have looked good in black and gold... I heard that Mizzou refused to recruit/deal with his younger brother because of what his dad did to the university. He pulled a Cushman on Snyder, saying not to go after any other big men because Tyler was a done deal to Mizzou, then dumped him. Good to see Duke go down. Looks like Redick's jumper is losing it's legs. His last 4 games he's 5 of 21, 3 of 10, 10 of 28, and 5 of 21 from the field. You could make the case that an early ACC exit, even if it means a 2 seed in the NCAA's, would be best for Duke's Final Four and Championship aspirations. Duke could be in trouble with the 8/9 game. Say an athletic team like Kansas gets that seed. They are long and athletic and would give Duke all they want. That's not gonna happen. I agree though, that Kansas should be feared.

Yeah, baby! Can you play any worse and win a road game vs. a RPI top 50 team? 14 first half turnovers. 17 in the first 24 minutes. 24 fouls committed. 11 FT disadvantage. Allowed 50% from the field in the 2nd half. That's a tourney bid for IU. Hopefully, a win over Wisconsin puts us in the #7 seed range. Davis deserves credit for once again getting his team to play with a chip on their shoulder when they need a win, as a lame duck coach.

That's why I pointed out Will Allen. He's a lot like Tillman, though. Good size for a CB, but has lapses in coverage. A ton of talent though. He should come cheap with the big names like Law and Woodson out there in FA and a ton of draft prospects to choose from.

Hard to tell. Great lineup around him (yeah, I said TB has a great lineup). Lot of talent. I'd pick him up late in the draft.

Sing Sing!

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/roster_nri.jsp?c_id=chc Non-roster invitees: Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 78 Dennis Anderson S/R 6-0 200 02/01/78 Jeff Huson's nephew, too. FWIW It's not worth much.

Looks like a pretty good team. Could use some stolen bases. I love your pitching staff if they stay healthy (mainly Beckett and Sheets). I don't know what round you got Wilkerson, but he could be a huge steal going from W's new team to his old one. I don't know if you have the best team, but it's probably easily the most talented in your league.

Whose projection was that though? Dopirak has an unbelievable opportunity this spring. If he can show something, and learn something, he's got a chance to erase the negative impression from 2005 and re-emerge as a top prospect (and possibly become solid trade bait). All the publications. You are right, not from Dusty's mouth. I'm happy seeing Jones not there in the first 2 games though. Cedeno would be nice in the 2-hole if he can take some pitches and get on base.

Funny that the projected opening day #2 hitter hasn't hit there in the 2 games so far. I'm guessing yesterday was because Hairston was in as the DH, and Dusty wanted the speed at the top. I'm guessing today has to do with the LHP on the mound. Still, kinda strange.

(Pittsburgh to the East, my apologies Raw) Pittsburgh is as midwestern as it gets. Stop hatin'!

I'll try it.