bukie

It still chaps my hide that they went after Latroy Hawkins as a Type A free agent for middle relief without caring about the repurcussions. It just speaks volumes toward Hendry's absurd values. The saddest thing is that in six drafts of five rounds, any team that simply holds onto their existing picks would have made 30 picks over that time. That's the bare minimum assuming you don't go after any kind of compensatory picks. The Cubs (and Orioles?) couldn't even manage that.

Also, just for completeness, there were a total of 44 players with a WAR of 5+ (15 pitchers, 29 position players). The other players with a 5+ WAR that will be 30+ next season: Bautista, TOR - 8.3 Halladay, PHI - 8.2 Kinsler, TEX - 7.7 Sabathia, NYY - 7.1 Granderson, NYY - 7.0 Lee, PHI - 6.7 Gonzalez, BOS - 6.6 Zobrist, TB - 6.6 Haren, LAA - 6.4 Phillips, CIN - 6.0 Wilson, TEX - 5.9 Victorino, PHI - 5.9 Beltre, TEX - 5.7 Peralta, DET - 5.2 Pujols, STL - 5.1 Holliday, STL - 5.0 Berkman, STL - 5.0 Carpenter, STL - 5.0 Not that I'd be opposed to trying to acquire any of these players (Pujols and Wilson, for example), but I'd be wary of giving too long of a deal to them. Another intriguing pitcher that just missed the 5+ WAR list is Justin Masterson of Cleveland (4.9), who will be 27 next year but isn't FA eligible until 2015.

Here's the full list of 5 WAR players this year that will be under 30 next year (Age next year at ASB, FA year): 9.4 - Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (28, 2014) 8.7 - Matt Kemp, LAD (27, 2013) 8.0 - Dustin Pedroia, BOS (28, 2015) 7.8 - Ryan Braun, MIL (28, 2021) 7.3 - Miguel Cabrera, DET (29, 2016) 7.0 - Justin Verlander, DET (29, 2015) 6.9 - Alex Gordon, KC (28, 2014) 6.9 - Joey Votto, CIN (28, 2014) 6.8 - Clayton Kershaw, LAD (24, 2015) 6.4 - Justin Upton, ARI (24, 2016) 6.3 - Troy Tulowitzki, COL (27, 2021) 6.2 - Jose Reyes, NYM (29, 2012) 6.1 - Evan Longoria, TB (26, 2014 2017) 5.8 - Howie Kendrick, LAA (28, 2013) 5.7 - Andrew McCutchen, PIT (25, 2016) 5.6 - Robinson Cano, NYY (29, 2012 2014) 5.6 - Doug Fister, DET (28, 2016) 5.6 - Jered Weaver, LAA (29, 2013) 5.5 - Alex Avila, DET (25, 2016) 5.5 - Madison Bumgarner, SF (22, 2017) 5.5 - Prince Fielder, MIL (28, 2012) 5.5 - Felix Hernandez, SEA (26, 2015) 5.2 - Matt Cain, SF (27, 2013) 5.1 - Brett Gardner, NYY (28, 2015) 5.0 - Matt Garza, CHC (28, 2014) 5.0 - Ian Kennedy, ARI (27, 2016) That's a total of 26 players in baseball (and one is even already on the Cubs!). What I'm illustrating with this is that these kind of players are rare as it is, and the ones that do exist are even less frequently available on the market because teams either have them locked up for the duration of their prime years (Braun, Tulowitzki, Longoria and holy crap do the Rays have a team-friendly deal on Longoria) or are in franchises that have a top 5 payroll to hang onto them long-term and have no excuse not to (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gardner, Kendrick, Weaver). Fortunately (for other teams), the Dodgers and Mets are in ownership flux right now, and may not be able to keep their young FAs (Reyes, Kemp, Kershaw). So, the only way the Cubs are going to be able to get players of this caliber are: 1) Build them from within, but the only player on the roster with the potential to reach this plateau is Castro, so any other development has barely started yet. 2) Acquire the above players when they become available due to their clubs not being able to afford them, either through free agency or a trade (which the Cubs have limited assets attractive to most other teams). As much as I'd like to see how available guys like Gordon, McCutchen and Upton might be, the most available solution is to grab guys like Fielder, Reyes and Kemp by spending only money. That's a way to add to the team both short and long term. For reference, Pujols was a 5.1 WAR player this year after being an 8+ WAR player the previous 8-9 years. My main concern about Pujols is that we have to, as Epstein said, pay for future performance and not past performance.

It could be argued that the Philly-Dallas game is between the best two teams in the NFC East.

Yea doesn't really prevent cheap play in the last 15-30 secs. Like I said, the team serving the penalty should get one fewer shootout chance. That would curb the late cheap shots.

Yikes, all those early games are terrible.

They should play a man down on the shootout. Then the Hawks might win it.

If the Cubs can get either player at a 5-year contract with 1-2 option years, that'd be ideal. If Pujols wants 8-240, give him 5-180 with a couple option years at the end. Anything that can lessen the long term risk works more in the Cubs' favor, because even if the Cubs aren't ready to win in 2012, they can and will be ready in 2013-2015, and during those years the Cubs are going to need some kind of cornerstone at 1B. With none in the system, this is the perfect opportunity to add a huge piece that will be extremely productive for the next 5 years. And unless a Joey Votto becomes available in the next year or two, there's nobody else out there comparable that the Cubs would be able to get with such ease.

Even during the Epstein interview, Kaplan couldn't help himself and kept dropping Z, Soriano, and Ramirez as examples of the Cubs problems and who needs to be accountable for them.

Tom Ricketts in this picture represents the entire fanbase, at least on this board.

I have it on my DVR if that helps. It does if your DVR is accessible online, publically.

We'll grow to become arrogant, self-assured that our management can do no wrong, so anything that goes wrong will be completely on the players and other non-management factors, like other teams' luck. In other words, we'll become SoSH. And when he leaves for the Nationals we'll demand Strasburg and Harper as fair compensation Year 4? No way. Six seasons and a movie, thanks.

We'll grow to become arrogant, self-assured that our management can do no wrong, so anything that goes wrong will be completely on the players and other non-management factors, like other teams' luck. In other words, we'll become SoSH.

According to FO's latest playoff odds, the Bears are now the most likely team to get the second wildcard in the NFC. (Detroit the first, and though Dallas and Atlanta have better playoff odds, they have an actual chance to win the division).

Is the whole press conference online anywhere?

Some of the comments in the article continue to attempt to do just that.

Because this is oddly fascinating to me... There is only one team that plays all 3 of the currently winless teams in the NFL, the Cleveland Browns (who will play nobody until week 12 and then get shellacked repeatedly until the end of the year). There are three teams that play none of the terribad triumvirate: Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago (Green Bay played the Rams, the NFC East plays the Rams, and the NFC South plays the Colts)

Was it ever revealed who Theo took with him from Boston?

I'm curious whether Hoyer and McLeod are anywhere to be seen.

In comparison, here's the top 16 according to Sagarin's rating this morning: 1. Green Bay 2. San Francisco 3. New England 4. Detroit 5. New Orleans 6. Baltimore 7. Buffalo 8. Chicago 9. Dallas 10. Houston 11. Atlanta 12. NY Jets 13. Pittsburgh 14. Cincinnati 15. San Diego 16. Tampa Bay Sagarin also says the Bears have played the 3rd toughest schedule in the league to this point, behind Atlanta and Dallas.

The Bears are now seven games in, and have played their division once each and the entire NFC South. They will also proceed to play the entire AFC West in four consecutive weeks, which seems weird and unusual to me.

The Eagles' only wins thus far are against a historically awful St. Louis, and a squeaker at Washington on the annual Rex Grossman Implosion Day.

Lets look at their chances of getting a win... Miami: @NYG, @KC, vs. WAS, vs. BUF, @ DAL, vs. OAK, vs. PHI, @BUF, @NE, vs. NYJ Comment: Ouch. The only winnable games there are KC, Was, Buf and Oak, all 4 of those teams you have to catch them on a bad day to beat. Legitimate 0-16 possibilities. Indy: @ TEN, vs. ATL, vs. JAX, vs. CAR, @ NE, @ BAL, vs. TEN, vs. HOU, @ JAX Comment: The AFC South is [expletive] and they still have 2 games left against the Jags who might be worse than the Colts. They also still have 2 games against really mediocre up and down Tennessee and a decent Carolina team. They will likely get at least a win despite them probably being the worst of the 0-fer teams. Rams: vs. NO, @ ARI, @ CLE, vs. SEA, vs. ARI, @ SF, @ SEA, vs. CIN, @ PIT, vs. SF Comment: Strangely enough, St. Louis has yet to play an NFC West team and doesnt for another 2 weeks. That says everything right there. 2 games left against Seattle and Arizona plus a game against Cleveland and another against Cincinnati (decent right now but still not sold that they are a playoff team). If they don't win a game they truely are the worst team of all time. So my prediction is St. Louis 3-13, Indy 2-14, Miami 1-15 Here's an NFL oddity with current scheduling: It is only possible for a maximum of 4 teams to go winless in the NFL in a given year (since each team plays an entire other division in their conference). So, the possibility of 3 is pretty rare.

Only if two teams played identical SOS. If not, the team that played the weakest schedule would get the first pick. Odds are that'll be St. Louis, since they get to play the other two worst teams in the NFC twice each.

Since Indy, Miami and St. Louis don't play each other this year, there exists the possibility of 3 0-16 teams.