The Voice of Reason
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Everything posted by The Voice of Reason
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Just what has he accomplished? One lucky 89 win Division title? Hiring Ed Lynch? Giving Sosa that ridiculous contract that handcuffed Hendry last year? Or simply keeping the Tribune Corp. suits and beancounters happy? IMO, MacPhail deserves as least as much of the blame for what the Cubs have sunk to as Baker and Hendry. I'll admit the contract did handcuff Hendry last year - but at the time it was signed (March 2001) would anybody have done anything different? I doubt it. Considering his advanced age (don't forget to add at least two years to the stated age for a player from the Dominican Republic), and what they could have gotten for him at that time, a forward thinking, risk-taking GM/President (like a Jocketty, Beane or Williams) would have traded him.
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Um, MacPhail was still in Minnesota in 89. Um, in 2003 the Cubs won the Division by a small margin with 89 wins. My point was that 89 wins usually doesn't win a division and the Cubs were lucky because the Cards had injury issues.
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Just what has he accomplished? One lucky 89 win Division title? Hiring Ed Lynch? Giving Sosa that ridiculous contract that handcuffed Hendry last year? Or simply keeping the Tribune Corp. suits and beancounters happy? IMO, MacPhail deserves as least as much of the blame for what the Cubs have sunk to as Baker and Hendry.
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I think the author's sense that Cubs fans patience and acceptance of losing is wearing thin is correct. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/060110_mlb
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I'd say eventually he should get in but only after Rice and Dawson make it who again failed to gain the necessary support Tuesday despite hitting a combined 820 home runs in a prejuiced era. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/FE30F1DBB7806703862570F3001D37AA?OpenDocument
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Congrats Bruce Sutter - The man responsible for one of the most clever signs in Wrigley Field history. Only the Lord Saves more than Sutter.
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Hendry quote: less than ringing endorsement
The Voice of Reason replied to JGalt73's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
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No question it should be as a Cub. While a Cub he: - developed, perfected and practically invented his patented split finger fast ball. - pitched more seasons and innings than while with any other team. - won the Cy Young award. - had his lowest ERA - a microscopic 1.25 in 1977 - never gave up a post season hit, let alone a post season run. :wink:
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Any chance you are an investment banker working on selling the Cubs for the Tribune?
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I'm going to answer this question one more time, with a different angle. "If you were the Orioles, would you..." First off, I'm not the Orioles, I could care less about the Orioles and they can fall off the face of the Earth for all I care. The question wasn't whether I could put together a fair trade for both teams. It was whether I would include Pie in a deal for Tejada. Nothing more. Therefore, why are you asking me if I would make that trade if I was Baltimore? Posts like the one you just made where you attempt to insult posters by making assumptions or twisting the argument into something it's not is really not very cool. I like Tejada. I'd love to have him. But, not at the expense of Prior or Zambrano. I've made my claim that Boston was overpaying by offering Manny, Clement and cash. If Baltimore feels like they deserve more in return for less, I'm looking elsewhere. I wasn't "twisting the argument" or trying to insult anyone. I don't want Prior included in a Tejada trade either. Just my humble opinion, but I don't think the Orioles would trade Tejada for Hill and Pie. Consideration of the fairness of a trade for both sides, is, I believe, a fair component in discussing potential transactions.
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If you were the Orioles, would you trade Tejada for Pie and Hill? Two unproven kids for an all-star shortstop and former MVP?
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Corey Patterson = Jerome Walton
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My guess is that the Red Sox have already moved on and will trade for Lugo.
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Jim - Without going into too graphic of detail, can you describe the pictures that Dusty and Neifi obviously have of you?
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1) Since the Cubs apparently covet Tejada so much, why didn't you just sign him as a free agent two years ago instead of now having to offer stud pitchers and valuable propects? 2) The Cubs were purchased for approx. $20 million in 1981. The current market value of the team has been appraised at $550 million (a 23 fold increase in 24 years). The team's incredibly loyal fan base has supported the team with record attendance year after year which has allowed the team to post record profits year after year. Yet the team has never once signed a TIER 1 free agent and it's current budget is less than that of the team from the Southside who's fairweather fanbase has supported that team to a much lesser degree. Please explain.
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i would argue that it's attitudes like this that have destroyed the cubs organization. that said, i wouldn't have minded seeing wilson in right to begin with, without the jones platoon. he destroys lefties and is no slouch against righties, either. as long as hairston is the choice to replace walker, i say do it. Also, seems to hit a lot better in days games - for whats that worth.
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Which park is better, the Angels or Mariners? i've only been to peoria (mariners park) once (the game where alf slipped and hurt his groin), but i've been to tempe (angels park) a couple times. in my opinion, the angels park is better. the angels take BP on a practice field right outside the stadium. people stand out beyond the fence and catch homeruns. then they walk to the stadium right by the parking lot. before they won the WS they didn't have any boundaries set up and you could run right up and tackle chone figgins on his way to the field if you wanted to. but the year after they won the WS they had the little path roped off...you could still get close to the players and get autographs/take pictures, but the crowds were definitely bigger. the inside of the park is cool too. there's a big mountain looking thing out beyond LF. Thanks man. When the Cubs play there, would they take BP right outside the stadium as well?
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Leo Duroucher.
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Which park is better, the Angels or Mariners?
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Dude - Not that Hoops needs anyone to defend him but FYI. Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 7:46 am Post subject: And The Prize Goes To... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lately, I've been thinking NSBB owes a bit of recognition to posters who've helped make it a more interesting place. The unique flavor of each online community comes from the mix of contributions by all of its posters, not just those of an elite few; but at the same time, high quality contributions from the top posters make that flavor a bit more mouth-watering. Circumstances conspired to make this a good time to honor such a poster, so Tim and I conferred to decide who it should be. Our choice: HoopsCubs, who helped keep the Hot Stove cookin' here at NSBB with his willingness to thrash out trade ideas (peppering these discussions with insights gleaned from his vast correspondence), relentless search for online articles discussing possible player moves, and painstaking salary number crunching. In particular, while the board has seen some thought-provoking discussions, it's tough to beat "Is Choi For Lee On Anyone's Radar?" (a thread Hoops started less than an hour before news of the trade splashed all over the Internet) for topicality. For his efforts, Hoops wins the 1st annual (?) NSBB Award for Posting Excellence. Please join Tim and myself in extending our thanks to Hoops for helping to make our online community a little more interesting. As a token of our appreciation, we've given HoopsCubs a ticket to this weekend's Cubs Convention.
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Changing the Culture of Baseball in Chicago
The Voice of Reason replied to Laura's topic in General Baseball Talk
I agree, but it can be done. Did you know the Sox outdrew the Cubs thru the 1950-1970 and was pretty close attendence wise until this decade? TV was a big hurdle but WGN carries Sox games now. Chicago was more of a Sox town before and it can be that again. The 1950 - 1970 period you quote was pre-gentrification of Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville and before the Yuppie invasion of the 80's. Back then, Comiskey Park/Bridgeport was considered a safer destination than Wrigleyille. It wasn't considered "cool" to go to Wrigley then and most of the fans that showed up were knowledgeable baseball fans - unlike now. That said, in the Suburbs, a lot of kids wearing Cubs hats last year are wearing Sox hats this year. A sustained run by the Sox will make a dent into the Cubs fans base. -
According to the Sox beat writer (name?) at the Daily Herald while interviewed on the Score after the Vazquez deal (and before the Garland deal), the Sox were at $95 million with a budget of $90 million. At the time, he predicted the Sox would trade Garland and that the Sox couldn't afford Tejada.
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$7M in 2006 $10M in 2007 $12M in 2008 With Contreras, Buerhle, Vazquez, Garland, Garcia and McCarthy, it gives KW the flexibility to shop one for a bat. My guess: Garcia. The Sox are way over budget and must trade one of their pitchers without assuming a large contract (e.g, Tejada). If Hendry was smart (the jury is still out), he would trade enough prospects (ex-Hill) to the Sox to get Garcia or Vazquez or Garland and then flip him with Hill and Patterson to the Orioles for Tejada. Assuming the O's bite, that way the Cubs could get their man without giving up Prior. If it made the Sox better, KW would cooperate with the Cubs and would love to rub it in their faces if one of the propects paid dividends later.
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The Voice of Reason replied to CubsWin22's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
They couldn't afford him in 2003 because of the ridiculous contract MacPhail gave to Sosa. Actually, they could afford him. He was a free agent at the end of the '03 season. Cubs management spent money on Grudz, Walker, Hawkins and Maddux to name a few. He also added Nomar at the trade deadline. By the way, Tejada made 7m in 2004 with that shiny, new deal. Affordable? Absolutely. Alex Gonzalez got 5.5m in 2004. Hendry was able to move Hundley and his 6m contract the previous year, so thinking there was no way they could move the guy who botched the ground ball in the NL Championship series is not reasonable. Alex had a lot more value than Hundley did. You can take it a couple steps farther and say that had the Cubs not traded Choi for Lee, they would have been able to afford both Gonzo and Tejada if Alex proved impossible to move, or, Hendry could have gone to the Trib to authorize extra money for Tejada instead of for Maddux. Given Gonzo's NLCS error, and Tejada's rep, it might have been an easier conversation than adding a $9m 5th starter. There were tons of ways Hendry could have added Tejada Too bad one of them wasn't dumping Sosa before the Gladiator had lost all his value. -
The Voice of Reason replied to CubsWin22's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
They couldn't afford him in 2003 because of the ridiculous contract MacPhail gave to Sosa.