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Who would you rather be going into this offseason? The Cubs or the Brewers. Both teams seem to have some good young talent. Both teams could use an upgrade at starting pitching. The Cubs have alot more money to spend and the Brewers seem alot more committed to using younger players. For long term success I think I would rather be a Brewers fan. Cubs may be better next year but probably will not do things that will build long term success.

yes ND would be 2-1 in the conference with Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Penn St and Ohio St to go. Me thinks that they would lose at least one of those if not more. Also all of these teams with the exception of Nwestern and Penn St will probably be better next year. Also both Michigan and Michigan St will probably be improved next year. I say this every year for those who doubt the Big Ten. Just try playing that schedule some year it is alot harder than you would think.

I wouldnt dismiss MSUs ability to play SC at home. By what I have seen this year MSU has lost 2 games it very well should have won, and BEAT ND at ND. On the other hand ND has lost to the 2 teams that it has played that are in the top 25. Got completely outplayed in the 2nd half at Michigan who isnt that good. I said it before and I will say it again ND would be lucky to go 8 and 3 in the big ten. They Probably wouldnt finish in the top 4 next year in the Big Ten. Though some say they will go undefeated next year. By the way I do not hate ND. I was cheering for them on sat. I just think that they do get a little over hyped when it is undeserving. If Mich St and ND would completely change seasons with each other who would be the higher ranked team. I bet you it would be ND. Hawkeyecub you are right. Purdue has been the biggest disappointment. though I think with a little thought of how they preformed last year without Orten it could probably have been predicted

Has any team let more games out of their grasp the last couple of years like Mich St has. They may be the best team in the big ten but just cant seem to get it done in the end. They should have won the 2 games they lost and also let the ND game go to OT after dominating them for 3 quarters. Northwestern has a way of stealing wins so this may be closer than some expected. If Michigan loses they may be scrambling to be bowl eligible. they would need 2 more wins with games at Northwestern, and home against OSU and Indiana. They might also get it together and win out, its hard to tell with this team. What team is the most disappointing in the Big Ten Michigan, Iowa or Purdue? At least Michigan has lost close games to good teams that they probably should have won. Of course they probably should havelost to Penn st and Mich St. Purdue and Iowa have just not looked good at times this season. One last thing for the gamblers, I think I would take Illinois and the points. I think this one is also going to be closer than some expect. One more last thing How come ND is higher than Mich St in the polls. Mich St beat them head to head(at ND) and they both have 2 loses. Is it over hype by ESPN or do they really think ND is a beater team. I think if they played 11 times Mich St would win 6 of them

first I am not a Michigan fan second any ND fan that complains about refereeing is got to completely have their head up their butts, ND has gotten more favorable ref calls than all other teams combined. Third I wasnt complaining about the fumbles in the ND/Mich game I was talking about how Henne scored on the first sneak and how Avant scored on the pass play before that was downed on the 1/2 yard line. fourth ND played a big game at home against a rival. They had some things go their way and played above their heads. Great. Any number of top twenty teams could have done that. Heck Michigan could probably have played SC close at home. fifth Mich state quit running their offense in the 4th quarter of the ND game. Mistake on their coaches part yes. they do make alot of coaching mistakes there. In OT when they took the reigns off their offense they scored at will again just like they did most of the first 3 quarters. sixth if ND had enough guts to join the big ten they would be lucky to go 8-3. This is why they stay out. They play a so called tough schedule that only has 1 legitimate BCS school on it. They are going to back into a bcs game and probably play Lousville and end up way over hyped. The truth is Mich St should be ranked higher then them and by the end of the year have played a tougher schedule that isnt over hyped.

a couple of things. 1st That game wasnt even as good as Penn St/Michigan 2nd ND isnt than good and shouldnt even be in the top 15. They got their tails whooped by Michigan in the 2nd half of that game. If Chad Henne doesnt have his head up butt it would have become a Michigan blowout. On top of the fact that Michigan scored on the 2 plays before Henne fumbles. Michigan St flat out kicked their butt and then put it in the can in the 4th quarter. When the game went back on the line in OT they scored without even thinking about it. 3rd They may finish the season undefeated but will probably lose a BCS game against anyone except a Big East school. 4th I really feel bad for Willingham because I think he would have them in about the same shape that the great Weiss has them in. The biggest improvement on the team has been the fact that they got experience the last couple of years.

What I like about him is his power is generated from a good swing. He doesnt have to over stride or take a big long swing(CPatt) I think alot of younger players were growing up hearing how good Griffey Jrs swing was. Which is complete bs. He overstrides and has a big long swing. He was able to compensate that when he was younger by being a super gifted athlete. Now that he is older even when he is healthy he isnt a great hitter anymore and will probably be done in a couple of years. Pujols on the other hand will always be at least a good hitter. As he gets older he might not have as much power but will still be a 300 hitter. I live in central Illinois and am around alot of Cardinal fans and Cardinal news and what I really like about Pujols even more than his hitting is his attitude. Team 1st, Wants to improve and seems like a legitimate nice guy. You guys are right to bad he is on the Cards.

I am really glad that he does understand his shortcomings. I also think it isnt really that important how good his plate discipline his if he is hitting for power and playing a good CF. It would be a plus if all that came with a 380 obp. I just hope that Dusty doesnt think that he should be batting at the top of the order though. All this being said and I am a big proponent of bringing up the kids, I still hope he plays in Iowa next season. He is still very young and wouldnt hurt if he played Iowa next year. Although what really would have been bad about him coming up in July. We were going nowhere, he certainly couldnt have been any worse than CPatt. Maybe he is one of those special players like franceur who could have come up and ignited the team. Of course I am sure that Dusty would have found some reasons not to play him. Actually I am changing my mind it would have been bad for him to come up because Dusty would have probably completely missused him and only screwed him up.

as per my scale newuser name 6'4" 255lb I should have tried pitching instead of SS OT: truffle I have a feeling that joepa and the boys are going to meet up with a highly motivated and very angry Wolverine this weekend. I have a feeling that they may fall.

Since the Yankees have gone from a home grown based team in the late 90s they havent won anything. They spend alot of coin each year to be competitive but they have lost their edge. Back in the late 90s when most of their players were either homegrown or TRADED for they had more balance. Last night in the 9th inning when AROD was up I was thinking of about 4 or 5 players from the Yankees recent past who I would be more scared to face in that situation (Scott Brosius, Paul O'Neill, Ricky Ledee, Joe Girardi) I know all but one of these guys is out of baseball. These are the type of players that the Yankees are missing though. Do anything for the team, Do anything to win, all out players. This is what they are missing not another superstar but great role players. It would do them more good to look at the 4 teams that are left and understand what all 4 have in common. Good Pitching(starting and bullpen) solid defense, able to generate runs without HRs, alot of players who leave everything out on the field. Look at the best player on each team (Pujols, Berkman, Konerko, Vlad) these guys are all team first, hustle their butts off and widly considered good guys. Look at the Yankees superstars (Sheffeild, Giambi, Arod, Jeter) except for Jeter I have never heard of anyone of the other guys referred to as team first guys. To sum up I think that the Yankees biggest problem is that they have been throwing to much money at the problem instead of letting younger players learn how to deal with the problems

Cub dad. I dont disagree that Neifi has value as a player. He shouldnt be batting at the top of the order though. It is even worse to have him at the top with the Cubs being so bad at RISP. Also when the season was over not giving Cedeno(before he was hurt) more of an opportunity was also silly. If Cedeno wasnt sitting on the bench most cub fans would have been ok with Perez this year. I would predict that the Angels take a dramatic fall next year in runs scored unless they improve other areas in their offense.

I still think that Giles has Jim Thome written all over him. Might be worth the money next year but look out into the future. Also since only one team has gone from under 500 signed a bunch of free agents and went on the win the WS, signing anyone age 33 or older just doesnt seem like a good idea. Though I would much rather throw money away on a couple of bad years from an old Giles than give one dollar to Preston Wilson. At least Giles has been a great player.

The truth about the Cubs position players is they seem to be the last resort instead of being a priority. Alot of teams(the Braves being one of them) play rookies. Sometimes the rookies do not do well for a couple of weeks. They still get a chance to play. I have seen many of cub fan say lets get someone else from another team instead of playing the rookies on our own team. A quick example was the Cubs trading Hundley for karros and Grudz. Yes it was a good trade but it put a limit on the development of Hill and Choi. Would they be great players today if the Cubs would have just let them play? Who knows. Neither one is a bad player though and if they were given a chance to play everyday maybe they would be more valuable. Besides Patterson who was the last Cub positional rookie to be given more than a month of starts? The last part of a players development is the first couple of years of major league baseball. Most players do not come up and preform at a high level right away. Look at Ensburg and Lane for the Astros. They have become very valuable players though and still have years to improve. Next year I expect Taveras and Everett to become even more valuable. All of these players on the Cubs would have never been given a decent chance. This is why I think it would be in the Cubs best interest to just let Cedeno and Murton be the starters next year. Also do not bring in a insurance policy in case they dont work out. Dusty has already proven the insurance will be used first and the youngsters as a second thought.

Trammell did improve the Tigers. Over half of their payroll is tied up in Percival, YOung, Ordonez, IRod and Higginson. I heard alot of Cub fans clamouring to pick up about 3 of these guys over the last couple of off-seasons. I am sure glad we didnt.

The more you look at the numbers it is amazing that the Cubs almost finished 500

Similar to Lloyd Mcclendon. It is hard to say if they can manage or not. It is hard to believe that the Detroit Tigers and the Red Wings are owned by the same guy. Even with the Salary Cap the Wings look like a well run competent organization. The Tigers look completely clueless.

I heard Bobby Abreu Say "I can't believe the Cubs batted Patterson Lead-off yesterday, How could that team possibly find and even worse Lead-off man than Perez or Macias" Well if they would have won that one game the Cubs beat them this year when Patterson was batting lead-off there wouldnt be any complaints now would there Bobby

Baker is also a main reason why some of the pitching gets hurt so much. He has a terrible track record of over using his better pitchers. This is something that he brought with him from the Giants. I havent looked recently but we were 2nd from last in the league in pitches seen. We were also 2nd in the league in pitches thrown. This mindset has got to change both offensively and pitching. I think that Dusty contributes to both of these problems. He obviously prefers batters who are aggressive. He also seems to remove pitchers at some sort of inning than really look at their pitch counts. If he kept his starters at a 100 pitches tops they would probably start improving their control because they wouldnt be worth as much if they can only go 5 or 6 innings. Also they would probably be more stronger and less injury prone. I know the Cardinal staff doesnt have any KO pitchers but you hardly see one of their pitchers pitch much more than 100 pitches. Funny how they havent had any injuries this year. I do agree that this team was probably set up to fail. I also think that a big part of the failure is Dusty Baker. What is worse is they are going to extend him in the spring. Why dont they at least see what he does next year first.

US Soccer you are absolutely correct. I coulnt agree more. Paying big money to bring in a LF may jeopordize the Cubs ability to resign Z and Prior in the next couple of years. Murton has earned the chance. If he fails and the Cubs are in contention at the deadline than try to pick someone up. I strongly feel that the Cubs should really be getting on a two year plan anyway. In truth the core of their team is still young. By overspending for Questionable talent this offseason may hinder their ability to be really good in 2 or 3 years. In short I dont think adding Manny Ramirez and certainly Aubrey Huff is going to put the Cubs over the top

The only team that the Cubs have a losing record against that I would say they are a better team than is Arizona. I wouldnt say that the Cubs are better than either Milwaukee or Cinncinnati.

Untill games are forfeited because a player is cheating than they are missing the mark. The games are played to be won not to set personnal records. If users had to tell their teamates they have lost everygame this year because of their use it would stop. GMs wouldnt sign players who everyone knows is on them. Managers wouldnt play them. Other players would call them out. Same as spitballers and bat corkers. Untill this happens everything else is just window dressing. I also think that some managers and GMs dont care if their players are using as long as they dont get caught. I also think that MLB really doesnt care about anyones health, they are just concerned about their image. As for Congress and Sen Mclain. Dont you see Dont you see. It isnt donald Fehr that has created this monster it is us the fan. Overstepping your constitutional authority for some extra votes isnt going to do any good and will only harm the country down the road

I think one thing that gusdog kind of brought up but I am going to put it in my simple terms. winning breeds winning. Tony Larussa has made a career out of it. I think this is why Hendry brought in Dusty. When Dusty was in SF he sometimes would do something utterly stupid(like bat santiago after Bonds) but somehow it worked. I think its just because on winning teams they instill you with the confidence to do the job. I will also say that the Cardinals seem to have several players that the team is the most important thing to them. I dont see that kind of commitment on the Cubs. Houston also have several of these team first guys.

Now that Hockey has a salary cap look for the Tigers to really be stupid. I will say this Dave Drombosky(sp) has done a good job at building up minor league systems in the past. He has finally gotten the Tigers some talent at the A level. They are paying alot of stupid money though. I think they will regress next year. I have a feeling that Farnsworth will end up getting more than Dempster. Sad but true. The Tigers could have thought since they were not in contention to trade a FA to be for some young talent. Than if they think they could make a move in the next couple of years pick him back up in the FA market. Shrewd but a big gamble. The Tiger fans loved him though.

You know the managers have to be bad if Baker and Zimmer make any top 5 list. I would take Riggleman over either of these guys Also not that he would be in my top 5 but Vance Law gave us a couple of decent years especially since we were getting power from our 2B Also Steve Ontiverios had a good year in 77 his OBP was probably as good as Madlocks and was a better defensive 3B. He was a Bill James type player before James got famous. Of course his not so great BA and low HR total got him run off the Cubs pretty quick

I wonder how we would feel as Cub fans if we won the World Series next season and than found out 2 years down the line that Lee and Aram were juicing. (just making up a story not accussing) Or someone from another orginization accussed them of using. We would probably defend them to the end. I think it is kind of funny how fan loyalty clouds reasonable debate on this subject. Though I highly doubt that Billy Beane is promoting steroid abuse. I do believe that alot of people in baseball for years have turned a blind eye to what has been pretty obvious to even casual fans. I personnally believed back in 98 that both Sammy and Mac were on steroids and I am sure that alot of other people in baseball believed it. Did they do anything about it, no. So I would say that their lack of trying to stop it untill it was forced on them by the Balco thing is almost as bad as actually promoting use among your own players. I also think that the problem will not go away until teams have to forfeit games because someone on their team is juicing. Until teams have to pay a serious price and teammates have a good reason to help stop teammates that are using it will remain a problem. One last thing. Dont you guys think it is a complete joke that the NFL "seems" to have their problem under control. Riiigght