illiniguy

Snood didn't you guys bring in a class of like 8 this year? Where the hell are you guys getting the scholarships for them?

There is a reson all the guys you listed are all stars and in the top 5 players at their position in the league. Gordon was fine when we had a good point guard beside him, last year Hinrich was god awful and as a result Gordon's game struggled. If Rose is given the chance to go right away this year, Gordon should see his game go back up to where it was. The guy I really want to see take the next step is Deng, if he becomes the all star a lot think he can the Bulls will have a very good team again.

That was awesome OleMissCub. Thanks.

It doesn't matter. Peavy won't waive his NTC. All together, or just to play for the Yankees? To play for an American League club. Gotcha, I kinda wish he would go AL. I don't want him in STL, that is for sure.

It doesn't matter. Peavy won't waive his NTC. All together, or just to play for the Yankees?

I still think it's highly unlikely the Yankees are going to get Peavy. They don't have enough to give up for him. SD is not going to take on the overvalued contract the Yankees gave Cano Cabrera is a worthless CF and Cashman isn't going to give up Chamberlain. Kennedy isn't worth anything though Phil Hughes might be. , Also keep in mind all the money that is coming off the Yankee books this season. Easier for the Yanks to throw money at Lowe, Sabathia, etc.... than to trade their prospects that Cashman covets so much. I do think the Cubs have a shot with Vitters as the centerpiece, along with Theriot, Castillo, Pie and Marshall. I think that Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes, Delin Betances gets it done. The Yankees have some good pitching in the system. I don't know. I don't see Jackson doing it. He looks to be your ordinary average outfielder. Late pick in the draft, isn't anything special in the minors right now. Betances though? Good point I forgot about him. Still it makes no sense for the big spending Yanks to drain their farm for Peavy when all they have to do is go hard after Sabathia, Lowe, Sheets, etc... I don't see the Yankees going after Sheets after being burned by Pavano the last 4 years, they are going to want a guy who can take the ball 30 times a year. I imagine they will go after Sabathia and try to trade for Peavy.

I still think it's highly unlikely the Yankees are going to get Peavy. They don't have enough to give up for him. SD is not going to take on the overvalued contract the Yankees gave Cano Cabrera is a worthless CF and Cashman isn't going to give up Chamberlain. Kennedy isn't worth anything though Phil Hughes might be. , Also keep in mind all the money that is coming off the Yankee books this season. Easier for the Yanks to throw money at Lowe, Sabathia, etc.... than to trade their prospects that Cashman covets so much. I do think the Cubs have a shot with Vitters as the centerpiece, along with Theriot, Castillo, Pie and Marshall. I think that Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes, Delin Betances gets it done. The Yankees have some good pitching in the system.

Yeah that figures. They have done a pretty good job lately of preparing for when their stars get too old. They always seem to have a plan in place.

Isn't Saltalamcchia available? I would love to get him and let him play some first base for us next year. That way you don't even have to get rid of Lee, just give he and Soto more days off by using Salty.

I wonder if Matt Wieters would have got us Peavy? With a couple throw ins of course.

maybe because they're the most successful franchise in the history of the national league? The Dodgers could make a pretty good argument for this. But, yeah they are one of the four.

As a Type B, a team can sign him early without having to forfeit any draft picks. It's like the Brewers did with Jason Kendall. Also, point taken on those three, although I think Patterson and Gallagher wouldn't have qualified for the list in terms of playing time with the Cubs had they stayed. That's more of a counterfactual situation, though. Assuming he turned it around in the MWL like he did following his trade to the A's, I think 3 or 4 on my list would be about right. I thought we got a pick for Kendall? Yes (Ryan Flaherty). But that was a sandwich pick, not a former Brewers pick. The Brewers didn't give up a pick for signing Kendall early; rather, the Cubs were compensated with a sandwich pick. Howry - like Kendall last offseason - is a Type B free agent. So we don't have to offer him anything and will still get a pick for him if he is signed early? If so great, at this point a sandwich guy should help us out more going forward anyways.

As a Type B, a team can sign him early without having to forfeit any draft picks. It's like the Brewers did with Jason Kendall. Also, point taken on those three, although I think Patterson and Gallagher wouldn't have qualified for the list in terms of playing time with the Cubs had they stayed. That's more of a counterfactual situation, though. Assuming he turned it around in the MWL like he did following his trade to the A's, I think 3 or 4 on my list would be about right. I thought we got a pick for Kendall?

Just out of curiosity, why aren't you guys higher on Castillo? I really want to be excited about him, but read where you guys don't like him all that much in what is a weak system.

If Wood and Dempster aren't back we will have a chance to reload in a hurry. Ditto Howry, who could end up being a Type B. I'm a bit concerned about the lack of names on these Top 10 lists who were drafted after the first round prior to this year. There's only one name consistently on any of these lists that fits that mold in Samardzija. While there's still time for guys like Rundle, Huseby, Thomas, Guyer, etc. to develop and blossom, it's a bit disconcerting. If we offer, wouldn't Howry accept anything at this point? There cannot be much of a market for him still, can there? Also Epatt, Gallagher, and Donaldson landed us Rich Harden. They amounted to something at least.

If Wood and Dempster aren't back we will have a chance to reload in a hurry.

The Royals are raising ticket prices. What the hell are they thinking?

Ted Lilly punched out his manager, ran over another teams catcher injuring him, and threw his glove down in a rage after giving up a homer to Chris Young in the playoffs last year. Yet when announcers talk about him they never give us that he can't control his emotions crap that they always spew about Z. While your racism contention is absurd on its own, bringing up the Molina thing doesn't even make sense. I thought it was a pretty crazy thing to do that could have hurt him when we were getting ready for the playoffs. Why risk getting hurt? Why play him at all? No starters from August onward. When are you allowed to run into the catcher (A real part of the game), April? May? If your a pitcher probably never. Is it ever really worth losing a guy who impacts the game so much for a chance for 1 run?

Ted Lilly punched out his manager, ran over another teams catcher injuring him, and threw his glove down in a rage after giving up a homer to Chris Young in the playoffs last year. Yet when announcers talk about him they never give us that he can't control his emotions crap that they always spew about Z. While your racism contention is absurd on its own, bringing up the Molina thing doesn't even make sense. I thought it was a pretty crazy thing to do that could have hurt him when we were getting ready for the playoffs. Why risk getting hurt?

Ted Lilly punched out his manager, ran over another teams catcher injuring him, and threw his glove down in a rage after giving up a homer to Chris Young in the playoffs last year. Yet when announcers talk about him they never give us that he can't control his emotions crap that they always spew about Z.

It's not a crapshoot when you turn in one of the worst playoff appearances of all time. The team choked, and Soriano is one of the worst playoff performers of all time considering the number of at bats he's gotten. Nothing wrong with trying to get rid of him. There is if there is no better option to replace him. Getting rid of him to let Hoffpauir play is akin to moving Alou so DuBois can play. Now if you sign Manny Ramirez then by all means move Soriano. Even if we do that though, Soriano has a no trade clause and a huge contract that both make it impossible to move him.

This is so like '04 when most wanted to get rid of Sammy and Alou. Let's not do that again. '05 and '06 were awful. Lets try and get a little better and go at it again next year. All these people who were rational before saying that the playoffs are a crapshoot now are forgeting that very fact.

I think Indians underachieved. That's about it. You thought the TIgers would be worse than the Royals? What are tonight's lotto numbers?

Maybe this doesn't need to be here, but I aways get the feeling this Z can't keep his composure crap is subtle/notsosubtle racism.

Odds I'm still a Cubs fan at that point: 100% 100% for me. This applies to the rest of my natural life. Personally, I don't have time for even a hint of fairweather. To each their own. If you guys still enjoy it, do it. But there's a point where it's just not fun anymore, and these guys are getting close to it for me. I can handle a couple first-round losses. But, as always with the Cubs, the losing has to be stretched to the point of absurdity. They can't just lose three straight, it has to be by a combined score of 20-6. They have to almost have more errors than runs. It has to be 9 straight lost playoff games by a combined score of 57-18. It has to be another year of "If they don't win it all none of it matters" talk. It has to be another year of every single time the Cubs are broadcast on national TV seeing the Bartman play 10 times and hearing the phrase "101 years" 35 times. Good, go. But, don't come back when we do win it all. Which we will. As a stat guy you have to think it is pretty good that we are getting back at a much better rate to the playoffs than we ever have. We will break through at some point.