bc2k

While I'm not going to criticize Hendry for not matching Furcal's offer, I do wonder what his plan is now. In all of my armchair-GM scenarios, I had Furcal as our SS. Without him, I'm not so sure how to build a division-winning team in 2006. Thankfully, it's not my job to know. Hendry, you better have a plan.

Tell us how you really feel about Favre.... :roll: Give me a break, he's getting older yes, but he is still a very good QB. Kinda hard to have a decent year when you have noone to play with. You don't think his consecutive start streak is impressive? I agreed with you until you said his starts streak was impressive. The way this team is looking right now, there's no reason Brett shouldn't at least let Aaron Rodgers see a few series per game to see how he fits in with the offense. if Favre comes back next year, there is no point in really seeing Rodgers get playing time this year. I would like to see him get some snaps in, but I don't think Sherman is going to do it. It's still Favre's team and it will be his team until he retires. and b2ck, give me a freaking break about how his talent has decreased. Look at the players around him. Were on our 5th string RB. Antonio freaking Chatman is our 2nd receiver (and he's actually been a surprise this year.) Our offensive line has a center playing out of position in Scott Wells and a 7th round rookie guard, Will Whitticker. Bubba Franks, Favre's favorite red zone threat, has been hurt for the first time in his career this year. There is NOTHING around him, period. Hey, truly good quarterbacks make their teammates better, and judging from your analysis of Favre's teammates, Favre sucks. And saying it's Favre's team until he retires is putting one player--a mediocre one at that--above the team's good.

Without having any knowledge of the prosepects given up by the Twins, Luis Castillo typifies Twins baseball and is an excellent acquisition for them.

My prediction: The Bears will dominate this game, control the ball, field position and limit GB's scores. The final score will not reflect the true amount of dominance over GB, but Bears victory will never be in doubt. Favre will look like the shell of an athlete he is, his touchdown thrown streak against the Bears will decease, much like her talent already has.

Peter King of SI wrote this: Green Bay (2-9) at Chicago (8-3) Upset of the year. Of the Millennium. I guess I'm a sucker for Brett Favre at Soldier Field. He hasn't lost there since Red Grange played at Wrigley. On SI's homepage, there's a picture of Brett with captions that fellate him: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2005 Upsetting Feeling There could be a flurry of upsets among the NFC's elite teams this weekend, says SI.com's Peter King, with Brett Favre primed to conquer Soldier Field again despite a woeful 2-9 mark. and, Brett Favre is 21-5 as a starter against the Bears, including 11-1 at Soldier Field, with a 26-game streak with a touchdown pass. The only reason I'm glad Favre is still starting and continuing his phony games started streak is because his all-time records against the Bears will suffer. I'm salivating anticipating December 4 and December 25. If that pear-shaped loser won't make the right decision and sit Favre, then I hope Alex Brown or Adewale Ogunleye ends his streak.

You had a good suggestion, so I acquiesced.

Brian Giles re-signed with the Padres for a guaranteed $30 million; 9 million in each of the next 3 years, a 3 million buyout, and a 9 million team option for 2009. Reuters link: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2005-12-01T135008Z_01_ROB149785_RTRUKOC_0_US-BASEBALL-GILES.xml

I have mixed opinions of JH, but he's slowly improving the team. Whether or not he could have saved millions negotiating better, I cannot fault him for his offseason acquisitions so far. Our bullpen will be a team strength, Mabry has a role on a winning team, and it's a given that JH will acquire a premier SS or RF. There's a lot of offseason yet, and I like JH's approach so far, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he will find all the pieces.* * I retain the right to whine if he doesn't. :)

I don't follow the Sox minor leagues, but Haigwood and Gio are said to be top left-handers in their organization. I don't doubt that to be true since it seems Kenny Williams has a philosophy of trading the unproven for the proven. He traded Jeremy Reed and Miguel Olivo two years ago for Freddy Garcia. That was a risk that Williams won, but at the time, he was heavily criticized for it. Reed was the best non-pitching prospect in the Sox organization at the time of the trade, and an improving Olivo was hitting like .270 at the bottom of the order with maybe the best catching arm in the game. Fortunately for Williams, Reed and Olivo have regressed substantially and Freddy G was a necessary cog in the Sox winning the World Series. Today, Williams trades another two top prospects, though unproven at the MLB level, for a proven but aging Jim Thome. It looks like Williams greatly values proven, MLB All-Star talent, and has little value for top MLB prospects. It's worked for him so far, but he's bound to get burned eventually.

I don't agree with that mindset. It's one thing to applaud and appreciate a great team legend, but it's not acceptable to "respect" him at the expense of the team and franchise. The bottom line is winning, and if I were a GB fan, I'd be pissed that Rogers wasn't getting game experience for next season. The learning curve for NFL quarterbacks takes a while (save for freaks like Big Ben) and I'd definately want Rogers to start that process in a season when the team is eliminated from the playoffs. And you don't have to be wearing JoePa's glasses to see that he has a few marbles rolling around in there. Somebody give him a recliner and some pudding; he's done.

He still looks pretty good? He threw 2 interceptions last night, one which was run back for a touchdown in a game where his team lost by 3. Favre's 2005 decline is visible.

I don't think Lee should worry too much about Konerko's deal since he is a superior first baseman. Not only are Lee's numbers better over the past few years than Konerko's, but Lee's 2004 season showed he is on an upward trend, while Konerko's last two seasons of 40-HR, 100-RBI look to be his ceiling. So not only does Lee have the edge in hitting, he's also a better defensive first baseman and baserunner.

There is no allegedly about it. Didn't you read his 1000 interviews talking about how great he was for it? The fact that he said it drew my use of "allegedly." :lol:

This probably should be expected, but after a dissapointing season, I'm not sure this sends the right message. The Cubs are already going to draw millions more from the new seats, so they shouldn't raise prices on the rest of them. But I guess somebody has to pay Neifi's contract.

I can't think of a better owner. I would love it if Cuban bought the Cubs.

Should the Packers give their first-round draft pick, Aaron Rogers, the chance to get some experience this year at the expense of team legend, Brett Favre? The Packers are 2-7 and aren't going to the playoffs. IMO, with the season already over, they might as well get Rogers some experience this year so he's better prepared when he takes over the team next year.

Drew Rosenhaus allegedly saved a boy's life with CPR this past summer, so I'm voting against Boras. I can respect Rosenhaus fighting for more money for his players because NFL contracts are not guaranteed.

I thought Stephen A. Smith was angry until I read Scoop's columns. Relax guys, you don't have to furrow your eyebrows or write in a hateful tone to get your point across. Typing "Scoop" makes me wonder what his real name is. Anyone know?

Looks like his wife got her wish. She wanted him closer to home in Cali so he could be with his family. He had a baby during the playoffs.

I'm not surprised to read that Kyle Lohse is on the trade block. For the monetary reason mentioned in Rotoworld, and because of Lohse damaging Gardenhire's office door with a baseball bat after being taken out of a September game. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2157101

Except Podsednik hit .290/.351/.349, Iguchi .278/.342/.438. Between them they stole 74 bases, and were caught 28 times (73%, marginally above the breakeven point). Both played above average defence, though in Podsednik's case you're talking about LF, where defence doesn't matter hugely. For the pair of them to be "big reasons" for the team's success, all that "causing havoc on the bases" and "bunts/swinging bunts" stuff (and whatever else you haven't mentioned but have ready to go as an insurance policy when your other "plate patience" etc arguments are flamed) must have an enormous amount of value. Unfortunately there's absolutely nothing besides the ramblings of sportswriters/broadcasters to suggest that that's true. The truth is that Podsednik and Iguchi weren't big reasons, they were just serviceable parts that plugged positions that otherwise could have been holes. That has value, sure. Not that much though. I don't want to keep this thread going forever, but I have to explain this. I've never put much value in the breaking point of stolen bases. On paper, one could find how much a player helps and hurts his team with stolen bases. In reality, the values are different because each stolen base attempt has different value based on the game situation. How important was Dave Roberts's steal of second in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS? According to the stat sheet, that steal was just as, but not more important than any other postseason stolen base. Granted, Scott Podsednik didn't have a stolen base attempt as valuable as that one, but on a team that won so many one-run games, I bet his 59 stolen bases had more tangible value than the stat sheet perceives. In 2005, Scott Podsednik's stolen base effectiveness mirrored the success of his team. During the first four months of the season, when he was healthy and stealing a higher rate, the Sox won much more often than in the last two months of the season when he had an injured groin and stole at a lower rate. So now they couldn't have won it all without the big ball and they couldn't have won it all without the pitching, in your own words. Jeez, just how important then was all this smart-ball then that Iguchi and Podsednik played? The margin of the Sox winning the division and winning in the postseason was slim. Since it was so close, I don't think they could have won in the first or second season if not for all the contributions they received from their small ball hitters, big ball hitters, and most importantly, pitching. Their pitching, 1-13 is most responsible for the team's 2005 success. So back to my previous point, the Sox's 2004 Podsednik- and Iguchi-less offense combined with the 2005 pitching staff, doesn't have the success the 2005 team had.

I think a lot of the points you're making are in defense of someone calling the White Sox a strictly small ball team. I'm not. I'm saying that small ball was a big reason why the Sox won the AL Central, in the playoffs and eventually the World Series. I also made the point that most of the lineup 1-9 doesn't play much small ball. So your macro statistics have merit. A more focused look shows that Podsednik and Iguchi did play a lot of small ball, and were a big reason for the team's success. I also acknowledge that the pitching staff, not just the starters, was the biggest contributor to the team's success. Isn't that lucky for your argument! Ooops, so I just made something up, or, more specifically, repeated the ESPN mantra, turns out it wasn't true, so now I'll just go and base it on one inning in one game in the playoffs, or maybe the playoffs as a whole, in which the White Sox played the grand total of 12 games. No, no. Please read my previous post again. I also gave examples of regular season small ball contributions. Stats do account for that. And the stats say that the White Sox were no different in taking pitches in the playoffs as they were in 2005 as they were in 2004. Stats also say that the White Sox walked a whole lot less in 2005 than they did in 2004. So does anything else define plate patience, or has your imagination run out of lies to dream up? Again, you're using the team average, when my example was specific to one player, Tadahito Iguchi. Your team stats certainly do not disprove my example. So you're arguing that the difference between the 2004 and 2005 White Sox was that Tadahito Iguchi hit more balls to the second baseman? Big difference. Certainly not. That is just one example of the season-long small ball contributions of Tadahito Iguchi and Scott Podsednik. I dunno. I always got this impression that baseball was a team game, and that you required a number of members of the team to combine to score, you know, runs, and lots of them. Strangely, the White Sox didn't score lots of them. They scored a lot less. 124 less than the year before. Yes, they scored more consistently, a standard deviation of 2.89 in 2005 as opposed to 3.73 in 2004, but does that compensate for 124 less runs? Highly debatable. What's not debatable is that their pitching improved from 2004 to 2005 enormously, and that was by far the biggest contributing factor to their success. By far. Of course it is a team game. The Sox couldn't have won it all without other players in the lineup playing big ball. The team was a diverse mix of hitters.

WHere in the heck would you play Thome? He can only play 1st or are you planning on dumping the younger and better Lee after the spectacular year he just had? Paul Rogers had an interesting take in Sunday's Trib, where he mentioned the possibility of Thome leaving Philadelphia. Rogers said the Cubs have no use for him now with DLee, but if the Cubs had signed him 3 years ago when Hendry had the chance, 2003 could have been the year we won it all. Made me think for a moment.

I like walker in the 2 hole. I could be happy with a Furcal-Walker top of the order. I strongly oppose trading for Milton Bradley. I don't think he is the type of man we want on our team: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1705006.html

Whoa. The line for Corey bashing usually forms right behind me, but this is a bit much. The fact that he is going at all should tell you something about his "mindset." He's a professional athlete for goodness sakes. I'm sure he doesn't enjoy being awful at the plate. Let him go work on it, show up early for spring training- again, and let the winter play out. At least there is an effort to improve. Playing a 1/2 season of winter ball doesn't tell me anything positive about his mindset. It says he will do just enough to get his critics and Hendry off his back, but not as much as a player who really wants to reach his potential would. And I'd hope he doesn't enjoy being awful at the plate, but if I were in his shoes when asked by reporters if I'd consider winter ball, I'd enthusiastically respond with a: "YES! I'm having a very poor year and I have disappointed Cubs fans and the team, but I know I can do better. I plan on getting better by playing the game when most MLB players aren't: in winter ball." "But my game isn't the only thing I need to improve on. I'm also going to adjust my attitude, because there were times when I just didn't care about the game. Remember my 'It's just a game' comment? I'm going to work on my intelligence too." To clarify, though certain beat writers reported that Corey uttered the "it's just a game" comment, it was later confirmed that Corey actually said "it's just the game." Big difference. Carry on. I'm aware of that, but believe that his quote was "corrected" as a cover up. I think the first interpretation is correct because it's certainly consistent with his attitude. Oh, dear Lord. Corey's got enough issues on his own without people making things up. Did I make up the fact that Corey said baseball was just a game? Did I make up the fact that Corey only wants to play 1/2 of Winter ball? I think those two decisions allow the fan some insight to the mindset/desire/attitude of CP. Who is this Corey Patterson you speak of? Is he even a real player? I don't understand your point made in your post, but your avatar interests me. Could you explain to me what happened in that picture? I know I've heard the story but don't remember many details. Yeah sure. My post was a lame joke making fun of the jabs you were receiving. Sorry it stunk, but you have to try sometimes. My avatar is a picture of Rick Monday rescuing the Flag from some anti-American nuts who were trying to light it on fire during a game at Dodger stadium. The game was on April 25th, 1976. I have always thought that was an underrated moment in Cubs history. Wow, that's beautiful. I found this link on the event. Touching read. http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/dept/d46/psy/dev/Fall01/patriotism/ballgame.html The article said that a picture of Monday grabbing the flag from the anti-Americans won a Pulitzer Prize. Perhaps the one you're displaying in your avatar. Thanks for refreshing my memory on this story.