katway

=D> I also grew up without interleague play and never considered the Sox rivals.

The Sox outscored the Cubs this year. But, more importantly, it's their type of small ball offense that scores runs against good pitchers. They may not post up 15 runs in a game, but they consistently score and make the game competative. Even though the Cubs have more power in their lineup, the Cubs post far too many goose eggs for a good team. The Sox offense was more consistent in giving the team an opportunity to win and did, in fact, outscore the Cubs this year. Those 38 extra runs are a lot of one run ballgames with their stellar pitching staff.

What opportunity? Nobody had the opportunity to get Mazzone out of Atlanta except his lifelong friend. Quit blaming Hendry for options that aren't available. Exactly. Mazzone wasn't leaving Atlanta except to work with his friend in Baltimore. His statements now and in the past make that perfectly clear. There are plenty of things to criticize Hendry on; this isn't one of them. It's ridiculous to even make the assertions here. we missed the opportunity to make a sales pitch (like the Yankees did). you never know what happens until you throw your hat in the ring. It's ridiculous to assume we don't have a chance without taking one. It would have cost us nothing to try. Wrong. We tick off Rothschild and, if he leaves, we have to find a pitching coach willing to take the position with a lame duck manager. The yanks are in a completely different position since they do not have a pitching coach. Hendry was wise to look before he leaped. Losing Rothschild would be a bad thing? LOL, I'd be happy to see any part of our coaching staff move on. We wouldn't have lost anything asking Mazzone, we might even have gained (by heaving Rothschild out the door). I don't think Rothschild leaving would be bad except for the fact that we have slim to no chance of getting a good pitching coach when we have a lame duck manager. Perhaps, we could have moved Dick Pole into the position if Rothschild left. But, the way I see it, you don't openly go recruiting a guy unless the position is vacant. If I'm Mazzone, I wouldn't even consider an organization that would be willing to openly recruit a coach when the position isn't vacant. It's bad form and I would be wondering if the organization would treat me just as poorly down the road. The Yanks are in a completely different situation. The position is vacant and their manager has 2 years on his contract.

The Sox are getting a lot of calls, but the only reason we remember them is that they take advantage of the opportunities. They don't waste a gift.

Can't blame Giles for staying in home town that is a great place to live, getting his $, and returning to a team that made the playoffs.

What opportunity? Nobody had the opportunity to get Mazzone out of Atlanta except his lifelong friend. Quit blaming Hendry for options that aren't available. Exactly. Mazzone wasn't leaving Atlanta except to work with his friend in Baltimore. His statements now and in the past make that perfectly clear. There are plenty of things to criticize Hendry on; this isn't one of them. It's ridiculous to even make the assertions here. we missed the opportunity to make a sales pitch (like the Yankees did). you never know what happens until you throw your hat in the ring. It's ridiculous to assume we don't have a chance without taking one. It would have cost us nothing to try. Wrong. We tick off Rothschild and, if he leaves, we have to find a pitching coach willing to take the position with a lame duck manager. The yanks are in a completely different position since they do not have a pitching coach. Hendry was wise to look before he leaped.

No to Lou as manager and broadcaster. Anyone listen to Lou in the playoff games? He's about 2 minutes behind the action on the field. He really didn't appear to be very sharp.

Yeah it would have been nice to see the CUbs at least try to get in on this but it would appear it wasn't just about money for Leo as he turned NY down. This is all purely my opinion but in addition I think it was either working with Perlozzo or staying put. He grew up in Maryland and has wanted to work with Perlozzo, who remains his best friend from childhood, for a long time. I don't think we had any shot at getting him. you don't have a shot if you won't even make a sales pitch to him (like NY did). i don't mind getting beaten out by other teams for players or coaches that hit the open market. that's the game. i do mind sitting on our arses waiting for a miracle to happen. So, should Hendry have tried knowing Mazzone wasn't going to give a fair shot to anyone outside of Baltimore and risk ticking off our current pitching coach? NYY's pitching coach retired... so they weren't rocking the boat. Hendry can't be expected to rock the boat when he had a slim to none chance of landing Mazzone. In addition, why would any decent pitching coach want to go to the Cubs when their manager is only signed for 1 more year? I'm not advocating we extend Baker (in fact, i'd hoped we would terminate him), but it is certainly a factor.

Add me to the list. I'm in... never considered the Sox a rival

Yeah it would have been nice to see the CUbs at least try to get in on this but it would appear it wasn't just about money for Leo as he turned NY down. This is all purely my opinion but in addition I think it was either working with Perlozzo or staying put. He grew up in Maryland and has wanted to work with Perlozzo, who remains his best friend from childhood, for a long time. I don't think we had any shot at getting him.

I've always thought he would make a good manager. While I had hoped he would manage the Cubs some day, he clearly cannot pass up the opportunity to manage in the majors. Too bad the Cubs are too dim to see what everyone else sees in him.

Clearly, you haven't been watching the games. Crede went 7 for 19 with 7 RBIs. He hit a game tying homer and twice drove in the go ahead/winning run.

Is this retorical? Those are his career average over nine years http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=3515 He missed some games last year with a strained thigh/hip flexer, but nothing too serious.

Zambrano was out of gas at the end of 2003. At that point in his career, he wasn't in the same range as a Pettitte, Oswalt, or Clemens. Today he is...back then he was not.

It seems every winner has their share of luck, but Williams really has done a terrific job. Lining up quality pitching with starters and relief pitchers is no easy task. He managed to get a diamond in the rough in Jenks for nothing, make timely trades like acquiring Contreras, and sign crafty veterans who set the tone like El Duque, Hermanson, etc. Managing to create a winning team on Reinsdorf's budget deserve applause and is surely more than dumb luck. He had a plan, stuck to it, and got results under budget... really can't ask for much more in a GM.

As a baseball fan, I love what the Sox have done. Their games have shown just how exciting good pitching and defense can be... I hope more fans will begin to appreciate this type of play.

When they slow the play down, it appears the ball does move up into the glove slightly when it's trajectory was toward the ground. so, I'm not convinced the ball never hit the ground. The catcher is not looking at the ump who never uttered a word. It doesn't look like the catcher caught the umps signal, but it is odd for the ump to signal. At the end of the day, this wasn't the only thing that won the game, Crede hit a legit double to capitalize.

With a cable contract in Japan, Hideki brings the Yanks more money than they pay him. He also benefits by exposure in his home country with lucrative endorsements, etc. that add to his overall income. With respect to Shefield, he threw a fit earlier this year when there were trade rumors. He basically created his own no trade clause saying that he would refuse to play for anyone if they traded for him.

We would be bidding against ourselves. #-o

Yankees tried Nick Johnson in left a few years ago and quickly abanedoned the idea. Nick was simply awful in the outfield. In addition, he is an injury prone as they come and would probably only be available for half the games.

I would root for the Sox because I still don't feel like there is a strong baseball rivalry between us and the Sox. The rivalry is for the city's attention, it just seems like something entirely insignificant compared to the Cards rivalry which is more like one city versus another, etc.

There really is no clue as to which direction MLB is leaning. But, there are several suitors for the Nats that will have money to spend. I doubt they will need to shed salary other than Guzman. So, there is little chance they trade Livan, who is viewed as the staff leader, for something insignificant like Mitre. Patterson is a better pitcher, but Livan is the clear leader.

Neifi is is sure handed as they come, but his range isn't very good. No doubt that he'll make the play if he gets to it; but, I just haven't felt that he has gotten to a lot of balls that other SSs could reach. For that reason, I wouldn't give him the GG.

I think that's a strong possibility given Hendry's soft spot for guys returning from injury. If Dotel is reasonably priced, it makes a lot of sense and we all know what a great job he did setting up in his previous stint in the NL central. OT: When I see all the Cub's signings of pitcher's coming off of injury, I always lament the fact they didn't retained John Lieber. We really could have used him these past couple years.

While I like this trade from a Cubs perspective, I would think Florida and LA could get it done without the Cubs being involved and without Florida losing Castillo. If LA really wants to get rid of Bradley so bad that they are willing to take on Lowell's contract, then something like Lowell and fillers for Bradley would be a better trade for Florida. Florida could move Cabrera to third and put Bradley in the outfield and keep Castillo at second.