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Lots of flip-flopping on this, but I'm going with LeBron, Al Jefferson, and Gasol.

Actually, he's one of the few ESPN guys with a clue.

Did you just name drop Billy Joe Tolliver? My god, that would have ended the name dropping thread if it were on the first page. Nice work. BTW, what in god's name do you think Billy Joe and AROD talk about when they hang out? Pretty soon, someone's going to tell me that Jon Kitna and Carl Everett are going to church together. Absolutely - I did. Thanks for catching that. I heard Billy Joe is a phenomenal golfer. I love Uptown Girl. Scenes From an Italian Restaurant Not a fan, but at least you didn't say Allentown.

Thought that was you - but the change in Y! ID threw me off.

Did you just name drop Billy Joe Tolliver? My god, that would have ended the name dropping thread if it were on the first page. Nice work. BTW, what in god's name do you think Billy Joe and AROD talk about when they hang out? Pretty soon, someone's going to tell me that Jon Kitna and Carl Everett are going to church together. Absolutely - I did. Thanks for catching that. I heard Billy Joe is a phenomenal golfer. I love Uptown Girl.

I'm saying give them the first and second overall pick (of guys not kept) since they're picking from inferior players to begin with to get them on a more level playing field. That is, if we add more teams To revisit this - given that it looks like we only have 8 teams and the value of unkept players is higher than the value of some of the other team's keepers, I propose that after cheapseats and PlayPie get their first 3, we just do a standard draft with a random assignment of order. Looking at the list of guys that will be available for these teams to draft from the start, there's really no disadvantage to them (seriously, KG, Arenas, Bosh, TMac, Boozer, VC, etc etc etc - their top 3 aren't going to be any worse than everyone else's). Is that a problem for anyone?

I think Truffle is the other guy not returning, as he hasn't told me he'd sign up, didn't sign up, and didn't respond to my pm.

With only 6 people in until this weekend, I kind of let it go. But I think with 8, if we can resurrect it, we can give it a go. I'd like at least keepers to be in by today so that they're done before the games start and hopefully so that the 2 new teams can pick their first 3 guys from the leftovers (which are looking pretty good with 2 teams from last year not coming back). Then I'd like to get a draft done, maybe in this thread, this week, so we can have everything up and running by the end of the week.

Y! League ID: 112813 pw: cubs08 We have 6 teams right now. If Mark & Play Pie are in, that's 8 which is what we had last year, but not really ideal. If we still want to get this done, let's do a draft in this forum (I can't really schedule one any night this week). If you're returning from last year, please post your 3 keepers. If you can't remember which guys were on your final roster, please tell me which of the team's below was yours and I'll send you your final roster. Where's Dr J No-See-Oh-Nee Hinrich's Heroes Dobson's Supermarket The Chapus Flames24Rulz imb IMB - if you're around today, please let me know if you can still participate despite your recent run in with an idiot.[/code]

sorry I set it up but had very little response. Mark I thought I gave you the password. I'll find it and post it.

I don't mind letting him try, but I'd prefer to keep him in the pen if he'll stay healthy rather than let him try to start and end up burning another year on the DL. But I'm confused by the quote. If Wood is the 4th starter, and we have Z, Lilly, and Hill as the first 3, why are Marquis & Hart fighting for #5? Where's Marshall in all this?

ARGH: Oh - and hopefully this LH power bat we're looking for can hit LHP, b/c despite what stupid traditional baseball logic would suggest, our RH heavy team can't hit LHP worth a crap. If only our GM knew this.

because they want the money? This isn't complicated - he wanted out of new york and boras told him he would still get the money. for pro athletes, it's either about the money or about the money. and if they say it isn't, they're lying What a terrible generalization. It's not always about maximizing the money for every athlete. Sure it is for many of them. But there are dozens of athletes in different sports that have taken less money (or restructured deals) to go to a team with a better chance of winning a title, or improving their teams chances of winning a title. Frequently, it's athletes in ARod's situation - have tons of money and the big name, but really want the ring. And in baseball, the Yankees give you a great chance to win one, but they certainly aren't the only team that can regularly contend for a title by adding ARod (and other teams come with less baggage than the Yankees do).

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I have.

crap - go get ARod!

Negative = Me, KC, Jon, TT, Navin, CubsinNY, Rob (might have missed a few) Positive= Everyone else From the Sori signing thread. Good times. I'm not sure if I even posted in that huge thread, but I was certainly against it.

That surprises me about you. Not just about Neyer, who was great about 5-7 years ago but less so now, but b/c Kurkjian's odd/useless stat schtick got old a long long time ago.

For Yankees fans or everyone else?

Slightly tweak it and I think you're right...though I'm not sure how trading Bedard helps them address that particular problem. But if Andy thinks the best way to improve the Orioles is trading one of the best pitchers in baseball, I'm more than happy to oblige.

If money is the only hold up to signing Arod, we should deal Jones, Dempster, and Marquis if that will help. I can't believe we couldn't get rid of Jones and Dempster w/o having to pay much of their contracts if we take back basically nothing. Not so sure about Marquis, but it'd be nice if we could deal him and not have to eat much of his contract. We have enough end of the bullpen guys that one of them could step in and close. If we get ARod, I think we have to give Pie and Murton the keys to CF and RF for at least next year. With a rotation of Z, Lilly, Hill, Marshall, we could use Prior, Gallagher, etc as the #5. Basically, if ARod decides he wants to play in Chicago and he can play SS w/o severely injuring himself or others, I don't think we can afford to let money be the only obstacle. He turned down a huge chunk of cash to get out of NYC, so you'd think money isn't the only consideration for him. And at the same time, being a contender isn't enough by itself b/c the Yankees are obviously a perennial contender. It would appear that he wants to make a lot of money (though I'm not convinced he's going to demand $30m for 8 years) while playing for a contender in a place that he will also be happy. I'm guessing that narrows the list of options to Boston, LAA, and us. I don't see the Mets getting involved with Wright & Reyes already over there. If he really likes Lou, I would think his top choice has to be either here or Boston. Man, I've love to see what ARod could do facing NLC pitching. While I would love to see ARod on the Cubs, it isn't going to happen. The overwhelming favorites have to be the Angels and Red Sox. They both have the money and are capable of delivering the WS ring that he wants. Many of the other teams mentioned (White Sox, Mariners, Giants, Orioles, Marlins, etc.) are more than one superstar away from contending. The Mets have Wright and Reyes on the left side of the infield. The Phillies would still be without pitching and wouldn't have the money to acquire any pitchers after signing ARod. Getting back to the Cubs, it starts with the expensive long-term contract. Secondly, dumping Dempster, Jones, and Marquis for prospects and not picking up much of their contracts is unlikely. Finally, ARod would probably like to stay in the AL where he knows the pitchers and the DH position is available for later in his career. A third place finish in the ARod sweepstakes for the Cubs. I'm not sure that's true. If he wants a ring, his top choices (not necessarily in this order) would be Boston, NYY, LAA...and us. Yes, we're a flawed team. But we have 4 very good/great players in or very near their peaks locked up for a while (Z, Lee, ARam, Soriano). Plus, we play in probably the weakest division in baseball. ARod is smart enough to realize that the WS winner isn't necessarily the best team and that frequently the best team doesn't even make the WS, so maybe his best chance to win one is to get out of the ALE and not have to fight either Boston or NYY every year. If that's his thinking, maybe the top 2 teams are us and the Angels. It's hard to say what he's thinking. As for the DH - meh. If his offense remains but he suddenly can't play D, we can move him to 1B or trade him to an AL team. Worst case scenario he falls fast offensively and defensively and we're stuck with him or most of his contract (and trade him). ARod doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that thinks he'll be DH'ing in 3 years or even 5 years, so I don't think that's going to alter his decision any.

If money is the only hold up to signing Arod, we should deal Jones, Dempster, and Marquis if that will help. I can't believe we couldn't get rid of Jones and Dempster w/o having to pay much of their contracts if we take back basically nothing. Not so sure about Marquis, but it'd be nice if we could deal him and not have to eat much of his contract. We have enough end of the bullpen guys that one of them could step in and close. If we get ARod, I think we have to give Pie and Murton the keys to CF and RF for at least next year. With a rotation of Z, Lilly, Hill, Marshall, we could use Prior, Gallagher, etc as the #5. Basically, if ARod decides he wants to play in Chicago and he can play SS w/o severely injuring himself or others, I don't think we can afford to let money be the only obstacle. He turned down a huge chunk of cash to get out of NYC, so you'd think money isn't the only consideration for him. And at the same time, being a contender isn't enough by itself b/c the Yankees are obviously a perennial contender. It would appear that he wants to make a lot of money (though I'm not convinced he's going to demand $30m for 8 years) while playing for a contender in a place that he will also be happy. I'm guessing that narrows the list of options to Boston, LAA, and us. I don't see the Mets getting involved with Wright & Reyes already over there. If he really likes Lou, I would think his top choice has to be either here or Boston. Man, I've love to see what ARod could do facing NLC pitching.

More scary than Soriano, Lee, ARod, Ramirez? yes

Um, no he's not. He's a little guy that plays shortstop. Leadoff hitters can only come from the SS and CF positions. Occasionally a second basemen can bat leadoff, but usually they bat 2nd. So I'll take Theriot batting leadoff over Pie anyday. Guys, I have an awesome idea. Lets take our worst hitter and give him the most at bats and then follow him with our best hitters!!!!! coughjunapierrecough junapier?

It's quite possible he'd be that much better than Marquis. But isn't Santana replacing Hill in your scenario, not Marquis?

If we didn't have DeRosa, I wouldn't mind his .368 career OBP in the 1/2 spots. But we do have DeRosa and I wouldn't be willing to give up what it would take to get Castillo anyway. But "sucks" is a little harsh for a 2B with a near .370 career OBP. Career numbers don't mean a whole lot when a guy is a few years removed from his career years. He's got a career OPS+ of 93. His 3 best seasons were at age 24, 27 and 29. He'll be turning 33 next season and already has a fairly extensive injury history. And his OBP has been below .370 the past two years in a row. If a team was desperate for 2B help, he might not be a bad name to take a flyer on in hopes of a decent year. But he's not the least bit reliable. I'm not campaigning to sign him, but he had a .362 OBP last year (including a .371 OBP upon his return to the NL), a whole .006 below his career average (btw - .356 the year before). You could do a lot worse than Castillo as a 2B. I have no interest in going after Castillo. I hate to defend him b/c I think he's been overrated since at least 2003. But to say he "sucks," even by MLB standards, is taking it a little far. Do you want him hitting in the 3-6 spots? No, but he'd be a fine 1/2 hitter (even w/ his age and injury, his OBP was better than what we have in the 1/2 spots last year).