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USSoccer

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Everything posted by USSoccer

  1. USSoccer
    The odds of that happening are remote. Yeah, no kidding. The Lee issue has really moved to the backburner in discussions, but going into last season, he wasn't a real good bet to repeat 2005. Now, a year older, after a terrible injury for a hitter that ruined an entire season (even though people maintained it was largely harmless and he'd recover quickly), we might be looking at a guy who puts up a sub 900 OPS in 2007. Quality numbers, but not superstar numbers. His OPS+ was 177 in 2005, the next highest number in his career was 135, at age 27. If he's much below his 2005 numbers, the acquisitions will have to be that much better, just to improve upon the weak 2005/2006 offense. If Lee puts up his 2004 line of .278/.356/.504 next season I'd be somewhat suprised. His 2005 was so far out of line, and he's past the age where we can expect him to sustain that kind of production.
  2. USSoccer
    The fact that we haven't heard any positive update at any point leads me to believe that Hendry is stupid enough to think the team is better off without Ramirez. I hope I'm wrong. I really, really do.
  3. USSoccer
    Sammy put up godly numbers and was loved until the numbers stopped coming. Latroy? He deserved what he got. Ramirez hasn't really been a target of the boo birds more so than any other player the last few seasons. Let's see if his leg injuries continue to be a problem along with his hussle before he gets booed. I think a lot of peolpe on this board are over reactive to way the media portrays players. you just wait. aramis is gonna sign for 13m a year or something and become the new scapegoat of the cubs. the media already hates his lack of hustle, they're gonna hate it more when he's the face of the franchise. I don't think Ramirez becomes the face of the Cubs if Lee has anything close to another 05 type season. The odds of that happening are remote.
  4. USSoccer
    Sammy put up godly numbers and was loved until the numbers stopped coming. Latroy? He deserved what he got. Ramirez hasn't really been a target of the boo birds more so than any other player the last few seasons. Let's see if his leg injuries continue to be a problem along with his hussle before he gets booed. I think a lot of peolpe on this board are over reactive to way the media portrays players. you just wait. aramis is gonna sign for 13m a year or something and become the new scapegoat of the cubs. the media already hates his lack of hustle, they're gonna hate it more when he's the face of the franchise. I agree. Idiots like Rozner are going to tear him apart the second he doesn't come through "in the clutch" or something. They'll point to his salary and claim an already "lazy" player became complacent after signing his big deal.
  5. USSoccer
    The middle relief guys were all cheap last year, weren't they? Howry and Eyre were the right-handed and left-handed set-up guys. Dempster was the closer. The middle relief guys were Wuertz, Aardsma, Novoa and Ohman. All at league minimum. Remmy was signed to be at the back end of the pen. He didn't perform well enough to stay the whole length of his contract, but that was the gamble Hendry took. In '02, Remlinger was one of the best in the business and not just against left-handers posting a 1.99 ERA. Rusch was signed as a starter to cover for Wood and Prior. He blew-up, but his previous two seasons were pretty good and it was only 3 mill. So where is all this money that Hendry is supposedly wasting on middle relief? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm honestly asking. Am I forgetting some people? Well, first off I said Hendry dumped money into the bullpen as a whole, not middle relief in particular. He may not have spent much on the 4 guys you mentioned, but we paid Eyre, Howry, Dempster and Rusch way too much money for what we got. Out of those 4 guys, you maybe needed 2. You had Ohman; why sign Eyre? Did you really need a LH setup man to go with the expensive RH setup guy? If you like Eyre so much, why sign Howry? Didn't Wuertz prove he can be effective if he's not overused? Why even bring back Rusch? I understand he performed above expectations in 2004 and 2005, but his role could have easily been filled for less than half his salary. Why give Dempster a long term, big money(for a reliever) deal after one good year? Your bullpen would look a lot stronger with a better starting rotation. With better starters, your pen is not exposed as much, and the overall effectiveness is much higher. Why not spend money there, in the rotation, where you can try and make it a 7 inning game? What about a better OF? Instead of $6m or whatever we paid Jones, lets forget about the redundancy of Eyre and throw $9m at a good OF? Bullpens should be the last thing you fix.
  6. USSoccer
    You really think that? No offense, but I think it's silly to say that a backup catcher who starts 30 games a year is more important than the guys who pitch the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings of close games. I do think so. 30 starts from backup catcher is worth more than 30 appearances by a terrible middle reliever in the 6th inning. FYI, I define middle relief as everyone other than a setup man and closer. The back end of the pen is somewhat important, but middle relief isn't worth spit. The fact that Hendry has dumped so much payroll into the bullpen in the past 3 seasons is insanity. Your bullpen should be fixed only after your lineup and rotation have been properly constructed. It's like building a house and starting with the roof. The difference is that a backup C might start 30 games while many middle relief pitchers get into more than 50 games. Middle relievers usually make apperances in games where the team is up big or down big, too. Or maybe they come in and face one guy. They just don't have enough value to ever, ever spend any signifiagnt amount of budget space on them, ever. I don't care that what I just typed is redundant. It's worth being redundant. Being proactive about middle relief is a bloody stupid way to build a roster.
  7. USSoccer
    Someone told me today that they should go to Greise if the Bears are losing at halftime to the Giants. Are these people high? I can't beleive that rational people could come to this conclusion. Football is one sport that really brings the stupidity out of people. Even people with no clue about sports have strong opinions on the Bears. Mike North this morning was talking about how last year Orton only "lost" us a couple of games, while Rex so far has "lost" one and should have lost 2 more. That sounds like pretty obvious, "say something to rile people up" kind of stuff. If only other people in the city didn't think the same way. A lot of people seem to think the Bears would be more successful with a "game manager" type QB.
  8. USSoccer
    Someone told me today that they should go to Greise if the Bears are losing at halftime to the Giants. Are these people high? I can't beleive that rational people could come to this conclusion. Football is one sport that really brings the stupidity out of people. Even people with no clue about sports have strong opinions on the Bears. Mike North this morning was talking about how last year Orton only "lost" us a couple of games, while Rex so far has "lost" one and should have lost 2 more. Mike North is the king of specious reasoning. How many games did Orton "win" us last year?
  9. USSoccer
    As Goony said, Aramis is the only one of those three that comes close to deserving it, based on age and production.
  10. USSoccer
    Someone told me today that they should go to Greise if the Bears are losing at halftime to the Giants. Are these people high? I can't beleive that rational people could come to this conclusion. Football is one sport that really brings the stupidity out of people. Even people with no clue about sports have strong opinions on the Bears.
  11. USSoccer
    The other thing is that for years people have been harping on the instability of the QB position in Chicago. Now, after a 7-1 start people are clamoring for Griese over Grossman. Unreal levels of stupidity.
  12. USSoccer
    You really think that? No offense, but I think it's silly to say that a backup catcher who starts 30 games a year is more important than the guys who pitch the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings of close games. I do think so. 30 starts from backup catcher is worth more than 30 appearances by a terrible middle reliever in the 6th inning. FYI, I define middle relief as everyone other than a setup man and closer. The back end of the pen is somewhat important, but middle relief isn't worth spit. The fact that Hendry has dumped so much payroll into the bullpen in the past 3 seasons is insanity. Your bullpen should be fixed only after your lineup and rotation have been properly constructed. It's like building a house and starting with the roof.
  13. USSoccer
    Because in Chicago, most of the media and about half the fanbase can't let go of the past. They treat every mistake, every loss like it's the end of the world. They compare every single player to the 85 counterpart. It's idiotic, but it's something that the team has done nothing to dissuade, and the media has largely been accomplice to this. Look at the level of criticism that Grossman is getting. People were calling for Griese and even Orton after the AZ game. I know that the dopes on CSN were calling for Griese. Why? If Rex were a 29 year old veteran, i could see it, but he's like a 24 year old guy who's still basically in his first season of game play. He's going to make mistakes, but that's the price you have to be willing to pay when you are trying to develop a franchise QB. It was one loss, but the level of shock in this city right now is ridiculous. Problem is, every fan thinks they know what they are talking about, and for some stupid reason people can't grasp that Rex isn't as good or bad as his best and worst games. Players have been run out of this town by the idiotic portion of the fanbase for years, and until the media or the team put the fanbase in their place, it will never stop in Chicago.
  14. USSoccer
    Besides, signing relievers is not proactive. It's going straight to the used car lot while everybody else is looking for new models. It's not much of an accomplishment to come away with the premier middle relievers on the market. Middle relievers don't win you baseball games. They help you not lose them. But the Cubs have had lineup and rotation weakness for a while now, and Jim ignored both to solidify a secondary unity. I don't agree with this assessment. Signing middle relievers can be as you described, but the Cubs signed the premiere middle relievers available in each of the years we're talking about. These are all guys who had stellar numbers at the time of signing with closer potential. That helps you win. A premier middle reliever is still the least important part of your team. Middle relievers are generally failed starters. They can have success for a year or two, but that success usually means that somone overpays them. They are less important than your backup C, IMO. A team with a good rotation won't need them as often, and a team with a great offense can outslug deficincies.
  15. USSoccer
    Wait, so Urlacher got hurt? I turned on the soccer game after the 2 minute warning...
  16. USSoccer
    Just you wait for the mouthbreathers to be calling into the shows all week...
  17. USSoccer
    That's the only thing that gives me hope for next week...you know that's going to be a big focus for him after watching the tape this week. If he weren't worried about a defender coming free nearly every single play he'd probably set his feet better. I think a lot of it is in this head. I don't think he's getting as much pressure as it looks. He'll even start shuffling his feet and falling back when he has plenty of time. Disagree. 2 of the 3 INT's and most of his bad passes came with someone at his feet or in his face.
  18. USSoccer
    That's the only thing that gives me hope for next week...you know that's going to be a big focus for him after watching the tape this week. If he weren't worried about a defender coming free nearly every single play he'd probably set his feet better.
  19. USSoccer
    Pretty much works for any team. Rex just had no feel for pressure. There are too many times he has way more time than he thinks he has. Isn't that a byproduct of his inexperience?
  20. USSoccer
    I really, really hope the crowd doesn't turn on Rex.
  21. USSoccer
    Bad play calling, bad fundamentals, bad protection, bad pass defense, bad pass rush. This has been a bad game.
  22. USSoccer
    Free Benson! QFT
  23. USSoccer
    Pressure in his face again...The O-Line has been just terrible against teams that commit to pressuring Rex.
  24. USSoccer
    The way today has gone, I'd bet this gets ruled a catch.
  25. USSoccer
    The O-Line has been pretty terrible at pass protection. The Bears need to realize that Nick Saban isn't a terrible coach like Dennis Green. They aren't going to be gifted this game back.
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