forbez18

The thing to remember still is that most of these kids are coming straight from college where they were paying to play baseball. I was able to play baseball in college and had thoughts of making it to the pros, but was never drafted. I went on to be a financial advisor and went and worked 12 hour days just about every day with no benefits (self employed) and made under $20,000 that year. The next year was even harder (as you no longer have a warm market) and worked as much or more and made under $18,000. Now I say this because I did have friends who were drafted. Pitchers who I played with all my life and who I would pay to go watch every chance I got, and afterwards I would go back to their apartment and have a great time and just listen to the stories that they were able to tell me. Major League Players who were rehabbing would stop by sometimes and tell stories and buy drinks and dinner for everyone. They had access to very good work out rooms, they had meals that were catered about half of the time, they had experiences that not many people (specially on this board) would for a second hesitate to take advantage of. Now the catch - they made as much as I did the first few years, and then most of them were out of baseball. Minor league players who are not drafted high for the most part do not have a very long life in baseball. It is a gamble that most people in life would jump at, and they know it going into it. Just like I did when I went into my profession. Their profession is much riskier, but also comes with such a high ceiling. I have now been an advisor for 9 years and have a great job that provides for my family in ways I couldn't have though of coming out of college, but if someone came rolling down my street with a minor league contract I would sign it with out thinking twice. Do they deserve more? Maybe. Are there many, many, many people who probably deserve more? With out a doubt yes.

Would it be possible they would sign Suzucki to sway Tanaka. I would bet that Suzucki was one of Tanaka's favorite baseball players growing up, and for a chance to come over to America and play with him for a season might excite him a little bit. It would provide some comfort level also, and the Cubs would know that they are not giving up players or much cash. He is also a guy who normally does not strike out a lot and will see some pitches and get on base (not last year). Seems like a guy the Cubs FO might think could teach some of the young guys also as he helps sway Tanaka to play in Chicago.

For strictly personal reasons I would like to see Manny Acta as manager. Any thoughts on him as a managerial choice?

Sounds like two lower level pitchers also. Garcia is pretty good also.

They want the night games to build their TV deals. Rickets has said this many times. They will get more viewers at night games then home games, and when their deals come up they want to be able to get a deal close to the Dodgers.

Tony Pena First person to pop into my mind when I saw the video. I caught like that in high school. It helped throwing out runners. Or at least that was the idea. I am not sure what your coach was telling you, but when you want to throw out a runner you want to be on your toes not your kness. As you can see there were no runners on base either. The reason catchers position themselves like that is to remove their knees from the ability to recieve a pitch. Some turn their knees in and others move them down and out. Think of it as a box in front of you. You do not want anything in that box so that you can frame every pitch.

If the Cubs are playing well, and they have a chance then you want Zambrano on your team. If they fall back early you want to distance yourself as far as possible from him. I love to watch him play baseball because he is entertaining, but would I build a team around him? Not a chance! I would much rather have Aramis Ramirez as a cornerstone. The first five years he was great for the Cubs, and the last two he battled injuries and still put up 25 HR's last year. Even with his down years I would bet not to many other 3rd baseman over the last 7 have put up better numbers then him.

To be fair it is not only pro athletes that make a lot of money and end up broke. As a financial advisor I have had the chance to work with some very successful business owners in the Chicago land area, and half of them live pay check to pay check. These are business owners who take in 500K - 1.5 million a year, and then buy condo's in the citry, expensive cars, new equipment they never use...ext. Money is power to people, and when they have it they feel that they need to show everyone else that they have it, and spend it foolishly.

First I don't mind your show. It is actually pretty good. But, someone has had to tell you that your name of the show is the worst name I have ever heard. B-squared? I mean was "were tools" taken? I like to come here to Northside baseball and read about the Cubs daily, and you get some good stories that I enjoy to listen to. But someone has to ask why do you think B-squared is a good name for a show?

Half the draw for the Cubs convention is it is 24/7 talking about Cubs with former and current players. The other half of the draw is talking with all the fans that are there to get ready for the season. It is like getting to the game 10 hours early and sitting in the bleachers and going over what the expectations are for the year. It is an easy escape from reality during the winter. Plus if you go enough times you find out where the players stay and how to find time to sit down the old players and talk about their careers and the current team, and find out what they think of the current players.

I would not say that MJD and Turner are close to being worth the same, but I think it is a fair offer. The catch is that you are asking for Cotchery as well. MJD is a rolling ball that just scores TD's and is one of the most valuable players in fantasy football this year. Turner is a very good back, but in a catagory below MJD, Peterson, and just a few other top fantasy players. Harvin is hyped up this year and as a kick returner does add a lot of value, but Cotchery washes him out plus a little bit as a simply a WR. Byrd is a throw in because if he can't upgrade next year in the draft there is something wrong with him. The pick is valuable and is a reason I almost see the trade being a wash for both, or fair for both.

I would deffinitly pick up the up grade at QB with the optiont to start two. Rivers will almost always get you double digit pts and turner will be left with a few good weeks, and some not so great ones. He is not the 2nd-3rd best RB like I have seen in rankings.

I did try to counter with that exactly. I actually threw in both Portis and Johnson, but he said he is only intersted in Portis and Jacobs. He has TO who I tried to get because I still think he has more up side then Edwards or Welker. I have also tried to get Gates, but he is his keeper going into next year. So at this point I am pretty much stuck with his options. Who is worth more Farve or E. Manning? I am stuck on that as well.

Jacobs would be gone in the trade as well. I would be left with MJD and either Portis or Johnson depending on if either one does anything from here on out. We do not have an extra spot for a TE so they are counted as WR's. MJD is still the best player in the trade, and right now I need a guy that will put up points weekly. But, is it giving up to much in any circumstance to give up B. Jacobs and A. Johnson?

So I have been going over this one all day and I can not decide what to do. My team is currently is 1-3 and I am coming off winning the championship last year, and people are out to make sure I don't this year. We are in a deep league with 12 teams and 20 roster spots so there are very few free agents to make a move with. Here is my current players that I play QB: J. Flacco & B. Farve RB: B. Jacobs, C. Portis, L. Johnson, L. White WR: A. Johnson, D. Bowe, D. Henderson, Massaquoi, J. Witten, M. Muhammad, L. Coles. We play in a 1 QB, 1/2 RB, 3/4 WR, 1 K league with standard scoreing. I know that I need to make some moves, and so do others. But here is the trade I have been offered. B. Farve, B. Jacobs, and A. Johnson for E. Manning, M. Jones-Drew, and either Welker or Edwards. 1st would you think about this trade, and 2nd who has more value Welker or Edwards? Thanks!

If they are not going to play Fox then I would just assume keep Waddell on the Cubs.... ....I guess that is only because I work for a company called Waddell & Reed, and no one knows how to say the name. He is a guy that I can use to promote my business if he did well.

I don't know about the article and it's integrity or why he decided that now is a good time to write it, but to say he is completely wrong or right is impossible. There are hate crimes that go on all over the world and the United States. I don't believe any of us are ignorant enough to say that Chicago is the holy or the grail when it comes to racist individuals. I do not know how a city would be divided from the North to the South on the amount of racist individuals. We do not hear that type of talk coming from the Chicago White Sox, so I do tend to believe that there are some key passionate INDIVIDUAl Cubs fans that give the rest of us a bad reputation. I also believe that sometimes perception leads the reality. If everyone believes that the Cardinalls fans are best people will be more inherant to believe it if one wins a trivia game. So yes it is possible that there are some racist individuals and that the ballpark influences a lot of close interaction with the players that can lead to perception that the Cubs fans are all racist.

LOL What? It's been two games and he had an RBI last night. But we're supposed to ignore the fact that he was, in fact, a factor and decide that he's been a non-factor after two days? By that logic Soriano, despite his two homers thus far, has sucked this year. Well, if a guy sucks, then he's a factor, a negative factor. Being a non-factor suggests you haven't sucked or stood out in a positive fashion. 1 RBI in 2 games, on pace for an 81 RBI season, fits that. I guess. if derrek lee plays 162 games and ends up with 81 rbi, that almost certainly means he hit like 250/325/415 this year. that'd be a negative factor. You are coming up with stat lines for a guy after two games, and coming up with estimates on the production of the two games for the rest of the year? So Milton Bradley will have 0 RBI's all year, but the Cubs will be okay because Soriano will have 162 HR's? Lee is a fine hitter, is he a 3rd hitter? That is debatable, would I rather see him batting 5th with Ramirez batting 3rd, yes! But, to say that he is a negative factor is an overblown statment by and measure.

Why would you want Swisher over Bradley? The Sox could not wait to unload Swisher after the season was over, and it is not like they had huge stars to replace him with. What do you see in Swisher that makes you want him over Bradley? Swisher hit what .218 last year and isn't that close to his avg. of .244. He doesn't have a great OBP something around .350 compared to Bradley who has a BA last year around .320 and and avg. BA of .280 and a OBP of .370. Swisher has a little more power, but last year he only had 2 more HR's then Bradley. Both K a good amount, and neither one of them steal bases well. So why would you want Swisher over Bradley?

I have to disagree. As a younger financial advisor I see the older advisors take their clients out to a nice warm ball game much more then to the Bulls game or something like that. You want to be able to talk to your clients a bit, and baseball is the perfect game to do so when things are a little slower then a Bulls game. Ofcourse most of the advisors in my office are Sox fans and they share season tickets there, and most of the time I am able to scoop in and go for free. To bad they were not Cubs fans, I would never leave.

I have a buddy that works at Stats Inc. and his job for two years was to track cricket, and once you sat down and watched some with him, he would explain the game very quickly. The game is very interesting to watch and learn.

I was there, and I don't think it was as bad as everyone is trying to make it out. I was sitting in the upper deck of the bleachers above the batters eye, and the place was packed and the game started off like crazy. I have been to 6 games this year and it was by far louder then any of the other games. There were a lot of older people at the game as well as some yuppies that didn't want to get spilled on or be to crowded, but that is going to happen when the cost of these games get to be so expensive. The walks were killing the fans because there is nothing to cheer about, and after the grandslam it killed the crowd. It was as if the players as well as the fans were on pins and needles and everyone was expecting something to happen. But, I am tired of hearing about how the fans did not show up for the game that is just a bunch of excusses.

I wouldn't think Theriot needs time off. He just took yesterday off, and has played once in 4 days. Hopefully that is enough to get him back on track though, because he's really struggled for the past month: .261/.330/.318 past 28 days. I think Lou can rest Soto here and there starting today. But I don't think he should do anything but give an occasional day to one guy at a time until they actually clinch. The day after they clinch they will go all scrubs, then they can rotate guys back in to regain some consistency and hopefully clinch home field advantage. Harden, Dempster and Zambrano should be monitored though, and at this point, there's no reason to be throwing Wood and Marmol too much. Isn't that pretty much what you were expecting out of Theriot going into the season? I would not say that he has struggled all that much, and he should be the least of the Cubs concerns. Leave him in the 2 hole and let him move runners over by hitting the ball to right field.

I would go with Zambrano and then with Harden and then Dempster. Zambrano will give you an emotional lift to get a big win specially in a short series. If the Cubs do not win then you can throw Harden in game 2 and try to stretch him out, and then come back with Dempster who is much better then any #3 out there and can get deep into the game.

It is possible, and not as unthinkable as people are making it sound like. I don't know if it would come from the scoreboard or just a natural observer. However, in college and high school, we used to do this sort of thing all the time. Catchers would look to their coach for a sign and we would have someone on our bench learn the signs and then rellay them to the batter simply by saying "Lets go Johny" or "Here we go Jackson" each sentence would mean a different location and pitch. There are a lot of ways they could do it in the pros (harder for the Cubs I would think with the manual scoreboard but still possible specially with the crowd being so loud) But, if they were to have a guy put his head out of the board it could mean a fast ball with his arm hanging a direction. If he doesn't come out then it is a off speed. Or the scoreboard could flash go cubs meaning a location. All you have to do is come up with a strategy and pass it along. As for batters not wanting to know was is coming, that simply is not the case. I have had a few friends make the minors, one on the Cubs Kitt Kopach, who have told me stories all about how players do everything they can to get an advantage in the game to get moved up. If a batter can know a fastball is coming compared a curveball and they keep it nice and simple, the advantage goes to the hitter. Why would catchers switch up their signs when a base runner is on second. We used to have our 1st and 3rd base coaches relay signs also. If a catcher was lazy and they could pick up the sign they would give us a clue. I am not saying that it is happening, but to rule it out by saying that it is impossible is probrally not right either.