KingCubsFan

Yeah, all Sveum is saying is that he's made a lot of progress, but he still has work to do. Not sure what else he's supposed to say. This is the part that pissed me off: By all accounts, he's been a hard worker his whole career. What a careless statement. All you need to do is see that Starlin and Junior Lake started in the organization at the very same time. One is more naturally gifted, but is noted for not having a great work ethic and having problems with coaching. The other is a two time All-Star in the majors at the age of 23.

I don't know. The only explanation for this %$#rape of a trade I can think of is that Moore bought into the meathead view of Shields as a "clutch" pitcher who finishes games, and was starstruck by his 2011 season and overlooked the rest of his career. Garza is at least as good, but I'm not sure that popular perception reflects that. At this time yesterday I'd have said popular perception doesn't matter to executives, but now I'm not so sure, at least in the case of one Dayton Moore. Shields is much better than Garza. Whether he is an ace is questionable at best, but he's on a different level from Garza. He's good, but not the type of good you pay what the Royals paid for. Garza and Shields are very comparable pitchers. They've posted similar numbers (k/9, bb/9, hr/9, FIP, xFIP, ERA) throughout their careers. The only thing you can point to is the glut of CG Shields accrued in 2011. He most certainly is not "on a different level". Shields is better than Garza in all of those categories, except preventing homeruns. And the consistency in innings can't be discounted. Having a guy that's pitched over 200 innings since 2007 is extremely valuable. In no way am I defending this trade, but Shields really is a different asset than Garza. I don't think you can look at this trade and say "maybe we could have got something comparable for Garza."

I don't know. The only explanation for this %$#rape of a trade I can think of is that Moore bought into the meathead view of Shields as a "clutch" pitcher who finishes games, and was starstruck by his 2011 season and overlooked the rest of his career. Garza is at least as good, but I'm not sure that popular perception reflects that. At this time yesterday I'd have said popular perception doesn't matter to executives, but now I'm not so sure, at least in the case of one Dayton Moore. Shields is much better than Garza. Whether he is an ace is questionable at best, but he's on a different level from Garza.

Paea, Wootten, Conte, Jeffrey etc are 'impact talent'? They're young pieces that can possibly be good players, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The franchise has done nothing to fix our biggest of problems and our two best offensive players we've had to acquire via trade. Lovie has a horrible track record against top rated teams and his record after trailing in first half is abysmal. He's a horrible talent evaluator and his lack of success should move him into the hot seat, especially with our team in a current free fall. He has yet to manage our offensive situation as a team properly. I think he's feeling the pressure too. Have you heard his recent press conferences? He's showing signs of cracking. Do we even know what kind of input he has on player personnel? Seems like people are blaming him for the draft, free agency, etc. It would be one thing if you called him bad at player development when the Bears have players that they cast off and they somehow shine on other teams, but that hasn't really happened. Most of our misses in the draft get released and are out of the league shortly thereafter.

Lovie is pretty far down the list of things wrong with this team. Tice, OL, age, WR's not named Marshall. But I've always been a fan of Lovie.

Because Vogelbach will only survive with his bat, I think his value will increase as he gets closer to the majors and has success. Ideally, he's successful throughout the minors (including AAA) and then you trade him for something valuable. Or if they're really confident in him, trade Rizzo for something even better.

Dave Hart is announcing at 2:30 today that he's happy with Tennessee being nationally irrelevant for 3-5 more years. Hard to be nationally relevant when you're getting turned down left and right (including by one guy who would rather coach at Louisville).

Not much of a relevant history is it? Yeah, if he could actually play 3B, I'm guessing the White Sox wouldn't have signed Jeff Keppinger.

As is Soriano's. Seems like teams see him as more of a DH candidate anyways.

I wouldn't assume he could "easily" platoon with a partner to be that productive. And there's next to no upside. He's just a blah player expected to give blah production on a blah team. Exactly what we expected but still disappointing to anybody that actually wants to see the Cubs win more than they lose. I see some upside with Schierholtz. He showed a really good hit tool all throughout the minors, so maybe consistent playing time in the majors for the first time brings that out a bit more. Best case scenario, you get a BABIP-infused .300 avg/good OPS season out of him.

Kelly did that when he took over, save 1 guy. Not a bad idea when the program needs an overhaul. Who did he keep?

Did he have TJS in between 2011 & 2012? He had Tommy John after 2010 and then broke his elbow in 2011. Yeah just saw that. TJS is one thing, but a fractured elbow....

Did he have TJS in between 2011 & 2012?

That's like saying there's a pro-Cubs media contingent and citing Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and some guy who played for the Cubs and has two kids on the current team.

Don't worry...the anti-ND bias in the media will prevent him from becoming one of the highest finishing pure defenders ever. Still waiting for all those pro-ND media members you were touting. You made the idiotic statement that the anti-ND bias in the media will hurt Te'o's heisman campaign. This is in the face of the fact that a defense-only player with fairly pedestrian stats is set to become one of the 2-3 highest finishers in the heisman of all time. Unless you feel the rest of the field is monumentally and historically weak or you feel that Te'o is easily one of the best collegiate defenders of all time, your position is pure rubbish. I have no burden of proof to call you out on logical fallacy. The evidence that I'm right is that Te'o is already named as one of the three finalists. There is no grand anti-ND conspiracy in the media and it isn't preventing him from winning the heisman. Manziel is now projected to win by one of the largest margins in history. The fact that Te'o (the best player on the #1 team in the nation that just so happens to have the best defense in the nation) really doesn't say much.

Yeah, I think the Red Sox are in trouble. But at least they're spending, you guys. And trying. Don't forget, money=effort.

No he did not. Read his memorandum to the league. http://www.steroidsinbaseball.net/commish/vincent.html He mentions steroids and says there is no place for them BUT he bans use of "illegal" drugs. Steroids are not illegal in most places. Steroids with a prescription are 100% legal. Since things like Andro were available at GNC, they certainly did not fall into the illegal drug category. Bonds took high tech supplements not yet banned as "steroids" because of his involvement with conte. so they were not yet illegal nor banned. The game is basically played in the US but if you live elsewhere this things aren't illegal. Heck many like dhea and andro were right out of US stores yet they were later banned as steroids. if you look at the names of players suspended for PED's the names Bonds, Sosa, Clemens and Mcgwire do not appear and no one was suspended before 2005 when congress made baseball toughen the ban with among other things random testing for them. Alos if josh hamilton continues at his pace for a few more years, is he HOF worthy or did his earlier breaking of Federal laws(since he has been PROVEN to have used illegal drugs) keep him out? don't think it makes sense for baseball to start mandating morality when some of the biggest stars of all time had huge "moral" character flaws that are more celebrated than loathed (ruth,cobb,mantle..etc) also i think a bigger question than the scandal would be why with all the problems in our country did congress get involved other than to see themselves on TV? You've made a lot of bad comparisons in this thread. Josh Hamilton wasn't smoking crack to further his baseball career and improve his stats.

This is completely wrong. There is much more anti-ND bias in the media, and I do think it will impact Te'o's chances at the Heisman (not nearly as much as the fact that he's not a QB). heck, the only guy that Mariner could name (and he was trying to help you out) that was bias towards ND was someone who has a statue outside the stadium.

There's a difference between "wide rumors" and a story so big that it resulted in congressional investigation/testimony. Steroids in baseball were a HUGE issue in the country.

Pass Why pass on Victorino? Definite improvement over what we have and it's not like he's going to get some ridiculous albatross contract (nor will he be "blocking" anybody - for people who get concerned over things like that). We've officially given up on Brett Jackson?

They committed multiple federal crimes in order to boost their performance. I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong for idiot baseball writers to judge them for it in determining who gets into their sacred little club, but it's not anywhere close to lifting weights or breaking a small rule of the sport. While I agree with you that neely's analogy is highly flawed, I have to dive down a bit deeper on your logic. Would you kick Aaron and Mays out of the hall if they admitted to amphetamine use? That's also a crime of the same magnitude. They're already in, so I'm not sure what kicking them out would have to do with this situation. That situation would really only apply if the drug usage had been well-known at the time they became eligible, and the writers voted them in anyways. Then I think it would be a bit hypocritical for the writers to turn around today and say nobody should get in who maybe took steroids.

They committed multiple federal crimes in order to boost their performance. I'm not saying whether it's right or wrong for idiot baseball writers to judge them for it in determining who gets into their sacred little club, but it's not anywhere close to lifting weights or breaking a small rule of the sport.

He really fits the profile of the type of player our front office looks for. Good eye, good defense, power, etc. The only question is whether he can hit for enough average (and he really only has to hit around .250 to be extremely valuable).

I actually see the offensive upside pretty similar. It's just that one is a SS and one is a RF. Agreed. I think they both could top out as high .800/low-mid .900 OPS guys. But they will get there differently. Soler will probably get their with a higher OBP and lower BA, while Baez will get there with a higher BA and lower OBP. With them slugging around the same, probably. Why do you feel that Baez will have a higher BA? In their small samples, he's been more strikeout prone. They are both RH, so no advantage there. Do you feel Baez has that much of a speed advantage or do you feel confident he'll be a better line drive hitter for some reason? Baez has 80 bat speed, which is why I could see people thinking he'll hit for a good average.

I actually see the offensive upside pretty similar. It's just that one is a SS and one is a RF. Agreed. I think they both could top out as high .800/low-mid .900 OPS guys. But they will get there differently. Soler will probably get their with a higher OBP and lower BA, while Baez will get there with a higher BA and lower OBP. With them slugging around the same, probably. Why do you feel that Baez will have a higher BA? In their small samples, he's been more strikeout prone. They are both RH, so no advantage there. Do you feel Baez has that much of a speed advantage or do you feel confident he'll be a better line drive hitter for some reason? Baez has 80 bat speed, which is why I could see people thinking he'll hit for a good average.