Sammy Sofa

Almost always I would agree with you on not spending huge money on first base - I argued that this past offseason when debating against the idea of overpaying Adam Dunn. The logic I used was that we could spend $40-50+ million for 4 years of a Dunn and get a 3-4 WAR player or we could spend $10 million over one year (or two, I guess) for 2-3 WAR out of Carlos Pena. Pujols is such a different player, though. It's easy to find 2-4 WAR any offseason out of first base, but it's impossible to find 8 WAR out of any position at any time - except for this offseason, potentially. And the positive thing about him playing first is that any defensive dropoff he had (and he'll have a defensive dropoff in an 8-10 year contract) would be much easier to deal with than if he were a third baseman or an outfielder. Yeah, the stars are aligned for us to get Pujols. But it's gonna be a bitch of a contract. Contracts for superstars always are. Would you agree that NY got the better of the Arod trade? I don't understand the question. You mean the better part of his years under the contract he signed while I Texas?

Almost always I would agree with you on not spending huge money on first base - I argued that this past offseason when debating against the idea of overpaying Adam Dunn. The logic I used was that we could spend $40-50+ million for 4 years of a Dunn and get a 3-4 WAR player or we could spend $10 million over one year (or two, I guess) for 2-3 WAR out of Carlos Pena. Pujols is such a different player, though. It's easy to find 2-4 WAR any offseason out of first base, but it's impossible to find 8 WAR out of any position at any time - except for this offseason, potentially. And the positive thing about him playing first is that any defensive dropoff he had (and he'll have a defensive dropoff in an 8-10 year contract) would be much easier to deal with than if he were a third baseman or an outfielder. Yeah, the stars are aligned for us to get Pujols. But it's gonna be a bitch of a contract. Contracts for superstars always are.

Kosuke Castro Pena Aramis Byrd Barney Sorinao Hill/Castillo

Whoa, really? How can you tell?

Nice work by Coleman tonight.

Nice to see Aramis and Byrd driving the ball this inning.

Deng was not the problem on offense. He was one of them. Everyone shot like garbage tonight, Deng included. Agreed. Which is why I'm not worked up over this. I'm let down, sure, but the Bulls still held the Heat to a very beatable 85. Just try not to shoot a brutal .341 again, boys. I'll be very surprised if the Bulls don't return the favor and take one of the games in Miami.

Deng was not the problem on offense. He was one of them. Everyone shot like garbage tonight, Deng included.

Hey, this miserable weather is finally doing some good.

Look beyond the average. Think of all the times they've had someone on 3B with one or no outs and all they need is a decently struck fly ball and they can't even manage that even when the heart of the lineup is up. There's a key aspect where the lack of power is hurting them in those chances.

Not really claiming the need to have won all 6, afterall, Oscar and Jabbar only won one together. I just don't think you can list Pippen with people like Oscar Robertson when making the claim that any team that ever wins a championship has at least 2 superstar talents. Why not? It's not saying that Pippen is equal to or better than Robertson as a player, but how is Pippen not a superstar talent? He is a superstar talent, I just don't put him in a class with names like Oscar Robertson and Shaq, etc... Basically, if Scotty Pippen is drafted to Cleveland instead of the Bulls, does he have the same successful career without Jordan? I personally don't think so. I attribute his HOF status and a lot of his success in the NBA to Michael Jordan making him an all around better player, by learning from him and by being the #2 guy when Jordan is being double teamed. There's learning and being made better by Jordan (which is true to a degree) and then there's almost universally being considered one of the 25 best NBA players of all time. Obviously, his career without Jordan would have been very different, but it's also obvious he had a mountain of talent and certainly would have still been an elite player.

Not really claiming the need to have won all 6, afterall, Oscar and Jabbar only won one together. I just don't think you can list Pippen with people like Oscar Robertson when making the claim that any team that ever wins a championship has at least 2 superstar talents. Why not? It's not saying that Pippen is equal to or better than Robertson as a player, but how is Pippen not a superstar talent?

ANY other small forward? No. While yes, I could see the Bulls winning some or even all of the first 3-peat without Pippen, but there's no [expletive] way they get the second 3-peat with just any other small forward instead of Pippen.

Come on now.

tonights game had nothing to do w/ deteriorating skills Pretty sure the Reds taking the lead had a lot to do with a busted ass reliever on the mound making a bad decision and a fading 3B who can't do much about it. That could not be more wrong and everyone that knows baseball at all knows it Really? So if they just practiced harder they would have pulled it off? That's amazing! Is your board name in reference to Maddux? Were you always screaming at him through the TV to do some more crunches?

Jim Riggleman did this with great success at the major league level last year not little league YES! Reach for the sky, Cubs! You too can finish 69-93!

tonights game had nothing to do w/ deteriorating skills Pretty sure the Reds taking the lead had a lot to do with a busted ass reliever on the mound making a bad decision and a fading 3B who can't do much about it.

I never knew you could fix deteriorating baseball skills with good ol' gritty fundamentals.

because accountability has to start somewhere and there hasnt been any in this organization in a long time That's just silly. Firing him after the season when he's still signed for another year pretty much sends the same message.

What would be the point of firing Quade during a year like this? Just let him shepherd this monstrosity to its conclusion.

And love the idea that Sandberg would have magically made bad plays not happen, and that Quade is some kind of anti-fundamental madman who causes players to make errors.

I have no idea, because that is one of the craziest damn things I've ever seen posted here.

Like Tyler Colvin?

It's pretty damn close to a failure if you have no potential stars on the horizon. It's nice to produce some good guys, but if you want to win, you need some top notch production from your farm. You can't just sign it. They tried that for two decades under the MacPhail/Hendry regime and it failed repeatedly. Unless you can outbid everybody (the Yankees), you can't live that way. Also a good point. Even if you look at the Yankees and Red Sox, depsite their spending they also produce elite guys like Jeter, Cano, Rivera, Youklis, Lester, and Pedroia. Obviously it's ideal, but again, what gooney is ignoring is that the Cubs have struggled to just put out good everyday players from the farm system, much less stars. Of course, yes, I would love to see them producing all-stars, but it would still be a huge step up if they could just start producing good, everyday contributors coupled with smart FA signings. I mean, what "stars" were signed under the two decades that gooney is talking about? That's a huge part of the problem right there in aiddtion to the farm system producing next to nothing besides pitchers, is that almost all of their big signings were reactionary, halfassed attempts to build a team through FA signings, and then when they do finally go big it's for someone like Soriano. No, I'm obviously not saying that the Cubs can survive only through FA, but they very much survive and thrive if they actually sign an elite player or two for once and start producing good, young, cheap everyday players to compliment them. And WSR, the Cubs have recently produced Castro, Soto and Marmol. And if you're tossing Lester in there then why wouldn't the Cubs also get credit for Zambrano? Why is Lester "elite" through 27 with his numbers and Zambrano wasn't? Yeah, it would be nice to produce a god like Rivera, but how many teams are lucky enough to do that? But the Cubs DO have young players out there who are producing very well (hopefully Soto bounces back from his DL stint) and they DO have ones, quite a few, coming in the farm that project to be good, useful everyday players. A lack of potential all-stars in the farm at the moment isn't the failure that gooney is making it out to be, and it doesn't mean the Cubs have to resort to the halfassed team building of the last 20 years.

Or a Starlin Castro? Time will tell. Im leaning toward Castro being a great player, but I also thought that Corey Patterson would be the next Rickey Henderson, so who knows.The point is, with Byrd, Ramirez, Barney, Soriano, Pena, Fukudome, and Castro, our team is full of good players, but we sorely lack a star. If you look at all the teams who perenially contend, they have at least 1. So sign a star. Superstars don't HAVE to be developed internally. Yes, obviously, it would be ideal, but it's not the end of the world if the Cubs' farm system doesn't produce another star for several years outside of Castro but is able to produce several good, everyday players. And Im very much on board with that. This offseason would be the perfect time to strike with Pujols or Fielder, both of whom would be perfect fits for the Cubs, considering our needs and avaialble money. However, if that doesnt happen, its back to the drawing board unless they pull off some kind of blockbuster trade. As for producing a star, I still really wish we could do that for once, and hopefully Castro could be that guy. It would be nice to just follow a guy from the minors all the way to the top, an opportunity that we as Cubs have never really had, at least in recet years. But you can have guys like that who are just good players. That's still very valuable. The farm system isn't a failure if there aren't any potential stars on the horizon in the near future.