Sammy Sofa

And Dempster and Zambrano, and Byrd. Still a fairly significant amount. True, but that's why I said "huge, terrible contracts." Really, out of everyone I think only Soriano's contract qualifies for such description. Zambrnao is definitely overpaid as it stands right now, but personally I don't think to the degree of Soriano. I agree it'll take some effort to work around, but I don't agree with articles like the one this thread is about that paint it as being such a doom and gloom scenario. The key is who going to be replacing Hendry after (hopefully) next season and how Ricketts approaches the payroll.

Or the [expletive] stats, but, y'know, whatever.

And Sandberg has killed a LOT of people.

And then even more comes off the books. Once you get past the next two season a really big chunk of the payrill will be gone. It's not like the Cubs are trapped in a hell of huge, terrible contracts for the long term. Once you get past the next two years it's basically just Soriano.

I was horrified at the idle speculation that he might be targeted for a fulltime role before Byrd was signed but I would not mind Dye at all for cheap as a bat off the bench or to platoon with Fukudome. His line against lefties was still pretty decent last year: .292 .387 .508 .894

Valverde is so entertaining. I'd love it if he ended up on the Cubs if he could be had for cheap.

You're not going to turn around a player who is an established MLB player in terms of their baserunning or their fielding outside of minor tweeks. A bad baserunner is generally going to stay a bad baserunner and a bad fielder is generally going to stay a bad fielder. If a guy is at least 30 and has been in the bigs for years and is crappy at laying down the bunt or taking a count that's tremendously unlikely to change even with the best coaches working with them.

And they've still thoroughly outperformed the Cubs during the Hendry era. Not really much of an accomplishment.

Dempster is not, thus far, overpaid at all. If he continues being a capable or better starter over the course of his contract it'll actually be one of the best ones under Hendry's watch.

ARE YOU DENYING THAT THIS IS THE WORSTEST KIND CHEATING WE'VE EVER KNOWN, YES OR NO?!?!?!

I had hoped that the whole Clemens mess would force people to also start looking at pitchers as well as hitters if they're so determined to keep crying about this, but it was too easy to just joke about his gigantic ass and "'roid-rage"-type incidents instead. He's clearly looked at as exception to the steroids stereotype because he's a pitcher.

NBA is loaded with freakily physical guys. You just can't put the type of muscle those guys put on 7' frames. Nobody can say that it's impossible for Dwight Howard to have messed around. Aside from the injury recovery, which in itself is a performance enhancer, much of the good stuff doesn't bulk you up, it helps you get ripped. The other thing about willful ignorance that bothers me is that everybody started acting as though nobody even heard of steroids before the Balco story. It's a ridiculous notion. I vividly remember talk of steroids in the 80's and all the warnings about staying away or your balls would shrivel. There were numerous high school kids rumored and/or known to be on them, and calls to test high school athletes all the times, and check lockers for drugs, yet somehow the elite sports media had no idea? Right. All this McGwire "revelation" does is help people run around with their eyes closed and fingers in their ears in terms of convincing themselves that the "steroid era" in baseball only goes back about 20 years. And yeah, the basketball conclusion on the Score just made me stop and stare at the radio. Just when I think sports radio shows can't surprise me with how dumb they can be, boom, here we are. They also decided that NBA players don't use PED's because they don't have the financial means to access them growing up and playing before they join the NBA. Uhm, as opposed to the scores of rich from birth players in baseball and football? They also decided that NBA players wouldn't want to use PED's because they love weed too much. I really don't know why one would preclude the other.

Still kinda blows my mind that they won a WS with Kenny running the show.

The only thing that continues to frustrate me with this steroid stuff is just the willful ignorance of those in the sports media to focus almost totally on the strength-building aspect of PED's while ignoring that the majority of guys using [expletive] they shouldn't be across all the major sports are likely doing so to cut down on time missed due to injury. Everyone is so focused on the dumbed-down stereotype of the gigantic 'roids monster that they're able to convince themselves that the issue is much smaller than it really is. I just heard the guys on the Score convincing themselves that nobody could be using in the NBA because none of them look like baseball players or football players who we know/suspect of juicing. Yeah, really good analysis, morons. That must mean nobody in the NBA is using PED's.

No. Someone needs to be cool about it, not depserate.

It would be glorious, if just for the cut down on DL trips alone. Real sports for real men.

That's the smartest thing Bobby Knight has ever said. VIVE LA PED'S.

Steroids really are fantastic. I'm not a [expletive] and I can't wait for bionic players, too.

What constant overreactions?

Is it financially realistic at all for the Bulls to end up with both Bosh and Johnson (if the latter is even looking outside of Atlanta) if they can move Hinrich or Deng or would they have to move both guys?

The worst part about this is the inevitable parade of scumbaggery and desperation by Canseco.

That's all well and good, but it likely doesn't amount to much if he's LeBron's #1 target, too. I really think Bosh is the Bulls' best option this offseason.

I'll be so happy when someone admits to it only under the context of how badass it was and how we all [expletive] loved it.

Yeah, it's not like well-reasoned arguments as to why Sandberg as a manager would likely be a bad move have been posted on this board numerous times. If anything, it's the few pro-Sandberg-as-manager people who have offered little beyond the hyperbole of "HE PLAYED THE GAME THE RIGHT WAY" or "HE WAS MY FAVORITE CUB."

Given the young players they've got getting another one or two on the pile for Church at the deadline if he does well wouldn't be bad at all.