Sammy Sofa

That's such a cruel bonus. They might as well just dangle the money over his head and then kick him in the balls while making his entire family watch.

Jones may not set the world on fire, but right now his production is a steal of a bargain on this market. Until the Cubs have a replacement lined up that can almost certainly at least match Jones' production the team would be worse off trading him just to trade him. Dempster's value is also lower than it could be, so moving him now really won't net much in return and I wouldnt be surprised if the Cubs still had to pay some of his salary to get a team to bite. Use him reguarly and let him hopefully increase his value. Like you said, we've got plenty of arms in the pen to slide in if he's in trouble. I'd still much rather trade Eyre at this point...he's really nowhere near as good as some people seem to think he is here and he costs a lot, just like Dempster. Unlike Dempster, however, he didn't have any of the very obvious meltdowns and could still be shipped off for some decent return (like packaged with Jones and others for a good OFer). He can be just as easily replaced in the bullpen as Dempster and ultimately doesn't add too terribly much with the other lefties we have lurking around on the team and in the farm system.

Agreed. I like the idea of given him most, if not all, of the closing spots early on, getting him on a semi-regular schedule and hopefully seeing his performances improve, making him a valuable trading chip down the line. There's no need to rush Wood into the closer's role right away.

I'd rather see Eyre traded over Dempster, quite honestly. We have plenty of lefty arms in the bullpen and Eyre, quite frankly, isn't as good as some of stats make him out be last year. I think you could net a lote more spinning him right than Dempster...trading Dempster would probably save you money but not get you as much in return. Eyre gone will save you money (maybe more) and likely get you a better return talent-wise and the Cubs can pretty easily replace him. I do see some stock in the vague "bad year" for Dempster. A lot of us here commented on how erratic his usage was under Dusty in 2006 and how he did look a lot better the rare times he was used on something resembling a consistent schedule. I have a hunch there were times he was throwing hurt, too. Just a guess on my part, since his pitch selection seem to alter or be more limited than usual at times. Throw in his wife having a baby and the team just stinking as bad as it did and, to me, it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to say the guy had a bad year. Yeah, I know that's a lot of intangibles I just rattled off, but that's how I see it. Dempster had a lot of success in 2005, for much of the season. I'm not much into the idea of a "career year" for guys and then they just completely fall off unless they were "juicing" or have some kind of serious injury. I don't think he's one of the mythical "elite closers," but I think he's a lot better than what we saw in 2006. In the end, if he gets traded, I'm not going to lose much sleep over it. If he stays, I think there's a damn good chance he can improve enough to be traded later for a better return. Like I said, I'd much rather see Eyre spun off right now. A lot of teams need relief help right now, and a guy like Eyre packaged right could probably move the right deals moreso than Dempster at this point.

What if the defense gives up 35 points? The defense won't give up 35 points. Didn't you sarcastically respond to someone making a similarly declarative statement on the 1st page of this thread? With as bad as the defense has looked over the past month, I am completely baffled as to how you see Benson getting most of the carries (which he should) is going to make up for the Bears' very serious defensive problems. If the Bears manage to score first, I will be far more confident that they have a good shot at winning. If they don't, I think they've basically lost the game at that point. They simply are performing way too far below the level they were at when they came back against Arizona and New York.

Sure they will. Just not while they still have any talent left. :D That would be hilarious if it wasn't so true. *Sobs* 10man, I don't see Florida moving Cabrera at this point unless they get completely blown away with a trade offer. The Cubs would need to at least involve one other team and probably even a second to get the Marlins considering moving Cabrera, short of just completely emptying the farm system of what little talent it has.

Ravens.

As much as I love A-Rod, I'd forget he ever existed if the Cubs could somehow spin an elaborate trade to snag Cabrera. Why would anyone want A-Rod over Baby Pujols? If ARod can still play SS, there's a pretty good reason for it. An IF with Lee, ARod and Ramirez could have me playing 2B and still be the best in baseball. Offensively, at least! Well, there are the if's...A-Rod being back at SS is a big if. I don't think he'd be terrible, but he's packed on some meat since his days playing that spot and has likely lost some quickness. Hopefully he'd be able to get back into his fighting form. And I guess I just see Cabrera as a much better offensive option, especially because of his age. Both, however, are pipe dreams, and will never ever play for the Chicago Cubs.

As much as I love A-Rod, I'd forget he ever existed if the Cubs could somehow spin an elaborate trade to snag Cabrera. Why would anyone want A-Rod over Baby Pujols?

Except those of us that haven't been blind to the problems this team has been having for about two months now. Yes, they're a good team, yes they have an awesome record...none of that magically makes any of their very real and continuing to get worse problems go away.

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ! Congrats on moving back to Chicago. I had to move away for work - and I love my new job - but I miss Chicago almost every day. I cannot wait, and thanks for the well wishes. This has been a long time coming...I keep telling myself the Cubs have been waiting to start winning again until I could be home to enjoy it. In my head it sounds awesome and true. Whew. Thank goodness. I was wondering how much longer I would have to wait for a Cubs WS 8-) Yeah, my bad...I've been slacking! Man, it's really childish of me, but the Bears tonight are putting the "no cursing" rule into some reeeeeeeeeeeal motherhubbard frustration.

You really don't see any scenario in which the Bears win in two weeks? And are you referring to the same Dallas team that lost to Detroit today at home, the same Seattle team lost three in a row to get the division, including losses to the Cardinals and 49ers, and the same Giants team that lost 6 of their last 7 going into yesterday's game? The Bears haven't played any better the last couple of weeks. And how does that guarantee losses to teams that were actually playing for something? Not necessarily guarentee, but definitely make it very unlikely that a win would be anything less than a nasty fight to scrape it out. Which, quite frankly, I'd be fine with.

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ! Congrats on moving back to Chicago. I had to move away for work - and I love my new job - but I miss Chicago almost every day. I cannot wait, and thanks for the well wishes. This has been a long time coming...I keep telling myself the Cubs have been waiting to start winning again until I could be home to enjoy it. In my head it sounds awesome and true.

Why don't we? Because the Bears have looked unbelievably good at times this year. They've also looked unbelievably awful. It's hard to say if we'll be 1 and done or not because no one knows what team and quarterback is going to show up. The problem is that they haven't looked "unbelievably good" in about two months now. All of that awesomeness was in the first 5 weeks and they've been slowly getting less awesome ever since, a lot of it masked by a relatively easy schedule and a really awful division. No, they're not bad...but they're sure as hell not Super Bowl good these days. Not even close. Oh no, I agree, but I think it's unfair to completely dismiss this team as eliminated already. I'm excited for the playoffs. I think the extra week off will be good, we need to refocus. I'm hoping against hope they're just hiding some insanely destructive defense to be unleashed on some poor team in the playoffs. La-la-la!

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ!

13 carries, 109 yards, 8.3 ypc :shock: 'Nuff said. Jones, your service is appreciated, but it's time to dance and twirl your way over to the bench. Honestly, I think the roles should be reversed. Benson should be getting 25+ carries a game and Jones should be getting 5-10. I think they'd be a solid 1-2 punch, with Benson being the 1. Works for me. As long as Benson is the one out there when it's 3rd down and they have 2-3 yards to the 1st, I'll know he's gonna try his hardest to pound through if he can't find an opening. Jones still looks great often, but he can't seal the deal most of the time when it comes to punching in that 1st down.

Why don't we? Because the Bears have looked unbelievably good at times this year. They've also looked unbelievably awful. It's hard to say if we'll be 1 and done or not because no one knows what team and quarterback is going to show up. The problem is that they haven't looked "unbelievably good" in about two months now. All of that awesomeness was in the first 5 weeks and they've been slowly getting less awesome ever since, a lot of it masked by a relatively easy schedule and a really awful division. No, they're not bad...but they're sure as hell not Super Bowl good these days. Not even close.

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not.

13 carries, 109 yards, 8.3 ypc :shock: 'Nuff said. Jones, your service is appreciated, but it's time to dance and twirl your way over to the bench.

There aren't just no reasons for Benson not to be getting most of the carries...there's actually NEGATIVE reasons as to why he's not getting most of the carries.

? I didn't watch the Dallas game today, but Romo's QB rating was over 100, wasn't it? Either way, the Bears D should be fine against either QB. It's the offense that I'm worried about. I'm saying that if Dallas somewhow win the next game with a smacked around and poorly-playing Romo, then the Bears have a shot at stopping him. I'm much more worried about the defense. For last year and most of this year, they've been able to hold the bleeding in check and even make some things happen to keep the Bears in the game or even put them ahead. For the last month they haven't been doing anything even remotely close to that. Teams are almost scoring with abandon on them as long as they focus on the pass. Again, I didn't watch, but did Romo have a bad game today? He completed more than 66% of his passes for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. For the love of God, I'm talking about when the Bears would potentially play Dallas, which would be after Dallas' game next week, when Romo would hypothetically play as badly as I'm talking about, thusly leading to a "reeling Romo" in Chicago who hopefully wouldn't be able to throw through the massive swiss holes the Bears are putting into their cheesy passing defense.

? I didn't watch the Dallas game today, but Romo's QB rating was over 100, wasn't it? Either way, the Bears D should be fine against either QB. It's the offense that I'm worried about. I'm saying that if Dallas somewhow win the next game with a smacked around and poorly-playing Romo, then the Bears have a shot at stopping him. I'm much more worried about the defense. For last year and most of this year, they've been able to hold the bleeding in check and even make some things happen to keep the Bears in the game or even put them ahead. For the last month they haven't been doing anything even remotely close to that. Teams are almost scoring with abandon on them as long as they focus on the pass.

The Bears' pass defense has been hideous over the past month. Not bad, not mediocre...HIDEOUS. Short of them masterfully disguising their real passing D against scrub teams before the playoffs, there's zero excuse for it. They will lose their first playoff game if they don't shape it up, drastically. They better pray they face a craptacular Eli or a reeling Romo in that 2nd round.

You'd rather have, say, Jose Macias over Mark Prior? I have to say, the lengths you're willing to go to to repeatedly slam Prior with this absurd notion of "baseball toughness" is beyond ridiculous at this point.

Exactly. Aim for the sky and sort it out when the season gets close. I'd like to be in the situation, just once, where we're having trouble finding room for the quality players. That means the time will likely be winning and they can trade some spare parts to stock up the farm or tighten up for a playoff run. There's no excuse for Hendry to not be aiming for Jones short of the cost being absurdly high talent-wise.