Sammy Sofa

I don't think anyone here has said he would be the "best option" for the Cubs. And while it's true the Yankees have a bigger payroll, the Cubs' payroll is nothing to sneeze at. I just think Girardi would be an improvement over Baker.

Like people are pointing out, Maddux has always done significantly better after the ASB, all throughout his career, including his latest stint with the Cubs. I wouldn't be surprised if moving to a competing team out west where he wants to be is putting a little extra "oomph" in his game, but overall he's just doing what he does as the year winds down...which is why the deal Hendry got for him is moronic. Maddux is a guy that heats up as the season goes on AND he has a ton of playoff experience. I know know a lot of people in Cubdom like to rag on him for getting older and slipping a bit, but I think Hendry could have spun dealing Maddux for a much better trade, quite possibly to even better teams.

http://www.petitionspot.com/uploads/9634-jesus-thread-sucks.gif

Is Mark Prior my grandfather? No, wait, my near-90 grandfather has less health issues... I used to scoff at the steroid idea, but really, how does a pitcher with "perfect mechanics" break down so totally and completely over the freakin' off-season?!?

"Experienced" managers haven't done bupkis for the Cubs. At this point, I have no problem given a younger, newer manager a shot just for the sake of trying something different. What else do we have to lose? We're already damn near scraping the bottom and our dignity flew out the window a long time ago. Change it up...

He needs to earn my love by consistently not stinking like hot garbage. So what do you want to do with Hill then? The only way he's going to get better is if he's pitching every 5th day in the big leagues. I find it funny how people criticize some of our only players who make the game interesting to watch. Seriously, what else do you want to do right now? Would you rather find some veteran off the scrap heap to win those all important 2 extra games, or would you want the younger pitchers to develop in a season that doesn't mean anything? Hill/Marshall/Marmol and now Guzman are the only reasons I'm watching this crappy team right now. It's frustrating that Hill had control problems today, but oh well. Every game is meaningless right now, so why not have the kids pitch every 5th day and learn on the job? Actually, in addition to consistently criticizing him, I've continually said there's no reason to not let him start the rest of the year, or at least give him reglar relief work. It's a waste leaving him in the minors. That said, however, I'm not terribly optimistic he will succeed in the long run.

He needs to earn my love by consistently not stinking like hot garbage.

The Cubs will lose. End of discussion.

Hey, Rich Hill is back!

From Bruce's article:

It was definitely a case of Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Prior yesterday...after those decent starts it might as well have been his first game this year. And I know I keep saying it, but he physically looked awful as well. Maybe he's injured, or maybe he's just sick. He was very pale and pasty, dark circles around his eyes...he just generally looked very unwell.

Nobody is expecting anyone to be happy with the product Prior is putting out on the field, but how do you propose to "get rid of him?" His value is about as low as it can go and the Cubs have him cheap through the end of next year. Dumping him now for nothing is moronic.

Try not to suck too badly today, boys. Thanks.

As it's been pointed out, you were wrong on the "only good for one year part." While nobody can deny Wood and Prior have missed way too much time to injuries, it never ceases to amaze and frustrate me when people say either pitcher only had "one good year" when for both that's far, FAR understating their careers. Secondly, the Tejada deal, if it was ever out there, wanted more than just Prior, probably Pie as well. Not worth it...not even close.

Maybe he was sick but didn't want to miss his start for fear of being ripped further by the fans and media. :?: I can only hope he has that as an excuse because otherwise he just looked pathetic.

I see zero reason to not send him back down to the minors. I think a big part of this is mental, and he's not ready for the bigs again at this point...or at least I HOPE a big part of it is mental. He really did look awful today, and not just pitching-wise. He looked real pale with dark circles around his eyes...just generally very sickly and pasty.

There aren't really fans out there who love Izturis...are there? Come on...

Bruce is the only Chicago sports press guru worth his salt these days. The fact that the toads on BleedCubbieBlue.com seem to not like him only makes him more awesome. Keep up the great work!

I think Farnsy is in my head. *Breaks bad*

Prior looks incredibly sickly. When he was batting, it looked like it was dark around his eyes, he looks real pale, and it seemed even before the game started he was flop-sweating. In short, I forsee another DL stint within 48 hours.

I think it was just hyperbole. How can anything as subjective as "the best fans in the world" be qualified in the first place?

I think there is 2 options for a masher LF Carlos Lee - who is a borderline DH Alphonso Soriono - will he be worth the $$ and will be be willing to play LF again I'd prefer having Lee in LF and Soriano back at 2nd. Yeah, I know he makes Walker look like a defensive god, but then maybe Izturis has some value. His defense, combined with Lee doing what he does at 1st and Aramis' improving D could hopefully make up for any problems Soriano would have, and the other three big infield backs make up for Cesar not getting much done with the stick. Exactly..a player like Soriano at 2nd actually maximizes the value Izturis has with his great range. I think Izturis showed his range quite well last night (with the ball on the other side of 2nd, and then the ball deep in the hole), and Soriano can really be hidden at 2nd with two great defenders between him in Lee and Izturis. Izturis's bat could then be hidden because look at the rest of the infield including catcher-we'd still have I think the best hitting infield in the majors (Lee, Barrett, Soriano, Ramirez, Izturis). At least we'd be right up there-then we would just have to figure out what we wanted to do with our outfield, but we would only have to make a moderate upgrade there rather than a major one. Couldn't be more right. In a perfect world, this happens and the Cubs snag a guy like Zito or Schmidt, Neifi's gone, Cedeno is the chief backup for 2nd & SS and Murton is platooned with Jacque and is the chief backup for LF as well. Of course, I have a feeling NONE of that will happen.

The problem is Hendry isn't going to replace Murton with Abreu. He's going to find somebody who is similar to Jacque Jones, with maybe a touch more power. The guy will probably be an OBP decline from Murton, whoever he is. And while he'll have more power, it won't be worth the money. True. But at the same time, I still feel Murton is not the answer as a starting corner outfielder for the Cubs if we want to see noticeable change in the next year or two. It's a craptacular catch-22 of Hendry's design.

I think there is 2 options for a masher LF Carlos Lee - who is a borderline DH Alphonso Soriono - will he be worth the $$ and will be be willing to play LF again I'd prefer having Lee in LF and Soriano back at 2nd. Yeah, I know he makes Walker look like a defensive god, but then maybe Izturis has some value. His defense, combined with Lee doing what he does at 1st and Aramis' improving D could hopefully make up for any problems Soriano would have, and the other three big infield backs make up for Cesar not getting much done with the stick.

That game was one of the wildest games I've ever seen. Baker actually snapped in that game as well as he couldn't execute a double switch properly. I wish he would do that more often. Get in an umpires face. Throw things. Go on a profanity laced tirade in the media. He won't do it b/c of his 5-year old son. Does anyone else think the age of his son is why he doesn't do these things like Ozzie?? B/c Ozzie's kids are all grown-up. Anything else White Sox-related you want to bring up in this thread?