Sammy Sofa

I want to show up at their stupid ballpark dressed like this: http://middleclasshell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ten-commandments-480x272.jpg

Delicious. I don't like this mortal lineup for the Cubs; you can't go 3 batters without running into a letdown swinging the bat.

OK Kyle is...OK, actually.

SONUVA.

I have more faith in Lester doing something amazing here than Tommy La Stella ever getting a hit ever again.

If La Stella gets a hit here I'll give everyone a shiny new nickel.

He has always been a bit off the plate from what I've seen. Has he made contact since he has come back from injury? Its upsetting to see my Mini Babe Ruth like this :( Aren't you talking about 3 AB's? And yes, he grounded out on a checked swing yesterday.

We've heard too much about how "serious" they've been for FA's that they ended up not being close on at all. I think a ton of that is pretty obviously smoke.

[expletive] [expletive]

I want to watch Grichuk try to throw all day.

Muahahahahahaaaaah!!!

ive never been under that impression A guy who came up in the Red Sox organization and then ended up with the Padres under our future GM and they just picked him up in the hopes he wasn't a bust? I think Theo would have gone after him no matter where he ended up (because Hoyer likely ends up there, too).

And Pujols or Fielder would never have happened even if they had the money. Plenty of us here talked about it and wanted it, but it's clear that the FO had their sights on Rizzo as their 1B plan no matter what. And hey, maybe with extra money they go truly Cuban-crazy.

And Pujols or Fielder on a monster contract And probably no Arrieta or Strop. And probably very few of all those IFAs that are killing it. So, wait, we're swerving so far into thinking right now is THE way that we're basically re-writing any alternate history of the FO as being something that would make Hendry shake his head? Come on.

I love the runs and crippled Bill Haverchuk,

Yeah, for me it's all about the money. If they basically had no choice but to go relatively cheap, then yeah, ultimately this is a better option than trying to patch together a decent team that likely isn't going to have any kind of real sustained success. If they chose to go cheap then that's still a bit frustrating to me regardless of how things are working out right now. With a FO like this they should have been able to utilize money to improve in the short run and draft and sign smart to build for the long run, even if they're not getting the push from having draft picks like Bryant or Schwarber. That said, even though we don't have the full picture it does appear that everyone's hands were tied when it came to money, so, yeah, what other real option did they have? This was the way to go, for better or for worse. Knowing what we know now, if you were to tell me we'd have a lineup with these guys, including 3-4 substantially contributing rookies, and it's on pace for 95 wins in mid September and it took 3 years of being [expletive] (the last one of which was at least mildly entertaining, especially later) if we tank, or we can try to win in 2012 and they have a $200M budget to do it with, I think I can't pass this up. Or maybe I can't help myself and still pick spending lots and dual fronts. I just think it's turning out well enough quick enough that it's hard to argue against it. This is [expletive] great. It is, but so much of it could have still happened without tanking. Getting Fowler and Montero, trading for Russell and Arrieta; plus they already had Baez. Obviously, Schwarber and Bryant are big gamechangers, but who knows what they would have done if they had real "[expletive] you" money like we hoped? I just think that if they had had the spending we wanted we'd still be pretty damn happy right now.

Yeah, and they very well could have still ended up with Russell if that season hadn't gone well, too, or if talks with Sharks had still broken down like they did; could easily see them still not wanting to pay him what he was looking for. Could have? Sure. Would have if they were actually trying to be good? Much more doubtful. For Shark to get traded for Russell, it almost had to be the way it happened. Billy Beane isn't doing that in the offseason. I agree with the last part, which is why I see them still moving in like they did. Not being able to come to an agreement with Shark and his agent would still have been a very likely scenario, even if the team was doing well, so I could see the FO easily looking to maximize on him. I think moving Hammel would have been a much bigger question mark than Shark, actually.

Yeah, and they very well could have still ended up with Russell if that season hadn't gone well, too, or if talks with Sharks had still broken down like they did; could easily see them still not wanting to pay him what he was looking for.

Yeah, for me it's all about the money. If they basically had no choice but to go relatively cheap, then yeah, ultimately this is a better option than trying to patch together a decent team that likely isn't going to have any kind of real sustained success. If they chose to go cheap then that's still a bit frustrating to me regardless of how things are working out right now. With a FO like this they should have been able to utilize money to improve in the short run and draft and sign smart to build for the long run, even if they're not getting the push from having draft picks like Bryant or Schwarber. That said, even though we don't have the full picture it does appear that everyone's hands were tied when it came to money, so, yeah, what other real option did they have? This was the way to go, for better or for worse.

Why is this guy hammered so early in the day?

Given that he's Lester and that they'll do anything possible to continue his postseason success there's probably a less than zero chance that Ross isn't catching him.

I like to call them "milky hands" when they get like that.

No, I was really nervous. My hands were really sweaty.

Castro has already sat once during the "run" he is on, which has lasted 3 games. The opposing pitcher's splits are notable and worth making this switch. I like it. Over the last 23 games: The dude has been sitting with regularity throughout that time. Over his last 23 games played, 9 of them have been of the one PA variety and he has sat the bench entirely for two of the past 7 games. Castro sitting against a pitcher who has been significantly better against RHP is fine. LA STELLA NEVER! CASTRO....NOT STARTING...uh...IS A DISASTRO! Yeah.

As I clearly (and sexily) explained before, the issue came to a head once Schwarber was sitting. Now that he's back it's been downgraded from an outrage to an annoyance.