jmajew

I don't see the relevance of the amount of money they donated or how much we perceive them to have matters. Do you think the team could have won a title as currently constructed without adding Trevor Bauer and a few other pieces at an extra 50-70 mil a year for the next 3-5 years? I personally do not. If you are not significantly increasing your odds of winning a title why spend the money and if you are significantly increasing your odds will the odds still be that much higher in years 2-5 of the contracts? If the answer is no I do not see a reason why to invest that money and why as a fan I'd want that. All you would be doing is pushing out the inevitable by a year but making the rebuild even harder. You invest heavily in FA when you have a young core under team control. It is a proven model that works. Prior to Schwarber/Darvish, would you agree they were the favorites to win the division next year? Because if so, at that point there's not really a lot you can possibly do to 'significantly increase' your odds of winning a title. That's not to say we can't be frustrated that the Ricketts more or less pocketed 5 years of historic success and the associated profits, then took one bad year (that was bad for everyone) and decided to tear it down. We just traded our best pitcher for a different version of Cubs era John Lackey and four dudes who won't sniff Wrigley for 4 years. How long do you think a team with the Cubs resources should need to rebuild? Point taken. I think I'm the oddity that didn't think with Schwarber and Darvish we were good enough to win the division. I see it as being a crapshoot between the Cardinals, Cubs, and Brewers in 2021. I get the profits point, but you can show a profit and have poor cash flow. My guess is the cash flow hasn't been great because of all the investment they have done in the area. None of that really matters to me to be honest. I just don't think the team is good enough to win a World Series and I don't think we would have been good enough unless we invested heavily in the likes of Trevor Bauer and then completely remade our lineup so we don' rely as much on the long ball. If you expected Javy, Bryant, and Rizzo to all have bounce back years I could be on board. I think their are serious flaws in all of their games and the league has learned them. We are seeing the evolution of pitching against the three true outcomes and I think you will see teams readjust their approach again.

The Ricketts have all the money they need to do whatever they want 365 days of the year, every year for the rest of their lives and those of their children and grandchildren. I know this is a bleed post but, the Ricketts family gave millions of dollars to re-elect Trump. I have no time for PTR posts. I don't see the relevance of the amount of money they donated or how much we perceive them to have matters. Do you think the team could have won a title as currently constructed without adding Trevor Bauer and a few other pieces at an extra 50-70 mil a year for the next 3-5 years? I personally do not. If you are not significantly increasing your odds of winning a title why spend the money and if you are significantly increasing your odds will the odds still be that much higher in years 2-5 of the contracts? If the answer is no I do not see a reason why to invest that money and why as a fan I'd want that. All you would be doing is pushing out the inevitable by a year but making the rebuild even harder. You invest heavily in FA when you have a young core under team control. It is a proven model that works.

I haven't posted here in years, so first off, forgive me. I do not mind this deal or dumping Darvish in general. My logic is simple. Whenever, the Cubs were going to go into a rebuild they were going to lose revenues and not be as profitable. 2021, because of the Pandemic, is going to be a very light revenue year. In the past few years it has become apparent that this team as currently constructed is not good enough to win another World Series. Management came to the conclusion that it was better to start the rebuild a year or two earlier than planned due to the Pandemic. If the pandemic wouldn't have happened I believe the organization would have allowed one more year of going for it, even though they knew in their hearts the team wasn't good enough. I believe this is why Theo left when he did. The plan was always to go for it through 2021 and then start the rebuild. The pandemic ultimately pushed it forward by one year. I do not think the return for Darvish is that high, but I also look at FA right now and I personally don't think any FA is going to get a major contract this year. I'm spitballing here but I have a feeling Trevor Bauer will be had for less than 4/100. If that is the case what value does it really leave for Darvish? Wouldn't it be diminished? It does not sound like many teams were looking at him and willing to trade for him. The market just isn't there this year. I know Jed is saying this wasn't money motivated, and I believe him when he says that. They knew the team wasn't good enough to win without big investments. They currently do not have the money to make big investments. So they were stuck in the no mans land of staying the course or modifying the course and rebuild. It is a bad sign for baseball in general that the value of Darvish was a low as it was.

Heck Yes!!

The problem with that bench is that it's basically a bench of That has two players, one right-handed the other left handed that are identical in Fox and Hoffpauir. Both can be put in the of, but bad defensively there. Fox might give you an option at third, and as much as I hate to quote Dusty, his "the ball will find you" quote probably would apply here. Fox might make the plays there, but it's likely he'd give up just as many as he could bring in. The only middle infielder in that group is Miles, and trusting him to back up short is risky at best. Johnson becomes the only bench outfielder with any defensive prowess at all. Let's look at it this way...if Aramis needs a day off, I don't think the Cubs would be comfortable with Fox starting at third. Miles would be there which means there would be no middle infielder on the bench those days. I can't see a team carrying two players that profile like Hoffpauir and Fox do. To sum it up, a basic bench should have a righty oufielder, a lefty outfielder, a corner infielder, a middle infielder, and a back up catcher. RH Outfielder-Reed Johnson Catcher-Bako/Hill Middle infield-Miles 1B-Hoff This leaves one more outfield position. That likely goes to gathright, as he is lefty, can play a semi competant oufield, as far as I know anyway, and he beings some great speed to the bench. The thing about spring training is that there are very few jobs up for grabs, especially with a team liek the Cubs. Maybe a bullpen spot or 2, and maybe 1 bench spot. When you pick up a free agent, usually, the assumtion is that that guy will be on the opening day rotster, unless they have an awful spring training. This leaves a bunch of other guys like Hoff, Fox, and Snyder playing their hearts out for that 1 remaining spot, and the others will go back to Iowa until someone goes down with injury. We are giong to keep 12 pitchers to break camp? I would think with a bullpen of Gregg, Marmol, Heilman, Samardizja, Cotts, (not sure who 6th would be) would be flexible enough to allow us to keep 6 bench players instead of 5.

Mark Loretta is also an option.

If the Celtics would not have traded for Garnett do you think a big 3 of Jefferson, Pierce, and Allen would have made the Celtics the best team in the NBA? My opinion is it wouldn't because Garnett was willing to sacrifice his stats for the betterment of the team. Jefferson could not give as much to the team if he was not scoring. Al Jefferson = Amare Stoudemire. I think they are good but you cannot build a team around them until they learn how to play defense and can lead.

UmFan and myself were discussing yesterday where Amare ranks in terms of best players in the NBA and we came up with this... CornerStone players: Players you give up the house to obtain and you can build around. Kobe Bryant tony Parker Lebron james Dwight Howard Steve Nash Deron Williams Chauncy billups Carmelo Anthony Chris Paul Dirk Nowitzski Tim Duncan Yao Ming Gilbert Arenas(When healthy) Kevin Garnett Kevin Durant Dwayne Wade Allstars: Players that are nothing more than glorified role players, but the best role players in the business and are consistently play at an all-star level. You do not want to give up the house for them because they are only a peice of the puzzle. Amare Stoudemire Kevin Martin Brandon Roy Al Jefferson Vince carter Richard Jefferson Carlos Boozer Joe Johnson Richard Hamilton Tayshaun Prince David West Tracy McGrady Manu Ginobili Chris Bosh Elton Brand (When Healthy) Pau Gasol Mo Williams Rashard Lewis Ray Allen Paul Pierce

This is rather depressing....

Yes it is, but on the flip side the Bulls would be getting 1: the best player in the trade in Amar'e. 2: They Bulls would also be getting a player to replace Noah in either Lopez or Amundson. But it's definately a workable trade. This scares me because it works under the salary cap. I think Thomas, Gooden, Thabo, and the 1st rd pick will be more than anyone else will be able to offer.

Noah is not a star yes I agree to that. But lets not forget someone like Dasagana Diop makes 5.5 mil a year, Joel Pryzbilla 6.5 mil a year, and Mark Blount 8 mil a year respectively. That is crazy. We can have someone like Noah who is probably equal to but most likely better than those 3 makin 3 mil a year. If we trade Gooden, Thomas, and Noah for Stoudemire that would mean our 2009-2010 salaries add up to 62 mil for 7 players. Hinrich, Rose, Nocioni, Hughes, Stoudemire, Sefolosha, and Deng. If we resign Gordon probably around 70 mil on 8 players. That is what scares me. I don't think Amare puts us over the top and I don't know what other pieces we will have other than Hughes expiring contract and our 1st rd pick next year. If we have those 8 players we will have to find a way shore up our interior D.

That is too funny. Listen, I realize both these young guys have shown some potential of late...BUT THIS IS AMARE FREAKIN STOUDEMIRE! Are poeple insane? You give up whatever(minus Rose) to get Amare here..and then go from there..go sign some big guys from the D-League for all I care. Are people insane? I have already come out saying I oppose giving up both Thomas and Noah to get Amare. You are insane, I'm sorry...that is just baffling. Rose+Amare+the Chicago area YMCA is probably enough to contend in the east right now. I'm opposed because it weakens our interior defense and a guy like Noah will get paid 8 million a year, if he plays like he has the last month. I feel Noah is a cheaper/equal alternative to trading for someone like Pryzbilla who makes almost 7 mil a year. My logic isn't that it is too much for Amare but rather it would be detrimental to our team to have to trade Nocioni or someone else for another decent big. If we can just trade Gooden, Cedric Simmons, and 1st rd pick i'd be happier. Our lineup would then be Noah, Amare, Deng, Gordon, Rose. With a bench of Hinrich, Sefolosha, Nocioni, Gray. Which is much better than a lineup of Pryzbilla, Amare, Deng, Gordon, Rose and a bench of Hinrich, Sefolosha, Gray.

That is too funny. Listen, I realize both these young guys have shown some potential of late...BUT THIS IS AMARE FREAKIN STOUDEMIRE! Are poeple insane? You give up whatever(minus Rose) to get Amare here..and then go from there..go sign some big guys from the D-League for all I care. Are people insane? I have already come out saying I oppose giving up both Thomas and Noah to get Amare. The only way I would not protest that would be if we trade Nocioni for a decent big man like Joel Pryzbilla to pair with Amare. I'd be very content with a lineup of Pryzbilla, Amare, Deng, Gordon, Rose. Our bench would be left pretty weak but we could draft a ready for the pros player and then sign a solid midlevel exception. So we can have a bench of Gray, Hinrich, Sefolosha, 1st rd pick, and mid level.

Yes Noah got his butt handed to him by Yao and Shaq, two of the best big men in the league. I think being better than the lesser talent is a good thing. Also your point about Stoudemire not being interested in guarding Thomas the other night is a huge flaw and one that would concern me. If Tyrus is such a lesser talent than Amare he should have shut him down but he didn't. Do you want that to happen on a consistent basis. I didn't say don't trade them for him. I said be careful because interior defense is exceptionally important. The best teams in the leauge all have good interior defense. Boston, San Antonio, Detroit did, Orlando, Cleveland, Houston, etc. If we get Amare we better go out and get someone like either Joel Pryzbilla or Marcus Camby. Otherwise Stoudemire will be for not. Rose, Amare, and Deng will be who we build this team around. Hopefully Gordon would be included then because he would be another great compliment to Amare. The question is who do you put next to Amare. Noah is the best in house option in my mind. Which is why I don't want to trade both of them. A lineup of Noah, Amare, Deng, Gordon, Rose is pretty good.

I have been thinking a lot about this possible Amare Stoudemire trade and for some reason I'm not a big lover of it. I think a big part of the reason we have been playing better is because of the interior defense provided by Thomas and Noah. Amare plays no defense and because we would have to trade either or both of Thomas or Noah to get Amare, I am uncertain how much he would improve our team overall. With that said I think Paxson needs to do something bold and Amare is the best player available. I just don't think he is worth more than Gooden and Thomas/Noah and cap filler.

Our rotation as of now is Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, Harden. With 2 swingmen and 1 starter out of the group of Heilman, Marshall, Samardizja, Guzman and Gaudin. Then the rest of the staff is filled out by Wuertz, Gregg, Marmol, Vizcaino. I’m sorry but I like the fact we have 5 guys to fight for the 5th sport (six oif a Rich Hill miracle occurs) and then we will have 4 guys who can spot start for an injury. This provides our staff with a great deal of flexibility which is a good thing. Too bad he took away some by trading DeRosa.

I know i will get told I'm nuts but a Fukudome/Johnson, Lee, Ramirez, Bradley, Soriano, Soto, Fontenot, Theriot would be a pretty good lineup.

Baldelli was misdiagnosed with a metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities. However, they recently have found out that he actually has channelopathy, which from my understanding having a correct diagnosis and the appropriate treatment should solve his fatigue issues. Knowing this I would think Baldelli is worth the risk. He has the ability to be a very good RF. I would have loved the Cubs to sign him. An OF with Soriano, Baldelli, Bradley, Johnson, Fukudome would have been fantastic.

http://www.post-trib.com/sports/1365563,bears.article Guys have gotten as close as they can get to asking for Babich's head, constantly questioning tactics, etc. Personally, I'd like to see them consider the 3-4 going forward. They're two best defensive players are linebackers Urlacher and Briggs, and Urlacher just isn't ideal for what they are doing. Babich isn't going anywhere, thus making it much more difficult for the defense to improve. I'm not saying it is impossible but it will be much more difficult. The problem with the Bears coaching staff is that they are erogant. They did not recognize that the players we have cannot do everything that is asked of them. The coaches did not accept this and would not make adjustments. You don't need to have Urlacher dropping back in coverage everyplay, you don't have the safeties start 15-20 yards from the line of scrimmage, and you don't need 8 men in the box at all times. You can create pressure not only by blizting but by switching up who will be rushing the QB. You can sometimes drop Ogunleye into coverage and rush Briggs, drop Harris and rush Urlacher, etc. This will cause confusion for the o-line, instead of the basic lets have all 3 linebacker sitting in the gaps at the line an occassionally blitz. Edit: One name I would look at as a possible Babich replacement is Mike Nolan. He isn't a cover 2 guy and thus may allow us to adapt it more adequately to our personel.

A couple of points. 1) Orton injured his right ankle. Which was the ankle that he planted on when throwing the ball. This may have been a cause for the deep balls ending up a little short. Just a thought a on my part. 2) Jake Delhomme is by no means a star QB in this league but if you look at his team last year (when he was hurt) compared to this year you can see how much he meant to the team. I liken Orton to Delhomme. 3) Also look at how consistent the Panthers have been since they hired John Fox. That is a very good model for success in this league. The bears have shared the same consistency since Lovie has been the coach. You have a couple of good years then a couple of down years but they never drop out of respectibility. Bill Cohwer and Jeff Fisher are also two very similar coaches. All of whom also lost a super bowl pretty early on in their coaching careers. Cowher was eventually rewarded with his firt ring and I believe Fox and Fisher have a good shot at it this year. 4) The bears blitzed more than any team in the league this year and we still could not get pressure. This left even more holes for the receivers to find. We have a D-line that is unable to create pressure so Babich tried to offset that by blitzing. Unfortunately for Babich the blitzing didn't work after the Carolina game when teams figured it out and he is not a good enough coach to adjust his scheme. 5) With all that said the bears need 4 things done this offseason. Go out and get a legit # 1 reciever. I know the likes of Houzhmanzadeh, Burress, Boldin, and Harrison will be available. Then you fire Babich and you go out and get a run stuffing DT and then draft a safety in the 1st or 2nd rd. The DT will hopefully garner some double teams which will allow tommie to go more one on one.

The past three years home road splits. Home: ERA 2.95, 320 IP, 283 Hits, 223 SO, 235 BA. Road: ERA 4.24, 308 IP, 326 Hits, 194 SO, 273 BA. I don't know why the numbers are so skewed when his HRs allow is basically the same. 23 Road 25 Home. Based on the splits though I'd be concerned.

I don't understand. Why is everyone obsessed with Jake Peavy. A rotation of Zambrano, Harden, Lilly, Dempster, Marquis/Marshall/Hill/Samardizja is pretty good. Our biggest glaring holes are at the top of the order and in RF. We need to be focusing on the biggest needs.

Wow, talk about gutting the farm system .. I heard an interview with Gary Hughes on XM yesterday. He said the Cubs are in all out win now mode. I guess they figure the new owner will give them the money they need to rebuild the farm down the road. Of course the fallacy there is that money is what's needed to rebuild a farm system. Buying up the guys that fall in the draft due to signability can only get you so far, and often that backfires. What's really needed is superior amateur scouting, drafting, and player development. And time. Not to be a smart a$$ but that does cost money. The best scouts get paid more than the bad ones. You can use your money to buy the best scouts which will in turn improve your farm system. Better coaching costs more moeny etc. it is a fact of life if you want the best you have to pay or it. Teams like the braves, Red Sox, Marlins, Rays (Now), Twins, A's, etc all realize this. It is all about where you want to allocate your resources.

Not sure if this was posted yet http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/11/wood-leaving-cu.html

Hasn't Dempster been an All-Star twice? Yes, in his only two good years in his career. This isn't about Ryan Dempster. Letting Wood go when you have a cheap in house option and Kerry is going to get 3-4 year offers in the range of 10-12 million per is not a bad move. It sucks for those of us who really love the guy, but unless Kerry would have signed for 60% of other offers and for half the years, this is the right move. A bullpen with Marmol and Wood at the back end >>>>>>>>>>>>> a bullpen with Gregg and Marmol at the back end. We now lose the option of bringing probably the most dominant reliever in baseball into tight spots because of this BS "closers can only work the 9th inning" mentality, and we'll sorely miss it next season. I would guess that Gregg would be the closer and Marmol would remain in his current spot. What do we have to lead us that we would switch Marmol and Gregg both out of their current roles? As of now I'm looking at a backen of the rotation of Samardizja, Marmol, and Gregg. That isn't too shabby and way more cost effective than keeping Woody. It also gives us an extra 5 mil to give to a new RF.