goonys evil twin

Because those idiots are the reason it sucked. Relying on the same people who ruined the team to make it better is foolish. Complaining about the problems of this team does not make it worse. That is just a flat out stupid claim. Hiding from the truth doesn't make them better.

The past is the past, and it's still the present. Until the present does not look like the past, there is very little positive to say about this team. Being little miss sunshine isn't going to change the fact that the team sucks. My complaining doesn't hurt the team. It doesn't help them either, but at least it's the truth. I wouldn't support what the president does just because he's the president, I don't see why I should just sit back and enjoy the Jim Hendry era just because he's here. Accepting failure is the best way to guarantee future failure.

Why? Why do you care if I say something positive? What does it matter if I say something positive. They sucked this year. They sucked last year. Jim Hendry sucks as GM. They've sucked for most of my life. Why does the truth bother you so much? What is the point of randomly spouting off three positive things about the Cubs? The big picture is what matters. You want me to tell you Matt Murton is a very good candidate to have a breakout year in 2007? Does that make you happy? Do you want me to tell you Carlos Zambrano is really good? Is that good? Does me recognizing that there are some positive aspects to this moribund franchise really matter that much to you? I'm not interested in relishing the few bright spots on a dark surface, not when it would be very easy for somebody to make the whole thing shine.

Shea has some of the largest speakers ever created. They are extremely annoying, but not as annoying as the dude with the cowbell.

Darren Oliver or Oliver Perez. Man, last year, Darren Oliver was so bad he couldn't crack the Cubs' injury ravaged pitching staff and was cut from Iowa. Now he or Oliver Perez could be starting game 7. AND Jeff Weaver has looked good this series. :-s Mediocre pitchers are going to win the NLCS, but people will still talk about great pitching shutting down great hitting.

So what. They at least got close, and were coming off playoff years. If Henry put up a team nearly as good as the WS or RS recent winners were, then it would be easy to forgive an off year. This isnt' an off year, this is par for the course.

Ever? Sure, he's done some good things. But every GM can pull off some good things. The fact is he's a failed GM. The big picture is what matters, not the occasional good thing done right. That's like defending Neifi Perez by saying he's occasionally done good things at the plate.

They could easily get a 3B in some other way besides in the trade for ARod. If they are serious about trying to get more role players on offense, there are plenty of available guys who can play third and hit 7th or 8th.

Mark Prior's 2003 is better than Sheets' 2004.

No, bad taste is signing your failed GM to an extension and then leaving town.

Are you honestly arguing against Ichiro on this team? The man is the best leadoff hitter in the game and picks up 200+ hits every season, not to mention the stolen bases and great defense. I'm arguing against the notion that Ichiro is any kind of savior, or worth going nuts for. The fact is his reputation far exceeds his true value. And at his age, with a came that relies on foot speed, he's probably not ever going to approach his past success.

Mathews is nowhere near Cameron's class. They are coming off of similar seasons, but that was a career year for GMJ, by a wide margin. Gary typically puts up an OPS+ well below 100, while Cameron has been over 100 for 8 straight years. If he gets anything close to 3/21 that GM should be fired on the spot and the contract should be voided in the best interests of baseball.

Too inconsistent. Sure, 2006 Mathews would be nice, but he could just as easily be as bad as Pierre was this year. He'd be a decent 4th OF, but nothing more. Actually, he'd be a good platoon partner with Jacque Jones, as he's historically hit better against lefties. If you end up getting a stud infield, then it wouldn't be insane to go Murton, Pie, Jones in the OF with GMJ subbing in for Jones and insurance for Pie. I just had major deja vu, did we have this conversation already?

Yeah, Karros had the go-ahead HR once Clemens exited. You're right, it was on in LA because Roger was going for 300 (here in LA, Fox Sports West was going to air the Dodger game). Best atmosphere I've ever witnessed at a regular season game, from beginning to end. I remember seeing Urlacher strolling around outside the stadium. Everybody was there. Plus, I think somebody was going for the triple crown that day, and the race was shortly after the game.

Actually, I was one of those who wanted to see Rex replaced (in fact, if you look at the game thread, I was advocating bringing in Griese right before Hester returned the punt for a touchdown). I don't really see the harm in bringing Griese when it is was apparently very clear that Rex wasn't going to lead the Bears on a game winning touchdown drive. At the very worst (best?), Griese leads them on a game winning touchdown drive and it reignites a QB controversy. That can pretty much be squelched by Lovie announcing that Rex is his quarterback and acknowledging that he was just having one of those games that even the best quarterbacks have from time to time. I would not be too worried what it would do to Rex's psyche. If he couldn't handle it, he's not the right quarterback for the Bears anyway. My guess is that he would have handled it fine and I expect him to bounce back with a good game againt San Fran in two weeks. Well at least you were calling for Griese. Not that I agree, but sensible. There are still loonies out there that wanna see neckbeard in the game. I pretty much agree with TOF. Grossman sucked... for that game. His stupid decisions only seemed to get worse. Pulling him late couldn't have done any worse for the team than the 6 turnovers Grossman had already given, and Lovie would have had no trouble silencing all the Tuesday morning quarterbacks and their talk of controversy. If Big Z gives up 5 runs in the first four innings and starts the 5th by walking the bases loaded, you can pull him without skipping his next turn in the rotation. The one bad game doesn't make him a bad pitcher by any means, but leaving him in is also stupid, especially when the Bears have a bunch of Izturises who really DO drive in runs with their gloves. As raisin said, that's a terrible analogy. QBs aren't pitchers. QB's don't go 3 quarters and then get pulled at the end of the game. You bench a pro QB during a bad game, and you run the risk of ruining the team, not just the QB's psyche. The 5-0 start provided the perfect cushion to live through the valleys of a QB's development, remember, he still doesn't have a season's worth of games, while still contending for a Super Bowl. There was simply nothing to gain by inserting Griese. He's not a comeback kid or anything. He's just a good backup. And backups come in when your starter gets hurt, or when you decide that the backup is now the starter. Football is not baseball. Backup QB's are not relief pitchers.

nice win

Ichiro's OPS+ the past two years: 109 109 If you can get a big bat elsewhere and play him in CF, it helps the team. Otherwise, he's almost a wash with Jones from 2006 (107), although obviously an OBP improvement. I could definitely see something like this though. It just won't help the team all that much unless he's replacing Pierre.

Yes -- Truffle's been sitemailed, so feel free after he posts his pick. Sweet, I assumed I was way out of it.

does this mean I get to pick third?

My lord, people are dumb. Person just came on to say Cubs manager job is the worst because ownership doesn't care. When it was pointed out that the dollars are there, the guy said, "but they aren't spending it on the right guys." I like these hosts. They were screaming, "THAT'S NOT OWNERSHIP, THAT'S MANAGEMENT!!!!!" I feel like these guys are channeling my thoughts.

I think it has to do with the talk of the pansiness, wimpiness, "northsiderish", etc. of a passing game, and the need to be more of a tough manly team. I don't think people said Rex is gay, it's just somebody's interpretation of what that all means. He was saying the mouth breathing Rex haters are the same as the Cubs hating Sox fans who constantly talk about gays and the northside.

And I was just pointing out that the Cubs do hit righties relatively well (compared to how they hit lefties). The Cubs have multiple guys with an OPS over 800 and a couple over 900 against RHP. Now take away Jones and add Burrell and how do the numbers add up? Burrell is still well over 800 against RHP. Jones was 50 points higher in OPS against RHP this season, and actually lower from 2003-2005. Since you wrote the Cubs struggled against leftys, did Burrell hit them well too? I know Jones struggled. 1000+

I'm not sure what to make of that. Hendry apparently understood the need to focus on next year. But pull your scouts? Really? No. What they did was less advance-game and advance-series scouting and more player-evaluation scouting for potential trades and free agents. They did get back into Asia more extensively. In other words, their scouts focused less on how to beat the Pirates next week, and more on what players to go after in the offseason.

?? I think he was joking, saying that since the Cubs are obviously going to get Tejada and ARod, you shouldn't have Theriot and Izturis in the lineup.

And I was just pointing out that the Cubs do hit righties relatively well (compared to how they hit lefties). The Cubs have multiple guys with an OPS over 800 and a couple over 900 against RHP. Now take away Jones and add Burrell and how do the numbers add up? Burrell is still well over 800 against RHP. Jones was 50 points higher in OPS against RHP this season, and actually lower from 2003-2005.