goonys evil twin

Looks sensationalized, IMO. Beasley didn't come off real peeved to me. I don't see why ESPN would run an article like that, then. It's in their best interest to present the US team as favorably as possible. It's a Reuters article, and ESPN would probably be worse off withholding potentially negative articles than just reporting everything that comes in. And the article doesn't say "the team sucks and has no chance of winning so don't bother watching." It's an attention grabber that might draw a little more attention to the team and the tourny in general. Looks a lot more like a "any publicity is good publicity" story than anything that would put off viewers.

I'd have no problem doing that if Guzman could at least put together a decent stint in the minors these days. Is Marmol a possible starter down the line? I personally have not seen Marmol pitch but a lot of people on this board are really high on him so who knows. He was a starter in 2003, 2004 and 2005, with 9, 24 and 27 starts, respectively. And he had 11 starts this year. I would think the likelihood of him starting down the line is quite high. Whether or not he sticks and succeeds there is questionable. But he is not some reliever who might be stretched into a starter.

This organization has also shown a willingness to employ the highest paid player in the game (Sandberg) and one of the top 3 (Sosa). They've also given longterm deals to Ramirez (guaranteed 4 years, could guarantee a 5th with an easy to achieve games played incentive), and Lee (guaranteed 5 years). ARod's deal runs through 2010 (same as Lee), and much of it is being paid by Texas. It is quite possible that the Yankees could pick up a further portion of the deal if New York does decide to trade Rodriguez. They wouldn't be taking on a 10 year $252 million deal, they'd be taking on a 4.5 year deal that would conceivably be split by 3 different teams (Texas, Yankees, Cubs).

Leroy Jenkins is from a World of Warcraft video. A bunch of guys carefully planning a dungeon raid, going so far as to calculate odds of success, and finally one of the guys jumps up, and shouts "OK! Let's do this! LEEERRROYYYYY JENNNNKINSSS!"...runs into the room and ticks off a room full of dragon whelps, leading to a hilarious scene of guys trying to be in control, but just panicking and failing miserably. If you don't play the game, it still might be funny, but probably not in the same way. It was a pretty big thing for a while though...probably last summer if I remember right? I googled it after asking. I do remember seeing that a long time ago. I don't know anything about the game, but it was pretty funny. Not funny enough that the name stuck in my head though.

Leroy Jenkins?

I actually read it about an hour ago and figured it was already covered here, but then I didn't notice any posts about it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/06/05/mlb.mockdraft/index.html

I don't agree with the backup the truck philosophy with this team. It would not be difficult to make the 2007 team a real contender. The window is closing, but it's not yet closed. Hendry and Baker have screwed up this opportunity so far, but as long as they are both still here there is no reason to think about an overhaul. They couldn't get it right anyway. Might as well stick with the best players and try to add a good difference maker or two, and take their chances. Unlike the vast majority of teams the Cubs have the financial resources to make significant upgrades without dumping all their current studs.

How would any of us know Doug Drabek's character? As far as I know he could be a win at all costs push your kid to the limit irresponsible father. But even if he was Mr. Perfect it's not like he has the choice to "not allow it". Any son could easily get around his parent's watching to get on the roids.

I have yet to find a good tv schedule for world cup games to be broadcast in the states. Is this going to be on ESPN, with most games shown live during the day?

No, only to provide the evidence that supports that he is those things. Saying that someone is stupid and irrational is a pretty difficult one to support. Wouldn't you agree? Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. Its difficult to know. And you might be right. But then again, there is a lot of evidence to the contrary as well. So wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he makes moves you disagree with and fail to understand and that you think he is a bad manager? Or don't you think that there is any evidence on the other side of your position? This is just another attempt to tell people to stop criticizing the Cubs. Who cares if I say he's an idiot, or that I think he's an idiot but am not completely positive since I don't have all the details? Your request is completely irrational and unwarrented. This is a message board. We are fans. There's nothing wrong with fans calling their manager an idiot when they see him make the same mistakes over and over. I'm going to call Dusty an idiot for doing all the same stupid stuff over and over. I know he's a bad manager. I understand the moves he makes, and I know they are the wrong ones and that he uses the wrong methodology to make those moves. I, nor anybody else, don't need to support my claims that he is stupid and irrational by listing all the reasons why I think he is everytime I make the claim. Dusty Baker is exactly the wrong manager for the Cubs, he has been all along. The sooner people just wake up and admit that fact the better.

I'm not even sure what you're arguing here. Are you saying we shouldn't criticize a manager for decisions that we think are incorrect, just because there are possibly variables that we aren't aware of? I think it is very clear what I'm saying. I couldn't be saying it more plainly, if you are going to make the bold statement that someone is stupid and irrational, not that some of his moves seem stupid and irrational, but that the person is stupid and irrational, then you either have to know a whole lot more than the manager you are criticizing or you aren't looking into the situations you are criticizing very deeply. I never said anything about not criticizing or not being critical. Why is it that many people jump to that. I don't know. I've never typed it. Yes, we do, and when was the last time they called Baker stupid and irrational? Boy, it sure seems real simple to me, just consider all the possible reasons why a manager would have done what he did before labeling him stupid, irrational, an idiot, etc. I do it all the time. I posted an example of this one page earlier, surrounding the Womack/Perez issue that some people were criticizing Baker for. I, too, at first found the choice to start Perez odd, but when I did some research and considered that there may be reasons that I would never know about like the possibility of Womack being sore or something, there was enough reasonable doubt to not conclude that Baker was an idiot or that his brain is somehow deficient. That's all I'm saying. I never asked anyone to stop criticizing Baker when they have a solid argument. But when you choose to label someone stupid and irrational, you have set the bar pretty high when it comes to providing the evidence to support your argument. Okay, so are you telling people not to call Dusty names? I've considered the possible reasons why Dusty makes the idiotic moves he makes. It all boils down to the same thing, he's not a good manager and he keeps making the same stupid moves over and over.

I don't even know what the debate is. You just keep talking about fans digging deeper and obviousness. I really don't know what you're talking about.

Except that's not true. Neifi had a sub .300 OBP. Cedeno now is better than Neifi last year. The bothersome part is that Ronny has 31 Ks to 7 BBs. That's exactly the same line as Jones. It is bothersome. Ronny is still questionable as to whether or not he'll make for a solid option at SS for years to come. His patience, and the team he's on don't help. But he's already better than Neifi.

Olney basically throws out several qoutes from GMs or scouts he talked to regarding Wood or Prior's perceived value at those respective levels. A few examples: Sounds like nothing more than posturing by rival GMs.

Except that's not true. Neifi had a sub .300 OBP. Cedeno now is better than Neifi last year.

Most of Baker's bad moves don't require any level of digging deeper. And what exactly is the issue you are raising? It just sounds like a circuitous way of defending Baker at all costs by saying we can't know everything he knew to make the decision. Another example of the "you can't criticize him because you aren't in his shoes" theory. I can't be any less circuitous or more clear when I give you an example. Lets talk about the supposed obvious choice of starting Womack over Neifi against Milton which Baker didn't do. He was criticized for missing that "obvious" move in this thread. What's your opinion? Opinion about what? Whether he should have made that move? I don't think it really matters, they both suck.

He was a pretty decent player, surprised he's no 10 though. What does his being on deck blahblahblah have to do with this?

huh? 2004 when he was coming off fighting Estes for the honor of being the worst pitcher in the National League in the previous year? He was 6-2 with a 3.47 ERA, and 2 saves. That is why Hendry extended him. Nevermind that his lifetime ERA 4.88 or that his previous best was a 4.01. The point was one season does not make you a good or even decent pitcher. Are you using this to talk about Farnsworth? Because he's had more than one good season.

Most of Baker's bad moves don't require any level of digging deeper. And what exactly is the issue you are raising? It just sounds like a circuitous way of defending Baker at all costs by saying we can't know everything he knew to make the decision. Another example of the "you can't criticize him because you aren't in his shoes" theory.

Wow, Mike and the Mad Dog are really giving it to Cashman (about Farnsworth) in an interview on WFAN/YES right now. It's kind of interesting to hear a GM have the guts to sit through something like this and come back with logical reasonable replies and not just talk about needing more timely hits and better breaks.

If Neifi was putting up Cedeno's numbers they'd represent a career year. Neifi put up the same line last year with much better defense, actually. In what fantasy world? He had a sub .300 OBP.

It would only make sense that a guy who just came back and hasn't been 100% yet, and a guy who isn't back yet, won't have much trade value. That could easily change quite a bit by July 31, and in Prior's case, in the offseason.

If Neifi was putting up Cedeno's numbers they'd represent a career year. If he did it at league minimum it would be more tolerable. But the biggest difference in the situation is that Ronny's doing it at 23, with lots of hope for improvement, whereas Neifi is a dead end vet who is just going to keep getting worse. Ronny is having an acceptable year for a 23 year old SS making the minimum. Certainly not what you'd want, but acceptable nonetheless, as reasonable fans have to be willing to accept lesser production from cheap kids. Furcal certainly hasn't been $12 million better.

How 'bout a vintage #34? Those usually run close to $100 for even a replica. I'm looking to pay 60ish. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1799848&cp=716563.716569.716571&parentPage=family&searchId=716571 http://www.nflstore.net/cgi-bin/nflgen.pl?tm=CH That 2nd link allows you to pick between Orton, Jones, Benson and Urlacher for the $64 white jersey. http://shop.chicagobears.com/productinfo.asp?item=515&deptcode1=500