goonys evil twin

If he played RF his production would be far less impressive. The bulk of his value comes from the position he plays on the field. He's not a triple crown threat by any stretch. He's not a 3 or 4 hitter on a big budget team.

There is a difference between talking about likely career projections and possibly career projections. Sure, there's a chance Miggy finds a great new form of B-12 shot and doesn't age like most ballplayers, or that Prior decides to head off to Asia to practice yoga and smoke dope. We're talking likelihoods and probabilities here. A GM's job is to make his team better, not just shake things up. This would be a shake things up move, not a make the team better move. The Cubs pitching is not as good as some make it out to be, which is exactly why they can't afford to lose Prior. You don't fix a questionable rotation by dealing away your 2nd best pitcher, leaving them with 4 highly questionable arms.

The IF becomes a strenght, but then the pitching becomes a weakness. I'm not the one who said it would be the worst in my lifetime. But I'm much more likely to side with the person who makes that claim than the person who has no problem dealing Prior because he's only won 18 games once so far in his career. There's a really good chance that Prior will have the best career of anybody the Cubs developed in my lifetime outside of Maddux, and he wasn't traded. So it could end up being the worst trade. Let's say Tejada comes here, has a nice 2-3 years then settles into one of those guys living off his reputation (occasionally looking great but largely much less productive than his former self). During that time the Cubs pitching is highly questionable, Lee returns to normal and the team fails to make any postseason noice. Meanwhile, over the next 10 years Prior develops into a top 5 pitcher in the game, consistently posts a 3.50 ERA or lower, wins 12-20 games a year, and picks up a Cy Young. This set of circumstances is hardly far from possible, and would leave most Cubs fans absolutely disgusted by the results of the trade. The Cubs would have to win it all in 2006 or 2007 to make that trade seem justified, but their pitching would have taken such a big hit that their odds would be no better than if they just maintained status quo.

Not exactly. Prior will be better than Brock but Tejada will be better than Broglio, and the Cardinals won't be involved.

I may be a little off' date=' but I believe the salaries above ARE NOT guaranteed by the Cubs beyond 2006. Of course certain players will be due raises etc., but the team should have $25-30 million to spend on FAs in 2007. [/quote'] Dempster, Rusch, Perez and Jones are all under contract past 2006.

There is no likelyhood that he will have to move positions. Why does age 31 equate to inability to play SS at the same level? Because history has shown us that middle infielders often have to switch, or risk turning into defensive question marks. He probably won't have to switch at 31, but by 32 or 33 the likelihood increases quite a bit. Ripken waited until he was 35, but wasn't any good in the field from 32-34. Banks moved at 31. Yount moved at 29/30. Larkin had a very tough time being an everyday SS in his 30s. Tony Fernandez went from an everyday SS in his 20s to a part time 3B, part time SS, part time 2B in his 30s. All time great middle infielders make their career in their 20's, and usually take a significant step back in their 30s. It's much easier for slugging first baseman and corner outfielders to age gracefully, the demand on the body isn't as great.

Wood hasn't panned out because he's had all sorts of arm trouble. Prior hasn't reached his potential because of freak injuries. There's no reason to expect Wood's pattern to change. There are reasons to expect Prior's to. Worst Cubbie trade in my lifetime. Bleh. Can you explain how it is the worst trade during your lifetime? Prior has won 18 games once. Tejada is an MVP and perennial all-star, along with being possibly the best SS in the game. How many 24 year old pitchers win 18 games more than once? If you're sick of waiting for prospects to pan out that's your own fault. There's been nothing wrong with Prior's progression. You want to talk about a prospect that hasn't panned out, look at the supposedly untouchable Bedard, who is older and far less accomplished than Prior. Tejada makes the Cubs better, losing Prior makes them worse. The Cubs have built this team around pitching and would be destroying their only strength if this deal is made. They would have to win the WS in the next 2 years to justify this trade, but they would not have the pitching the be serious contenders after such a move. Tejada will be 30 next season, past his prime. Those accomplishments you list are in his past. Players best years are in the 26-28 range, middle infielders often have to switch positions, or turn into defensive liabilities in their 30s because range takes a hit. The best teams acquire players before they achieve their best success, they don't trade pre-prime players (like Prior) for post-prime players (like Tejada), and they especially do not sweeten the deal with extra prospects.

Yeah, it sucks when I forget to take my "don't rob stores" pills. So do the cops who caught Reardon get credited for a save for recovering the cash? The case isn't over yet, so it's just a hold. The district attorney's office needs to come in and close it out.

Why are you so freaking bitter about this? I acknowledge that his team is worse. I don't think he deserves all the blame, I'm simply saying he deserves some blame for his team's crappy play. You might not be able to see what defense I've had for my stance, but I am pretty confident tha the fault lies in your unmitigated manlust for Favre more so than my failings to accurately analyze the game. Sure he's had to take more risks, but the rate that those risk have turned into failure has increased as well, in part due to his body not being able to carry out the tasks his mind assigns it as well as it did in years past. That's nothing to be ashamed of for a 36 year old QB with as many miles on the tires as Favre. He can still win in this league, and would still be modestly successful on a better team, but he's no longer an elite QB and can't carry a team. He's been blessed with some fantastic talent around him for many years. When things get tough nowadays though he all too often loses the game with an incredibly ridiculous pass attempt. Maybe he's frustrated at the lack of talent around him, who knows, but he makes the decisions and his skill isn't making up for the bad ones. That is a QB in decline.

All you need to know: http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/mlb/2005/1227/photo/a_reardon05_195.jpg Reardon and his attorney claim it was due to him not taking his meds.

I don't see how you can watch football games and not notice that Favre has declined. The guy has always taken risks, and as his body falls apart they are starting to haunt him. He was at his best in the mid to late 90's. He's not at his best anymore. It's completely asinine to look at GB's season and not put any blame on Favre and to look at his career and pretend he's the exact same player he used to be. how can you even judge him with the subtractions to the offense? before he lost 3 Rbs and his pro-bowl TE, he was at or above his career numbers in almost every category. that's even without his starting guards. i'd like to see what urlacher does without competent linemen in front of him. he'd probably have a bad season, like he did in 2003-04. but he must have been declining, too. The hero worship of Favre is almost as disgusting as that of Eric Bedard in the Prior talks. How can I judge him? The same way I judge any football player, watch him play and look at the results. Favre from 1999 to 2005 has not been as good as Favre from 1993 to 1998, with his peak likely around 1995-1997. The guy has been linked to retirement talks for 3 years, and never went out of his way to deny the thoughts. There's a reason, he's not the same player he used to be. He is 2-5 in the playoffs since the super bowl loss. He's been good enough to own the Bears for a decade and to keep his team in contention for the division most of the time. But he is no longer the player he once was. As unlucky as they have been with injuries this year, not many people were picking them to win more than 9 games this year, with many considering them an afterthought for the division. Part of that is the realization that Brett Favre can't do what he once did.

That would be even worse. I'd take Tejada over Manny. I hope none of these deals happen. I dont want prior going anywhere. God, this feels like the sick feeling I got when sosa got traded last year. :cry: No kidding. Prior for Tejada isn't good, Prior for Manny is even worse.

I don't see how you can watch football games and not notice that Favre has declined. The guy has always taken risks, and as his body falls apart they are starting to haunt him. He was at his best in the mid to late 90's. He's not at his best anymore. It's completely asinine to look at GB's season and not put any blame on Favre and to look at his career and pretend he's the exact same player he used to be.

Bedard would be slotted with Williams, hardly anything to solidify your rotation. O's fans are delusional. 8 straight sub .500 seasons makes you silly.

It's in the team's budget, but it's not included in most payroll discussions by third parties.

Just because you make the argument doesn't mean you have an argument. He's thrown for more yards, high completion percentage, more tds, a better TD/INT ratio and had higher ranking. Favre is in decline. He's at the age when you would expect a decline. I don't understand why some people are pretending this is not the case.

The Cubs also sucked last year (and the year before that). We had five more wins than they did (with our much heralded pitching staff). Both teams finished 21! games out of first in their respective divisions. Our team needs shaking up just as much as thiers does. The Cubs won 89 games in 2004. They were disappointing, and failed to live up to expectations. And weren't as good as their payroll should have made them, but they didn't suck. They've been much better than Baltimore over the past 3 years, and are positioned to be better over the next 2-3. Baltimore has 8 straight seasons with a sub .500 record, and has gone from the top payroll in the league to a middle of the road payroll over that time. The Cubs payroll keeps growing and has been consistently top 5 for about 4 years now. Nobody would be shocked if the Cubs won 90 games next year and battled for the division. Baltimore is not going to do that.

That's how I feel about Neifi Perez and Dickie Thon.

it's not that simple, though. address my points. if the best you can do is say "we agree to disagree" then at least think about what i'm saying and ponder changing your stance. if you can't even give yourself a decent enough reason to believe what you do, then it may be time to change what you think. People have addressed your points. Some people choose to give veterans the benefit of the doubt until the very end. Others aren't afraid to point out a 35/36 year old QB isn't going to be as good as he is at 28/29. Peyton Manning is going to be worse in 5 years than he is right now. It doesn't mean a team can't win that declining QB. All it takes is average QB play for your team to have a chance in this league. GB is in a live by the sword die by the sword situation. So much of their success was based on Favre's brilliant and risky play for so long that they were bound to suffer as he aged and his play declined.

Sulley when did John Madden take over your body. As foolish as it is to place all the blame on Favre, it makes no sense to pretend he hasn't regressed. For a guy who has only one super bowl, I can't believe how hard it is for people to come to terms with the fact that QBs aren't as good in their late 30s as they are in their late 20s. While you might think you could argue his best year was 2004, you wouldn't have much of an argument. Any measurement from 2004 was beat at some point in his career, and it's easier to pass now than it used to be, with the increased emphasis on QB protection by the league and offensive incentives. I'm not saying he's done. I am saying he's not nearly as good as he used to be, and next year you can't expect him to be at his best. He could probably go to any of the other division teams and win a lot of games. Dallas or Oakland could thrive under his direction. Jacksonville or Tampa could become favorites with him as QB. The Jets could go from 13 loss team to a 13 win team. Favre is still a good QB. But he's not great anymore, and he can't carry a team that doesn't have a lot of help around him. Green Bay won 10 games in each of the past 2 years, that's good, but nothing special. And he had lots of help those 2 years. He's going to keep declining, so he'll need all that much more help if he wants to win in GB.

If they are going to ask for prospects, they should ask for Pie, Hill or Williams, Guzman, Cedeno, Harvey or Dopirak and then maybe Gallagher or Marshall. They also might as well ask for Corey, on the off chance that he could have a resurgent year. That's 6 prospects and a major leaguer, and by far and away more than established veterans usually get traded for, even really good ones. They should be happy if they can get Pie, Hill, Guzman, Cedeno/Harvey/Dopirak (depending on their current plans for SS), and another arm. That's 3 pitchers and 2 position prospects, anywhere from major league ready to 2-3 years away. They run the risk of falling from 4th to 5th this year (big deal), but are positioned to be aggressive buyers over the next several years, and have a pretty solid prospect base to add to their own supply.

Happy Gilmore holds the record for most time spent in the penalty box and was the only player to ever take off his skate and try to stab somebody.

I think it's quite foolish to acquire guys with the intent of moving them later for something else. That is always brought up to justify some weird moves, and rarely works out for the best. Prior for Tejada and Bedard would not be buying low, and I doubt they could get any better prospects for Prior next year than they could get for Tejada this year. They could be keeping Bedard and adding tons of arms. It's also an enormous risk, because Prior's value is in the expectations for the next 10 years of his career. But any one of those years could be a stinker, so you're gambling that 2006 isn't a stinker. He would also be closer to free agency then, which will decrease his value. And as goofy as it sounds, when multiple teams look to trade a guy within a year or so, that also weighs on his perceived value. If they are going to trade Tejada, they might as well bite the bullet now, get the best prospects possible, and build a team that will compete in 2008-2010. 2006 and 2007 are hopeless regardless of who they trade him for.

I disagree. His arm is not as good. He's always been a risk taker, but he was so quick from the decision to make the throw to the time it got to the receiver that it didn't hurt him much. He's not as quick anymore. And the league's defensive players are faster than they were in the 90's. I don't think he's done by any means. But his poor play this season cannot be blamed solely on teammates. Green Bay lost a lot of close games this year, it's not like they were always way behind and he was forced to take stupid chances. Without many of those INTs they could have won 3-4 more games, including either Bears game. But then again, maybe he purposefully played like crap to get a better draft pick to help him next year.

No, it's not fair. Prior alone for Tejada and Bedard could be considered fair. It won't help the Cubs get better, but it's fair. But there's no way that they should add a prospect. Why shouldn't they trade Tejada for prospects? What good does a proven player do for them? They have Tejada and they suck. They've sucked for a very long time, and have no hope for near-term success. What would it hurt to take back prospects instead of another veteran? Might they lose 90? Oh well, they can do that with Miggy. Will they lose revenue from fans? Who cares, MLB guarantees them money, and Angelos will be just as happy with the decline in expenses.