apete6

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3894847 OK, so now what? Will MLB punish him at all??? How can they? All players had immunity for those tests in 2003. They were only going to be used to determine future testing. well played A-Rod, well played indeed! Touche'. Seriously, though, unless they are going to suspend any of the 104 guys on that list that are still active, he won't be in any trouble with MLB.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3894847 OK, so now what? Will MLB punish him at all??? How can they? All players had immunity for those tests in 2003. They were only going to be used to determine future testing.

They could do worse, I guess. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/39323727.html

The fundamental difference is that there are tons of guys capable of being commissioner of baseball, and only a handful capable of being major-league players. there were some people who did an awful job as commissioner. i think you're underestimating the importance and difficulty of that position. Its kind of like the GM position, and the fantasy owners who think they know everything that is going on. The commissioner has the power to make extreme changes to the game and to make the popularity of the sport to grow. Look what Taligabue (spelling?) did for the NFL. By contrast the commissioner has the power to mess up the sport and kill its popularity. Tagliabue also had a buddy running the players union and the owners are a heck of a lot more powerful in the NFL. I'm sure Selig wishes he could just invoke his "for the better of the game" clause and implement a salary cap, salary floor, and make everyone spend the same amount of money, but he can't. Also, the way football is structured, the national TV money is equal for everyone. That's simply not possible in baseball. Don't get me wrong, Selig has done some stupid things (ie All Star game, the sterioid era, territorial rights), but most of his power is fake because of the strong union. He walked into a pile of crap right before the strike and has navigated through it fairly well. The MLB network looks like it will be eons better than the NFL network and baseball is making a ton of money. Let's see if they can get through the economy. If the NFL has their work stoppage in the 2010-2011 season due to the uncapped season in the labor agreement, MLB could come out looking like a rose again.

Now when he puts up some inflated Coors numbers, we can hear I told you so's from everyone. Awesome!

Well, at least DePaul hasn't beaten themselves to this point. No, they've taken care of that several times, especially the loss to powerhouse Morgan State. They're a freaking joke.

Not compared to CEOs of company's of comparable size and success.

I already want to punch Hendry in the balls, if he signs Hudson to some ridiculous deal, I might go postal. You know who else was a good alternative to Roberts? Mark freaking DeRosa, but we decided that he couldn't be good because he bats right handed.

The Beavers swept the Bay area schools. In the Bay. Crazy. Obama's brother in law getting the job done! OSU winning puts DePaul dangerously close to the "worst team in a Major conference." Indiana could give us a run for our money this year, but at least they have something to look forward to.

I'm rooting for it at this point. Either way, unless they go on the most unlikely winning streak in the history of sports, Wainwright is gone! =D> =D> Let's hope Ponsetto and the priests don't cheap out on the next hire.

Sosa did this as well.

Sosa did this too, where is all of the man-love for him? Get over your KW love, everyone. He was an electrifying pitcher when he was at his best and could end up having a very good career as a closer, but he's not in the realm of the other Cubs greats (Banks, Williams, Sandberg, Sosa, Jenkins, Santo). Just because he was a good guy who understood what it is to be a Cub doesn't mean that he had some sort of hall of fame career while he was here. Granted, injuries played a part, but he is no legend.

Actually, Lou IS stupid. Or at least he manages the team like he is. LEFTIES VETERANS VERSATILITY To Lou, these three qualities serve as Viagra fueling his old, wrinkly, managerial boner. I agree. Lou is a slightly better white version of Dusty. The 2004 team could have won 97 games if everyone was healthy all season as well. The one thing Lou does better is deal with the media/meatball fan group and stick with younger players if they are doing well. The actual in game management is pretty much the same.

I'm waiting for the Kroeger game winning grand slam in the Crosstown Series next year!

Agreed...Your trading a 4th outfielder, a utility infielder, and a pitcher who can't throw a strike let alone pitch The problem is, think of the package we could have gotten for those 3 last offseason. We probably gotten Brian Roberts or anyone else along those lines. Now, we'll get a whole lot of nothing. While our actual loss may be a 4th outfielder, utility man, and a guy who might be finished, our opportunity cost is much larger. A complete butchering of what were once very valuable (and sought after) assets. butchering? more like bad luck. hindsight is 20/20. at the time, trading hill for roberts was a really bad move. there was no reason for hendry to think hill would completely meltdown. I'll buy you're Hill argument because I was against that too, but I'm not paid to make those decisions like Hendry. Heck, a lot of people wouldn't have traded Hill for Peavy last offseason had that scenario been presented. Hill was probably our best pitcher in 2007 (maybe Lilly). However, that would have been the very definition of selling high, something that Hendry hasn't done much of (except DeRosa, but he didn't really get anything for DeRosa). However, what about the other 2, especially Pie? He has pretty much no value right now.

Agreed...Your trading a 4th outfielder, a utility infielder, and a pitcher who can't throw a strike let alone pitch The problem is, think of the package we could have gotten for those 3 last offseason. We probably gotten Brian Roberts or anyone else along those lines. Now, we'll get a whole lot of nothing. While our actual loss may be a 4th outfielder, utility man, and a guy who might be finished, our opportunity cost is much larger. A complete butchering of what were once very valuable (and sought after) assets.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1369181,CST-SPT-cub09.article So break down is 7m in 2009(including 2m signing bonus) 11m in 2010(including 2m signing bonus) 12m in 2011(with 2m buyout if Bradley health is a serious problem) So if Bradley is hurt a ton the next two years, we're risking 2y at 20m. Can't really argue with that. Nice work, Jimbo.

Ya, no kidding: IF: Ramirez, Theriot, DeRosa, Lee OF: Soriano, Fukudome, Bradley C: Soto Bench: Miles, Johnson, Fontenot, Hoffpauir, Bako SP: Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Marshall BP: Wood, Marmol, Gregg, Vizcaino, Cotts, Gaudin, Guzman Looks good to me!

Pretty good analysis, but I wouldn't exactly call Tank Johnson a "miss." He had some off the field issues, but he's performed pretty darn well when he plays. Same with Marc Columbo, probably not worthy of the first round, but since he's been healthy he's been serviceable for the Cowboys. Even Grossman and Benson probably will end up being 6-10 year professionals. Not exactly what you want out of your 1st round picks, but not complete spiraling busts like Akili Smith or Cade McNown or Curtis Enis...unless Benson's 2nd half w/Cincy was just a mirage. Bauzin, Williams, Metcalf, and Okwo are indefensible picks. Complete reaches that can't even get signed to another NFL team. Garrett Wolfe could eventually find his way onto this list, but after seeing what Darren Sproles did last week, I find it hard to believe that an offensive coordinator somewhere won't try and install a package for him--I wish it was Turner. Michael Haynes is one of the weirder whiffs in recent memory. He dominated the Big 10 his last season and never even had glimpses of being decent in the NFL. Apparently he wasn't really "into" football and was very smart in the classroom.

Did they give the exact details of the contract regarding the options/incentives?

Yes. Leak and Tebow were in a QB rotation that year. Leak threw the ball and Tebow ran on short yardage plays. That's the year in which Leak was tremendously hated by his own fans and only went on to win a national title. Urban had fun taking TDs away from him and giving them to Tebow for no real reason. That was awesome of him to do.

In a perfect world, we trade Joey Gathright, Aaron Miles, Kevin Gregg, Paul Bako, Luis Vizcaino, and the trio of minor leaguers we got for DeRosa for Peavy. :D OK, OK, if they really call our bluff, we'll throw in Cedeno.

He's gonna get a lucky shallow OF blooper to win a game at some point, and you're gonna hear about his guts, and grit, and how he plays the game the right way. Wrong. Black guys can't be gritty. Don't you know the rules? I dunno. How else has Juan Pierre built a career if not for his grit? I think this rule needs to be challenged. Surely Neifi was gritty. Tony Womack. I never thought they were characterized as gritty. Juan was given the "speed doesn't slump" monikor, Neifi was a versatile sure-handed professional hitter (yes, I read that he was a professional hitter). And Womack was just Tony Womack. If Tony Womack was white, he'd still be around to "give a veteran presence" like Craig Counsell.

He's gonna get a lucky shallow OF blooper to win a game at some point, and you're gonna hear about his guts, and grit, and how he plays the game the right way. Wrong. Black guys can't be gritty. Don't you know the rules?

See, I don't really see how he can possibly be lower than a B-/C+. While the farm system isn't great, that hasn't held us back from trading for some darn good players and he hasn't not resigned anyone that would have really hurt except maybe Woody. The team has made the playoffs 3 times in 6 seasons and had the best record in the NL last year. Its not his fault the guys sucked in the playoffs. If Alex Gonzalez fields that ball in 2003, the Cubs probably are looking at multiple World Series appearances in the past 6 years. While he has had a high payroll, it hasn't been at Yankees/Red Sox/Mets level and, while he hired Dusty and probably gave him 1 year too many, you have to remember that both Dusty and Lou were considered the #1 managers out there in the years they were hired. His main fault has been through drafting/player development, although if Soto, Theriot, Marmol, Zambrano, and Marshall have good years again, even that hasn't been a 100% failure. And if we get Peavy for the pu-pu platter plus Vitters, that's decent. I gave him a B, but if the Cubs would have won the WS last year like they should have, he would have been getting mostly A- grades.