apete6

If this team had Anibal Sanchez (3.1 WAR) and Jason Grilli (1.4 WAR) instead of Fujikawa (0.2 WAR) and Jackson (0.7 WAR), we'd have 3.6 more wins. Round that up to 4 and say another win by not having Marmol pissing games away and the rest of the bullpen in a better order and you have a team that is 27-25 right now. Ugh. You don't need to do all that since this team already should have a much better record than it does. Take THAT win total and add those wins to it, though, and we're probably in contention for the division. Good point. So, basically, Theo and Jed know what the hell they're doing. I'm now comforted.

If this team had Anibal Sanchez (3.1 WAR) and Jason Grilli (1.4 WAR) instead of Fujikawa (0.2 WAR) and Jackson (0.7 WAR), we'd have 3.6 more wins. Round that up to 4 and say another win by not having Marmol pissing games away and the rest of the bullpen in a better order and you have a team that is 27-25 right now. Ugh.

Marmol has been pretty good since that disaster against Cincy on 5/4. ERA now 3.86. WHIP still awful though. Gotta think someone will give up something for him, or at least eat most of the money he is owed.

Newsworthy: Soriano walked.

I'm terrified of this matchup. That being said, even if they lose a competitive series, it's still an "acceptable" season. I would move that to "good" if they win the series and obviously great if they win the Cup. It would have been an underachievement with a loss last night and a complete disaster with a first round loss.

Officially time to switch Valbuena and Castro in the order. You can't have a guy with that low of an OBP batting high in the order.

I thought he wanted to go back home? Why leave Purdue for DePaul? In turn, our previous "center", Donnavon Kirk is going to transfer. He is more of a face up 3/4 than a post guy. Can't rebound a lick, but has a smooth offensive game for someone his size. Due to DePaul's terrible post players and rebounders, he was forced into playing in the post a lot. I actually really like his game, could be a very effective 6th man as a face up 4. Also, one of our other guys, Derrell Robertson, more of a low post presence who has no offensive game, allegedly visited Purdue last week. I think he sucks, but is a big body who made strides as a shotblocker last year. Fouls a ton, though, so he might fit right in in the B1G. Marcius is a high energy guy that will play tough defense and rebound. Most of his scoring comes from put back dunks and transition stuff. He's surprisingly athletic and he makes his free throws but he's not going to wow anyone with his offense. He would've played regularly for Purdue, just not a starters workload. I'm going to miss him because we had a lot of guys slacking last year and when he came in it was balls to the wall the whole time. He does tend to get into foul trouble too, haha. I would be surprised if Purdue ends up taking Robertson. If they do, it's to have a big body for Hammons and Simpson to practice against. Painter is recruiting bigs heavy for 2014 as if he expects Hammons to leave after this year. Sounds like Marcius is the exact opposite of everyone on DePaul. LOL. Let's hope he can provide some toughness. And, yes, you don't want Purdue to take Robertson. He sucks.

I thought he wanted to go back home? Why leave Purdue for DePaul? In turn, our previous "center", Donnavon Kirk is going to transfer. He is more of a face up 3/4 than a post guy. Can't rebound a lick, but has a smooth offensive game for someone his size. Due to DePaul's terrible post players and rebounders, he was forced into playing in the post a lot. I actually really like his game, could be a very effective 6th man as a face up 4. Also, one of our other guys, Derrell Robertson, more of a low post presence who has no offensive game, allegedly visited Purdue last week. I think he sucks, but is a big body who made strides as a shotblocker last year. Fouls a ton, though, so he might fit right in in the B1G.

Baby Blue and Red is the answer--colors of the city flag.

And the Mets (Harvey) and Cards (Miller) seem sure to get that at some point in the next few years.

http://lesenfantsterriblesmusic.blogspot.com/2010/06/sweep-leg-johnny.html

Is this getting to a point where it is a Prior (Appel/Gray) vs. Teixiera (Bryant) discussion? I still go with the pitcher, but those hitting numbers (OBP, SLG, K/BB ratio) are mighty impressive.

Could be another way to put pressure on the stadium deal getting approved. If it doesn't, they can say "well, we would have signed Robinson Cano, but we don't have enough revenue from signage, so we have Darwin Barney and a cardboard cutout of the Big League Chew guy instead. Sorry. "

I thought the same thing. So did I, but I also don't remember so many games being on CNBC before. Maybe with that addition, NBC got the rights to all 2nd round and greater playoff games, which would be the same policy that the NBA has (1st round can be on local, but all afterwards is on national only broadcasts). Overall, probably a positive, especially for out of town fans, but it sucks for Blackhawks fans because Foley is such a good announcer.

We won't know what his teammates really think/thought of the situation until some of them leave the Bulls. When Nate is on the Pacers next year, I'm sure he'll tell everyone he can that he thought Derrick was being a bitch. Same with other guys. If they amnesty Boozer, he'll let people know how big of a bitch everyone thought Derrick was being. For now, they are saying what they have to say.

I hope they don't sell. [expletive] are charging $125 for the worst seats in the house, up from $90 last year for first round.

Maybe FSN, if they are able to work a CSN buyout? If they actually worked out a CSN buyout, I think they'd be full steam ahead with the Cubs Network. Plus, there isn't even a Chicago FSN affiliate. Comcast could want to work with them on a Cubs network. They own NBC and have really been aggressive in bidding on sports lately (NHL, college sports, etc...).

I've been a casual fan for years. Grew up on the Penguins, watched every game of the Lemieux/Jagr Stanley Cup seasons. Never really got into the Blackhawks like I did other Chicago teams, though I rooted for them in their Cup year. Columbus has been so supremely bad, that they were hard to cheer for until recently. Do you also root for the Patriots, Duke basketball, Alabama football, and the Miami Heat? Just kidding. Mostly! Not sure why you'd extract that from my post because you rooted for Pittsburgh's near dynasty and then the Blackhawks in their championship year. And now hopping on the Columbus bandwagon. But, again, just kidding.

I've been a casual fan for years. Grew up on the Penguins, watched every game of the Lemieux/Jagr Stanley Cup seasons. Never really got into the Blackhawks like I did other Chicago teams, though I rooted for them in their Cup year. Columbus has been so supremely bad, that they were hard to cheer for until recently. Do you also root for the Patriots, Duke basketball, Alabama football, and the Miami Heat? Just kidding. Mostly!

Trade for Stanton, sign Price as a free agent. Done and Done.

BUY LOW!!!!!

This is why the hotel will be crazy expensive Yeah, on weekend dates in the summer, it will likely be $400/night plus parking. Offseason, though, I could see you getting a room for $100-$150.

I find it hard to believe that there are over 350 better pitchers in the world than Carlos Zambrano who is not on a Major League Roster.

I don't know about the lining the coffers idea but it's pretty much an irrefutable fact that they have pulled back payroll they can afford to provide, but choose not to for now. A media member following this team absolutely should include statements like that in a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the team. I guess that depends on how you look at things. If payroll was reduced to privately fund renovations, does that count as money they can afford to provide to payroll but aren't? I suppose, technically, yes, but if they truly need to do that to do what needs to be done, then I understand doing it. You could make an argument (not a great one) that the amount of $$$ used to upgrade the player facilities could be considered "in the baseball department".

I was at that game and will never forget it for several reasons. The lightning and reported tornado west of the stadium. Also, my father-in-law was at a suite for work, so he got me from the seats into the suite. I drank at least 6 to 8 beers during the delay and laughed at all of the people who were running through the rain. At one point, someone left the suite to go to the bathroom. When he opened the door to come back in, the rain/wind was coming so hard, it virtually flooded the suite because it was very hard to close the door with the wind. Everyone else left because they were on a bus trip and had a designated leaving time. I stayed with 1 other guy who lived within walking distance and kept drinking. Rain stopped, they resumed the game, I chugged 1 more beer and walked home. I know. Great story. This looks scary as [expletive]. It was. My friends that remained in the seats said it was terrifying being on the concourse with thousands of others hearing the tornado sirens in a 95 year old building. Unbelievable that they actually finished that game.