BWcubs21

I heard he may be back in as little as two months, but nobody can really put a timetable on it yet. I have him stashed away on my DL for the time being.

Typically I agree about boasting, but was he maybe saying this tongue-in-cheek. No, he was completely serious. I like that he has the confidence to say it but I think tact is in order. The Cubs are going to be a target this year because of the money they spent. There's no reason to start getting too mouthy... Lou thought he should back off those comments (and actually he did back off the WS talk a bit). I agree with you then. I love the confidence, but he could have stated that a lot better.

Typically I agree about boasting, but was he maybe saying this tongue-in-cheek.

I was wondering if that was still going to be available, since I have no choice but to get MLB.TV. I move every 13 weeks (then take a week or two after that for vacation), so it would be a major pain to do direct tv and I would miss a lot of games with it. I agree the quality wasn't great, but at least I could watch the games.

Good point, do you know what went wrong with Jason last year? Was he playing through injury? I still find it mind boggling that we gave that contract to him, when based on last year we had better in house options. Here's hoping that he regains form!

How much does Marshall make? That is just mind boggling that we are going to give 9 or so million to a guy who was outperformed by someone who is probably making under a million. Sorry dont know where to find the exact numbers that Marshall makes.

More alarming than Marquis 6+ ERA was his BAA which was .280+ if I'm not mistaken. To me this is a sign that the guy is simply hittable. His fastball has lost life, or his breakin stuff insn't as sharp. Now take a guy like Marmol, who had a bad ERA, but better BAA. Marmol simply doesn't have the control right now, but that can be fixed(see Rich Hill) Thank you very much. I agree 100% with you that any of those 3 would have been desirable to Marquis (if not on numbers than certainly based on contracts).

Unfortunately, something this place has had very little of this offseason! It's been hard at points to read this board when you have to wade through pages and pages of arguements that lack reason, an objective view, and have some really skewed logic. The negativity (and I can understand it a bit) on this board has been SO bad this offseason it's crazy! Despite that, this is still head and shoulders above any other forum, I just wish more people would heed jjgman21's advise above. And posts like this one ^^^^ What do they accomplish? This isn't a thread on debate tactics, its a thread on the signing of Jason Marquis. I don't like it. There is a good chance that he will not get better and you will be on the hook for 21+ over 7 years. The following young pitchers can outperform Marquis. Sean Marhsall Carlos Marmol Juan Mateo There was really no point to this signing. Just trying to remind people about what made this board great and how it seems as though it has gotten completely out of hand this year (96 loss season do tend to do stuff like this though). There are a lot of stubborn people on here and I doubt that much will change, hopefully people realize how they have been acting and try to tone it down. Now what does your post accomplish? You tell me that 3 of our young guys can outperform Marquis, fair enough, but where is your logic behind it? Tell me why they will outpitch him, otherwise your post is just as pointless as you think mine was. I can say player A will outpeform player B all I want, give me something of substance to prove that point. BTW, personally I dont really like the signing much either. Sean Marshall outperformed Jason Marquis last year. Is that not the kind of evidence you are looking for. I know that Marshall was a better player last year than Marquis. No I dont like this signing. Yes I would have much rather went a completely different direction. That's not the point I was making to him though, I was asking for him to give a little substance to his post and give me some kind of proof as to why he believes that all those pitchers will do better.

Unfortunately, something this place has had very little of this offseason! It's been hard at points to read this board when you have to wade through pages and pages of arguements that lack reason, an objective view, and have some really skewed logic. The negativity (and I can understand it a bit) on this board has been SO bad this offseason it's crazy! Despite that, this is still head and shoulders above any other forum, I just wish more people would heed jjgman21's advise above. And posts like this one ^^^^ What do they accomplish? This isn't a thread on debate tactics, its a thread on the signing of Jason Marquis. I don't like it. There is a good chance that he will not get better and you will be on the hook for 21+ over 7 years. The following young pitchers can outperform Marquis. Sean Marhsall Carlos Marmol Juan Mateo There was really no point to this signing. Just trying to remind people about what made this board great and how it seems as though it has gotten completely out of hand this year (96 loss season do tend to do stuff like this though). There are a lot of stubborn people on here and I doubt that much will change, hopefully people realize how they have been acting and try to tone it down. Now what does your post accomplish? You tell me that 3 of our young guys can outperform Marquis, fair enough, but where is your logic behind it? Tell me why they will outpitch him, otherwise your post is just as pointless as you think mine was. I can say player A will outpeform player B all I want, give me something of substance to prove that point. BTW, personally I dont really like the signing much either.

I think he improved the rotation over last years, but that isnt really saying a whole lot. That said, who could he realistically have gotten that would have vastly improved the rotation? I know Schmidt would have been a great option, but its not like we didn't try to get him, he wanted to stay on the west coast. As for OBP, there wasn't really a whole bunch out there that was a huge upgrade. I will admit that I would have loved to see JD Drew in the outfield and to a certain extent Jim did miss the boat there, but if I was in his shoes I wouldn't have went as far as Boston did to get him. Soriano is an upgrade and I dont see how Derosa wont be one over Cedeno. JJ's OBP would look a lot better in CF, so that is a possible improvement. As far as the last two, I just pray and hope that they are addressed during the remainder of the offseason.

Unfortunately, something this place has had very little of this offseason! It's been hard at points to read this board when you have to wade through pages and pages of arguements that lack reason, an objective view, and have some really skewed logic. The negativity (and I can understand it a bit) on this board has been SO bad this offseason it's crazy! Despite that, this is still head and shoulders above any other forum, I just wish more people would heed jjgman21's advise above.

ok that sounds really bad LOL, that is great! I always enjoyed watching him play.

I don't know, man. Three straight Gold Gloves in CF and a solid bat in which you could pretty much count on 100 runs, 30 HR and 80+ RBI in this Cub lineup - not to mention his whole career ahead of him. He'd probably come cheaper than Andruw Jones too. With the instability in positions the Cubs have (Soriano, SS, 2B) in key defensive positions, Vernon Wells would greatly improve this team for years to come. I would welcome either of those guys to this team with open arms, but considering what the cost will be to get that done I would much rather just put JJ in CF. BTW why is Soriano unstable defensively?

in before lock

But that isn't a source. It's just Rotoworld's personal speculation and they are very often wrong when it comes to that. Rotoworld should only be used for their black print and almost all blue print should be ignored. If you follow the link Phil Rodgers (I know) mentions Boras possibly waiting for the Cubs to "ante up" before the Red Sox sign Drew. It won't happen, but I wish it would! I just dont see how we are going to be able to add him and still get quality pitching under the budget (what are we at right now?). I wont complain if we get him though.

You think Hawpe's a better player than Soriano? Yes. Wow, I mean Hawpe is a very nice player but I personally dont think he is on Soriano's level. I think it is quite obvious that you dont really like the signing of Soriano, but dont let that cloud your judgment. If you are going the route of production vs. price, then I can see your point, otherwise I would have to disagree. But I would love to hear why you came to that conclusion. Hawpe in 2006: .293/.383/.515/.898 Soriano in 2006: .277/.351/.560/.911 Soriano has only put up Hawpe's OPS once in his career. And Hawpe is 3.5 years younger with just two full major league seasons under his belt. Well Hawpe has never put up Soriano's OPS :)

Because when Soriano steals a bag, it's really hurting our offense! :roll: the problem is the caught stealings. the theory goes that if you do not have a 75-80% success rate you are hurting your teams chances at scoring due to making outs after reaching base as opposed to helping your team by getting into scoring position. That is true, but look at his ratio the last 4 years. He has been somewhere around the 75% mark 3 of those years. Granted last year he had a terrible success rate, but its been said that he was really pressing trying to get to 40/40.

Well if they dumped Jones in favor of Drew in CF, then I would be all for that, however I would have to doubt that happening. Otherwise I would rather keep Jones (in CF) and put our money towards pitching. Unless Jones brings back a starter like Westbrook, which has been discussed on here.

You think Hawpe's a better player than Soriano? Yes. Wow, I mean Hawpe is a very nice player but I personally dont think he is on Soriano's level. I think it is quite obvious that you dont really like the signing of Soriano, but dont let that cloud your judgment. If you are going the route of production vs. price, then I can see your point, otherwise I would have to disagree. But I would love to hear why you came to that conclusion.

Yeah, I did that too. It has seen the light of day for 2 years now.

Indeed, I guess as long as Jeter didnt win it then I am happy.

Sorry haven't been paying too close attention the last couple days, but did we ever find out anything about option years?

agreed. Jones looks very nice in CF, especially considering what replacments would cost in dollars or in prospects. However if we can trade him for a very solid pitcher then I would have no objections.

Seattle is great city. I can easily see why someone from that area would want to go back. Agreed. Obviously you have never been to Seattle. My wife is a travel nurse, so we travel around the country staying in one area for 3 months or so and Seattle (really the whole pacific NW) is IMO the best area in the country. So I could see why he would want to go back. However, the Mariners cant offer the kind of money we do or more than likely the chance to win right now like we can (with all of our additions).

I have a question, if Lou is hired are you guys going to give him a chance? Or is he going to be hated from day one and assumed to be a complete failure before we even play a game? Just wondering, and for the record he is probably last of the big names on my wish list.