Jon

I'm going to post my reports of today in pieces. Downers: I walked into the building exactly at 9:00, over 90 minutes later than I planned on getting there. But because of the weather, the ballroom was still open for the Dusty and Hendry session. Z couldn't make it. And even worse, Serena was sick the whole day. Hopefully she'll be able to go tomorrow. Misc stuff: Ernie Banks was walking buy right after I bought a few 8 x 10 photos. I should his hand and because I was still holding the photos, he kind of grabbed my wrist to see who the pic was of. I immediately said "A-Ram" without thinking but then said "Ramirez" a second later. He replied by saying "Ah. What a beautiful swing that man has." I just replied with "yup!" It was nice to shake his hand. I also got another autograph from Hendry and complimented him some more. He seems like a really nice guy. MacPhail also seems like a good guy, but I'll post about that session...now. I'm going to post the sessions I took notes at (Meet the Management, Coaches' Corner, and the MacPhail session) in reverse order. My notes: -The Cubs' projected payroll is $104 (not necessarily at the beginning of the season if Hendry doesn't want to spend the money right now). -Would rather call this session Baseball "Progress" -There's a new 10 year extension with the minor leagues. It's a great way to market the game, especially going into the 21st century. -There is a brand new umpires' agreement for 5 or 6 years. They wanted to avoid the previous situation when umps threatened to leave. -Last week, they signed a new agreement with the MLBPA which will really push forward new technology on the internet. He called it "one stop shopping." -Praised the deal with XM Radio -Increased attendance not just for first year of new stadiums. Attendance for 22/30 clubs went up. Praised the parity of having half of the teams still in the playoff race late. -On the new steroids agreement: much better agreement than before. Players can be tested up to 5 times in a season, not including the offseason. New tests including testing for precursors (stuff from GNC while still legal). Penalties stiffer. It's a joing agreement which is great. Unfortunately, they don't test for emphetamines. It's not perfect. The last agreement had a positive impact. In terms of testing, it's as good as a policy as in any sport. -The Cubs really did make progress last season. The last 10 games came down to bad hitting and two blown leads. Increased win total. First back-to-back winning seasons in 32 years. Most combined wins in consecutive seasons in 58 years. -Praised the minors. 4 of 6 teams made the playoffs, two won championships. A lot of individual titles. 16 players in big leagues from farm system in past few seasons, 4th highest total in big leagues. Oakland and Toronto two teams in front. -Excited about having a lot of young players in the big leagues. -The steroid agreement was a joint agreement and will not expire when the CBA does. -If hockey goes to revenue sharing/salary cap, more pressure will be placed on MLB teams to do the same. -Revenue from luxury tax split in the following ways: 25% goes to the Baseball Tomorrow fund (helps build parks, etc)., 25% goes to promoting baseball in countries that do not have organized high school baseball, 50% goes to the players' benefits program (which takes pressure off the teams to fund the program). -Has financial summaries for every MLB team in a binder. Projects AZ to actually lower their payroll by $14 million this year. -The market was not as good as it was last year. Better off spending money last year instead of this year. High contracts will fluxuate (up and down years). Half of the high contracts came out of NY this offseason. -Thought about having 8 divisions of 4 teams to help out situations like the AL East (Baltimore, Toronto, and TB). In order to help out those teams, MLB would have to have a salary cap/revenue sharing plan. Doesn't know if they're ever going to get to that. There has been some talk about expanding the playoffs but he doesn't like the idea (nor did most people in the room). -They've tried telling players to spend more time signing autographs in the park but that usually only lasts a week or so. They have to keep reminding the players because they know that the #1 thing fans want is access to the players. -Doesn't think Washington will become a major market team. The novelty will wear off. Other franchises will probably move down the road. Studies have already been done. -Mark Peel's question regarding why they have a special waivers process after September 1st: They went from 3 to 4 waiver periods because waivers were being asked for too far in advance and players didn't know how long things would take. The players want the best opportunity to stay in the majors and having 4 process helps, even though they're all basically the same (that question took MacPhail by surprise). -They want to be aggressive with the renovations, especially with the proposed new building. They have to provide new amenities without taking away the charm. The Trib did a great job putting in a ton of money into Wrigley when the bought the team. They have to keep the charm but stay abreast with other venues. They wouldn't be planning the new building next to Wrigley if they didn't think Wrigley was going to last another 50 years. -In terms of steroids, players can turn to the management or to the MLBPA if they want help getting off the stuff. The program is called the Employee Assistance Program. -Not opposed to cross-promoting with other local teams but it hasn't really come up. -Was initially concerned about Wrigley closing when the first brick fell. The Cubs didn't interpret it correctly (as in it being a major stuctural issue) until the 2nd brick fell. Feels good about the netting. Less concerned the 2nd time the brick fell because of the LA Times reporter who talked to the building commissioner and reported false information to him. Nobody in the organization will knowingly expose fans to danger. You can never guarantee anything so they want to put up seemless netting, including to prevent false reports about falling bricks like the one that happened last season. -In terms of top 5 minor leaguers with the highest ceiling, said he's not 100% sure that Guzman will be ready. Not in the top 5 and they can't count on him. He was ready, though, in 2003 and that's a shame. Dope will be 21 next year and has the opportunity to be a very good middle of the lineup type guy. Was very high on him. Was also very high on Pie. He watched in in a 4 game series and said the guy can do it all. Harvery and Pinto are two more in his top 5. Andy's sleeper pick is Sergio Mitre. He should have been at AAA last year and has developed a "plus, plus sinker." Hopefully he'll continue to develop. -With the new revenue, their projected payroll is $104 million. They want to improve the team 12 months out of the year, though, so it may not all be spent now. -The reason for the Jimmy Buffett concert is that they keep 100% of the profit and don't have to share. The neighborhood is helped out a lot, as well, since the schools will be getting a good deal of money from it. -Hates long term deals. The holdup with Sosa a few years ago was that they didn't want to go more than 4 years (Katz originally pitched 7 years). Agents are working the system right now pretty well and are leaking information to the press. Thinks Beltran actually wanted to go to the Yankees to blend in and not the Mets. Wants to keep committments as short as possible. Pat Hughes chimed in: You have to look at how old a player is going to be at the end of a deal. Mentioned Damien Miller as an example. -As suspected, Wrigley Field expansion does NOT come out of the payroll. -The Glauss signing, as well as Beltre, definitely has affected their negotiations with Ramirez. -With Comcast, they got the broadcasting rights back. -Yankees' projected payroll is $208 million (that's over $8 a player). -Boston's projected payroll is $127 million. -Stopped selling tickets at the convention a few years ago to prevent scalpers from getting the order forms. -The added night games will go towards some summer days but some will be used for April/September. Hates the excuse of it being too hot out during the summer. Players want a routine more than anything else. They don't like the different start times. -Loves Moises Alou but it's better to let a guy go two years early than two years too late. -Clement did a great job. -Thinks the team is a lot like the Cardinals a year ago in terms of the offseason. $$$ is going to extending deals and arbitration. -The Trib is not against eating money from Sosa's contract. They let Hendry do what he wants and pride is not a factor. They want what is best for the team. -Like hitters and pitchers, good GMs bat around .800. Bad GMs bat around .600. They don't worry about what people think of them. -Moneyball question- Pat Hughes: Beane had three horses on his pitching staff that made some of his other signings seem smarter than they really were. Andy: Billy Beane was the first player that he ever traded for. You can't be afraid to look at every available tool (i.e. stats) out there. Gives him credit for positively chaning the game. Stats are very relevant in the minor, especially at the higher levels but you can't organize drafts around stats from college/high school/independent ball. A lot of what was written about in Moneyball is used by the Cubs. -There can't be any contraction until the CBA expires. Some cities are really struggling. Contraction does make a lot of sense from an objective standpoint but there would be a big fight with the players and the players' union. Less is more when it comes to the number of teams. -The White Sox Spring Training games on Comcast aren't going to bring in much money. They're just a filler for hockey. Okay, that took a while. I need to eat, shower, and relax for a while before I start my next writeup. They aren't going to be this long, fortunately.

Just so you know, I heard that before the convention on 720 at about 2:20. It was not at the convention. Also, do you know where Zambrano was? He was supposed to be at the sportscentral thing but he didn't show up. Oh, I'm sorry. I was reading through things rather quickly. Hendry did stress how Dubois needs a shot, though, so we'll see. Apparently his flight was delayed. With the terrible weather, I just hope he can make it in for tomorrow.

Most attendees are repeaters, and the Cubs stage most things in the same rooms every year; they just figure everyone knows where everything is by now. Get a few Conventions under your belt, and you'll be able to walk it blindfold. Just wait for tomorrow's autograph lines. They handle rowdy fans in the bleachers better than they handle those things. Mark- I actually went through the crowd to another reason later on. It only took between 5 and 10 minutes. I'm glad I wandered over there at 4:00 just to see what it looked like. Rais- Thank you, thank you. You can stop applauding now. I don't have that much to add, especially because I need to get some sleep tonight (I'll probably be getting up at 5:00 or 5:15). And who knows what the el is going to be like with this snow. I was delayed at Jarvis for nearly 25 minutes because the switches at Howard were malfunctioning. Anyways, there isn't a whole lot to add for the Convention, especially since I need to be getting to bed soon. Since Serena couldn't make it in to the ballroom, they were kind enough to hold two seats for Mark_R and I in the first row for Sports Central. The snow prevented Fergie, Ryno, Barrett, and Lee from being able to attend, but it was a good show. I don't really recall Dusty saying that Holla was going to get the majority of the time. He really didn't want to say anything about the lineup. Baker may have said that Dubois was going to have to prove himself, but that's his standard language. I don't think it meant a whole lot. I'm sure a good deal of peopled listened in online or over the radio. Just to clarify, Dempster did indeed purposely trip as he was walking up the stairs to the mic. He fell pretty hard, too. He is quite the character, though. It takes someone special to out-talk Todd Walker. Oh, and I grabbed Hendry's autograph because of our great seats in the first row. He seemed like a pretty nice guy and was certainly in a good mood. He asked a lot of people their names and where they were from (not me, of course). Santo looked great and was certainly in high spirits. On tap for tomorrow: Hopefully arrive plenty early for Meet the Management and grab a bunch of good seats. I'll certainly have plenty of time to do homework (and then some). My only other real plan in terms of events is the Zambrano photograph line. I'm going to have to see how early I have to get in it (especially since it'll probably be long from previous photograph sessions). Oh, and Glenallen Hill is still freakin' huge. I'll edit as it is appropriate.

There was 0.1 left on the clock. That's seven in a row!!!

GORDON WINS IT!!!

Pip is lovin' it. 86-86 with 56.6 left.

Hinrich from waaaaaaaaay downtown to give the Bulls the lead.

Can someone please cover Thomas?

Knicks get to play them in Chicago on Sat. Poor Knicks. They go to NY for a noon game on Monday, I believe.. That's the next one televised on the superstation.

Wow. That's all I have to say.

It's on WGN Chicagoland. And the Bulls are about to go up by 30. Amazing.

He should be after the last 15 seconds of the half. Kirk had to throw up a three as the shot clock was winding down, missed it, the 76ers got the rebound, pushed it up court fast, had a 1-on-1 break, Kirk forced him to miss the shot, took it up the court, drove the lane, and dished it off to Curry with a second remaining in the half for the dunk. Impressive.

What a way for Kirk to finish the half. :shock:

Eric Piatkowski sighting! And he drained a big three late to put it away. Those guys are really moving the ball around well. I'm impressed.

It's always nice to beat the Jazz. Just found out that my brother went to the game with a friend of his. Must have had good seats.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen. Well his Summer numbers sure are quite impressive. http://www.baseballamerica.com/cgi-bin/statsfindplayer.pl?player=valdez%2C+raul Impressive and crazy good, yeah. Do you know if he went down there specifically to pitch out of the pen? I read one game report that referred to him as the emergency starter.

Well, if they're still as excited about him to dedicate half of a brief article on Cubs.com to Raul after two additional years were added on to his already mature age, they must like what they've seen.

I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct? I'd guess that the more recent age has been adjusted for the truth. When was he signed again? By the way, according to Cubanball.com, he was invited on November 22nd.

I know there was a brief discussion about him in the Walker thread, so I thought I'd post this from Cubs.com: I believe someone said before that he was 25. Does anyone know which age is correct?

Both are accessed using the "Profile" link at the top of the page. Once there, to change your name go to the "Registering" tab of the profile screen and you can change your screen name (I only ask that you keep it clean and give us a clue who you are). To change whether or not you see sigs, go to the "Profile" tab, then click on "Profile Settings" on the left side, then on "Reading". There you'll be able to set whether you see avatars, signatures and images. At least for me, it doesn't look like it allows you to change your name under the registering tab.

Dear Jim Hendry: Thank you. You rock. Gratefully yours, Jon Davis P.S. Get some sleep!

Here are four clips from last year: Zambrano's HR against the Astros Alou's HR against the Yankees Karros' HR against the Yankees Gonzo's GWHR against the Cards I apologize if the video is choppy. It may just be my computer, though, as some of the codecs are a little messed up.

Hmm..........you're welcome........I think. I'll see if I have any more memorable plays later.

Thanks. I didn't think it was an RBI, but then again, it was Joe's elbow to the first baseman's glove right when he was tagged out that allowed Ricky to score.

No, sorry. Don't even remember it. I wonder if Girardi got credit for an RBI on that play. Anyone know?