Anomalied

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I saw Woo Woo at a Paul McCartney concert in October of '05. He's all over town.

We definitely need a backup third baseman. I was hoping that the Cubs would have signed Jeff Cirillo, but he's off the market now. Moore is probably their best option right now. With Ramirez a mainstay at the hot corner for the next five years, the best that Moore can do with this club is a backup job. He's young, plays good defense, and has a bit of pop. Plus, he can't be worse than John Mabry.

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I've been watching game 6 of the '86 World Series (brutal) on ESPN Classic and the news ticker at the bottom said that Girardi has decided to spend next season as a broadcaster.

I just don't understand this. All 3 of these clowns won't be ready for Spring Training, and we'll give them a collective 10 million for doing nothing. Just dump their asses and move on. They can't contribute so stop paying them.

Oh, please. He had one good year and made one good catch and now you all want him. If any club gives him a long-term deal, they'll regret it. I'd much rather have Pierre or even Pie.

Are you honestly arguing against Ichiro on this team? The man is the best leadoff hitter in the game and picks up 200+ hits every season, not to mention the stolen bases and great defense.

I'd also like to know this. Do they count the people that tune in for only a part of the game? For example, I know I usually couldn't make it past the 3rd inning this year.

Here's my idea for the 2007 Cubs with the new payroll taken into effect. Sign Alfonso Soriano for 4 years / 60 million. Try him out in centerfield and put Theriot at second base. If he can't cut it, put him at second and call up Pie for center. Sign Jason Schmidt for 3 years / 40 million. He gets 13/13/14. Sign Vincente Padilla for 2 years / 12 million as your fourth starter. Sign Frank Catalanotto for 2 years / 6 million as a utility outfielder. Restructure Aramis Ramirez's deal so that he stays in Cubbie blue for the rest of his contract. Swing him a few extra million. Extend Carlos Zambrano, upping his salary to 15 million / 5 years. Resign Kerry Wood to an incentive-based deal, around the range of 3 million. Start Sean Marshall, Angel Guzman, Juan Mateo, Ryan O'Malley, etc at Iowa. Bring them up if/when Prior and Wood get hurt. Stock the bench with rookies. Cedeno covers the middle infield while Moore plays the corners. Soto (hopefully) can be a younger Blanco. Hitters 1B: Derrek Lee ($13,000,000) 2B: Ryan Theriot ($350,000) 3B: Aramis Ramirez ($13,000,000) SS: Cesar Izturis ($4,500,000) LF: Matt Murton ($350,000) CF: Alfonso Soriano ($15,000,000) RF: Jacque Jones ($5,000,000) C: Michael Barrett ($4,000,000) OF: Angel Pagan ($350,000) OF: Frank Catalanotto ($3,000,000) IF: Ronny Cedeno ($350,000) IF: Scott Moore ($350,000) C: Geovany Soto ($350,000) Total: $59,600,000 Pitchers SP: Carlos Zambrano ($15,000,000) SP: Jason Schmidt ($13,000,000) SP: Rich Hill ($350,000) SP: Vincente Padilla ($6,000,000) SP: Mark Prior ($4,500,000) SP/RP: Carlos Marmol ($350,000) RP: David Aardsma ($350,000) RP: Will Ohman ($1,000,000) RP: Ryan Dempster ($5,000,000) SU: Scott Eyre ($3,000,000) SU: Bob Howry ($3,000,000) CP: Kerry Wood ($3,000,000) Total: $54,550,000 Grand Total: $114,150,000

Let me have another crack at this. 1. Resign Juan Pierre. 2. Sign Jason Schmidt. 3. Sign Vincente Padilla. 4. Trade Mark Prior, Cesar Izturis, and Sean Marshall to the Baltimore Orioles for Miguel Tejada. (If we’re out of it by the All-Star break, trade Pierre and bring up Pie. Especially if he's tearing up AAA.) Starting Lineup 1. Juan Pierre (CF) 2. Matt Murton (LF) 3. Derrek Lee (1B) 4. Miguel Tejada (SS) 5. Aramis Ramirez (3B) 6. Jacque Jones (RF) 7. Michael Barrett © 8. Ryan Theriot (2B) Starting Rotation 1. Carlos Zambrano 2. Jason Schmidt 3. Vincente Padilla 4. Rich Hill 5. Carlos Marmol/Angel Guzman/Juan Mateo (battle it out in Spring Training) Bullpen 1. Carlos Marmol/Angel Guzman/Juan Mateo (whichever didn’t make the rotation) 2. Michael Wuertz 3. Will Ohman 4. David Aardsma 5. Scott Eyre 6. Bob Howry 7. Ryan Dempster Bench 1. Ronny Cedeno (SS/2B) 2. Scott Moore (1B/3B) 3. Angel Pagan (OF) 4. Frank Catalanotto (OF) 5. Geovany Soto ©

Starting Lineup Should be sufficient. There's no way that Pierre could be as bad as he was at the beginning of this year. Theriot is a great contact hitter. Lee and Ramirez are deadly in the middle of the lineup and Jones is good for 25 dingers and 75 RBI. Barrett is one of the best offensive catchers in the bigs while Murton has a high OBP and Izturis could rebound from injury and end up having a great year. 1. Juan Pierre (CF) 2. Ryan Theriot (2B) 3. Derrek Lee (1B) 4. Aramis Ramirez (3B) 5. Jacque Jones (RF) 6. Michael Barrett © 7. Matt Murton (LF) 8. Cesar Izturis (SS) Starting Rotation Zambrano is a potential Cy Young winner, while Schmidt is a formidable number two. I've got a feeling that '07 could be Prior's return to form. Rich Hill has just been plain filthy lately, hopefully improving next season. Dempster has shown that perhaps his 2005 season in the closer role was a fluke. I'm advocating a return to the rotation. If he fails, substitute Marshall, Guzman, or Mateo. 1. Carlos Zambrano 2. Jason Schmidt 3. Mark Prior 4. Rich Hill 5. Ryan Dempster Bullpen Marmol is a young strikeout pitcher, good for short or long relief. Ohman is your lefty specialist, while Novoa is a durable righty. Eyre, Howry, and Aardsma handle the 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively. 1. Carlos Marmol 2. Michael Wuertz 3. Will Ohman 4. Roberto Novoa 5. Scott Eyre 6. Bobby Howry 7. David Aardsma (closer) Bench Cedeno plays the 'Neifi' role, while Moore is the younger Mabry. Pagan is an good defensive outfielder with pop. Catalanotto has had a great year with the Jays, may be expensive. Soto is a cheaper Blanco. 1. Ronny Cedeno (SS/2B) 2. Scott Moore (1B/3B) 3. Angel Pagan (OF) 4. Frank Catalanotto (OF) 5. Geovany Soto ©