CubColtPacer

Couple of things-Arkansas has to lose twice to get Auburn into the SEC title game. Also, again that wouldn't get much controversy-people would just give Ohio State-Michigan their rematch and claim they were the best 2 teams all along, and everyone else just proved it by losing. I think it would be better for BCS chaos if as many 1 loss teams stayed as possible.

I still think the big difference between Aramis and Lee is that Lee would only have 1 year to prove himself. Lee knew if he got hurt in 2006, then his money might go way down-so he took a deal that would be below his market value (can you imagine if Lee had a good year this year how much his market value would be also?) Aramis knew if he had a bad year, he still had 2 more years at great money to prove himself before FA, and if he had a good year, then he could hit FA now and cash in. It's much, much less of a gamble for Aramis because he makes over 10 million either way-which makes the amount of money needed to get him to agree to an extension much, much more last year.

Agreed. I think so too mainly because the game is in Morgantown. I don't see Rutgers pulling it out on the road. We'll see though. Should be a good game. It's the toughest conference in college football! :wink: The Big East is the only major coference that has each team play each other. Auburn doesn't play Tennessee and Ohio State didn't play Wisconsin. That's very frustrating for me. If Rutgers beats WV, that means they and Ohio State (if they win) will be the only teams that beat 1 loss teams. Yeah, I see Rutgers moving all the way up to #8 thanks to the gurus and their preseason/old boys polls. The Pac 10 also now has every team playing each other.

Am I reading that right? Why would the Cardinals give him a 2/18 to 2/20 deal when they could just give him the 10 million now and see how he does next year? When they said that his average salary is going to be about the same as the option, that just doesn't make much sense to me.

Soriano Zito Schmidt Lee Mats :pukel: I have no idea what this is. It's the board of FA's that the BBTN guys put up on Sportscenter. I wasn't even really paying attention and about 5 times I stopped and thought "hey, what he just said is completely false". That's what I get for not flipping over after the Rutgers-Louisville game. Really? I thought it was actually ok for once. Gammons described Carlos Lee as not a great hitter but not a good, for he has not even hit a 900 OPS once in his career. Schmidt they said with his velocity changing could be a risk. For Daisuke, they described his great stuff, and then said the main concern is his number of IP. Zito, the main thing they talked about was his durability. The only reason they put Soriano above everyone else is his flexibility to play different positions, and his value for many different clubs because of that, along with his physical skills. It was all basic information, but they seemed to cover it pretty well for the uninformed.

I would agree that it would have been very hard to sign Ramirez to a new deal last offseason. Here's the problem. Ramirez knows that if he has a good year, he likely will get 15+ on the open market, and if he has a bad year, he can take the 11+ for the next 2 seasons. Also, he knows that his next contract will be one of his last huge ones-if he signs a 5 year extension after last year, he won't come out of the extension until he's 33. He's not going to take 5/60 under that scenario because he knows with 1 good year he can get more, and even if he doesn't get more then, he has 2 more years at 11 per that he can prove himself again to get more. It would have taken probably 5/70 or more to get him to sign last offseason, and now it probably has gone up to 5/75 or 5/80.

I'm a huge Tyrus fan, but he didn't look good at all when the game was within somewhat of striking distance. Just an all-around bad game. Saturday's game is a huge game for the Bulls before the circus trip. I can't wait for Saturday's game. I'm stuck in TN for the whole year, and this is the first and one of the only times that I'll be able to see the Pacers. They are a much different team from last year-they want to get out and run with half their team different now. They played horribly last night without O'Neal, as he sat out with an ankle sprain-so we'll see how he does, especially after the team plays tomorrow night at home against the Magic. They are 3-2, but I expect them to struggle in the early going of the season as they get used to playing with each other, so my expectations going into a game like the at Chicago game are not high right now. Good luck, and I hope for a great game.

LOL-I was just thinking the same thing about Notre Dame, and it's the same list except of course that USC beats Cal, and Arkansas comes back from losing one of their last 3 games to beat Florida in the SEC title game, and either ND sneaks in front of Auburn or maybe Auburn would lose.

I think Ohio State will win only because I have a hard time seeing Michigan scoring a decent amount of points. It will be very much a defensive game though it looks like, and when it becomes that type of game where 1 play could change the game anybody could win.

I think alot of factors were at work. 1) I heard the Cubs wanted him to take some type of alcohol abuse class, they had a temporary conscious I guess. 2) While there is no salary cap for the Cubs, there is the Tribune budget, a form of the cap. Had Hendry gave Furcal the top dollar maybe he couldn't have filled out the roster with the Neifi Perez's, Rusch's etc. So Hendry see's Furcal's demands and backs off over a few million per season. He then drops nearly 7 million on Rusch/Neifi/Miller. 7 Million. For spots that could have been matched performance wise by players from the minors. Ryan Theirot could have done the job of Perez, any arm from AAA could have done better than Rusch. Hendry is consumed with properly allocated a roster with these role players, etc. I'm assuming he is thinking that Miller will be his "Chris Carpenter" reclamation project. I have an extreme objection to his GM philosophy. IMO, you go out and secure as many top players as possible. Then fill in the gaps from the minors. The problem with that theory about going out and acquiring those role players after failing to get Furcal is that most of that money went to Rusch and Neifi, and they both signed a month before the Furcal situation happened. Hendry had a number for Furcal, and the contract went above that. BTW, as much as it hurt last season, I'm still happy that Furcal wasn't signed for that. He doesn't put big enough numbers-if the team can use that extra money to go out and get an actual star this year, then it will be much more helpful then Furcal for two more years.

Where'd you here that? That's a great contract-I thought they would have to guarantee him at least 2.5 million.

could be, which would be a shame. If that happened, I would hope for a total clusterhump in the SEC plus Cal beating USC, USC beating ND, and Texas losing the Big XII game. Then you'l have a bunch of TWO loss teams to sort through (or open the door for Boise St., though they'll never get love from the pollsters) No, then you'd have an Ohio State-Michigan rematch.

I actually think so too-that's why I wanted Louisville to win last week. I think West Virginia's offense is really hard to stop, so the only great way to beat them is to have an explosive offense yourself. I knew Rutgers or Pitt would have a hard time beating WV, but they would have a chance beating an equally good but more traditional Louisville. Won't that be a great scene though? That game is not till December 2nd, which I think is the same day as the conference championship games-everything coming down to one day.

When Aram is a Dodger next week my point will be more clear. What exactly is your point? That the likely 2-3 million dollars at the most are what kept Aramis from resigning? Or are you saying Hendry totally ignored Aramis to get this done? 2-3 Million kept us from Furcal last year. I will say I think Hendry has been negilgent in getting this deal done for a while now. Had he approached Aram in Sept and offered 4/80 I'm sure Aram would have signed. IMO I think there was a attitude that Aram could not command over 15/per from any team. They failed to account for the fact that it was A. A thin FA class. B. Aramis was the only 3B worth a damn. Now they should just bite the bullet and give him 16-17-18 per..whatever it takes. Is it overpaying, of course, but it is well worth it. If he offered 4/80 in September, of course Aramis would have taken it-and we would have all called Hendry crazy. Are you sure you typed that right? 20 a year is really, really high.

#3 Fair or not, I doubt the pollsters put them anywhere near that high. I see them lower in the top 10, somewhere around 7 or 8 probably. What that says about the voters? Well, everyone can decide that for themselves. Let's go Rutgers! Finish this one out!

at least ahead of WVU, right? I would think they would have to go ahead of both Louisville and WVU and into the top 10-how far they would actually go, I don't know. I've just never remembered a game like this where somebody could jump from 15th into the top 10 or maybe even the top 5 based on a game in November. Usually, by the time of November, you have to have the teams in front of you lose to move up-but Rutgers would have to move at least with the 1 loss teams if not higher.

The question I'm thinking is, if Rutgers win tonight (and that's still very much in doubt) and a poll was conducted tomorrow, where would they fit in the poll?

Are people watching this game? This is getting really interesting. 25-22 Louisville after 3, and they are getting the ball back. The thing is though, contrary to the score, the Rutgers D has come to play-they played well in the first half, but get let down by their special teams several times. Second half, they've been great-can they continue to hold? It will be a great 4th quarter.

The only big difference tonight has been the special teams so far. The Louisville kick return for the TD, the extra point blocked that turned into a 2 point conversion, the fake punt that went for a long gain, and the short punt by Louisville that got nullified by the roughing the punter. I can't believe with all that they are somehow within 11 at halftime, but I don't even know if that's close enough to be effective in the second half with Louisville getting the ball after halftime.

It might be, but it might not. If it gets to tomorrow morning (or mid-day at the latest to give a little time to inform different places), then we probably won't hear anything till Sunday night at the earliest-because that meants that Seibu would have left for the weekend without formally accepting.

?? Do you think Hendry doesn't have time for both? Figure Miller at the least got between 1-2 million, while this isn't alot, what is the gap right now in regards to re-signing Aram? 4-5 million? He needs to hold off on these recovery projects and take care of buisness ASAP. Get Aram signed now. If Aram doesn't get re-signed, right or wrong, it won't be due to available funds, but rather an estimate by the Cubs front office of how much he is worth. Wade Miller's signing will have nothing to do with Ramirez's contract.

Perfect example of using stats as a drunk would use a light pole. In 2004 Aramis was 4th in OPS in MLB for 3rd baseman In 2005 Aramis was 4th in OPS in MLB for 3rd baseman In 2006 Aramis was 5th in OPS in MLB for 3rd baseman. He is top five 3rd baseman in baseball. Pay him like one. While I support the Cubs going up to Aramis's demands of 5/75, the Cubs offer of 5/70 would be paying him like one of the top 5 3rd baseman in baseball. In fact, it would be probably one of the top 2-3 salaries for that position in the league. So it's not like the Cubs aren't offering him a fair deal-but they do need to overpay him.

He's actually performed at a high level before, none of those guys have. Career ERA+ of 112. You might be lucky to get 100 innings of 90 ERA+ out of any of those other options. Miller might be able to give you 150 inning at 100-110, and it wouldn't be ridiculous if he gave you 190 innings at 120 ERA+. What makes Miller more likely to be good than any of the younger guys? The Cubs made the playoffs the last time he threw a full season, he had major rotator cuff surgery, and he was terrible in his brief stint in the majors this year. Miller's terrible end of 2006 was still much better than any of the young guys besides Hill end of 2006. Nope. Miller: 21.2 IP, 1.71 WHIP, 1.11 K/BB, 1.66 HR/9, .232/.376/.402/.771 line against Marshall: 125.2 IP, 1.52 WHIP, 1.30 K/BB, 1.43 HR/9, .270/.356/.444/.795 line against Marmol: 77 IP, 1.69 WHIP, 1.00 K/BB, 1.63 HR/9, .250/.386/.482/.862 line against Guzman: 56 IP, 1.88 WHIP, 1.62 K/BB, 1.44 HR/9, .308/.416/.507/.915 line against Mateo: 45.2 IP, 1.62 WHIP, 1.52 K/BB, 1.18 HR/9, .288/.376/.475/.841 line against Ryu: 15 IP, 1.93 WHIP, 2.83 K/BB, 4.26 HR/9, .348/.419/.758/1.160 line against You didn't even put ERA on there or any of its derivitives-while not the end all be all, it still deserves to be on there as much as the other stats. Miller had the best ERA by far, and he had the best OPS overall with everybody but Marshall, who he had a slight edge with (and Marshall was known last year for keeping those other peripherals down by shutting down the opponent for a few innings and bunching all the hits and walks into one inning-which still makes for not a great pitcher). If all 6 were to start and get a full season, then it likely would happen that 1 or 2 of the young guys might beat Miller. They only fill one spot though-and Miller is the most likely of any one of them individually to do well next year.

He's actually performed at a high level before, none of those guys have. Career ERA+ of 112. You might be lucky to get 100 innings of 90 ERA+ out of any of those other options. Miller might be able to give you 150 inning at 100-110, and it wouldn't be ridiculous if he gave you 190 innings at 120 ERA+. What makes Miller more likely to be good than any of the younger guys? The Cubs made the playoffs the last time he threw a full season, he had major rotator cuff surgery, and he was terrible in his brief stint in the majors this year. Miller's terrible end of 2006 was still much better than any of the young guys besides Hill end of 2006.

I really liked the movement on Wade's pitches at the end of the year, so let me echo the sentiment that as long as he wasn't more than 2-4 million dollars (with 4 stretching it) then this was a good sign.