tkenm356

I totally couldn't, but lucky for me I have a grandmother that lives in East Dundee and she buys houses and rents them out so I could probably rent a house for cheap from her and just commute to the games. Nepotism rocks.

I agree with looking in house to fill the void, but why would we bring in a different minor leaguer to fill the void before Pie gets there when Pie is the best CF option in our minor league system? If we're looking in house we should just put Pie ot there to begin with. That way it'll still be really cheap, and we're just cutting out the middle man of the 3-4 months before he's called up. Seriously, what will 3 months of extra minor league ball do for his game that he hasn't already learned? You also got to think that once he is called up he'll be under a new hitting coach with probably much different philosophy than our minor league hitting coaches that he'll have to adapt to. I just think we should bring him in at the start of the season and be done with the issue. That seems like the most logical thing to me.

I'm definitely making working for the Cubs #1 on my job list whenever I finally graduate. Hopefully trying to get a job with WGN doing production in a booth, or just working a basic job with the Cubs involving game production. That Pitch f/x operator is right up my alley, but I haven't graduated yet, and even if I applied and they gave me the job, my parents would freak out if I didn't graduate. But then again I'd have a job I was going to apply for whenever I do graduate, so... whatev. Thank you for the heads up, whenever I get ready to go out there I'll check out Monster's site.

Woot Woot! Too bad the Sun Belt is a looked-down upon conference

Is there nothing other than Yahoo, CBs, and ESPN? I'm in a Fantasy Football league on myfantasyleague.com and I know there's a crap load more similar to it for football. Are there no fantasy baseball sites like that? Only the major sites like Yahoo, CBS, and ESPN?

I kinda like 'em, personally. And considering they're usually cheaper than the game day authentic jersey's, I might pick one up when they become available and I got the flow

No joke.

I think Sammy's corked bat incident is looming more over his head than the steroid issue. I still have friends who call him Corky. I have never met anyone who calls him Roidy. But I do know people who call Bonds "Barroid Bonds". He'll be under suspicion for steroids, yeah. But I think the corked bat thing has more scrutiny against him than the roids because the corked bat thing actually happened and was proven (even though I'm a sucker and believe his story about it)

Way too much. I think Boggs could out-hit Sammy. Easily... however I was referencing an old Denny's commercial where Tony Gwynn is giving a press conference about how he was traded for Sammy Sosa and they asked what else and he said "Some scrambled eggs" or something. It was to promote their grand slam baseball cards and stuff. I'll never forget the end where he and Sosa are walking down the corridor and Sammy says in his broken english "Don't take it so hard, Tony! I got traded for Wade Boggs, and a side of rice pilaf!" Good times.

perhaps after he craps out at the AS break they'll trade him for Wade Boggs and a side of rice pilaf

I don't like bragging (then agaain I never get the chance), but I've been calling a Jones to Pittsburgh trade since like late October. Package him with Scott Moore, who has no chance to make it on our team since he's blocked by Lee and Ramirez and it'll give Pittsburgh a lefty outfield AND 1B bat that they're looking for. In return, I value Ian Snell, please. Too bad we went and filled out our rotation with hopes instead of outstanding talent (I'm looking at you, Jason Marquis)

I'll be one of maybe 4 people in Mobile, AL rooting for the Bears. I'll be in a sea of Saints fans. And even the non-Saints fans who root for other teams will be rooting for the Saints, it's hard not to around here.

I suggested Emil Brown a while back, and the Royals have said they're willing to part with him or Sanders. Sanders is a broken man and an expensive risk. Brown isn't as bad as some people think He's put up solid numbers the past two years

So how bout that Marquis contract?

I am from the Nu-Mu Chapter. Good eye, haha. Nice to meet ya!

I know you're joking, but I find it funny because I find that that kind of mentality is never a good thing. I used to follow players I liked in that game and found out they sucked. When my brother found out we got Izturis, while most people here made a collective groan, and I told him that he's not really that good, he replied with "What are you talking about he's awesome, every time I start a season in MVP I pick him up first!" It's that kind of mentality that led me to believe that David Delucci was a speedster. Sometimes I hate video game developers for not know anything... then again I fell for it, so... On the topic of this rumor? Blech, blah, bloo, double damn. Please don't come here David Newhan

Something you don't have, but is very interesting that I forgot to mention.... Soriano's OBP last year (647 total AB): .351 Soriano's OBP last year from the lead-off spot (541AB): .368

I think he's being jinxed by the Reds hiring a spokesman whose last name is Butcher

Soriano belongs at the top and not the middle... why? Career situational stats in lead-off, 3rd, and 4th position, the 3 spots where he's hit the most in his career: Lead-Off (2052AB) .291/.340/.544/.884 3rd (602AB) .264/.313/.460/.773 5th (575AB) .271/.316/.520/.836 Now you can say that his stats are stacked in the lead-off spot because he's had more opportunity for success, but he's also had more opportunity for failure, too. He primarily bat 3rd and 5th when he was in Texas, and he went from great in the lead-off for the Yankees to nothing spectacular for the Rangers in the 3/5 holes. And that was while he was hitting in the middle of a lineup that had Young, Teixiera, and Blalock. As soon as he went back to hitting lead-off after he was traded to the Nationals, he flourished, which coincidentally happened to be in the middle of his prime, which may or may not be a reason for the sudden boost in stats, especially wqhile hitting at RFK, predominantly a pitchers park, and also in a Nationals lineup that had no Mark Teixieras or Michael Youngs. If he bats lead-off in front of, what will appear to be, DeRosa, Lee, Ramirez, Jones, while he's hitting in Wrigley, I think he's going to actually end up producing like a $18MM man. Besides, the 5-6-7 sports should be reserved for Barrett-Murton-Jones. Barrett career 5-spot #'s (213AB): .305/.370/.540/.910 - Barrett actually has the best career numbers out of the 3 spot but that's Lee's position, unless you want to have a Barrett-Lee-Ramirez 3-4-5, which isn't likely) Murton career 6-spot #'s (136AB): .375/.437/.551/.989 Jones career 7-spot #'s (422AB): .301/.353/.479/.832 The lineup with who I think will be starting and how I think it should be if thats the case Soriano DeRosa Lee Ramirez Barrett Murton Jones Izturis That's how I feel about it anyways. Soriano at lead-off, I'm a strong advocate for it

I got something big that's close..... IN MY PANTS! OOOOOHHHHHHH SNAP! In your face, Will Carroll! IN THE FACE! Oh, yeah... somehow I think this won't involve the Cubs. I think it'll be Willis, Tejada, or a total sleeper no one would seem to expect, maybe someone like Griffey or Blalock... something along those lines.

We're all doomed. Reds in '07 all the way, we have no chance.

I find it slightly humorous that the scrappy Ronny Cedeno is 0 for 3 in SB attempts, but the bulky Henry Blanco is 2 for 3 in SB attempts

No way he retires. He's potentailly going to put up some of the best career numbers in history, and he wants to call it quits before he can do that? I don't believe it for a second. Once he gets out of New York he'll be ready to play till he's 45 (figuratively speaking)

That measures a players' ability to Quickly Develop Legitimate Zings Omitting Ramifications, right? His 3;40 numbers look good in that regard.

I don't want to sound like a total idiot, but I get what moorecg was saying about OPS+. Iv'e been talking Cubs and Major league baseball on other msesage board almost every day for the past 3 1/2 years and not until about a week after the Soriano signing did I hear people start throwing around OPS+ into debates about a players value. In fact, I'd never heard the stat used before anywhere, so I get what he's saying. After finding out what it was, I wondered why people didn't use it a lot to begin with. That being said, I don't mind Taveras as a stopgap for Pie. I know we all want Church, and he may actually be readily available now that he's got 2 other competitors for his job, but if he costs to much to get and Taveras costs a lot less, I see no harm in trading for him if it doesn't hurt us in talent and prospects. Assuming Pie can be ready to go by the AS Break, we could turn around and trade Taveras off for something we may need to someone who is in need of a speedy CF'er. Who knows? I don't mind picking him up if he's all we can get. I mean 2-3 weeks ago we were reported as trying to get a SS to play center field for us, and that guy woukld've cost us $9MM. If we were that desperate Taveras may not be a bad idea, seeing as how he's making less than $1MM