third eye

That's pretty bad logic. I hate when people say "who cares about giving him a big contract, it's not our money!" We want the team to win. The team has a certain amount of money they can spend to do that. Every time they spend money that's less they can spend on other players. p.s. leadoff hitter still isn't a position Yep, who cares how much of a contract we gave Marquis in 2007? Not our money, and he did give slightly above league average performance for a starter and plenty of innings. It's not like his contract has stopped us from pursuing other options in the years since then.

i don't really care if he's a douchebag to people outside of the clubhouse. by all acounts he's become a very good teammate and a good clubhouse guy. I don't really see his being a douche an issue unless it's inside the clubhouse. He also shouldn't argue vehemently at 1B either. Haha, I don't know that Lou has it in him anymore to take a player down that way.

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with ownership at all. Hendry has his budget and he knows what he can spend. I think he just needs to move Marquis, 1) to free up money and 2) complete the package for Peavy. We also know that Hendry doesn't like leaks. It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Marquis has to go if Peavy is coming here. Besides that, Hendry has acknowledged that teams have expressed interest in Marquis. Hendry is generally recognized as a straight shooter. Towers knows that Hendry is offering up the best package he possibly can and Towers is pretty much stuck and will have to take it. At the same time, Hendry isn't going to shortchange Towers. Hendry likes to be able to negotiate with these same guys in future deals, so this will probably end up being a deal where everyone walks away about as happy as they can be given the situation. I'm still pretty convinced that a deal is already in place and Hendry just needs to find a taker for Marquis. That's pretty much how I feel there may be a player or two that are yet to be determined but the main pieces are probably set in place it is just a matter of time before Hendry makes it a go. I fully expect Marquis to be gone within the first 2 days of the winter meetings next week, and a Peavy deal short after. Marquis really isn't going to be that hard to move if we eat about 3 million of his salary and make the base around 6 million. Hendry loses some leverage if he trades for Peavy first. Granted, most of us would probably take a sack of balls for Marquis, but Hendry isn't so dumb to recognize that he can probably get more for Marquis if he doesn't necessarily "have to be traded". Another question is is trading Marquis going to be purley a salary dump, or will it have to net the other components to land Peavy. I'm pretty sure if somebody called Hendry right now and said they'd take Marquis off his hands but wouldn't give the Cubs anybody in return, Hendry would immediately do it. This assumes that they would take on all of Marquis' salary. I think it is pretty obvious that no one would take the full ~10mm he'll be getting. But even if the Cubs can get 5-6mm of salary relief, it can be doable. My guess is, when the market gets set (given the current FA climate), that there would be a pretty decent demand for a veteran #3/4 starter who can get a team slightly better than league average ERA+ with 200 innings for around 5-6 million with only a 1 year commitment.

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with ownership at all. Hendry has his budget and he knows what he can spend. I think he just needs to move Marquis, 1) to free up money and 2) complete the package for Peavy. We also know that Hendry doesn't like leaks. It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out Marquis has to go if Peavy is coming here. Besides that, Hendry has acknowledged that teams have expressed interest in Marquis. Hendry is generally recognized as a straight shooter. Towers knows that Hendry is offering up the best package he possibly can and Towers is pretty much stuck and will have to take it. At the same time, Hendry isn't going to shortchange Towers. Hendry likes to be able to negotiate with these same guys in future deals, so this will probably end up being a deal where everyone walks away about as happy as they can be given the situation. I'm still pretty convinced that a deal is already in place and Hendry just needs to find a taker for Marquis. That's pretty much how I feel there may be a player or two that are yet to be determined but the main pieces are probably set in place it is just a matter of time before Hendry makes it a go. I fully expect Marquis to be gone within the first 2 days of the winter meetings next week, and a Peavy deal short after. Marquis really isn't going to be that hard to move if we eat about 3 million of his salary and make the base around 6 million. Hendry loses some leverage if he trades for Peavy first. Granted, most of us would probably take a sack of balls for Marquis, but Hendry isn't so dumb to recognize that he can probably get more for Marquis if he doesn't necessarily "have to be traded". Another question is is trading Marquis going to be purley a salary dump, or will it have to net the other components to land Peavy. I'm pretty sure if somebody called Hendry right now and said they'd take Marquis off his hands but wouldn't give the Cubs anybody in return, Hendry would immediately do it. This assumes that they would take on all of Marquis' salary. I think it is pretty obvious that no one would take the full ~10mm he'll be getting. But even if the Cubs can get 5-6mm of salary relief, it can be doable. My guess is, when the market gets set (given the current FA climate), that there would be a pretty decent demand for a veteran #3/4 starter who can get a team slightly better than league average ERA+ with 200 innings for around 5-6 million with only a 1 year commitment.

Enough to make that position materially worse than Theriot full time? Do you really think he would be that much of a defensive downgrade over an additional 100 or so innings? Yes, I remember that he was a butcher on a couple of occasions. But I wouldn't expect that to project out over the season. If it does, Lou would obviously show no hesitation in replacing him in defense situations.

Hey, I got an idea: If you are going to post rumors on the Internet, GROW THICKER SKIN. Oh boo hoo some mean people criticized you. :cry: i get worse at other forums daily. i just found it curious that a forum where i didn't post the rumor was talking poop about me. having said that, go ahead, say what you like. I have been called way worse at much better forums. Oooh, dodged the Howry filter. For the record, Chad, I agree that you are getting unwarranted crap here. I'm not sure why this has become such a big deal, or why you are continuing the fight on this thread.

Haha, he does look like Shaggy.

Was this intended to be a double entendre?

no please no if this turns into frigging lolcats i'm locking it BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The walrus pics were great, but I think my internet comedic standards have changed since the dude on that other message board posted pictures of his "girl"friend posing with his car and dog. Those made me simultaneously laugh an cry. You got something that can top that? Edit: D'oh! Modzilla's mad. NM.

I think thats Lous way of sending a message to Jim, that message being stop dicking around and get me a lefthanded hitter. The fixation on handedness in this organization makes my eyes bleed. Didn't really hear much about it during the season when the team was scoring runs on everybody. But the playoff failure against "good' RHP only rekindled the fire from last offseason.

Kinda shocked to hear it. He was my favorite pitcher on those bad mid 90s teams when I first started watching the Cubs. He was also the first guy to win a game after the 0-14 start in 97. Oh that is really sad to hear. :( Condolences to his friends and family. I used to really enjoy watching him and Jim Bullinger pitch on that 95 team that got off to the surprisingly strong start after the strike.

Obviously assuming sarcasm here, but what do your (or PECOTA's) statistical projections have as his ceiling? Why do you assume sarcasm? I think Fontenot could be an everyday starter at second for us. He's got just as much pop (if not more) than DeRosa, is better at OBP, and is better defensively. Let Fontenot start at second and put DeRo back in his uber-sub roll. In limited at bats against RHP, yeah, I can see how he could be called undervalued. But with a 66 OPS+ against LHP, I don't see him being an everyday player (and that may not have been what Meph meant). Granted, he hasn't been given much of a chance against lefties, so maybe there is more to it than I am seeing. I am a big fan of his in the role he played this year. The Marcels projections that TT posted have him at just over an .800 OPS in a fairly significant number of plate appearances, so maybe he will have a meaningful role next year. I'm just not seeing it as an everyday player.

Obviously assuming sarcasm here, but what do your (or PECOTA's) statistical projections have as his ceiling? Why do you assume sarcasm? I think Fontenot could be an everyday starter at second for us. He's got just as much pop (if not more) than DeRosa, is better at OBP, and is better defensively. Let Fontenot start at second and put DeRo back in his uber-sub roll. In limited at bats against RHP, yeah, I can see how he could be called undervalued. But with a 66 OPS+ against LHP, I don't see him being an everyday player (and that may not have been what Meph meant). Granted, he hasn't been given much of a chance against lefties, so maybe there is more to it than I am seeing. I am a big fan of his in the role he played this year. The Marcels projections that TT posted have him at just over an .800 OPS in a fairly significant number of plate appearances, so maybe he will have a meaningful role next year. I'm just not seeing it as an everyday player.

ERA may not be the most useful or projectable stat, but those are some pretty hurtful numbers across the board.

Obviously assuming sarcasm here, but what do your (or PECOTA's) statistical projections have as his ceiling?

Wow, well we are all pissed about how this turned out, but this particular Cards fan was trying to express support. Doesn't seem like a good reason to jump all over him/her. Anyway, despite the outcome, I thought it was a nice gesture.

I'm only 20 and I realize we're never winning a World Series. I've never seen a winning season for the Reds. I feel your pain. 1990? 1995? 1999? How old are you?

Yeah, just really sad about it now. After seeing what an amazing regular season they put together, it makes me wonder how it is even possible for a team to win 100 games. The thing is, plenty of 100+ win teams have gone down in the first round in the wild card era. And this year, there is a decent chance that the only 100 win team will go down 3 straight. The point is that you just have to be consistently good for long enough to keep making the post season. It still may not work out, but thats the only way a team can really be built. You just can't pin your hopes on any one season.

yep, i'm expecting Kuroda to get even more wild this inning. There have been some decent ABs put up against him so far.

They will get to Kuroda this game. Just wish the Dodgers' bullpen wasn't so good.

44 pitches for Kuroda?

Lee is seeing the ball well here. i expect good contact.

Me too. And yes. We should have done it earlier.

I think he would probably get it with Dempster waiting in the wings should he falter even a little.

Agreed. Any chance we can get the bhogg game thread pimp mojo working for tomorrow's game? I'd do it, but I think I'm slated to go after whomever is up now. If I did a game thread right now, it would be awesome. I'm still high on cold / flu medicine. I say screw it and just let you start it. Umm, that sounds entertaining. Can you post a ghost thread somewhere else? Last year it involved an ace-mobile and some sort of ritual sacrifice. Seemed to work well for that start and Z's next start.