slieb85

These are the current lines at thegreek.com, and yeah I asked my bookie friends if they'd let me take some action on the other side of that Cubs future. They weren't amused. I am somewhat intrigued by the Atlanta line. 4801 Arizona Diamondbacks +2025 4802 Atlanta Braves +2025 4803 Baltimore Orioles +10500 4804 Boston Red Sox +925 4805 Chicago Cubs +3850 4806 Chicago White Sox +4850 4807 Cincinnati Reds +1625 4808 Cleveland Indians +3500 4809 Colorado Rockies +3250 4810 Detroit Tigers +1825 4811 Houston Astros +20500 4812 Kansas City Royals +8550 4813 Los Angeles Angels +705 4814 Los Angeles Dodgers +3850 4815 Miami Marlins +1425 4816 Milwaukee Brewers +2550 4817 Minnesota Twins +8550 4818 New York Mets +8550 4819 New York Yankees +605 4820 Oakland Athletics +8550 4821 Philadelphia Phillies +495 4822 Pittsburgh Pirates +10500 4823 San Diego Padres +12550 4824 San Francisco Giants +1825 4825 Seattle Mariners +10500 4826 St Louis Cardinals +2150 4827 Tampa Bay Rays +1625 4828 Texas Rangers +825 4829 Toronto Blue Jays +4250 4830 Washington Nationals +2825

I don't know the personalities of those three well enough to say whether or not I'd approve of that segment, but I still go to FJM every couple of months and read old stuff and laugh, so if you think they could pull it off, by all means encourage it. The personal feelings of the media in Chicago be damned, they know that whatever they write/say is fair game for criticism, and maybe, just maybe, it would make them slightly better at their jobs. From time to time, because of the message board culture, and especially if there is not much news to argue over, this website slips a notch or two on my rotation. I think that more frequent front-page articles would be beneficial in terms of getting people to come to the site more frequently. Just my $.02

I'm in favor of it, in this case. If Kerry wants to be here and it's reasonable, there's no issue. He's easily the most popular guy on the roster, and you have to give the fans someone to cheer for in what will probably be a lost year. I think he was saying that the ploy of "Kerry might be leaving, we want him to stay" was a PR move. To drum up some goodwill with the mouth breathing meat head contingent, not that signing Kerry is a PR move. We all know that, and I'm pretty sure 99.9% of us are cool with that.

Saving money isn't the Cubs' motivation here. If they moved him now, I think the likelihood is that the primary motivation would be a salary dump. I just don't see a team giving us what Demp is worth coming off the poor traditional numbers he posted in 2011. Theo may prove me wrong and sweet-talk a GM into giving something around his real worth, however. I do agree with you, though, that their primary motive is likely asset collection, which is why I think they'll end up moving him sometime before/by the deadline. Say you pay all of his salary to a contending team with a good farm system, and get something you would consider "very good" value back? You're paying $14 million to essentially buy the prospect away from the other team, and the other team gets a good middle of the rotation starter for no financial commitment, and only loses one real prospect. Seems like a trade that could be possible. You just don't normally see it, as teams who usually have fire sales are usually poorer teams that can't afford their now expensive players, and not a wealthy team that was grossly mismanaged for 10 years and in desperate need to restock a system. I'm not able to spend enough time to gain the knowledge to know what type of prospect or package a free year of Demp pitching on some contender could pull, and don't want to make an ass out of myself so I won't even throw out another teams prospects and just use Cubs prospects that I seem to know more about to make this hypothetical. I can either trade Demp to the Yankees (wealthy team, good farm system) for say the level of Castillo (not their 8th or 10th or whatever ranked player mind you, just someone with a similar projection/age/whatever as Castillo) and give no salary relief. Or I can trade Demp to say the Jays for a prospect say on the level of Jackson (again not their 1, just the same projections) and give them $14 million in cash so that they can spend $14 million for someone else to make their big league club better this year, then I'm doing this trade. The money doesn't matter for the Cubs this year, as they are very obviously punting, and given that fact, the year of production from Dempster is worthless, so if you can greatly increase the prospect you get back by spending that $14 million, I don't see how you don't do it. Sorry if this is completely stupid or asinine, but it seemingly makes sense in my head.

On the dim side, if Stewart continues to be bad or his wrist injury causes lingering problems, we've just blown a couple of million, playing time and a roster spot on a terrible player. I'm beginning to wonder if Epstein's idea of "parallel fronts" is to just buy a bunch of lightning-in-a-bottle lottery ticket players and hope they all have career years at the same time. I took like 2-3 years off from this website, so forgive me if this has been answered, but are you always such a whiny drama queen? Your posts the last few days have been hilarious/insufferable all at once.

I used to like Olney but I feel like he's been all over the place this offseason. That said, I literally trust almost no reporter right now. Why would he tweet that if he had no source? He didn't tweet that the Cubs were GOING to emerge with a Ryan Howard like offer, he tweeted that the Cubs COULD GET Fielder, with a Howard type offer. Big difference. "MILW playing it right in the way they're negotiating with Fielder, but Cubs could grab this thing by the throat with Ryan Howard-type offer."

If Pujols was offended by the AAV of $22 million that the Cards offered, the Marlins better be well "in excess of 200 million". I'm still holding out hope that we'll be able to snag him for ~$28/year on a shorter deal.

OK. IHP mentioned he thought the ballpark was beautiful though. His complaints seemed more driven by the antics of the fans and the music being played than anything, unless I misread what he was saying. I can see a city like Cincy needing to be a little more budget-minded than some other places. I think it's understood they have a little more trouble drawing fans than some other places around the league -- and that it likely won't change until they go on a playoff run. That said, I'd still like to see a ballgame there. Heck, I've been wanting to see a game in KC too. And that place is probably a little on the sparse side too, in terms of number of seats taken. I just went to KC on Friday for a bachelor party and was mighty impressed. I've been to the Dome, Wrigley, the cell, Oakland, Pac Bell, Chase field, and Angels stadium, and outside of Wrigley this was probably tied with Pac Bell as far as experiences go. I saw SF play Pittsburgh last year and Tiny Tim threw an absolute gem so that was pretty darn neat. Friday they gave Grienke his CY award and that was pretty cool. Even for a Friday game, against Boston, the place wasn't all that full. But the fans were knowledgeable and seemed respectful, and only once did they play any stupid music to get the fans going (I think it was when Soria was laboring to get Pedroia out to end the game). Overall a really neat stadium and one worth the 5 hour trip for me again this year for sure.

Haha well that shows me to post after a few beers. May 2nd, Saturday vs the Marlins is the game I am going to go to. Thanks.

Hey everyone, I didn't really know what forum to put this in. I was just curious how everyone typically goes about buying tickets to random games during the season. I don't really want to drive 4 hours without tickets in hand (for the Saturday May 5th Marlins game), but I seem to remember the booths outside Wrigley to be pretty good values. Stub-hub just seems ridiculously priced, and if it was just 1 or 2 of us going, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm trying to co-ordinate for 4 of us. And also was curious of what some of the regulars think is the best place to sit for a first timer is. I was thinking Outfield field seats (like 110-101) were probably the best value. Thanks for any advice.

Please. You've never known anyone who sees everything through the prism of personal income? This country's full of them. It doesn't necessarily make him soulless, and I'm sure he felt some grief, but let's not pretend there was no calculation on his part. This is also taken with the assumption that you actually know Boras and what he is like. Boras doesn't have the best image, but your are also talking about the tragic death of a kid. The fact that you can make this sure of a judgment on someone you don't know shows your character as well. If the story of Adenhart can bring people who never knew him to tears, I am pretty sure it can his agent as well. That is my argument as well. I have never even cried at a movie, and don't have any person connection to Nick Adenhart, (except that I saw him pitch once in CR), and I seriously broke down today listening to Hannah Storm on ESPN talk about Nick's dad. I'm pretty sure no matter how big of a monster Boras is as an agent, he probably is hurting pretty bad as a person right about now.

I just wanted to jump in here and point out one thing. One thing Adam Dunn does really really well is hit homeruns. If I were his manager I would never ask him to cut down on his swing so he can bloop single. That is for people like Theriot, who had like 1 homerun all year last year. I mean someone pointed out earlier the situation that maybe Dunn could swing at a few more 3-0. 3-1 pitches that are borderline that he currently now takes for a walk. He said he swings at 12 and puts 10 into play, which would be really nice because maybe 1-4 more runs score, but he makes 2 more outs. He effectively raises his avg, but lowers his OBP and it makes him LOOK better because his RBI's are up and his avg is up, but it makes him a worse hitter. Also what is the trade off or asking him to shorten his swing? How many homeruns would he miss out on? I mean if Dusty had been successful making him do that sac bunt last year, he would have only had 39 homeruns and 3 less RBI's. The point of this entire argument has to be that Dunn isn't the type of hitter you like, contrary to the fact that he is a highly productive hitter, and that you are a Dusty Baker type baseball fan and simply want to see guys do things the "right way" and don't care as much about wins and losses. Because the stats are basically proving you wrong over and over and over again, no matter how you keep spinning it. Oh, and this is what I was talking about earlier with the failed sac bunt/launching a 3 run homer. With the Reds trailing by one run in the ninth inning Saturday, Adam Dunn's initial intention with runners on first and second and one out was to bunt his teammates into scoring position. After two unsuccessful sacrifice attempts, a frustrated Dunn chose to swing away. Dunn's backup plan sailed 449 feet into the right-field Sun Deck for a three-run walk-off home run... Adam Dunn, batting seventh, with (I believe) 2 sac bunts in his career, asked to bunt in the bottom of the ninth with Paul Bako and the pitcher's spot behind him. (courtesy of FJM) Ok, so I can get my point through thick skulls such as this, I'll try to make this as clear as possible. I've made my points over and over again, but let's sum it up by going for a simulated scenario. Adam Dunn signs with the Cubs. A base runner gets to third base with Dunn coming to the plate with two outs. What does Scarey want Dunn to do? HIT A FRIGGIN HOME RUN!!!!! What would Scarey accept as alternatives? 1. Hit a triple (lol) or a double. 2. Hit a single. . . . . . . 3. Draw walk. Dunn gets two strikes against him. What does Scarey want Dunn to do? MAKE CONTACT FIRST!!!!! Now, if you disagree with that than that's just how the world works. People disagree. However, if you want to try to make me out to be some kind of Dusty Baker worshiping lunatic, please throw your slander elsewhere. I hated Baker's approach with his hitters. Piniella's approach is all about getting runs in. I'm not asking for sac bunts in the 1st inning or swinging for a single on the first pitch, but I think striking out with runners in scoring position is as bad as it gets much like Lou. I don't care what nonsense you guys wanna make up about Dunn's swing angle, if a guy is striking out in 25% of his plate appearances with RISP, he can make strides towards trying to put the ball in play with two strikes. Ok so real quick, as this discussion has worn thin with how much you've made yourself look foolish. 1. Please refrain from the personal attacks. I don't even come to this board that often and I know that Tim and other mods don't like that. 2. OPS with RISP last year for Adam Dunn: .929 3. OPS with runner on 3rd less than 2 outs: .800 4. OPS with runner on 3rd, 2 outs: 1.095 So let the guy hits 40 hr's and OPS's .899 last year as a whole, and your stuck on the fact that he doesn't hit for avg with runners on 3rd with less than 2 outs? I mean an .800 OPS isn't great by any means, but he's still pretty productive in that situation. And more than productive the rest of the time. If your like Lou (like you claim and not like Dusty), then you should realize the best way to drive in runs is not make outs. Outs are precious, and dropping down sac bunts and trying to hit for contact as opposed to talking a walk are not good strategies. Just don't make an out and you've had a productive at bat. ESPECIALLY IF YOUR THE NUMBER 3-4 HITTER HITTING BETWEEN DERREK LEE AND ARAMIS RAMIREZ! THAT IS A PRODUCTIVE AT BAT. PERIOD. I'll be on pins and needles waiting for you to tell us how making an out (which obviously you would do more often if you put pitches that are out of the strike zone into play) is more productive than letting the ball go by and taking a walk, extending the inning, and letting someone else try to not make outs.

I just wanted to jump in here and point out one thing. One thing Adam Dunn does really really well is hit homeruns. If I were his manager I would never ask him to cut down on his swing so he can bloop single. That is for people like Theriot, who had like 1 homerun all year last year. I mean someone pointed out earlier the situation that maybe Dunn could swing at a few more 3-0. 3-1 pitches that are borderline that he currently now takes for a walk. He said he swings at 12 and puts 10 into play, which would be really nice because maybe 1-4 more runs score, but he makes 2 more outs. He effectively raises his avg, but lowers his OBP and it makes him LOOK better because his RBI's are up and his avg is up, but it makes him a worse hitter. Also what is the trade off or asking him to shorten his swing? How many homeruns would he miss out on? I mean if Dusty had been successful making him do that sac bunt last year, he would have only had 39 homeruns and 3 less RBI's. The point of this entire argument has to be that Dunn isn't the type of hitter you like, contrary to the fact that he is a highly productive hitter, and that you are a Dusty Baker type baseball fan and simply want to see guys do things the "right way" and don't care as much about wins and losses. Because the stats are basically proving you wrong over and over and over again, no matter how you keep spinning it. Oh, and this is what I was talking about earlier with the failed sac bunt/launching a 3 run homer. With the Reds trailing by one run in the ninth inning Saturday, Adam Dunn's initial intention with runners on first and second and one out was to bunt his teammates into scoring position. After two unsuccessful sacrifice attempts, a frustrated Dunn chose to swing away. Dunn's backup plan sailed 449 feet into the right-field Sun Deck for a three-run walk-off home run... Adam Dunn, batting seventh, with (I believe) 2 sac bunts in his career, asked to bunt in the bottom of the ninth with Paul Bako and the pitcher's spot behind him. (courtesy of FJM)

I just did this real quick while watching the Brew Crew go back to back and thinking to myself (man I'm not sure we have anyone on this team I feel comfortable thinking they may end this with one swing). This is basically the cubs leader in each category, with other contenders leading players in each stat (and the # of players on their team before the first cub player. I'd really like to see us sell the farm for Dunn or give up a big chunk of it for Bradley. (i hope this shows up correctly) (# of players before first cubs player) SLG% rank OPS rank HR Rank cubs 46th 45th 38th brewers 5th (2) 13th (3) 3rd (2) cardinals 2nd (4) 3rd (4) 13th (3) diamondbacks 35th (1) 21st (1) 21st (1) dodgers 65th 57th 88th rockies 11th (2) 6th (2) 41st Mets 31st(2) 24th (2) 15th (2) phillies 6th (3) 7th (2) 2nd (3 all in top 10) marlins 10th (3) 12th (2) 6th (3) yankees 3rd (3) 5th (3) 21st (2) red sox 14th (3) 9th (3) 24th (2) tampa 27th (1) 36th (1) 32nd (1) chicago 8th (3) 8th (3) 4th (3) minnesota 32nd (1) 25th (2) 54th detroit 35th (1) 30th (1) 24th (1) anaheim 57th 55th 44th oakland 94th 78th 32nd (1) texas 7th (3) 4th (3) 10th (2) Obviously it's not where we want to be in the same class as LAA, OAK, LAD, COL, and ARI. I would also probably (without being privy to park figures) say we play in the 5th best hitters ballpark (behind CHW, TEX, PHI, and COL). I know we have a good team OPS, but this is scary to me.

That would be LEGENDARY, as it is the game I'm going to this year as well... I would be stoked to see him pitch. Hopefully the Dodgers play most of the other kids too (obviously martin and loney, but ethier and kemp as well). I'm pretty glad I picked this game to go to about 2 months ago, too bad I missed Z by a start tho.

I'm good with that. Just get his bat in the lineup.

Gee this is breaking news.... What are the Cubs going to give up? Lets start with Felix Pie. If it's done today and not end of July, I'd be plenty happy with Pie, Marshall, Murton. Whatever beyond that is pretty cool with me. Like I posted in the thread about trade idea's, I wholeheartedly think he would complete this lineup better than anyone else we could have a prayer at getting. (maybe Carl Crawford) Fuku Lee Dunn Ramirez Soriano Soto Derosa Cedeno :yahoo:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48033&start=75 I only beat ya by about 15 hours... I would love that lineup. Um, Vance beat you by what, 3 or 4 years. I mean mentioning it with this team as an option right now. I'm sure he's the only one who wanted Dunn over the last few years. :roll:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48033&start=75 I only beat ya by about 15 hours... I would love that lineup.

This is one I have been thinking about all day. And I am really bad at guessing what would be needed for players to make a trade work and I know this guy is about as devisive of a player as you'll find with this place. But I would try to pull a move with Jocketty for Dunn. Something along the lines of Pie, Marshall, Epatt, Murton? Then I would totally and drastically change the lineup, and tweak the rotation just a bit. 1. Fuku .437 OBP 2. Lee .418 OBP .614 SLG 3. Dunn .375 OBP (career .516 SLG) 4. Aramis .412 OBP .533 SLG 5. Soriano Career .513 SLG 6. Soto .430 OBP .618 SLG 7. Derosa .385 OBP .410 SLG 8. Cedeno .473 OBP That's a whole lineup of not making outs. I don't know what PECOTA projections for all these guys are, but that offense is ridiculous compared to how Lou has been running it out there day after day. 1. Soriano Career OBP of .325 2. Theriot .389 OBP and .410 SLG 3. Lee .418 OBP .614 SLG 4. Aramis .412 OBP .533 SLG 5. Fuku .437 OBP 6. Derosa .385 OBP .410 SLG 7. Soto .430 OBP .618 SLG 8. Pie/Johnson .597 OPS/.677 OPS Rotation of Z Lilly Dempster Hill Leiber (or Gallagher).

Random question, I know where the quote is from, but why does he always say "fill thine horn with oil and go" after a Ryan HOward home run?? Still doesn't make any sense to me. Thanks to anyone who has any clue why he always says that.

I live in Cedar Falls Iowa. I have Cedar Falls Utilities. This game is not on CSN or WGN or CFU's channel (picks up WCIU and CSN+). This game is blacked out in our area for ESPN. The Angels vs Twins a couple of weeks ago was blacked out off ESPN (and we don't have CSN North here). I don't get why any of these games would be blacked out (cause I'm sure this game is sold out, so how does Bud expect me to watch his product?) It's bad enough we don't have professional sports here, but to not be able to watch a team thats 5 hours away, that has virtually every game televised in our area, when they are on a nation channel is a bit ridiculous to me. (End of Rant)

I'm hoping for Field Box infield to pretty much ANY game in the summer 2 tickets together. My girlfriend posted on here earlier as this was one of my Christmas presents, but she had to give up on the VWR to go to school and I have been working since 9 am. I can't find a SINGLE game with 2 tickets in that section together still for sale. I would be willing to paypal the money right away as long as it's someone I have seen on here before. I was hoping for the CWS series, but will seriously TAKE ANYTHING pretty much now as it seems I have no shot thru cubs.com... I know some on here buy extra's and was hoping would be able to help me out as my girlfriend feels bad she couldn't come thru today. PM me if you have any extra's. THANKS

:pig: yea there is no virtual waitin room tab showing but just the frontline link but just a white screen. i'm confused what this is meaning...i hope the link will change soon cuz i clicked on T right at 930!

Hey are you guys having problems purchasing tickets? I clicked on T and it came up with a white window display. Does tha tjust mean its the waiting room? I have never done this before.