jersey cubs fan

These aren't mutually exclusive statements. The point is Pena wasn't untouchable, it just wasn't worth giving him away.

Plus you know that will fool this [expletive] organization into believing we just got off to a poor start this year because of injuries, and we are so close to being awesome. Going even .500 over the rest of the season would be suicide for the 2012 season. If Ricketts is dumb enough to buy into a 70-92 finish as being close to awesome then the franchise is screwed regardless. The fact that Ricketts was dumb enough to keep Hendry through the first three seasons of his ownership is already a bad sign. 70-92 would mean a 27-27 finish to the season, which could be portrayed by some as vindication that the only thing wrong with the team were unforeseen injuries early on. If Hendry was a lock to be gone, he would already be gone.

I should try it, but they will be able to tell how half heartedly I'd be trying to dump it.

The venn diagram of first basemen who bat seventh and players who other teams have a lot of interest in trading for probably don't intersect either.

ah, sorry, forgot that one. Lose as many games as possible. This will improve the draft pick and maximize chances of a regime change. I feel it's pretty damn unlikely we win enough games to make this season respectable so that's not a concern. Regarding draft position, meh it's a terrible draft next year, and we're talking what a max of 5 spots? I'd rather not go to Albert Pujols to convince him to leave his 80 win team to come to a 60 win team. You have no concern about the potential for lack of regime change?

And my concern is that at this stage the Bears seem to think they can stand pat instead of taking advantage of the 2010 breaks to make a bit of a run in 2011. It's a lot like the 2007 offseason which was more about who they got rid of rather than who they acquired.

Supposedly the Giants want a 1st rounder. That won't happen, but that's what they want. What do the Bears currently have for 2012? All their picks plus the Carolina 3rd?

I wonder what the Giants are going to want for Osi and what Osi would sign for as a Bear. He and Peppers could go ballistic as pass rushers the next 3-4 years.

Yeah, I'm not even sure what the heck he's trying to claim here. That would be more appropriate for Soriano, or maybe Pena, but Ramirez has never been a HR or bust player and he's nothing like that this year.

I [expletive] hate everyone. Who said this? Jayson Stark I was thinking this had something to do with csn chicago or other local outlet. Not surprising from a 30,000 foot national perspective to describe Ramirez that way. Pretty dumb statement nonetheless.

However any Bears fans may feel about that game, from a national perspective most people don't think the Bears belonged on the field and believe they barely showed up until the prevent defense let them back in a little. Most people think the Bears were lucky to win the division and lucky to face Seattle at home in their only win. I don't necessarily agree with the overall sentiment, but I do believe there is something to be said about all the breaks the Bears did get last year and probably won't get this year. I think it's going to be very difficult to repeat an 11 win season and 10 wins remains very much in doubt. If they go back to 9-7, or even 10 wins and miss the playoffs, that's a step back and we are probably looking going into next offseason needing a huge influx of talent on defense, while still having an unsettled offense. My feeling is the Bears needed to utilize this offseason to make great strides on offense so that the pending decline of the defense is more manageable. And barring that, then they needed to add another potential fresh body to help with the coming need for defensive upgrades.

At least the production and/or the weapons. I'd be willing to accept one or the other. But neither shouldn't be an option, and right now we have neither. The notion that they are going to utilize blocking tight ends with reqularity just means even fewer receivers in the pattern. Makes it even easier on the defense. Great pass rushes won't be stopped by a tight end chipping. Your blocking needs to come from your 5 linemen.

I [expletive] hate everyone. Who said this?

Gholston is a good pickup, in theory. It makes sense that a disappointing OLB from a 3-4 could do better as a straight up end in a 4-3 scheme. But if that was the case, he would have showed something as a pass rusher with the Jets. And he showed nothing. Marinelli has been given lots of credit as a guy who can get the most out of players. I think that reputation has taken a hit with the Bears but he's going to have to work all his magic to get anything out of Gholston this year..

They were down 14-0 early and for most of the game, as soon as they made it somewhat interesting they were down by 14 points again.

Chris Williams will need to be resigned this year if that is the case, which means they are going to be paying significantly more for mediocrity. Webb signed a cheap 4-year contract, but if he starts for 1.5 straight years, there's no way he goes into year 3 at the rate he's making. 2011 is probably the worst year ever to be relying on a rookie to have an immediate stable impact, unless you are talking about something like a dominant defensive lineman or talented RB.

Angelo has been so schizo with the way he runs the line. His first ever draft pick was a tackle. Disappointing to some but arguably the right move (even though the actual player never panned out). Then he ignored linemen in the draft for half a decade but kept signing old guys to fairly big offers, which worked in 1-2 year spurts. Now he's spent 2 #1 picks in 4 years on tackles and spent a fair amount on intermediate type free agents prior to this offseason. This year, with half the league being free agents and no big money guys left working on the line, he only replaces one expensive free agent with a less expensive free agent. If you aren't going to spend money on the line and only rely on your internal players, then spend something on a real #1 receiver to help your QB (especially when you trade away such a big time target in Olsen). The only net upgrade to offense appears to be at backup running back. So, if you aren't going to focus on your disappointing offense, go get a big time pass rusher or tackle to boost your defensive line play, purportedly the key to your scheme. If you aren't going to do that, then upgrade your secondary. The Bears have done nothing. They've moderately upgraded backup RB and punter. They replaced their somewhat disappointing but still productive pass catching TE with a really disappointing receiver and they've acquired nothing but gambles on defense. How is this team any better? By most accounts Chicago was fairly lucky to finish with 11 wins last year. They made it to the NFC championship game but were embarrassed there at home. They've been 34-30 over the past four years, 18-14 in the Cutler era. They need to get better, but they haven't, and the problem with that is both the aging core of the defense which can easily fall apart in a hurry, and the need to succeed early in the Cutler era before the push to replace him and start again at the QB position becomes too big to ignore.

Ryan's definition of a prospect, anybody who has ever received any form of compensation for playing baseball.

If Wood was offended by this request, then he's insane. For all Hendry's faults, I have no doubt in his ability to skillfully inquire as to Kerry's interest in playing for a title this year. There's no way such a request would piss him off. Not only should it not piss him off to be offered a chance to play for a title, but what do the Cubs have to lose if they did piss him off? Access to a fairly decent reliever?

There was nothing to gain from acquiring more filler prospects for an organization filled with filler.

I have no idea where you are getting that Kreutz is 38. He just turned 34. And what I've read of the other guy it says he's 29. That is not young. That is a minimal gain in youth. But it's still a guy who has probably seen his best years and is a guy who has suffered a significant amount of significant injuries. Of the 2, Kreutz is probably the better bet to start 16 games this season. He's a respectable placeholder, but I can't consider it an actual improvement, and I have big doubts about his ability to stabilize the position for the intermediate term, let alone the longterm. Regardless, the line was bad, and via free agency all they have done is held steady. That is not a good thing. The draft picks are just making up for all those lost years where they routinely ignored the spot, but it is a group that requires 5 starters and an additional 2 useful fill-ins, and they are still lacking.

The fact that they got more scheme friendly TEs is kind of meaningless to me because I don't see Martz or his scheme staying here much longer. Either they have a good year and he gets a better job, or they continue to struggle and they have to strongly consider making changes. Plus, we saw what a scheme friendly TE was last year and they had to cut the guy and waste millions. I've heard the same complaints about the new guy from Steelers fans. Yes, they got younger at center, but not in any meaningful way. They still got an old player with miles on his beat up body who is very doubtful to be any sort of longterm answer. Gholston is a pathetic joke. Barber is kind of worthless. There is some hope that Williams can rekindle some of his Martz-led ability, but he's a huge question mark. I'm very disappointed because they have literally added zero in terms of guaranteed upgrades. The defense is still led by the same aging group that has been on the decline for a few years, and the offense is still going to rely on Jay Cutler covering up for the weaknesses of the rest of the group. I applaud the concept of holding strong on the Kreutz situation. He didn't deserve the $4m, let alone the 4.5m. But when you have the opportunity to save money on a change away from legacy lineman, then you better utilize that savings in the form of actual upgrades elsewhere. The Bears had plenty of money to spend and plenty of spaces to fill, but with the vast majority of real upgrades now off the table, they stuck with the status quo.

I'm just disappointed

Why is this an issue you have? A very good team has been very good for very long and look to stay very good in the near term + they have the resources to reload in a heartbeat.

Being awesome for a decade would suck. There's no such thing as a window with a big market organization. If the cubs can theoretically bounce back and contend in 2012 Philly can just as easily bounce back from a bad year, if they ever have one. Future? The cubs tried that a dozen years ago and failed miserably. You win when you can.