jersey cubs fan

Looks like the bluejays might be a possible trade partner since they acquire Wallace and have made Overbay expandable. Expendable? That's an interesting way of putting it. I'd say Overbay is not only expendable, but available today to the lowest bidder. Overbay is part of the reason Roy Halladay isn't in Toronto anymore. If Toronto had the option of moving Overbay and Wells and keeping Halladay, I'm guessing they probably would have. I don't think Overbay is that bad. He's not in the Vernon Wells category of wasting money and ruining the payroll. He did have one awful year, and he's far from an ideal 1B, but he can be moderately productive, he didn't sign that big of a contract and he's only owed $7m for one more year.

No they don't, just because some idiots decide not to count money paid to people not to play for your team doesn't mean a team isn't paying that money. The Cubs have been a few games better in recent years with a hell of a lot more money to spend. It's kind of ridiculous to suggest they haven't done a better job. The Cubs should have been wiping the floor with STL.

I don't know, he could have been truly awful, and fought one of the Cubs good players, and got severely injured right after reaching his option clause. At least at this point he's still a servicable baseball player that the Cubs could use if they were smart.

Indy is a small town? That is news to me. It also happens to be very well liked by just about everyone when they host any kind of big sporting event. A lot of that has to do with the fact that every sports venue is downtown (Speedway is close enough). If the United Center wasn't out of the way and next to nothing Chicago would probably have it every year. Also Chicago is so big that it won't revolve around the tourney when it is there. When the tourney is in Indy that is all there is in town. Yes Indy is a small town, it's metro area is one of the smallest in the country with a pro sports franchise. But I think it would be a better option than Chicago for a championship game, specifically because Soldier Field is a terrible option. It's too small and in too horrible condition, and it simply doesn't do the Big Ten any good to make teams plays to bad weather conditions, which are likely that time of year, when every meaningful bowl game/potential playoff matchup is in good weather and/or a dome. The Big Ten already suffers from often having to play those games in the opponents home territory, there's no reason to set it up so the champion is likely to be the best sloppy weather team. Rotate it between some of the domed sites in the region and try and cater to a team that can go to New Orleans, Miami or Pasadena and play the appropriate style of ball.

No one likes Richie Incognito. He was an [expletive] at Nebraska who was in trouble like 17 times. He's been an [expletive] every day he's been in the NFL. which means he's pretty much the same person as olin kreutz, if olin kreutz could block someone. no one needs to like him. Except that type of thing leads to guys being more interested in being dicks than actually blocking people. I don't think Incognito is any good.

He got hurt every year and played on 21 games in 2001 due to a serious injury. I don't know what else you want me to say. He was a max effort middle infielder who was always dealing with health issues who was destined to decline quickly in his 30's. Oh and the answer to your question that you stopped asking, I assume because you realize it only proved the point further, is 129. 129 games per year in his pre-Cubs seasons not counting his first year. That's a guy who missed a lot of time. 129/yr is bad except when you realize that that number is severly suppressed by the one season where he played only 21 games. The two years after that (the two years before the trade) he played in 156 games each season, and in the 4 years before it was 143. While not great, its not the history you're making it out to be. So you have 1 season where a wrist injury sidelined him for a significant amount of time and... And a whole bunch of other minor nagging injuries that add up and lead to inevitable trouble for 30-something middle infielders. If you want to pretendthere weren't health issues with Nomar pre-Cubs, feel free. But it's a ridiculous sentiment.

Really? You hear this and assume it's true when talking about an AL East pitcher, but would you really assume a mediocre OF would become better just going to the NL? He was in the NL before and really sucked. If there's any expected bounce to the NL move, I'd have to imagine being 32 now, and possibly playing a ton of day games in Wrigley (cold start, hot summer, brick wall) would offset that. Yeah it still makes a difference. I mean you're right it's bigger for the AL East than the AL West, but the difference is still there. I've read that the rule of thumb is half a win going from the AL to the NL, take that for what you will. Also, I don't get why everyone's talking so negatively about the move from Arlington. Wrigley is a bigger hitters park than Arlington, so he probably shouldn't be hurt that much from making the switch, if he's even hurt at all. I think the early cold stiff winds to start can screw up a guy even if the summer will eventually prove easier to hit in with Wrigley. But moreso than Arlington, my concern is that his age 29/30 seasons were outliers in a pretty pathetic career. The closest he's come to being a full season guy is this past year, when his numbers declined, and he's been a 3/1 k/bb guy. I don't trust high k low bb guys who put together a couple quality seasons in an otherwise lackluster career. It's also distressing that his closest comp on baseballreference is Reed Freaking Johnson.

He got hurt every year and played on 21 games in 2001 due to a serious injury. I don't know what else you want me to say. He was a max effort middle infielder who was always dealing with health issues who was destined to decline quickly in his 30's. Oh and the answer to your question that you stopped asking, I assume because you realize it only proved the point further, is 129. 129 games per year in his pre-Cubs seasons not counting his first year. That's a guy who missed a lot of time.

Wrong. Nomar's health was becoming an issue before he became a Cub. I didn't say he had no injury issues, I said to describe his pre-Cub days as Bradley-esque in injuries was very incorrect. He had red flags, but never missed huge amounts of time (save for one year). Bradley has pretty close to always missed significant time. He got hurt every year and missed nearly an entire season. Not sure why you'd complain about calling that similar to Bradley. It doesn't make a difference because Nomar was clearly damaged goods when the Cubs got him.

She didn't just point it out. She said that he shouldn't have married a white woman. Well sort of. She explicitly says that she shouldn't have married a nanny and a part time model who was introduced to him by another golfer. I wouldn't disagree that it definitely smacks of her being mad that he married a white woman. I just don't think it's particurlarly race baiting to say that some black women are annoyed that successful black men marry white women. That sentiment definitely exists. But she wasn't just pointing that out.

don't forget dreamy

I believe he was originally set to be traded to BMore but they wanted an extension before making the move, and couldn't get it done.?

Penn State is big here. Rutgers is not. Syracuse is kind of, when they are good. But Rutgers has to be 11-0 and on the verge of a national championship to get any attention.

Aside from that stupid white/black thing, she criticizes him for cheating with women from a lower social standing than him, as if he should have been boning other billionaires?

Really? You hear this and assume it's true when talking about an AL East pitcher, but would you really assume a mediocre OF would become better just going to the NL? He was in the NL before and really sucked. If there's any expected bounce to the NL move, I'd have to imagine being 32 now, and possibly playing a ton of day games in Wrigley (cold start, hot summer, brick wall) would offset that.

He's pretty short and stocky too, isn't he? Not Kirby short, but he looks like a fullback, not a CF. This would have to be a 1 year deal, or maybe 1 plus option.

Wrong. Nomar's health was becoming an issue before he became a Cub. Prior to 2001, he was probably comparable to Aramis in the injury department in the sense that he would miss 15-20 games due to nagging injuries. That's enough of a red flag though, especially for someone in their early-to-mid 20s. Oddly enough, his two most durable seasons followed the season in which he missed the most time due to injury. He had the nagging leg things, then the big wrist issue where he missed a season, his range was becoming a serious question mark and he was on the wrong side of 30. He was red flag factory. I was excited as hell and hoped to get something out of it, but he was the biggest fish they acquired and still highly damaged goods.

I can't think of one. And I agree. A lot of people said that about Penn State but that turned out well. Trouble is they shouldn't add a school like Missouri.

That's about how I'd feel. But the fact that the only reason he'd be here is likely because they are paying Bradley to play elsewhere, it becomes more disappointing. He's got as much downside as Bradley on the field, with none of the upside. I don't know anything about his defense, but I thought back in the day the talk was he'd eventually have to go to a corner. If he's some defensive stud, it would be easier to talke, but he's a part-time player with a shoddy track record.

Really? I wouldn't label any Cubs acquisition as a big fish. Nomar was closest but he was a banged up shell of his former self, and Soriano was not a top player. The Cubs have been named during rumor stages, but reports of interest aren't meaningful when compared with actually acquiring the players. Ramirez was highly flawed, DLee was a second or maybe third tier 1b. Barrett was a nobody, Fukudome was intriguing, but not a top notch international free agent. Dempster was a rehab project. Seriously, name a big fish he caught. I guess we're just using different definitions of big fish. In my book Ramirez, Lee, Soriano, Fukudome, Bradley, Nomar, and Harden all count. Those guys were all expected to be major differencemakers when they were acquired. Some have been, others not so much. That is a very loose definition of big fish. Ramirez and Lee shouldn't even be debatable, they clearly were not. Soriano was only a big fish because Hendry gave him that stupid contract, but Soriano was never elite and was always a highly flawed player that wasn't going to come close to fullfiling his contract. If you want to include him, go ahead, but he was more like the only fish the Cubs could find in their decrepit pond than a big fish. Fukudome? No, he was an interesting player and a good get, but at the time he was already considered well down the totem pole of Japanese stars coming over. He was a secondary player. Bradley? No way, that's a joke. Harden? Nope, he was as big of an injury risk as there was and the guy I give Hendry most credit for targetting and acquiring, but come on, anybody who can't get a big contract on the free agent market is not a big fish. Vladdy was a big fish. Sabathia, ARod, Beltran, Manny, at one point in time the Big Unit, these are big fish. Well like I said I guess we're just using different definitions of big fish. Reasonable minds can disagree on the point, but there's no need to make such an ass of yourself arguing semantics. You're such a pleasant person.

Wrong. Nomar's health was becoming an issue before he became a Cub.

Really? I wouldn't label any Cubs acquisition as a big fish. Nomar was closest but he was a banged up shell of his former self, and Soriano was not a top player. The Cubs have been named during rumor stages, but reports of interest aren't meaningful when compared with actually acquiring the players. Ramirez was highly flawed, DLee was a second or maybe third tier 1b. Barrett was a nobody, Fukudome was intriguing, but not a top notch international free agent. Dempster was a rehab project. Seriously, name a big fish he caught. I guess we're just using different definitions of big fish. In my book Ramirez, Lee, Soriano, Fukudome, Bradley, Nomar, and Harden all count. Those guys were all expected to be major differencemakers when they were acquired. Some have been, others not so much. That is a very loose definition of big fish. Ramirez and Lee shouldn't even be debatable, they clearly were not. Soriano was only a big fish because Hendry gave him that stupid contract, but Soriano was never elite and was always a highly flawed player that wasn't going to come close to fullfiling his contract. If you want to include him, go ahead, but he was more like the only fish the Cubs could find in their decrepit pond than a big fish. Fukudome? No, he was an interesting player and a good get, but at the time he was already considered well down the totem pole of Japanese stars coming over. He was a secondary player. Bradley? No way, that's a joke. Harden? Nope, he was as big of an injury risk as there was and the guy I give Hendry most credit for targetting and acquiring, but come on, anybody who can't get a big contract on the free agent market is not a big fish. Vladdy was a big fish. Sabathia, ARod, Beltran, Manny, at one point in time the Big Unit, these are big fish.

Nomar had an .867 OPS in 156 at bats with Boston the year Hendry acquired him. At SS, that's a very good OPS and is indicative of a big fish at the time he was acquired. He was only 30 years old when Hendry acquired him and ended up with an .819 OPS in his first year with us. He underperformed in Chicago, but nobody could have expected it when he was acquired. He was definitely a big fish. Nomar was clearly on the decline from when he was one of the best at his position. And Boston was itching to get rid of him. He was clearly very talented, but as injury prone as Milton Bradley and a defensive liability.

To pee? I always assume those people have deep psychological problems and are probably child molestors.

Really? I wouldn't label any Cubs acquisition as a big fish. Nomar was closest but he was a banged up shell of his former self, and Soriano was not a top player. The Cubs have been named during rumor stages, but reports of interest aren't meaningful when compared with actually acquiring the players. Ramirez was highly flawed, DLee was a second or maybe third tier 1b. Barrett was a nobody, Fukudome was intriguing, but not a top notch international free agent. Dempster was a rehab project. Seriously, name a big fish he caught.