jersey cubs fan

It's post trade deadline and there are no decent free agents on the street. They are making changes, so there really isn't anything else they can do. Comparing it to the GM talking about the need to settle the QB situaiton in the offseason is pointless.

You are exaggerating his words and making a mountain out of a molehill. He said they were good football players. He said they all need to be better. He never said they were great and it's stupid to accuse him of saying they were all great. If that's how it sounded to everybody than everyone is an idiot. The Chicago Bears publicly support their players and do not call out individuals. All indications are that they will be making personel changes this week. I really don't understand why you are being so pissy about this. I hate Turner, but what do you honestly expect him to say?

I think it's much less about "we're smarter than you" and much more about "you guys know we can't say that to the media". They aren't going to say the line sucks. They always stay positive and supportive in public. On the other hand, Bill Parcells may be one of the world's biggest "I'm smarter than you" football people, but he's also more than willing to criticize players in public. I just think there are many ways to state these things that are short of "oh hell yea, we know they suck!" I mean Turner just came out and said they're all great. That's insulting. He said they are good football players who were playing well and that the struggles are about more than the offensive line. He didn't say they were all great and I have no idea why you would suggest he did. The Chicago Bears do not publicly criticize their players, they are very publicly supportive of everybody and they will never call out one player or one position group.

Pittsburgh extended Ramirez kind of early, and then ran into a boatload of financial trouble to the point that there was legit concern that they would not be able to meet payroll obligations within a couple weeks.. They were trying to dump salary, and had to deal somebody who was making money. Ramirez was owed $6m the following year and at the time nowhere near a $6m man. He was considered a fat lazy player who let the money get the best of him. They originally were going to trade Kris Benson, but he got hurt in the middle of July and became untradable, so they pushed out the fat lazy overpaid kid whose bounceback year from a god awful 2002 wasn't particularly good. It was a straight up salary dump.

Not for me. He wasn't good, and he would be worse this year than he was last year.

I think it's much less about "we're smarter than you" and much more about "you guys know we can't say that to the media". They aren't going to say the line sucks. They always stay positive and supportive in public. On the other hand, Bill Parcells may be one of the world's biggest "I'm smarter than you" football people, but he's also more than willing to criticize players in public.

I understand the reasoning, however, he's shown no ability to actually find OL and it was a fair value trade. Plus, they are in need of linemen as well. Tommie Harris may not play with the Bears after this year. This is three straight seasons of wondering if he'll ever be the same, and he's being held out as a coach's decision. They didn't have any franchise caliber ends, and the tackles are basically all depth. It's not like he was unnecessarily adding to a stacked position. If it was April 2010, and Jerry spent the first pick on a defensive end, it would not be outlandish by any stretch. Any non-1st round OL isn't like to start in year 1 anyway,

Orton also MASSIVELY upgraded offensive linemen. Ryan Clady would easily be better than any lineman on the Bears since I started rooting for the team in 1993. REC, YDS, Y/P, Y/G, TDs Brandon Marshall: 29 332 11.4 55.3 4 Devin Hester: 28 373 13.3 62.2 3 Earl Bennett: 23 305 13.3 50.8 0 Johnny Knox: 21 266 12.7 44.3 3 Jabar Gaffney: 18 242 13.4 40.3 0 Eddie Royal: 18 148 8.2 24.7 0 I would bet that the O-Line is making a bigger difference then Marshall, who is about equal to Hester in stats right now. Overall, Cutler has made a bigger difference to these WR's then Marshall has to Orton. But Marshall is grabbing stuff that no Bears receiver could grab.

Way too late in the game. This line needed help in 2006/2007 and it wasn't until 2008 that he spent a significant draft pick on a lineman. Between the Columbo and Williams selections he ignored it far too long. And then this offseason he went crazy for a bunch of backups. Omiyale was a joke from the start. I still don't get why people thought he was quality when there was absolutely zero evidence to suggest so. He was a backup who never played. Shaffer is just depth, and Pace was well past his prime. He's washed up. He's much like Fred Miller was when they got him. He was contemplating retirement when they threw a bunch of cash at him. It's a 5 position group. The largest of any on the field. Buying an occasional free agent or draft pick is not addressing the position, it's putting your finger in the [expletive]. You need to invest heavily on the line every year. People talk about needing to draft a QB every season, but OL is much more important since there are always 5 positions to fill and nearly always 6-8 guys used in a season. Even if you hit big on one lineman, you still have 4 others positions. And this team has been relying on Kreutz to be the steady force in the middle for far too long. And it doesn't help that every time they draft a 6th/7th round lineman, he's the first casualty of roster cutdowns. They need to develop these guys. Right on. I can't believe Angelo's OL selections would be considered in a positive light. He's selected three day one linemen - Colombo and Metcalf in 2002 and Williams in 2008. Don't tell me the Bears didn't need OL for those 6 years. And we can toss 2010 into the list of non-first day linemen picks. There is a lack of quality and there is very little young talent in there. Ignoring the line on draft day and plugging the holes in free agency might be a good strategy but Angelo is not good at plugging the holes in free agency. And plugging holes on the line was a major problem with the Tampa Bay Bucs when they were being led by a dominant defense. It's just not Angelo's thing.

He was fine, but not emerging top prospect good. He had a nice stint in Iowa in 2008, but he wasn't as good the next year, very hittable, and the strikeout rate fell off his career high. He's got well over 400 professional innings now, and despite all the talk about how raw he was, he did have 240 college innings under his belt before turning pro. And he's been an absolute disaster in the majors. Sure, it would have been nice if the Cubs didn't foolishly call him up to relieve and then yo-yo him, but he's been around a while now and they aren't going to get that developmental time back. He has had a couple nice stints at higher levels when first called up, but then declined the more the opposition sees him. This isn't people being skeptical of a prospect who has been a good minor league pitcher, it's people disappointed in a guy who has not been good.

Another lovely day in NY this postseason.

That's been the excuse since his first pro season. But the bottom line is he's been ineffective. He's not young either. I think his numbers do a fine job of describing him. Occasionally solid, but usually not good.

I never got why people praised the network all summer. I gave up on it in spring training. It's a PR machine. Everybody is above average.

Call me crazy but that seems to fit perfectly with the Cubs this year.

I don't know a lot about him. But I do know he really only had a couple good years. My impression of him is that he's an impatient aggressive swinger, and my opinion is those guys are prone to early and steep declines. That type of swing early swing often player relies on his physical abilities only, and when those decline in the late 20's/early 30's, the game falls off. Jones was like that, Garret Anderson was like that, and I feel like Ryan Theriot is on the verge of being like that (even though he was never that good in his prime anyway). There are very few physical specimens, like Vladdy, who carry that sort of reckless approach into their 30's, and even he declined in his early 30's. And Vernon has never been anything like one of those elite guys. He had the physical talent to impress the heck out of people when he was in his 20's, but he had only 2 full seasons with an OPS+ over 105, and his career line .280/.329/.470 is fairly mediocre. Plus, his whole game is based around AVG and some power. The Cubs don't need more of those guys. They aleady struggled with patience and OBP in 2009, replacing Bradley with Wells will just make that worse.

Haha. That and the Barry Zito contract might be one of the two deals where the other team can make the deal and just kick Bradley to the curb and they still end up winning the deal. Assuming Bradley will be traded for a bad contract, would you make this deal: Bradley for Wells with the Cubs receiving $40 million (app. half the difference in contracts) spread over 5 years. ($2 million in 2010, $5 million in 2011, $11 for 2012-2014) No interest in Vernon Wells at all. He blows. He's Jacque Jones 2.0 from the right side and he's already 31.

Because it comes at the worst possible time of year for sports, I agree. But it does mean a lot less long stretches of no games the rest of the year.

Way too late in the game. This line needed help in 2006/2007 and it wasn't until 2008 that he spent a significant draft pick on a lineman. Between the Columbo and Williams selections he ignored it far too long. And then this offseason he went crazy for a bunch of backups. Omiyale was a joke from the start. I still don't get why people thought he was quality when there was absolutely zero evidence to suggest so. He was a backup who never played. Shaffer is just depth, and Pace was well past his prime. He's washed up. He's much like Fred Miller was when they got him. He was contemplating retirement when they threw a bunch of cash at him. It's a 5 position group. The largest of any on the field. Buying an occasional free agent or draft pick is not addressing the position, it's putting your finger in the [expletive]. You need to invest heavily on the line every year. People talk about needing to draft a QB every season, but OL is much more important since there are always 5 positions to fill and nearly always 6-8 guys used in a season. Even if you hit big on one lineman, you still have 4 others positions. And this team has been relying on Kreutz to be the steady force in the middle for far too long. And it doesn't help that every time they draft a 6th/7th round lineman, he's the first casualty of roster cutdowns. They need to develop these guys.

I'd rather see them get some days off, the early schedule has been rough, and they have a huge amount of back to back nights this season, plus, they are about to start travelling a lot more and could use the rest with 2 big guns down.

I've seen it referenced a couple times in a joking manner, but is it really a big deal now?

In retrospect it was obvious Sammy was done. But he was better in his final year with the Cubs than Milton was this year, and he had a more stable track record of success. Milton is younger than Sammy was then, but with a much worse history of injury and instability.

what people? All the mediocre major league players he constantly lavished with praise?

It makes sense for a lot of reasons. The Cubs benefitted from being the biggest fish in a small pond when in Arizona. But now that market is getting more and more crowded, and there is much less benefit to growing their brand. Other teams are getter sweetheart deals left and right to move, and the Cubs are playing in a dump. Florida is still the bigger league, but outside the Tampa area teams, it's really not that crowded. Mesa needs the Cubs more than the Cubs need Mesa, and if they can get Mesa and Naples competing for their business, they should. Initially I thought it would suck if they went to Florida, but I only saw them in Az once, and I'd probably go more frequently if they were in south florida.

Which Cub fans? The ones who want Ryno to manage and Stone back in the booth? Or The ones who want the Cubs to consider newer ways of thinking? Good question. I guess I'm hoping he comes in and is willing to spend some money, but does it in a way like the Red Sox seem to do. The trib spent money, they just wasted it by letting bad execs run the show. The willingness to spend money is much less of an issue than the willingness to not be idiots with that money.

The Mets won't last long in NY if they can't spend big time. They'll last. There are plenty of fans who have lived through some really horrible teams, and the revenue remains.