jersey cubs fan

Really? You don't think anybody thought there was a significant chance that Soriano would be completely unproductive over large stretches of his contract? I, for one, assumed it. I didn't think it would necessarily take place this year, but the guys is 33, hardly a shocking time to have a dump of a season, especially when your entire game is based upon your physical abilities and you have a piss-poor approach at the plate. And I know I'm not the only one.

In what way has the Bears offseason been low-key? He even mentions Cutler signing, the Cutler/Urlacher reported feud, Cutler/Hester issues, and Tommie Harris' injury status. Didn't even mention the Plaxico rumors, Pace signing, Tinoisamoa signing, WR issues. Hell, even the Favre thing directly affected the Bears offseason. What other team traded for a franchise QB and then had the media stir up stories about their QBs manhood, fighting with the team's other best players, and possible courting of troublemakers like Marshall and Plaxico? I think the only team that has had more attention this offseason has been the Broncos between Cutler, Marshall, and McDaniels and that could go either way. I was interpreting a low-key offseason as in a lack of negative fireworks. The feud was a non-story from the start. But there wasn't a big arrest or trial of a Bear, they didn't lose any meaningful players or have a big holdout or fire a well-liked coach, or hire a new coach that immediately alienated the incumbent starting QB, or have a coach fight, etc, etc. They were involved on the periphery, but for the Bears themselves, other than bringing in new guys, they were relatively quiet. Minnesota's offseason was chaotic. Denver's was a mess. Chicago's wasn't silent, but it was negative drama free. My problem is considering them a sleeper at all, since most things I've seen have the Bears as at least contenders for the division. You can't be a sleeper if people expect you to contend.

she's singing

There's really nothing you can do now. You just have to hope he has one, maybe two bounce back seasons in him. If he stays this bad next year, I think you can legitimately think about cutting him then, or finding somebody else to take at least a portion of his salary. And you have to hope that some combination of Colvin, Burke and Jackson can come up and provide some reasonably cost effective production from the OF spot in a year or two, and let Fox get some of his time for now.

jeez, is there anyway that he's actually clean? He's clean, but he doesn't have a penis.

Oh great, and since it involved a NY team the media is going to be shoving this story down our throats. Just thank god it wasn't the Yankees doing the stabbing, or being stabbed. It was bound to happen though.

The problem was never dealing DeRosa, but rather replacing him with Miles.

The Cubs have hit the 5th most home runs of any team in the National League and 7th of 16 in slugging percentage. Slugging hasn't been what's hurt the offense this year. 7th of 16 when you want to finish in the top 4 in the standings can be a problem. It certainly doesn't help, especially when you are just 9th in OBP. They are 10th in OPS and 10th in runs scored. I think the lack of power in LF, RF and C has played a pretty significant role in failing to meet expectations. But that's kind of Lou's point, they are built to hit for power (but not just to hit for power) and haven't been doing it enough.

really? an 80 year old closer who just came off TJS? Who cares how old he is if his stuff is still there and he can still get outs? It's not like we're signing him long term. Exactly. Coming off TJS is becoming less and less relevant. That was the case a few years ago, but I think the "non-issue" factor of TJS has plateaued. Being effective, 11 months later, at 39, is probably at the furthest edge of optimism.

But you should have known he had a penchant for INTs when they acquired him. It's not the "same dumb plays". Rex's dumb plays were incomprehensibly dumb. Throwing a pick 40 yards down the field because you were trying to pressure the defense and were a yard off is not the same as panicking in the pocket and throwing the ball 50 feet in the air to a linebacker while falling onto your back. Jay will throw some INT's on a crossing pattern as a guy cuts across the coverage, but he's not nearly the loon that Rex became as things fell apart. I'm not saying there won't be dumb plays, but all QB's throw what look like dumb picks. But all dumb plays are not equally dumb.

It's ridiculous to think so based off that quote from Lou. You're the one always talking about how Lou doesn't stick to what he says and plans with his quotes, and this isn't nearly as concrete as the many things he's reneged on. It's speculation. What is wrong with speculating? If Lou says Fukudome is going to leadoff everyday or that Kendall is going to be his starting catcher until the end of the year, I'm going to have doubts. If he starts planting seeds about what this team needs to be better, I'm going to take notice. He talked about the need for LH relievers early in the season and that led to Marshall in the bullpen and the Grabow acquisition. If this is the only time he mentions it, I'll chalk it up to postgame nonsense. But he's definitely talked about the lack of athleticism/speed on this team in the past, and if he continues, I'd bet heavily that that is the way they go, unless they dump Hendry.

You really dont see the writing on the wall? Last year he rambled on about needing to get more left handed, and now with the team 6 games out of 1st hes rambling on about needing more speed and athleticism. The GM and manager of this team have a history of having ridiculous "offseason philosophies" and hes already setting the stage for it. Speed and athleticism have very little to do with why the Cubs have struggled this year. No, he's saying when you don't hit in big ballparks then you suck unless you do other things like run well or play really good defense. He explicitly said they needed to hit. Please don't take a throwaway line in one of his postgame ramblings in August as an indicator of what the whole offseason theme is going to be, it's ridiculous. Why is it ridiculous? It's really the same kind of stuff that led to "more lefthanded" last year, and this team absolutely does have a history of locking onto one thing and trying to get more like it. It could be a throwaway line. But if you assume they are going to try something new this offseason, is it that hard to believe it might be the speed thing again?

That's true and all, but you got the same bitter pathetic group in your fan base, so shut the hell up.

But he left out something he should have said. Should have added: But since we're all a bunch of morons we are 10th in CS because we're a bunch of morons who keep trying to run even though we suck at it.

That was the plan when they got Pierre. Oh joy. What speed hounds tend to forget is that while speed itself may not slump, players who depend on it sure do, if they don't just suck all the time to begin with. And it doesn't age well either. Once a guy establishes himself as a good speed player, and gets paid for it, he's going to start slowing down. If a guy's best attribute is speed, he better be in his low-to-mid 20's, and cheap as hell. That's why you play guys like Patterson and Pie everyday before they start making loads of money.

That's what I said. This seems like a case where the rich pro athlete sure didn't receive any breaks. Actually he did! And he freaking turned it down...that's the hilarious part. He turned down an earlier plea deal that would've been 3 months. Oh that's right. I have to wonder if he'll actually serve 2 years. NY tries hard to have an image of being strongly anti-gun (and it should). But it seems like people get the figurative wrist slap all the time with guns being involved, and it's not even when they shoot themselves.

I'd like more than one. I'd like one now, and at least one more later in life. But one is going to be a bigger deal than the 2nd.

That's what I said. This seems like a case where the rich pro athlete sure didn't receive any breaks.

Someone that throws deep and into coverage? Hmm, last time we had a QB who did that he was almost literally run out of town by fans. Our receivers were better back then too. There's nothing wrong with throwing into coverage deep. An INT way down the field isn't the worst thing. It's the fumbles behind the line and INTs in the flat and underneath that will kill you. Or deep INTs that don't even give a receiver a chance to make a play.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4411373 Plaxico is going to plead guilty and serve 2 years. Ummm, I guess the Bears shouldn't sign him.

Yes. He has some legal stuff going on. He's at best a 1-year solution. He would be taking time away from someone that could actually develop as a long-time future target of Cutler like Bennett, Rideau, Iglesias, Knox, or Aromashodu. Also, that would mean one of these guys would NOT make the team, along w/ Davis....and that's if the Bears keep the max 6 WRs. I'm with you on this, but isn't Harrison's legal issue a thing of the past? I thought nothing came of it.

You are pretending this is genuinely about a guy who can't make up his mind and regrets retirement. That's nonsense. He has gone out of his way to avoid training camp 2 years in a row, playing the aw shucks routine about indecision. In every team sport if a player skips practice he is criticized. And Troy Aikman's retirement has nothing to do with this story. 10 years ago, and much longer before that, the media and those who consume that media would have discussed at length a story of a guy retiring, unretiring, retiring, unretiring, switching teams and skipping practice. Your theory has big holes. There is no theory. My point is who cares, move on, talk about something else. You are theorizing that this is just some media creation. It is not. It's a former star football player finagling the system and doing whatever he can to avoid practice, and a coach allowing him because he's desperate for help. Your "point" is rather pointless. Talk about what? Training camp just ended and Favre just signed with a team he said he wasn't going to sign with. Why can't people talk about that? It's rather silly to try and pretend this isn't a story and should not be discussed. If sports should be discussed at all there is absolutely no reason why this should not be part of that discussion.

Most of the difference between Rob's "actual line" and "expected line" is luck. For instance, Soto and Fontenot have been extremely unlucky this season. Meaning they've hit the ball hard, but it's gone right at defenders. Players in those situations are good bets to improve either later in the season or the next year. Likewise, players who don't hit the ball particularly hard but have it fall in nonetheless are getting lucky and, thus, are not good bets to continue that production for an extended period of time. Luck doesn't always even out over the course of a season, but sometimes it does. How lucky was Soto last year?

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/news/story?id=4409633 felony charges dropped, indicted on misdemeanors

I don't believe Fukudome is or has been the problem, its the complete lack of production from Soto, Soriano and 2b. Add Soto with a little more luck and anything from Soriano or 2b and I believe the Cardinals would been looking up at the Cubs. Talking about moving Fukudome isn't really calling him the problem, it's talking about restructuring the payroll situation on a team with way too much money tied up into guys who aren't productive enough. Presumably you'd get something valuable back and then replace him in a cost effective manner.